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clares that "this countryman's five shillings, being the first-fruits, and coming so seasonably, gave him more pleasure than any crown he had since earned; and the gratitude he felt toward George House, had made him often more ready than he would otherwise, perhaps, have been, to assist young beginners."

It must surely be gratifying to the reader, to observe how the incidents of life, even such as might usually be deemed unimportant, touched the feelings of such a man as Franklin, and instilled their lessons. It is in this way

that common occurrences become instructive, and the mind is enriched and enlarged by experience.

There was, it seems, in Philadelphia (and rarely is there to be found a neighborhood free from a similar pest), one of those unhappy persons called croakers; who never see the sun; whose lives pass under a continual cloud; who can discern in every new enterprise nothing but a new prognostic of evil; who speak only to prophesy disaster; and though every prediction be regularly confuted by results, whose faith in their own inspiration, unaffected alike by arguments and events, remains steadfast and immoveable.

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This Philadelphia croaker is described as a person of note, an elderly man, with a wise look, and a very grave manner of speaking;" and while yet personally unknown to Franklin, seeing him one day at his door, stopped, and asked if he was the young man who had recently opened a new printing-office. 'Being answered in the affirmative," says Franklin, "he said he was sorry for me, because it was an expensive undertaking, and the expense would be lost; for Philadelphia was a sinking place; half the people already bankrupts, or nearly so; all appearances to the contrary, such as new buildings and the rise of rents, being to his certain knowledge, fallacious; for they were, in fact, the very

things that would ruin us ;" and he proceeded with such a specification of present and coming calamities, as served to depress, for the moment, even the manly hopeful spirit and good sense of young Franklin, who, had this woful recital been made to him before he embarked with Meredith, would probably, as he relates himself, have been deterred from the undertaking.

The "certain knowledge" of this croaker, proved, however, as usual in such cases, far less certain than his folly; and the faithfulness of Providence, as well as the wisdom of those who trust in it, was abundantly vindicated by the result. "This person," as Franklin adds, "continued to live in this decaying place, and to declaim in the same strain, refusing for many years to buy a house there, because all was going to destruction; and at last I had the pleasure of seeing him give five times as much for one, as he might have bought it for, when he first began croaking."

While young Franklin was thus employed in his trade, and was making his way into business, he did not by any means neglect the improvement of his mind and his advancement in knowledge. The number of his acquaintances in Philadelphia had also become considerably extended, and in the course of the autumn of 1727, he induced most of the more intelligent among them, to organize themselves as a club for mutual improvement, under the name of the "Junto," to meet every Friday evening.

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The plan and regulations of this club were digested and drawn up by Franklin. Each member in turn was required to present to the club one or more questions on any point of morals, politics, or natural philosophy," to be debated at their weekly meetings; and once in every three months each was also to produce a more elaborate essay, digested and written by himself, on any subject he

might choose. The debates, at the weekly meetings, were to be "conducted in a sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, or desire of victory;" and the better to preserve their temper, candor, and decorum, “all expressions of positiveness of opinion, and all direct contradiction," were, after a little experience in the matter, "made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties."

To show how much well-directed thought was bestowed upon the principles, on which this club was organized and conducted, and to account for the eminent usefulness it attained and its consequent remarkable duration, some of its regulations and modes of proceeding are here presented: they will, moreover, furnish valuable hints to others disposed to avail themselves of similar means of mental and moral improvement, as well as help to illustrate the development and tendencies at that time, of Franklin's mind, from which they chiefly proceeded.

A permanent list of queries was prepared, of which every member was bound to keep by him a copy; and at each meeting it was the president's first duty, on taking the chair, to put the following question, to be considered as addressed to each member present: "Have you read over these queries this morning, in order to consider what you might have to offer to the Junto, touching any one of them?" Whereupon the several members made answer, in proper order, according to the matter they had for remark.

To show the range and aim of these standing queries, the substance of a number of them may be stated as follows: the first one inquired if any member had found, in the book he had last read, in any department of science, literature, or the mechanic arts, anything of such claim to attention, that it would be useful to lay it before the club. Another query asked if any member knew of

any recent act of any citizen, marked by such merit as to deserve especial praise and imitation, or of any error or misconduct, against which the members should be warned. Others inquired if any particularly unhappy effects of intemperance, passion, or other vice or folly, had been recently observed; or any marked and happy effects of temperance, prudence, moderation, or other virtue; if any deserving stranger had recently come to the city, to whom the club could render any useful aid; if any member desired the friendship of some person, which one of the club could with propriety procure for him, or if he could be aided by them in any other honorable way; if there was any meritorious young man just starting in business, to whom they could render any assistance; if any member had recently received important benefits from some person not present; if any member was engaged in any important undertaking, in which he could be aided by the counsel and information of the club, or any of its associates; if any idea, or plan, had recently occurred to any member, which might be rendered useful to any class of people, to their own community, or to men generally; if any special defect, or mischief, had been recently perceived in any of the laws of the province, and if any effectual remedy could be pointed out, so as to make it expedient to lay the matter before the provincial assembly; or if any recent encroachment upon the rights and liberties of the people had been detected.

These inquiries, it will be seen, appertain to the social relations of men, and bear directly upon their social duties; and their tendency to promote the habitual discharge of those duties, by bringing them regularly forward, every week, for serious acknowledgment and consideration, seems too palpable to be disputed. The faithful observance of the principles of conduct involved in them, was well calculated to encourage habits of self-examination,

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and self-discipline, on the part of individuals, and to foster mutual goodwill, not only among the associates of the Junto, but toward men generally; and by calling into exercise a more vigilant public spirit, to form more valuable members of the commonwealth.

But these standing queries, which formed so peculiar and remarkable a feature of this club, were designed, not as doubtful points to be debated, but as modes of presenting to the attention of the members, just occasions for the discharge of acknowledged obligations. They were calls to duty, not subjects for dispute; and belonged to that part of the organization intended for the moral improvement of the associates of the Junto. Their mental improvement and advancement in useful knowledge, they sought in the discussion of other questions of a different nature, and in the investigations requisite to render such discussion profitable.

From the few published specimens of this class of questions, it would seem that the forms and institutions of government, the rights of the people, the principles of political economy, the permanent interests of the country, the legislation of the British government relating to the colonies, and other points of general politics, stood first in favor, and the various departments of natural philosophy next, as supplying subjects for discussion ; though points of practical morality and the subtleties of metaphysical speculation were occasionally interspersed. Viewed collectively, however, they show that the discussions of the Junto took a wide and elevated range; and the research they called for, together with the exercise of the best powers of the mind in arranging materials and framing arguments, tended to foster a taste for earnest study, well suited to exert a wholesome influence on personal character, inspire manly views of duty, and give a higher value to life.