told him to give me threepenny worth of any sort. He gave me accordingly three great puffy rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm and eating the other. Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I turned and went down Chestnut Street and part of Walnut Street, eating my roll all the way; and coming round found myself again at Market Street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught of river water; and being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us and were waiting to go further. Thus refreshed I walked again up the street, which by this time had many clean-dressed people in it, who were all walking the same way. I joined them, and thereby was led into the great meeting-house of the Quakers, near the market. I sat down among them, and after looking round a while and hearing nothing said, being very drowsy through labor and want of rest the preceding night, I fell fast asleep and continued so till the meeting broke up, when some one was kind enough to rouse This, therefore, was the first house I was me. in, or slept in, in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography continues in the same interesting strain and it is hoped that students will seize the first opportunity to read the entire work which is too long for us to reproduce entire. Franklin committed many errors in his life and not all his deeds can bear the light, but he made the most of himself and, judged by the standards of the time, he was a moral man. His life was long and he lived to see the accomplishment of many of his own designs. For a year before his death he was confined to his bed and suffered keenly, bearing it all with patience and resignation, not unmindful of the fact that he was facing the inevitable and inclined to welcome the change. This one may judge by his having said that he had seen a great deal of this world and felt some growing curiosity to become acquainted with another. His last words, uttered in the paroxysms of his final suffering, were "A dying man can do nothing easily." Washington Trving "Come to Sunnyside and I will give you a book and a tree." Such was Washington Irving's invitation to his friends and it was as hearty as it was picturesque. He was a man so generous, so considerate of others that his friends were as numerous as his acquaintances and the beautiful house at Tarrytown, on the Hudson, was the home of all who visited it. His life was one of a thousand in its devotion to an early love. Martha Hoffman, daughter of a man with whom he studied law, was to be his wife, but after a brief and very painful illness she died leaving Irving almost distracted with grief. For the remainder of his life, he was unable without the greatest agitation to hear the mention of her name, and wherever he went he carried with him a few pathetic mementos of his love-her Bible, her prayer-book, a lock of her hair. This touching devotion did not make him a recluse though his natural shyness and reserve kept him from accepting many of the attentions that were offered him. He was born in New York, and early manifested a love for books and reading, although at school he did not distinguish himself in mathematics, in which he had no interest. Much to his regret, he had no schooling after he was sixteen. At that age he entered a law office and for many years his career was one of disappointment and privation. After the War of 1812 he was in England where he had gone to assist a brother in business. The war ruined their trade, and he was practically forced to take up his pen to earn a livelihood. Here he began his literary career and here he achieved his fame, for when he returned to America after seventeen years abroad he was among the most popular men of his day. Subsequently he was appointed Minister to Spain and accepted this "crowning honor of his life" though he had frequently declined public office because he felt called to the profession of letters. Abroad he made many noted friends; Byron praised him, Scott aided him and a host of men prominent in literature and politics, in Germany, Spain, and England spoke in glowing terms of his character and his writings. The Sketch Book was his first great success and it contained both Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the finest pieces of purely American literature that had been produced. Other works followed in quick succession for he was a rapid and indefatigable worker, often carrying his exertions to the point of breaking down his health which from childhood had been of the most delicate character. He wrote Tales of a Traveler, as a result of his visit to Germany; The Life of Columbus was the occasion of a long residence in Spain where he produced also his charming stories of the Alhambra and the no less entertaining Moorish Chronicles. The last and most ambitious work of his life was the Life of Washington. Perhaps the fact that he had been named for the great patriot and had as an infant received the blessings of his illustrious godfather served as a special inspiration. He was anxious to complete the work, often saying that he hoped to live till that was done. The fifth and last volume was written under great physical suffering and when the final words were penned he said: "I am getting ready to go; I am shutting up my doors and windows." The end he wished for then came soon; in fact, almost on the instant of his expression of a hope that it was not far off, he fell dying to the floor. In the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in a little hedge-encircled lot among others of his family he lies, his resting place marked by a simple marble slab bearing the inscription: "Washington Irving Died November 28, 1859." |