What had Philadelphia grown to be by 1733?  Who did a great deal for Philadelphia?  Tell what you can about Franklin’s newspaper.  What else did he publish?  What sayings did he print in his almanac?  What saying of Solomon’s did Franklin’s father use to repeat to him?  Did he ever stand in the presence of any kings?  Tell what you can about Franklin as a boy.  Where did he live?  What did he do?  How did he save money to buy books?  Why did he run away?  Where did he go?  Tell what you can about Franklin’s landing in Philadelphia?  How did Franklin look to Miss Read?  Where did Franklin find work?  What happened to him when he went back to Boston on a visit?  Why did Franklin go to London?  What did he do there?  What did they nickname him in the printing-office?  What did Franklin do after he returned to Philadelphia?  Tell the story of the “sawdust pudding.”  Tell about Franklin’s plan of life.  What did he do for Philadelphia?  What experiments did Franklin make?  What about the picture of the king?  Tell the story of the kite.  What two things did he find out by means of this kite?  What did he invent?  What title did a college in Scotland now give him?  Did Franklin think that anything more would be discovered about electricity?  What two things did Franklin do in the Revolution?  What is said of his funeral?  How many counties and towns in the United States are now called by his name?

GEORGE WASHINGTON
(1732-1799).

123.  A Virginia boy; what he became; what he learned at school; his writing-books.—­In 1732, when Franklin was at work on his newspaper, a boy was born on a plantation[1] in Virginia who was one day to stand higher even than the Philadelphia printer.

[Illustration:  STONE MARKING WASHINGTON’S BIRTHPLACE; THE HOUSE IS NO LONGER STANDING.]

That boy when he grew up was to be chosen leader of the armies of the Revolution; he was to be elected the first president of the United States; and before he died he was to be known and honored all over the world.  The name of that boy was George Washington.

Washington’s father died when George was only eleven years old, leaving him, with his brothers and sisters, to the care of a most excellent and sensible mother.  It was that mother’s influence more than anything else which made George the man he became.

[Illustration:  WASHINGTON’S SIGNATURE AT THE AGE OF 12.]

George went to a little country school, where he learned to read, write, and cipher.  By the time he was twelve, he could write a clear, bold hand.  In one of his writing-books he copied many good rules or sayings.  Here is one:—­

[Illustration:  “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."[2]]

[Footnote 1:  Plantation:  George Washington was born on a plantation (or large estate cultivated by slaves) on Bridges Creek, a small stream emptying into the Potomac.  See map in paragraph 127.  Not long after George’s birth (February 22, 1732), his father moved to an estate on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg.  See map in paragraph 127 for this place and Mount Vernon.]