Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/34

24 the ſecret till my ſlender ſtock of information and knowledge for ſuch performances was pretty completely exhauſted, when I made myſelf known.

My brother, upon this diſcovery, began to entertain a little more reſpect for me; but he ſtill regarded himſelf as my maſter, and treated me like an apprentice. He thought himſelf entitled to the fame ſervices from me as from any other perſon. On the contrary, I conceived that, in many inſtances, he was too rigorous, and that, on the part of a brother, I had a right to expect indulgence. Our diſputes were frequently brought before my father; and either my brother was generally in the wrong, or I was the better pleader of the two, for judgment was commonly given in my favour. But my brother was paſſionate, and often had recourſe to blows; a circumſtance which I took in very ill part. This ſevere and tyrannical treatment contributed, I believe, to imprint on my mind that averſion to arbitrary power, which during my whole life I have ever preſerved. My apprenticeſhip became inſupportable to me, and I continually ſighed for an opportunity of ſhortening it, which at length unexpectedly offered. An article inſerted in our paper, upon ſome political ſubject which I have now forgotten, gave offence to the Aſſembly. My brother was taken into cuſtody, cenſured, and ordered into confinement for a month, becauſe, as I preſume, he would not diſcover the author. I was alſo taken up, and examined before the council; but though I gave them no ſatisfaction, they contented themſelves with reprimanding, and then diſmiſſed me; conſidering me probably as bound, in quality of apprentice, to keep my maſter's ſecrets.