What part, or whether any, was taken by Benjamin in these early troubles of the Courant, is not recorded. He was but a boy of sixteen, -a drudge in his brother's service,— not likely to have given the tone to these proceedings; but very likely, on sly occasion, to have pointed a stray sarcasm or aimed a saucy epigram at some distinguished mark. Graver proceedings were in train, in which the courageous apprentice was to bear a prominent part, and to find a way of escape from the burdensome indentures.

The thunderbolt of the offended patriarch fell as harmless at young Franklin's feet as the granado had at son Cotton's. It was behind the age. The Courant went on as usual, not merely in reference to inoculation, but to every other topic of public interest and concern. It was clever, bold, somewhat scandalous even, at times, not wholly free from coarseness, but well sustained by a club of wits behind the scenes. An intention evidently existed on the part of those in authority to lay the hand of power on the audacious journal. The occasion seized to execute this purpose was, it must be owned, of the slightest. A piratical vessel had appeared off Block Island, and the government of Massachusetts was requested by the government of Rhode Island to join in proper measures for the capture of the corsair. The Courant of June eleventh, 1722, contained an article dated at Newport, and giving an account of what was done there by way of fitting out vessels to cruise for the buccaneer, and ending with a single sentence, which certainly implies, in rather a sarcastic manner, that the government at Boston were taking matters quite leisurely. This was an unjust insinuation, inasmuch as it appears that an armed cruiser was impressed, manned by a hundred men, and was got ready to sail on the second or third day after the news of the pirate reached Boston. For this offence, James Franklin was sent for, examined before the council, and acknowledged himself the publisher of the paper. A concurrent vote passed the two houses, that the paragraph in question was a high affront to this government, and the sheriff of Suffolk was ordered to commit the

printer forthwith to jail, where he remained till the end of the session.*

During his confinement, the paper was carried on by Benjamin, then but a little over sixteen years of age. Whether he was himself, at this time, called before the council, is not certain; but no one can doubt that these trying scenes, and the responsibility which devolved upon him, formed no small part of the discipline which prepared him for the great work of his after life. Notwithstanding their personal differences, the brother apprentice entered into his master's wrongs, and "made bold to give the rulers some rubs, which James took very kindly." The tone of the paper, however, during the imprisonment of the proprietor, was, of necessity, much subdued.

As soon as he was restored to liberty, the Courant resumed its accustomed boldness. The leading article of the next paper appeared with this motto, from a sermon of worthy Dr Hickeringill, (whose fame, but for this quotation, might hardly have reached us :) "And then, after they had anathematized and cursed a man to the devil, and the devil did not or would not take him, then to make the sheriff and the jailer take the devil's leavings." The following numbers teemed with pertinent extracts from English writers, and speeches in the English parliament, on the great principles of civil liberty, and the freedom of the press; and the twenty-ninth chapter of Magna Charta was reprinted, with Lord Coke's commentary at length. In a word, the result of this, as of most other attempts to restrain the liberty of the press, was to give it greater boldness and power.

I believe, however, that the Courant and its conductors have, on this occasion, had credit for one reckless speech which was never made by them. Mr Isaiah Thomas, the veteran historian of printing in America, having related the preceding incidents, proceeds to say, that the club, by which the Courant was supported, "then applied the lash, as it was termed, with the greater energy, especially to the governor

* See note at the end.

and some of the clergy." This expression is supported by the following note: "No. 52 [should be 53] has this advertisement: This paper, No. 52, [53,] begins the fifth quarter, and those that have not paid for THE LASH are desired to send in their money, or pay it to the bearer.'" But our youthful censors, or rather the ingenious wits who supported them, were bold and keen, not coarse. It seems to have been the custom in those days to pay the subscription to the newspapers quarterly. At the commencement of the new quarter, the Courant appeared with this advertisement: "This paper (No. 53) begins the fifth quarter, and those who have not paid for the last are desired to send in their money or pay it to the bearer." The venerable historian of printing mistook the old fashioned ft for fh.*

But it must be owned, that the lash, if not threatened in words, was pretty freely applied in fact. At the end of another six months, the printer was again in trouble. On the fourteenth of January, 1723, a piece appeared in the Courant on the subject of hypocrisy, containing severe allusions evidently to persons of authority or influence, not now, perhaps, traceable to the individuals aimed at. The printer was sent for, and questioned as to the author of the offensive piece. Benjamin also was probably, at this time, taken up and examined before the council; but though he did not give them any satisfaction, they contented themselves with admonishing him, and dismissed him. They made allowances for him as an apprentice, and consequently bound to keep his master's secrets.

Dr Franklin's account of these events, written from memory after a lapse of more than half a century, runs into one occurrence the incidents of June, 1722, and January, 1723, a portion of his narrative belonging to one occasion, and a portion to the other. This leaves it doubtful whether he himself was examined in June or January. Be this as it will, both branches of the General Court concurred in an act

* Thomas's History of Printing in America, Vol. II. p. 218. Compare the advertisement in No. 53 of the Courant with that in Nos. 52, 79, and 157.

which was approved by the governor, by which it was ordered that, in consequence of the irreligious and offensive character of the paper of the fourteenth of January, "James Franklin, the printer and publisher thereof, be strictly forbidden, by this court, to print or publish the New England Courant, or any pamphlet or paper of the like nature, except it be first supervised by the secretary of this province;" and in addition, he was required to give bonds to be of good behavior for twelve months. Our worthy fathers forgot that they were not the Long Parliament.

What took place in this emergency had better be related in the exact words of our apprentice, now lifted unexpectedly into a new and critical position, at the age of seventeen.

Original.

"On a consultation held in our printing office among his friends, what he should do in this conjuncture, it was proposed to elude the order by changing the name of the paper. But my brother, seeing inconveniences in this, came to a conclusion, as a better way, to let the paper in future be printed in the name of Benjamin Franklin; and in order to avoid the censure of the assembly, that might fall on him as still printing it by an apprentice, he contrived and consented that my old indenture should be returned to me with a discharge on the back of it, to show in case of necessity; and in order to secure to him the benefit of my service, I should sign new indentures for the remainder of my time, which were to be kept private. A very flimsy scheme it was: however, it was immediately executed,

Retranslation.

"In this conjuncture we held a consultation of our friends at the printing house, in order to determine what was to be done. Some proposed to evade the order* by changing the title of the paper; but my brother, foreseeing inconveniences that would result from this step, thought it better that in future it should be printed in the name of Benjamin Franklin; and to avoid the censure of the assembly, who might charge him with still printing the paper himself, under the name of his apprentice, it was resolved that my old indentures should be given up to me, with a full and entire discharge written on the back, in order to be produced on an emergency; but that, to secure to my brother the benefit of my service, I should sign a new contract, which should be kept secret during the remainder of the term.

The order was not, as stated from recollection in the autobiography, "that he should no longer print the newspaper called the New England Courant," but that he should be strictly forbidden to publish that "or any pamphlet or paper of the like nature." See the order in the Courant, No. 77.

and the paper was printed, accordingly, under my name, for several months.* At length, a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me, when under the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not an ill-natured man; perhaps I was too saucy and provoking."

*

This was a very shallow arrangement. It was, however, carried into immediate execution, and the paper continued in consequence to make its appearance for some months in my name. At length, a new difference arising between my brother and me, I ventured to take advantage of my liberty, presuming that he would not dare to produce the new contract. It was undoubtedly dishonorable to avail myself of this circumstance, and I reckon this action as one of the first errors of my life; but I was little capable of estimating it at its true value, imbittered as my mind had been by the recollection of the blows I had received. Exclusively of his passionate treatment of me, my brother was by no means a man of an ill temper; and perhaps my manners had too much impertinence not to afford it a very natural pretext."

A questionable transaction, no doubt; wrong on all sides; youthful petulance anonymously indulged, and pushed beyond the fair limits of the liberty of the press; provoked authority illegally and oppressively exercised; and cunning caught in its own toils. The smallest part of the blame must be laid at the door of the youngest party; the shame and pain of the passionate beatings must be remembered in palliation; and the frank confession be accepted in atonement for the remainder of the offence.

And so finished the long apprenticeship before its still distant term was reached. It had, however, lasted five years, and in that time Benjamin had learned what proved to him a lucrative trade, had read widely, and with voracious appetite; had borne, not without fretfulness, the yoke of discipline; had

*Not only for some months, but for several years; probably as long as it was published at all. The last paper in the set which belongs to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and which is perhaps unique, is No. 253, for June 4, 1726, more than three years after Benjamin Franklin left Boston, but still bearing his imprint.