"No, indeed; that would be quite impossible. Besides, I do not want it on my hands."
"Why?" inquired Benjamin.
"Because I am satisfied that I am not adapted to this business. I was bred a farmer, and ought not to have left that occupation."
"Drink water, as I do, and you may succeed as well at printing as farming. A farmer who drinks to excess never succeeds."
"Drink or no drink," retorted Meredith, "I am sick of this business and shall quit. Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap, and I am going with them, and shall follow my old employment."
"Then you will sell out your interest to me, if I understand you?"
That was what Benjamin wanted.
"Certainly; you can get enough friends to help you. If you will take the debts of the company upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinquish the partnership and leave the whole in your hands."
"I will accept your proposition, and we will draw up the papers at once," said Benjamin.
The bargain was consummated; and the proper papers were prepared, signed, and sealed. Benjamin accepted the generous aid of Coleman and Grace, and became sole proprietor of the printing house and Pennsylvania Gazette. This was near the close of the year 1729, a few months after the Gazette came into his hands.
A few months more elapsed, when he concluded to accept the offer of the gentleman, spoken of on a previous page, to provide a stock of stationery, and opened a stationer's shop in his building. This proved a good investment, and led to his marriage, September 1, 1730, to Miss Deborah Read.