Volume I Part 7 (1/2)

The year following, a treaty being to be held with the Indians at Carlisle, the governor sent athat they should nominate some of their members, to be joined with some members of council, as commissioners for that purpose The house na coly As those people are extreet drunk, and, when so, are very quarrelso any liquor to them; and when they complained of this restriction, we told the the treaty, ould give them plenty of rum when the business was over They proet no rum; and the treaty was conducted very orderly, and concluded to mutual satisfaction They then claimed and received the rum; this was in the afternoon; they were near one hundred ed in temporary cabins, built in the for a great noise a them, the commissioners walked to see as the reat bonfire in the middle of the square: they were all drunk,

Their dark-coloured bodies, half naked, seen only by the gloo one another with firebrands, accos, forined; there was no appeasing the tuht a nu more rum, of which we took no notice The next day, sensible they hadus that disturbance, they sent three of their old counsellors to ed the fault, but laid it upon the ru, ”_The Great Spirit, whofor so for, that use it should always be put to_: nohen he made rum, he said, 'LET THIS BE FOR THE INDIANS TO GET DRUNK WITH;' and it n of Providence to extirpate these savages, in order to make room for the cultivators of the earth, it seems not impossible that rum may be the appointed means It has already annihilated all the tribes who formerly inhabited the seacoast

In 1751, Dr Thomas Bond, a particular friend ofa hospital in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design, which has been ascribed to inally and truly his) for the reception and cure of poor sick persons, whether inhabitants of the province or strangers He was zealous and active in endeavouring to procure subscriptions for it; but the proposal being a novelty in America, and, at first, not well understood, he th he came to me with the co a public-spirited project through withoutconcerned in it ”For,” said he, ”I a, _Have you consulted Franklin on this business? And what does he think of it?_ And when I tell the it rather out of your line), they do not subscribe, but say, _they will consider it_” I inquired into the nature and probable utility of the sche from him a very satisfactory explanation, I not only subscribed to itsubscriptions from others: previous, however, to the solicitation, I endeavoured to prepare theon the subject in the newspapers, which was my usual custom in such cases, but which Dr Bond had oenerous; but, beginning to flag, I saw they would be insufficient without assistance from the assembly, and therefore proposed to petition for it, which was done The country members did not at first relish the project: they objected that it could only be serviceable to the city, and, therefore, the citizens alone should be at the expense of it; and they doubted whether the citizens theation, on the contrary, that itable to raise two thousand pounds by voluntary donations, they considered as a ant supposition, and utterly i in a bill for incorporating the contributors according to the prayer of their petition, and granting them a blank sum of money, which leave was obtained chiefly on the consideration that the house could throw the bill out if they did not like it, I drew it so as to make the important clause a conditional one, viz: ”And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors shall have ers and treasurer, and shall have raised by their contributions a capital stock of two thousand pounds value (the yearly interest of which is to be applied to the accoe for diet, attendance, advice, and medicines), and _shall make the same appear to the satisfaction of the Speaker of the asse_, that then it shall and may be lawful for the said speaker, and he is hereby required to sign an order on the provincial treasurer, for the payment of two thousand pounds, in two yearly payments, to the treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied to the founding, building, and finishi+ng of the sah; for the ht have the credit of being charitable without the expense, agreed to its passage; and then, in soliciting subscriptions aed the conditional proive, since every man's donation would be doubled: thus the clause worked both ways The subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite suift, which enabled us to carry the design into execution A convenient and handso was soon erected; the institution has, by constant experience, been found useful, and flourishes to this day; and I do not remember any of aveof it, I

It was about this time that another projector, the Rev Gilbert Tennent, ca a subscription for erecting a new ation he had gathered ainally disciples of Mr Whitefield Unwilling to reeable totheir contributions, I absolutely refused He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the naenerous and public spirited I thought it would be unbeco in me, after their kind compliance with ars, and therefore refused to give such a list He then desired I would at least give him my advice That I will do, said I; and, in the first place, I advise you to apply to all those who you knoill give so; next, to those who you are uncertain whether they will give anything or not, and show thelect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in sohed and thanked me, and said he would take my advice He did so, for he asked _everybody_, and he obtained a er sum than he expected, hich he erected the capacious and elegant -house that stands in Arch-street

Our city, though laid out with a beautiful regularity, the streets large, straight, and crossing each other at right angles, had the disgrace of suffering those streets to re unpaved, and in eather the wheels of heavy carriages ploughed themire, so that it was difficult to cross them; and in dry weather the dust was offensive I had lived near as called the Jerseyin round down the th paved with brick, so that, being once in the , but were often over their shoes in dirt to get there By talking and writing on the subject, I was at length instru the streets paved with stone between the market and the brick foot-pavement that was on the side next the houses This for soave an easy access to thepaved, whenever a carriage came out of the mud upon this pavement, it shook off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon covered with ers After so to undertake keeping the pave off the dirt frohbours' doors, for the sum of sixpence per month, to be paid by each house I then wrote and printed a paper, setting forth the advantages to the neighbourhood that reater ease in keeping our houses clean, so ht in by people's feet; the benefit to the shops by et at the, in windy weather, the dust blown in upon their goods, &c I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or tent round to see ould subscribe to an agreened, and, for a tihted with the cleanliness of the pave a convenience to all, and this raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, andto submit to a tax for that purpose After soht it into the asseland, in 1757, and did not pass till I was gone, and then with an alteration in the ht not for the better; but with an additional provision for lighting as well as paving the streets, which was a great improveiving a sa one at his door, that the people were first i all the city The honour of this public benefit has also been ascribed to entleman I did but follow his exa the forlobe lamps ere at first supplied with from London They were found inconvenient in these respects: they ado out above, but circulated in the globe, lodged on its inside, and soon obstructed the light they were intended to afford; giving, besides, the daily trouble of wiping them clean: and an accidental stroke on one of them would deested the co funnel above to draw up the s air below to facilitate the ascent of the srow dark in a few hours, as the London la; and an accidental stroke would generally break but a single pane, easily repaired I have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did not, frolobe-la them clean, learn to have such holes in their street-la made for another purpose, viz, to coming down through the in air seeht of: and, therefore, after the lamps have been lit a few hours, the streets of London are very poorly illuminated

The mention of these improvements puts ill,[11] as areat promoter of useful projects I had observed that the streets, when dry, were never swept, and the light dust carried away; but it was suffered to accumulate till eather reduced it toso but in paths kept clean by poor people with brooether and thrown up into carts open above, the sides of which suffered some of the slush at every jolt on the pavement to shake out and fall; soiven for not sweeping the dusty streets was, that the dust would fly into the s of shops and houses An accidental occurrence had instructed ht be done in a little ti a poor wo my pavement with a birch broom; she appeared very pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit of sickness I asked who employed her to sweep there; she said, ”nobody; but I aentlefolkses doors, and hopes they will give ” I bid her sweep the whole street clean, and I would give her a shi+lling; this was at nine o'clock; at noon she ca

Fro, I could scarcely believe that the as done so soon, and sent my servant to examine it, who reported that the whole street ept perfectly clean, and all the dust placed in the gutter which was in the middle; and the next rain washed it quite away, so that the paveed that if that feeble wo, active ht have done it in half the tiutter in such a narrow street, running down its middle, instead of two, one on each side, near the footway For where all the rain that falls on a street runs from the sides and h to wash away all the mud it meets with: but when divided into two channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and only makes the es and feet of horses throw and dash it upon the foot pavement (which is thereby rendered foul and slippery), and so

So or relating; but when they consider that though dust blown into the eyes of a single person or into a single shop in a windy day is but of sreat number of the instances in a populous city, and its frequent repetition, gives it weight and consequence, perhaps they will not censure very severely those who bestow soly low nature Huood fortune that seldoes that occur every day Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself and keep his razor in order, you iving hiret only re foolishly consumed it: but, in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their soers, offensive breaths, and dull razors: he shaves when most convenient to hiood instru pages, hoping they may afford hints which so lived many years in it very happily), and perhaps to so been soeneral of A the several offices and bringing the officers to account, I was, upon his death in 1753, appointed jointly with Mr Williaeneral in England The A to that of Britain; ere to have 600 a year between us, if we could make that sum out of the profits of the office To do this, a variety of improvements were necessary; some of these were inevitably at first expensive; so that, in the first four years, the office becaan to repay us; and, before I was displaced by a freak of the ht it to yield _three times_ as much clear revenue to the crown as the postoffice of Ireland Since that imprudent transaction, they have received fro!

The business of the postoffice occasioned e of Caree of Master of Arts Yale College, in Connecticut, had beforein any college, I am to partake of their honours They were conferred in consideration of my improvements and discoveries in the electric branch of Natural Philosophy

In 1754, ith France being again apprehended, a congress of commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order of the lords of trade, to be assembled at Albany, there to confer with the chiefs of the Six Nations concerning theboth their country and ours Governor Ha received this order, acquainted the house with it, requesting they would furnish proper presents for the Indians, to be given on this occasion; and na the speaker (Mr Norris) and myself, to join Mr John Penn and Mr Secretary Peters, as commissioners to act for Pennsylvania The house approved the noh they did notout of the province; and we met the other commissioners at Albany about the middle of June In our way thither I projected and drew up a plan for the union of all the colonies under one governht be necessary for defence and other ih New-York, I had there shown entle fortified by their approbation, I ventured to lay it before the Congress It then appeared that several of the commissioners had formed plans of the same kind A previous question was first taken, whether a union should be established, which passed in the affirmative unanimously A committee was then appointed, one member from each colony, to consider the several plans and report Mine happened to be preferred, and, with a few aeneral governeneral, appointed and supported by the crown; and a grand council, to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several colonies, met in their respective asseress went on daily, hand in hand with the Indian business

Many objections and difficulties were started, but at length they were all overcoreed to, and copies ordered to be transmitted to the board of trade and to the asseular: the asseht there was too ed to have too much of the _democratic_; the board of trade did not approve of it, nor recommend it for the approbation of his majesty: but another scheme was forovernors of the provinces, with some members of their respective councils, were toof forts, &c, and to draw on the treasury of Great Britain for the expense, which was afterward to be refunded by an act of Parlia a tax on America My plan, withthe winter following in Boston, I had much conversation with Governor shi+rley upon both the plans Part of what passed between us on this occasionthose papers The different and contrary reasons of dislike to my plan makes me suspect that it was really the true medium, and I am still of opinion it would have been happy for both sides if it had been adopted The colonies, so united, would have been sufficiently strong to defend theland, of course the subsequent pretext for taxing America; and the bloody contest it occasioned would have been avoided: but such mistakes are not new: history is full of the errors of states and princes

”Look, round the habitable world, ho their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!”

Those who govern, having enerally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects The best public measures are, therefore, seldom _adopted froovernor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down to the asse to himent, and therefore recommended it as orthy their closest and most serious attention”

The house, however, by the ement of a certain ht not very fair), and reprobated it without paying any attention to it at all, to my no small mortification

In my journey to Boston this year, I overnor, Mr Morris, just arrived there froland, hoht a commission to supersede Mr Hamilton, who, tired with the disputes his proprietary instructions subjected hiht he must expect as uncomfortable an administration I said ”No; you may, on the contrary, have a very comfortable one, if you will only take care not to enter into any dispute with the assembly” ”My dear friend,” said he, pleasantly, ”how can you advise ; it is one of ard I have for your counsel, I promise you I will, if possible, avoid the eloquent, an acute sophister, and, therefore, generally successful in arguht up to it fro his children to dispute with one another for his diversion, while sitting at table after dinner; but I think the practice was not wise; for, in the course ofpeople are generally unfortunate in their affairs They get victory soood-will, which would be ofto Philadelphia and I to Boston In returning, I met at New-York with the votes of the assembly of Pennsylvania, by which it appeared that, notwithstanding his proh contention; and it was a continual battle between theovernot back to my seat in the asse his speeches and es, and by the cohts

Our answers, as well as his es, were often tart, and sometimes indecently abusive; and as he knerote for the asseined that, ethroats

But he was so good-natured a man, that no personal difference between hiether

One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, we o ho; I a ay conversation after supper, he told us jokingly that he much adive hiovernree with his people, he ht sell them One of his friends, who sat next to me, said, ”Franklin, why do you continue to side with those Quakers? had you not better sell theovernor,” said I, ”has not yet _blacked_ theh” He, indeed, had laboured hard to blacken the asse as fast as he laid it on, and placed it in return thick upon his own face; so that, finding he was likely to be _negrofied_ hirew tired of the contest and quitted the govern to the proprietaries our hereditary governors; hen any expense was to be incurred for the defence of their province, with incredible meanness, instructed their deputies to pass no act for levying the necessary taxes, unless their vast estates were in the same act expressly exonerated; and they had even taken the bonds of these deputies to observe such instructions The asseh constrained to bend at last At length Captain Denny, as governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey those instructions; how that was brought about I shall show hereafter

But I aot forward too fast with my story: there are still so the ad in a overnment of Massachusetts Bay projected an attack upon Crown Point, and sent Mr

Quincy to Pennsylvania, and Mr Pownal (afterward Governor Pownal) to New-York, to solicit assistance As I was in the assembly, knew its temper, and was Mr Quincy's countryman, he applied to me for my influence and assistance: I dictated his address to them, which ell received They voted an aid of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions But the governor refusing his assent to their bill (which included this with other suranted for the use of the crown) unless a clause were inserted exe any part of the tax that would be necessary, the asseland, were at a loss how to accoovernor to obtain his assent, but he was obstinate I then suggested a overnor, by orders on the trustees of the loan-office, which, by law, the asse There was, indeed, little or no money at the time in the office, and therefore I proposed that the orders should be payable in a year, and to bear an interest of five per cent: with these orders I supposed the provisions ht easily be purchased The assembly, with very little hesitation, adopted the proposal; the orders were immediately printed, and I was one of the con and dispose of the them was the interest of all the paper currency then extant in the province upon loan, together with the revenue arising fro known to be more than sufficient, they obtained credit, and were not only taken in payment for the provisions, butby theeous, as they bore interest while upon hand, and erly all bought up, and in a feeeks none of them were to be seen Thus this important affair was by my means completed Mr Quincy returned thanks to the assehly pleased with the success of his embassy, and ever after bore for me the most cordial and affectionate friendshi+p

The British govern to permit the union of the colonies as proposed at Albany, and to trust that union with their defence, lest they should thereby grow too th (suspicion and jealousies at this ti entertained of theular English troops for that purpose He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia, and thence marched to Fredericktown, in Maryland, where he halted for carriages Our asse froainst them as averse to the service, wished eneral, under the guise of proposing to settle with hireatest celerity and certainty, the despatches between hiovernors of the several provinces, hom he must necessarily have continual correspondence, and of which they proposed to pay the expense

My son accoeneral at Fredericktoaiting ih the back parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect wagons

I stayed with him several days, dined with hi his prejudices, by the information of what the assembly had, before his arrival, actually done, and were still willing to do, to facilitate his operations When I was about to depart, the returns of wagons to be obtained were brought in, by which it appeared that they amounted only to twenty-five, and not all of those were in serviceable condition The general and the officers were surprised; declared the expedition was then at an end, being inorantly sending the their stores, baggage, &c, not less than one hundred and fifty wagons being necessary I happened to say, I thought it was a pity they had not been landed in Pennsylvania, as in that country alerly laid hold of my words, and said, ”Then you, sir, who are a man of interest there, can probably procure the you will undertake it” I asked what terons; and I was desired to put on paper the terreed to; and a coly prepared immediately What those terms ill appear in the advertise, froreat and sudden effect it produced, a piece of soth, as follows: