I am better qualified to be a printer than a cutler."

"Well, you are a good reader, and have an intellectual turn, being
fond of books; and a printing office must have more opportunities for
mental improvement than the shop of a cutler. A type-setter can be
acquiring new and valuable ideas when he is setting up written
articles."

"If that is so I should like it well; and I should think it might be
as you say," Benjamin answered. "I might have a better chance to
read."

"Of course you would. You may have matter to put in type that is as
interesting and profitable as any thing you find in books. Indeed,
James will no doubt have pamphlets and books to publish before long.
All that you read in books went through the printer's hand first."

"I had not thought of that," said Benjamin, quite taken with his
father's ideas about the printing business. "I think I should like it
better than almost any thing else. How long will it take to learn the
trade?"

"I suppose that it will take some time, though I know very little
about it. You are twelve years of age now, and you can certainly
acquire the best knowledge of the trade by the time you are
twenty-one."

"That is a long time," suggested Benjamin; "nine years ought to make
the best printer there is. But that is no objection to me; I shall do
as you think best."