Dr. Franklin once received a very useful lesson from the excellent Dr. Cotton Mather, which he thus relates in a letter to his son:--"The last time I saw your father was in 1724. On taking my leave, he showed me a shorter way out of the house, by a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam over head. We were still talking, and as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning towards him, he said hastily, "Stoop, stoop!" I did not understand him till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man who never missed an opportunity of giving instruction; and upon this he said to me: 'You are young and have the world before you. Learn to stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps.' This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me. And I often think of it when I see pride mortified, and misfortune brought upon people by their carrying their heads too high." "An ambassador" is defined as a man sent abroad to lie for the good of his country. To compensate them for the wear and tear of conscience, the country allows him a larger salary than any other subordinate they employ. [7] Communicated |