He learned to write very well, indeed; but he did not care so much for arithmetic, and so failed to do what was expected of him.
When he was ten years old he had to leave school altogether. His father needed his help; and though Benjamin was but a small boy, there were many things that he could do.
He never attended school again. But he kept on studying and reading; and we shall find that he afterwards became the most learned man in America.
Benjamin's father was a soap-boiler and candle-maker. And so when the boy was taken from school, what kind of work do you think he had to do?
He was kept busy cutting wicks for the candles, pouring the melted tallow into the candle-moulds, and selling soap to his father's customers.
Do you suppose that he liked this business?
He did not like it at all. And when he saw the ships sailing in and out of Boston harbor, he longed to be a sailor and go to strange, far-away lands, where candles and soap were unknown.
But his father would not listen to any of his talk about going to sea.
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