Nevertheless, when James, the elder brother, was imprisoned for alleged
seditious articles printed by him, the paper was for a time issued in
young Benjamin's name. But the quarrel continued, the boy was imposed
upon by his master, and brother, as naturally as might have been
expected under the circumstances of the younger having the monopoly of
all the intellectual ability that existed between the two, and in 1723,
being then only seventeen, he broke his indentures, a heinous offense in
those times, and ran away, first to New York and then to Philadelphia,
where he found employment as a journeyman printer. He had attained a
skill in the business not usual at the time.
The boy had, up to this time, read everything that came into his hands.
A book of any kind had a charm for him. His father observing this had
intended him for the ministry, that being the natural drift of a pious
father's mind in the time of Franklin's youth, when he discovered any
inclination to books on the part of a son. But, later, he would neglect
the devotions of the Sabbath if he had found a book, notwithstanding the
piety of his family.
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