For the present he means
that you should help your father, I have no doubt of that; and you
must do the best for him that you can."
"That is what I intend to do, however much I dislike the business. I
want to help father all I can; he has a hard time enough to provide
for us."
Benjamin expressed himself as frankly to his father, adding, "I really
wish you would engage in some other business."
"And starve, too?" rejoined his father. "In such times as these we
must be willing to do what will insure us a livelihood. I know of no
other business that would give me a living at present--certainly none
that I am qualified to pursue."
"Well, I should rather make soap and candles than starve, on the
whole," Benjamin remarked in reply; "but nothing short of starvation
could make me willing to follow the business."
"One other thing ought to make you willing to do such work," added his
father; "a determination to be industrious. Idleness is the parent of
vice. Boys like you should be industrious even if they do not earn
their salt. It is better for them to work for nothing than to be
idle."
"I think they better save their strength till they can earn
something," said Benjamin. "People must like to work better than I do,
to work for nothing."
"You do not understand me; I mean to say that it is so important for
the young to form industrious habits, that they better work for
nothing than to be idle.
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