Founding Father and inventor Benjamin Franklin, in his letter, “The Whistle”, writes to the young wife of Brillon – a treasury official – and describes the lesson he learned about value from purchasing an overpriced whistle when he was seven years old. Franklin warns Madame Brillon of sacrificing too much for certain treasures of life such as attention, wealth, pleasure, or materials. He thoroughly lists several ways in which a person can “pay too much for the whistle”, indicating that it is often overlooked and frequently consequential to the person’s happiness (para. 7). Franklin casually builds to his main point through the use of an anecdote to develop a personal relationship with the reader, and to explain his experience in learning to