CHAPTER XXIV.

THE JUNTO.

A Literary Club--What Franklin said of it--A New Proposition for a Library--Scarcity of Books--Franklin the Father of Circulating Libraries--Size of the First Library now--Questions asked by the "Junto"--Their Practical Character--Questions Discussed--Members limited to Twelve--No Improvement on the "Junto"--Franklin's Hand seen in it--All but one or two Members became Respectable, and most of them distinguished Men--Studying French, Italian, and Spanish-- Playing Chess--Studying Latin--The "Junto" Copied in England-- Canning--Franklin begins to think more of Religion--Doubting his Doubts--A Minister calls upon him--Goes to Meeting--The Fatal Sermon--Power of Conscience--Prays, and his Form of Prayer-- His Book of Goodness--Rules of Conduct, and what they show 244-253