colonel; but conceiving myself unfit, I de-advised me to resign, as more consistent with clined that station, and recommended Mr. my honour than being turned out. My anLawrence, a fine person, and a man of in-swer to him was, that I had read or heard of fluence, who was accordingly appointed. I some public man, who made it a rule, never then proposed a lottery to defray the expense of building a battery below the town, and furnished with cannon: it filled expeditiously, and the battery was soon erected, the merlons being framed of logs and filled with earth. We bought some old cannon from Boston, but these not being sufficient, we wrote to London for more; soliciting at the same time our proprietaries for some assistance, though without much expectation of obtaining it. Meanwhile, colonel Lawrence, Allen, Abraham Taylor, Esquires, and myself, were sent to New York by the associators, commissioned to borrow some cannon of governor Clinton. He at first refused us peremptorily; but at a dinner with his council, where there was great drinking of madeira wine, as the custom of that place then was, he softened by degrees, and said he would lend us six. After a few more bumpers he advanced to ten; and at length he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. They were fine cannon, 18 pounders, with their carriages, which were soon transported and mounted on our batteries, where the associators kept a nightly guard while the war lasted and among the rest, I regularly took my turn of duty there as a common soldier. : My activity in these operations was agreeable to the governor and council; they took me into confilence, and I was consulted by them in every measure, where their concurrence was thought useful to the association. Calling in the aid of religion, I proposed to them the proclaiming a fast, to promote reformation, and implore the blessing of heaven on our undertaking. They embraced the motion, but as it was the first fast ever thought of in the province, the secretary had no precedent from which to draw the proclamation. My education in New England, where a fast is proclaimed every year, was here of some advantage: I drew it in the accustomed style, it was translated into German, printed in both languages, and circulated through the province. This gave the clergy of the different sects an opportunity of influencing their congregations to join in the association, and it would probably have been general among al. but the Quakers, if the peace had not soon intervened. It was thought by some of my friends, that by my activity in these affairs, I should offend that sect, and thereby lose my interest in the assembly of the province, where they formed a great majority. A young man who had likewise some friends in the assembly, and wished to succeed me as their clerk, acquainted me that it was decided to displace me at the next election; and he through good will to ask for an office, and never to refuse one when offered to him. I approve, said I, of this rule, and shall practise it with a small addition; I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever RESIGN an office. If they will have my office of clerk to dispose of it to another, they shall take it from me. I will not, by giving it up, lose my right of some time or other making reprisal on my adversaries. I heard however no more of this: I was chosen again unanimously as clerk at the next election. Possibly as they disliked my late intimacy with the members of council who had joined the governors in all the disputes about military preparations, with which the house had long been harassed, they might have been pleased if I would voluntarily have left them; but they did not care to displace me on account merely of my zeal for the association, and they could not well give another reason. Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defence of the country was not disagreeable to any of them, provided they were not required to assist in it. And I found that a much greater number of them than I could have imagined, though against offensive war, were clearly for the defensive. Many pamphlets pro and con. were published on the subject, and some by good Quakers, in favour of defence; which I believe convinced most of their young people. A transaction in our fire company gave me some insight into their prevailing sentiments. It had been proposed that we should encourage the scheme for building a battery by laying out the present stock, then about sixty pounds, in tickets of the lottery. By our rules no money could be disposed of till the next meeting after the proposal. The company consisted of thirty members, of which twenty-two were Quakers, and eight only of other persuasions. We eight punctually attended the meeting; but though we thought that some of the Quakers would join us, we were by no means sure of a majority. Only one Quaker, Mr. James Morris, appeared to oppose the measure. He expressed much sorrow that it had ever been proposed, as he said friends were all against it, and it would create such discord as might break up the company. We told him that we saw no reason for that; we were the minority, and if friends were against the measure, and out-voted us, we must and should, agreeable to the usage of all societies, submit. When the hour for business arrived, it was moved to put this to the vote: he allowed we might do it by the rules, but as he could assure us that a number of members intended to be present for the purpose of opposing it, it would be but candid to allow a little time for their appearing. While we were disputing this, a waiter came to tell me, two gentlemen below desired to speak with me; I went down, and found there two of our Quaker members. They told me there were eight of them assembled at a tavern just by; that they were determined to come and vote with us if there should be occasion, which they hoped would not be the case, and desired we would not call for their assistance, if we could do without it; as their voting for such a measure might embroil them with their elders and friends; being thus secure of a majority, I went up, and after a little seeming hesitation, agreed to a delay of another hour. This Mr. Morris allowed to be extremely fair. Not one of his opposing friends appeared, at which he expressed great surprise; and at the expiration of the hour, we carried the resolution eight to one: and as of the 22 Quakers, 8 were ready to vote with us, and 13 by their absence manifested that they were not inclined to oppose the measure, I afterwards estimated the proportion of Quakers sincerely against defence as 1 to 21 only. For these were all regular members of the society, and in good reputation among them, and who had notice of what was proposed at that meeting. The honourable and learned Mr. Logan, who had always been of that sect, wrote an address to them, declaring his approbation of defensive war, and supported his opinion by many strong arguments: he put into my hands sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets for the battery, with directions to apply what prizes might be drawn wholly to that service. He told me the following anecdote of his old master, William Penn, respecting defence:He came over from England when a young man, with that proprietary, and as his secretary. It was war time, and their ship was chased by an armed vessel, supposed to be an enemy. Their captain prepared for defence; but told William Penn, and his company of Quakers, that he did not expect their assistance, and they might retire into the cabin; which they did, except James Logan, who chose to stay upon deck, and was quartered to a gun. The supposed enemy proved a friend, so there was no fighting: but when the secretary went down to communicate the intelligence, William Penn rebuked him severely for staying upon deck, and undertaking to assist in defending the vessel, contrary to the principles of Friends; especially as it had not been required by the captain. This reprimand, being before all the company, piqued the secretary, who answered: "I being thy servant, why did thee not order me to come down; but thee was willing enough that I should stay and help to fight the ship, when thee thought there was danger." My being many years in the assembly, a majority of which were constantly Quakers, gave me frequent opportunities of seeing the embarrassment given them by their principle against war, whenever application was made to them, by order of the crown, to grant aids for military purposes. They were unwilling to offend government on the one hand, by a direct refusal; and their friends (the body of the Quakers) on the other, by a compliance contrary to their principles; using a variety of evasion to avoid complying, and modes of disguising the compliance, when it became unavoidable. The common mode at last was, to grant money under the phrase of its being "for the king's use," and never to inquire how it was applied. But if the demand was not directly from the crown, that phrase was found not so proper, and some other was to be invented. Thus, when powder was wanting, (I think it was for the garrison at Louisburg,) and the government of New England solicited a grant of some from Pennsylvania, which was much urged on the house, by governor Thomas; they would not grant money to buy powder, because that was an ingredient of war; but they voted an aid to New England of three thousand pounds to be put in the hands of the governor, and appropriated it for the purchase of bread, flour, wheat, or other grain. Some of the council, desirous of giving the house still further embarrassment, advised the governor' not to accept provision, as not being the thing he had demanded: but he replied, "I shall take the money, for I understand very well their meaning, other grain is gunpowder;" which he accordingly bought, and they never objected to it. It was in allusion to this fact, that when in our fire company, we feared the success of our proposal in favour of the lottery, and I had said to a friend of mine, one of our members, "if we fail, let us move the purchase of a fire engine with the money; the Quakers can have no objection to that: and then, if you nominate me, and I you, as a committee for that purpose, we will buy a great gun, which is certainly a fire engine.” I see, says he, you have improved by being so long in the assembly; your equivocal project would be just a match for their wheat or other grain. Those embarrassments that the Quakers suffered, from having established and published it as one of their principles, that no kind of war was lawful, and which being once published, they could not afterwards, (however they might change their minds,) easily get rid of, reminds me of what I think a more prudent conduct in another sect among us— that of the Dunkers. I was acquainted with one of its founders, Michael Welfare, soon after it appeared. He complained to me that they were grievously calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions, and charged with abominable principles and practices, to which they were utter strangers. I told him this had always been the case with new sects, and that to put a stop to such abuse, I imagined it might be well to publish the articles of their belief, and the rules of their discipline. He said that it had been proposed among them, but not agreed to for this reason:When we were first drawn together as a society, (said he,) it had pleased God to enlighten our minds so far as to see that some doctrines, which were esteemed truths, were errors; and that others which we have esteemed errors, were real truths. From time to time he has been pleased to afford us farther light, and our principles have been improving, and our errors diminishing: now, we are not sure that we are arrived at the end of this progression, and at the perfection of spiritual or theological knowledge; and we fear that if we should once print our confession of faith, we should feel ourselves as if bound and confined by it, and perhaps be unwilling to receive further improvement; and our successors still more so, as conceiving what their elders and founders had done, to be something sacred, never to be departed from." This modesty in a sect, is perhaps a singular instance in the history of mankind, every other sect supposing itself in possession of all truth, an that those who differ, are so far in the wrong: like a man travelling in foggy weather; those at some distance before him on the road he sees wrapt up in the fog, as well as those behind him, and also the people in the fields on each side; but near him all appear clear; though in truth, he is as much in the fog as any of them. To avoid this kind of embarrassment, the Quakers have of late years been gradually declining the pubtic service in the assembly and in the magistracy, choosing rather to quit their power than their principle. In order of time, I should have mentioned before, that having, in 1742, invented an open stove for the better warming of rooms, and at the same time saving fuel, as the fresh air admitted was warmed in entering, I made a present of the model to Mr. Robert Grace, one of my early friends, who having an iron furnace, found the casting of the plates for these stoves a profitable thing, as they were growing in demand. To promote that demaud, I wrote and published a pamphlet, entitled, "An Account of the new-invented Pennsylvania Fire Places; wherein their construction and manner of operation is particularly explained, their advantages above every method of warming rooms demonstrated; and all objections that have been raised against the use of them, answered and obviated, &c."* This pamphlet had a good effect; governor Thomas was so pleased *Sc Papers on Philosophical Subjects. with the construction of this stove as described in it, that he offered to give me a patent for the sole vending of them for a term of years; but I declined it, from a principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions, viz: That as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously. An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a good deal of my pamphlet, and working it up into his own, and making some small changes in the machine, which rather hurt its operation, got a patent for it there, and made, as I was told, a little fortune by it. And this is not the only instance of patents taken out of my inventions by others, though not always with the same success; which I never contested, as having no desire of profiting by patents myself, and hating disputes. The use of these fire places in very many houses, both here in Pennsylvania, and the neighbouring states, has been, and is, a great saving of wood to the inhabitants. Peace being concluded, and the association business therefore at an end, I turned my thoughts again to the affair of establishing an academy. The first step I took was to associate in the design a number of active friends, of whom the Junto furnished a good part: the next was to write and publish a pamphlet, entitled, “ Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania." This I distributed among the principal inhabitants gratis: and as soon as I could suppose their minds a little prepared by the perusal of it, I set on foot a subscription for opening and supporting an academy; it was to be paid in quotas yearly for five years; by so dividing it I judged the subscription might be larger; and I believe it was so, amounting to no less, if I remember right, than five thousand pounds. In the introduction to these proposals, I stated their publication not as an act of mine, but of some public-spirited gentlemen; avoiding as much as I could, according to my usual rule, the presenting myself to the public as the author of any scheme for their benefit. The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate execution, chose out of their number twenty-four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, then attorney-general, and myself, to draw up constitutions for the government of the academy; which being done and signed, a house was hired, masters engaged, and the schools opened; I think in the same year 1749. The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon found too small, and we were looking out for a piece of ground, properly situated, with intent to build, when accident threw into our way a large house ready built, which, with a few alterations, might well serve our printing office, paying me punctually my purpose: this was the building beforemen- share of the profits. This partnership contioned, erected by the hearers of Mr. White- tinued eighteen years, successfully for us field, and was obtained for us in the following manner. It is to be noted, that the contributions to this building being made by people of different sects, care was taken in the nomination of trustees, in whom the building and ground were to be vested, that a predominancy should not be given to any sect, lest in time that predominancy might be a means of appropriating the whole to the use of such sect, contrary to the original intention; it was for this reason that one of each sect was appointed; viz. one Church of England man, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian, &c., who, in case of vacancy by death, were to fill it by election among the contributors. The Moravian happened not to please his colleagues, and on his death they resolved to have no other of that sect; the difficulty then was, how to avoid having two of some other sect, by means of the new choice. Several persons were named, and for that reason not agreed to: at length one mentioned me, with the observation, that I was merely an honest man, and of no sect at all, which prevailed with them to choose me. The enthusiasm which existed when the house was built, had long since abated, and its trustees had not been able to procure fresh contributions for paying the ground rent, and discharging some other debts the building had occasioned, which embarrassed them greatly. Being now a member of both boards of trustees, that for the building, and that for the academy, I had a good opportunity of negociating with both, and brought them finally to an agreement, by which the trustees for the building were to cede it to those of the academy; the latter undertaking to discharge the debt, to keep for ever open in the building a large hall for occasional preachers, according to the original intention, and maintain a free school for the instruction of poor children. Writings were accordingly drawn; and on paying the debts, the trustees of the academy were put in possession of the premises; and by dividing the great and lofty hall into stories, and different rooms above and below for the several schools, and purchasing some additional ground, the whole was soon made fit for our purpose, and the scholars removed into the building. The whole care and trouble of agreeing with the workmen, purchasing materials, and superintending the work, fell upon me, and I went through it the more cheerfully, as it did not then interfere with my private business; having the year before taken a very able, industrious, and honest partner, Mr. David Hall, with whose character I was well acquainted, as he had worked for me four years; he took off my hands all care of the both. The trustees of the academy after a while, were incorporated by a charter from the governor; their funds were increased by contributions in Britain, and grants of land from the proprietaries, to which the assembly has since made considerable addition; and thus was established the present university of Philadelphia. I have been continued one of its trustees from the beginning, (now near forty years,) and have had the very great pleasure of seeing a number of the youth who have received their education in it, distinguished by their improved abilities, serviceable in public stations, and ornaments to their country.. When I was disengaged myself, as abovementioned, from private business, I flattered myself that by the sufficient, though moderate fortune I had acquired, I had found leisure during the rest of my life for philosophical studies and amusements. I purchased all Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had come from England to lecture in Philadelphia, and I proceeded in my electrical experiments with great alacrity; but the public now considering me as a man of leisure, laid hold of me for their purposes; every part of our civil government, and almost at the same time, imposing some duty upon me. The governor put me into the commission of the peace; the corporation of the city chose me one of the common council, and soon after alderman, and the citizens at large elected me a burgess to represent them in assembly; this latter station was the more agreeable to me, as I grew at length tired with sitting there to hear the debates, in which as clerk I could take no part; and which were often so uninteresting, that I was induced to amuse myself with making magic squares or circles,*.or any thing to avoid weariness; and I conceived my becoming a member, would enlarge my power of doing good. I would not, however, insinuate that my ambition was not flattered by all these promotions: it certainly was; for, considering my low beginning, they were great things to me: and they were still more pleasing, as being so many spontaneous testimonies of the public good opinion, and by me entirely unsolicited. The office of justice of the peace I tried a little, by attending a few courts, and sitting on the bench to hear causes; but finding that more knowledge of the common law than 1 possessed was necessary to act in that station with credit, I gradually withdrew from it; excusing myself by my being obliged to attend the higher duties of a legislator in the *See several of these, in " Papers on Subjects of Phi losophy, &c." assembly. My election to this trust was repeated every year for ten years, without my ever asking any elector for his vote, or signifying either directly or indirectly any desire of being chosen. On taking my seat in the house, my son was appointed their clerk. In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of mine, conceived the idea of esta blishing a hospital in Philadelphia, (a very beneficent design, which has been ascribed to me, but was originally and truly his,) for the reception and cure of poor sick persons, whe ther inhabitants of the province, or streger He was zealous and active in endes uri.g to procure subscriptions for it; but the proposal being a novelty in America, and at first not well understood, he met but with little success. At length he came to me with the compliment, that he found there was no such a thing as carrying a public-spirited project through without my being concerned in it. "For," said he, "I am often asked by those to whom I propose subscribing, Have you consulted Franklin on this business! And The year following, a treaty being to be held with the Indians at Carlisle, the governor sent a message to the house, proposing that they should nominate some of their members, to be joined with some members of council, as conmissioners for that purpose. The house nimed the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself; and being commissioned, we went to Carlisle, anl met the Indians accordingly. As those people are extremely apt to get drunk, and when so are very quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly forbade the selling any liquor to then; and when they complained of this re-what does he think of it? And when I tell striction, we told them, that if they would con- them that I have not, (supposing it rather out tinue sober during the treaty, we would give of your line,) they do not subscribe, but say, them plenty of rum when the business was they will consider it." I inquired into the over. They promised this, and they kept their nature and probable utility of the scheme, promise, because they could get no rum; and and receiving from him a very satisfactory the treaty was conducted very orderly, and explanation, I not only subscribed to it myconcluded to mutual satisfaction. They then self, but engaged heartily in the design of claimed and received the rum; this was in procuring subscriptions from others: previous the afternoon; they were near one hundred however to the solicitation, I endeavoured to men, women, and children, and were lodged prepare the minds of the people, by writing in temporary cabins, built in the form of a on the subject in the newspapers, which was square, just without the town. In the even-my usual custom in such cases, but which Dr. ing, hearing a great noise among them, the commissioners walked to see what was the matter; we found they had made a great bonfire in the middle of the square: they were all drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting. Their dark-coloured bodies, halfnaked, seen only by the gloomy light of the bonfire, running after and beating one another with firebrands, accompanied by their horrid yellings, formed a scene the most resembling our ideas of hell that could well be imagined; there was no appeasing the tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At midnight a number of them came thundering at our door, demanding more rum, of which we took no notice. The next day, sensible they had mis-ed as a most extravagant supposition, and behaved in giving us that disturbance, they sent three of their old counsellors to make their apology. The orator acknowledged the fault, but laid it upon the rum; and then endeavoured to excuse the rum, by saying, "The Great Spirit, who made all things, made every thing for some use, and whatever use he designed any thing for, that use it should always be put to: now, when he made rum, he said, 'LET THIS BE FOR THE INDIANS TO GET DRUNK WITH;' and it must be so." And, indeed, if it be the design 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 sea coast. VOL. I....G 5 Bond had omitted. The subscriptions afterwards were more free and generous; but beginning to flag, I saw they would be insufficient, without some 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 themselves generally approved of it. My allegation on the contrary, that it met with such approbation as to leave no doubt of our being able to raise two thousand pounds by voluntary donations, they consider utterly impossible. On this I formed my plan; and asking leave to bring 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 met and chosen their managers 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 accommodation of the sick poor in the said hospital, and of charge for diet, attend |