IN his autobiography Franklin relates that his father
"had an excellent constitution of body, was of
middle stature, but well set, and very strong," qualities
all inherited by the son. From the maternal side the
boy derived "likewise an excellent constitution"; and
he asserts that "I never knew either my father or
mother to have any sickness but that of which they
dy'd, he at 89, and she at 85 years of age."

This heritage of soundness and strength was a large
element in the success Franklin achieved. He himself
took pride that in the printing-office where he worked
during his first London sojourn, "on occasion, I carried
up and down stairs a large form of types in each hand,
when others carried but one in both hands." After he
set up as a printer for himself, he often worked till far

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