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Charles the Second had given an immense amount of land to his grandfather. But he thought it was quite time
to find out, and he was sure George Washington was an honest lad who would do the work well.
Lord Fairfax spoke so highly of George that he was made surveyor of the colony. The outdoor life, and the
long tramps in the sunshine made George's tall frame fill out, and he became one of the stoutest and
handsomest young men in the colony.
Lawrence Washington was ill and had to go to a warmer climate, so he took George with him for help and
company. Lawrence did not live and left the eight-thousand-acre estate, Mount Vernon, to George. This made
George Washington a rich man at twenty.
The French and English began to discover that there was fine, rich land on either side of the Ohio River, and
each laid claim to it. Now the Indians had been wandering through the forests of that region, camping and
fishing where they chose, and they felt the land belonged to them. They grew ugly and sulky toward the
English with whom up to this time they had been very friendly. It looked as if there would be war.
"Some one must go and talk to these Frenchmen," said Dinwiddie, the English governor at Virginia, "whom
shall we send?"
Lord Fairfax, the old neighbor of George, answered: "I know just the man you want. Your messenger must be
young, strong, and brave. He must know the country and be able to influence both the French and the Indians.
Send George Washington."
Washington served through these troubled times one year with Dinwiddie and three years with General
Braddock, an English general. Always he proved himself brave. He had plenty of dangers. He was nearly
drowned, four bullets went crashing through his clothes, in two different battles the horse on which he was
riding was killed, but he kept calm and kept on fighting. He was soon made commander-in-chief of all the
armies in Virginia.
After five hard years of fighting, Washington went back to Mount Vernon, where he lived quietly and happily
with a beautiful widow to whom he was married a few weeks after meeting her. When he and his bride rode
home to Mount Vernon, she was dressed in white satin and wore pearl jewels. Her coach was drawn by six
white horses. Washington was dressed in a suit of blue, lined with red satin and trimmed with silver lace. He
rode beside the coach on a chestnut horse, with soldiers attending him.
Mrs. Washington had two children, Jack Custis, aged six, and Martha, who was nicknamed Patty, aged four.
George Washington was very fond of these children, and one of the first things he did after they came to
Mount Vernon was to send to England for ten shillings' worth of toys, six little books, and a fashionable doll.
Patty broke this doll, but Washington only laughed and ordered another that was better and larger.
George Washington was having a fine time farming, raising horses and sheep, having the negro women weave
and spin cloth and yarn, carrying on a fishery, and riding over his vast estate, when there was trouble between
the colonists and England. Again a man was needed that was brave, wise, and honest. And when the colonists
decided to fight unless the king would either stop taxing them or let them vote in Parliament, they said:
"George Washington must be our commander-in-chief." So he left his wife, children, and home, and led the
American troops for seven years.
The colonists won their freedom from the English yoke, but they knew if they were to govern themselves,
they needed a very wise man at their head. They made George Washington the first President of the United
States of America. Of course it pleased him that such honor should be shown him, but he would have
preferred to be just a Virginian farmer at Mount Vernon. However, he went to New York and took the oath of
office that is he promised, as all presidents have to, to work for the good of the United States. He was dressed
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 5
in a suit of dark brown cloth (which was made in America) with knee-breeches and white silk stockings, and
shoes with large silver buckles. He wore a sword at his side, and as the sun shone on his powdered hair, he
looked very noble and handsome. He kissed the Bible as he took the oath; the chancellor lifted his hand and
shouted: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States."
The people did some wild cheering, cannons boomed, bells rang, hats were tossed in the air, and there was
happiness everywhere.
America had her first President!
Washington ruled the people for eight years wisely and well. He was greatly beloved at home and he was
praised in other countries. A German ruler said Washington was the greatest general in the world. A prime
minister of England said Washington was the purest man in history. But we like to say Washington was the
Father of our country, and we like to remember that he said: "Do justice to all, but never forget that we are
Americans!"
WILLIAM PENN
When Charles the Second was King of England, there lived in London a wealthy admiral of the British navy,
Sir William Penn. He had been such a brave sailor that he was a favorite at court. He had a son who was a
handsome, merry lad, whom he meant to educate very highly, for he knew the king would find some great
place for him in his kingdom.
So young William was sent early to school and college, where he learned Greek and Latin, French, German,
and Dutch. He was quick motioned and strong. At Oxford College there was hardly a student who could equal
him in swimming, rowing, and outdoor sports. His father grew prouder and prouder of his son each day.
"William," he said to himself, "will do honor to me, to his king, and to his country." And he kept urging
money and luxuries upon his son, whom he dressed like a prince.
Imagine the Admiral's despair when he learned one morning that his son was hobnobbing with the Quakers!
Just then a new sect of religious people who called themselves Quakers, or Friends, had sprung up in England.
They were much despised. A Quaker believed that all men are equal, so he never took his hat off to any one,
not even the king. The Quakers would not take an oath in court; would not go to war or pay money in support
of war; always said "thee" and "thou" in addressing each other, and wore plain clothes and sober colors. They
thought they ought always to act as their consciences told them to.
In England and Massachusetts, Quakers were treated like criminals. Some of them were put to death. But the
more they were abused, the more their faith became known, and the more followers they had.
A traveling Quaker preacher went to Oxford, and when young William Penn heard him, he decided that he
had found a religion that suited him. He stopped going to college services, declared he would not wear the
college gown, and even tore the gowns from other students. He was expelled from Oxford.
The Admiral was very angry. He told his son he had disgraced him. But he knew William had a strong will,
and instead of having many harsh words with him, sent his son off to Paris. "I flatter myself," laughed the
Admiral, "that in gay, fashionable Paris, William will soon forget his foolish ideas about the Quakers."
The young people of Paris made friends with William at once, for he was handsome and jolly. He was
eighteen years old. He had large eyes and long dark hair which fell in curls about his shoulders. For a time he
entered into all the gay doings of Paris and spent a long time in Italy. So when he returned to England, two
years later, his father nodded approval at the change in his looks and ways. He seemed to have forgotten the
new religion entirely. But presently an awful plague swept over London, and William grew serious again. The
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 6
Admiral now packed the boy off to Ireland. He was bound to stop this Quaker business.
There was some kind of a riot or war in Ireland, and William fought in the thickest of it, for he liked to be in
the midst of whatever was going on. One evening he heard that the old Quaker preacher he had liked at
Oxford was preaching near by. He, with some other soldiers, went to hear him, and all his love for the Quaker
faith came back to him, and he joined the society. He was imprisoned with other Quakers, and then his father
said he would never speak to him again. But he really loved his son and was so pleased when he got out of
prison that he agreed to forgive him, if he would only promise to take off his hat when he met his father, the
king, or the Duke of York. But after young William had thought about it, he told his father that he could not
make such a promise.
William was sometimes in prison, sometimes driven from home by his father, then forgiven for the sake of his
mother; often he was tired out with writing and preaching, but he kept true to his belief.
When William's father died, he left his son great wealth, which he used for the good of others, especially the
Quakers. William knew the Crown owed the Admiral nearly a hundred thousand dollars. As the king was
something of a spendthrift, it was not likely that the debt would be paid very soon, so William asked the king
to pay him in land. This the monarch was glad to do, so he granted an immense tract of land on the Delaware
River, in America, to the Admiral's son.
William planned to call this tract Sylvania, or Woodland, but when King Charles heard this, he said: "One
thing I insist on. Your grant must be called after your father, for I had great love for the brave Admiral." Thus
the name decided on was Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods).
William Penn lost no time in sending word to all the Quakers in England that in America they could find a
home and on his land be free from persecution. As many as three thousand of them sailed at once for America,
and the next year William visited his new possessions. He did not know just how the tract might please him,
so he left his wife and child behind, in England. He laid out a city himself on the Delaware River and called it
the City of Brotherly Love, because he hoped there would be much love and harmony in the colony of
Quakers. The other name for city of brotherly love is Philadelphia. If you visit this city to-day, you will find
many of its streets bearing the names William Penn gave them more than two hundred years ago. Some of
these are Pine, Mulberry, Cedar, Walnut, and Chestnut streets.
Of course Indians were to be found along all the rivers in the American colonies. Penn really owned the land
along the Delaware, but he thought it better to pay them for it as they had held it so many years, so he called a
council under a big tree, where he shook hands with the red men and said he was of the same blood and flesh
as they; and he gave them knives, beads, kettles, axes, and various things for their land. The Indians were
pleased and vowed they would live in love with William Penn as long as the moon and sun should shine. This
treaty was never broken. And one of the finest things to remember about William Penn is his honesty with the
much persecuted Indians.
Penn left the Quaker colony after a while and went back to England. But he returned many years later with his
wife and daughter. He had two fine homes, one in the city of Philadelphia, the other in the country. At the
country home there was a large dining-hall, and in it Penn entertained strangers and people of every color and
race. At one of his generous feasts his guests ate one hundred roast turkeys.
Penn, who was so gentle and loving to all the world, had many troubles of his own. One son was wild and
gave him much anxiety. He himself was suspected of being too friendly with the papist King James, and of
refusing to pay his bills. For one thing and another, he was cast into prison until he lost his health from the
cold, dark cells. It seems strange that the rich, honest William Penn should from boyhood be doomed to
imprisonment because of his religion, his loyalty, and from trying to obey the voice of his conscience. While
he was not born in this country, the piety and honesty of William Penn will always be remembered in
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 7
America.
JOHN PAUL JONES
Along the banks of the River Dee, in Scotland, the Earls of Selkirk owned two castles. John Paul was
landscape gardener at Saint Mary's Isle, and his brother George made the grounds beautiful at the Arbigland
estate. Little John Paul stayed often with his uncle. At either place he could see the blue water, and he loved
everything about it. At Arbigland he watched the ships sail by and could see the English mountains in the
distance. From the sailors he heard all kinds of sea stories and tales of wild border warfare. When a tiny child,
he used to wander down to the mouth of the river Nith and coax the crews of the sailing vessels to tell him
stories. They liked him and taught him to manage small sailboats. He quickly learned sea phrases and used to
climb on some high rock and give off orders to his small play-fellows, or perhaps launch his boat alone upon
the waters and just make believe that he had a crew of men on board with whom he was very stern.
For a few years this son of the Scotch gardener went to parish school, but his mind was filled with the wild
stories of adventure, and he longed to see the world. John had a feeling that his life was going to be exciting,
and he could not keep his mind on his books some days. He was not sorry when his mother told him that as
times were hard, he must leave school and go to work.
John's older brother, William, had gone to America, and his uncle George had ceased working for the Earls of
Selkirk because he had saved enough money to go to America. He was a merchant, with a store of his own in
South Carolina.
John heard such glowing accounts of men getting rich and famous in that land across the sea that he felt it
must be almost like fairy-land. Think how pleased he must have been when at the age of twelve he shipped
aboard the ship Friendship, bound for Virginia! And best of all, this ship anchored a few miles from
Fredericksburg, where his brother lived. When in port, John stayed with William. He loved America from the
first moment he saw a bit of her coast, and he never left off loving our country as long as he lived.
John went back and forth from America to Scotland on the Friendship a great many times. He had made up
his mind that he would always go to sea, and he meant to understand everything about ships, countries to
which they might sail, and all laws about trading in different ports. So he studied all the books he could get
hold of that would teach him these things.
Sometimes he changed vessels, shipping with a different captain. Sometimes he went to strange countries. But
he was one who kept his eyes open, and he learned to be more and more skilful in all sea matters.
About two years before the Revolutionary War, he was feeling discouraged. He knew his employers were
pirates in a way. He had met with some trouble on his last voyage, so that he knew it was best not to go to his
brother's when he reached North Carolina from the West Indies, and that he had best avoid using his own
name. As he sat alone on a bench in front of a tavern one afternoon, his head in his hands, a jovial, handsome
man came along. The man was well dressed, a kind-hearted, rich Southerner. He hated to see people unhappy.
After he had passed John Paul, he turned back and going close to him, asked: "What's your name, my friend?"
"I have none," was the answer.
"Where's your home?"
"I have none."
The stranger was struck with the face and figure of John Paul and noticed that his handsome black eyes had a
commanding expression. He said to himself: "Here is a lad that will be of importance some day, or my name
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 8
is not Willie Jones!"
Then Willie Jones took John by the arm and said: "Come home with me. My home is big enough for us both."
This was quite true, for Willie Jones had a beautiful estate called "The Grove." The house was like a palace
with its immense drawing-rooms, wide fireplaces, carved halls, and spacious dining-room which overlooked
the owner's race track. For Willie Jones owned blooded horses, went to country hunts, played cards, and had
overseers to manage his fifteen hundred slaves, who worked in Jones's tobacco fields and salt mines. His
clothes were of the first quality and his linen fine.
On a neighboring estate across the river lived Willie's brother, Allen Jones. He was married to a dark-eyed
beauty who gave parties in her large ballroom, and who led the minuets and gavottes better than any of her
guests.
Just as John Paul had been at home on the estates of the Earl of Selkirk in Scotland, he was now at home on
both these southern plantations. By both families he was petted and soon beloved. He seemed like one of their
own blood.
The people of North Carolina talked constantly of Liberty. They declared themselves anxious to be
independent of England. Soon after the famous Boston Tea-party, the women of North Carolina pledged their
word to drink no more tea that was taxed.
John Paul took the same stand as his good friends. And he more than ever felt he was born to do great deeds.
And he hoped to prove his gratitude to the Joneses by winning fame. From this time he took the name of John
Paul Jones. All his navy papers are signed that way. And he became an American citizen.
Paul Jones's rise was rapid. In 1776 he became a lieutenant in the Continental navy. The colonists had but five
armed vessels; the Alfred, on which Paul Jones served, was one of them. These five ships were the beginning
of the American navy. The captain of the Alfred was slow in reaching his vessel, and so Paul Jones had to get
the ship ready for sea. He was so quick and sure in all his acts that the sailors all liked him.
The ship was visited by the commodore of the squadron of five ships. He found everything in such fine
condition that he said: "My confidence in you is so great that if the captain does not reach here by the time we
should get away, I shall hoist my flag on your ship and give you command of her!"
"Thank you, Commodore," and Paul bowed, "when your flag is hoisted on the Alfred, I hope a flag of the
United Colonies will fly at the peak. I want to be the man to raise that flag on the ocean."
The commodore laughed and replied: "As Congress is slow, I am afraid there will not be time to make a flag
after it actually decides what that shall be."
"I think there will, Sir," answered Paul Jones.
It seems he knew almost for a certainty that the Continental Congress had planned their first flag of the
Revolution. It was to be of yellow silk, showing a pine tree with a rattlesnake under it, and bearing the daring
motto: "Don't tread on me." Paul Jones had bought the material to make one, out of his own pocket, and Bill
Green, a quarter-master, sat up all night to cut and sew the cloth into a flag.
Captain Saltonstall arrived in time to take command, but Paul Jones kept his disappointment to himself and
faithfully did the lieutenant's duties. He had been drilling the men, and when the commodore came again to
inspect the ship, some four hundred, with one hundred marines, were drawn up on deck. Bill Green and Paul
Jones were very busy for a minute, and just as the commodore came over the ladder at the ship's side, the flag
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 9
with the pennant flew up the staff, under Paul Jones's hand. Every man's hat came off, the drummer boys beat
a double ruffle on the drums, and such cheers burst from every throat!
The commodore said to Paul Jones: "I congratulate you; you have been enterprising. Congress adopted that
flag but yesterday, and this one is the first to fly."
Bill Green was thanked, too, and the squadron sailed for the open sea, the Alfred leading the way.
Paul Jones was very daring, but his judgment and knowledge were so perfect that in the twenty-three great
battles which he fought upon the seas, though many times wounded, he was never defeated. He made the
American flag, which he was the first to raise, honored, and he kept it flying in the Texel with a dozen,
double-decked Dutch frigates threatening him in the harbor, while another dozen English ships were waiting
just beyond to capture him. He was offered safety if he would hoist the French colors and accept a
commission in the French navy, but he never wavered. It was his pride to be able to say to the American
Congress: "I have never borne arms under any but the American flag, nor have I ever borne or acted under any
commission except that of the Congress of America."
Paul Jones served without pay and used nearly all of his private fortune for the cause of independence.
Congress made him the ranking officer of the American navy and gave him a gold medal. France conferred
the cross of a military order upon him and a gold sword. It was a beautiful day when this cross was given him.
The French minister gave a grand fête in Philadelphia. All Congress was there, army and navy officers,
citizens, and sailors who had served under Jones. Against the green of the trees, the uniforms of the officers
and the white gowns of the ladies showed gleamingly.
Paul Jones wore the full uniform of an American captain and his gold sword. He carried his blue and gold cap
in his hand. A military band played inspiring airs as the French minister and Paul Jones walked toward the
center of the lawn. Paul Jones was pale but happy. He was receiving an honor never before given a man who
was not a citizen of France, but as his eyes lighted on the stars and stripes floating above him, they filled with
tears, for his greatest joy of all was that he had left the sands of Dee to become a citizen and defender of his
beloved America.
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY
When the city of Boston, Massachusetts, was just a small town in which there were no schools where boys
and girls could learn to draw and paint, one little fellow by the name of John Singleton Copley was quite sure
to be waiting at the door when his stepfather, Peter Pelham, came home to dinner or supper, to ask why the
pictures he had been drawing of various people did not look like them. Peter Pelham could nearly always tell
John what the matter was, because he knew a good deal about drawing. He made maps and engravings
himself.
John remembered what his stepfather told him and practised until he made really fine drawings. Then he
began to color them. He did love gay tints, and as both men and women wore many buckles and jewels, and
brocades and velvets of every hue in those days, he could make these portraits as dazzling as he chose.
There is no doubt John loved to make pictures. He had drawn many a one on the walls of his nursery when he
was scarcely more than a baby. He later covered the blank pages and margins of his school-books with faces
and animals. And instead of playing games with the other boys in holidays, he was apt to spend such hours
with chalks and paints.
When John was fourteen or fifteen, his portraits were thought so lifelike that Boston people paid him good
prices for them. He was glad to earn money, for his kind stepfather died, leaving his wife to the care of John
and his stepbrother, Henry. He had been working and saving for years when he married the daughter of a rich
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 10
Boston merchant. This wife, Suzanne, was a beautiful girl, proud of her husband's talent and anxious for him
to get on in the world. The artist soon bought a house on Beacon Hill which had a fine view from its windows.
He called this estate, which covered eleven acres, his "little farm." You can guess how large it looked when I
tell you that the farm is to-day practically the western side of Beacon Hill.
The young couple were happy and must have prospered, for a man who saw the house on the hill wrote to his
friends: "I called on John Singleton Copley and found him living in a beautiful home on a fine open common;
dressed in red velvet, laced with gold, and having everything about him in handsome style." It is evident John
still liked bright colors.
John had never seen any really good paintings; he had never had any teacher; and he longed to see the works
of the old masters in other countries. But at first he did not want to leave his old mother; then it was the young
wife who kept him here; and by and by he felt he could not be away from his own dear little children, so it
was not until he was nearly forty that he went abroad.
In one of the first letters that Suzanne got from her husband he told of the fine shops in Genoa. She laughed
when she read that in a few hours after he landed he bought a suit of black velvet lined with crimson satin,
lace ruffles for his neck and sleeves, and silk stockings. "I'd know," she said to herself, "the suit would have a
touch of crimson John does love rich colors!"
All his letters told how wonderful he found the old paintings and often described his attempts to copy them.
After he had visited the galleries and museums of Italy, he went to England. He was delighted to find that his
wife and family had already fled there because of the Revolution in America. He had heard of the trouble
between the Colonists in America and England and had worried night and day for fear harm would come to
Suzanne and the children. Of course he worried about the "little farm" too, but it was no time to go back to
Boston, and he could only hope his agent would protect it.
The Copleys liked London, but some days they felt homesick for Beacon Hill. Still he must keep earning
money, and there were plenty of English people who wanted to sit for their portraits, while of course, with the
fierce Revolution raging, and with soldiers camping everywhere, Boston people did not care much about
having their pictures painted.
In London John began to paint pictures that showed events in history. Sometimes he would take for a subject
a famous battle, sometimes a scene from the English Parliament, or perhaps a king or lord doing some act
which we have read about in their lives. These pictures were immense in size and took a long time to do,
because Copley was particular to have everything exactly true. George the Third was so much pleased with
his work that when he was going to paint the large work "The Siege of Gibraltar", his Majesty sent him, with
his wife and eldest daughter, to Hanover, to take the portraits of four great generals of that country, who had
proved their bravery and skill on the rock of Gibraltar. All the uniforms, swords, banners, and scenery were as
perfect as if Copley had been at the siege himself, and the officers' faces were just like photographs. The king
was very kind and generous. He told Copley not to hurry back to England but to enjoy Hanover thoroughly,
and to give his wife and daughter a holiday they would never forget. To enable Copley to go into private
homes and look at art treasures which the public never saw, the king gave him a letter asking this courtesy,
written with his own hand.
This large canvas, "The Siege of Gibraltar", is owned by the city of London. There is another huge painting,
"The Death of Lord Chatham", at Kensington Museum, which Americans like to see. It shows old Lord
Chatham falling in a faint at the House of Lords. The poor man was too sick to be there, but he was a strong
friend to the American Colonies and had declared over and over again that the king ought not to tax them.
When he heard there was to be voting on the question, he rose from his bed and drove in a carriage to the
House to say once more how wicked it was. The members of the House of Lords look very imposing with
their grave faces and robes of scarlet, trimmed with ermine, but they sometimes act in a childish manner and
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 11
show temper. One man who almost hated Chatham for so defending the Colonies sat as still as if he were
carved out of stone when the poor old lord dropped to the floor. This picture shows him sitting as cold and
stiff as a ramrod while all the other members have sprung to their feet or have rushed to help the fainting man.
The Boston Public Library holds one of Copley's historical pictures. It shows a scene from the life of Charles
the First of England. He is standing in the speaker's chair in the House of Commons, demanding something
which the speaker, kneeling before him, is unwilling to tell. There is plenty of chance for John Copley to show
his love for brilliant coloring, for the suits of the king, his nephew, Prince Rupert, and his followers are of
velvets and satins, the slashed sleeves showing facings of yellow, cherry, and green. The knee breeches are
fastened with buckles over gaudy silk stockings and high-heeled slippers. The men wear deep collars of lace,
curled wigs, and velvet hats with sweeping plumes.
But in a picture at Buckingham Palace called "The Three Princesses" there is a riot of color. The scene is a
garden, beyond which the towers of Windsor Castle show, with the flag of England floating above it; there are
fruit-trees and flowers, parrots of gay plumage, and pet dogs. The little girls' gowns are rainbow-like, and one
of them is dancing to the music of a tambourine. It is a darling picture, and the royal couple prized it greatly.
When John Copley was only a young man, he sent a picture from Boston to England, asking that it might be
placed on exhibition at the Royal Academy. It was called "The Boy and the Flying Squirrel." The boy was a
portrait of his half-brother, Henry Pelham. Copley sent no name or letter, and it was against the rules of the
Academy to hang any picture by an unknown artist, but the coloring was so beautiful that the rule was broken,
and crowds stopped before the Boston lad's canvas to admire it. When it was discovered that John Copley
painted it, and it was known he had received no lessons at that time, he was urged to go abroad at once. At the
time he could not. But the praise encouraged him to keep on, and before he had a chance to visit Italy, he had
painted nearly three hundred pictures. Nearly all of these were painted at the "little farm" on Beacon Hill,
when he or Suzanne would hardly have dreamed the day would come when he should be the favorite of kings
and courts.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
One of the greatest Americans that ever lived was Benjamin Franklin. The story of his life sounds like a fairy
tale. Though he stood before queens and kings, dressed in velvet and laces, before he died, he was the son of a
poor couple who had to work very hard to find food and clothes for their large family for there were more
than a dozen little Franklins!
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, one bright Sunday morning more than two hundred years ago. That
same afternoon his father took the baby boy across the street to the Old South Church, to be baptized. He was
named for his uncle Benjamin, who lived in England.
As Benjamin grew up, he made friends easily. People liked his eager face and merry ways. He was never quiet
but darted about like a kitten. The questions he asked and the mischief he got into! But the neighbors loved
him. The women made little cakes for him, and the men were apt to toss him pennies.
One day when Benjamin was about seven, some one gave him all the pennies he could squeeze into one hand.
Off he ran to the toy shop, but on his way he overtook a boy blowing a whistle. Ben thought that whistle was
the nicest thing he had ever seen and offered his handful of pennies for it. The boy took them, and Ben rushed
home with his prize. Well, he tooted that whistle all over the house until the family wished there had never
been a whistle in the world. Then an older brother told him he had paid the other boy altogether too much for
it, and when Ben found that if he had waited and bought it at a store, he would have had some of the pennies
left for something else, he burst out crying. He did not forget about this, either. When he was a grown man
and was going to buy something, he would wait a little and say to himself: "Careful, now don't pay too much
for your whistle!" An Italian sculptor who had heard this story made a lovely statue called "Franklin and his
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 12
Whistle." If you happen to be in the beautiful Public Library in Newark, New Jersey, you must ask to see it.
Ben always loved the water and was a wonderful swimmer as a little fellow. He could manage a boat, too, and
spent half his play hours down at the wharves. One day he had been flying kites, as he often did, and thought
he would see what would happen if he went in swimming with a kite tied to his waist. He tried it and the kite
pulled him along finely. If he wanted to go slowly, he let out a little bit of string. If he wanted to move
through the water fast, he sent the kite up higher in the air.
But it was in school that Ben did his best. He studied so well that his father wanted to make a great scholar of
him, but there was not money enough to do this, so when he was ten he had to go into his father's soap and
candle shop to work. The more he worked over the candles, the worse he hated to, and by and by he said to his
father: "Oh, let me go to sea!"
"No," said Mr. Franklin, "your brother ran away to sea. I can't lose another boy that way. We will look up
something else."
So the father and son went round the city, day after day, visiting all kinds of work-shops to see what Benjamin
fancied best. But when it proved that the trade of making knives and tools, which was what pleased Benjamin
most, could not be learned until Mr. Franklin had paid one hundred dollars, that had to be given up, like the
school. There was never any spare cash in the Franklin purse.
As James Franklin, an older brother, had learned the printing business in England and had set up an office in
Boston, Ben was put with him to learn the printer's trade. Poor Ben found him a hard man to work for. If it
had not been for the books he found there to read and the friends who loaned him still more books, he could
not have stayed six months. But Ben knew that since he had to leave school when he was only ten, the thing
for him to do was to study by himself every minute he could get. He sat up half the nights studying. When he
needed time to finish some book, he would eat fruit and drink a glass of water at noon, just to save a few extra
minutes for studying. James never gave him a chance for anything but work; it seemed as if he could not pile
enough on him. When he found Ben could write poetry pretty well, he made him write ballads and sell them
on the streets, putting the money they brought into his own pocket. He was very mean to the younger brother,
and when he began to strike Ben whenever he got into a rage, the boy left him.
Benjamin went to New York but found no work there. He worked his way to Philadelphia. By this time his
clothes were ragged. He had no suitcase or traveling bag and carried his extra stockings and shirts in his
pockets. You can imagine how bulgy and slack he looked walking through the streets! He was hungry and
stepped into a baker's for bread. He had only one silver dollar in the world. But he must eat, whether he found
work or not. When he asked for ten cents' worth of bread, the baker gave him three large loaves. He began
munching one of these as he went back into the street. As his pockets were filled with stockings and shirts, he
had to carry the other two loaves under his arms. No wonder a girl standing in a doorway giggled as he passed
by! Years afterwards, when Franklin was rich and famous, and had married this very girl, the two used to
laugh well over the way he looked the first time she saw him.
[Illustration: He began munching one of these as he went back into the street. Page 41.]
After one or two useless trips to England, Franklin settled down to the printing business in Philadelphia. He
was the busiest man in town. Deborah, his wife, helped him, and he started a newspaper, a magazine, a
bookstore; he made ink, he made paper, even made soap (work that he hated so when a boy!). Then he
published every year an almanac. Into this odd book, which people hurried to buy, he put some wise sayings,
which I am sure you must have heard many times. Such as: "Haste makes waste"; "Well done is better than
well said"; and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
Franklin and his wife did so many things and did them well that they grew rich. So when he was only
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 13
forty-two, Franklin shut up all his shops and took his time for studying out inventions. When you hear about
the different things he invented, you will not wonder that the colleges in the country thought he ought to be
honored with a degree and made him Doctor Franklin. Here are some of his inventions: lightning-rods, stoves,
fans to cool hot rooms, a cure for smoking chimneys, better printing-presses, sidewalks, street cleaning. He
opened salt mines and drained swamps so that they were made into good land. Then he founded the first
public library, the first police service, and the first fire company. Doesn't it seem as if he thought of
everything?
But better than all, Franklin always worked for the glory of America. When King George was angry and bitter
against our colonies, Franklin went to England and stood his ground against the king and all his council. He
said the king had no right to make the colonies pay a lot of money for everything that was brought over from
England unless they had some say as to how much money it should be. If they paid taxes, they wanted to vote.
They were not willing to be just slaves under a hard master.
"Very well, then," said the council, "then you colonists can't have any more clothes from England."
Mr. Franklin answered back: "Very well, then, we will wear old clothes till we can make our own new ones!"
In a week or so word was sent from England that clothing would not be taxed, and the colonists had great
rejoicings. They built bonfires, rang bells, and had processions; and Benjamin Franklin's name was loudly
cheered.
But England still needed money and decided to make the colonists pay a tax on tea and a few other things.
Then the American colonists were as angry as they could be. They tipped the whole cargo of tea into Boston
Harbor, and in spite of Franklin's trying to make the king and the colonists understand each other, there was a
long war (it is called the Revolutionary War) and it ended in the colonists declaring themselves independent
of Great Britain. A paper telling the king and the world that the colonists should not obey the English rule any
longer, but would make laws of their own was signed by men from all thirteen colonies. Benjamin Franklin
was one of the men from Pennsylvania who signed it. As this paper The Declaration of Independence was
first proclaimed July 4, 1776, the people always celebrate the fourth day of July throughout the United States.
Franklin was postmaster-general of the colonies; he was our first minister to the Court of France, the governor
(or president, as the office was then called) of Pennsylvania, and helped, more than almost any other man, to
make America the great country she is.
Franklin was admired in France and England for his good judgment and clever ideas. Pictures of him were
shown in public places; prints of his face were for sale in three countries; medallions of his head were set in
rings and snuff-boxes; he traveled in royal coaches, and was treated like a prince. But although it was "the
Great Doctor Franklin" here, and "the Noble Patriot" there, he did not grow vain. Benjamin Franklin was just
a modest, good American!
LOUIS AGASSIZ
Louis Agassiz was a Swiss boy who knew how to keep his eyes open. Some people walk right by things
without seeing them, but Louis kept a sharp lookout, and nothing escaped him.
Louis was born in a small Swiss village near a lake. His father was a minister and school teacher. His mother
was a fine scholar and was very sure that she wanted her children to love books, but two brothers of Louis's
had died and she meant to have Louis and another son, Auguste, get plenty of play and romping in the fields
so that they would grow up healthy and strong, first of all; there would be time for study afterwards.
The Child's Book of American Biography, by by Frank T. Merrill 14