hat I may return as soon as
possible to my family and business, where I most of all delight to
be." This was a keen rebuke to a landlord who was disposed to be
inquisitive, and interrogate his guests in an ungentlemanly way. But
we have cited the incident to show that the filial love and respect
which Benjamin had for his parents continued as long as they lived.
The last act of affection and reverence that he could possibly perform
to them was cheerfully made. It was the erection of a marble stone
over their remains in Boston, bearing the following inscription:--

"JOSIAH FRANKLIN
And
ABIAH his wife
Lie here interred.
They lived lovingly together in wedlock
Fifty-five years;
And without an estate, or any gainful employment,
By constant labour, and honest industry
(With God's blessing)
Maintained a large family comfortably;
And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren
Reputably.
From this instance, reader,
Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling,
And distrust not Providence.
He was a pious and prudent man,
She a discreet and virtuous woman.
Their youngest son,
In filial regard to their memory,
Places this stone.
J. F. born 1645; died 1744. AEt. 89.
A. F. born 1667; died 1752. AEt. 85."

This stone had become so dilapidated in 1827, that the citizens of
Boston supplied its place with a granite obelisk, on which the
foregoing inscription may still be read.

It is good for boys, who are very likely to want their own way, to be
obliged to obey exact rules in the family. It is a restraint upon
their evil tendencies that tells well upon their riper years. It was
to such an influence that Sir Robert Peel felt much indebted for his
success in life. As an illustration of the obedience he was obliged to
practise, in common with his brothers, he relates, that, in his
youth, a comrade called one day to solicit their company upon some
excursion. He was a young man of handsome address, intelligent, smart,
and promising, though quite accustomed to enjoy much pastime. He was a
fashionable young man for the times, wearing "dark brown hair, tied
behind with blue ribbon; clear, mi