{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48138/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48138","id":"gutenberg_48138","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48138","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Politics","Conduct of life -- Early works to 1800","Electricity -- Early works to 1850","Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790","Physics -- Early works to 1800","Statesmen -- United States -- Biography","United States -- History -- 1783-1815 -- Sources","United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Sources"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n This is Volume 3 of a 3-volume set. The other two volumes are also\n accessible in Project Gutenberg using\n https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48136 and\n https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48137.\n\n Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\n Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n More detail can be found at the end of the book.\n\n\n\n\n The\n WORKS\n Of\n BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, L.L.D.\n\n VOL. 3.\n\n [Illustration: (Stalker Sculptor.)]\n\n PRINTED,\n\n for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, Paternoster Row, London.\n\n\n\n\n THE\n COMPLETE\n WORKS,\n IN\n PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND MORALS,\n OF THE LATE\n DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,\n NOW FIRST COLLECTED AND ARRANGED:\n WITH\n MEMOIRS OF HIS EARLY LIFE,\n WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.\n\n IN THREE VOLUMES.\n\n VOL. III.\n\n London:\n\n PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD;\n AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME,\n PATERNOSTER-ROW.\n\n 1806.\n\n JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,\n LONDON.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n VOL. III.\n\n\n PAPERS ON AMERICAN SUBJECTS BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY\n TROUBLES.\n\n _Page._\n\n Albany papers; containing, I. reasons and motives on which the\n plan of union for the colonies was formed;--II. reasons against\n partial unions;--III. and the plan of union drawn by B. F. and\n unanimously agreed to by the commissioners from New Hampshire,\n Massachusett's Bay, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland,\n and Pensylvania, met in congress at Albany, in July 1754, to consider\n of the best means of defending the king's dominions in America,\n &c. a war being then apprehended; with the reasons or\n motives for each article of the plan 3\n\n Albany papers continued. I. letter to Governor Shirley, concerning\n the imposition of direct taxes upon the colonies, without their\n consent 30\n\n II. Letter to the same; concerning direct taxes in the colonies imposed\n without consent, indirect taxes, and the Albany plan of\n union 31\n\n III. Letter to the same, on the subject of uniting the colonies more\n intimately with Great Britain, by allowing them representatives\n in parliament 37\n\n Plan for settling two Western colonies in North America, with reasons\n for the plan, 1754 41\n\n Report of the committee of aggrievances of the assembly of Pensylvania,\n dated Feb. 22, 1757 50\n\n An historical review of the constitution and government of Pensylvania,\n from its origin; so far as regards the several points of controversy\n which have, from time to time, arisen between the several\n governors of that province, and their several assemblies. Founded\n on authentic documents 59\n\n The interest of Great Britain considered, with regard to her colonies,\n and the acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe 89\n\n Remarks and facts relative to the American paper-money 144\n\n To the freemen of Pensylvania, on the subject of a particular\n militia-bill, rejected by the proprietor's deputy or governor 157\n\n Preface by a member of the Pensylvanian assembly (Dr. Franklin)\n to the speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq. one of the members for\n Philadelphia county; in answer to the speech of John Dickinson,\n Esq. delivered in the house of the assembly of the province of\n Pensylvania, May 24, 1764, on occasion of a petition drawn up\n by order, and then under the consideration of the house, praying\n his majesty for a royal, in lieu of a proprietary government 163\n\n Remarks on a late protest against the appointment of Mr. Franklin\n as agent for this province (of Pensylvania) 203\n\n Remarks on a plan for the future management of Indian affairs 216\n\n\n PAPERS ON AMERICAN SUBJECTS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY\n TROUBLES.\n\n Causes of the American discontents before 1768 225\n\n Letter concerning the gratitude of America, and the probability and\n effects of an union with Great Britain; and concerning the repeal\n or suspension of the stamp act 239\n\n Letter from Governor Pownall to Dr. Franklin, concerning an equal\n communication of rights, privileges, &c. to America by Great\n Britain 243\n\n Minutes to the foregoing, by Dr. Franklin 244\n\n The examination of Dr. Franklin before the English house of commons,\n in February, 1766, relative to the repeal of the American\n stamp act 245\n\n Attempts of Dr. Franklin for conciliation of Great Britain with the\n colonies 286\n\n Queries from Mr. Strahan 287\n\n Answer to the preceding queries 290\n\n State of the constitution of the colonies, by Governor Pownall; with\n remarks by Dr. Franklin 299\n\n Concerning the dissentions between England and America 310\n\n A Prussian edict, assuming claims over Britain 311\n\n Preface by the British editor (Dr. Franklin) to \"The votes and\n proceedings of the freeholders, and other inhabitants of the town\n of Boston, in town-meeting assembled according to law (published\n by order of the town), &c.\" 317\n\n Account of governor Hutchinson's letters 322\n\n Rules for reducing a great empire to a small one, presented to a late\n minister, when he entered upon his administration 334\n\n State of America on Dr. Franklin's arrival there 346\n\n Proposed vindication and offer from congress to parliament, in\n 1775 347\n\n Reprobation of Mr. Strahan's parliamentary conduct 354\n\n Conciliation hopeless from the conduct of Great Britain to\n America 355\n\n Account of the first campaign made by the British forces in\n America 357\n\n Probability of a separation 358\n\n Letter to Monsieur Dumas, urging him to sound the several courts\n of Europe, by means of their ambassadors at the Hague, as to any\n assistance they may be disposed to afford America in her struggle\n for independence 360\n\n Letter from Lord Howe to Dr. Franklin 365\n\n Dr. Franklin's answer to Lord Howe 367\n\n Comparison of Great Britain and America as to credit, in 1777 372\n\n\n PAPERS, DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA, OR RELATING TO THAT\n COUNTRY, WRITTEN SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION.\n\n Remarks concerning the savages of North America 383\n\n The internal state of America; being a true description of the interest\n and policy of that vast continent 391\n\n Information to those who would remove to America 398\n\n Concerning new settlements in America 409\n\n A comparison of the conduct of the ancient Jews, and of the\n Antifederalists in the United States of America 410\n\n Final speech of Dr. Franklin in the late federal convention 416\n\n\n PAPERS ON MORAL SUBJECTS AND THE ECONOMY OF LIFE.\n\n The busy-body 421\n\n The way to wealth, as clearly shown in the preface of an old Pensylvania\n almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved 453\n\n Advice to a young tradesman 463\n\n Necessary hints to those that would be rich 466\n\n The way to make money plenty in every man's pocket 467\n\n New mode of lending money 468\n\n An economical project 469\n\n On early marriages 475\n\n Effect of early impressions on the mind 478\n\n The whistle 480\n\n A petition to those who have the superintendency of education 483\n\n The handsome and deformed leg 485\n\n Morals of chess 488\n\n The art of procuring pleasant dreams 493\n\n Dialogue between Franklin and the gout 499\n\n On the death of relatives 507\n\n The ephemera an emblem of human life 508\n\n APPENDIX, NO. I.--CONTAINING PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION,\n BUT OMITTED IN THE PRECEDING VOLUMES.\n\n Letter to Sir Hans Sloane 513\n\n Letter to Michael Collinson, Esq. 514\n\n Letter respecting captain Cook 515\n\n An address to the public, from the Pensylvania society for promoting\n the abolition of slavery, and the relief of free negroes, unlawfully\n held in bondage 517\n\n Plan for improving the condition of the free blacks 519\n\n Paper: a poem 523\n\n Plain truth; or, serious considerations on the present state of the\n city of Philadelphia, and province of Pensylvania 524\n\n Four letters to Mr. Whetley 543*\n\n APPENDIX, NO. II.--CONTAINING LETTERS BY SEVERAL\n EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF DR. FRANKLIN'S\n MANNERS AND CHARACTER.\n\n Letter from the late Dr. Price to a gentleman in America 543\n\n Letter from Mr. Thomas Jefferson to the late Dr. William Smith, of\n Philadelphia 545\n\n Letter from the late Dr. Joseph Priestly 547\n\n\n\n\n _ERRATA._\n\n _Page._ _Line._\n 24 8 from the bottom: for DAY, read LAY.\n 39 6, for iuppose, read suppose.\n 60 5 from the bottom: for Cruger, read Stuber.\n 449 7 from the bottom: for PLEIADS, read PLEIADES.\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nAMERICAN SUBJECTS\n\nBEFORE THE\n\n_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.\n\n[_The papers under the present head, of American Politics before the\nTroubles, in the volume of Dr. Franklin's works, printed for Johnson\nin 1799, from which they are nearly all taken, were divided into\ntwo parts, as if distinct from each other, viz. Papers on American\nSubjects before the Troubles; and Papers on Subjects of Provincial\nPolitics. As we can see no grounds for this distinction, we have\nbrought them together, and have placed them in the order of their\ndates, conceiving such to be the natural order of papers furnishing\nmaterials for history._]\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nAMERICAN SUBJECTS,\n\nBEFORE THE\n\n_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.\n\n\n\n\nALBANY PAPERS.\n\n _Containing_, I. _Reasons and Motives on which the_ PLAN _of_\n UNION _for the_ COLONIES _was formed_;--II. _Reasons against\n partial Unions_;--III. _And the Plan of Union drawn by B. F. and\n unanimously agreed to by the Commissioners from New Hampshire,\n Massachusett's Bay, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, and\n Pensylvania[1], met in Congress at Albany, in July 1754, to\n consider of the best Means of defending the King's Dominions in\n America, &c. a War being then apprehended; with the Reasons or\n Motives for each Article of the Plan._\n\nB. F. was one of the four commissioners from Pensylvania[2].\n\nI. _Reasons and Motives on which the Plan of Union was formed._\n\n\nThe commissioners from a number of the northern colonies being\nmet at Albany, and considering the difficulties that have always\nattended the most necessary general measures for the common defence,\nor for the annoyance of the enemy, when they were to be carried\nthrough the several particular assemblies of all the colonies;\nsome assemblies being before at variance with their governors or\ncouncils, and the several branches of the government not on terms of\ndoing business with each other; others taking the opportunity, when\ntheir concurrence is wanted, to push for favourite laws, powers,\nor points, that they think could not at other times be obtained,\nand so creating disputes and quarrels; one assembly waiting to see\nwhat another will do, being afraid of doing more than its share, or\ndesirous of doing less; or refusing to do any thing, because its\ncountry is not at present so much exposed as others, or because\nanother will reap more immediate advantage; from one or other of\nwhich causes, the assemblies of six (out of seven) colonies applied\nto, had granted no assistance to Virginia, when lately invaded by\nthe French, though purposely convened, and the importance of the\noccasion earnestly urged upon them; considering moreover, that one\nprincipal encouragement to the French, in invading and insulting the\nBritish American dominions, was their knowledge of our disunited\nstate, and of our weakness arising from such want of union; and that\nfrom hence different colonies were, at different times, extremely\nharassed, and put to great expence both of blood and treasure, who\nwould have remained in peace, if the enemy had had cause to fear the\ndrawing on themselves the resentment and power of the whole; the\nsaid commissioners, considering also the present incroachments of\nthe French, and the mischievous consequences that may be expected\nfrom them, if not opposed with our force, came to an unanimous\nresolution,--_That an union of the colonies is absolutely necessary\nfor their preservation_.\n\nThe manner of forming and establishing this union was the next point.\nWhen it was considered, that the colonies were seldom all in equal\ndanger at the same time, or equally near the danger, or equally\nsensible of it; that some of them had particular interests to manage,\nwith which an union might interfere; and that they were extremely\njealous of each other; it was thought impracticable to obtain a joint\nagreement of all the colonies to an union, in which the expence and\nburthen of defending any of them should be divided among them all;\nand if ever acts of assembly in all the colonies could be obtained\nfor that purpose, yet as any colony, on the least dissatisfaction,\nmight repeal its own act and thereby withdraw itself from the union,\nit would not be a stable one, or such as could be depended on: for if\nonly one colony should, on any disgust withdraw itself, others might\nthink it unjust and unequal that they, by continuing in the union,\nshould be at the expence of defending a colony, which refused to\nbear its proportionable part, and would therefore one after another,\nwithdraw, till the whole crumbled into its original parts. Therefore\nthe commissioners came to another previous resolution, viz. _That it\nwas necessary the union should be established by act of parliament_.\n\nThey then proceeded to sketch out a _plan of union_, which they\ndid in a plain and concise manner, just sufficient to show\ntheir sentiments of the kind of union that would best suit the\ncircumstances of the colonies, be most agreeable to the people,\nand most effectually promote his majesty's service and the general\ninterest of the British empire. This was respectfully sent to the\nassemblies of the several colonies for their consideration, and to\nreceive such alterations and improvements as they should think fit\nand necessary; after which it was proposed to be transmitted to\nEngland to be perfected, and the establishment of it there humbly\nsolicited.\n\nThis was as much as the commissioners could do[3].\n\n * * * * *\n\n\nII. _Reasons against partial Unions._\n\nIt was proposed by some of the commissioners, to form the colonies\ninto two or three distinct unions; but for these reasons that\nproposal was dropped even by those that made it: [viz.]\n\n1. In all cases where the strength of the whole was necessary to be\nused against the enemy, there would be the same difficulty in degree,\nto bring the several unions to unite together, as now the several\ncolonies; and consequently the same delays on our part and advantage\nto the enemy.\n\n2. Each union would separately be weaker than when joined by the\nwhole, obliged to exert more force, be oppressed by the expence, and\nthe enemy less deterred from attacking it.\n\n3. Where particular colonies have _selfish views_, as New York with\nregard to Indian trade and lands; or are less exposed, being covered\nby others, as New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland; or\nhave particular whims and prejudices against warlike measures in\ngeneral, as Pensylvania, where the Quakers predominate; such colonies\nwould have more weight in a partial union, and be better able to\noppose and obstruct the measures necessary for the general good, than\nwhere they are swallowed up in the general union.\n\n4. The Indian trade would be better regulated by the union of the\nwhole than by partial unions. And as Canada is chiefly supported by\nthat trade, if it could be drawn into the hands of the English (as\nit might be if the Indians were supplied on moderate terms, and by\nhonest traders appointed by and acting for the public) that alone\nwould contribute greatly to the weakening of our enemies.\n\n5. The establishing of new colonies westward on the Ohio and the\nlakes (a matter of considerable importance to the increase of British\ntrade and power, to the breaking that of the French, and to the\nprotection and security of our present colonies,) would best be\ncarried on by a joint union.\n\n6. It was also thought, that by the frequent meetings-together\nof commissioners or representatives from all the colonies, the\ncircumstances of the whole would be better known, and the good of\nthe whole better provided for; and that the colonies would by this\nconnection learn to consider themselves, not as so many independent\nstates, but as members of the same body; and thence be more ready to\nafford assistance and support to each other, and to make diversions\nin favour even of the most distant, and to join cordially in any\nexpedition for the benefit of all against the common enemy.\n\nThese were the principal reasons and motives for forming the plan of\nunion as it stands. To which may be added this, that as the union of\nthe *******\n\n The remainder of this article is lost.\n\n\nIII. _Plan of a proposed Union of the several Colonies of\nMassachusett's Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New\nYork, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,\nand South Carolina, for their mutual Defence and Security, and\nfor extending the British Settlements in North America, with the\nReasons and Motives for each Article of the Plan [as far as could be\nremembered.]_\n\nIt is proposed--That humble application be made for an act of\nparliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general\ngovernment may be formed in America, including all the said colonies,\nwithin and under which government each colony may retain its present\nconstitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be\ndirected by the said act, as hereafter follows[4].\n\n\nPRESIDENT GENERAL, AND GRAND COUNCIL.\n\n_That the said general government be administered by a president\ngeneral, to be appointed and supported by the crown; and a grand\ncouncil, to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the\nseveral colonies met in their respective assemblies._\n\nIt was thought that it would be best the president general should be\nsupported as well as appointed by the crown; that so all disputes\nbetween him and the grand council concerning his salary might be\nprevented; as such disputes have been frequently of mischievous\nconsequence in particular colonies, especially in time of public\ndanger. The quit-rents of crown-lands in America might in a short\ntime be sufficient for this purpose.--The choice of members for the\ngrand council is placed in the house of representatives of each\ngovernment, in order to give the people a share in this new general\ngovernment, as the crown has its share by the appointment of the\npresident-general.\n\nBut it being proposed by the gentlemen of the council of New York,\nand some other counsellors among the Commissioners, to alter the\nplan in this particular, and to give the governors and council of\nthe several provinces a share in the choice of the grand council, or\nat least a power of approving and confirming or of disallowing the\nchoice made by the house of representatives, it was said:\n\n\"That the government or constitution proposed to be formed by the\nplan, consists of two branches; a president general appointed by\nthe crown, and a council chosen by the people, or by the people's\nrepresentatives, which is the same thing.\n\n\"That by a subsequent article, the council chosen by the people can\neffect nothing without the consent of the president general appointed\nby the crown; the crown possesses therefore full one half of the\npower of this constitution.\n\n\"That in the British constitution, the crown is supposed to possess\nbut one third, the lords having their share.\n\n\"That this constitution seemed rather more favorable for the crown.\n\n\"That it is essential, to English liberty, [that] the subject should\nnot be taxed but by his own consent, or the consent of his elected\nrepresentatives.\n\n\"That taxes to be laid and levied by this proposed constitution will\nbe proposed and agreed to by the representatives of the people, if\nthe plan in this particular be preserved:\n\n\"But if the proposed alteration should take place, it seemed as if\nmatters may be so managed, as that the crown shall finally have the\nappointment not only of the president general, but of a majority of\nthe grand council; for seven out of eleven governors and councils are\nappointed by the crown:\n\n\"And so the people in all the colonies would in effect be taxed by\ntheir governors.\n\n\"It was therefore apprehended, that such alterations of the plan\nwould give great dissatisfaction, and that the colonies could not be\neasy under such a power in governors, and such an infringement of\nwhat they take to be English liberty.\n\n\"Besides, the giving a share in the choice of the grand council would\nnot be equal with respect to all the colonies, as their constitutions\ndiffer. In some, both governor and council are appointed by the\ncrown. In others, they are both appointed by the proprietors. In\nsome, the people have a share in the choice of the council; in\nothers, both government and council are wholly chosen by the people.\nBut the house of representatives is every where chosen by the people;\nand therefore, placing the right of choosing the grand council in the\nrepresentatives is equal with respect to all.\n\n\"That the grand council is intended to represent all the several\nhouses of representatives of the colonies, as a house of\nrepresentatives doth the several towns or counties of a colony. Could\nall the people of a colony be consulted and unite in public measures,\na house of representatives would be needless: and could all the\nassemblies conveniently consult and unite in general measures, the\ngrand council would be unnecessary.\n\n\"That a house of commons or the house of representatives, and the\ngrand council, are thus alike in their nature and intention. And\nas it would seem improper that the king or house of lords should\nhave a power of disallowing or appointing members of the house of\ncommons;--so likewise, that a governor and council appointed by\nthe crown should have a power of disallowing or appointing members\nof the grand council (who, in this constitution, are to be the\nrepresentatives of the people.)\n\n\"If the governors and councils therefore were to have a share in the\nchoice of any that are to conduct this general government, it should\nseem more proper that they chose the president-general. But this\nbeing an office of great trust and importance to the nation, it was\nthought better to be filled by the immediate appointment of the crown.\n\n\"The power proposed to be given by the plan to the grand council\nis only a concentration of the powers of the several assemblies in\ncertain points for the general welfare; as the power of the president\ngeneral, is of the powers of the several governors in the same points.\n\n\"And as the choice therefore of the grand council by the\nrepresentatives of the people, neither gives the people any new\npowers, nor diminishes the power of the crown, it was thought and\nhoped the crown would not disapprove of it.\"\n\nUpon the whole, the commissioners were of opinion, that the choice\nwas most properly placed in the representatives of the people.\n\n\nELECTION OF MEMBERS.\n\n_That within [___] months after the passing such act, the house of\nrepresentatives, that happen to be sitting within that time, or that\nshall be especially for that purpose convened, may and shall choose\nmembers for the grand council, in the following proportion, that is\nto say,_\n\n Massachussett's Bay 7\n New Hampshire 2\n Connecticut 5\n Rhode Island 2\n New York 4\n New Jerseys 3\n Pennsylvania 6\n Maryland 4\n Virginia 7\n North Carolina 4\n South Carolina 4\n ----\n 48\n\nIt was thought, that if the least colony was allowed two, and the\nothers in proportion, the number would be very great and the expence\nheavy; and that less than two would not be convenient, as a single\nperson, being by any accident prevented appearing at the meeting, the\ncolony he ought to appear for would not be represented. That as the\nchoice was not immediately popular, they would be generally men of\ngood abilities for business, and men of reputation for integrity; and\nthat forty-eight such men might be a number sufficient. But, though\nit was thought reasonable, that each colony should have a share in\nthe representative body in some degree, according to the proportion\nit contributed to the general treasury: yet the proportion of wealth\nor power of the colonies is not to be judged by the proportion here\nfixed; because it was at first agreed, that the greatest colony\nshould not have more than seven members, nor the least less than two:\nand the settling these proportions between these two extremes was not\nnicely attended to, as it would find itself, after the first election\nfrom the sums brought into the treasury, as by a subsequent article.\n\n\nPLACE OF FIRST MEETING.\n\n--_who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia\nPensylvania, being called by the president-general as soon as\nconveniently may be after his appointment._\n\nPhiladelphia was named as being the nearer the centre of the\ncolonies, where the commissioners would be well and cheaply\naccommodated. The high-roads, through the whole extent, are for\nthe most part very good, in which forty or fifty miles a day may\nvery well be and frequently are travelled. Great part of the way\nmay likewise he gone by water. In summer time, the passages are\nfrequently performed in a week from Charles Town to Philadelphia and\nNew York; and from Rhode Island to New York through the Sound, in two\nor three days; and from New York to Philadelphia, by water and land,\nin two days, by stage boats and wheel-carriages that set out every\nother day. The journey from Charles Town to Philadelphia may likewise\nbe facilitated by boats running up Chesapeak Bay three hundred miles.\nBut if the whole journey be performed on horseback, the most distant\nmembers (viz. the two from New Hampshire and from South Carolina) may\nprobably render themselves at Philadelphia in fifteen or twenty days;\nthe majority may be there in much less time.\n\n\nNEW ELECTION.\n\n_That there shall be a new election of the members of the grand\ncouncil every three years; and on the death or resignation of any\nmember, his place shall be supplied by a new choice at the next\nsilting of the assembly of the colony he represented._\n\nSome colonies have annual assemblies, some continue during a\ngovernor's pleasure; three years was thought a reasonable medium, as\naffording a new member time to improve himself in the business, and\nto act after such improvement; and yet giving opportunities, frequent\nenough, to change him, if he has misbehaved.\n\n\nPROPORTION OF MEMBERS AFTER THE FIRST THREE YEARS.\n\n_That after the first three years, when the proportion of money\narising out of each colony to the general treasury can be known, the\nnumber of members to be chosen for each colony shall from time to\ntime, in all ensuing elections, be regulated by that proportion (yet\nso as that the number to be chosen by any one province be not more\nthan seven, nor less than two.)_\n\nBy a subsequent article it is proposed, that the general council\nshall lay and levy such general duties, as to them may appear most\nequal and least burthensome, &c. Suppose, for instance, they lay a\nsmall duty or excise on some commodity imported into or made in the\ncolonies, and pretty generally and equally used in all of them; as\nrum perhaps, or wine; the yearly produce of this duty or excise, if\nfairly collected, would be in some colonies greater, in others less,\nas the colonies are greater or smaller. When the collector's accounts\nare brought in, the proportions will appear; and from them it is\nproposed to regulate the proportion of representatives to be chosen\nat the next general election, within the limits however of seven and\ntwo. These numbers may therefore vary in course of years, as the\ncolonies may in the growth and increase of people. And thus the quota\nof tax from each colony would naturally vary with its circumstances;\nthereby preventing all disputes and dissatisfactions about the just\nproportions due from each; which might otherwise produce pernicious\nconsequences, and destroy the harmony and good agreement that ought\nto subsist between the several parts of the union.\n\n\nMEETINGS OF THE GRAND COUNCIL, AND CALL.\n\n_That the grand council shall meet once in every year, and oftener if\noccasion require, at such time and place as they shall adjourn to at\nthe last preceding meeting, or as they shall be called to meet at by\nthe president general on any emergency; he having first obtained in\nwriting the consent of seven of the members to such call, and sent\ndue and timely notice to the whole._\n\nIt was thought, in establishing and governing new colonies or\nsettlements, regulating Indian trade, Indian treaties, &c. there\nwould be every year sufficient business arise to require at least one\nmeeting, and at such meeting many things might be suggested for the\nbenefit of all the colonies. This annual meeting may either be at a\ntime or place certain, to be fixed by the president general and grand\ncouncil at their first meeting; or left at liberty, to be at such\ntime and place as they shall adjourn to, or be called to meet at by\nthe president general.\n\nIn time of war it seems convenient, that the meeting should be in\nthat colony, which is nearest the seat of action.\n\nThe power of calling them on any emergency seemed necessary to be\nvested in the president general; but that such power might not be\nwantonly used to harass the members, and oblige them to make frequent\nlong journies to little purpose, the consent of seven at least to\nsuch call was supposed a convenient guard.\n\n\nCONTINUANCE.\n\n_That the grand council have power to choose their speaker; and\nshall neither be dissolved, prorogued, nor continued sitting longer\nthan six weeks at one time, without their own consent or the special\ncommand of the crown._\n\nThe speaker should be presented for approbation; it being convenient,\nto prevent misunderstandings and disgusts, that the mouth of the\ncouncil should be a person agreeable, if possible, both to the\ncouncil and president general.\n\nGovernors have sometimes wantonly exercised the power of proroguing\nor continuing the sessions of assemblies, merely to harass the\nmembers and compel a compliance; and sometimes dissolve them on\nslight disgusts. This it was feared might be done by the president\ngeneral, if not provided against: and the inconvenience and hardship\nwould be greater in the general government than in particular\ncolonies, in proportion to the distance the members must be from\nhome, during sittings, and the long journies some of them must\nnecessarily take.\n\n\nMEMBERS' ALLOWANCE.\n\n_That the members of the grand council shall be allowed for their\nservice ten shillings sterling per diem, during their session and\njourney to and from the place of meeting; twenty miles to be reckoned\na day's journey._\n\nIt was thought proper to allow _some_ wages, lest the expence might\ndeter some suitable persons from the service;--and not to allow _too\ngreat_ wages, lest unsuitable persons should be tempted to cabal for\nthe employment, for the sake of gain. Twenty miles was set down as\na day's journey, to allow for accidental hinderances on the road,\nand the greater expences of travelling than residing at the place of\nmeeting.\n\n\nASSENT OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND HIS DUTY.\n\n_That the assent of the president general be requisite to all acts of\nthe grand council; and that it be his office and duty to cause them\nto be carried into execution._\n\nThe assent of the president general, to all acts of the grand council\nwas made necessary, in order to give the crown its due share of\ninfluence in this government, and connect it with that of Great\nBritain. The president general, besides one half of the legislative\npower, hath in his hands the whole executive power.\n\n\nPOWER OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL. TREATIES OF PEACE AND\nWAR.\n\n_That the president general, with the advice of the grand council,\nhold or direct all Indian treaties in which the general interest of\nthe colonies may be concerned; and make peace or declare war with\nIndian nations._\n\nThe power of making peace or war with Indian nations is at present\nsupposed to be in every colony, and is expressly granted to some\nby charter, so that no new power is hereby intended to be granted\nto the colonies. But as, in consequence of this power, one colony\nmight make peace with a nation that another was justly engaged in\nwar with; or make war on slight occasions without the concurrence or\napprobation of neighbouring colonies, greatly endangered by it; or\nmake particular treaties of neutrality in case of a general war, to\ntheir own private advantage in trade, by supplying the common enemy;\nof all which there have been instances--it was thought better, to\nhave all treaties of a general nature under a general direction; that\nso the good of the whole may be consulted and provided for.\n\n\nINDIAN TRADE.\n\n_That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regulating all\nIndian trade._\n\nMany quarrels and wars have arisen between the colonies and Indian\nnations, through the bad conduct of traders, who cheat the Indians\nafter making them drunk, &c. to the great expence of the colonies\nboth in blood and treasure. Particular colonies are so interested in\nthe trade as not to be willing to admit such a regulation as might be\nbest for the whole; and therefore it was thought best under a general\ndirection.\n\n\nINDIAN PURCHASES.\n\n_That they make all purchases, from Indians for the crown, of lands\nnot now within the bounds of particular colonies, or that shall\nnot be within their bounds when some of them are reduced to more\nconvenient dimensions._\n\nPurchases from the Indians, made by private persons, have been\nattended with many inconveniences. They have frequently interfered,\nand occasioned uncertainty of titles, many disputes and expensive\nlaw-suits, and hindered the settlement of the land so disputed.\nThen the Indians have been cheated by such private purchases, and\ndiscontent and wars have been the consequence. These would be\nprevented by public fair purchases.\n\nSeveral of the colony charters in America extend their bounds to\nthe South Sea, which may be perhaps three or four thousand miles in\nlength to one or two hundred miles in breadth. It is supposed they\nmust in time be reduced to dimensions more convenient for the common\npurposes of government[5].\n\nVery little of the land in those grants is yet purchased of the\nIndians.\n\nIt is much cheaper to purchase of them, than to take and maintain the\npossession by force: for they are generally very reasonable in their\ndemands for land[6]; and the expence of guarding a large frontier\nagainst their incursions is vastly great; because all must be\nguarded, and always guarded, as we know not where or when _to expect\nthem_[7].\n\n\nNEW SETTLEMENTS.\n\n_That they make new settlements on such purchases, by granting lands\nin the king's name, reserving a quit-rent to the crown for the use of\nthe general treasury._\n\nIt is supposed better that there should be one purchaser than many;\nand that the crown should be that purchaser, or the union in the name\nof the crown. By this means the bargains may be more easily made, the\nprice not inhanced by numerous bidders, future disputes about private\nIndian purchases, and monopolies of vast tracts to particular persons\n(which are prejudicial to the settlement and peopling of country)\nprevented; and the land being again granted in small tracts to the\nsettlers, the quit-rents reserved may in time become a fund for\nsupport of government, for defence of the country, ease of taxes, &c.\n\nStrong forts on the lakes, the Ohio, &c. may, at the same time they\nsecure our present frontiers, serve to defend new colonies settled\nunder their protection; and such colonies would also mutually defend\nand support such forts, and better secure the friendship of the far\nIndians.\n\nA particular colony has scarce strength enough to extend itself by\nnew settlements, at so great a distance from the old: but the joint\nforce of the union might suddenly establish a new colony or two in\nthose parts, or extend an old colony to particular passes, greatly to\nthe security of our present frontiers, increase of trade and people,\nbreaking off the French communication between Canada and Louisiana,\nand speedy settlement of the intermediate lands.\n\nThe power of settling new colonies is therefore thought a valuable\npart of the plan, and what cannot so well be executed by two unions\nas by one.\n\n\nLAWS TO GOVERN THEM.\n\n_That they make laws for regulating and governing such new\nsettlements, till the crown shall think fit to form them into\nparticular governments._\n\nThe making of laws suitable for the new colonies, it was thought,\nwould be properly vested in the president general and grand council;\nunder whose protection they will at first necessarily be, and who\nwould be well acquainted with their circumstances, as having settled\nthem. When they are become sufficiently populous, they may by the\ncrown be formed into complete and distinct governments.\n\nThe appointment of a sub-president by the crown, to take place in\ncase of the death or absence of the president general, would perhaps\nbe an improvement of the plan; and if all the governors of particular\nprovinces were to be formed into a standing council of state, for the\nadvice and assistance of the president general, it might be another\nconsiderable improvement.\n\n\nRAISE SOLDIERS AND EQUIP VESSELS, &C.\n\n_That they raise and pay soldiers and build forts for the defence of\nany of the colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts\nand protect the trade on the ocean, lakes[8], or great rivers; but\nthey shall not impress men in any colony, without the consent of the\nlegislature._\n\nIt was thought, that quotas of men, to be raised and paid by the\nseveral colonies, and joined for any public service, could not always\nbe got together with the necessary expedition. For instance, suppose\none thousand men should be wanted in New Hampshire on any emergency;\nto fetch them by fifties and hundreds out of every colony, as far as\nSouth Carolina, would be inconvenient, the transportation chargeable\nand the occasion perhaps passed before they could be assembled;\nand therefore, that it would be best to raise them (by offering\nbounty-money and pay) near the place where they would be wanted, to\nbe discharged again when the service should be over.\n\nParticular colonies are at present backward to build forts at\ntheir own expence, which they say will be equally useful to their\nneighbouring colonies; who refuse to join, on a presumption that such\nforts _will_ be built and kept up, though they contribute nothing.\nThis unjust conduct weakens the whole; but the forts being for the\ngood of the whole, it was thought best they should be built and\nmaintained by the whole, out of the common treasury.\n\nIn the time of war, small vessels of force are sometimes necessary\nin the colonies to scour the coast of small privateers. These being\nprovided by the union will be an advantage in turn to the colonies\nwhich are situated on the sea, and whose frontiers on the land-side,\nbeing covered by other colonies, reap but little immediate benefit\nfrom the advanced forts.\n\n\nPOWER TO MAKE LAWS, LAY DUTIES, &C.\n\n_That for these purposes they have power to make laws, and lay\nand levy such general duties, imports, or taxes, as to them shall\nappear most equal and just (considering the ability and other\ncircumstances of the inhabitants in the several colonies,) and such\nas may be collected with the least inconvenience to the people;\nrather discouraging luxury, than loading industry with unnecessary\nburthens._\n\nThe laws which the president general and grand council are impowered\nto make _are such only_ as shall be necessary for the government of\nthe settlements; the raising, regulating, and paying soldiers for\nthe general service; the regulating of Indian trade; and laying and\ncollecting the general duties and taxes. (They should also have a\npower to restrain the exportation of provisions to the enemy from\nany of the colonies, on particular occasions, in time of war.) But\nis it not intended that they may interfere with the constitution and\ngovernment of the particular colonies; who are to be left to their\nown laws, and to lay, levy, and apply their own taxes as before.\n\n\nGENERAL TREASURER AND PARTICULAR TREASURER.\n\n_That they may appoint a general treasurer and particular treasurer\nin each government when necessary; and from time to time may order\nthe sums in the treasuries of each government into the general\ntreasury; or draw on them for special payments, as they find most\nconvenient._\n\nThe treasurers here meant are only for the general funds, and not for\nthe particular funds of each colony, which remain in the hands of\ntheir own treasurers at their own disposal.\n\n\nMONEY HOW TO ISSUE.\n\n_Yet no money to issue but by joint orders of the president general\nand grand council; except where sums have been appropriated to\nparticular purposes, and the president general is previously\nimpowered by an act to draw for such sums._\n\nTo prevent misapplication of the money, or even application that\nmight be dissatisfactory to the crown or the people, it was thought\nnecessary, to join the president general and grand council in all\nissues of money.\n\n\nACCOUNTS.\n\n_That the general accounts shall be yearly settled and reported to\nthe several assemblies._\n\nBy communicating the accounts yearly to each assembly, they will be\nsatisfied of the prudent and honest conduct of their representatives\nin the grand council.\n\n\nQUORUM.\n\n_That a quorum of the grand council, impowered to act with the\npresident general, do consist of twenty-five members; among whom\nthere shall be one or more from a majority of the colonies._\n\nThe quorum seems large, but it was thought it would not be\nsatisfactory to the colonies in general, to have matters of\nimportance to the whole transacted by a smaller number, or even by\nthis number of twenty-five, unless there were among them one at least\nfrom a majority of the colonies; because otherwise, the whole quorum\nbeing made up of members from three or four colonies at one end of\nthe union, something might be done that would not be equal with\nrespect to the rest, and thence dissatisfactions and discords might\nrise to the prejudice of the whole.\n\n\nLAWS TO BE TRANSMITTED.\n\n_That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid shall not be\nrepugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of England,\nand shall be transmitted to the king in council for approbation as\nsoon as may be after their passing; and if not disapproved within\nthree years after presentation, to remain in force._\n\nThis was thought necessary for the satisfaction of the crown, to\npreserve the connection of the parts of the British empire with the\nwhole, of the members with the head, and to induce greater care and\ncircumspection in making of the laws, that they be good in themselves\nand for the general benefit.\n\n\nDEATH OF THE PRESIDENT GENERAL.\n\n_That in case of the death of the president general, the speaker of\nthe grand council for the time being shall succeed, and be vested\nwith the same powers and authorities, to continue till the king's\npleasure be known._\n\nIt might be better, perhaps, as was said before, if the crown\nappointed a vice president, to take place on the death or absence of\nthe president general; for so we should be more sure of a suitable\nperson at the head of the colonies. On the death or absence of both,\nthe speaker to take place (or rather the eldest king's-governor) till\nhis majesty's pleasure be known.\n\n\nOFFICERS HOW APPOINTED.\n\n_That all military commission officers, whether for land or\nsea-service, to act under this general constitution, shall be\nnominated by the president general; but the approbation of the grand\ncouncil is to be obtained, before they receive their commissions. And\nall civil officers are to be nominated by the grand council, and to\nreceive the president general's approbation before they officiate._\n\nIt was thought it might be very prejudicial to the service, to have\nofficers appointed unknown to the people, or unacceptable, the\ngenerality of Americans serving willingly under officers they know:\nand not caring to engage in the service under strangers, or such as\nare often appointed by governors through favour or interest. The\nservice here meant, is not the stated settled service in standing\ntroops; but any sudden and short service, either for defence of\nour own colonies, or invading the enemies country; (such as, the\nexpedition to Cape Breton in the last war; in which many substantial\nfarmers and tradesmen engaged as common soldiers under officers of\ntheir own country, for whom they had an esteem and affection; who\nwould not have engaged in a standing army, or under officers from\nEngland.)--It was therefore thought best, to give the council the\npower of approving the officers, which the people will look upon\nas a great security of their being good men. And without some such\nprovision as this, it was thought the expence of engaging men in the\nservice on any emergency would be much greater, and the number who\ncould be induced to engage much less; and that therefore it would be\nmost for the king's service and general benefit of the nation, that\nthe prerogative should relax a little in this particular throughout\nall the colonies in America; as it had already done much more in the\ncharters of some particular colonies, viz. Connecticut and Rhode\nIsland.\n\nThe civil officers will be chiefly treasurers and collectors of\ntaxes; and the suitable persons are most likely to be known by the\ncouncil.\n\n\nVACANCIES HOW SUPPLIED.\n\n_But in case of vacancy by death, or removal of any officer civil\nor military under this constitution, the governor of the province\nin which such vacancy happens may appoint, till the pleasure of the\npresident general and grand council can be known._\n\nThe vacancies were thought best supplied by the governors in each\nprovince, till a new appointment can be regularly made; otherwise the\nservice might suffer before the meeting of the president general and\ngrand council.\n\n\nEACH COLONY MAY DEFEND ITSELF ON EMERGENCY, &C.\n\n_That the particular military as well as civil establishments in\neach colony remain in their present state, the general constitution\nnotwithstanding; and that on sudden emergencies any colony may\ndefend itself, and lay the accounts of expence thence arising before\nthe president general and general council, who may allow and order\npayment of the same, as far as they judge such accounts just and\nreasonable._\n\nOtherwise the union of the whole would weaken the parts, contrary\nto the design of the union. The accounts are to be judged of by the\npresident general and grand council, and allowed if found reasonable:\nthis was thought necessary to encourage colonies to defend\nthemselves, as the expence would be light when borne by the whole;\nand also to check imprudent and lavish expence in such defences.[9]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The reader must be informed here, that this plan was intended for\nall the colonies; but, commissioners from some of them not attending\n(from causes which I cannot specify) their consent to it was not,\nin this respect, universally expressed. Governor Pownall, however,\nsays, \"That he had an opportunity of conversing with, and knowing\nthe sentiments of the commissioners appointed by their respective\nprovinces, to attend this congress, to which they were called by the\ncrown; of learning from their experience and judgment, the actual\nstate of the American business and interest; and of hearing amongst\nthem, the grounds and reasons of that American union, which they then\nhad under deliberation, and transmitted the plan of to England;\" and\nhe adds, in another place, \"that the sentiments of our colonies were\ncollected in an authentic manner on this subject in the plan proposed\nby Dr. Franklin, and unanimously agreed to in congress.\" See Governor\nPownall's Administration of the British Colonies. Vol. I. p. 13.\nEdit. 4, 1774, and Vol. II. p. 86. B. V.\n\n[2] \"Mr. [since Governor] Hutchinson was one of the commissioners\nfor Massachusetts Bay.\" Governor Pownall as above, Vol. II. p. 144.\n\"Thomas Pownall, Esq.; brother to John Pownall, Esq.; one of the\nsecretaries to the board of trade, and afterwards Governor of the\nMassachusetts, was upon the spot.\" History of the British Empire in\nNorth America, p. 25. B. V.\n\n[3] Dr. Davenant was so well convinced of the expediency of an union\nof the colonies, that he recites, at full length, a plan contrived,\nas he says, with good judgment for the purpose. Davenant, Vol. I. p.\n40, 41, of Sir C. Whitworth's Edition. B. V.\n\n[4] The reader may perceive, by the difference of the type, which is\nthe text of the plan, and which the _reasons and motives_ mentioned\nin the title. They are thus consolidated for his convenience. The\neditor has taken one or two farther liberties in _transposing_ these\nAlbany papers; but the sense remains as before. B. V.\n\n[5] Mr. Baron M----, in page 200 of his account of the Proceedings at\nQuebec, for obtaining an Assembly, has the following hint: \"The vast\nenlargement of the province of Quebec by adding to it a new territory\nthat contains, according to Lord Hillsborough's estimation, of it,\nfive hundred and eleven millions of acres (that is, more land than\nSpain, Italy, France, and Germany put together, and most of it good\nland) is a measure that would require an ample discussion.\"----That\nthe reader may not suspect that these dimensions were convenient\nfor uncommon purposes of government, I shall quote the motives\nassigned upon this occasion by the act regulating the government\nof Quebec. \"By the arrangements made by the royal proclamation, a\nvery large extent of [outlying] country, within which there were\nseveral colonies and settlements of the subjects of France, who\nclaimed to remain therein under the faith of the said treaty, was\nleft without any provision being made for the administration of civil\ngovernment therein:\" _i. e._ a few Indian traders were a pretext for\nthis appropriation of a tract of country, which, according to the\nminister's estimate, was more than thirteen times larger than England\nand Wales united, nearly one hundred and twenty eight times larger\nthan Jamaica, almost one-eighth part of Europe, and considerably more\nthan one-thirty-eighth part of the whole habitable earth (comparing\nit with the several calculations in The Political Survey of Great\nBritain, by Dr. Campbell, and in that of Jamaica, by Mr. Long.) \"Now\n_all_ the inhabitants of the province of Quebec,\" says this very\nact, \"amounted at the conquest to above sixty-five thousand [only,]\nprofessing the religion of the church of Rome, and enjoying an\nestablished form of constitution and system of laws.\" B.V.\n\n[6] \"Dr. Franklin (says Mr. Kalm the Swede,) and several other\ngentlemen, frequently told me, that a powerful Indian, who possessed\nRhode Island, had sold it to the English for a pair of spectacles:\nit is large enough for a prince's domain, and makes a peculiar\ngovernment at present. This Indian knew how to set a true value upon\na pair of spectacles: for undoubtedly if those glasses were not so\nplentiful, and only a few of them could be found, they would, on\naccount of their great use, bear the same price with diamonds.\"\nSee Kalm's Travels into North America, Vol. I. p. 386, 387. \"At\nthe time when the Swedes first arrived, they bought land at a very\ninconsiderable price. For a piece of baize, or a pot full of brandy,\nor the like, they could get a piece of ground, which at present would\nbe worth more than 290_l._ sterling.\" Ib. Vol. II. p. 118.--The truth\nis, that the Indians considered their lands as mere _hunting-manors_,\nand not as farms. B. V.\n\n[7] To guard against the incursions of the Indians, a plan was\nsent over to America (and, as I think, by authority) suggesting\nthe expediency of clearing away the woods and bushes from a tract\nof land, a mile in breadth, and extending along the back of\nthe colonies. Unfortunately, besides the large expence of this\nundertaking (which, if one acre cost 2_l._ sterling, and six hundred\nand forty acres make a square mile, is 128,000_l._ _first cost_ for\nevery 100 miles) it was forgotten, that the Indians, like other\npeople, knew the difference between day and night, and that a mile of\nadvance and another of retreat were nothing to the celerity of such\nan enemy.--This plan, it is said, was the work of Dean Tucker; and\npossibly might contain many other particulars. The plans of Doctor\nFranklin and Governor Pownall appear much more feasible. B. V.\n\n[8] \"According to a plan which had been proposed by Governor Pownall,\nand approved of by congress.\"--Administration of the Colonies, Vol.\nII. p. 143. B. V.\n\n[9] This plan of union, it will appear from the next page, was\nrejected; and another proposed to be substituted by the English\nminister, which had for its chief object, the taking power from the\n_people_ in the colonies in order to give it to the _crown_. B. V.\n\n\n\n\nALBANY PAPERS CONTINUED.\n\n\n I. LETTER _to Governor Shirley, concerning the Imposition of direct\n Taxes upon the Colonies, without their Consent_.[10]\n\n _Tuesday Morning._\n\n SIR,\n\nI return you the loose Sheets of the plan, with thanks to your\nexcellency for communicating them.\n\nI apprehend, that excluding the people of the colonies from all share\nin the choice of the grand council will give extreme dissatisfaction;\nas well as the taxing them by act of parliament, where they have no\nrepresentation. It is very possible, that this general government\nmight be as well and faithfully administered without the people, as\nwith them; but where heavy burdens are to be laid upon them, it has\nbeen found useful, to make it as much as possible their own act; for\nthey bear better, when they have, or think they have, some share in\nthe direction; and when any public measures are generally grievous,\nor even distasteful, to the people, the wheels of government move\nmore heavily.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[10] These letters to Governor Shirley first appeared in the London\nChronicle for Feb. 6-8, 1766, with an introduction signed _A Lover of\nBritain_. In the beginning of the year 1776, they were republished\nin Almon's Remembrancer, with an additional prefatory piece, under\nthe signature of _A Mourner over our Calamities_.--I shall explain\nthe subject of them in the words of one of these writers. \"The Albany\nPlan of Union was sent to the government here for approbation: had\nit been approved and established by authority from hence, English\nAmerica thought itself sufficiently able to cope with the French,\nwithout other assistance; several of the colonies having alone, in\nformer wars, withstood the whole power of the enemy, unassisted\nnot only by the mother-country, but by any of the neighbouring\nprovinces.--The plan, however, was not approved here; but a _New\none_ was formed instead of it; by which it was proposed, that 'the\ngovernors of all the colonies, attended by one or two members of\ntheir respective councils, should assemble, and concert measures\nfor the defence of the whole, erect forts where they judged proper,\nand raise what troops they thought necessary, with power to draw\non the treasury here for the sums that should be wanted, and the\ntreasury to be reimbursed by a _tax laid on the colonies by act of\nparliament_.'--This _New plan_ being communicated by Governor Shirley\nto a gentleman of Philadelphia (Dr. Franklin) then in Boston (who\nhath very eminently distinguished himself, before and since that\ntime, in the literary world, and whose judgment, penetration, and\ncandor, as well as his readiness and ability to suggest, forward,\nor carry into execution, every scheme of public utility, hath most\ndeservedly endeared him, not only to our fellow-subjects throughout\nthe continent of North America, but to his numberless friends on\nthis side the Atlantic) occasioned the following remarks from him,\nwhich perhaps may contribute in some degree to its being laid aside.\nAs they very particularly show the then sentiments of the Americans\non the subject of a parliamentary tax, before the French power in\nthat country was subjected, and before the late restraints on their\ncommerce; they satisfy me, and I hope they will convince your readers\n(contrary to what has been advanced by some of your correspondents)\nthat those particulars have had no share in producing the present\nopposition to such a tax, nor in disturbances occasioned by it,\nwhich these papers indeed do almost prophetically foretel. For\nthis purpose, having accidentally fallen into my hands, they are\ncommunicated to you by one who is, not _partially_, but in the _most\nenlarged sense_,\n\n \"A LOVER OF BRITAIN.\" B. V.\n\n\n\n\n II. LETTER _to the same; concerning direct Taxes in the Colonies\n imposed without Consent, indirect Taxes, and the Albany Plan of\n Union_.\n\n _Wednesday Morning._\n\n SIR,\n\nI mentioned it yesterday to your excellency as my opinion, that\nexcluding the people of the colonies from all share in the choice\nof the grand council would probably give extreme dissatisfaction,\nas well as the taxing them by act of parliament, where they have\nno representation. In matters of general concern to the people, and\nespecially where burdens are to be laid upon them; it is of use to\nconsider, as well what they will be apt to think and say, as what\nthey ought to think: I shall therefore, as your excellency requires\nit of me, briefly mention what of either kind occurs to me on this\noccasion.\n\nFirst, they will say, and perhaps with justice, that the body of the\npeople in the colonies are as loyal, and as firmly attached to the\npresent constitution, and reigning family, as any subjects in the\nking's dominions.\n\nThat there is no reason to doubt the readiness and willingness of\nthe representatives they may choose, to grant from time to time\nsuch supplies for the defence of the country, as shall be judged\nnecessary, so far as their abilities will allow.\n\nThat the people in the colonies, who are to feel the immediate\nmischiefs of invasion and conquest by an enemy, in the loss of their\nestates, lives, and liberties, are likely to be better judges of the\nquantity of forces necessary to be raised and maintained, forts to be\nbuilt and supported, and of their own abilities to bear the expence\nthan the parliament of England, at so great a distance.\n\nThat governors often come to the colonies merely to make fortunes,\nwith which they intend to return to Britain; are not always men of\nthe best abilities or integrity; have many of them no estates here,\nnor any natural connections with us, that should make them heartily\nconcerned for our welfare; and might possibly be fond of raising and\nkeeping up more forces than necessary, from the profits accruing to\nthemselves, and to make provision for their friends and dependents.\n\nThat the counsellors in most of the colonies, being appointed by\nthe crown, on the recommendation of governors, are often persons of\nsmall estates, frequently dependent on the governors for offices, and\ntherefore too much under influence.\n\nThat there is therefore great reason to be jealous of a power, in\nsuch governors and councils, to raise such sums as they shall judge\nnecessary, by drafts on the lords of the treasury, to be afterwards\nlaid on the colonies by act of parliament, and paid by the people\nhere; since they might abuse it, by projecting useless expeditions,\nharassing the people, and taking them from their labour to execute\nsuch projects, merely to create offices and employments, and gratify\ntheir dependents, and divide profits.\n\nThat the parliament of England is at a great distance, subject to\nbe misinformed and misled by such governors and councils, whose\nunited interests might probably secure them against the effect of any\ncomplaint from hence.\n\nThat it is supposed an undoubted right of Englishmen, not to be taxed\nbut by their own consent, given through their representatives:\n\nThat the colonies have no representatives in parliament.\n\nThat to propose taxing them by parliament, and refuse them the\nliberty of choosing a representative council, to meet in the\ncolonies, and consider and judge of the necessity of any general tax,\nand the quantum, shows a suspicion of their loyalty to the crown,\nor of their regard for their country, or of their common sense and\nunderstanding; which they have not deserved.\n\nThat compelling the colonies to pay money without their consent,\nwould be rather like raising contributions in an enemy's country,\nthan taxing of Englishmen for their own public benefit.\n\nThat it would be treating them as a conquered people, and not as true\nBritish subjects.\n\nThat a tax laid by the representatives of the colonies might be\neasily lessened as the occasions should lessen; but, being once laid\nby parliament under the influence of the representations made by\ngovernors, would probably be kept up, and continued for the benefit\nof governors; to the grievous burthen and discontentment of the\ncolonies, and prevention of their growth and increase.\n\nThat a power in governors, to march the inhabitants from one end of\nthe British and French colonies to the other, being a country of at\nleast one thousand five hundred miles long, without the approbation\nor the consent of their representatives first obtained to such\nexpeditions, might be grievous and ruinous to the people, and would\nput them upon a footing with the subjects of France in Canada, that\nnow groan under such oppression from their governor, who for two\nyears past has harrassed them with long and destructive marches to\nOhio.\n\nThat if the colonies in a body may be well governed by governors and\ncouncils appointed by the crown, without representatives; particular\ncolonies may as well, or better be so governed; a tax may be laid\nupon them all by act of parliament for support of government;\nand their assemblies may be dismissed as an useless part of the\nconstitution.\n\nThat the powers proposed by the Albany plan of union, to be vested\nin a grand council representative of the people, even with regard to\nmilitary matters, are not so great, as those which the colonies of\nRhode Island and Connecticut are entrusted with by their charters,\nand have never abused; for by this plan, the president general is\nappointed by the crown, and controls all by his negative; but in\nthose governments, the people choose the governor, and yet allow him\nno negative.\n\nThat the British colonies bordering on the French are properly\nfrontiers of the British empire; and the frontiers of an empire are\nproperly defended at the joint expence of the body of the people in\nsuch empire:--it would now be thought hard by act of parliament to\noblige the Cinque ports or sea coasts of Britain, to maintain the\nwhole navy, because they are more immediately defended by it, not\nallowing them at the same time a vote in choosing members of the\nparliament; and, as the frontiers of America bear the expence of\ntheir own defence, it seems hard to allow them no share in voting the\nmoney, judging of the necessity and sum, or advising the measures.\n\nThat besides the taxes necessary for the defence of the frontiers,\nthe colonies pay yearly great sums to the mother-country\nunnoticed:--for 1. Taxes paid in Britain by the landholder or\nartificer must enter into and increase the price of the produce of\nland and manufactures made of it; and great part of this is paid by\nconsumers in the colonies, who thereby pay a considerable part of the\nBritish taxes.\n\n2. We are restrained in our trade with foreign nations; and where we\ncould be supplied with any manufacture cheaper from them, but must\nbuy the same dearer from Britain, the difference of price is a clear\ntax to Britain.\n\n3. We are obliged to carry a great part of our produce directly to\nBritain; and where the duties laid upon it lessen its price to the\nplanter, or it sells for less than it would in foreign markets, the\ndifference is a tax paid to Britain.\n\n4. Some manufactures we could make, but are forbidden, and must take\nthem of British merchants: the whole price is a tax paid to Britain.\n\n5. By our greatly encreasing the demand and consumption of British\nmanufactures, their price is considerably raised of late years; the\nadvantage is clear profit to Britain, and enables its people better\nto pay great taxes; and much of it being paid by us, is clear tax to\nBritain.\n\n6. In short, as we are not suffered to regulate our trade, and\nrestrain the importation and consumption of British superfluities\n(as Britain can the consumption of foreign superfluities) our whole\nwealth centers finally amongst the merchants and inhabitants of\nBritain; and if we make them richer, and enable them better to pay\ntheir taxes, it is nearly the same as being taxed ourselves, and\nequally beneficial to the crown.\n\nThese kind of secondary taxes, however, we do not complain of, though\nwe have no share in the laying or disposing of them: but to pay\nimmediate heavy taxes, in the laying, appropriation, and disposition\nof which, we have no part, and which perhaps we may know to be as\nunnecessary as grievous, must seem hard measure to Englishmen, who\ncannot conceive, that by hazarding their lives and fortunes in\nsubduing and settling new countries, extending the dominion, and\nincreasing the commerce of the mother-nation, they have forfeited\nthe native rights of Britons; which they think ought rather to be\ngiven to them, as due to such merit, if they had been before in a\nstate of slavery. -- -- --\n\nThese, and such kinds of things as these, I apprehend, will be\nthought and said by the people, if the proposed alteration of the\nAlbany plan should take place. Then the administration of the board\nof governors and council so appointed, not having the representative\nbody of the people to approve and unite in its measures, and\nconciliate the minds of the people to them, will probably become\nsuspected and odious; dangerous animosities and feuds will arise\nbetween the governors and governed; and every thing go into confusion.\n\nPerhaps I am too apprehensive in this matter; but having freely given\nmy opinion and reasons, your excellency can judge better than I,\nwhether there be any weight in them, and the shortness of the time\nallowed me will I hope in some degree excuse the imperfections of\nthis scrawl.\n\nWith the greatest respect and fidelity, I have the honour to be\n\n your excellency's most obedient,\n\n and most humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n\n\n\n III. LETTER _to the same, on the Subject of uniting the\n Colonies more intimately with Great Britain, by allowing them\n Representatives in Parliament_.\n\n\n _Boston, Dec. 22, 1754._\n\n SIR,\n\nSince the conversation your excellency was pleased to honour me\nwith, on the subject of _uniting the colonies_ more intimately with\nGreat Britain, by allowing them _representatives in parliament_, I\nhave something further considered that matter, and am of opinion,\nthat such an union would be very acceptable to the colonies,\nprovided they had a reasonable number of representatives allowed\nthem; and that all the old acts of parliament restraining the trade\nor cramping the manufactures of the colonies be at the same time\nrepealed, and the British subjects _on this side the water_ put, in\nthose respects, on the same footing with those in Great Britain,\ntill the new parliament, representing the whole, shall think it\nfor the interest of the whole to re-enact some or all of them: it\nis not that I imagine so many representatives will be allowed the\ncolonies, as to have any great weight by their numbers; but I think\nthere might be sufficient to occasion those laws to be better and\nmore impartially considered, and perhaps to overcome the interest\nof a petty corporation, or of any particular set of artificers or\ntraders in England, who heretofore seem, in some instances, to have\nbeen more regarded than all the colonies, or than was consistent with\nthe general interest, or best natural good. I think too, that the\ngovernment of the colonies by a parliament, in which they are fairly\nrepresented, would be vastly more agreeable to the people, than the\nmethod lately attempted to be introduced by royal instruction; as\nwell as more agreeable to the nature of an English constitution, and\nto English liberty; and that such laws, as now seem to bear hard on\nthe colonies, would (when judged by such a parliament for the best\ninterest of the whole) be more cheerfully submitted to, and more\neasily executed.\n\nI should hope too, that by such an union, the people of Great\nBritain, and the people of the colonies, would learn to consider\nthemselves, as not belonging to different communities with different\ninterest, but to one community with one interest; which I imagine\nwould contribute to strengthen the whole, and greatly lessen the\ndanger of future separations.\n\nIt is, I suppose, agreed to be the general interest of any state,\nthat its people be numerous and rich; men enow to fight in its\ndefence, and enow to pay sufficient taxes to defray the charge;\nfor these circumstances tend to the security of the state, and\nits protection from foreign power. But it seems not of so much\nimportance, whether the fighting be done by John or Thomas, or the\ntax paid by William or Charles. The iron manufacture employs and\nenriches British subjects, but is it of any importance to the state,\nwhether the manufacturer lives at Birmingham or Sheffield, or both;\nsince they are still within its bounds, and their wealth and persons\nstill at its command? Could the Goodwin Sands be laid dry by banks,\nand land equal to a large country thereby gained to England, and\npresently filled with English inhabitants, would it be right to\ndeprive such inhabitants of the common privileges enjoyed by other\nEnglishmen, the right of vending their produce in the same ports,\nor of making their own shoes; because a merchant or a shoemaker,\nliving on the old land, might fancy it more for his advantage to\ntrade or make shoes for them? Would this be right, even if the land\nwere gained at the expence of the state? And would it not seem less\nright, if the charge and labour of gaining the additional territory\nto Britain had been borne by the settlers themselves? and would not\nthe hardship appear yet greater, if the people of the new country\nshould be allowed no representatives in the parliament enacting\nsuch impositions? Now I look on the colonies as so many countries\ngained to Great Britain, and more advantageous to it, than if they\nhad been gained out of the seas around its coasts, and joined to its\nlands; for being in different climates, they afford greater variety\nof produce, and materials for more manufactures; and being separated\nby the ocean, they increase much more its shipping and seamen: and,\nsince they are all included in the British empire, which has only\nextended itself by their means; and the strength and wealth of the\nparts is the strength and wealth of the whole; what imports it to the\ngeneral state, whether a merchant, a smith, or a hatter, grow rich in\nOld or New England? and if, through increase of people, two smiths\nare wanted for one employed before, why may not the _new_ smith be\nallowed to live and thrive in the _new_ country, as well as the _old_\none in the _old_? In fine, why should the countenance of a state be\n_partially_ afforded to its people, unless it be most in favour of\nthose who have most merit? and if there be any difference, those\nwho have most contributed to enlarge Britain's empire and commerce,\nincrease her strength, her wealth, and the numbers of her people, at\nthe risque of their own lives and private fortunes in new and strange\ncountries, methinks ought rather to expect some preference. With the\ngreatest respect and esteem, I have the honour to be\n\n Your Excellency's most obedient\n\n and humble Servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n\n\n\n _Plan for settling two Western Colonies in North America, with\n Reasons for the Plan, 1754[11]._\n\n\nThe great country back of the Apalachian mountains, on both sides\nthe Ohio, and between that river and the lakes is now well known,\nboth to the English and French, to be one of the finest in North\nAmerica, for the extreme richness and fertility of the land; the\nhealthy temperature of the air, and mildness of the climate; the\nplenty of hunting, fishing, and fowling; the facility of trade\nwith the Indians; and the vast convenience of inland navigation or\nwater-carriage by the lakes and great rivers, many hundred of leagues\naround.\n\nFrom these natural advantages it must undoubtedly (perhaps in less\nthan another century) become a populous and powerful dominion; and a\ngreat accession of power, either to England or France.\n\nThe French are now making open encroachments on these territories, in\ndefiance of our known rights; and, if we longer delay to settle that\ncountry, and suffer them to possess it,--these _inconveniences and\nmischiefs_ will probably follow:\n\n1. Our people, being confined to the country between the sea and the\nmountains, cannot much more increase in number; people increasing\nin proportion to their room and means of subsistence. (See the\nObservations on the Increase of Mankind, &c. Vol. II.)\n\n2. The French will increase much more, by that acquired room and\nplenty of subsistence, and become a great people behind us.\n\n3. Many of our debtors, and loose English people, our German\nservants, and slaves, will probably desert to them, and increase\ntheir numbers and strength, to the lessening and weakening of ours.\n\n4. They will cut us off from all commerce and alliance with the\nwestern Indians, to the great prejudice of Britain, by preventing the\nsale and consumption of its manufactures.\n\n5. They will both in time of peace and war (as they have always done\nagainst New England) set the Indians on to harrass our frontiers,\nkill and scalp our people, and drive in the advanced settlers; and\nso, in preventing our obtaining more subsistence by cultivating of\nnew lands, they discourage our marriages, and keep our people from\nincreasing; thus (if the expression may be allowed) killing thousands\nof our children before they are born. -- -- --\n\nIf two strong colonies of English were settled between the Ohio and\nlake Erie, in the places hereafter to be mentioned,--these advantages\nmight be expected:\n\n1. They would be a great security to the frontiers of our other\ncolonies; by preventing the incursions of the French and French\nIndians of Canada, on the back parts of Pensylvania, Maryland,\nVirginia, and the Carolinas; and the frontiers of such new colonies\nwould be much more easily defended, than those of the colonies last\nmentioned now can be, as will appear hereafter.\n\n2. The dreaded junction of the French settlements in Canada with\nthose of Louisiana would be prevented.\n\n3. In case of a war, it would be easy, from those new colonies, to\nannoy Louisiana, by going down the Ohio and Mississippi; and the\nsouthern part of Canada, by sailing over the lakes; and thereby\nconfine the French within narrower limits.\n\n4. We should secure the friendship and trade of the Miamis or\nTwigtwees (a numerous people, consisting of many tribes, inhabiting\nthe country between the west end of lake Erie, and the south end\nof lake Hurons, and the Ohio) who are at present dissatisfied with\nthe French, and fond of the English, and would gladly encourage and\nprotect an infant English settlement in or near their country, as\nsome of their chiefs have declared to the writer of this memoir.\nFurther, by means of the lakes, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, our\ntrade might be extended through a vast country, among many numerous\nand distant nations, greatly to the benefit of Britain.\n\n5. The settlement of all the intermediate lands, between the present\nfrontiers of our colonies on one side, and the lakes and Mississippi\non the other, would be facilitated and speedily executed, to the\ngreat increase of Englishmen, English trade, and English power.\n\nThe grants to most of the colonies are of long narrow slips of land,\nextending west from the Atlantic to the South Sea. They are much too\nlong for their breadth; the extremes at too great a distance; and\ntherefore unfit to be continued under their present dimensions.\n\nSeveral of the old colonies may conveniently be limited westward by\nthe Allegeny or Apalachian mountains; and new colonies formed west of\nthose mountains.\n\nA single old colony does not seem strong enough to extend itself\notherwise than inch by inch: it cannot venture a settlement far\ndistant from the main body, being unable to support it: but if the\ncolonies were united under one governor-general and grand council,\nagreeable to the Albany plan, they might easily, by their joint\nforce, establish one or more new colonies, whenever they should judge\nit necessary or advantageous to the interest of the whole.\n\nBut if such union should not take place, it is proposed that two\ncharters be granted, _each_ for some considerable part of the lands\nwest of Pensylvania and the Virginian mountains, to a number of the\nnobility and gentry of Britain; with such Americans as shall join\nthem in contributing to the settlement of those lands, either by\npaying a proportion of the expence of making such settlements, or\nby actually going thither in person, and settling themselves and\nfamilies.\n\nThat by such charters it be granted, that every actual settler be\nintitled to a tract of [___] acres for himself, and [___] acres\nfor every poll in the family he carries with him; and that every\ncontributor of [___] guineas be intitled to a quantity of acres,\nequal to the share of a single settler, for every such sum of [___]\nguineas contributed and paid to the colony treasurer; a contributor\nfor [___] shares to have an additional share _gratis_; that settlers\nmay likewise be contributors, and have right of land in both\ncapacities.\n\nThat as many and as great privileges and powers of government be\ngranted to the contributors and settlers, as his majesty in his\nwisdom shall think most fit for their benefit and encouragement,\nconsistent with the general good of the British empire; for\nextraordinary privileges and liberties, with lands on easy terms,\nare strong inducements to people to hazard their persons and\nfortunes in settling new countries; and such powers of government as\n(though suitable to the circumstances, and fit to be trusted with an\ninfant colony) might be judged unfit, when it becomes populous and\npowerful; these might be granted for a term only; as the choice of\ntheir own governor for ninety-nine years; the support of government\nin the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island (which _now_ enjoy\nthat and other like privileges) being much less expensive, than in\nthe colonies under the immediate government of the crown, and the\nconstitution more inviting.\n\nThat the first contributors to the amount of [___] guineas be\nempowered to choose a treasurer to receive the contribution.\n\nThat no contributions be paid till the sum of [___] thousand guineas\nbe subscribed.\n\nThat the money thus raised be applied to the purchase of the lands\nfrom the Six Nations and other Indians, and of provisions, stores,\narms, ammunition, carriages, &c. for the settlers; who, after having\nentered their names with the treasurer, or person by him appointed\nto receive and enter them, are, upon public notice given for that\npurpose, to rendezvous at a place to be appointed, and march in a\nbody to the place destined for their settlement, under the [charge]\nof the government to be established over them. Such rendezvous and\nmarch however not to directed, till the number of names of settlers\nentered, capable of bearing arms, amount at least to [___] thousand.\n-- -- --\n\n\nIt is apprehended, that a great sum of money might be raised in\nAmerica on such a scheme as this; for there are many who would be\nglad of any opportunity, by advancing a small sum at present, to\nsecure land for their children, which might in a few years become\nvery valuable; and a great number it is thought of actual settlers\nmight likewise be engaged (some from each of our present colonies)\nsufficient to carry it into full execution by their strength and\nnumbers; provided only, that the crown would be at the expence\nof removing the little forts the French have erected in their\nincroachments on his majesty's territories, and supporting a strong\none near the falls of Niagara, with a few small armed vessels, or\nhalf-galleys to cruize on the lakes. * * * * * -- -- --\n\n\nFor the security of this colony in its infancy, a small fort might\nbe erected and for some time maintained at Buffalonic on the Ohio,\nabove the settlement; and another at the mouth of the Hioaga, on\nthe south side of lake Erie, where a port should be formed, and a\ntown erected, for the trade of the lakes.--The colonists for _this\nsettlement_ might march by land through Pensylvania. -- -- --\n\n\nThe river Siotha, which runs into the Ohio about two hundred miles\nbelow Logs Town, is supposed the fittest seat for the _other colony_;\nthere being for forty miles on each side of it and quite up to its\nheads a body of all rich land; the finest spot of its bigness in\nall North America, and has the particular advantage of sea-coal in\nplenty (even above ground in two places) for fuel, when the woods\nshall be destroyed. This colony would have the trade of the Miamis or\nTwigtwees; and should, at first, have a small fort near Hock-kockin,\nat the head of the river; and another near the mouth of Wabash.\nSandoski, a French fort near the lake Erie, should also be taken; and\nall the little French forts south and west of the lakes, quite to the\nMississippi, be removed, or taken and garrisoned by the English.--The\ncolonists for this settlement might assemble near the heads of the\nrivers in Virginia, and march over land to the navigable branches\nof the Kanhawa, where they might embark with all their baggage and\nprovisions, and fall into the Ohio, not far above the mouth of\nSiotha. Or they might rendezvous at Will's Creek, and go down the\nMohingahela to the Ohio.\n\nThe fort and armed vessels at the strait of Niagara would be a vast\nsecurity to the frontiers of these new colonies against any attempts\nof the French from Canada. The fort at the mouth of the Wabash would\nguard that river, the Ohio, and Cutava river, in case of any attempt\nfrom the French of Mississippi. (Every fort should have a small\nsettlement round it; as the fort would protect the settlers, and the\nsettlers defend the fort and supply it with provisions.) -- -- --\n\n\nThe difficulty of settling the first English colonies in America,\nat so great a distance from England, must have been vastly greater,\nthan the settling these proposed new colonies: for it would be the\ninterest and advantage of all the present colonies to support these\nnew ones; as they would cover their frontiers, and prevent the growth\nof the French power behind or near their present settlements; and the\nnew country is nearly at equal distance from all the old colonies,\nand could easily be assisted from all of them.\n\nAnd as there are already in the old colonies many thousands of\nfamilies that are ready to swarm, wanting more land; the richness\nand natural advantage of the Ohio country would draw most of them\nthither, were there but a tolerable prospect of a safe settlement.\nSo that the new colonies would soon be full of people; and from\nthe advantage of their situation, become much more terrible to the\nFrench settlements, than those are now to us. The gaining of the\nback Indian trade from the French, by the navigation of the lakes,\n&c. would of itself greatly weaken our enemies:--it being now their\nprincipal support, it seems highly probable, that in time they must\nbe subjected to the British crown, or driven out of the country.\n\nSuch settlements may better be made now, than fifty years hence,\nbecause it is easier to settle ourselves, and thereby prevent the\nFrench settling there as they seem now to intend, than to remove them\nwhen strongly settled.\n\nIf these settlements are postponed, then more forts and stronger,\nand more numerous and expensive garrisons must be established, to\nsecure the country, prevent their settling, and secure our present\nfrontiers; the charge of which may probably exceed the charge of the\nproposed settlements, and the advantage nothing near so great.\n\nThe fort at Oswego should likewise be strengthened, and some armed\nhalf-gallies, or other small vessels, kept there to cruise on lake\nOntario, as proposed by Mr. Pownall in his paper laid before the\ncommissioners at the Albany treaty[12].\n\nIf a fort was also built at Tirondequat on lake Ontario and a\nsettlement made there near the lake side, where the lands are said to\nbe good, (much better than at Oswego;) the people of such settlements\nwould help to defend both forts on any emergency[13]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[11] For the occasion which produced this plan, see what follows. I\napprehend it was given to Governor Pownall, 1754, for the purpose of\nbeing inserted in his memorial; but this point of anecdote I cannot\nsufficiently ascertain.\n\n\"Extract of a Memorial drawn up by Order of, and presented to his\nRoyal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, 1756, by T. Pownall.\n\n\"In other parts of our frontier, that are not the immediate residence\nand country of Indians, some other species of barrier should be\nthought of, of which nothing can be more effectual than a barrier\ncolony: but even this cannot be carried ... into execution and\neffect, without the previous measure of _entrep\u00f4ts_ in the country\nbetween us and the enemy.... All mankind must know, that no body of\nmen, whether as an army, or as an emigration of colonists, can march\nfrom one country to another, through an inhospitable wilderness,\nwithout magazines; nor with any safety, without posts communicating\namong each other by practicable roads, to which to retire in case of\naccidents, repulse, or delay.\n\n\"It is a fact, which experience evinces the truth of, that we have\nalways been able to outsettle the French; and have driven the Indians\nout of the country more by settling than fighting; and that whenever\nour settlements have been wisely and completely made, the French,\nneither by themselves nor their dogs of war, the Indians, have been\nable to remove us. It is upon this fact I found the propriety of the\nmeasure of settling a barrier colony in those parts of our frontiers,\n_which are not the immediate residence or hunting-grounds of our_\nIndians. This is a measure that will be effectual; and will not only\nin time pay its expence, but make as great returns as any of our\npresent colonies do; will give a strength and unity to our dominions\nin North America; and give us possession of the country, as well as\nsettlement in it. But above all this, the state and circumstances of\nour settlements render such a measure not only proper and eligible,\nbut absolutely necessary. The English settlements, as they are at\npresent circumstanced, are absolutely at a stand; they are settled\nup to the mountains: and in the mountains there is no where together\nland sufficient for a settlement large enough to subsist by itself,\nand to defend itself, and preserve a communication with the present\nsettlements.\n\n\"If the English would advance one step further, or cover themselves\nwhere they are, it must be at once, by one large step over the\nmountains, with a numerous and military colony. Where such should\nbe settled, I do not take upon me to say: at present I shall only\npoint out the measure and the nature of it, by inserting two schemes,\none of Mr. Franklin's, the other of your memorialist; and if I\nmight indulge myself with scheming, I should imagine that two such\nwere sufficient, and only requisite and proper: one at the back of\nVirginia, filling up the vacant space between the five nations and\nsouthern confederacy, and connecting, into one system, our barrier;\nthe other somewhere in the Cohass or Connecticut river, or wherever\nbest adapted to cover the New England colonies. These, with the\nlittle settlements mentioned above in the Indian countries, complete\nmy idea of this branch.\" See Governor Pownall's Administration of the\nColonies. Vol. II. p. 228-231, 5th edition.\n\nThe reader must carry along with him a distinction between the plans\nof Dr. Franklin and Governor Pownall here referred to. The first\n(which is before him) is particular, and proposes a plan for _two_\nsettlements in the unlocated lands to the westward of Pensylvania\nand the Virginian mountains, and is totally silent with respect to a\nsettlement in New England: the other treats of the mode of settling\nnew colonies in North America in general, leaving the precise\nsituation to be in some measure pointed out by the foregoing extract.\n\nThe copy from which this paper is printed, has appearances of being\nrather incorrectly taken from the original. B. V.\n\n[12] See his work above quoted, Vol. II. p. 234. _et seq._ and p.\n179. _et seq._ B. V.\n\n[13] This whole proposal was neglected, though the French thought\na considerable settlement very practicable, in order to get at the\nOhio. See Governor Pownall, Vol. II. p. 236.\n\nDr. Franklin also failed in another proposal for settling to the\nsouth of the Ohio. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Report of the Committee of Aggrievances of the Assembly of\n Pensylvania, dated Feb. 22, 1757[14]._\n\n\nIn obedience to the order of the house, we have drawn up the heads\nof the most important aggrievances that occur to us, which the\npeople of this province with great difficulty labour under; the many\ninfractions of the constitution (in manifest violation of the royal\ngrant, the proprietary charter, the laws of this province, and of the\nlaws, usages, and customs of our mother-country) and other matters;\nwhich we apprehend call aloud for redress.\n\nThey are as follow:\n\n\n_First_, By the royal charter (which has ever been, ought to be,\nand truly is, the principal and invariable fundamental of this\nconstitution) King Charles the Second did give and grant unto William\nPenn, his heirs and assigns, the province of Pensylvania; and also to\nhim and his heirs, and his or their _deputies_ or lieutenants, free,\nfull, and absolute power, for the good and happy government thereof,\nto make and enact any laws, \"according to their best discretion;\nby and with the advice, assent, and approbation of the _freemen_\nof the said country, or of their delegates or deputies;\" for the\nraising of money, or any other end appertaining to the public state,\npeace, or safety of the said country. By the words of this grant,\nit is evident, that full powers are granted to the _deputies_ and\nlieutenants of William Penn and his heirs, to concur with the people\nin framing laws for their protection and the safety of the province,\naccording to their best discretion; independent of any instructions\nor directions they should receive from their _principals_. And it is\nequally obvious to your committee, that the _people_ of this province\nand their representatives were interested in this royal grant; and\nby virtue thereof have an original right of legislation inherent in\nthem; which neither the proprietors nor any other person whatsoever\ncan divest them of, restrain, or abridge, without manifestly\nviolating and destroying the letter, spirit, and design of this grant.\n\nNevertheless we unfortunately find, that the proprietaries of this\nprovince, regardless of this sacred fundamental of our rights and\nliberties, have so abridged and restricted their late and present\n_governor's_ discretion in matters of legislation, by their illegal,\nimpracticable, and unconstitutional instructions and prohibitions;\nthat no bill for granting aids and supplies to our most gracious\nsovereign (be it ever so reasonable, expedient, and necessary for\nthe defence of this his majesty's colony, and safety of his people)\nunless it be agreeable thereto, can meet with his approbation: by\nmeans whereof the many considerable sums of money which have been\noffered for those purposes, by the assemblies of this province (ever\nanxious to maintain his honour and rights,) have been rejected; to\nthe great encouragement of his majesty's enemies, and the imminent\ndanger of the loss of this colony.\n\n\n_Secondly_, The representatives of the people in general assembly\nmet, by virtue of the said royal grant, and the charter of privileges\ngranted by the said William Penn, and a law of this province, have\nright to, and ought to enjoy all the powers and privileges of an\nassembly, according to the rights of the free-born subjects of\nEngland, and as is usual in any of the plantations in America: [also]\nit is an indubitable and now an incontested right of the commons of\nEngland, to _grant aids_ and supplies to his majesty in any manner\nthey think most easy to themselves and the people; and they [also]\nare the sole judges of the _measure_, _manner and time_ of granting\nand raising the same.\n\nNevertheless the proprietaries of this province, in contempt of the\nsaid royal grant, proprietary charter, and law of their colony,\ndesigning to subvert the fundamentals of this constitution, to\ndeprive the assembly and people of their rights and privileges, and\nto assume an arbitrary and tyrannical power over the liberties and\nproperties of his majesty's liege subjects, have so restrained their\ngovernors by the _despotic instructions_ (which are not to be varied\nfrom, and are particularly directory in the framing and passing of\nmoney-bills and supplies to his majesty, as to the mode, measure,\nand time) that it is impossible for the assembly, should they lose\nall sense of their most essential rights, and comply with those\ninstructions, to grant sufficient aids for the defence of this his\nmajesty's province from the common enemy.\n\n\n_Thirdly_, In pursuance of sundry acts of general assembly, approved\nof by the crown, [and] a natural right inherent in every man\nantecedent to all laws, the assemblies of this province have had the\npower of _disposing_ of the _public_ monies, that have been raised\nfor the encouragement of trade and support of government, by the\ninterest money arising by the loan of the bills of credit and the\nexcise. No part of these monies was ever paid by the _proprietaries_,\nor ever raised on their estates; and therefore they can have no\npretence of right to a voice in the disposition of them. They\nhave ever been applied with prudent frugality to the honour and\nadvantage of the public, and the king's immediate service, to the\ngeneral approbation of the people: the credit of the government has\nbeen preserved, and the debts of the public punctually discharged.\nIn short, no inconveniencies, but great and many advantages have\naccrued, from the assembly's prudent care and management of these\nfunds.\n\nYet the proprietaries resolved to deprive the assemblies of the power\nand means of _supporting an agent_ in England, and of prosecuting\ntheir complaints and remonstrating their aggrievances, when injured\nand oppressed, to his majesty and his parliament: and to rob them\nof this natural right (which has been so often approved of by their\ngracious sovereign) have, by their said instructions, prohibited\ntheir governor from giving his assent to any laws emitting or\nre-emitting any paper-currency or bills of credit, or for raising\nmoney by excise or any other method; unless the governor or commander\nin chief for the time being, by clauses to be inserted therein, has\n_a negative in the disposition_ of the monies arising thereby; let\nthe languishing circumstances of our trade be ever so great, and a\nfurther or greater medium be ever so necessary for its support.\n\n\n_Fourthly_, By the laws and statutes of England, the chief rents,\nhonours, and castles of the crown are taxed, and _pay their\nproportion_ to the supplies that are granted to the king for the\ndefence of the realm and support of government: his majesty,\nthe nobility of the realm, and all the British subjects, do now\nactually contribute their proportion towards the defence of America\nin general, and this province in particular: and it is in a more\nespecial manner the duty of the _proprietaries_ to pay their\nproportion of a tax, for the immediate preservation of their own\nestates, in this province. To exempt therefore any part of their\nestates from their reasonable part of this necessary burthen, it is\nunjust as it is illegal, and as new as it is arbitrary.\n\nYet the proprietaries, notwithstanding the general danger to which\nthe nation and its colonies are exposed, and great distress of this\nprovince in particular, by their said instructions, have prohibited\ntheir governors from passing laws for the raising supplies for its\ndefence; _unless_ all their located, unimproved, and unoccupied\nlands, quit-rents, fines, and purchase monies on interest (the much\ngreater part of their enormous estates in this colony) are expressly\nexempted from paying any part of the tax.\n\n\n_Fifthly_, By virtue of the said royal charter, the proprietaries are\ninvested with a power of doing every thing \"which unto a compleat\nestablishment of justice, unto courts and tribunals, forms of\njudicature, and manner of proceedings, do belong.\" It was certainly\nthe import and design of this grant, that the courts of judicature\nshould be formed, and the _judges_ and officers thereof hold their\ncommissions, in a manner not repugnant, but agreeable to the laws\nand customs of England: that thereby they might remain free from\nthe influence of persons in power, the rights of the people might\nbe preserved, and their properties effectually secured. That the\nguarantee, William Penn (understanding the said grant in this light)\ndid, by his original frame of government, covenant and grant with\nthe people, that the judges and other officers should hold their\ncommissions during their _good behaviour, and no longer_.\n\nNotwithstanding which, the governors of this province have, for\nmany years past, granted all the commissions to the judges of the\nking's bench or supreme court of this province, and to the judges\nof the court of common pleas of the several counties, to be held\nduring their _will and pleasure_; by means whereof, the said judges\nbeing subject to the influence and directions of the proprietaries\nand their governors, their favourites and creatures, the laws may\nnot be duly administered or executed, but often wrested from their\ntrue sense; to serve particular purposes, the foundation of justice\nmay be liable to be destroyed; and the lives, laws, liberties,\nprivileges, and properties of the people thereby rendered precarious\nand altogether insecure; to the great disgrace of our laws, and the\ninconceivable injury of his majesty's subjects.\n\n\nYour committee further beg leave to add, that besides these\naggrievances, there are other hardships the people of this province\nhave experienced, that call for redress.--The _inlistment of\nservants, without the least satisfaction_ being made to the masters,\nhas not only prevented the cultivation of our lands, and diminished\nthe trade and commerce of the province, but is a burthen extremely\nunequal and oppressive to individuals. And should the practice\ncontinue, the consequence must prove very discouraging to the further\nsettlement of this colony, and prejudicial to his majesty's future\nservice.--Justice, therefore, demands, that satisfaction should be\nmade to the masters of such inlisted servants; and that the right of\nmasters to their servants be confirmed and settled.--But as those\nservants have been inlisted into his majesty's service for the\ngeneral defence of America, and not of this province only, but all\nthe colonies, and the nation in general, have and will receive equal\nbenefit from their service; this satisfaction should be made at the\nexpence of the nation, and not of the province only.\n\nThat the people now labour under _a burthen of taxes_, almost\ninsupportable by so young a colony, for the defence of its\nlong-extended frontier, of about two hundred miles from New Jersey\nto Maryland; without either of those colonies, or the three lower\ncounties on Delaware, contributing their proportion thereto; though\ntheir frontiers are in a great measure covered and protected by our\nforts. And should the war continue, and with it this unequal burthen,\nmany of his majesty's subjects in this province will be reduced to\nwant, and the province, if not lost to the enemy, involved in debt,\nand sunk under its load.\n\nThat notwithstanding this weight of taxes, the assemblies of this\nprovince _have given to the general service_ of the nation, five\nthousand pounds to purchase provisions for the troops under General\nBraddock; 2,985_l._ 0_s._ 11_d._ for clearing a road by his orders;\n10,514_l._ 10_s._ 1_d._ to General Shirley, for the purchasing\nprovisions for the New England forces; and expended the sum of\n2,385_l._ 0_s._ 2\u00bd_d._ in supporting the inhabitants of Nova Scotia;\nwhich likewise we conceive ought to be a national expence.\n\nAnd that his majesty's subjects, the merchants and insurers in\nEngland, as well as the merchants here and elsewhere, did during\nthe last, and will during the present war, greatly suffer in their\nproperty, trade, and commerce, by the _enemy's privateers_ on this\ncoast, and at our capes, unless some method be fallen on to prevent\nit.\n\n\nWherefore your committee are of opinion, That the commissioners\nintended to be sent to England[15], to solicit a memorial and\nredress of the many infractions and violations of the constitution;\nshould also have it in charge, and be instructed to represent\nto our most gracious sovereign and his parliaments, the several\nunequal burthens and hardships before-mentioned;--and endeavour to\nprocure satisfaction to the masters of such servants as have been\ninlisted, and the right of masters to their servants established and\nconfirmed;--and obtain a repayment of the said several sums of money,\nsome assistance towards defending our extensive frontier, and a\nvessel of war to protect the trade and commerce of this province.\n\n Submitted to the correction of the house.\n\n _Feb. 22, 1757._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[14] The English colony-governments seem to have been considered\nas of three sorts. First, _provincial_ governments; where the\nconstitution originally depends on the king's commission, and\ninstructions given to his governors; and the assemblies, held under\nthat authority, have their share in making local ordinances not\nrepugnant to English law. Next, _proprietary_ governments; where a\ndistrict of country is given by the crown to individuals, attended\nwith certain legislative powers in the nature of a fief; with a\nprovision for the sovereignty at home, and also for the fulfilment\nof the terms and end of the grant. Lastly, _charter_ governments,\nwhere the fundamentals of the government are previously prescribed\nand made known to the settlers, being in no degree left subject to a\ngovernor's commission or proprietor's will. (See Blackstone, Vol. I.\nIntrod. \u00a7 4.)--Good faith however to mankind seemed to require, that\nthe constitutions, once begun under the provincial or proprietary\ngovernments, should remain unaltered (except for improvement) to the\nrespective settlers, equally as in charter-governments. B. V.\n\n[15] Dr. Franklin was afterwards appointed to present this address,\nas agent for the province of Pensylvania, and departed from America\nfor the purpose in June 1757. See his life, Vol. I. p. 134. While in\nEngland, the more effectually to accomplish the business upon which\nhe was sent, he wrote the article that follows in the next page,\nentitled An historical Review, &c. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _An historical Review of the Constitution and Government of\n Pensylvania, from its Origin; so far as regards the several Points\n of Controversy which have, from Time to Time, arisen between the\n several Governors of that Province, and their several Assemblies.\n Founded on authentic Documents._\n\n Those who would give up _essential liberty_, to purchase a little\n _temporary safety_, deserve neither _liberty_ nor _safety_.\n\n Griffiths, 1759[16].\n\n\n DEDICATION.\n\n To the right honourable Arthur Onslow, speaker of the honourable\n House of Commons.\n\n SIR,\n\nThe subject of the following sheets is an unhappy one: the\ncontroversy between the proprietaries and successive assemblies of\nPensylvania: a controversy which has often embarrassed, if not\nendangered the public service: a controversy which has been long\ndepending, and which still seems to be as far from an issue as ever.\n\nOur blessed saviour reproaches the Pharisees with laying heavy\nburdens on men's shoulders, which they themselves would not stir with\na single finger.\n\nOur proprietaries, sir, have done the same; and, for the sake of the\ncommonwealth, the province has hitherto submitted to the imposition:\nnot indeed, without the most strenuous endeavours to lay the load\nequally, the fullest manifestations, and the strongest protestations\nagainst the violence put upon them.\n\nHaving been most injuriously misrepresented and traduced in print,\nby the known agents and dependents of those gentlemen their fellow\nsubjects, they at last find themselves obliged to set forth an\nhistorical state of their case, and to make their appeal to the\npublic upon it.\n\nWith the public opinion in their favour, they may with the more\nconfidence lift up their eyes to the wisdom of parliament and the\nmajesty of the crown, from whence alone they can derive an effectual\nremedy.\n\nTo your hands, sir, these papers are most humbly presented, for\nconsiderations so obvious, that they scarce need any explanation.\n\nThe Roman provinces did not stand more in need of patronage than\nours: and such clients as we are would have preferred the integrity\nof Cato to the fortune of C\u00e6sar.\n\nThe cause we bring is in fact the cause of all the provinces in one:\nit is the cause of every British subject in every part of the British\ndominions: it is the cause of every man who deserves to be free every\nwhere.\n\nThe propriety, therefore, of addressing these papers to a gentleman,\nwho, for so many successive parliaments, with so much honour to\nhimself and satisfaction to the public, has been at the head of the\ncommons of Great Britain, cannot be called in question.\n\nYou will smile, sir, perhaps, as you read the references of a\nprovincial assembly to the rights and claims of parliament; but we\nhumbly conceive, it will be without the least mixture of resentment;\nthose assemblies having nothing more in view, than barely to\nestablish their privileges on the most rational and solid basis they\ncould find, for the security and service of their constituents.\n\nAnd you are humbly besought, sir, not to think the worse of this\naddress, because it has been made without your permission or privity.\n\nNobody asks leave to pay a debt: every Briton is your debtor, sir:\nand all we have said, or can say, is but a poor composition for what\nwe owe you.\n\nYou have conferred as much honour on the chair you fill, as the chair\nhas conferred on you.\n\nProbity and dignity are your characteristics.\n\nMay that seat always derive the same lustre from the same qualities!\n\nThis at least ought to be our prayer, whether it is or not within our\nexpectations.\n\nFor the province of Pensylvania, as well as in my own private\ncapacity, I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect,\n\n Sir,\n\n your most obedient humble servant,\n\n THE EDITOR.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nTo obtain an infinite variety of purposes by a few plain principles\nis the characteristic of nature. As the eye is affected so is the\nunderstanding: objects at distance strike it according to their\ndimensions, or the quantity of light thrown upon them; near,\naccording to their novelty or familiarity as they are in motion or\nat rest. It is the same with actions. A battle is all motion; a hero\nall glare: while such images are before us, we can attend to nothing\nelse. Solon and Lycurgus would make no figure in the same scene with\nthe king of Prussia; and we are at present so lost in a military\nscramble on the continent next us, in which it must be confessed we\nare deeply interested, that we have scarce time to throw a glance\ntowards America, where we have also much at stake, and where, if any\nwhere, our account must be made up at last.\n\nWe love to stare more than to reflect, and to be indolently amused\nat our leisure, than to commit the smallest trespass on our patience\nby winding a painful tedious maze, which would pay us in nothing but\nknowledge.\n\nBut then as there are some eyes that can find nothing marvellous but\nwhat is marvellously great, so there are others equally disposed to\nmarvel at what is marvellously little; and who can derive as much\nentertainment from this microscope in examining a mite, as Dr. ----\nin ascertaining the geography of the moon, or measuring the tail of a\ncomet.\n\nLet this serve as an excuse for the author of these sheets, if he\nneeds any, for bestowing them on the transactions of a colony, till\nof late hardly mentioned in our annals; in point of establishment\none of the last upon the British list, and in point of rank one of\nthe most subordinate, as being not only subject, in common with the\nrest, to the crown, but also to the claims of a _proprietary_, who\nthinks he does them _honour_ enough in governing them by _deputy_;\nconsequently so much further removed from the royal eye, and so much\nthe more exposed to the pressure of self-interested _instructions_.\n\nConsiderable, however, as most of them, for happiness of situation,\nfertility of soil, product of valuable commodities, number of\ninhabitants, shipping, amount of exportations, latitude of rights and\nprivileges, and every other requisite for the being and well-being of\nsociety, and more considerable than any of them all for the celerity\nof its growth, unassisted by any human help but the vigour and virtue\nof its own excellent constitution.\n\nA father and his family, the latter united by interest and affection,\nthe former to be revered for the wisdom of his institutions and\nthe indulgent use of his authority, was the form it was at first\npresented in. Those who were only ambitious of repose found it\nhere; and as none returned with an evil report of the land, numbers\nfollowed: all partook of the leaven they found: the community still\nwore the same equal face: nobody aspired: nobody was oppressed:\nindustry was sure of profit, knowledge of esteem, and virtue of\nveneration.\n\nAn assuming _landlord_, strongly disposed to convert free tenants\ninto abject vassals, and to reap what he did not sow, countenanced\nand abetted by a few desperate and designing dependents, on the one\nside; and on the other, all who have sense enough to know their\nrights, and spirit enough to defend them, combined as one man against\nthe said landlord and his encroachment in the form it has since\nassumed.\n\nAnd surely a nation born to liberty like this, bound to leave it\nunimpaired as they received it from their fathers in perpetuity\nto their heirs, and interested in the conservation of it in every\nappendix to the British empire, the particulars of such a contest\ncannot be wholly indifferent.\n\nOn the contrary, it is reasonable to think, the first workings of\npower against liberty, and the natural efforts of unbiassed men\nto secure themselves against the first approaches of oppression,\nmust have a captivating power over every man of sensibility and\ndiscernment amongst us.\n\nLiberty it seems thrives best in the woods. America best cultivates\nwhat Germany brought forth. And were it not for certain ugly\ncomparisons, hard to be suppressed, the pleasure arising from such a\nresearch would be without alloy.\n\nIn the feuds of Florence recorded by Machiavel, we find more to\nlament and less to praise. Scarce can we believe the first citizens\nof the ancient republics had such pretensions to consideration,\nthough so highly celebrated in ancient story. As to ourselves, we\nneed no longer have recourse to the late glorious stand of the French\nparliament to excite our emulation.\n\nIt is a known custom among farmers, to change their corn from season\nto season, for the sake of filling the bushel: and in case the wisdom\nof the age should condescend to make the like experiment in another\nshape, from hence we may learn, whither to repair for the proper\nspecies.\n\nIt is not however to be presumed, that such as have long been\naccustomed to consider the colonies in general as only so many\ndependencies on the council board, the board of trade, and the board\nof customs; or, as a hot-bed for causes, jobs and other pecuniary\nemoluments, and as formed as effectually by _instructions_ as by\n_laws_, can be prevailed on to consider those patriot rustics with\nany degree of respect.\n\nBut how contemptibly soever these gentlemen may talk of the colonies,\nhow cheap soever they may hold their assemblies, or how insignificant\nthe planters and traders who compose them, truth will be truth, and\nprinciple, principle, notwithstanding.\n\nCourage, wisdom, integrity, and honour are not to be measured by the\nplace assigned them to act in, but by the trials they undergo and\nthe vouchers they furnish: and if so manifested, need neither robes\nor titles to set them off.\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nList of governors of Pensylvania, and dates of the several charters,\n&c. of that province.\n\nAbstract of the charter granted to William Penn.\n\nCertain conditions or concessions of Mr. Penn to the first\nadventurers in, and settlers of, Pensylvania.\n\nMr. Penn's first frame of government.\n\nHis reservation of quit rents.\n\nHis second frame of government.\n\nThe province of Pensylvania and the territory of the three lower\ncounties united by his management.\n\nRemonstrance of a subsequent assembly against the said union.\n\nMotives of the planters, assigned by the said assembly, for accepting\nthe second frame of government.\n\nMr. Penn's return to England, and appointment of commissioners to\nadminister the government.\n\nDisorders which ensued during his absence.\n\nCaptain Blackwell's government.\n\nThe government assumed into the lands of the crown in 1693, and\nadministered by colonel Fletcher, governor of New York.\n\nHe declares the constitution of Mr. Penn's government, and that of\ntheir majesties, to be directly opposite to each other.\n\nHe menaces the assembly with an annexion of their province to that of\nNew York.\n\nProtestation against passing of bills, amended by the governor\nand council, without the previous assent of the assembly to those\namendments, and of money-bills before grievances have been redressed.\n\nRemonstrance to Mr. Penn concerning this period.\n\nThe governor admits the principles of the quakers, not to carry arms,\nor levy money to make war; and solicits a supply to feed the hungry\nand clothe the naked (Indians).\n\nThe assembly insist on their right to appropriate as well as to raise\nmoney.\n\nThe government of William Markham, Esq.\n\nA new act of settlement or frame of government.\n\nThe government resumed by Mr. Penn.\n\nThe province purged from the odium of favouring pirates, and carrying\non an illicit trade.\n\nA new model of elections agreed to.\n\nThe assembly formed thereon dissolved.\n\nAnother assembly called upon another model, to meet at Newcastle\ninstead of Philadelphia.\n\nAids granted for the proprietary-governor, in exchange for a\nconformation of property.\n\nAn aid of 350_l._ sterling to the crown on this account.\n\nMr. Penn's plausible speech to a new assembly.\n\nThree of the requisitions they made to him, with his answers and\ntheir replies.\n\nA breach between the province and the territory.\n\nThe last charter of privileges, which, under the royal charter, is\n_now_ the rule of government.\n\nIt is unanimously rejected by the freemen of the territory.\n\nMr. Penn's departure for England.\n\nAndrew Hamilton, Esq. deputy-governor, in vain endeavours to unite\nthe territory with the province.\n\nJohn Evans, Esq. succeeds Hamilton, and makes the like endeavour,\nalso in vain.\n\nControversy between him and the assembly concerning the bill to\nconfirm the charter.\n\nNine several heads of complaint entered in the minutes of the\nassembly, as the ground of a representation to the proprietary; being\nthe representation several times before cited.\n\nThe remainder of that representation.\n\nA copy of it demanded by the governor and refused by the assembly.\n\nThe latter make a merit of having forborne to make their\nrepresentation public.\n\nThe governor obtains an assembly to his wish, by undue practices.\n\nAnimosities between Lloyd, speaker of the assembly, and Logan,\nsecretary to the governor and council.\n\nThe governor censures the proprietary's charter of property.\n\nThe draughtman's defence of it.\n\nThe governor declares the proprietary's high resentment of the\nassembly's representation.\n\nThe assembly's reply.\n\nThe governor refers to the charter of privileges as the only rule of\ngovernment.\n\nThe assembly complains of infractions made in it.\n\nTheir representation to the proprietary against the governor.\n\nLogan impeached by the assembly.\n\nAn unanimous vote of thanks to the proprietary for recalling Evans.\n\nGeneral view of Gookin's government.\n\nAssembly's character of themselves.\n\nA proprietary-governor a wretched thing.\n\nArtful conduct of governor Keith.\n\nMr. Penn's death.\n\nThe province left in the hands of trustees.\n\nLogan, one of those trustees, obtains a majority in the council\nagainst the governor.\n\nLogan makes a voyage to England, and returns with private\ninstructions to Keith, which Keith communicates to the assembly.\n\nThe governor and assembly in concert pay no regard to the said\ninstructions.\n\nA controversy in print, between the governor and Logan thereon.\n\nA breach between the governor and speaker.\n\nThe province in a state of tranquillity for nine years under his\nadministration.\n\nA pathetic reflection on the melancholy case of governors recalled.\n\nPensylvania easy to be governed, if well governed.\n\nPrivate instructions from the proprietary in two several instances\ndeclared void.\n\nThe proprietary of Pensylvania too inconsiderable here at home to be\na patron to the province, and too unsizeably great there.\n\nThe proprietaries the sole purchasers of Indian lands:--the people\nat the sole expence of Indian affairs:--treaties and purchases\nconcomitant.\n\nThe quit-rents of Pensylvania, paid to the proprietary, first\ndemanded and granted to defray the charge of government.\n\nNotwithstanding which the people now pay taxes for that purpose, and\nthe proprietaries insist on holding their estates tax-free.\n\nPaper-money first issued in Pensylvania.\n\nPrecautions taken to secure it from depreciation.\n\nMr. Penn's trustees averse to the said issue, till a provision was\nmade, at the expence of the province, to render his heirs gainers by\nit.\n\nRoom left in the constitution of the province for self defence by\nforce of arms, though the use of arms was not consistent with the\nprinciples of quakers.\n\nIn consequence of complaints to parliament, of the mischiefs arising\nfrom excessive issues of paper-money by the eastern governments (that\nis to say those of New England) a general instruction was sent to\n_all_ the governors of North America, not to give their assent to any\nfarther bills of that nature, without a suspending clause, till his\nmajesty's pleasure should be known.\n\nThe assembly grants money in aid of the expedition against Carthagena.\n\nThe governor inlists indented servants upon that occasion; and the\nassembly apply the money they had given to indemnify the masters.\n\nThey give 3,000_l._ towards the public service, to be applied as his\nmajesty should direct.\n\nAlso another sum of 4,000_l._ to furnish necessaries to the troops in\nLouisburgh.\n\nAnd yet another sum of 5,000_l._ towards the intended expedition\nagainst Canada in the year 1746, by an addition of the like sum to\ntheir paper currency, and notwithstanding the above instruction, the\ngovernor gave his assent to the bill for that purpose.\n\nThe proprietaries of Pensylvania oppose the bill brought into\nparliament for restraining the northern colonies from issuing paper\nbills of credit, and make a merit of it in the province.\n\nThe assembly call upon the proprietaries to contribute to the expence\nof Indian affairs, which they decline.\n\nThe assembly's representation thereon.\n\nA bill for increasing the provincial paper-currency in proportion to\nthe increase of the province, by an addition of 20,000_l._ thereto.\n\nRejected by the governor for being unseasonably timed.\n\nAnd petitioned by the inhabitants.\n\nA message from the governor (Hamilton) preparing the house to expect\nincursions from the French among the Indians in alliance with them,\nand requiring assistance on their behalf.\n\nThe answer of the proprietaries to the representation of the assembly\nconcerning the expence of Indian affairs.\n\nThe assembly's message sent to the governor, together with the\ncurrency-bill he had before rejected.\n\nAnother message to him concerning Indian affairs, and notifying a\npresent of condolence to the Twigtwee tribe.\n\nGovernor's message, importing his assent to the currency-bill, with a\nsuspending clause.\n\nResolution of the assembly not to accept this clause, with their\nreasons.\n\nA note of regret, that some temperament had not been found out at\nhome, to prevent the controversy, which was now on the point of\nbreaking out.\n\nRemonstrance of the assembly against the said clause.\n\nThe governor's message of adherence thereto.\n\nThe assembly's reply.\n\nTheir reply to the proprietary's answer to the representation on\nIndian expences.\n\nUnanimous resolution of the assembly concerning the necessity of a\nremission of their paper-currency.\n\nLord Holdernesse's letter and other papers laid before them, together\nwith a written message from the governor thereon.\n\nThe assembly's answer, accompanied with their currency-bill.\n\nThe governor rejects it; but offers to pass a bill for striking a\nfarther sum on a proper fund for sinking the same in a few years.\n\nThe assembly prudently avail themselves of the cautions in lord\nHoldernesse's letter concerning _undoubted limits_, to decline taking\nany part in the broil, till the government of Virginia, as first\nconcerned, should set the first example.\n\nThe governor revives the old controversy concerning the paper-money\ninstruction.\n\nDeclares in another paper he had _undoubted assurance_, that part\nof his majesty's dominions _within_ his government was at that time\ninvaded, and demands supplies to arm the province, &c.\n\nThe assembly demur, and desire a short adjournment.\n\nThe governor not only persists in his former declaration, but\nmaintains, that the case was the same, whether the invasion of the\nenemy was made in Virginia or Pensylvania.\n\nThe assembly adjourn to May 6, and are assembled by the governor\nApril 2, in order to lay before them papers from governor Dinwiddie;\nand demand a supply.\n\nDebates in the assembly on the _quantum_, and a new adjournment.\n\nAnother session, and a message from the governor, accompanied with\nintelligence, that the French were before the fort built by the\nVirginians on the Ohio; with dispatches and a proposition from the\ngovernors of Boston and New York, for an union of the colonies, &c.\n\nA joint bill for granting an aid of 10,000_l._ to the king, and\n20,000_l._ for replacing torn and ragged bills, offered.\n\nAmendments proposed by the governor.\n\nUnanimously rejected by the assembly, and for what reasons.\n\nThe governor's reply.\n\nA reflection thereon.\n\nResolutions of the assembly.\n\nAnd message to the governor before their adjournment.\n\nThey are re-convened by special summons on the occasion of\nWashington's defeat, and required to form chearful and vigorous\nresolutions for dislodging the enemy, in concurrence with Virginia.\n\nThe proceedings of the commissioners at Albany laid before them.\n\nThey prepare and present a bill for striking 35,000_l._ in bills of\ncredit, and the rest for replacing defective bills.\n\nWhich the governor evades for want of sufficient powers to pass it.\n\nGovernor Morris's arrival at Philadelphia, and first speech to a new\nassembly.\n\nThe assembly's answer and adjournment.\n\nBeing assembled again, a letter from Sir Thomas Robinson, secretary\nof state, is laid before them; and the governor in his speech\nrequires them to raise and keep up a considerable body of troops.\n\nThey present a bill for raising 40,000_l._ on the former plan; half\nof this sum for the public service; with a message, expressing their\nconcern at a paragraph in the secretary of state's letter, by which\nit appeared their conduct had not been fairly represented at home.\n\nThe old instruction, and an opinion of the attorney-general's,\npleaded by the governor in bar of his assent, unless the money was\nraised in a five-years fund.\n\nA letter from Sir Thomas Robinson to the governor of Pensylvania,\ndispatched at the same time with others of similar tendency to the\nother governors of the northern colonies.\n\nWhich the governor, in his comment upon it, endeavours to narrow the\napplication of, to Pensylvania only.\n\nA message from the assembly, fully demonstrating, that Pensylvania\nwas not comprehended in the instruction insisted upon; and that in\ncase it was, the present emergency was one of those, which, according\nto the very letter of that instruction, might be provided for\nnotwithstanding: also desiring a sight of the instructions he himself\nhad received from his principals.\n\nA second message, in which they call upon the governor to give his\nassent to the bill, as what would answer all the purposes recommended\nto them in Sir Thomas Robinson's letter.\n\nThe governor's reply, declining the bill as before; because the\nsupply might be otherwise raised, and evading the communication of\nhis instructions.\n\nThe assembly's rejoinder, justifying the requisition they made of his\ninstructions; and intimating, that an appeal to the crown was the\nonly method left them of being continued in the use and benefit of\ntheir birthright, and charter liberties.\n\nThe governor questions their right to have these instructions laid\nbefore them, and endeavours to put them beside their point, by\nmagnifying the preparations of the French, &c.\n\nThe assembly order the papers which had passed between the\nproprietaries and them to be printed, which till then they had\navoided.\n\nTheir unanimous resolutions concerning the proprietary instructions,\nin which they declare it as their opinion, that the said instructions\nwere the principal if not the sole obstruction to their bill: also\nthe most essential points contained in their reply to the governor's\ncharges against them.\n\nA brief of the governor's sur-rejoinder.\n\nSome general remarks.\n\nThe assembly make their appeal to the crown, inform the governor\nthereof, signify their inclination to adjourn till May, and give his\ninstructions the _coup de grace_.\n\nThe governor's expostulatory message thereon.\n\nHe demands a copy of their minutes; they order him one when the\nprinted copies were _finished_, and adjourn.\n\nUpon Braddock's arrival in Virginia, they are re-assembled by special\nsummons: the demands made by message on that occasion.\n\nThe governor reprimands them for having published Sir Thomas\nRobinson's letter in their minutes, and for not delivering him a copy\nof those minutes so soon as he had required them.\n\nThe assembly's answer thereto.\n\nOrders and counter-orders to the printer of these minutes.\n\nTwo messages from the governor; one communicating a design of\ngeneral Shirley to build a fort _within the limits_ of his majesty's\nterritories near _Crown Point_, to which the assembly is required\nto contribute; and the other, notifying first the arrival of\nBraddock's forces, and then the expectations entertained at home,\nthat the colonies would raise an additional number of forces,\nfurnish provisions, &c. all terminated with a kind of menace of\nthe resentment of his majesty and the parliament, in case of a\ndisappointment.\n\n_Twenty five thousand pounds_ granted to the king's use, to be raised\nby an emission of paper-bills to the same amount, and to be sunk by\nan extension of the excise for ten years.\n\nRefused by the governor, on the old pretence of a contrary\ninstruction.\n\nA provision demanded for the expence of an Indian treaty.\n\nA memorial to the assembly from Mr. Quincy, a commissioner from the\ngovernment of Massachusett's Bay, expressing both his concern, that\nthe governor could not be induced to pass the said money-bill, and\nhis acknowledgments of the _chearfulness_ shown by them in granting\n10,000_l._ for victualling the forces to be employed in New England;\nbeing part of the money so granted; and urging them to find out some\nother means of rendering their purpose effectual.\n\nThe assembly resolve to raise the said sum on the credit of the\nprovince.\n\nAnother paper of acknowledgment from the said Mr. Quincy.\n\nThe governor refuses to return the said bill to the assembly; informs\nthem the French had fitted out fifteen sail of the line, with six\nthousand land forces, and calls upon them to put the province into a\nstate of defence, as the enemy could not be ignorant how plentiful\nand defenceless it was; yet advises a short adjournment.\n\nThey meet again, and a squabble arising between them about a bill\nmerely provincial, he revives the former controversy.\n\nThe assembly's spirited answer to this captious message.\n\nA remark thereon.\n\nThey are re-assembled.\n\nA hardy assertion, concerning the paper-money act passed by governor\nThomas, refuted by a fact.\n\nAn acknowledgment from the officers of the regular forces of certain\npresents made to them by the assembly.\n\nThe governor's message to the assembly, said to be founded on a\nrepresentation of general Braddock's, requiring them to enable him to\nfurnish the said general with provisions under proper convoys, &c. &c.\n\nThe assembly desire to have the general's letter laid before them,\nwhich the governor declines, and thereby occasions a new controversy.\n\nThe assembly send up two other bills; one of 10,000_l._ for\nexchanging old bills, and one of 15,000_l._ for the king's use, on\nthe model of that formerly passed by governor Thomas, and confirmed\nat home by the royal authority, since the instruction so often cited\nhad been sent to the said governor.\n\nSuch amendments offered to it by the governor, as he could not but be\npre-convinced would not be allowed.\n\nThe assembly adjourn till September; but are again convoked in July,\non occasion of Braddock's defeat.\n\nThe governor's speech.\n\nThe assembly vote an aid of 50,000_l._ by a tax on all real and\npersonal estates.\n\nThe governor makes a pompous offer in the proprietary's name, of\ncertain lands west of Allegheny mountains, to such adventurers as\nwould fight for them, and calls upon the assembly to afford some\nassistance to such as should accept the same.\n\nA remonstrance which certain inhabitants of certain places were\ninduced to present to the assembly.\n\nThe address of the assembly to the governor.\n\nTheir 50,000_l._ money-bill returned, with an amendment, by which the\nWHOLE _proprietary estate_ was to be _exempted_ from tax.\n\nThe message of the assembly to the governor on that occasion,\ndesiring his reasons for that exemption.\n\nThe governor's reply, containing four curious reasons.\n\nThe assembly's rejoinder, refuting those reasons.\n\nOther papers which passed between them at the same crisis.\n\nThe residue of Braddock's troops being recalled from the frontiers,\nnotwithstanding an application of the assembly to the governor\nrequesting their continuance, he calls upon the house to provide for\nthe security of the Back-inhabitants.\n\nA remark thereon.\n\nThe governor alarms and embarrasses them with petitions from certain\npersons requiring to be armed; _intelligence_ of Indians actually\nset out, to fall upon their frontiers; recommendations to provide\nby law against exporting provisions to the enemy, as a requisite to\nfacilitate the reduction of Louisburgh; and _demands_ of all manner\nof _things_ for the assistance of colonel Dunbar, who, by orders from\ngeneral Shirley, was again to proceed towards Fort Duquesne.\n\nA proposal from certain gentlemen of Philadelphia to subscribe\n500_l._ in lieu of the proprietary proportion of the tax in question,\nand upon a presumption that the proprietaries would honourably\nreimburse them.\n\nThe assembly send up their bill to the governor again, together with\nthe said proposal, as containing by implication an acknowledgment\nthat the tax was founded in equity, and also a farther security to\nthe governor, in case he should give his assent to the bill.\n\nTheir message to the governor, correcting his manner of stating the\nLouisburgh point, and observing, that all required of them from New\nEngland was to prolong the excellent laws they had already made.\n\nSome seasonable remarks.\n\nThe governor's verbal answer to the assembly's message concerning the\nmoney-bill, adhering to his amendment.\n\nHe contends for a militia.\n\nThe assembly order 1,000_l._ if so much remain in their treasury, to\narm the Back-inhabitants.\n\nThey signify their purpose to adjourn, and refer the affair of a\nmilitia-bill to a new assembly.\n\nTheir proceedings at the next meeting: the governor demands an\nadditional supply of provision to be sent to Albany, at the\nrequisition of governor Phipps, for the use of the forces of\nMassachusett's Bay: and another supply for the provisional troops of\nConnecticut and Rhode Island, which he was _informed_ were raised in\naddition to those already employed in the reduction of Crown-Point.\n\nThe assembly apply for a sight of Phipps's letter, which is refused.\n\nThe old controversy renewed.\n\nA new one concerning the roads opened at the expence of the province\nfor the convenience of the king's forces, which is carried on with\nmuch acrimony on both sides.\n\nAs a last effort for the public service the assembly authorize by\nvote a loan, or voluntary subscription, of 10,000_l._ to be raised in\na fortnight, and refer the lenders to the next assembly for payment.\n\nAn apology for the length of this treatise; and a brief state of the\nprovince at this period.\n\nThe new assembly, after a session of four days, suffered to adjourn\nthemselves without proceeding to business, for want of having the\nintelligence then in the governor's hands in due form imparted to\nthem.\n\nBeing re-convoked, the governor informs them, that a party of French\nand Indians had passed the mountains, and were encamped within\neight miles of the capital, and, after a liberal intermixture of\nupbraidings and self-sufficiencies, demands a supply; premising, that\nit might be raised by an emission of any sum in paper, provided funds\nwere found for sinking it in five years, &c.\n\nA reference to the only act of parliament extant, and that an\nineffectual one, to prevent the oppressions practised by provincial\ngovernors.\n\nPolitics of various kinds, and from various quarters, presented to\nthe assembly.\n\nThe assembly reduce and rectify the matter of alarm communicated by\nthe governor; and advise such measures as might reclaim the Indians,\n&c.\n\nA new message concerning the depredations of the Indians.\n\n_Sixty thousand pounds_ granted, to be struck in bills of credit,\nwhich were to be sunk by a tax of _six-pence_ in the pound; and a\npoll-tax of _ten shillings_ a head, yearly, for four years; which the\ngovernor refuses, and talks of _setting off_ for the back counties.\n\nA new message, reporting, that the Susquehanna Indians had offered\ntheir service to the province, provided it was accepted without delay.\n\nTwo messages from the assembly to the governor; the first concerning\npeace with the Indians, and the money bill; the other an answer to\nhis concerning the Susquehanna Indians.\n\nThey send up a bill for regulating the Indian trade.\n\nThe famous Kentish petition to the house of commons, in 1701, outdone\nby the mayor of Philadelphia, and one hundred and thirty three other\ninconsiderates, in a demand on their assembly to constitute a militia\nforthwith.\n\nA petition of certain of the people called Quakers, for peaceable\nmeasures.\n\nProgress of the controversy concerning the bill, which the governor\noffers to pass with a suspending clause.\n\nResolutions of the assembly hereupon.\n\nMessage from the governor concerning another Indian massacre, and\ndemanding an immediate supply, &c.\n\nAnother from the assembly to him, justifying their bill both in\nmatter and manner.\n\nThey send him up a militia bill.\n\nThe governor's invective against their whole conduct.\n\nHe passes the militia bill, under the specific declaration that it\nwas an improper one.\n\nHe communicates to the assembly a discussion of Indian affairs, as\nprepared by his council; calls upon them to provide for a swarm\nof French banished out of Nova Scotia; and signifies, that the\nproprietaries had sent an order upon their receiver-general, for\n5000_l._ as a free gift to the public.\n\nAnother remonstrance from the mayor of Philadelphia and his posse.\n\nThe assembly's reply to the governor's invective, which for the\npresent they declined making use of.\n\nThe answer they did make use of.\n\nParley between the speaker and twenty-nine petitioners, or rather\nprescribers to the assembly.\n\nUnanimous resolutions concerning the right of granting supplies to\nthe crown; and a new money bill, out of which the proprietary estate\nwas excepted, in consideration of the late grant of 5000_l._\n\nThe assembly's message to the governor, explaining the use and\npressing the dispatch of the Indian trade bill.\n\nThe governor's evasive answer.\n\nHis message desiring the advice of the house.\n\nThe assembly's answer.\n\nTheir message relative to the complaint of the Shawanese Indians.\n\nTheir resolution concerning the Indian trade bill; also concerning\nirregular and improper petitions.\n\nThey adjourn; and two months after re-assemble by special summons.\n\nThe governor's message on that occasion.\n\nThe message of the assembly in regard to the inlisting purchased\nservants.\n\nGeneral Shirley's letter of acknowledgment for a voluntary present of\nclothing sent by the province to his troops.\n\nThe assembly remind the governor of the Indian trade bill.\n\nHe returns it with amendments; as also their bill for extending the\nexcise.\n\nThey adhere to their bills and assign their reasons.\n\nThe governor goes to Newcastle and the assembly adjourn.\n\nSir William Johnson's treaty with the six nations laid before them at\ntheir next meeting.\n\nThe governor appearing strongly inclined to involve the province in\na war with the Delawares and Shawanese, some of the people called\nQuakers petition for specific measures.\n\nThe governor on the other hand alarms the house with an account of a\nnumber of people coming in a body to make _demands_ upon them.\n\nTheir unanimity on that occasion.\n\nThe governor takes advantage of this incident to declare war against\nthe said two Indian nations.\n\nHe also demands farther supplies, and intimates, that certain\nIndians, long subsisted by the province, were retiring in discontent,\n&c.\n\nThe assembly's answer.\n\nThe return made by the governor.\n\nThe resolutions of the assembly concerning a plan of military\noperations communicated to them by the governor.\n\nThey adjourn and are re-assembled.\n\nThe governor's message to them from a place called _Harris's Ferry_.\n\nA petition of the association companies in Philadelphia, concerning\nthe insufficiency of the militia law.\n\nThe reply of the assembly to the governor's message, accompanied with\na bill for prohibiting provisions.\n\nAnother session, and two other messages from the governor, who was\nstill posted at Harris's Ferry.\n\nA money bill ordered, but postponed on the receipt of intelligence\nfrom Sir Charles Hardy and Sir William Johnson, that the Delawares\nand Shawanese were disposed to renew their alliance.\n\nThe governor proclaims a suspension of arms.\n\nThe assemblies' message to him, in which they again press him to pass\nthe Indian trade bill; he promises to reconsider it; and a second\ntime calls upon them to make some (additional) provision for his\nsupport.\n\nSix members desire leave upon the adjournment to quit their seats,\nand at the next session present a written paper to the house as a\ntestimonial thereof.\n\nThe resignation accepted and new writs issued.\n\nThe governor's message notifying the appointment of Lord Loudoun to\nbe commander in chief in America; as also the act of parliament for\nraising a regiment of foreigners; recommending particularly, that the\nmasters of such indented servants as should engage in the service\nmight be indemnified; and that, as by the expiration of an act passed\nin the Lower Counties, the Pensylvanian act, lately passed, would\nexpire also, they would prepare a proper bill for continuing the\nembargo, &c.\n\nThe assembly's reply; in which they show, the governor had\ninvalidated the acts of all the other colonies by the law he had\npassed in the Lower Counties.\n\nTheir message concerning the excise and Indian trade bills; and his\nanswer, that he would not recede from his amendments because of his\nproprietary instruction.\n\nThe instruction itself.\n\nA remark; and the resolution of the house on the said instruction.\n\nAn act for emitting 4000_l._ in bills of credit, on behalf of the\nproprietaries, to supply so far the public occasions, till their\nreceiver-general should be enabled by his receipts to make good their\norder.\n\nAn act, for striking and issuing the sum of 40,000_l._ for the king's\nuse, sent up to the governor.\n\nHis message concerning an attack to be apprehended from the Indians\nabout harvest time.\n\nThe assembly's answer.\n\nA bill to permit the exportation of provisions for the king's\nservice, notwithstanding the act of prohibition.\n\nThe governor's evasive conduct in relation thereto.\n\nThe assembly apprise him, July 5, of their intention to adjourn till\nAugust 2; and are told that he has no objection.\n\nNotwithstanding which, he re-assembles them a fortnight afterwards,\nin the midst of their harvest, under the pretence of continuing the\nprohibition act.\n\nPetition of the merchants in relation to the embargo.\n\nThe assembly's answer to the governor's message.\n\nAnother message to him concerning the preamble to the 4000_l._ bill\non behalf of the proprietaries.\n\nThe governor's answer.\n\nHe sends down another preamble, which is not relished; refuses to\npass the excise bill, and expunges the clause in the 40,000_l._ bill\nfor taxing the proprietary estate.\n\nHis message concerning Indian affairs, and the expence of conducting\nthem.\n\nThe assembly's answer.\n\nThe governor's reply.\n\nA parting compliment from general Shirley to the province.\n\nA new session, and the governor's message thereon.\n\nThe assembly's answer.\n\nGovernor Morris is superseded by governor Denny.\n\nThe governor complimented on his arrival.\n\nThe first speech a continuation of the old system.\n\nThe business of the assembly at a stand for a few days.\n\nTheir address; and message, requesting copies of his proprietary\ninstructions.\n\nCertain of the said instructions communicated.\n\nA short comment upon them.\n\nA message to the governor.\n\nThe governor's answer.\n\nA bill prepared for striking the sum of 60,000_l._ for the king's\nuse, to be sunk by an excise.\n\nA conference on the said bill.\n\nThe assembly's answer to the governor's objections.\n\nThe governor's answer, signifying, that he _would not_ give his\nassent to it.\n\nResolutions of the assembly after a _protest_ against the\n_instructions_, and a _salvo_ for their own _rights_, to prepare a\nnew bill.\n\nA new bill prepared and passed.\n\nA brief apology for the conduct of the assembly on this occasion.\n\nA remonstrance voted.\n\nConclusion; with a testimonial of commodore Sprag in behalf of the\nassembly.\n\n\nAN APPENDIX, containing sundry original papers relative to the\nseveral points in controversy between the governors and assemblies of\nPensylvania, viz.\n\n1. The representation of the assembly to the proprietaries,\nrequesting them to bear a proportionable part of Indian expences.\n\n2. The proprietaries' answer; and assembly's remarks thereon.\n\n3. A message from governor Morris, containing his additional\narguments to show the _unreasonableness_ of taxing the proprietary\nestate for its defence, and in support of the restrictions he was\nunder in that respect.\n\n4. The assembly's answer thereto.\n\n5. The governor's reply.\n\n6. The assembly's rejoinder.\n\n\n [Note. _In the above four messages great part of the points in\n dispute between the proprietaries and people of the province are\n fully litigated; and the perusal of them is necessary to those who\n would have a thorough knowledge of the controversy._]\n\n\n7. The speaker of the Pensylvanian assembly's paper of authorities\nrelating to the rights of the commons over money-bills, and in\nsupport of the 50,000_l._ bills passed by the assembly, so far as it\nrelates to the taxing the proprietary estate within that province.\n\n8. Report of a committee of assembly on the proprietary\n_instructions_ relative to _money-bills_; clearly demonstrating, that\nthough the proprietaries would at length appear to be willing to\nhave their estates taxed in common with other estates, yet that were\nlaws passed pursuant to these instructions, much the greatest part\nof their estate would be exempted, and that the sums necessary to be\ngranted for his majesty's service in that province could not possibly\nbe raised thereby, &c. &c. _A paper of importance._\n\n9. Mr. Thomas Penn's estimate of the _value_ of the proprietary\nestate in Pensylvania, upwards of twenty years ago; with remarks\nthereon, showing its prodigious increase since that time, the profits\narising to the HOUSE OF PENN from their Indian purchases, and the\nhuckstering manner in which they dispose of lands to the king's\nsubjects in that province.\n\n10. A specimen of the anonymous abuses continually published against\nthe inhabitants of Pensylvania, by the proprietaries and their\nagents, with Mr. W. Franklin's refutation thereof.\n\n11. Some remarks on the conduct of the last and present governor,\nwith regard to their employing the provincial forces as _regulars_,\nrather than as _rangers_; and showing the secret reason why that\nprovince is at present without a _militia-law_, notwithstanding the\nseveral bills which have been lately passed by the assembly for that\npurpose.\n\n12. An account of sundry sums of money paid by the province for his\nmajesty's service, _since the commencement of the present troubles in\nAmerica_.\n\n13. An extract from an original letter of Mr. Logan, containing,\namong other things, his opinion of the proprietary right to the\ngovernment of the three Delaware counties; and which serves to\naccount for the particular favour shown that government from time to\ntime.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[16] This is the title of an octavo volume, consisting of nearly\nfive hundred pages closely printed. It was written, as mentioned in\nthe preceding note, while Dr. Franklin was in England as agent for\nthe province of Pensylvania, to further the ends of his mission, by\nremoving the unfavourable impressions which had taken place to the\nprejudice of the Pensylvanians: and \"it must be confessed,\" as a\nreviewer of the work observes, \"they had in our author a most zealous\nand able advocate. His sentiments are manly, liberal, and spirited;\nhis style close, nervous, and rhetorical. By a forcible display of\nthe oppressions his clients have sustained, he inclines us to pity\ntheir condition; by an enumeration of their virtues he endeavours to\nremove the idea, which many have entertained, of their unimportance,\nand, abstracted from their consideration in a political light, they\nclaim our regard by reason of their own personal merits.\" Interesting\nhowever as the controversy between the governors and the assembly\nof Pensylvania may have been at the time, it is too little so now\nto justify the insertion of so voluminous an account of it in the\npresent collection, and we shall content ourselves therefore with\nextracting the dedication, preface, and contents. It is singular,\nthat neither the editor of Dr. Franklin's works, whom we have\ndesignated by the letters B. V.; nor Dr. Stuber, the continuator of\nhis life, should have mentioned this publication. The work is indeed\nanonymous, but it is so well known to have been Dr. Franklin's, that\nin the common library catalogue of the British Museum it is ranked\nunder his name. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _The Interest of Great Britain considered, with Regard to her\n Colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe[17]._\n\nI have perused with no small pleasure the Letter addressed to Two\nGreat Men, and the Remarks on that letter. It is not merely from\nthe beauty, the force and perspicuity of expression, or the general\nelegance of manner conspicuous in both pamphlets, that my pleasure\nchiefly arises; it is rather from this, that I have lived to see\nsubjects of the greatest importance to this nation publicly discussed\nwithout party views, or party heat, with decency and politeness, and\nwith no other warmth, than what a zeal for the honour and happiness\nof our king and country may inspire; and this by writers, whose\nunderstanding (however they may differ from each other) appears not\nunequal to their candour and the uprightness of their intention.\n\nBut, as great abilities have not always the best information, there\nare, I apprehend, in the Remarks, some opinions not well founded,\nand some mistakes of so important a nature, as to render a few\nobservations on them necessary for the better information of the\npublic.\n\nThe author of the Letter, who must be every way best able to support\nhis own sentiments, will, I hope, excuse me, if I seem officiously\nto interfere; when he considers, that the spirit of patriotism, like\nother qualities good and bad, is catching; and that his long silence\nsince the Remarks appeared has made us despair of seeing the subject\nfarther discussed by his masterly hand. The ingenious and candid\nremarker, too, who must have been misled himself before he employed\nhis skill and address to mislead others, will certainly, since he\ndeclares he _aims at no seduction_[18], be disposed to excuse even\nthe weakest effort to prevent it.\n\nAnd surely, if the general opinions that possess the minds of the\npeople may possibly be of consequence in public affairs, it must be\nfit to set those opinions right. If there is danger, as the remarker\nsupposes, that \"extravagant expectations\" may embarrass \"a virtuous\nand able ministry,\" and \"render the negotiation for peace a work of\ninfinite difficulty[19];\" there is no less danger that expectations\ntoo low, through want of proper information, may have a contrary\neffect, may make even a virtuous and able ministry less anxious,\nand less attentive to the obtaining points, in which the honour and\ninterest of the nation are essentially concerned; and the people less\nhearty in supporting such a ministry and its measures.\n\nThe people of this nation are indeed respectable, not for their\nnumbers only, but for their understanding and their public spirit:\nthey manifest the first, by their universal approbation of the\nlate prudent and vigorous measures, and the confidence they so\njustly repose in a wise and good prince, and an honest and able\nadministration; the latter they have demonstrated by the immense\nsupplies granted in parliament unanimously, and paid through the\nwhole kingdom with chearfulness. And since to this spirit and\nthese supplies our \"victories and successes[20]\" have in great\nmeasure been owing, is it quite right, is it generous to say, with\nthe remarker, that the people \"had no share in acquiring them?\"\nThe mere mob he cannot mean, even where he speaks of the madness\nof the people; for the madness of the mob must be too feeble and\nimpotent, armed as the government of this country at present is, to\n\"overrule[21],\" even in the slightest instances, the virtue \"and\nmoderation\" of a firm and steady ministry.\n\nWhile the war continues, its final event is quite uncertain. The\nvictorious of this year may be the vanquished of the next. It may\ntherefore be too early to say, what advantages we ought absolutely\nto insist on, and make the _sine quibus non_ of a peace. If the\nnecessity of our affairs should oblige us to accept of terms less\nadvantageous than our present successes seem to promise us; an\nintelligent people, as ours is, must see that necessity, and will\nacquiesce. But as a peace, when it is made, may be made hastily; and\nas the unhappy continuance of the war affords us time to consider,\namong several advantages gained or to be gained, which of them may\nbe most for our interest to retain, if some and not all may possibly\nbe retained; I do not blame the public disquisition of these points,\nas premature or useless. Light often arises from a collision of\nopinions, as fire from flint and steel; and if we can obtain the\nbenefit of the _light_, without danger from the _heat_ sometimes\nproduced by controversy, why should we discourage it?\n\nSupposing then, that heaven may still continue to bless his majesty's\narms, and that the event of this just war may put it in our power\nto retain some of our conquests at the making of a peace; let us\nconsider,\n\n [1. _The security of a dominion, a justifiable and prudent ground\n upon which to demand cessions from an enemy._]\n\n_Whether we are_ to confine ourselves to those possessions only\n_that were \"the objects for which we began the war[22].\"_ This the\nremarker seems to think right, when the question relates to \"_Canada,\nproperly so called_; it having never been mentioned as one of those\nobjects, in any of our memorials or declarations, or in any national\nor public act whatsoever.\" But the gentleman himself will probably\nagree, that if the cession of Canada would be a real advantage to\nus; we may demand it under his second head, as an \"_indemnification_\nfor the charges incurred\" in recovering our just rights; otherwise,\naccording to his own principles, the demand of Guadaloupe can have no\nfoundation.--That \"our claims before the war were large enough for\npossession and for security too[23],\" though it seems a clear point\nwith the ingenious remarker, is, I own, not so with me. I am rather\nof the contrary opinion, and shall presently give my reasons.\n\nBut first let me observe, that we did not make those claims\nbecause they were large enough for security, but because we could\nrightfully claim no more. Advantages gained in the course of this\nwar may increase the extent of our rights. Our claims before\nthe war contained _some_ security; but that is no reason why we\nshould neglect acquiring _more_, when the demand of more is become\nreasonable. It may be reasonable in the case of America, to ask for\nthe security recommended by the author of the Letter[24], though it\nwould be preposterous to do it in many other cases. His proposed\ndemand is founded on the little value of Canada to the French;\nthe right we have to ask, and the power we may have to insist on\nan indemnification for our expences; the difficulty the French\nthemselves will be under of restraining their restless subjects in\nAmerica from encroaching on our limits and disturbing our trade; and\nthe difficulty on our parts of preventing encroachments, that may\npossibly exist many years without coming to our knowledge.\n\nBut the remarker \"does not see why the arguments, employed concerning\na security for a peaceable behaviour in Canada, would not be equally\ncogent for calling for the same security in Europe[25].\" On a\nlittle farther reflection, he must I think be sensible, that the\ncircumstances of the two cases are widely different.--_Here_ we are\nseparated by the best and clearest of boundaries, the ocean, and we\nhave people in or near every part of our territory. Any attempt to\nencroach upon us, by building a fort even in the obscurest corner of\nthese islands, must therefore be known and prevented immediately.\nThe aggressors also must be known, and the nation they belong to\nwould be accountable for their aggression. In America it is quite\notherwise. A vast wilderness, thinly or scarce at all peopled,\nconceals with ease the march of troops and workmen. Important passes\nmay be seized within our limits, and forts built in a month, at a\nsmall expence, that may cost us an age, and a million, to remove.\nDear experience has taught this. But what is still _worse_, the wide\nextended forests between our settlements and theirs, are inhabited\nby barbarous tribes of savages, that delight in war, and take pride\nin murder; subjects properly neither of the French nor English,\nbut strongly attached to the former by the art and indefatigable\nindustry of priests, similarity of superstitions, and frequent family\nalliances. These are easily, and have been continually, instigated\nto fall upon and massacre our planters, even in times of full peace\nbetween the two crowns; to the certain diminution of our people and\nthe contraction of our settlements[26]. And though it is known they\nare supplied by the French, and carry their prisoners to them, we\ncan, by complaining, obtain no redress; as the governors of Canada\nhave a ready excuse, that the Indians are an independent people, over\nwhom they have no power, and for whose actions they are therefore not\naccountable. Surely circumstances so widely different may reasonably\nauthorise different demands of security in America, from such as are\nusual or necessary in Europe.\n\nThe remarker however thinks, that our real dependance for keeping\n\"France or any other nation true to her engagements, must not be in\ndemanding securities which no nation whilst _independent_ can give;\nbut on our own strength and our own vigilance[27].\" No nation that\nhas carried on a war with disadvantage, and is unable to continue\nit, can be said, under such circumstances, to be _independent_;\nand while either side thinks itself in a condition to demand an\nindemnification, there is no man in his senses, but will, c\u00e6teris\nparibus, prefer an indemnification, that is a cheaper and more\neffectual security than any other he can think of. Nations in this\nsituation demand and cede countries by almost every treaty of peace\nthat is made. The French part of the island of St. Christophers was\nadded to Great Britain in circumstances altogether similar to those\nin which a few months may probably place the country of Canada.\nFarther security has always been deemed a motive with a conqueror to\nbe less moderate; and even the _vanquished_ insist upon security as a\nreason for demanding what they acknowledge they could not otherwise\nproperly ask. The security of the frontier of France _on the side\nof the Netherlands_ was always considered in the negotiation, that\nbegan at Gertrudenburgh, and ended with that war. For the same\nreason they demanded and had Cape Breton. But a war, concluded to\nthe advantage of France, has always added something to the power,\neither of France, or the house of Bourbon. Even that of 1733, which\nshe commenced with declarations of her having no ambitious views,\nand which finished by a treaty, at which the ministers of France\nrepeatedly declared, that she desired nothing for herself, in effect\ngained for her Lorrain, an indemnification ten times the value of\nall her North American possessions. In short, security and quiet of\nprinces and states have ever been deemed sufficient reasons, when\nsupported by power, for disposing of rights; and such disposition\nhas never been looked on as want of moderation. It has always been\nthe foundation of the most general treaties. The security of Germany\nwas the argument for yielding considerable possessions there to the\nSwedes: and the security of Europe divided the Spanish monarchy by\nthe partition-treaty, made between powers who had no other right\nto dispose of any part of it. There can be no cession that is not\nsupposed at least, to increase the power of the party to whom it is\nmade. It is enough that he has a right to ask it, and that he does\nit not merely to serve the purposes of a dangerous ambition.\n\nCanada, in the hands of Britain, will endanger the kingdom of\nFrance as little as any other cession; and from its situation and\ncircumstances cannot be hurtful to any other state. Rather, if\npeace be an advantage, this cession may be such to all Europe. The\npresent war teaches us, that disputes arising in America may be an\noccasion of embroiling nations; who have no concerns there. If the\nFrench remain in Canada and Louisiana, fix the boundaries as you\nwill between us and them, we must border on each other for more\nthan fifteen hundred miles. The people that inhabit the frontiers\nare generally the refuse of both nations, often of the worst morals\nand the least discretion; remote from the eye, the prudence, and\nthe restraint of government. Injuries are therefore frequently, in\nsome part or other of so long a frontier, committed on both sides,\nresentment provoked, the colonies first engaged, and then the mother\ncountries. And two great nations can scarce be at war in Europe,\nbut some other prince or state thinks it a convenient opportunity\nto revive some ancient claim, seize some advantage, obtain some\nterritory, or enlarge some power at the expence of a neighbour. The\nflames of war, once kindled, often spread far and wide, and the\nmischief is infinite. Happy it proved to both nations, that the\nDutch were prevailed on finally to cede the New Netherlands (now\nthe province of New York) to us at the peace of 1674; a peace that\nhas ever since continued between us, but must have been frequently\ndisturbed, if they had retained the possession of that country,\nbordering several hundred miles on our colonies of Pensylvania\nwestward, Connecticut and the Massachusetts eastward. Nor is it\nto be wondered at, that people of different language, religion,\nand manners, should in those remote parts engage in frequent\nquarrels; when we find, that even the people of our _own colonies_\nhave frequently been so exasperated against _each other_, in their\ndisputes about boundaries, as to proceed to open violence and\nbloodshed.\n\n [2. _Erecting forts in the back settlements, almost in no instance\n a sufficient security against the Indians and the French; but the\n possession of Canada implies every security, and ought to be had,\n while in our power._]\n\nBut the remarker thinks _we shall be_ sufficiently _secure in\nAmerica, if we \"raise English forts at such passes as may at once\nmake us respectable to the French and to the Indian nations[28].\"_\nThe security desirable in America may be considered as of three\nkinds. 1. A security of possession, that the French shall not drive\nus out of the country. 2. A security of our planters from the inroads\nof savages, and the murders committed by them. 3. A security that\nthe British nation shall not be obliged, on every new war, to repeat\nthe immense expence occasioned by this, to defend its possessions in\nAmerica. Forts, in the most important passes, may, I acknowledge,\nbe of use to obtain the _first_ kind of security: but as those\nsituations are far advanced beyond the inhabitants, the expence of\nmaintaining and supplying the garrisons will be very great even in\ntime of full peace, and immense on every interruption of it; as it is\neasy for skulking-parties of the enemy, in such long roads through\nthe woods, to intercept and cut off our convoys, unless guarded\ncontinually by great bodies of men.--The _second_ kind of security\nwill not be obtained by such forts, unless they were connected by\na wall like that of China, from one end of our settlements to the\nother. If the Indians, when at war, marched like the Europeans,\nwith great armies, heavy cannon, baggage, and carriages; the passes\nthrough which alone such armies could penetrate our country, or\nreceive their supplies, being secured, all might be sufficiently\nsecure; but the case is widely different. They go to war, as they\ncall it, in small parties; from fifty men down to five. Their hunting\nlife has made them acquainted with the whole country, and scarce any\npart of it is impracticable to such a party. They can travel through\nthe woods even by night, and know how to conceal their tracks. They\npass easily between your forts undiscovered; and privately approach\nthe settlements of your frontier inhabitants. They need no convoys\nof provisions to follow them; for whether they are shifting from\nplace to place in the woods, or lying in wait for an opportunity to\nstrike a blow, every thicket and every stream furnishes so small\na number with sufficient subsistence. When they have surprised\nseparately, and murdered and scalped a dozen families, they are gone\nwith inconceivable expedition through unknown ways; and it is very\nrare that pursuers have any chance of coming up with them[29]. In\nshort, long experience has taught our planters, that they cannot\nrely upon forts as a security against Indians: the inhabitants of\nHackney might as well rely upon the tower of London, to secure them\nagainst highwaymen and housebreakers.--As to the _third_ kind of\nsecurity, that we shall not, in a few years, have all we have now\ndone, to do over again in America, and be obliged to employ the same\nnumber of troops, and ships, at the same immense expence, to defend\nour possessions there, while we are in proportion weakened here: such\nforts I think, cannot prevent this. During a peace, it is not to be\ndoubted the French, who are adroit at fortifying, will likewise erect\nforts in the most advantageous places of the country we leave them;\nwhich will make it more difficult than ever to be reduced in case of\nanother war. We know by the experience of this war, how extremely\ndifficult it is to march an army through the American woods, with its\nnecessary cannon and stores, sufficient to reduce a very slight fort.\nThe accounts at the treasury will tell you, what amazing sums we have\nnecessarily spent in the expeditions against two very trifling forts,\nDuquesne, and Crown Point. While the French retain their influence\nover the Indians, they can easily keep our long extended frontier\nin continual alarm, by a very few of those people; and with a small\nnumber of regulars and militia, in such a country, we find they can\nkeep an army of ours in full employ for several years. We therefore\nshall not need to be told by our colonies, that if we leave Canada,\nhowever circumscribed, to the French, \"we have done nothing[30];\" we\nshall soon be made sensible _ourselves_ of this truth, and to our\ncost.\n\nI would not be understood to deny, that even if we subdue and\nretain Canada, some _few forts_ may be of use to secure the goods\nof the traders, and protect the commerce, in case of any sudden\nmisunderstanding with any tribe of Indians: but these forts will be\nbest under the care of the colonies interested in the Indian trade,\nand garrisoned by their provincial forces, and at their own expence.\nTheir own interest will then induce the American governments to\ntake care of such forts in proportion to their importance, and see\nthat the officers keep their corps full, and mind their duty. But\nany troops of ours placed there, and accountable here, would, in\nsuch remote and obscure places, and at so great a distance from the\neye and inspection of superiors, soon become of little consequence,\neven though the French were left in possession of Canada. If the\nfour independent companies, maintained by the crown in New York\nmore than forty years, at a great expence, consisted, for most part\nof the time, of faggots chiefly; if their officers enjoyed their\nplaces as sinecures, and were only, as a writer[31] of that country\nstyles them, a kind of military monks; if this was the state of\ntroops posted in a populous country, where the imposition could\nnot be so well concealed; what may we expect will be the case of\nthose, that shall be posted two, three, or four hundred miles from\nthe inhabitants, in such obscure and remote places as Crown Point,\nOswego, Duquesne, or Niagara? they would scarce be even faggots; they\nwould dwindle to mere names upon paper, and appear no where but upon\nthe muster-rolls.\n\nNow _all the kinds_ of security we have mentioned are obtained\nby subduing and _retaining_ Canada. Our present possessions in\nAmerica are secured; our planters will no longer be massacred by the\nIndians, who, depending absolutely on us for what are now become the\nnecessaries of life to them (guns, powder, hatchets, knives, and\nclothing) and having no other Europeans near, that can either supply\nthem, or instigate them against us; there is no doubt of their being\nalways disposed, if we treat them with common justice, to live in\nperpetual peace with us. And with regard to France, she cannot, in\ncase of another war, put us to the immense expence of defending that\nlong extended frontier; we shall then, as it were, have our backs\nagainst a wall in America; the sea coast will be easily protected by\nour superior naval power: and here \"our own watchfulness and our own\nstrength\" will be properly, and cannot but be successfully employed.\nIn this situation, the force, now employed in that part of the world,\nmay be spared for any other service here or elsewhere; so that both\nthe offensive and defensive strength of the British empire, on the\nwhole, will be greatly increased.\n\nBut to leave the French in possession of Canada, _when it is in our\npower to remove them, and depend_ (as the remarker proposes) _on\nour own_ \"strength and watchfulness[32]\" _to prevent the mischiefs\nthat may attend it, seems neither safe nor prudent_. Happy as we now\nare, under the best of kings, and in the prospect of a succession\npromising every felicity a nation was ever blessed with; happy too in\nthe wisdom and vigour of every part of the administration; we cannot,\nwe ought not to promise ourselves the uninterrupted continuance of\nthose blessings. The safety of a considerable part of the state, and\nthe interest of the whole, are not to be trusted to the wisdom and\nvigour of _future administrations_; when a security is to be had\nmore effectual, more constant, and much less expensive. They, who\ncan be moved by the apprehension of dangers so remote, as that of\nthe future independence of our colonies (a point I shall hereafter\nconsider) seem scarcely consistent with themselves, when they\nsuppose we may rely on the wisdom and vigour of an administration\nfor their safety.--I should indeed think it less material whether\nCanada were ceded to us or not, if I had in view only the security\nof _possession_ in our colonies. I entirely agree with the remarker,\nthat we are in North America \"a far greater continental as well\nas naval power;\" and that only cowardice or ignorance can subject\nour colonies there to a French conquest. But for the same reason I\ndisagree with him widely upon another point.\n\n [3. _The blood and treasure spent in the American wars, not spent\n in the cause of the colonies alone._]\n\nI do not think, that our \"blood and treasure has been expended,\" as\nhe intimates, \"_in the cause of the colonies_,\" and that we are\n\"making conquests for _them_[33];\" yet I believe this is too common\nan error. I do not say, they are altogether unconcerned in the event.\nThe inhabitants of them are, in common with the other subjects of\nGreat Britain, anxious for the glory of her crown, the extent of\nher power and commerce, the welfare and future repose of the whole\nBritish people. They could not therefore but take a large share in\nthe affronts offered to Britain; and have been animated with a truly\nBritish spirit to exert themselves beyond their strength, and against\ntheir evident interest. Yet so unfortunate have they been, that their\nvirtue has made against them; for upon no better foundation than this\nhave they been supposed the authors of a war, carried on for their\nadvantage only. It is a great mistake to imagine, that the American\ncountry in question between Great Britain and France is claimed as\nthe property of any _individuals or public body in America_; or that\nthe possession of it by Great Britain is likely, in any lucrative\nview, to redound at all to the advantage of any person there.\nOn the other hand, the bulk of the inhabitants of North America\nare _land-owners_, whose lands are inferior in value to those of\nBritain, only by the want of an equal number of people. It is true,\nthe accession of the large territory claimed before the war began\n(especially if that be secured by the possession of Canada) will\ntend to the increase of the British subjects faster, than if they\nhad been confined within the mountains: yet the increase within the\nmountains only would evidently make the comparative population equal\nto that of Great Britain much sooner than it can be expected, when\nour people are spread over a country six times as large. I think this\nis the only point of light in which this question is to be viewed,\nand is the only one in which any of the colonies are concerned.--No\ncolony, no possessor of lands in any colony, therefore wishes for\nconquests, or can be benefitted by them, otherwise than as they may\nbe a means of _securing peace on their borders_. No considerable\nadvantage has resulted to the colonies by the conquests of this\nwar, or can result from confirming them by the peace, but what they\nmust enjoy in common with the rest of the British people; with this\nevident drawback from their share of these advantages, that they will\nnecessarily lessen, or at least prevent the increase of the value of\nwhat makes the principal part of their private property [their land].\nA people, spread through the whole tract of country on this side\nthe Mississippi, and secured by Canada in our hands, would probably\nfor some centuries find employment in agriculture, and thereby free\nus at home effectually from our fears of American manufactures.\nUnprejudiced men well know, that all the penal and prohibitory\nlaws that ever were thought on will not be sufficient to prevent\nmanufactures in a country, whose inhabitants surpass the number that\ncan subsist by the husbandry of it. That this will be the case in\nAmerica soon, if our people remain confined within the mountains, and\nalmost as soon should it be unsafe for them to live beyond, though\nthe country be ceded to us, no man acquainted with political and\ncommercial history can doubt. Manufactures are founded in poverty:\nit is the multitude of poor without land in a country, and who must\nwork for others at low wages or starve, that enables undertakers to\ncarry on a manufacture, and afford it cheap enough to prevent the\nimportation of the same kind from abroad, and to bear the expence of\nits own exportation.--But no man, who can have a piece of land of\nhis own, sufficient by his labour to subsist his family in plenty,\nis poor enough to be a manufacturer, and work for a master. Hence,\nwhile there is land enough in America for our people, there can never\nbe manufactures to any amount or value. It is a striking observation\nof a very _able pen_[34], that the natural livelihood of the thin\ninhabitants of a forest country is hunting; that of a greater number,\npasturage: that of a middling population, agriculture; and that of\nthe greatest, manufactures; which last must subsist the bulk of the\npeople in a full country, or they must be subsisted by charity, or\nperish. The extended population, therefore, that is most advantageous\nto Great Britain, will be best effected, because only effectually\nsecured, by our possession of Canada.\n\nSo far as the _being_ of our present colonies in North America is\nconcerned, I think indeed with the remarker, that the French there\nare not _\"an enemy to be apprehended[35];\"_--but the expression is\ntoo vague to be applicable to the present, or indeed to any other\ncase. Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, unequal as they are to this nation\nin power and numbers of people, are enemies to be still apprehended;\nand the Highlanders of Scotland have been so for many ages, by the\ngreatest princes of Scotland and Britain. The wild Irish were able\nto give a great deal of disturbance even to Queen Elizabeth, and\ncost her more blood and treasure than her war with Spain. Canada, in\nthe hands of France, has always stinted the growth of our colonies,\nin the course of this war, and indeed before it, has disturbed\nand vexed even the best and strongest of them; has found means to\nmurder thousands of their people, and unsettle a great part of their\ncountry. Much more able will it be to starve the growth of an infant\nsettlement. Canada has also found means to make this nation spend two\nor three millions a year in America; and a people, how small soever,\nthat in their present situation, can do this as often as we have a\nwar with them, is, methinks, \"an enemy to be apprehended.\"\n\nOur North American colonies are to be considered as the _frontier\nof the British empire_ on that side. The frontier of any dominion\nbeing attacked, it becomes not merely \"the cause\" of the people\nimmediately attacked (the inhabitants of that frontier) but properly\n\"the cause\" of the whole body. Where the frontier people owe and\npay obedience, there they have a right to look for protection:\nno political proposition is better established than this. It is\ntherefore invidious, to represent the \"blood and treasure\" spent in\nthis war, as spent in \"the cause of the colonies\" only; and that they\nare \"absurd and ungrateful,\" if they think we have done nothing,\nunless we \"make conquests for them,\" and reduce Canada to gratify\ntheir \"vain ambition,\" &c. It will not be a conquest for _them_,\nnor gratify any vain ambition of theirs. It will be a conquest for\nthe _whole_; and all our people will, in the increase of trade, and\nthe ease of taxes, find the advantage of it. Should we be obliged\nat any time, to make a war for the protection of our commerce, and\nto secure the exportation of our manufactures, would it be fair to\nrepresent such a war, merely as blood and treasure spent in the\ncause of the weavers of Yorkshire, Norwich, or the West; the cutlers\nof Sheffield, or the button-makers of Birmingham? I hope it will\nappear before I end these sheets, that if ever there was a national\nwar, this is truly such a one: a war in which the interest of the\nwhole nation is directly and fundamentally concerned. Those, who\nwould be thought deeply skilled in human nature, affect to discover\nself-interested views every where at the bottom of the fairest, the\nmost generous conduct. Suspicions and charges of this kind meet\nwith ready reception and belief in the minds even of the multitude,\nand therefore less acuteness and address, than the remarker is\npossessed of, would be sufficient to persuade the nation generally,\nthat all the zeal and spirit, manifested and exerted by the colonies\nin this war, was only in \"their own cause,\" to \"make conquests for\nthemselves,\" to engage us to make more for them, to gratify their own\n\"vain ambition.\"\n\nBut should they now humbly address the mother-country in the terms\nand the sentiments of the remarker; return her their grateful\nacknowledgments for the blood and treasure she had spent in \"their\ncause;\" confess that enough had not been done \"for them;\" allow that\n\"English forts, raised in proper passes, will, with the wisdom and\nvigour of her administration,\" be a sufficient future protection;\nexpress their desires that their people may be confined within\nthe mountains, lest [if] they are suffered to spread and extend\nthemselves in the fertile and pleasant country on the other side,\nthey should \"increase infinitely from all causes,\" \"live wholly\non their own labour\" and become independent; beg therefore that\nthe French may be suffered to remain in possession of Canada, as\ntheir neighbourhood may be useful to prevent our increase, and the\nremoving them may \"in its consequences be even dangerous[36]:\"--I\nsay, should such an address from the colonies make its appearance\nhere (though, according to the remarker, it would be a most just\nand reasonable one) would it not, might it not with more justice\nbe answered:--We understand you, gentlemen, perfectly well: you\nhave only your own interest in view: you want to have the people\nconfined within your present limits, that in a few years the lands\nyou are possessed of may increase tenfold in value! you want to\nreduce the price of labour, by increasing numbers on the same\nterritory, that you may be able to set up manufactures and vie with\nyour mother-country! you would have your people kept in a body,\nthat you may be more able to dispute the commands of the crown, and\nobtain an independency. You would have the French left in Canada, to\nexercise your military virtue, and make you a warlike people, that\nyou may have more confidence to embark in schemes of disobedience,\nand greater ability to support them! You have tasted too, the sweets\nof TWO OR THREE MILLIONS sterling per annum spent among you by our\nfleets and forces, and you are unwilling to be without a pretence\nfor kindling up another war, and thereby occasioning a repetition of\nthe same delightful doses! But, gentlemen, allow us to understand\n_our_ interest a little likewise: we shall remove the French from\nCanada, that you may live in peace, and we be no more drained by your\nquarrels. You shall have land enough to cultivate, that you may have\nneither necessity nor inclination to go into manufactures; and we\nwill manufacture for you, and govern you.\n\nA reader of the Remarks may be apt to say, if this writer would\nhave us restore Canada, on principles of moderation, how can we,\nconsistent with those principles, retain Guadaloupe, which he\nrepresents of so much greater value!--I will endeavour to explain\nthis, because by doing it I shall have an opportunity of showing the\ntruth and good sense of the answer to the interested application I\nhave just supposed: The author then is only apparently and not really\ninconsistent with himself. If we can obtain the credit of moderation\nby restoring Canada, it is well: but we should, however, restore it\nat _all events_; because it would not only be of no use to us; but\n\"the possession of it (in his opinion) may in its consequences be\ndangerous[37].\" As how? Why, plainly, (at length it comes out) if the\nFrench are not left there to check the growth of our colonies, \"they\nwill extend themselves almost without bounds into the inland parts,\nand increase infinitely from all causes; becoming a numerous, hardy,\nindependent people; possessed of a strong country, communicating\nlittle or not at all with England, living wholly on their own labour,\nand in process of time knowing little and enquiring little about the\nmother-country.\" In short, according to this writer, our present\ncolonies are large enough and numerous enough; and the French ought\nto be left in North America to prevent their increase, lest they\nbecome not only useless, but dangerous to Britain. I agree with the\nGentleman, that with Canada in our possession, our people in America\nwill increase amazingly. I know, that their common rate of increase,\nwhere they are not molested by the enemy, is doubling their numbers\nevery twenty-five years, by natural generation only; exclusive of the\naccession of foreigners[38]. I think this increase continuing would\nprobably, in a century more, make the number of British subjects on\nthat side the water more numerous than they now are on this; But,\n\n [4. _Not necessary that the American colonies should_ cease being\n useful to the _mother-country_. _Their_ preference _over the\n West-Indian colonies stated_.]\n\n_I am far from entertaining on that account, any fears of their\nbecoming either useless or dangerous to us; and I look on those fears\nto be merely imaginary, and without any probable foundation._--The\nremarker is reserved in giving his reasons; as in his opinion this\n\"is not a fit subject for discussion.\"--I shall give mine, because\nI conceive it a subject necessary to be discussed; and the rather,\nas those fears, how groundless and chimerical soever, may, by\npossessing the multitude, possibly induce the ablest ministry to\nconform to them against their own judgment; and thereby prevent the\nassuring to the British name and nation a stability and permanency,\nthat no man acquainted with history durst have hoped for, till our\nAmerican possessions opened the pleasing prospect. The remarker\nthinks, that our people in America, \"finding no check from Canada,\nwould extend themselves almost without bounds into the inland parts,\nand increase infinitely from all causes.\" The very reason he assigns\nfor their so extending, and which is indeed the true one (their\nbeing \"invited to it by the pleasantness, fertility, and plenty of\nthe country,\") may satisfy us, that this extension will continue to\nproceed, as long as there remains any pleasant fertile country within\ntheir reach. And if we even suppose them confined by the waters\nof the Mississippi westward, and by those of St. Laurence and the\nlakes to the northward; yet still we shall leave them room enough\nto increase, even in the manner of settling now practised there,\ntill they amount to perhaps a hundred millions of souls. This must\ntake some centuries to fulfil: and in the _mean time_, this nation\nmust necessarily supply them with the manufactures they consume;\nbecause the new settlers will be employed in agriculture; and the\nnew settlements will so continually draw off the spare hands from\nthe old, that our present colonies will not, during the period we\nhave mentioned, find themselves in a condition to manufacture, even\nfor their own inhabitants, to any considerable degree, much less for\nthose who are settling behind them.\n\nThus our trade must, till that country becomes as fully peopled as\nEngland (that is for centuries to come) be continually increasing,\nand with it our naval power; because the ocean is between us\nand them, and our ships and seamen must increase as that trade\nincreases.--The human body and the political differ in this;\nthat the first is limited by nature to a certain stature, which,\nwhen attained, it cannot ordinarily exceed: the other, by better\ngovernment and more prudent police, as well as by change of manners\nand other circumstances, often takes fresh starts of growth, after\nbeing long at a stand; and may add tenfold to the dimensions it\nhad for ages been confined to. The mother, being of full stature,\nis in a few years equalled by a growing daughter: but in the case\nof a mother-country and her colonies, it is quite different. The\ngrowth of the children tends to increase the growth of the mother,\nand so the difference and superiority is longer preserved. Were the\ninhabitants of this island limited to their present number by any\nthing in nature, or by unchangeable circumstances, the equality\nof population between the two countries might indeed sooner come\nto pass: but sure experience, in those parts of the island where\nmanufactures have been introduced, teaches us; that people increase\nand multiply in proportion as the means and facility of gaining a\nlivelihood increase; and that this island, if they could be employed,\nis capable of supporting ten times its present number of people. In\nproportion, therefore, as the demand increases for the manufactures\nof Britain, by the increase of people in her colonies, the number\nof her people at home will increase; and with them, the strength as\nwell as the wealth of the nation. For satisfaction in this point, let\nthe reader compare in his mind the number and force of our present\nfleets, with our fleet in Queen Elizabeth's time[39], before we had\ncolonies. Let him compare the ancient, with the present state of our\ntowns on or near our western coast (Manchester, Liverpool, Kendal,\nLancaster, Glasgow, and the countries round them) that trade with\nany manufacture for our colonies (not to mention Leeds, Halifax,\nSheffield, and Birmingham,) and consider what a difference there is\nin the numbers of people, buildings, rents, and the value of land\nand of the produce of land; even if he goes back no farther than is\nwithin man's memory. Let him compare those countries with others on\nthe same island, where manufactures have not yet extended themselves;\nobserve the present difference, and reflect how much greater our\nstrength may be (if numbers give strength) when our manufacturers\nshall occupy every part of the island where they can possibly be\nsubsisted.\n\nBut, say the objectors, \"there is a _certain distance from the\nsea_, in America, beyond which the expence of carriage will put a\nstop to the sale and consumption of your manufactures; and this,\nwith the difficulty of making returns for them, will oblige the\ninhabitants to manufacture for themselves; of course, if you suffer\nyour people to extend their settlements beyond that distance, your\npeople become useless to you:\" and this distance is limited by some\nto two hundred miles, by others to the Apalachian mountains.--Not\nto insist on a very plain truth, that no part of a dominion, from\nwhence a government may on occasion draw supplies and aids both of\nmen and money (though at too great a distance to be supplied with\nmanufactures from some other part) is therefore to be deemed useless\nto the whole; I shall endeavour to show, that these imaginary limits\nof utility, even in point of commerce, are much too narrow. The\ninland parts of the continent of Europe are farther from the sea,\nthan the limits of settlement proposed for America. Germany is full\nof tradesmen and artificers of all kinds, and the governments there\nare not all of them always favourable to the commerce of Britain; yet\nit is a well-known fact, that our manufactures find their way even\ninto the heart of Germany. Ask the great manufacturers and merchants\nof the Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester, and Norwich\ngoods; and they will tell you, that some of them send their riders\nfrequently through France or Spain, and Italy, up to Vienna, and back\nthrough the middle and northern parts of Germany, to show samples of\ntheir wares, and collect orders, which they receive by almost every\nmail, to a vast amount. Whatever charges arise on the carriage of\ngoods are added to the value, and all paid by the consumer. If these\nnations, over whom we have no government, over whose consumption\nwe can have no influence, but what arises from the cheapness and\ngoodness of our wares, whose trade, manufactures, or commercial\nconnections are not subject to the control of our laws, as those of\nour colonies certainly are in some degree; I say, if these nations\npurchase and consume such quantities of our goods, notwithstanding\nthe remoteness of their situation from the sea; how much less likely\nis it, that the settlers in America, who must for ages be employed\nin agriculture chiefly, should make cheaper for themselves the goods\nour manufacturers at present supply them with: even if we suppose the\ncarriage five, six, or seven hundred miles from the sea as difficult\nand expensive, as the like distance into Germany: whereas in the\nlatter, the natural distances are frequently doubled by political\nobstructions; I mean the intermixed territories and clashing\ninterests of princes[40]. But when we consider, that the inland\nparts of America are penetrated by great navigable rivers; that\nthere are a number of great lakes, communicating with each other,\nwith those rivers, and with the sea, very small portages here and\nthere excepted[41]; that the sea-coasts (if one may be allowed the\nexpression) of those lakes only amount at least to two thousand seven\nhundred miles, exclusive of the rivers running into them (many of\nwhich are navigable to a great extent for boats and canoes, through\nvast tracts of country); how little likely is it that the expence on\nthe carriage of our goods into those countries should prevent the\nuse of them. If the poor Indians in those remote parts are now able\nto pay for the linen, woollen, and iron wares they are at present\nfurnished with by the French and English traders (though Indians have\nnothing but what they get by hunting, and the goods are loaded with\nall the impositions fraud and knavery can contrive to inhance their\nvalue) will not industrious English farmers, hereafter settled in\nthose countries, be much better able to pay for what shall be brought\nthem in the way of fair commerce?\n\nIf it is asked, _What_ can such farmers raise, wherewith to pay\nfor the manufactures they may want from us? I answer, that the\ninland parts of America in question are well known to be fitted for\nthe production of hemp, flax, pot-ash, and above all, silk; the\nsouthern parts may produce olive-oil, raisins, currants, indigo, and\ncochineal. Not to mention horses and black cattle, which may easily\nbe driven to the maritime markets, and at the same time assist in\nconveying other commodities. That the commodities first mentioned\nmay easily, by water and land-carriage, be brought to the sea-ports\nfrom interior America, will not seem incredible, when we reflect,\nthat _hemp_ formerly came from the Ukraine and most southern parts of\nRussia to Wologda, and down the Dwina to Archangel; and thence, by a\nperilous navigation, round the North Cape to England, and other parts\nof Europe. It now comes from the same country up the Dnieper, and\ndown the Duna[42], with much land-carriage. Great part of the Russia\n_iron_, no high-priced commodity, is brought three hundred miles by\nland and water from the heart of Siberia. _Furs_ [the produce too of\nAmerica] are brought to Amsterdam from all parts of Siberia, even\nthe most remote, Kamstchatka. The same country furnishes me with\nanother instance of extended inland commerce. It is found worth while\nto keep up a mercantile communication between Pekin in China, and\nPetersburgh. And none of these instances of inland commerce _exceed_\nthose of the courses by which, at several periods, _the whole trade\nof the East_ was carried on. Before the prosperity of the Mameluke\ndominion in Egypt fixed the staple for the riches of the East at\nCairo and Alexandria (whither they were brought from the Red Sea)\ngreat part of those commodities were carried to the cities of Cashgar\nand Balk. (This gave birth to those towns, that still subsist upon\nthe remains of their ancient opulence, amidst a people and country\nequally wild.) From thence those goods were carried down the Am\u00fb (the\nancient Oxus) to the Caspian Sea, and up the Wolga to Astrachan; from\nwhence they were carried over to, and down the Don, to the mouth of\nthat river; and thence again the Venetians directly, and the Genoese\nand Venetians indirectly (by way of Kaffa and Trebisonde) dispersed\nthem through the Mediterranean and some other parts of Europe.\nAnother part of those goods was carried over-land from the Wolga to\nthe rivers Duna and Neva; from both they were carried to the city\nof Wisbuy in the Baltic (so eminent for its sea-laws); and from the\ncity of Ladoga on the Neva, we are told they were even carried by the\nDwina to Archangel; and from thence round the North Cape.--If iron\nand hemp will bear the charge of carriage from this inland country,\n_other metals_ will, as well as iron; and certainly _silk_, since\n3_d._ per _lb._ is not above 1 per cent on the value, and amounts to\n28_l._ per ton. If the _growths_ of a country find their way out of\nit; the _manufactures_ of the country where they go will infallibly\nfind their way into it.\n\nThey, who understand the economy and principles of manufactures,\nknow, that it is impossible to establish them in places not populous:\nand even in those that are populous, hardly possible to establish\nthem to the prejudices of the places _already in possession of them_.\nSeveral attempts have been made in France and Spain, countenanced by\nthe government, to draw from us, and establish in those countries,\nour hard-ware and woollen manufactures; but without success. The\nreasons are various. A manufacture is part of a great system of\ncommerce, which takes in conveniencies of various kinds; methods\nof providing materials of all sorts, machines for expediting and\nfacilitating labour, all the channels of correspondence for vending\nthe wares, the credit and confidence necessary to found and support\nthis correspondence, the mutual aid of different artizans, and a\nthousand other particulars, which time and long experience have\n_gradually_ established. A part of such a system cannot support\nitself without the whole: and before the whole can be obtained the\npart perishes. Manufactures, where they are in perfection, are\ncarried on by a multiplicity of hands, each of which is expert only\nin his own part; no one of them a master of the whole; and, if by\nany means spirited away to a foreign country, he is lost without his\nfellows. Then it is a matter of the extremest difficulty to persuade\na complete set of workmen, skilled in all parts of a manufactory,\nto leave their country together, and settle in a foreign land.\nSome of the idle and drunken may be enticed away; but these only\ndisappoint their employers, and serve to discourage the undertaking.\nIf by royal munificence, and an expence that the profits of the\ntrade alone would not bear, a complete set of good and skilful\nhands are collected and carried over, they find so much of the\nsystem imperfect, so many things wanting to carry on the trade to\nadvantage, so many difficulties to overcome, and the knot of hands\nso easily broken by death, dissatisfaction, and desertion; that\nthey and their employers are discouraged together, and the project\nvanishes into smoke. Hence it happens, that established manufactures\nare hardly ever lost, but by foreign conquest, or by some eminent\ninterior fault in manners or government; a bad police oppressing and\ndiscouraging the workmen, or religious persecutions driving the sober\nand industrious out of the country. There is, in short, scarce a\nsingle instance in history of the contrary, where manufactures have\nonce taken firm root. They sometimes start up in a new place; but\nare generally supported, like exotic plants, at more expence than\nthey are worth for any thing but curiosity; until these new seats\nbecome the refuge of the manufacturers driven from the old ones.\nThe conquest of Constantinople, and final reduction of the Greek\nempire, dispersed many curious manufacturers into different parts\nof Christendom. The former conquests of its provinces, had _before_\ndone the same. The loss of liberty in Verona, Milan, Florence, Pisa,\nPistoia, and other great cities of Italy, drove the manufacturers\nof woollen cloths into Spain and Flanders. The latter first lost\ntheir trade and manufactures to Antwerp and the cities of Brabant;\nfrom whence, by persecution for religion, they were sent into\nHolland and England: [while] the civil wars, during the minority of\nCharles the First of Spain, which ended in the loss of the liberty\nof their great towns, ended too in the loss of the manufactures of\nToledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Medina del campo, &c. The revocation of\nthe _edict of Nantes_ communicated, to all the protestant part of\nEurope, the paper, silk, and other valuable manufacturers of France;\nalmost peculiar at that time to that country, and till then in\nvain attempted elsewhere. To be convinced, that it is not soil and\nclimate, or even freedom from taxes, that determines the residence\nof manufacturers, we need only turn our eyes on Holland; where a\nmultitude of manufactures are still carried on (perhaps more than on\nthe same extent of territory any where in Europe) and sold on terms\nupon which they cannot be had in any other part of the world. And\nthis too is true of those _growths_, which, by their nature and the\nlabour required to raise them, come the nearest to manufactures.\n\nAs to the common-place objection to the North-American settlements,\nthat they are _in the same climate, and their produce the same\nas that of England_;--in the first place it is not true; it is\nparticularly not so of the countries now likely to be added to our\nsettlements; and of our present colonies, the products, lumber,\ntobacco, rice, and indigo, great articles of commerce, do not\ninterfere with the products of England: in the next place, a man must\nknow very little of the trade of the world, who does not know, that\nthe greater part of it is carried on between countries whose climate\ndiffers very little. Even the trade between the different parts of\nthese British islands is greatly superior to that between England and\nall the West India Islands put together.\n\nIf I have been successful in proving that a considerable commerce may\nand will subsist between us and our future most inland settlements\nin North America, notwithstanding their distance; I have more than\nhalf proved no _other inconveniency will arise_ from their distance.\nMany men in such a country must \"know,\" must \"think,\" and must \"care\"\nabout the country they chiefly trade with. The juridical and other\nconnections of government are yet a faster hold than even commercial\nties, and spread, directly and indirectly, far and wide. Business to\nbe solicited and causes depending create a great intercourse, even\nwhere private property is _not_ divided in different countries;--yet\nthis division _will_ always subsist, where different countries are\nruled by the same government. Where a man has landed property both\nin the mother country and a province, he will almost always live\nin the mother country: this, though there were no trade, is singly\na sufficient gain. It is said, that Ireland pays near a million\nsterling annually to its absentees in England: the balance of trade\nfrom Spain, or even Portugal, is scarcely equal to this.\n\nLet it not be said we have _no absentees_ from North America. There\nare many, to the writer's knowledge; and if there are at present but\nfew of them, that distinguish themselves here by great expence, it\nis owing to the mediocrity of fortune among the inhabitants of the\nNorthern colonies, and a more equal division of landed property,\nthan in the West India islands, so that there are as yet but few\nlarge estates. But if those, who have such estates, reside upon\nand take care of them themselves, are they worse subjects than they\nwould be if they lived idly in England?--Great merit is assumed for\nthe gentlemen of the West Indies,[43] on the score of their residing\nand spending their money in England. I would not depreciate that\nmerit; it is considerable; for they might, if they pleased, spend\ntheir money in France: but the difference between their spending it\nhere and at home is not so great. What do they spend it in when they\nare here, but the produce and manufactures of this country;--and\nwould they not do the same if they were at home? Is it of any great\nimportance to the English farmer, whether the West India gentleman\ncomes to London and eats his beef, pork, and tongues, fresh; or has\nthem brought to him in the West Indies salted? whether he eats his\nEnglish cheese and butter, or drinks his English ale, at London or\nin Barbadoes? Is the clothier's, or the mercer's, or the cutler's,\nor the toyman's profit less, for their goods being worn and consumed\nby the same persons residing on the other side of the ocean? Would\nnot the profits of the merchant and mariner be rather greater, and\nsome addition made to our navigation, ships and seamen? If the North\nAmerican gentleman stays in his own country, and lives there in\nthat degree of luxury and expence with regard to the use of British\nmanufactures, that his fortune entitles him to; may not his example\n(from the imitation of superiors, so natural to mankind) spread the\nuse of those manufactures among hundreds of families around him, and\noccasion a much greater demand for them, than it would do if he\nshould remove and live in London?--However this may be, if in our\nviews of immediate advantage, it seems preferable, that the gentlemen\nof large fortunes in North America should reside much in England; it\nis what may surely be expected, as fast as such fortunes are acquired\nthere. Their having \"colleges of their own for the education of their\nyouth,\" will not prevent it: a little knowledge and learning acquired\nincreases the appetite for more, and will make the conversation of\nthe learned on this side the water more strongly desired. Ireland\nhas its university likewise; yet this does not prevent the immense\npecuniary benefit we receive from that kingdom. And there will always\nbe, in the conveniencies of life, the politeness, the pleasures, the\nmagnificence of the reigning country, many other attractions besides\nthose of learning, to draw men of substance there, where they can\n(apparently at least) have the best bargain of happiness for their\nmoney.\n\nOur _trade to the West India islands_ is undoubtedly a valuable one:\nbut whatever is the amount of it, it _has long been at a stand_.\nLimited as our sugar planters are by the scantiness of territory,\nthey cannot increase much beyond their present number; and this is\nan evil, as I shall show hereafter, that will be little helped by\nour keeping Guadaloupe.--The trade to our Northern Colonies is not\nonly greater, but yearly increasing with the increase of people: and\neven in a greater proportion, as the people increase in wealth and\nthe ability of spending, as well as in numbers.[44]--I have already\nsaid, that _our people in the northern colonies_ double in about 25\nyears, exclusive of the accession of strangers. That I speak within\nbounds, I appeal to the authentic accounts frequently required by\nthe board of trade, and transmitted to that board by the respective\ngovernors; of which accounts I shall select one as a sample, being\nthat from the colony of Rhode-Island;[45] a colony that of all the\nothers receives the least addition from strangers.--For the increase\nof our _trade to those colonies_, I refer to the accounts frequently\nlaid before Parliament, by the officers of the customs, and to the\ncustom-house books: from which I have also selected one account, that\nof the trade from England (exclusive of Scotland) to Pensylvania[46];\na colony most remarkable for the plain frugal manner of living of\nits inhabitants, and the most suspected of carrying on manufactures,\non account of the number of German artizans, who are known to have\ntransplanted themselves into that country; though even these,\nin truth, when they come there, generally apply themselves to\nagriculture, as the surest support and most advantageous employment.\nBy this account it appears, that the exports to that province have in\n28 years, increased nearly in the proportion of 17 to 1; whereas the\npeople themselves, who by other authentic accounts appear to double\ntheir numbers (the strangers who settle there included) in about 16\nyears, cannot in the 28 years have increased in a greater proportion\nthan as 4 to 1. The additional demand then, and consumption of goods\nfrom England, of 13 parts in 17 more than the additional number\nwould require, must be owing to this; that the people having by\ntheir industry mended their circumstances, are enabled to indulge\nthemselves in finer clothes, better furniture, and a more general use\nof all our manufactures than heretofore.\n\nIn fact, the occasion for English goods in North America, and the\ninclination to have and use them, is, and must be for ages to come,\nmuch greater than the ability of the people to pay for them; they\nmust therefore, as they now do, deny themselves many things they\nwould otherwise chuse to have, or increase their industry to obtain\nthem. And thus, if they should at any time manufacture some coarse\narticle, which on account of its bulk or some other circumstance,\ncannot so well be brought to them from Britain; it only enables them\nthe better to pay for finer goods, that _otherwise_ they could not\nindulge themselves in: so that the exports thither are not diminished\nby such manufacture, but rather increased. The single article of\nmanufacture in these colonies, mentioned by the remarker, is _hats_\nmade in New-England. It is true, there have been, ever since the\nfirst settlement of that country, a few hatters there; drawn thither\nprobably at first by the facility of getting beaver, while the woods\nwere but little cleared, and there was plenty of those animals. The\ncase is greatly altered now. The beaver skins are not now to be had\nin New-England, but from very remote places and at great prices. The\ntrade is accordingly declining there; so that, far from being able\nto make hats in any quantity for exportation, they cannot supply\ntheir home demand; and it is well known, that some thousand dozens\nare sent thither yearly from London, Bristol, and Liverpool, and sold\nthere cheaper than the inhabitants can make them of equal goodness.\nIn fact, the colonies are so little suited for establishing of\nmanufactures, that they are continually losing the few branches they\naccidentally gain. The working brasiers, cutlers, and pewterers, as\nwell as hatters, who have happened to go over from time to time and\nsettle in the colonies, gradually drop the working part of their\nbusiness, and import their respective goods from England, whence\nthey can have them cheaper and better than they can make them. They\ncontinue their shops indeed, in the same way of dealing; but become\n_sellers_ of brasiery, cutlery, pewter, hats, &c. brought from\nEngland, instead of being _makers_ of those goods.\n\n [5. _The American colonies_ not dangerous _in their nature to Great\n Britain_.]\n\nThus much to the apprehension of our colonies becoming useless to\nus. I shall next consider the other supposition, that their growth\nmay render them _dangerous_.--Of this, I own, I have not the least\nconception, when I consider that we have already _fourteen separate\ngovernments_ on the maritime coast of the continent; and, if we\nextend our settlements, shall probably have as many more behind them\non the inland side. Those we now have are not only under different\ngovernors, but have different forms of government, different laws,\ndifferent interests, and some of them different religious persuasions\nand different manners.--Their jealousy of each other is so great,\nthat however necessary an union of the colonies has long been, for\ntheir common defence and security against their enemies, and how\nsensible soever each colony has been of that necessity; yet they\nhave never been able to effect such an union among themselves; nor\neven to agree in requesting the mother country to establish it for\nthem. Nothing but the immediate command of the crown has been able\nto produce even the imperfect union, but lately seen there, of\nthe forces of some colonies. If they could not agree to unite for\ntheir defence against the French and Indians, who were perpetually\nharassing their settlements, burning their villages, and murdering\ntheir people; can it reasonably be supposed there is any danger of\ntheir uniting against their own nation, which protects and encourages\nthem, with which they have so many connections and ties of blood,\ninterest and affection, and which, it is well known, they all love\nmuch more than they love one another?\n\nIn short, there are so many causes that must operate to prevent\nit, that I will venture to say, an union amongst them for such a\npurpose is not merely improbable, it is impossible. And if the\nunion of the whole is impossible, the attempt of a part must be\nmadness; as those colonies that did not join the rebellion would\njoin the mother-country in suppressing it. When I say such an\nunion is impossible, I mean, without the most grievous tyranny and\noppression. People who have property in a country which they may\nlose, and privileges which they may endanger, are generally disposed\nto be quiet, and even to bear much, rather than hazard all. While\nthe government is mild and just, while important civil and religious\nrights are secure, such subjects will be dutiful and obedient. The\nwaves do not rise but when the winds blow.\n\nWhat such an administration as the Duke of Alva's in the Netherlands\nmight produce, I know not; but this I think I have a right to deem\nimpossible. And yet there were two very manifest differences between\nthat case, and ours; and both are in our favour. The _first_, that\nSpain had already united the seventeen provinces under one visible\ngovernment, though the states continued independent: the _second_,\nthat the inhabitants of those provinces were of a nation, not only\ndifferent from, but utterly unlike the Spaniards. Had the Netherlands\nbeen peopled from Spain, the worst of oppression had probably not\nprovoked them to wish a separation of government. It might, and\nprobably would, have ruined the country; but would never have\nproduced an independent sovereignty. In fact, neither the very worst\nof governments, the worst of politics in the last century, nor the\ntotal abolition of their remaining liberty, in the provinces of Spain\nitself, in the present, have produced any independency [in Spain]\nthat could be supported. The same may be observed of France.\n\nAnd let it not be said, that the neighbourhood of these to the seat\nof government has prevented a separation. While our strength at sea\ncontinues, the banks of the Ohio (in point of easy and expeditious\nconveyance of troops) are nearer to London, than the remote parts of\nFrance and Spain to their respective capitals; and much nearer than\nConnaught and Ulster were in the days of Queen Elizabeth. No body\nforetels the dissolution of the Russian monarchy from its extent; yet\nI will venture to say, the eastern parts of it are already much more\ninaccessible from Petersburgh, than the country on the Mississippi is\nfrom London; I mean, more men, in less time, might be conveyed the\nlatter than the former distance. The rivers Oby, Jenesea, and Lena,\ndo not facilitate the communication half so well by their course,\nnor are they half so practicable as the American rivers. To this I\nshall only add the observation of Machiavel, in his Prince; that a\ngovernment seldom long preserves its dominion over those who are\nforeigners to it; who, on the other hand, fall with great ease, and\ncontinue inseparably annexed to the government of their own nation:\nwhich he proves by the fate of the English conquests in France. Yet\nwith all these disadvantages, so difficult is it to overturn an\nestablished government, that it was not without the assistance of\nFrance and England, that the United Provinces supported themselves:\nwhich teaches us, that\n\n [6. _The French remaining in Canada, an encouragement to\n disaffections in the British Colonies_.--_If they prove a_ check,\n _that check of the most barbarous nature_.]\n\n_If the visionary danger of independence in our colonies is to be\nfeared; nothing is more likely to render it substantial, than the\nneighbourhood of foreigners at enmity with the sovereign governments,\ncapable of giving either_ aid[47], _or an_ asylum, _as the event\nshall require_. Yet against even these disadvantages, did Spain\npreserve almost ten provinces, merely through their want of union;\nwhich indeed could never have taken place among the others, but for\ncauses, some of which are in our case impossible, and others it is\nimpious to suppose possible.\n\nThe Romans well understood that policy, which teaches the security\narising to the chief government from separate states among the\ngoverned; when they restored the liberties of the states of Greece\n(oppressed but united under Macedon) by an edict, that every state\nshould live under its own laws. They did not even name a governor.\nIndependence of each other, and separate interests (though among a\npeople united by common manners, language, and I may say religion;\ninferior neither in wisdom, bravery, nor their love of liberty, to\nthe Romans themselves;) was all the security the sovereigns wished\nfor their sovereignty. It is true, they did not call themselves\nsovereigns; they set no value on the title; they were contented\nwith possessing the thing. And possess it they did, even without\na standing army: (what can be a stronger proof of the security of\ntheir possession?) And yet by a policy, similar to this throughout,\nwas the Roman world subdued and held: a world composed of above an\nhundred languages, and sets of manners, different from those of their\nmasters. Yet this dominion was unshakeable, till the loss of liberty\nand corruption of manners in the sovereign state overturned it.\n\n_But what is the prudent policy, inculcated by the remarker to obtain\nthis end, security of dominion over our colonies? It is_, to leave\nthe French _in_ Canada, to \"check\" their growth; _for otherwise,\nour people may \"increase infinitely from all causes[48].\"_ We have\nalready seen in what manner the French and their Indians check the\ngrowth of our colonies. It is a modest word, this _check_, for\nmassacring men, women, and children. The writer would, if he could,\nhide from himself as well as from the public, the horror arising from\nsuch a proposal, by couching it in general terms: it is no wonder\nhe thought it a \"subject not fit for discussion\" in his letter;\nthough he recommends it as \"a point that should be the constant\nobject of the minister's attention!\" But if Canada is restored on\nthis principle, will not Britain be guilty of all the blood to be\nshed, all the murders to be committed, in order to check this dreaded\ngrowth of our own people? Will not this be telling the French in\nplain terms, that the horrid barbarities they perpetrate with their\nIndians on our colonists are agreeable to us; and that they need not\napprehend the resentment of a government, with whose views they so\nhappily concur? Will not the colonies view it in this light? Will\nthey have reason to consider themselves any longer as subjects and\nchildren, when they find their cruel enemies hallooed upon them\nby the country from whence they sprung; the government that owes\nthem protection, as it requires their obedience? Is not this the\nmost likely means of driving them into the arms of the French, who\ncan invite them by an offer of that security, their own government\nchuses not to afford them? I would not be thought to insinuate, that\nthe remarker wants humanity. I know how little many good-natured\npersons are affected by the distresses of people at a distance, and\nwhom they do not know. There are even those, who, being present, can\nsympathize sincerely with the grief of a lady on the sudden death of\na favourite bird; and yet can read of the sinking of a city in Syria\nwith very little concern. If it be, after all, thought necessary to\ncheck the growth of our colonies, give me leave to propose a method\nless cruel. It is a method of which we have an example in scripture.\nThe murder of husbands, of wives, of brothers, sisters and children,\nwhose pleasing society has been for some time enjoyed, affects deeply\nthe respective surviving relations; but grief for the death of a\nchild just born is short, and easily supported. The method I mean is\nthat which was dictated by the Egyptian policy, when the \"infinite\nincrease\" of the children of Israel was apprehended as dangerous to\nthe state[49]. Let an act of parliament then be made, enjoining the\ncolony midwives to stifle in the birth every third or fourth child.\nBy this means you may keep the colonies to their present size. And\nif they were under the hard alternative of submitting to one or the\nother of these schemes for checking their growth, I dare answer for\nthem, they would prefer the latter.\n\n_But all this debate about the propriety or impropriety of keeping or\nrestoring Canada_ is possibly too early. We have taken the capital\nindeed, but the country is yet far from being in our possession;\nand perhaps never will be: for if our m----rs are persuaded by such\ncounsellors as the remarker, that the French there are \"not the\nworst of neighbours,\" and that if we had conquered Canada, we ought,\nfor our own sakes, to restore it, as a check to the growth of our\ncolonies; I am then afraid we shall never take it. For there are many\nways of avoiding the completion of the conquest, that will be less\nexceptionable and less odious than the giving it up.\n\n [7. _Canada easily peopled_, without draining Great Britain _of any\n of its inhabitants_.]\n\n_The objection I have often heard, that if we had Canada we could not\npeople it, without draining Britain of its inhabitants, is founded\non ignorance of the nature of population in new countries._ When we\nfirst began to colonize in America, it was necessary to send people,\nand to send seed-corn; but it is not now necessary that we should\nfurnish, for a new colony, either one or the other. The annual\nincrement alone of our present colonies, without diminishing their\nnumbers, or requiring a man from hence, is sufficient in ten years\nto fill Canada with double the number of English that it now has of\nFrench inhabitants[50]. Those who are protestants among the French\nwill probably choose to remain under the English government; many\nwill choose to remove, if they can be allowed to sell their lands,\nimprovements, and effects: the rest in that thin-settled country will\nin less than half a century, from the crowds of English settling\nround and among them, be blended and incorporated with our people\nboth in language and manners.\n\n [8. _The merits of Guadaloupe to Great Britain_ over-valued; _yet\n likely to be paid_ much dearer for, _than Canada_.]\n\n_In Guadaloupe the case is somewhat different_; and though I am far\nfrom thinking[51] we have sugar-land enough[52], I cannot think\nGuadaloupe is so desirable an increase of it, as other objects\nthe enemy would probably be infinitely more ready to part with. A\ncountry, _fully inhabited_ by any nation, is no proper possession\nfor another of different languages, manners, and religion. It is\nhardly ever tenable at less expence than it is worth. But the isle\nof _Cayenne, and its appendix, Equinoctial-France_, having but very\nfew inhabitants, and these therefore easily removed, would indeed\nbe an acquisition every way suitable to our situation and desires.\nThis would hold all that migrate from Barbadoes, the Leeward Islands,\nor Jamaica. It would certainly recal into an English government (in\nwhich there would be room for millions) all who have before settled\nor purchased in Martinico, Guadaloupe, Santa-Cruz, or St. John's;\nexcept such as know not the value of an English government, and such\nI am sure are not worth recalling.\n\nBut should we keep Guadaloupe, we are told it would _enable us to\nexport 300,000_l._ in sugars_. Admit it to be true, though perhaps\nthe amazing increase of English consumption might stop most of\nit here,--to whose profit is this to redound? To the profit of\nthe French inhabitants of the island: except a small part, that\nshould fall to the share of the English purchasers, but whose whole\npurchase-money must first be added to the wealth and circulation of\nFrance. I grant, however, much of this 300,000_l._ would be expended\nin British manufactures. Perhaps too, a few of the land-owners of\nGuadaloupe might dwell and spend their fortunes in Britain (though\nprobably much fewer than of the inhabitants of North America.) I\nadmit the advantage arising to us from these circumstances (as far\nas they go) in the case of Guadaloupe, as well as in that of our\nother West-India settlements. Yet even this consumption is little\nbetter than that of an allied nation would be, who should take our\nmanufactures and supply us with sugar, and put us to no great expence\nin defending the place of growth. But though our own colonies expend\namong us almost the whole produce of our sugar[53], _can we, or ought\nwe_ to promise ourselves this will be the case of Guadaloupe? One\n100,000_l._ will supply them with British manufactures; and supposing\nwe can effectually prevent the introduction of those of France\n(which is morally impossible in a country used to them) the other\n200,000_l._ will still be spent in France, in the education of their\nchildren and support of themselves; or else be laid up there, where\nthey will always think their home to be.\n\nBesides this consumption of British manufactures, _much is said of\nthe benefit we shall have from the_ situation of Guadaloupe; and we\nare told of a trade to the Caraccas and Spanish Main. In what respect\nGuadaloupe is better situated for this trade than Jamaica, or even\nany of our other islands, I am at a loss to guess. I believe it to be\nnot so well situated for that of the windward coast, as Tobago and\nSt. Lucia; which in this, as well as other respects, would be more\nvaluable possessions, and which, I doubt not, the peace will secure\nto us. Nor is it nearly so well situated for that of the rest of\nthe Spanish Main as Jamaica. As to the greater safety of our trade\nby the possession of Guadaloupe, experience has convinced us, that\nin reducing a single island, or even more, we stop the privateering\nbusiness but little. Privateers still subsist, in equal if not\ngreater numbers, and carry the vessels into Martinico, which before\nit was more convenient to carry into Guadaloupe. Had we all the\nCaribbees, it is true, they would in those parts be without shelter.\n\nYet, upon the whole, I suppose it to be a doubtful point, and\nwell worth consideration, whether our obtaining possession of all\nthe Caribbees would be more than a temporary benefit; as it would\nnecessarily soon fill the French part of Hispaniola with French\ninhabitants, and thereby render it five times more valuable in time\nof peace, and little less than impregnable in time of war, and\nwould probably end in a few years in the uniting the whole of that\ngreat and fertile island under a French government. It is agreed\non all hands, that our conquest of St. Christopher's, and driving\nthe French from thence, first furnished Hispaniola with skilful and\nsubstantial planters, and was consequently the first occasion of\nits present opulence. On the other hand, I will hazard an opinion,\nthat valuable as the French possessions in the West Indies are, and\nundeniable the advantages they derive from them, there is somewhat\nto be weighed in the opposite scale. They cannot at present make war\nwith England, without exposing those advantages, while divided among\nthe numerous islands they now have, much more than they would, were\nthey possessed of St. Domingo only; their own share of which would,\nif well cultivated, grow more sugar, than is now grown in all their\nWest-India islands.\n\n_I have before said, I do not deny the utility of the conquest, or\neven of our future possession of Guadaloupe, if not bought too dear._\nThe trade of the West Indies is one of our most valuable trades. Our\npossessions there deserve our greatest care and attention. So do\nthose of North America. I shall not enter into the invidious task of\ncomparing their due estimation. It would be a very long, and a very\ndisagreeable one, to run through every thing material on this head.\nIt is enough to our present point, if I have shown, that the value of\nNorth America is capable of an immense increase, by an acquisition\nand measures, that must necessarily have an effect the direct\ncontrary of what we have been industriously taught to fear; and that\nGuadaloupe is, in point of advantage, but a very small addition to\nour West-India possessions; rendered many ways less valuable to us,\nthan it is to the French, who will probably set more value upon it,\nthan upon a country [Canada] that is much more valuable to us than to\nthem.\n\nThere is a great deal more to be said on all the parts of these\nsubjects; but as it would carry me into a detail, that I fear\nwould tire the patience of my readers, and which I am not without\napprehensions I have done already, I shall reserve what remains till\nI dare venture again on the indulgence of the public[54].\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[17] In the year 1760, upon the prospect of a peace with France,\nthe late Earl of Bath addressed a Letter to Two Great Men (Mr. Pitt\nand the Duke of Newcastle) on the terms necessary to be insisted\nupon in the negociation. He preferred the acquisition of Canada, to\nacquisitions in the West Indies. In the same year there appeared\nRemarks on the letter addressed to two great men, containing opposite\nopinions on this and other subjects. At this moment a philosopher\nstepped into the controversy, and wrote a pamphlet entitled, The\nInterest of Great Britain considered, with Regard to her Colonies,\n&c. The arguments he used, appear to have carried weight with them at\nthe courts of London and Paris, for Canada was kept by the peace.\n\nThe editor thinks it necessary to add the following further\nexplanations.--The above piece (which first came to his hands in the\nshape of a pamphlet, printed for Becket, 1761, 2d edit.) has none\nof the eight subdivisions it is now thrown into, marked out by the\nauthor. He conceived however that they might be useful, and has taken\nthe liberty of making them, but guards it with this apology. The\nbetter to suit his purpose, the division of the paragraphs, &c. and\nthe italics of the original, are not accurately adhered to. It was\nimpossible for him however to alter one word in the sense, style, or\ndisposition, of his author: this was a liberty for which he could\nmake no apology.\n\nIn the original, the author has added his observations concerning\nthe Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. [printed in the\n2d Vol. of this work] and introduced it with the following note.\n\"In confirmation of the writer's opinion concerning population,\nmanufactures, &c. he has thought it not amiss to add an extract from\na piece written some years since in America, where the facts must\nbe well known, on which the reasonings are founded. It is entitled,\nObservations, &c.\"\n\nWith respect to the arguments used by the authors of the Letter, and\nof the Remarks, it is useless to repeat them here. As far as they\nare necessary for the understanding of Dr. Franklin, they are to be\ncollected from his own work. B. V.\n\n[18] Remarks, p. 6.\n\n[19] Ibid. p. 7.\n\n[20] Remarks, p. 7.\n\n[21] Ibid.\n\n[22] Remarks, p. 19.\n\n[23] Ibid.\n\n[24] Page 30, of the Letter, and p. 21, of the Remarks.\n\n[25] Remarks, p. 28.\n\n[26] A very intelligent writer of that country, Dr. Clark, in his\nObservations on the late and present Conduct of the French, &c.\nprinted at Boston, 1755, says,\n\n\"The Indians in the French interest are, upon all proper\nopportunities, _instigated by their priests_ (who have generally\nthe chief management of their public councils) to acts of hostility\nagainst the English, even in time of profound peace between the two\ncrowns. Of this there are many undeniable instances: the war between\nthe Indians and the colonies of the Massachusett's Bay and New\nHampshire, in 1723, by which those colonies suffered so much damage,\nwas begun by the instigation of the French: their supplies were from\nthem; and there are now original letters of several Jesuits to be\nproduced, whereby it evidently appears, that they were continually\nanimating the Indians, when almost tired with the war, to a farther\nprosecution of it. The French not only excited the Indians, and\nsupported them, but joined their own forces with them in all the late\nhostilities that have been committed within his majesty's province\nof Nova Scotia. And from an intercepted letter this year from the\nJesuits at Penobscot, and from other information, it is certain,\nthat they have been using their utmost endeavours to excite the\nIndians to new acts of hostility against his majesty's colony of\nthe Massachusett's Bay; and some have been committed. The French\nnot only excite the Indians to acts of hostility, but reward them\nfor it, by _buying the English prisoners of them_: for the ransom\nof each of which they afterwards demand of us the price that is\nusually given for a slave in these colonies. They do this under the\nspecious pretence of rescuing the poor prisoners from the cruelties\nand barbarities of the savages; but in reality to encourage them to\ncontinue their depredations, as they can by this means get more by\nhunting the English, than by hunting wild-beasts; and the French at\nthe same time are thereby enabled to keep up a large body of Indians,\nentirely at _the expence of the English_.\"\n\n[27] Remarks, p. 25.\n\n[28] Remarks, p. 25.\n\n[29] \"Although the Indians live scattered, as a hunter's life\nrequires, they may be collected together from almost any distance; as\nthey can find their subsistence from their gun in their travelling.\nBut let the number of the Indians be what it will, they are not\nformidable merely on account of their numbers; there are many other\ncircumstances that give them a great advantage over the English.\nThe English inhabitants, though numerous, are extended over a large\ntract of land, five hundred leagues in length on the sea shore;\nand although some of their trading towns are thick settled, their\nsettlements in the country towns must be at a distance from each\nother: besides, that in a new country where lands are cheap, people\nare fond of acquiring large tracts to themselves; and therefore in\nthe out-settlements, they must be more remote: and as the people that\nmove out are generally poor, they sit down either where they can\neasiest procure land, or soonest raise a subsistence. Add to this,\nthat the English have fixed settled habitations, the easiest and\nshortest passages to which the Indians, by constantly hunting in the\nwoods, are perfectly well acquainted with; whereas the English know\nlittle or nothing of the Indian country, nor of the passages through\nthe woods that lead to it. The Indian way of making war is by sudden\nattack upon exposed places; and as soon as they have done mischief,\nthey retire, and either go home by the same or some different route,\nas they think safest; or go to some other place at a distance, to\nrenew their stroke. If a sufficient party should happily be ready to\npursue them, it is a great chance, whether in a country consisting\nof woods and swamps, which the English are not acquainted with, the\nenemy do not lie in ambush for them in some convenient place, and\nfrom thence destroy them. If this should not be the case, but the\nEnglish should pursue them, as soon as they have gained the rivers,\nby means of their canoes (to the use of which they are brought up\nfrom their infancy) they presently get out of their reach: further,\nif a body of men were to march into their country, to the place where\nthey are settled, they can, upon the least notice, without great\ndisadvantage, quit their present habitation, and betake themselves to\nnew ones.\" _Clark's Observations_, p. 13.\n\n\"It has been already remarked, that the tribes of the Indians, living\nupon the lakes and rivers that run upon the back of the English\nsettlements in North America, are very numerous, and can furnish a\ngreat number of fighting men, all perfectly well acquainted with the\nuse of arms as soon as capable of carrying them, as they get the\nwhole of their subsistence from hunting; and that this army, large\nas it may be, can be maintained by the French without any expence.\nFrom their numbers, their situation, and the rivers that run into the\nEnglish settlements, it is easy to conceive, that they can at any\ntime make an attack upon, and constantly annoy as many of the exposed\nEnglish settlements as they please, and those at any distance from\neach other. The effects of such incursions have been too severely\nfelt by many of the British colonies, not to be very well known. The\nentire breaking up places, that had been for a considerable time\nsettled at a great expence both of labour and money; burning the\nhouses, destroying the flock, killing and making prisoners great\nnumbers of the inhabitants, with all the cruel usage they meet with\nin their captivity, is only a part of the scene. All other places\nthat are exposed are kept in continual terror; the lands lie waste\nand uncultivated, from the danger that attends those that shall\npresume to work upon them: besides the immense charge the governments\nmust be at in a very ineffectual manner to defend their extended\nfrontiers; and all this from the influence the French have had over,\nbut comparatively, a few of the Indians. To the same or greater evils\nstill will every one of the colonies be exposed, whenever the same\ninfluence shall be extended to the whole body of them.\" Ibid. p. 20.\n\n[30] Remarks, p. 26.\n\n[31] Douglass.\n\n[32] Remarks, p. 25.\n\n[33] Remarks, p. 26.\n\n[34] This I believe is meant for Dr. Adam Smith, who seems not at\nthis time to have printed any of his political pieces. B. V.\n\n[35] Remarks, p. 27.\n\n[36] Remarks, p. 50, 51.\n\n[37] Remarks, p. 50, 51.\n\n[38] The reason of this greater increase in America than in Europe\nis, that in old settled countries, all trades, farms, offices, and\nemployments are full; and many people refrain marrying till they see\nan opening, in which they can settle themselves, with a reasonable\nprospect of maintaining a family: but in America, it being easy to\nobtain land, which, with moderate labour will afford subsistence and\nsomething to spare, people marry more readily and earlier in life,\nwhence arises a numerous offspring and the swift population of those\ncountries. It is a common error, that we cannot fill our provinces\nor increase the number of them, without draining this nation of its\npeople. The increment alone of our present colonies is sufficient for\nboth those purposes. [Written in 1760.]\n\n[39] Viz. forty sail, none of more than forty guns.\n\n[40] Sir C. Whitworth has the following assertion: \"Each state\nin Germany is jealous of its neighbours; and hence, rather than\nfacilitate the export or transit of its neighbours' products or\nmanufactures, they have all recourse to strangers.\" State of Trade,\np. xxiv. B. V.\n\n[41] From New York into lake Ontario, the land-carriage of the\nseveral portages altogether, amounts to but about twenty-seven miles.\nFrom lake Ontario into lake Erie, the land-carriage at Niagara is\nbut about twelve miles. All the lakes above Niagara communicate by\nnavigable straits, so that no land-carriage is necessary, to go out\nof one into another. From Presqu'isle on lake Erie, there are but\nfifteen miles land-carriage, and that a good waggon-road, to Beef\nRiver, a branch of the Ohio; which brings you into a navigation\nof many thousand miles inland, if you take together the Ohio, the\nMississippi, and all the great rivers and branches that run into them.\n\n[42] I beg pardon for attempting to remind the reader that he must\nnot confound the river Duna, with the river Dwina.--The fork of the\nOhio is about four hundred miles distant from the sea, and the fork\nof the Mississippi about nine hundred: it is four hundred miles from\nPetersburgh to Moscow, and very considerably more than four thousand\nfrom Petersburgh to Pekin. This is enough to justify Dr. Franklin's\npositions in the page above, without going into farther particulars.\nB. V.\n\n[43] Remarks, p. 47, 48, &c.\n\n[44] The writer has [since] obtained accounts of the exports to\nNorth America, and the West India Islands; by which it appears, that\nthere has been some increase of trade to those islands as well as to\nNorth America, though in a much less degree. The following extract\nfrom these accounts will show the reader at one view the amount of\nthe exports to each, in two different terms of five years; the terms\ntaken at ten years distance from each other, to show the increase,\nviz.\n\n\n_First term, from 1744 to 1748, inclusive._\n\n _Northern Colonies._ _West India Islands._\n\n 1744 \u00a3.640,114 12 4 \u00a3.796,112 17 9\n\n 1745 534,316 2 5 503,669 19 9\n\n 1746 754,945 4 3 472,994 19 7\n\n 1747 726,648 5 5 856,463 18 6\n\n 1748 830,243 16 9 734,095 15 3\n --------------- ---------------\n Total, \u00a3.3,486,261 1 2 Tot. \u00a3.3,363,337 10 10\n\n Difference, 122,930 10 4\n -------------\n \u00a3.3,486,268 1 2\n\n\n_Second term, from 1754 to 1758, inclusive._\n\n _Northern Colonies._ _West India Islands._\n\n 1754 1,246,615 1 11 685,675 3 0\n\n 1755 1,177,848 6 10 694,667 13 3\n\n 1756 1,428,720 18 10 733,458 16 3\n\n 1757 1,727,924 2 10 776,488 0 6\n\n 1758 1,832,948 13 10 877,571 19 11\n --------------- ---------------\n Total, \u00a3.7,414,057 4 3 Tot. \u00a3.3,767,841 12 11\n\n Difference, 3,646,215 11 4\n ---------------\n \u00a3.7,414,057 4 3\n\n In the first term, total of West India islands, 3,363,337 10 10\n\n In the second term, ditto 3,767,841 12 11\n ---------------\n Increase, only \u00a3.0,404,504 2 1\n\n In the first term, total for Northern Colonies, 3,486,268 1 2\n\n In the second term, ditto 7,414,057 4 3\n ---------------\n Increase, \u00a3.3,927,789 3 1\n\nBy these accounts it appears, that the exports to the West India\nislands, and to the northern colonies, were in the first term\nnearly equal (the difference being only 122,936_l._ 10s. 4d.) and in\nthe second term, the exports to those islands had only increased\n404,504_l._ 2s. 1d.--Whereas the increase to the northern colonies is\n3,927,789_l._ 3s. 1d. almost _four millions_.\n\nSome part of this increased demand for English goods may be ascribed\nto the armies and fleets we have had both in North America and the\nWest Indies; not so much for what is consumed by the soldiery; their\nclothing, stores, ammunition, &c. sent from hence on account of the\ngovernment, being (as is supposed) not included in these accounts of\nmerchandize exported; but, as the war has occasioned a great plenty\nof money in America, many of the inhabitants have increased their\nexpence.\n\nN. B. These accounts do not include any exports from Scotland to\nAmerica, which are doubtless proportionally considerable; nor the\nexports from Ireland.\n\n[I shall carry on this calculation where Dr. Franklin left it. For\nfour years, from 1770 to 1773 inclusively, the same average _annual_\nexports to the same ports of the West Indies is 994,463_l._, and to\nthe same ports of the North American plantations 2,919,669_l._ But the\nannual averages of the first and second terms of the former were\n672,668_l._ and 753,568_l._: of the latter, 697,254_l._ and 1,482,811_l._\n\nIn ten years therefore (taking the middle years of the terms) the\nNorth American trade is found to have _doubled_ the West Indian: in\nthe next sixteen years it becomes greater by _three-fold_.--With\nrespect to itself, the North American trade in 32 years (taking the\nextremes of the terms) has quadrupled; while the West Indian trade\nincreased only one half; of which increase I apprehend Jamaica has\ngiven more than one-third, chiefly in consequence of the quiet\nproduced by the peace with the maroon negroes.--Had the West Indian\ntrade continued stationary, the North American trade would have\nquadrupled with respect to it, in 26 years; and this, notwithstanding\nthe checks given to the latter, by their non-importation agreements\nand the encouragement of their own manufactures.\n\nThere has been an accession to both these trades, produced by the\ncessions at the treaty of Paris, not touched upon by Dr. Franklin.\nThe average _annual_ export-trade, from 1770 to 1773 inclusively, to\nthe ceded West India islands, amounted to 258,299_l._: to the ceded\nNorth American territory it has been 280,423_l._ See Sir Charles\nWhitworth's State of Trade. B. V.]\n\n[45] _Copy of the Report of Governor Hopkins to the Board of Trade,\non the Numbers of People in Rhode-Island._\n\nIn obedience to your lordships' commands, I have caused the within\naccount to be taken by officers under oath. By it there appears to be\nin this colony at this time 35,939 white persons, and 4697 blacks,\nchiefly negroes.\n\nIn the year 1730, by order of the then lords commissioners of trade\nand plantations, an account was taken of the number of people in this\ncolony, and then there appeared to be 15,302 white persons, and 2633\nblacks.\n\nAgain in the year 1748, by like order, an account was taken of the\nnumber of people in this colony, by which it appears there were at\nthat time 29,755 white persons, and 4373 blacks.\n\n _Colony of Rhode Island, Dec. 24, 1755._\n STEPHEN HOPKINS.\n\n[46] _An Account of the Value of the Exports from England to\nPensylvania, in one Year, taken at different Periods, viz._\n\n In 1723 they amounted only to \u00a3. 15,992 19 4\n 1730 they were 48,592 7 5\n 1737 56,690 6 7\n 1742 75,295 3 4\n 1747 82,404 17 7\n 1752 201,666 19 11\n 1757 268,426 6 6\n\nN. B. The accounts for 1758 and 1759, are not yet completed; but\nthose acquainted with the North American trade know, that the\nincrease in those two years has been in a still greater proportion;\nthe last year being supposed to exceed any former year by a third;\nand this owing to the increased ability of the people to spend, from\nthe greater quantities of money circulating among them by the war.\n\n[47] The _aid_ Dr. Franklin alludes to must probably have consisted\nin early and full supplies of arms, officers, intelligence, and trade\nof export and of import, through the river St. Lawrence, on risques\nboth public and private; in the encouragement of splendid promises\nand a great ally; in the passage from Canada to the back settlements,\nbeing _shut_ to the British _forces_; in the quiet of the _great\nbody_ of Indians; in the support of emissaries and discontented\ncitizens; in loans and subsidies to congress, in ways _profitable to\nFrance_; in a refuge to be granted them in case of defeat, in vacant\nlands, as settlers; in the probability of war commencing earlier\nbetween England and France, at the gulph of St. Lawrence (when the\nshipping taken, were _rightfully_ addressed to Frenchmen) than in\nthe present case. All this might have happened, as soon as America's\ndistaste of the sovereign had exceeded the fear of the foreigner;\na circumstance frequently seen possible in history, and which our\nministers took care should not be wanting.\n\nThis explanation would have required apology for its insertion, were\nnot the opinion pretty common in England, that _had not the French\nbeen removed from Canada, the revolt of America never would have\ntaken place_. Why then were the French _not left_ in Canada, at the\npeace of 1763? Or, since they _were not_ left there, why was the\nAmerican dispute begun? Yet in one sense, perhaps this opinion is\ntrue; for _had_ the French been left in Canada, ministers would not\nonly have _sooner_ felt, but _sooner_ have seen, the strange fatality\nof their plans. B. V.\n\n[48] Remarks, p. 50, 51.\n\n[49] And Pharoah said unto his people, behold the people of the\nchildren of Israel are more and mightier than we; come on, let us\ndeal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that\nwhen there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and\nfight against us, and so get them up out of the land. And the king\nspake to the Hebrew midwives, &c. Exodus, chap. 1.\n\n[50] In fact, there have not gone from Britain [itself] to our\ncolonies these twenty years past to settle there, so many as ten\nfamilies a year; the new settlers are either the offspring of the\nold, or emigrants from Germany, or the north of Ireland.\n\n[51] Remarks, p. 30, 34.\n\n[52] It is often said we have plenty of sugar-land still unemployed\nin Jamaica: but those who are well acquainted with that island know,\nthat the remaining vacant land in it is generally situated among\nmountains, rocks, and gullies, that make carriage impracticable, so\nthat no profitable use can be made of it; unless the price of sugars\nshould so greatly increase, as to enable the planter to make very\nexpensive roads, by blowing up rocks, erecting bridges, &c. every two\nor three hundred yards. [Our author was somewhat misinformed here. B.\nV.]\n\n[53] Remarks, p. 47.\n\n[54] Dr. Franklin has often been heard to say, that in writing this\npamphlet he received considerable assistance from a learned friend,\nwho was not willing to be named. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Remarks and Facts relative to the American Paper-money._[55]\n\n\nIn the Report of the Board of Trade, dated Feb. 9, 1764, the\nfollowing reasons are given for _restraining the emission_ of\npaper-bills of credit in America, as _a legal tender_.\n\n1. \"That it _carries the gold and silver out_ of the province, and so\nruins the country; as _experience has shewn_, in every colony where\nit has been practised in any great degree.\n\n2. \"That the _merchants_ trading to America _have suffered_ and lost\nby it.\n\n3. \"That the restriction [of it] _has had a beneficial effect_ in New\nEngland.\n\n4. \"That every _medium of trade should have an intrinsic value_,\nwhich paper-money has not. Gold and silver are therefore the fittest\nfor this medium, as they are an equivalent; which paper never can be.\n\n5. \"That _debtors_ in the assemblies make paper-money with\n_fraudulent views_.\n\n6. \"That in the middle colonies, where the credit of the paper-money\nhas been best supported, the bills have _never kept to their nominal\nvalue_ in circulation; but have constantly depreciated to a certain\ndegree, whenever the quantity has been increased.\"\n\nTo consider these reasons in their order; the first is,\n\n1. \"_That paper-money_ carries the gold and silver out _of the\nprovince, and so ruins the country; as_ experience has shewn, _in\nevery colony where it has been practised in any great degree_.\"--This\nopinion, of its ruining the country, seems to be merely speculative,\nor not otherwise founded than upon misinformation in the matter of\nfact. The truth is, that the balance of their trade with Britain\nbeing greatly against them, the gold and silver are drawn out to\npay that balance; and then the necessity of some medium of trade\nhas induced the making of paper-money, which could _not_ be carried\naway. Thus, if carrying out all the gold and silver ruins a country,\nevery colony was ruined before it made paper-money.--But, far from\nbeing ruined by it, the colonies that have made use of paper-money\nhave been, and are all, in a thriving condition. The debt indeed to\nBritain has increased, because their numbers, and of course their\ntrade, have increased; for all trade having always a proportion\nof debt outstanding, which is paid in its turn, while fresh debt\nis contracted, the proportion of debt naturally increases as the\ntrade increases; but the improvement and increase of estates in\nthe colonies have been in a greater proportion than their debt.\nNew England, particularly in 1696 (about the time they began the\nuse of paper-money) had in all its four provinces but 180 churches\nor congregations; in 1760 they were 530. The number of farms and\nbuildings there is increased in proportion to the numbers of people;\nand the goods exported to them from England in 1750, before the\nrestraint took place, were near five times as much as before they\nhad paper-money. Pensylvania, before it made any paper-money, was\ntotally stript of its gold and silver; though they had from time to\ntime, like the neighbouring colonies, agreed to take gold and silver\ncoins at higher nominal values, in hopes of drawing money into, and\nretaining it, for the internal uses of the province. During that\nweak practice, silver got up by degrees to 8s. 9d. per ounce, and\nEnglish crowns were called six, seven, and eight-shilling pieces,\nlong before paper-money was made. But this practice of increasing\nthe denomination was found not to answer the end. The balance of\ntrade carried out the gold and silver as fast as they were brought\nin; the merchants raising the price of their goods in proportion\nto the increased denomination of the money. The difficulties for\nwant of cash were accordingly very great, the chief part of the\ntrade being carried on by the extremely inconvenient method of\nbarter; when in 1723 paper-money was first made there; which gave\nnew life to business, promoted greatly the settlement of new lands\n(by lending small sums to beginners on easy interest, to be repaid\nby instalments) whereby the province has so greatly increased in\ninhabitants, that the export from hence thither is now more than\ntenfold what it then was; and by their trade with foreign colonies,\nthey have been able to obtain great quantities of gold and silver to\nremit hither in return for the manufactures of this country. New York\nand New Jersey have also increased greatly during the same period,\nwith the use of paper-money; so that it does not appear to be of\nthe ruinous nature ascribed to it. And if the inhabitants of those\ncountries are glad to have the use of paper among themselves, that\nthey may thereby be enabled to spare, for remittances hither, the\ngold and silver they obtain by their commerce with foreigners; one\nwould expect, that no objection against their parting with it could\narise here, in the country that receives it.\n\nThe 2d reason is, \"_That the_ merchants _trading to America have_\nsuffered _and lost by the paper-money_.\"--This may have been the case\nin particular instances, at particular times and places: as in South\nCarolina, about 58 years since; when the colony was thought in danger\nof being destroyed by the Indians and Spaniards; and the British\nmerchants, in fear of losing their whole effects there, called\nprecipitately for remittances; and the inhabitants, to get something\nlodged in safe countries, gave any price in paper-money for bills of\nexchange; whereby the paper, as compared with bills, or with produce,\nor other effects fit for exportation, was suddenly and greatly\ndepreciated. The unsettled state of government for a long time in\nthat province had also its share in depreciating its bills. But\nsince that danger blew over, and the colony has been in the hands of\nthe crown; their currency became fixed, and has so remained to this\nday. Also in New England, when much greater quantities were issued\nthan were necessary for a medium of trade, to defray the expedition\nagainst Louisbourg; and, during the last war in Virginia and North\nCarolina, when great sums were issued to pay the colony troops, and\nthe war made tobacco a poorer remittance, from the higher price of\nfreight and insurance: in these cases, the merchants trading to those\ncolonies may sometimes have suffered by the sudden and unforeseen\nrise of exchange. By slow and gradual rises, they seldom suffer;\nthe goods being sold at proportionable prices. But war is a common\ncalamity in all countries, and the merchants that deal with them\ncannot expect to avoid a share of the losses it sometimes occasions,\nby affecting public credit. It is hoped, however, that the profits of\ntheir subsequent commerce with those colonies may have made them some\nreparation. And the merchants trading to the middle colonies (New\nYork, New Jersey, and Pensylvania) have never suffered by any rise\nof exchange; it having ever been a constant rule there, to consider\nBritish debts as payable in Britain, and not to be discharged but\nby as much paper (whatever might be the rate of exchange) as would\npurchase a bill for the full sterling sum. On the contrary, the\nmerchants have been great gainers by the use of paper-money in\nthose colonies; as it enabled them to send much greater quantities\nof goods, and the purchasers to pay more punctually for them. And\nthe people there make no complaint of any injury done them by\npaper-money, with a legal tender; they are sensible of its benefits;\nand petition to have it so allowed.\n\nThe 3d reason is, \"_That the_ restriction _has had a_ beneficial\neffect _in New England_.\" Particular circumstances in the New England\ncolonies made paper-money less necessary and less convenient to them.\nThey have great and valuable fisheries of whale and cod, by which\nlarge remittances can be made. They are four distinct governments;\nbut having much mutual intercourse of dealings, the money of each\nused to pass current in all: but the whole of this common currency\nnot being under one common direction, was not so easily kept within\ndue bounds; the prudent reserve of one colony in its emissions being\nrendered useless by excess in another. The Massachusets, therefore,\nwere not dissatisfied with the restraint, as it restrained their\nneighbours as well as themselves; and perhaps _they_ do not desire to\nhave the act repealed. They have not yet felt much inconvenience from\nit; as they were enabled to abolish their paper-currency, by a large\nsum in silver from Britain to reimburse their expences in taking\nLouisbourg, which, with the gold brought from Portugal, by means of\ntheir fish, kept them supplied with a currency; till the late war\nfurnished them and all America with bills of exchange; so that little\ncash was needed for remittance. Their fisheries too furnish them\nwith remittance through Spain and Portugal to England; which enables\nthem the more easily to retain gold and silver in their country. The\nmiddle colonies have not this advantage; nor have they tobacco; which\nin Virginia and Maryland answers the same purpose. When colonies\nare so different in their circumstances, a regulation, that is not\ninconvenient to one or a few, may be very much so to the rest. But\nthe pay is now become so indifferent in New England, at least in\nsome of its provinces, through the want of currency, that the trade\nthither is at present under great discouragement.\n\nThe 4th reason is, \"_That every_ medium of trade _should have an_\nintrinsic value; _which paper-money has not_. _Gold and silver are\ntherefore the fittest for this medium, as they are an equivalent;\nwhich paper never can be.\"_ However fit a particular thing may be\nfor a particular purpose; wherever that thing is not to be had,\nor not to be had in sufficient quantity; it becomes necessary to\nuse something else, the fittest that can be got, in lieu of it.\nGold and silver are not the produce of North America, which has no\nmines; and that which is brought thither cannot be kept there in\nsufficient quantity for a currency. Britain, an independent great\nstate, when its inhabitants grow too fond of the expensive luxuries\nof foreign countries, that draw away its money, can, and frequently\ndoes, make laws to discourage or prohibit such importations; and\nby that means can retain its cash. The _colonies_ are dependent\ngovernments; and their people having naturally great respect for\nthe sovereign country, and being thence immoderately fond of its\nmodes, manufactures, and superfluities, cannot be restrained from\npurchasing them by any province law; because such law, if made,\nwould immediately be repealed here, as prejudicial to the trade and\ninterest of Britain. It seems hard therefore, to draw all, their\nreal money from them, and then refuse them the poor privilege of\nusing paper instead of it. Bank bills and bankers notes are daily\nused _here_ as a medium of trade, and in large dealings perhaps the\ngreater part is transacted by their means; and yet _they_ have no\nintrinsic value, but rest on the credit of those that issue them;\nas paper-bills in the colonies do on the credit of the respective\ngovernments there. Their being payable in cash upon sight by the\ndrawer is indeed a circumstance that cannot attend the colony bills;\nfor the reasons just above-mentioned; their cash being drawn from\nthem by the British trade; but the legal tender being substituted in\nits place is rather a greater advantage to the possessor; since he\nneed not be at the trouble of going to a _particular bank_ or banker\nto demand the money, finding (wherever he has occasion to lay out\nmoney in the province) a person that is obliged to take the bills.\nSo that even out of the province, the knowledge, that every man\nwithin that province is obliged to take its money, gives the bills a\ncredit among its neighbours, nearly equal to what they have at home.\n\nAnd were it not for the laws _here_, that restrain or prohibit as\nmuch as possible all losing trades, the cash of _this_ country would\nsoon be exported: every merchant, who had occasion to remit it,\nwould run to the bank with all its bills, that came into his hands,\nand take out his part of its treasure for that purpose; so that in\na short time, it would be no more able to pay bills in money upon\nsight, than it is now in the power of a colony treasury so to do. And\nif government afterwards should have occasion for the credit of the\nbank, it must of necessity make its bills a legal tender; funding\nthem however on taxes by which they may in time be paid off; as\nhas been the general practice in the colonies.--At this very time,\neven the silver-money in England is obliged to the legal tender for\npart of its value; that part which is the difference between its\nreal weight and its denomination. Great part of the shillings and\nsixpences now current are, by wearing, become five, ten, twenty,\nand some of the sixpences even fifty per cent. too light. For\nthis difference between the _real_ and the _nominal_, you have no\n_intrinsic_ value; you have not so much as paper, you have nothing.\nIt is the legal tender, with the knowledge that it can easily be\nrepassed for the same value, that makes three-pennyworth of silver\npass for sixpence. Gold and silver have undoubtedly _some_ properties\nthat give them a fitness above paper, as a medium of exchange;\nparticularly their _universal estimation_; especially in cases where\na country has occasion to carry its money abroad, either as a stock\nto trade with, or to purchase _allies_ and _foreign succours_.\nOtherwise, that very universal estimation is an inconvenience, which\npaper-money is free from; since it tends to deprive a country of\neven the quantity of currency that should be retained as a necessary\ninstrument of its internal commerce, and obliges it to be continually\non its guard in making and executing, at a great expence, the\nlaws that are to prevent the trade which exports it. Paper-money\nwell funded has another great advantage over gold and silver; its\nlightness of carriage, and the little room that is occupied by a\ngreat sum; whereby it is capable of being more easily, and more\nsafely, because more privately, conveyed from place to place. Gold\nand silver are not _intrinsically_ of equal value with iron, a metal\nin itself capable of many more beneficial uses to mankind. Their\nvalue rests chiefly in the estimation they happen to be in among the\ngenerality of nations, and the credit given to the opinion, that that\nestimation will continue. Otherwise a pound of gold would not be a\nreal equivalent for even a bushel of wheat. Any other well-founded\ncredit, is as much an equivalent as gold and silver; and in some\ncases more so, or it would not be preferred by commercial people\nin different countries. Not to mention again our own bank bills;\nHolland, which understands the value of cash as well as any people in\nthe world, would never part with gold and silver for credit (as they\ndo when they put it into their bank, from whence little of it is ever\nafterwards drawn out) if they did not think and find the credit a\nfull equivalent.\n\nThe 5th reason is, \"_That_ debtors _in the assemblies make\npaper-money_ with fraudulent views.\" This is often said by the\nadversaries of paper-money, and if it has been the case in any\nparticular colony, that colony should, on proof of the fact, be duly\npunished. This, however, would be no reason for punishing other\ncolonies, who have _not_ so abused their legislative powers. To\ndeprive all the colonies of the convenience of paper-money, because\nit has been charged on some of them, that they have made it an\ninstrument of fraud, is as if all the India, Bank, and other stocks\nand trading companies were to be abolished, because there have been,\nonce in an age, Mississippi and South-Sea schemes and bubbles.\n\nThe 6th and last reason is, \"_That in the middle colonies, where the\npaper-money has been best supported, the bills have_ never kept to\ntheir nominal value _in circulation; but have constantly depreciated\nto a certain degree, whenever the quantity has been increased_.\"\nIf the rising of the value of any particular commodity wanted for\nexportation, is to be considered as a depreciation of the values of\n_whatever remains_ in the country; then the rising of silver above\npaper to that height of additional value, which its capability of\nexportation only gave it, may be called a depreciation of the paper.\nEven here, as bullion has been wanted or not wanted for exportation,\nits price has varied from 5_s._ 2_d._ to 5_s._ 8_d._ per ounce. This\nis near 10 per cent. But was it ever said or thought on such an\noccasion, that all the bank bills, and all the coined silver, and\nall the gold in the kingdom, were depreciated 10 per cent? Coined\nsilver is now wanted here for change, and 1 per cent is given for\nit by some bankers: are gold and bank notes therefore depreciated 1\nper cent.? The fact in the middle colonies is really this: on the\nemission of the first paper-money, a difference soon arose between\nthat and silver; the latter having a property the former had not,\na property always in demand in the colonies; to wit, its being fit\nfor a remittance. This property having soon found its value, by\nthe merchants bidding on one another for it, and a dollar thereby\ncoming to be rated at 8_s._ in paper-money of New York, and 7_s._\n6_d._ in paper of Pensylvania, it has continued uniformly at those\nrates in both provinces now near forty years, without any variation\nupon new emissions; though, in Pensylvania, the paper-currency has\nat times increased from 15,000_l._ the first sum, to 600,000_l._ or\nnear it. Nor has any alteration been occasioned by the paper-money,\nin the price of the necessaries of life, when compared with silver:\nthey have been for the greatest part of the time no higher than\nbefore it was emitted; varying only by plenty and scarcity, or by a\nless or greater foreign demand. It has indeed been usual with the\nadversaries of a paper-currency, to call every rise of exchange with\nLondon, a depreciation of the paper: but this notion appears to be by\nno means just: for if the paper purchases every thing but bills of\nexchange, at the former rate, and these bills are not above one-tenth\nof what is employed in purchases; then it may be more properly and\ntruly said, that the exchange has risen, than that the paper has\ndepreciated. And as a proof of this, it is a certain fact, that\nwhenever in those colonies bills of exchange have been dearer, the\npurchaser has been constantly obliged to give more in silver, as well\nas in paper, for them; the silver having gone hand in hand with the\npaper at the rate above-mentioned; and therefore it might as well\nhave been said, that the silver was depreciated.\n\nThere have been several different schemes for furnishing the\ncolonies with paper-money, that should _not_ be a legal tender, viz.\n\n1. _To form a bank, in imitation of the bank of England, with a\nsufficient stock of cash_ to pay the bills on sight.\n\nThis has been often proposed, but appears impracticable, under the\npresent circumstances of the colony-trade; which, as is said above,\ndraws all the cash to Britain, and would soon strip the bank.\n\n2. _To raise a fund by some yearly tax, securely lodged in the bank\nof England as it arises, which should_ (during the term of years\n_for which the paper-bills are to be current_) _accumulate to a sum\nsufficient to discharge them all at their_ original value.\n\nThis has been tried in Maryland: and the bills so funded were\nissued without being made a general legal tender. The event was,\nthat as notes payable in time are naturally subject to a discount\nproportioned to the time: so these bills fell at the beginning of\nthe term so low, as that twenty pounds of them became worth no more\nthan twelve pounds in Pensylvania, the next neighbouring province;\nthough both had been struck near the same time at the same nominal\nvalue, but the latter was supported by the general legal tender.\nThe Maryland bills however began to rise as the term shortened, and\ntowards the end recovered their full value. But, as a depreciating\ncurrency injures creditors, _this_ injured debtors; and by its\ncontinually changing value, appears unfit for the purpose of money,\nwhich should be as fixed as possible in its own value; because it is\nto be the measure of the value of other things.\n\n3. _To make the bills_ carry an interest _sufficient to support their\nvalue_.\n\nThis too has been tried in some of the New England colonies; but\ngreat inconveniencies were found to attend it. The bills, to fit them\nfor a currency, are made of various denominations, and some very\nlow, for the sake of change; there are of them from 10_l._ down to\n3_d._ When they first come abroad, they pass easily, and answer the\npurpose well enough for a few months; but as soon as the interest\nbecomes worth computing, the calculation of it on every little bill\nin a sum between the dealer and his customers, in shops, warehouses\nand markets, takes up much time, to the great hindrance of business.\nThis evil, however, soon gave place to a worse; for the bills were\nin a short time gathered up and hoarded; it being a very tempting\nadvantage to have money bearing interest, and the principal all the\nwhile in a man's power, ready for bargains that may offer; which\nmoney out on mortgage is not. By this means numbers of people became\nusurers with small sums, who could not have found persons to take\nsuch sums of them upon interest, giving good security; and would\ntherefore not have thought of it; but would rather have employed the\nmoney in some business, if it had been money of the common kind.\nThus trade, instead of being increased by such bills, is diminished;\nand by their being shut up in chests, the very end of making them\n(viz. to furnish a medium of commerce) is in a great measure, if not\ntotally defeated.\n\nOn the whole, no method has hitherto been formed to establish a\nmedium of trade, in lieu of money, equal in all its advantages, to\nbills of credit--funded on sufficient taxes for discharging it, or\non land-security of double the value for repaying it at the end of\nthe term; and in the mean time, made a GENERAL LEGAL TENDER. The\nexperience of now near half a century in the middle colonies has\nconvinced them of it among themselves; by the great increase of their\nsettlements, numbers, buildings, improvements, agriculture, shipping,\nand commerce. And the same experience has satisfied the British\nmerchants, who trade thither, that it has been greatly useful to\nthem, and not in a single instance prejudicial.\n\nIt is therefore hoped, that securing the full discharge of British\ndebts, which are payable here, and in all justice and reason ought\nto be fully discharged here in sterling money; the restraint on the\nlegal tender within the colonies will be taken off; at least for\nthose colonies that desire it, and where the merchants trading to\nthem make no objection to it[56].\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[55] The best account I can give of the occasion of the Report, to\nwhich this paper is a reply, is as follows. During the war there had\nbeen a considerable and unusual trade to America, in consequence\nof the great fleets and armies on foot there, and the clandestine\ndealings with the enemy, who were cut off from their own supplies.\nThis made great debts. The briskness of the trade ceasing with the\nwar, the merchants were anxious for payment, which occasioned some\nconfusion in the colonies, and stirred up a clamour here against\npaper-money. The board of trade, of which lord Hilsborough was the\nchief, joined in this opposition to paper-money, as appears by the\nreport. Dr. Franklin being asked to draw up an answer to their\nreport, wrote the paper given above. B. V.\n\n[56] I understand that Dr. Franklin is the friend who assisted\ngovernor Pownall in drawing up a plan for a general paper-currency\nfor America, to be established by the British government. See\nGovernor Pownall's Administration of the Colonies, 5th Edition, p.\n199, and 208. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _To the Freemen of Pensylvania, on the Subject of a particular\n Militia-Bill, rejected by the Proprietor's Deputy or Governor._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, Sept. 28, 1764._\n\n GENTLEMEN,\n\nYour desire of knowing how the militia-bill came to fail in the last\nassembly shall immediately be complied with.\n\nAs the governor pressed hard for a militia-law to secure the internal\npeace of the province, and the people of this country had not been\naccustomed to militia service; the house, to make it more generally\nagreeable to the freeholders, formed the bill so as that they might\nhave some share in the election of the officers; to secure them\nfrom having absolute strangers set over them, or persons generally\ndisagreeable.\n\nThis was no more, than that every company should choose, and\nrecommend to the governor, three persons for each office of captain,\nlieutenant, and ensign; _out of which three_, the governor was to\ncommission _one_, that he thought most proper, or which he pleased,\nto be the officer. And that the captains, lieutenants, and ensigns,\nso commissioned by the governor, should, in their respective\nregiments, choose and recommend three persons for each office of\ncolonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major; out of which three the\ngovernor was to commission _one_, whichever he pleased, to each of\nthe said offices.\n\nThe governor's amendment to the bill in this particular was, to\nstrike out wholly this privilege of the people, and take to himself\nthe _sole_ appointment of all the officers.\n\nThe next amendment was to aggravate and _enhance all the fines_. A\nfine, that the assembly had made one hundred pounds, and thought\nheavy enough, the governor required to be three hundred pounds. What\nthey had made fifty pounds, he required to be one hundred and fifty.\nThese were fines on the commissioned officers for disobedience to\nhis commands; but the non-commissioned officers, or common soldiers,\nwhom, for the same offence, the assembly proposed to fine at ten\npounds, the governor insisted should be fined fifty pounds.\n\nThese fines, and some others to be mentioned hereafter, the assembly\nthought ruinously high: but when, in a subsequent amendment, the\ngovernor would, for offences among the militia, take away the _trial\nby jury_ in the common courts; and required, that the trial should be\nby a court-martial, composed of officers of his own sole appointing,\nwho should have power of sentencing even to death; the house could by\nno means consent thus to give up their constituents' liberty, estate,\nand life itself, into the absolute power of a proprietary governor;\nand so the bill failed.\n\nThat you may be assured I do not misrepresent this matter, I shall\ngive you the last-mentioned amendment (so called) at full length; and\nfor the truth and exactness of my copy I dare appeal to Mr. Secretary\nShippen.\n\nThe words of the bill, p. 43, were, \"Every such person, so offending,\nbeing legally convicted thereof, &c.\" By the words _legally\nconvicted_, was intended a conviction after legal trial, in the\ncommon course of the laws of the land. But the governor required this\naddition immediately to follow the words [\"convicted thereof\"] viz.\n'by a court-martial, shall suffer DEATH, or such other punishment\nas such court, by their sentence or decree, shall think proper to\ninflict and pronounce. And be it farther enacted by the authority\naforesaid, That when and so often as it may be necessary, the\ngovernor and commander in chief for the time being shall appoint\nand commissionate, under the great seal of this province, sixteen\ncommissioned officers in each regiment; with authority and power to\nthem, or any thirteen of them, to hold courts-martial, of whom a\nfield-officer shall always be one, and president of the said court;\nand such courts-martial shall, and are hereby impowered to administer\nan oath to any witness, in order to the examination or trial of any\nof the offences which by this act are made cognizable in such courts,\nand shall come before them. Provided always, that in all trials by\na court-martial by virtue of this act, every officer present at\nsuch trial, before any proceedings be had therein, shall take an\n_oath_ upon the holy evangelists, before one justice of the peace\nin the county where such court is held, who are hereby authorized\nto administer the same, in the following words, that is to say, \"I\nA. B. do swear, that I will duly administer justice according to\nevidence, and to the directions of an act, entitled, An act for\nforming and regulating the militia of the province of Pensylvania,\nwithout partiality, favour, or affection; and that I will not divulge\nthe sentence of the court, until it shall be approved of by the\ngovernor or commander in chief of this province for the time being;\nneither will I, upon any account, at any time whatsoever, disclose\nor _discover the vote or opinion_ of any particular member of the\ncourt-martial. So help me God.\"--And no sentence of death, or other\nsentence shall be given against any offender but by the concurrence\nof nine of the officers so sworn. And no sentence, passed against\nany offender by such court-martial, shall be put in execution, until\nreport be made of the whole proceedings to the governor or commander\nin chief of this province for the time being, and his directions\nsignified thereupon.'\n\nIt is observable here, that by the common course of justice, a man is\nto be tried by a jury of his neighbours and fellows; impannelled by a\nsheriff, in whose appointment the people have a choice: the prisoner\ntoo has a right to challenge twenty of the pannel, without giving a\nreason, and as many more as he can give reasons for challenging; and\nbefore he can be convicted, the jury are to be unanimous; they are\nall to agree that he is guilty, and are therefore all accountable\nfor their verdict. But by this amendment, the jury (if they may be\nso called) are all officers of the governor's sole appointing, and\nnot one of them can be challenged; and though a common militia-man\nis to be tried, no common militia-man shall be of that Jury; and so\nfar from requiring all to agree, a bare majority shall be sufficient\nto condemn you. And lest that majority should be under any check or\nrestraint, from an apprehension of what the world might think or say\nof the severity or injustice of their sentence, an oath is to be\ntaken, never to discover the vote or opinion of any particular member!\n\nThese are some of the chains attempted to be forged for you by the\nproprietary faction! Who advised the g----r is not difficult to\nknow. They are the very men, who now clamour at the assembly for a\nproposal of bringing the trial of a particular murder to this county,\nfrom another, where it was not thought safe for any man to be either\njuryman or witness; and call it disfranchising the people! who are\nnow bawling about the constitution, and pretending vast concern for\nyour liberties! In refusing you the least means of recommending or\nexpressing your regard for persons to be placed over you as officers,\nand who were thus to be made your judges in life and estate; they\nhave not regarded the example of the king, our wise, as well as\nkind master, who, in all his requisitions made to the colonies,\nof raising troops for their defence, directed, that \"the better to\nfacilitate the important service, the commissions should be given\nto such as from their weight and credit with the people may be best\nenabled to effectuate the levies[57].\" In establishing a militia\nfor the defence of the province, how could the \"weight and credit\"\nof men with the people be better discovered, than by the mode that\nbill directed; viz. by a majority of those that were to be commanded\nnominating three for each office to the governor, of which three he\nmight take the one he liked best?\n\nHowever, the courts-martial being established, and all of us thus put\ninto his honour's absolute power, the governor goes on to enhance\nthe fines and penalties; thus, in page 49 of the bill, where the\nassembly had proposed the fine to be ten shillings, the governor\nrequired it to be ten pounds: in page 50, where a fine of five pounds\nwas mentioned, the governor's amendment required it to be made fifty\npounds. And in page 44, where the assembly had said, \"shall forfeit\nand pay any sum not exceeding five pounds,\" the governor's amendment\nsays, \"shall suffer DEATH, or such other punishment, as shall,\naccording to the nature of the offence, be inflicted by the sentence\nof a court-martial!\"\n\nThe assembly's refusing to admit of these amendments in that bill\nis one of their offences against the Lord Proprietary; for which\nthat faction are now abusing them in both the languages[58] of the\nprovince, with all the virulence that reverend malice can dictate;\nenforced by numberless barefaced falshoods, that only the most\ndishonest and base would dare to invent, and none but the most weak\nand credulous can possibly believe.\n\n VERITAS.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[57] See Secretary of State's Letters in the printed Votes.\n\n[58] It is hardly necessary to mention here, that Pensylvania was\nsettled by a mixture of German and English. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Preface by a Member of the Pensylvanian Assembly (Dr. Franklin)\n to the Speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq. one of the Members for\n Philadelphia County; in Answer to the Speech of John Dickinson,\n Esq.; delivered in the House of the Assembly of the Province of\n Pensylvania, May 24, 1764, on Occasion of a Petition drawn up by\n Order, and then under the Consideration of the House, praying his\n Majesty for a Royal, in lieu of a Proprietary, Government_[59].\n\n\nIt is not merely because Mr. Dickinson's speech was ushered into\nthe world by a preface, that one is made to this of Mr. Galloway.\nBut as, in that preface, a number of aspersions were thrown on\nour assemblies, and their proceedings grossly misrepresented, it\nwas thought necessary to wipe those aspersions off by some proper\nanimadversions, and by a true state of facts, to rectify those\nmisrepresentations.\n\nThe preface begins with saying, \"That governor Denny (whose\nadministration will never be mentioned but with disgrace in the\nannals of this province) was induced, by considerations to which the\nworld is now no stranger, to pass sundry acts,\" &c. thus insinuating,\nthat by some unusual base bargain, secretly made, but afterwards\ndiscovered, he was induced to pass them.\n\nIt is fit therefore, without undertaking to justify all that\ngovernor's administration, to show _what_ those considerations\nwere. Ever since the revenue of the quit-rents first, and after\nthat, the revenue of tavern-licences, were settled irrevocably on\nour proprietors and governors, they have looked on those incomes as\ntheir proper estate, for which they were under no obligations to the\npeople: and when they afterwards concurred in passing any useful\nlaws, they considered them as so many jobs, for which they ought to\nbe particularly paid. Hence arose the custom of _presents_ twice a\nyear to the governors, at the close of each session in which laws\nwere passed, given at the time of passing: they usually amounted to\na thousand pounds per annum. But when the governors and assemblies\ndisagreed, so that laws were not passed, the presents were withheld.\nWhen a disposition to agree ensued, there sometimes still remained\nsome _diffidence_. The governors would not pass the laws that were\nwanted, without being sure of the money, even all that they called\ntheir arrears; nor the assemblies give the money, without being\nsure of the laws. Thence the necessity of some private conference,\nin which mutual assurances of good faith might be received and\ngiven, that the transactions should go hand in hand. What name\nthe impartial reader will give to this kind of commerce, I cannot\nsay: to me it appears an extortion of more money from the people,\nfor that to which they had before an undoubted right, both by the\nconstitution and by purchase; but there was no other shop they could\ngo to for the commodity they wanted, and they were obliged to comply.\nTime established the custom, and made it seem honest; so that our\ngovernors, even those of the most undoubted honour, have practised\nit. Governor Thomas, after a long misunderstanding with the assembly,\nwent more openly to work with them in managing this commerce, and\nthey with him. The fact is curious, as it stands recorded in the\nvotes of 1742-3. Sundry bills, sent up to the governor for his\nassent, had lain long in his hands, without any answer. Jan. 4, the\nhouse \"ordered, that Thomas Leech and Edward Warner wait upon the\ngovernor, and acquaint him, that the house had long waited for his\nresult on the bills that lie before him, and desire to know, when\nthey may expect it:\" the gentlemen return, and report, \"that they\nwaited upon the governor, and delivered the message of the house\naccording to order; and that the governor was pleased to say, he had\nhad the bills long under consideration, and _waited the result_ of\nthe _house_.\" The house well understood this hint; and immediately\nresolved into a committee of the whole house, to take what was\ncalled _the governor's support_ into consideration; in which they\nmade (the minutes say) _some progress_; and the next morning it\nappears, that that _progress_, whatever it was, had been communicated\nto him; for he sent them down this message by his secretary: \"Mr.\nSpeaker, the governor commands me to acquaint you, that as he has\nreceived assurances of a _good disposition_ in the house, he thinks\nit incumbent on him to show _the like_ on his part; and therefore\nsends down the bills which lay before him, without any amendment.\" As\nthis message only showed a good disposition, but contained no promise\nto pass the bills, the house seem to have had their doubts; and\ntherefore, February 2, when they came to resolve, on the report of\nthe grand committee, to give the money, they guarded their resolves\nvery cautiously, viz. \"Resolved, that _on the passage_ of such bills\nas now lie before the governor, (the naturalization bill, and such\nother bills as may be presented to him during this sitting) there\nbe PAID him the sum of _five hundred pounds_. Resolved also, that\non the passage of such bills as now lie before the governor (the\nnaturalization bill, and such other bills as may be presented to him\nthis sitting) there be PAID to the governor the _further_ sum of _one\nthousand pounds_, for the current year's support; and that orders be\ndrawn on the treasurer and trustees of the loan-office, pursuant to\nthese resolves.\" The orders were accordingly drawn; with which being\nacquainted, he appointed a time to pass the bills; which was done\nwith one hand, while he received the orders in the other: and then\nwith the utmost politeness [he] thanked the house for the fifteen\nhundred pounds, as if it had been a pure free gift, and a mere mark\nof their respect and affection. \"I _thank you_, gentlemen (says he)\nfor this instance of _your regard_; which I am the more pleased with,\nas it gives an agreeable prospect of _future harmony_ between me\nand the representatives of the people.\" This, reader, is an exact\n_counterpart_ of the transaction with governor Denny; except that\nDenny sent word to the house, that he would pass the bills _before_\nthey voted the support. And yet _here_ was no proprietary clamour\nabout bribery, &c. And why so? Why at that time the proprietary\nfamily, by virtue of a _secret bond_ they had obtained of the\ngovernor at his appointment, were to _share with_ him the sums so\nobtained of the people!\n\nThis reservation of the proprietaries they were at that time a little\nashamed of; and therefore such bonds were then to be secrets. But\nas, in every kind of sinning, frequent repetition lessens shame, and\nincreases boldness, we find the proprietaries ten years afterwards\nopenly insisting on these advantages to themselves, _over and above_\nwhat was paid to their deputy: \"Wherefore (say they) on this occasion\nit is necessary that we should inform the people, through yourselves\ntheir representatives, that as by the constitution _our consent\nis necessary_ to their _laws_, at the same time that they have an\n_undoubted right_ to such as are necessary for the defence and real\nservice of the country; so it will tend the better to facilitate\nthe several matters which must be transacted with us, for their\nrepresentatives to show a regard _to us_ and our _interest_.\" This\nwas in their answer to the representation of the assembly [Votes,\nDecember, 1754, p. 48.] on the justice of their contributing to\nIndian expences, which they had refused. And on this clause the\ncommittee make the following remark: \"They tell us their consent\nis necessary to our laws, and that it will tend the better to\nfacilitate the matters which must be transacted with them, for the\nrepresentatives to show a regard to their _interest_: that is (as we\nunderstand it) though the proprietaries have a deputy here, supported\nby the province, who is, or ought to be, fully impowered to pass all\nlaws necessary for the service of the country; yet, before we can\nobtain such laws, we must facilitate their passage by paying money\nfor the proprietaries, which they ought to pay; or in some shape make\nit their particular _interest_ to pass them. We hope, however, that\nif this practice has ever been begun, it will never be continued in\nthis province; and that since, as this very paragraph allows, we have\nan undoubted right to such laws, we shall always be able to obtain\nthem from the goodness of our sovereign, without going to market\nfor them to a subject.\" Time has shown, that those hopes were vain;\nthey have been obliged to go to that market ever since, directly or\nindirectly, or go without their laws. The practice has continued,\nand will continue, as long as the proprietary government subsists,\nintervening between the crown and the people.\n\nDo not, my courteous reader, take pet at our proprietary\nconstitution, for these our bargain and sale proceedings in\nlegislation. It is a happy country where justice, and what was your\nown before, can be had for ready money. It is another addition to the\nvalue of money, and of course another spur to industry. Every land\nis not so blessed. There are countries where the princely proprietor\nclaims to be lord of all property; where what is your own shall not\nonly be wrested from you, but the money you give to have it restored\nshall be kept with it; and your offering so much, being a sign of\nyour being too rich, you shall be plundered of every thing that\nremained. These times are not come here yet: your present proprietors\nhave never been more unreasonable hitherto, than barely to insist on\nyour fighting in defence of _their_ property, and paying the expence\nyourselves; or if their estates must [ah! _must_] be taxed towards\nit, that the _best_ of their lands shall be taxed no higher than the\n_worst_ of yours.\n\nPardon this digression, and I return to governor Denny; but first let\nme do governor Hamilton the justice to observe, that whether from\nthe uprightness of his own disposition, or from the odious light the\npractice had been set in on Denny's account, or from both; he did not\nattempt these bargains, but passed such laws as he thought fit to\npass, without any _previous_ stipulation of pay for them. But then,\nwhen he saw the assembly tardy in the payment he expected, and yet\ncalling upon him still to pass more laws; he openly put them in mind\nof the money, as a _debt_ due to him from custom. \"In the course of\nthe present year (says he, in his message of July 8, 1763) a great\ndeal of public business hath been transacted by me, and I believe as\nmany useful laws enacted, as by any of my predecessors in the same\nspace of time: yet I have not understood that any allowance hath\nhitherto been made to me for my support, as hath been customary in\nthis province.\" The house having then some bills in hand, took the\nmatter into immediate consideration, and voted him five hundred\npounds, for which an order or certificate was accordingly drawn:\nand on the same day the speaker, after the house had been with the\ngovernor, reported, \"That his honour had been pleased to give his\nassent to the bills, by enacting the same into laws. And Mr. Speaker\nfarther reported, That he had then, in behalf of the house, presented\ntheir certificate of five hundred pounds to the governor, who was\npleased to say, he was obliged to the house for the same.\" Thus we\nsee the practice of purchasing and paying for laws is interwoven\nwith our proprietary constitution, used in the best times, and under\nthe best governors. And yet, alas! poor assembly! how will you steer\nyour brittle bark between these rocks? If you pay _ready money_ for\nyour laws, and those laws are not liked by the proprietaries, you are\ncharged with bribery and corruption: if you wait a while before you\npay, you are accused of detaining the governor's customary right, and\ndunned as a negligent or dishonest debtor, that refuses to discharge\na just debt!\n\nBut governor Denny's case, I shall be told, differs from all these;\nfor the acts he was induced to pass were, as the prefacer tell us,\n\"_contrary to his duty, and to every tie of honour and justice_.\"\nSuch is the imperfection of our language, and perhaps of all other\nlanguages, that, notwithstanding we are furnished with dictionaries\ninnumerable, we cannot precisely know the import of words, unless\nwe know of what party the man is that uses them. In the mouth of an\nassembly-man, or true Pensylvanian, \"contrary to his duty and to\nevery tie of honour and justice\" would mean, the governor's long\nrefusal to pass laws, however just and necessary, for taxing the\nproprietary estate: a refusal, contrary to the trust reposed in\nthe lieutenant-governor by the royal charter, to the rights of the\npeople, whose welfare it was his duty to promote, and to the nature\nof the contract made between the governor and the governed, when the\nquit-rents and licence-fees were established, which confirmed what\nthe proprietaries call our \"undoubted right\" to necessary laws. But\nin the mouth of the proprietaries, or their creatures, \"contrary to\nhis duty, and to every tie of justice and honour\" means, his passing\nlaws contrary to proprietary instructions, and contrary to the bonds\nhe had previously given to observe those instructions: instructions\nhowever, that were unjust and unconstitutional; and bonds, that were\nillegal and void from the beginning.\n\nMuch has been said of the wickedness of governor Denny in passing,\nand of the assembly in prevailing with him to pass, those acts.\nBy the prefacer's account of them, you would think the laws, so\nobtained, were _all_ bad; for he speaks of but _seven_, of which,\nsix, he says, were repealed, and the seventh reported to be\n\"fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_,\" \"and ought to be repealed,\n_unless_ six certain amendments were made therein[60].\" Whereas\nin fact there were _nineteen_ of them, and several of those must\nhave been good laws, for even the proprietaries did not object to\nthem. Of the eleven that they opposed, only six were repealed; so\nthat it seems, these good gentlemen may themselves be sometimes as\nwrong in opposing, as the assembly in enacting laws. But the words,\n\"fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_,\" are the great fund of triumph\nto the proprietaries and their partizans. These, their subsequent\ngovernors have unmercifully dinned in the ears of the assembly on all\noccasions ever since; for they make a part of near a dozen of their\nmessages. They have rung the changes on those words, till they worked\nthem up to say, that the law was fundamentally wrong and unjust in\n_six several articles_ (Governor's Message, May 17, 1764) instead\nof \"ought to be repealed, _unless_ six alterations or amendments\ncould be made therein.\" A law, unjust in six several articles, must\nbe an unjust law indeed. Let us therefore, once for all, _examine_\nthis unjust law, article by article, in order to see, whether our\nassemblies have been such villains as they have been represented.\n\nThe _first_ particular in which their lordships proposed the act\nshould be amended was, \"That the real estates to be taxed, be\n_defined with precision_; so as not to include the unsurveyed waste\nland belonging to the proprietaries.\" This was at most but an\n_obscurity_ to be cleared up. And though the law might well appear\nto their lordships uncertain in that particular, with us, who better\nknow our own customs, and that the proprietaries waste unsurveyed\nland was never here considered among estates real, subject to\ntaxation; there was not the least doubt or supposition, that such\nlands were included in the words \"all estates, real and personal.\"\nThe agents therefore, knowing that the assembly had no intention\nto tax those lands, might well suppose they would readily agree to\nremove the obscurity. Before we go farther, let it be observed, that\nthe main design of the proprietaries in opposing this act was, to\n_prevent their estates being taxed at all_. But as they knew, that\nthe doctrine of proprietary exemption, which they had endeavoured to\nenforce here, could not be supported there[61], they bent their whole\nstrength against the act on _other_ principles to procure its repeal,\npretending great willingness to submit to an equitable tax; but that\nthe assembly (out of mere malice, because they had conscientiously\nquitted quakerism for the church!) were wickedly determined to ruin\nthem, to tax all their unsurveyed wilderness-lands, and at the\nhighest rates: and by that means exempt themselves and the people,\nand throw the whole burden of the war on the proprietary family. How\nforeign these charges were from the truth, need not be told to any\nman in Pensylvania. And as the proprietors knew, that the hundred\nthousand pounds of paper-money, struck for the defence of _their_\nenormous estates, with others, was actually issued, spread through\nthe country, and in the hands of thousands of poor people, who had\ngiven their labour for it; how base, cruel, and inhuman it was to\nendeavour, by a repeal of the act, to strike the money dead in those\nhands at one blow, and reduce it all to waste paper, to the utter\nconfusion of all trade and dealings, and the ruin of multitudes,\nmerely to avoid paying their own just tax--Words may be wanting\nto express,--but minds will easily conceive,--and never without\nabhorrence!\n\nThe _second_ amendment proposed by their lordships was, \"That the\nlocated uncultivated lands, belonging to the proprietaries, shall\nnot be assessed higher than the _lowest_ rate, at which any located\nuncultivated lands belonging to the inhabitants shall be assessed.\"\nHad there been any provision in the act, that the proprietaries'\nlands, and those of the people, of the same value, should be taxed\ndifferently, the one high, and the other low; the act might well have\nbeen called in this particular fundamentally wrong and unjust. But\nas there is no such clause, this cannot be one of the particulars\non which the charge is founded; but, like the first, is merely a\nrequisition to make the act _clear_, by express directions therein,\nthat the proprietaries' estate should not be, as they pretended to\nbelieve it would be, taxed higher in proportion to its value than\nthe estates of others. As to their present claim, founded on that\narticle, \"that the best and most valuable of their lands, should be\ntaxed no higher than the worst and least valuable of the people's,\"\nit was not _then_ thought of; they made no such demand; nor did any\none dream that so iniquitous a claim would ever be made by men, who\nhad the least pretence to the characters of honourable and honest.\n\nThe _third_ particular was, \"That all lands, _not granted_ by\nthe proprietaries _within boroughs and towns_, be deemed located\nuncultivated lands, and rated accordingly; and not as lots.\" The\nclause in the act that this relates to is, \"And whereas many valuable\nlots of ground within the city of Philadelphia, and the several\nboroughs and towns within this province, remain unimproved; Be it\nenacted, &c. That _all_ such unimproved lots of ground within the\ncity and boroughs aforesaid, shall be rated and assessed according to\ntheir situation and value for, and towards raising the money hereby\ngranted.\" The reader will observe, that the word is, _all_ unimproved\nlots; and that _all_ comprehends the lots belonging to the people,\nas well as those of the proprietary. There were many of the former;\nand a number belonging even to members of the then assembly; and\nconsidering the value, the tax must be proportionably as grievous to\nthem, as the proprietary's to him. Is there among us a single man,\neven a proprietary relation, officer, or dependant, so insensible of\nthe differences of right and wrong, and so confused in his notions of\njust and unjust, as to think and say, that the act in this particular\nwas fundamentally wrong and unjust? I believe not one. What then\ncould their lordships mean by the proposed amendment? Their meaning\nis easily explained. The proprietaries have considerable tracts of\nland within the bounds of boroughs and towns, that have not yet been\ndivided into lots: they pretended to believe, that by virtue of this\nclause an imaginary division would be made of _those_ lands into\nlots, and an extravagant value set on such imaginary lots, greatly\nto their prejudice. It was answered, that no such thing was intended\nby the act: and that by lots was meant only such ground as _had_\nbeen surveyed and divided into lots, and not the open undivided\nlands. If this only is intended, say their lordships, then let the\nact be amended, so as _clearly_ to express what is intended. This is\nthe full amount of the third particular. How the act was understood\nhere, is well known by the execution of it before the dispute came\non in England, and therefore before their lordships' opinion on the\npoint could be given, of which full proof shall presently be made.\nIn the mean time it appears, that the act was not on _this_ account\nfundamentally wrong and unjust.\n\nThe _fourth_ particular is, \"That the _governor's consent_ and\napprobation be made necessary to every issue and application of the\nmoney, to be raised by virtue of such act.\" The assembly intended\nthis, and thought they had done it in the act. The words of the\nclause being, \"That [the commissioners named] or the major part of\nthem, or of the survivors of them, _with the consent_ or approbation\nof the governor or commander in chief of this province for the time\nbeing, shall order and appoint _the disposition of the monies_\narising by virtue of this act, for and towards paying and clothing\ntwo thousand seven hundred effective men,\" &c. It was understood\nhere, that as the power of disposing was expressly to be with the\nconsent and approbation of the governor, the commissioners had no\npower to dispose of the money without that approbation: but their\nlordships, jealous (as their station requires) of this prerogative of\nthe crown, and being better acquainted with the force and weakness\nof law expression, did not think the clause explicit enough, unless\nthe words, \"_and not otherwise_,\" were added, or some other words\nequivalent. This particular, therefore, was no more than another\nrequisition of greater _clearness_ and precision; and by no means a\nfoundation for the charge of fundamentally wrong and unjust.\n\nThe _fifth_ particular was, \"That _provincial_ commissioners be\nnamed, to hear and _determine appeals_, brought on the part of\nthe inhabitants, as well as the proprietaries.\" There was already\nsubsisting a provision for the appointment of _county_ commissioners\nof appeal; by whom the act might be, and actually has been (as we\nshall presently show) justly and impartially executed with regard to\nthe proprietaries; but _provincial_ commissioners appointed in the\nact it was thought might be of use, in regulating and equalizing the\nmodes of assessment of different counties, where they were unequal;\nand by affording a second appeal, tend more to the satisfaction both\nof the proprietaries and the people.--This particular was therefore\na mere proposed improvement of the act, which could not be, and was\nnot, in this respect, denominated fundamentally wrong and unjust.\n\nWe have now gone through five of the six proposed amendments, without\ndiscovering any thing on which that censure could be founded; but the\n_sixth_ remains; which points at a part of the act wherein we must\ncandidly acknowledge there is something, that, in their lordships'\nview of it, must justify their judgment. The words of the _sixth_\narticle are, \"That the payments by the tenants to the proprietaries\nof their rents, shall be according to the terms of their respective\ngrants, as if such act had never been passed.\" This relates to that\nclause of the act by which the _paper-money_ was made a _legal\ntender_ in \"discharge of all manner of debts, rents, sum and sums\nof money whatsoever, &c. at the rates ascertained in the act of\nparliament made in the sixth of Queen Anne.\" From the great injustice\nfrequently done to creditors, and complained of from the colonies, by\nthe vast depreciation of paper bills, it was become a general fixed\nprinciple with the ministry, that such bills (whose value, though\nfixed in the act, could not be kept fixed by the act) ought _not_ to\nbe made a legal tender in any colony at those rates. The parliament\nhad before passed an act, to take that tender away in the four New\nEngland colonies, and have since made the act general. This was what\ntheir lordships would therefore have proposed for the amendment. But\nit being represented, That the chief support of the credit of the\nbills was the legal tender; and that without it they would become\nof no value, it was allowed generally to remain; with an exception\nto the proprietaries' rents, where[62] there was a special contract\nfor payment in another coin. It cannot be denied but that _this_ was\ndoing justice to the proprietaries; and that, had the requisition\nbeen in favour of _all other_ creditors also, the justice had been\nequal, as being general. We do not therefore presume to impeach their\nlordships' judgment, that the act, as it enforced the acceptance of\nbills for money at a value which they had only nominally, and not\nreally, was in that respect fundamentally wrong and unjust. And yet\nwe believe the reader will not think the assembly so much to blame,\nwhen he considers, that the making paper-bills a legal tender had\nbeen the universal mode in America for more than threescore years;\nthat there was scarce a colony that had not practised that mode\nmore or less; that it had always been thought absolutely necessary,\nin order to give the bills a credit, and thereby obtain from them\nthe uses of money; that the inconveniences were therefore submitted\nto, for the sake of the greater conveniences; that acts innumerable\nof the like kind had been approved by the crown; and that if the\nassembly made the bills a legal tender at those rates to the\nproprietaries, they made them also a legal tender to themselves and\nall their constituents, many of whom might suffer in their rents,\n&c. as much in proportion to their estates as the proprietaries. But\nif he cannot, on these considerations, quite excuse the assembly,\nwhat will he think of those honourable proprietaries, who, when\npaper-money was issued in their colony, for the common defence of\ntheir vast estates, with those of the people, and who must therefore\nreap at least equal advantages from those bills with the people,\ncould nevertheless wish to be exempted from their share of the\nunavoidable disadvantages. Is there upon earth a man besides, with\nany conception of what is honest, with any notion of honour, with\nthe least tincture in his veins of the gentleman, but would have\nblushed at the thought; but would have rejected with disdain such\nundue preference, if it had been offered him? Much less would he have\nstruggled for it, moved heaven and earth to obtain it, resolved to\nruin thousands of his tenants by a repeal of the act, rather than\nmiss of it[63]; and enforce it afterwards by an audaciously wicked\ninstruction; forbidding aids to his king, and exposing the province\nto destruction, unless it was complied with. And yet,--These are\n_honourable_ men[64].\n\nHere then we have a full view of the assembly's injustice; about\nwhich there has been so much insolent triumph! But let the\nproprietaries and their discreet deputies hereafter recollect\nand remember, that the same august tribunal, which censured some\nof the modes and circumstances of that act, did at the same time\nestablish and confirm the grand principle of the act, viz. \"That\nthe proprietary estate ought, with other estates, to be taxed:\" and\nthereby did in effect determine and pronounce, that the opposition\nso long made in various shapes to that just principle, by the\nproprietaries, was fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_. An injustice\nthey were not, like the assembly, under any necessity of committing\nfor the public good, or any other necessity but what was imposed on\nthem by those base passions, that act the tyrant in bad minds; their\nselfishness, their pride, and their avarice.\n\nI have frequently mentioned the _equitable intentions_ of the house\nin those parts of the act, that were supposed obscure, and how they\nwere understood here. A clear proof thereof is found, as I have\nalready said, in the actual execution of the act; in the execution\nof it before the contest about it in England; and therefore before\ntheir lordships' objections to it had a being. When the report came\nover, and was laid before the house, one year's tax had been levied:\nand the assembly, conscious that no injustice had been intended to\nthe proprietaries, and willing to rectify it if any should appear,\nappointed a _committee_ of members from the several counties to\nexamine into the state of the proprietaries' taxes through the\nprovince, and nominated on that committee a gentleman of known\nattachment to the proprietaries, and their chief justice, Mr. Allen;\nto the end that the strictest inquiry might be made. _Their report_\nwas as follows: \"We, the committee appointed to inquire into, and\nconsider the state of the proprietary taxation through the several\ncounties, and report the same to the house, have, in pursuance of\nthe said appointment, carefully examined the returns of property,\nand compared them with the respective assessments thereon made\nthrough the whole province; and find, _first_, That no part of the\n_unsurveyed_ waste lands belonging to the proprietaries have, in any\ninstance, been included in the estates taxed. _Secondly_, That some\nof the _located uncultivated_ lands belonging to the proprietaries\nin several counties _remain unassessed_; and are not in any county\nassessed higher, than the lands under like circumstances belonging\nto the inhabitants. _Thirdly_, That all _lands_; _not_ granted by\nthe proprietaries, _within boroughs_ and towns, remain _untaxed_;\nexcepting in a few instances, and in those they are rated as _low_,\nas the lands which are granted in the said boroughs and towns. The\nwhole of the proprietary tax of eighteen pence in the pound amounts\nto 566_l._ 4_s._ 10_d._ And the sum of the tax on the inhabitants for\nthe same year amounts, through the several counties, to 27,103_l._\n12_s._ 8_d._ And it is the opinion of your committee, that there has\nnot been any injustice done to the proprietaries, or attempts made to\nrate or assess any part of their estates higher than the estates of\nthe like kind belonging to the inhabitants are rated and assessed;\nbut, on the contrary, we find that their estates are rated, in many\ninstances, below others.\n\n Thomas Leech, George Ashbridge,\n Joseph Fox, Emanuel Carpenter,\n Samuel Rhoads, John Blackburn,\n Abraham Chapman, William Allen.\"\n\nThe house communicated this report to governor Hamilton, when he\nafterwards pressed them to make the stipulated act of amendment;\nacquainting him at the same time, that as in the execution of the act\nno injustice _had_ hitherto been done to the proprietary, so, by a\nyearly inspection of the assessments, they would take care that none\n_should_ be done him; for that if any should appear, or the governor\ncould at any time point out to them any that had been done, they\nwould immediately rectify it; and therefore, as the act was shortly\nto expire, they did not think the amendments necessary. Thus that\nmatter ended during that administration.\n\nAnd had his successor, governor Penn, permitted it still to sleep,\nwe are of opinion it had been more to the honour of the family, and\nof his own discretion. But he was pleased to found upon it a _claim_\nmanifestly unjust, and which he was totally destitute of reason to\nsupport. A claim, that the proprietaries best and most valuable\nlocated uncultivated lands, should be taxed no _higher_ than the\nworst and least valuable of those belonging to the inhabitants: to\nenforce which, as he thought the words of one of the stipulations\nseemed to give some countenance to it, he insisted on using those\nvery words as sacred; from which he could \"neither in decency or in\nduty,\" deviate; though he had agreed to deviate from words [in] the\nsame report, and therefore equally sacred in every other instance. A\nconduct which will (as the prefacer says in governor Denny's case)\nfor ever disgrace the annals of _his_ administration[65]. Never did\nany administration open with a more _promising_ prospect [than this\nof governor Penn]. He assured the people, in his first speeches,\nof the proprietaries' paternal regard for them, and their sincere\ndisposition to do every thing that might promote their happiness. As\nthe proprietaries had been pleased to appoint a son of the family\nto the government, it was thought not unlikely, that there might be\nsomething in these professions; for that they would probably choose\nto have his administration made easy and agreeable; and to that\nend might think it prudent to withdraw those harsh, disagreeable,\nand unjust instructions with which most of his predecessors had\nbeen hampered: the assembly therefore believed fully, and rejoiced\nsincerely. They showed the new governor every mark of respect and\nregard that was in their power. They readily and cheerfully went into\nevery thing he recommended to them. And when he and his authority\nwere insulted and endangered by a lawless murdering mob, they and\ntheir friends took arms at his call, and formed themselves round him\nfor his defence, and the support of his government. But when it was\nfound, that those mischievous instructions still subsisted, and were\neven farther extended; when the governor began, unprovoked, to send\nthe house affronting messages, seizing every imaginary occasion of\nreflecting on their conduct; when every other symptom appeared of\nfixed deep-rooted family malice, which could but a little while bear\nthe unnatural covering that had been thrown over it, what wonder\nis it, if all the old wounds broke out and bled afresh? if all the\nold grievances, still unredressed, were recollected; if despair\nsucceeded of [seeing] any peace with a family, that could make such\nreturns to all their overtures of kindness! And when in the very\nproprietary council, composed of staunch friends of the family, and\nchosen for their attachment to it, it was observed, that the _old\nmen_ (1 Kings, chap. xii.) withdrew themselves, finding their opinion\nslighted, and that all measures were taken by the advice of two or\nthree _young men_ (one of whom too denies his share in them) is it\nany wonder, since like causes produce like effects, if the assembly,\nnotwithstanding all their veneration for the first proprietor, should\nsay, with the children of Israel, under the same circumstances, \"What\nportion have we in David, or inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your\ntents, O Israel!\"\n\nUnder these circumstances, and a conviction that while so many\nnatural sources of difference subsisted between proprietaries and\npeople, no harmony in government long subsist (without which neither\nthe commands of the crown could be executed, nor the public good\npromoted) the house resumed the consideration of a measure that had\noften been proposed in former assemblies; a measure, that every\n_proprietary province in_ America had, from the same causes, found\nthemselves obliged to take, and had actually taken, or were about\nto take; and a measure, that had happily succeeded, wherever it was\ntaken; I mean the recourse to an immediate _royal government_.\n\nThey therefore, after a thorough debate, and making no less than\ntwenty-five unanimous resolves, expressing the many grievances\nthis province had long laboured under, through the proprietary\ngovernment, came to the following resolution, viz. \"Resolved, nemine\ncontradicente, That this house will adjourn, in order to _consult\ntheir constituents_, whether an humble _address_ should be drawn\nup and transmitted to _his Majesty_; praying that he would be\ngraciously pleased to take the people of this province under his\nimmediate protection and government, by completing the agreement\nheretofore made with the first proprietary for the sale of the\ngovernment to the crown, or otherwise as to his wisdom and goodness\nshall seem meet[66].\"\n\nThis they ordered to be made public; and it was published accordingly\nin all the newspapers: the house then adjourned for no less than\n_seven weeks_, to give their constituents time to consider the\nmatter, and themselves an opportunity of taking their opinion and\nadvice. Could any thing be more deliberate, more fair and open, or\nmore respectful to the people that chose them?--During this recess,\nthe people, in many places, held little meetings with each other;\nthe result of which was, that they would manifest their sentiments\nto their representatives, by petitioning the crown directly of\nthemselves, and requesting the assembly to transmit and support\nthose petitions. At the next meeting many of these petitions were\ndelivered to the house with that request; they were signed by a very\ngreat[67] number of the most substantial inhabitants; and not the\nleast intimation was received by the assembly from any other of their\nconstituents, that the method was _disapproved_; except in a petition\nfrom an obscure town-ship in Lancaster county, to which there were\nabout forty names indeed, but all evidently signed by three hands\nonly. What could the assembly infer from the expressed willingness of\na part, and silence of the rest; but that the measure was universally\nagreeable! They accordingly resumed the consideration of it; and\nthough a small, very small opposition then appeared to it in the\nhouse; yet as even that was founded not on the impropriety of the\nthing; but on supposed unsuitableness of the time or the manner, and\na majority of nine tenths being still for it; a petition was drawn\nagreeable to the former resolve, and ordered to be transmitted to his\nmajesty.\n\nBut the preface tells us, that these _petitioners_ for a change were\na \"number of rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate people,\" and generally\nof a _low rank_. To be sure they were not of the proprietary\nofficers, dependents, or expectants; and those are chiefly the people\nof high rank among us; but they were otherwise generally men of the\nbest estates in the province, and men of reputation. The assembly,\nwho come from all parts of the country, and therefore may be supposed\nto know them, at least as well as the prefacer, have given that\ntestimony of them. But what is the testimony of the assembly; who\nin his opinion are equally rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate with\nthe petitioners? And if his judgment is right, how imprudently and\ncontrary to their charter, have his _three hundred thousand souls_\nacted in their elections of assembly-men these twenty years past; for\nthe charter requires them to choose men of _most note_ for _virtue_,\n_wisdom_ and _ability_!\n\nBut these are qualities engrossed, it seems, by the _proprietary_\nparty. For they say, \"the _wiser_ and _better_ part of the province\nhad far different notions of this measure: they considered, that\nthe moment they put their hands to these petitions they might be\nsurrendering up their birthright.\" I felicitate them on the _honour_\nthey have thus bestowed upon themselves; on the _sincere_ compliments\nthus given and accepted; and on their having with such noble freedom\ndiscarded the snivelling pretence to modesty, couched in that\nthreadbare form of words, \"though we say it, that should not say\nit.\" But is it not surprising, that, during the seven weeks recess\nof the assembly, expressly to consult their constituents on the\nexpediency of this measure, and during the fourteen days the house\nsat deliberating on it after they met again, these their wisdoms and\nbetternesses should never be so kind as to communicate the least\nscrap of their prudence, their knowledge, or their consideration, to\ntheir rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate representatives? Wisdom in\nthe mind is not like money in the purse, diminished by communication\nto others: they might have lighted up our farthing candles for\nus, without lessening the blaze of their own flambeaux. But they\nsuffered our representatives to go on in the dark till the fatal\ndeed was done; and the petition sent to the king, praying him to\ntake the government of this province into his immediate care:\nwhereby, if it succeeds, \"our glorious plan of public liberty and\ncharter of privileges is to be bartered away,\" and we are to be made\nslaves for ever! Cruel parsimony! to refuse the charity of a little\nunderstanding, when God had given you so much, and the assembly\nbegged it as an alms! O that you had but for once remembered and\nobserved the counsel of that wise poet Pope, where he says,\n\n Be niggards of advice on no pretence;\n For the worst avarice is that of sense.\n\nIn the constitution of our government, and in that of one more,\nthere still remains a particular thing that none of the other\nAmerican governments have; to wit, the appointment of a governor by\nthe _proprietors_, instead of an appointment by the _crown_. This\nparticular in government has been found inconvenient; attended with\ncontentions and confusions wherever it existed; and has therefore\nbeen gradually taken away from colony after colony, and every where\ngreatly to the satisfaction and happiness of the people. Our wise\nfirst proprietor and founder was fully sensible of this; and being\ndesirous of leaving his people happy, and preventing the mischiefs\nthat he foresaw must in time arise from that circumstance if it\nwas continued, he determined to take it away, if possible, during\nhis own lifetime. They accordingly entered into a contract for\nthe sale of the proprietary right of government to the crown, and\nactually received a sum in part of the consideration. As he found\nhimself likely to die before that contract (and with it, his plan\nfor the happiness of his people) could be completed, he carefully\nmade it a part of his last will and testament; devising the right\nof the government to two noble lords, in trust, that they should\nrelease it to the crown. Unfortunately for us, this has never yet\nbeen done. And this is merely what the assembly now desire to have\ndone. Surely he that formed our constitution, must have understood\nit. If he had imagined, that all our privileges depended on the\nproprietary government; will any one suppose, that he would himself\nhave meditated the change; that he would have taken such effectual\nmeasures, as he thought them, to bring it about speedily, whether he\nshould live or die? Will any of those, who now extol him so highly,\ncharge him at the same time with the baseness of endeavouring thus\nto defraud his people of all the liberties and privileges he had\npromised them, and by the most solemn charters and grants assured\nto them, when he engaged them to assist him in the settlement of\nhis province? Surely none can be so inconsistent!--And yet this\nproprietary right of governing or appointing a governor has all of a\nsudden changed its nature; and the preservation of it become of so\nmuch importance to the welfare of the province, that the assembly's\nonly petitioning to have their venerable founder's will executed,\nand the contract he entered into for the good of his people\ncompleted, is stiled, an \"attempt to violate the constitution for\nwhich our fathers planted a wilderness; to barter away our glorious\nplan of public liberty and charter privileges; a risquing of the\nwhole constitution; an offering up of our whole charter rights; a\nwanton sporting with things sacred, &c.\"\n\nPleasant surely it is to hear the proprietary partizans, of all men,\nbawling for the constitution, and affecting a terrible concern for\nour liberties and privileges. They, who have been these twenty years\ncursing our constitution, declaring that it was no constitution, or\nworse than none; and that things could never be well with us till\nit was new modelled, and made exactly conformable to the British\nconstitution: they, who have treated our distinguishing privileges\nas so many illegalities and absurdities; who have solemnly declared\nin print, that though such privileges might be proper in the infancy\nof a colony to encourage its settlement, they became unfit for it in\nits grown state, and ought to be taken away: they, who by numberless\nfalshoods, propagated with infinite industry in the mother country,\nattempted to procure an act of parliament for the actual depriving a\nvery great part of the people of their privileges: they too, who have\nalready deprived the whole people of some of their most important\nrights, and are daily endeavouring to deprive them of the rest: are\nthese become patriots and advocates for our constitution? Wonderful\nchange! astonishing conversion! Will the wolves then protect the\nsheep, if they can but persuade them to give up their dogs? Yes; the\nassembly would destroy all their own rights, and those of the people;\nand the proprietary partizans are become the champions for liberty!\nLet those who have faith now make use of it: for if it is rightly\ndefined, the evidence of things not seen, certainly never was there\nmore occasion for such evidence, the case being totally destitute of\nall other.\n\nIt has been long observed, that men are with that party, angels or\ndemons, just as they happen to concur with or oppose their measures.\nAnd I mention it for the comfort of _old sinners_, that in politics,\nas well as in religion, repentance and amendment, though late, shall\nobtain forgiveness, and procure favour. Witness the late speaker,\nMr. Norris; a steady and constant opposer of all the proprietary\nencroachments; and whom, for thirty years past, they have been\ntherefore continually abusing, allowing him no one virtue or good\nquality whatsoever: but now, as he shewed some unwillingness to\nengage in this present application to the crown, he is become all\nat once the \"faithful servant;\"--but let me look at the text, to\navoid mistakes--and indeed I was mistaken--I thought it had been\n\"faithful servant of the public,\" but I find it is only \"of the\nhouse.\" Well chosen that expression, and prudently guarded. The\nformer, from a proprietary pen, would have been praise too much, only\nfor disapproving the _time_ of the application. Could _you_, much\nrespected [Mr. Norris], go but a little farther, and disapprove the\napplication itself? Could you but say, the proprietary government is\na good one, and ought to be continued; then might all your political\noffences be done away, and your scarlet sins become as snow and wool;\nthen might you end your course with (proprietary) honour. P----\nshould preach your funeral sermon, and S----, the poisoner of other\ncharacters, embalm your memory. But those honours you will never\nreceive; for with returning health and strength you will be found in\nyour old post, firm for your country.\n\nThere is encouragement too for _young sinners_. Mr. Dickenson, whose\nspeech our prefacer has introduced to the world, (though long hated\nby some, and disregarded by the rest of the proprietary faction) is\nat once, for the same reason as in Mr. Norris's case, become a sage\nin the law, and an oracle in matters relating to our constitution. I\nshall not endeavour to pluck so much as a leaf from these the young\ngentleman's laurels. I would only advise him carefully to preserve\nthe panegyrics with which they have adorned him: in time they may\nserve to console him, by balancing the calumny they shall load him\nwith, when he does not go through with them in all their measures:\nhe will not probably do the one, and they will then assuredly do the\nother. There are mouths that can blow hot as well as cold, and blast\non your brows the bays their hands have placed there. \"Experto crede\nRoberto.\" Let but the moon of _proprietary_ favour withdraw its shine\nfor a moment, and that \"great number of the _principal gentlemen_ of\nPhiladelphia,\" who applied to you for the copy of your speech, shall\nimmediately despise and desert you.\n\n\"Those principal gentlemen!\" What a pity it is that their names were\nnot given us in the preface, together with their admirable letter!\nWe should then have known, where to run for advice on all occasions.\nWe should have known, who to choose for our future representatives:\nfor undoubtedly these were they that are elsewhere called \"the\n_wiser_ and _better_ part of the province.\" None but their wisdoms\ncould have known before-hand, that a speech which they never heard,\nand a copy of which they had never seen, but were then requesting\nto see, was \"a spirited defence,\" and \"of our charter privileges,\"\nand that \"the publication of it would be of great utility, and give\ngeneral satisfaction.\" No inferior sagacity could discover, that the\nappointment of a governor by the proprietor was one of our \"charter\nprivileges,\" and that those who opposed the application for a royal\ngovernment were therefore patriot members, appearing on the side of\nour privileges and our charter!\n\nUtterly to _confound the assembly_, and show the excellence of\nproprietary government, the prefacer has extracted from their own\nvotes, the _praises_ they have from time to time bestowed on the\n_first_ proprietor, in their addresses to his sons. And though\naddresses are not generally the best repositories of historical\ntruth, we must not in this instance deny their authority.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhat then avails it to the honour of the present proprietors, that\nour founder and their father gave us privileges, if they, the sons,\nwill not permit the use of them, or forcibly rend them from us? David\nmay have been a man after God's own heart, and Solomon the wisest\nof proprietors and governors; but if Rehoboam will be a tyrant and\na ----, who can secure him the affections of the people? The virtue\nand merit of his ancestors may be very great, but his presumption in\ndepending upon those alone may be much greater.\n\nI lamented, a few pages ago, that we were not acquainted with the\nnames of those \"principal gentlemen, the wiser and better part of\nthe province.\" I now rejoice that we are likely, some time or other,\nto know them; for a copy of a _petition to the king_ is now before\nme; which, from its similarity with their _letter_, must be of their\ninditing, and will probably be recommended to the people, by their\nleading up the signing.\n\nOn this petition I shall take the liberty of making a few _remarks_,\nas they will save me the necessity of following farther the preface;\nthe sentiments of this and that being nearly the same.\n\nIt begins with a formal quotation from the [assembly's] petition,\nwhich they own they have not seen, and of words that are not in it;\nand after relating very imperfectly and unfairly the fact relating\nto their application for a copy of it, which is of no importance,\nproceeds to set forth, \"that as we and all your American subjects\nmust be governed by persons authorised and approved by your Majesty,\non the best recommendation that can be obtained of them; we cannot\nperceive our condition in this respect to be _different_ from our\nfellow-subjects around us, or that we are thereby less under your\nmajesty's particular care and protection than they are; since there\ncan be no _governors_ of this province without your majesty's\n_immediate approbation_ and authority.\" Such a declaration from the\nwiser part of the province is really a little surprising. What! when\ndisputes concerning matters of property are daily arising between\nyou and your proprietaries, cannot your wisdoms perceive the least\ndifference between having the judges of those disputes appointed by\na _royal_ governor, who has no interest in the cause, and having\nthem appointed by the _proprietaries_ themselves, the principal\nparties against you; and _during their pleasure_ too? When supplies\nare necessary to be raised for your defence, can you perceive no\ndifference between having a royal governor, free to promote his\nmajesty's service by a ready assent to your laws; and a proprietary\ngovernor, shackled by instructions, forbidding him to give that\nassent, unless some private advantage is obtained, some profit got,\nor unequal exemption gained for their estate, or some privilege\nwrested from you? When prerogative, that in other governments is only\nused for the good of the people, is here strained to the extreme,\nand used to their prejudice, and the proprietaries benefit, can you\nperceive no difference? When the direct and immediate rays of majesty\nbenignly and mildly shine on all _around_ us, but are transmitted and\nthrown upon _us_ through the burning-glass of proprietary government,\ncan your sensibilities feel no difference? Sheltered perhaps in\nproprietary offices, or benumbed with expectations, it may be you\ncannot. But surely you might have known better than to tell his\nmajesty, \"that there can be no governors of this province, without\nhis immediate approbation.\" Don't you know, who know so much, that by\nour blessed constitution the _proprietors_ themselves, whenever they\nplease, may govern us in _person_, without such approbation?\n\nThe petition proceeds to tell his majesty, \"that the particular mode\nof government which we enjoy, under your majesty, is held in the\n_highest estimation_ by good men of all denominations among us; and\nhath _brought multitudes_ of industrious people from various parts of\nthe world,\" &c. Really! Can this be from proprietary partizans? That\nconstitution, which they were for ever censuring as defective in a\nlegislative council, defective in government powers, too popular in\nmany of its modes, is it now become so excellent? Perhaps, as they\nhave been tinkering it these twenty years, till they have stripped\nit of some of its most valuable privileges, and almost spoiled it,\nthey now begin to like it. But then it is not surely this _present_\nconstitution, that brought hither those multitudes. They came\nbefore. At least it was not that particular in our constitution (the\nproprietary power of appointing a governor) which attracted them,\nthat single particular, which alone is now in question, which our\nvenerable founder first, and now the assembly, are endeavouring to\nchange. As to the remaining valuable part of our constitution, the\nassembly have been equally full and strong in expressing their regard\nfor it, and perhaps stronger and fuller; for _their_ petition, in\nthat respect, is in the nature of a petition of right: it lays claim,\nthough modestly and humbly, to those privileges on the foundation\nof royal grants, on laws confirmed by the crown, and on justice and\nequity, as the grants were the consideration offered to induce them\nto settle, and which they have in a manner purchased and paid for, by\nexecuting that settlement without putting the crown to any expence.\nWhoever would know what our constitution was, when it was so much\nadmired, let him peruse that elegant farewell speech of Mr. Hamilton,\nfather of our late governor, when, as speaker, he took his leave of\nthe house, and of public business, in 1739; and then let him compare\nthat constitution with the present. The power of _appointing public\nofficers_ by the representatives of the people, which he so much\nextols, where is it now? Even the bare naming to the governor in a\nbill, a trivial officer to receive a light-house duty (which could\nbe considered as no more than a mere recommendation) is, in a late\nmessage, styled, \"an encroachment on the prerogative of the crown!\"\nThe sole power of _raising and disposing of public money_, which he\nsays was then lodged in the assembly, that inestimable privilege,\nwhat is become of it? Inch by inch they have been wrested from us\nin times of public distress; and the rest are going the same way.\nI remember to have seen, when governor Hamilton was engaged in a\ndispute with the assembly on some of those points, a copy of that\nspeech, which then was intended to be reprinted, with a dedication to\nthat honourable gentleman, and this motto from John Rogers's verses\nin the Primer:\n\n We send you here a little book,\n For you to look upon;\n That you may see your father's face,\n Now he is dead and gone.\n\nMany a such little book has been sent by our assemblies to the\npresent proprietaries: but they do not like to see their father's\nface; it puts their own out of countenance.\n\nThe petition proceeds to say, \"that such disagreements as have arisen\nin this province, we have beheld with sorrow; but as others around\nus are not exempted from the _like misfortunes_, we can by no means\nconceive them incident to the nature of our government, which hath\n_often_ been administered with remarkable harmony: and your majesty,\nbefore whom our late disputes have been laid, can be at no loss, in\nyour great wisdom, to discover, whether they proceed from the above\ncause, or should be ascribed to some others.\" The disagreements in\nquestion are proprietary disagreements in government, relating to\nproprietary private interests. And are not the _royal_ governments\naround us exempt from _these_ misfortunes? Can you really, gentlemen,\nby no means conceive, that proprietary government disagreements are\nincident to the nature of proprietary governments? If your wisdoms\nare so hard to conceive, I am afraid they will never bring forth. But\nthen our government \"hath _often_ been administered with remarkable\nharmony.\" Very true; as often as the assembly have been able and\nwilling to purchase that harmony, and pay for it, the mode of which\nhas already been shown. And yet that word _often_ seems a little\nunluckily chosen: the flame that is often put out, must be as often\nlit. If our government hath often been administered with remarkable\nharmony, it hath as often been administered with remarkable discord:\none often is as numerous as the other. And his majesty, if he\nshould take the trouble of looking over our disputes (to which the\npetitioners, to save themselves a little pains, modestly and decently\nrefer him) where will he, for twenty years past, find any but\n_proprietary_ disputes concerning proprietary interests; or disputes\nthat have been connected with and arose from them?\n\nThe petition proceeds to assure his majesty, \"that this province\n(except from the Indian ravages) enjoys the _most perfect internal\ntranquillity_!\"--Amazing! what! the most perfect tranquillity! when\nthere have been three atrocious riots within a few months! when\nin two of them, horrid murders were committed on twenty innocent\npersons; and in the third, no less than one hundred and forty like\nmurders were meditated, and declared to be intended, with as many\nmore as should be occasioned by any opposition! when we know that\nthese rioters and murderers have none of them been punished, have\nnever been prosecuted, have not even been apprehended! when we are\nfrequently told, that they intend still to execute their purposes,\nas soon as the protection of the king's forces is withdrawn! Is\nour tranquillity more perfect now, than it was between the first\nriot and the second, or between the second and the third? And why\n\"except the Indian ravages,\" is a _little intermission_ to be\ndenominated \"the most perfect tranquillity?\" For the Indians too\nhave been quiet lately. Almost as well might ships in an engagement\ntalk of the most perfect tranquillity between two broadsides. But\n\"a spirit of riot and violence is foreign to the general temper\nof the inhabitants.\" I hope and believe it is; the assembly have\nsaid nothing to the contrary. And yet is there not too much of it?\nAre there not pamphlets continually written, and daily sold in our\nstreets, to justify and encourage it? Are not the mad armed mob in\nthose writings instigated to embrue their hands in the blood of their\nfellow-citizens, by first applauding their murder of the Indians,\nand then representing the assembly and their friends as worse than\nIndians, as having privately stirred up the Indians to murder the\nwhite people, and armed and rewarded them for that purpose? LIES,\ngentlemen, villanous as ever the malice of hell invented, and which,\nto do you justice, not one of you believes, though you would have the\nmob believe them.\n\nBut your petition proceeds to say, \"that where such disturbances\nhave happened, they have been _speedily quieted_.\" By whom were\nthey quieted? The _two first_, if they can be said to be quieted,\nwere quieted only by the rioters themselves going home quietly\n(that is, without any interruption) and remaining there till their\nnext insurrection, without any pursuit, or attempt to apprehend\nany of them. And the _third_, was it quieted, or was the mischief\nthey intended prevented, or could it have been prevented, without\nthe aid of the king's troops, marched into the province for that\npurpose?--\"The civil powers have been supported,\" in some sort.\nWe all know how they were supported; but have they been _fully_\nsupported? Has the government sufficient strength, even with all its\nsupports, to venture on the apprehending and punishment of those\nnotorious offenders? If it has not, why are you angry at those who\nwould strengthen its hands by a more immediate royal authority? If\nit has, why is not the thing done? Why will the government, by its\nconduct, strengthen the suspicions (groundless no doubt) that it\nhas come to a private understanding with those murderers, and that\nimpunity for their past crimes is to be the reward of their future\npolitical services?--O! but says the petition, \"there are perhaps\ncases in all governments where it may _not be possible speedily\nto discover offenders_.\" Probably; but is there any case in any\ngovernment where it is not possible to _endeavour_ such a discovery?\nThere may be cases where it is not safe to do it: and perhaps the\nbest thing our government can say for itself is, that that is our\ncase. The only objection to such an apology must be, that it would\njustify that part of the assembly's petition to the crown, which\nrelates to the _weakness_ of our present government.[68]\n\nStill, if there is any _fault_, it must be _in the assembly_; for,\nsays the petition, \"if the executive part of our government should\nseem in any case too weak, we conceive it is the duty of the\nassembly, and in _their_ power, to strengthen it.\" This weakness,\nhowever, you have just denied. \"Disturbances you say _have_ been\nspeedily quieted, and the civil power supported,\" and thereby you\nhave deprived your insinuated charge against the assembly of its only\nsupport. But is it not a fact known to you all, that the assembly\n_did_ endeavour to strengthen the hands of the government? That, at\nhis honour's instance, they prepared and passed in a few hours a bill\nfor extending hither the act of parliament for dispersing rioters?\nThat they also passed and presented to him a militia bill, which he\nrefused, unless powers were thereby given him over the lives and\nproperties of the inhabitants, which the public good did not require;\nand which their duty to their constituents would not permit them to\ntrust in the hands of any proprietary governor? You know the points,\ngentlemen: they have been made public. Would you have had your\nrepresentatives give up those points? Do _you_ intend to give them\nup, when at the next election _you_ are made assemblymen? If so, tell\nit us honestly beforehand, that we may know what we are to expect\nwhen we are about to choose you?\n\nI come now to the last clause of your petition, where, with the\nsame wonderful sagacity with which you in another case discovered\nthe excellency of a speech you never heard, you undertake to\n_characterise a petition_ [_from the_ assembly] _you own you never\nsaw_; and venture to assure his majesty, that it is \"exceeding\ngrievous in its nature, that it by no means contains a proper\nrepresentation of the state of this province, and is repugnant to\nthe general sense of his numerous and loyal subjects in it.\" Are\nthen his majesty's \"numerous and loyal subjects\" in this province\nall as great wizards as yourselves, and capable of knowing, without\nseeing it, that a petition is repugnant to their general sense? But\nthe inconsistence of your petition, gentlemen, is not so much to be\nwondered at; the _prayer_ of it is _still more_ extraordinary, \"We\ntherefore most humbly pray, that your majesty would be graciously\npleased _wholly to disregard_ the said petition of the assembly.\"\nWhat! without enquiry! without examination! without a hearing of\nwhat the assembly might say in support of it! \"wholly disregard\" the\npetition of your representatives in assembly, accompanied by other\npetitions, signed by thousands of your fellow-subjects as loyal, if\nnot as wise and as good, as yourselves! Would you wish to see your\ngreat and amiable prince act a part that could not become a dey\nof Algiers? Do you, who are Americans, pray for a _precedent_ of\nsuch contempt in the treatment of an American assembly! such \"total\ndisregard\" of their humble applications to the throne? Surely your\nwisdoms here have overshot yourselves.--But as wisdom shows itself\nnot only in doing what is right, but in confessing and _amending_\nwhat is wrong, I recommend the latter particularly to your present\nattention; being persuaded of this consequence, that though you have\nbeen mad enough to sign such a petition, you never will be fools\nenough to present it.\n\nThere is one thing mentioned in the preface, which I find I omitted\nto take notice of as I came along, _the refusal of the house to enter\nMr. Dickinson's protest_ on their minutes. This is mentioned in such\na manner there and in the newspapers, as to insinuate a charge of\nsome partiality and injustice in the assembly. But the _reasons_\nwere merely these, that though protesting may be a practice with\nthe lords of parliament, there is no instance of it in the house of\ncommons, whose proceedings are the model followed by the assemblies\nof America; that there is no precedent of it on our votes, from the\nbeginning of our present constitution; and that the introducing\nsuch a practice would be attended with inconveniences, as the\nrepresentatives in assembly are not, like the lords in parliament,\nunaccountable to any constituents, and would therefore find it\nnecessary for their own justification, if the reasons of the minority\nfor being against a measure were admitted in the votes, to put there\nlikewise the reasons that induced the majority to be for it: whereby\nthe votes, which were intended only as a register of propositions and\ndeterminations, would be filled with the disputes of members with\nmembers, and the public business be thereby greatly retarded, if ever\nbrought to a period.\n\nAs that protest was a mere abstract of Mr. Dickinson's speech, every\nparticular of it will be found answered in the following speech of\nMr. Galloway, from which it is fit that I should no longer detain the\nreader.[69]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[59] As I am very much unacquainted with the history and principles\nof these provincial politics, I shall confine myself to some\nimperfect anecdotes concerning the parties, &c. A speech, which Mr.\nDickinson had delivered in the Pensylvania assembly against the\nabolition of the proprietary government, having been published, and\na preface having been written to it, as I think by a Dr. Smith, Mr.\nGalloway's speech was held forth as a proper answer to that speech,\nwhile the preface to it appeared balanced by the above preface from\nDr. Franklin. Mr. Galloway's speech, or probably the advertisement\nthat attended it, urged, I believe, Mr. Dickinson first to a\nchallenge, and then to a printed reply.--The controversy was quickly\nrepublished in England, or at least the principal parts of it; and\nit is from the English edition of Mr. Galloway's speech (printed in\nLondon by Nichols in 1765) that I have copied the above.\n\nThese several gentlemen however seem, for a time, to have better\nagreed in their subsequent opinions concerning American taxation\nby Great Britain; Mr. Dickinson, in particular, having taken a\nvery spirited line in the Farmer's Letters and other pieces, which\nprocured him considerable reputation. The congress declaration,\nnevertheless, for independence, was reported not to have given\nperfect satisfaction at first, either to himself or to Mr. Galloway.\nAnd in the event, Mr. Galloway thought proper to come over to General\nHowe, and afterwards to embark for England. B. V.\n\n[60] This act is intitled, An Act for granting to his Majesty the Sum\nof One Hundred Thousand Pounds: striking the same in Bills of Credit,\nand sinking the Bills by a Tax on all Estates real and personal.\n\n[61] i. e. In England, I suppose, when the laws were brought home to\nreceive the king's assent. B. V.\n\n[62] Possibly this word _where_, means _wherever_. B. V.\n\n[63] This would have been done, and the money all sunk in the hands\nof the people, if the agents, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Charles,\nhad not interposed, and voluntarily, without authority from the\nassembly so to do, but at their own risque, undertaken, that these\namendments should be made, or that they themselves would indemnify\nthe proprietaries from any damages they might sustain for want\nthereof. An action which, as the prefacer says in another case,\n\"posterity perhaps may find a name for.\"\n\n[64] It is not easy to guess from what source our proprietaries have\ndrawn their principles. Those who study law and justice as a science\nhave established it a maxim in equity, \"Qui sentit commodum, sentire\ndebet et onus.\" And so consistent is this with the common sense of\nmankind, that even our lowest untaught coblers and porters feel the\nforce of it in their own maxim (which they are honest enough never to\ndispute) \"Touch pot, touch penny.\"\n\n[65] For a fuller account of this dispute the reader is referred to\nthe newspapers and votes of assembly.\n\n[66] These words, \"by completing the agreement,\" &c. are omitted\nby the honest prefacer, in his account of the resolve, that they\nmight not interfere with his insinuation of the measure's being\nimpracticable, \"have the proprietors, by any act of theirs, forfeited\nthe least tittle of what was granted them by his Majesty's royal\nancestors? Or can they be _deprived_ of their charter rights without\ntheir consent?\" &c. Sensible that these questions are impertinent, if\nthose rights are already sold.\n\n[67] The prefacer, with great art, endeavours to represent this\nnumber as insignificant. He says the petitioners were but 3500, and\nthat the province contains near three hundred thousand _souls_! His\nreader is to imagine, that _two hundred and ninety six thousand\nfive hundred_ of them were applied to, and refused to sign it.\nThe truth is, that his number of souls is vastly exaggerated. The\ndwelling-houses in the province in 1752 did not exceed 20,000.\nPolitical arithmeticians reckon generally but five souls to a\nhouse, one house with another; and therefore, allowing for houses\nsince built, there are not probably more than an hundred and ten\nthousand souls in the province; that of these, scarce twenty two\nthousand could with any propriety be petitioners. And considering\nthe scattered settlement of the province; the general inattention\nof mankind, especially in new countries, to public affairs; and\nthe indefatigable pains taken by the proprietaries' new allies the\npresbyterian clergy of Philadelphia, (who wrote circular letters to\nevery congregation in the county, to deter them from petitioning, by\ndutiful intimations, that if we were reduced to a royal government,\nit would be the \"ruin of the province;\") it is a wonder the number\n(near a sixth part) was so great as it was. But if there had been\nno such petitions, it would not have been material to the point.\nThe _assembly_ went upon another foundation. They had adjourned to\nconsult their constituents; they returned satisfied that the measure\nwas agreeable to them, and _nothing appeared to the contrary_.\n\n[68] The assembly being called upon by the governor for their advice\non that occasion did, in a message, advise his sending for and\nexamining the magistrates of Lancaster county and borough, where the\nmurders were committed, in order to discover the actors; but neither\nthat nor any of the other measures recommended were ever taken.\nProclamations indeed were published, but soon discontinued.\n\n[69] Mr. Galloway's speech is of course omitted here. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Remarks on a late Protest against the Appointment of Mr. Franklin\n as Agent for this Province_ [of Pensylvania].\n\n\nI have generally passed over, with a silent disregard, the _nameless_\nabusive pieces that have been written against me; and though this\npaper, called a _protest_, is signed by some respectable names, I\nwas, nevertheless, inclined to treat it with the same indifference;\nbut, as the assembly is therein reflected on upon my account, it is\nthought more my duty to make some remarks upon it.\n\nI would first observe then, that this mode of _protesting_ by the\nminority, with a string of reasons against the proceedings of the\nmajority of the house of assembly, is quite new among us; the present\nis the second we have had of the kind, and both within a few months.\nIt is unknown to the practice of the house of commons, or of any\nhouse of representatives in America, that I have heard of; and seems\nan affected imitation of the lords in parliament, which can by no\nmeans become assemblymen of America. Hence appears the absurdity\nof the complaint, that the house refused the protest an _entry_\non their minutes. The protesters know, that they are not, by any\ncustom or usage, intitled to such an entry; and that the practice\nhere is not only useless in itself, but would be highly inconvenient\nto the house, since it would probably be thought necessary for the\nmajority also to enter their reasons, to justify themselves to their\nconstituents; whereby the minutes would be incumbered and the public\nbusiness obstructed. More especially will it be found inconvenient,\nif such protests are made use of as a new form of libelling, as the\nvehicles of personal malice, and as means of giving to private abuse\nthe appearance of a sanction as public acts. Your protest, gentlemen,\nwas therefore properly refused; and since it is no part of the\nproceedings of assembly, one may with the more freedom examine it.\n\nYour first reason against my appointment is, that you \"believe me to\nbe the chief author of the measures pursued by the last assembly,\nwhich have occasioned _such uneasiness_ and distraction among the\ngood people of this province.\" I shall not dispute my share in those\nmeasures; I hope they are such as will in time do honour to all\nthat were concerned in them. But you seem mistaken in the order of\ntime: it was the uneasiness and distraction among the good people\nof the province that occasioned the measures; the province was in\nconfusion before they were taken, and they were pursued in order to\nprevent such uneasiness and distraction for the future. Make one\nstep farther back, and you will find proprietary injustice supported\nby proprietary minions and creatures, the original cause of all our\nuneasiness and distractions.\n\nAnother of your reasons is, \"that I am, as you are informed, very\n_unfavourably_ thought of by several of his _majesty's ministers_.\" I\napprehend, gentlemen, that your informer is mistaken. He indeed has\ntaken great pains to give unfavourable impressions of me, and perhaps\nmay flatter himself, that it is impossible so much true industry\nshould be totally without effect. His long success in maiming or\nmurdering all the reputations that stand in his way (which has been\nthe dear delight and constant employment of his life) may likewise\nhave given him some just ground for confidence, that he has, as\nthey call it, _done for me_, among the rest. But, as I said before,\nI believe he is mistaken. For what have I done, that they should\nthink unfavourably of me? It cannot be my constantly and uniformly\npromoting the measures of the crown, ever since I had any influence\nin the province. It cannot, surely, be my promoting the change from a\nproprietary to a royal government. If indeed I had, by speeches and\nwritings, endeavoured to make his majesty's government universally\nodious in the province: if I had harangued by the week to all comers\nand goers, on the pretended injustice and oppressions of royal\ngovernment, and the slavery of the people under it: if I had written\ntraitorous papers to this purpose, and got them translated into other\nlanguages, to give his majesty's foreign subjects here those horrible\nideas of it: if I had declared, written, and printed, that \"the\nking's little finger we should find heavier than the proprietor's\nwhole loins,\" with regard to our liberties; _then indeed_ might the\nministers be supposed to think unfavourably of me. But these are not\nexploits for a man, who holds a profitable office under the crown,\nand can expect to hold it no longer than he behaves with the fidelity\nand duty that becomes every good subject. They are only for officers\nof proprietary appointment, who hold their commissions during his,\nand not the king's pleasure; and who, by dividing among themselves\nand their relations, offices of many thousands a year enjoyed by\nproprietary favour, _feel_ where to place their loyalty. I wish they\nwere as good subjects to his majesty; and perhaps they may be so,\nwhen the proprietary interferes no longer.\n\nAnother of your reasons is, \"that the proposal of me for _an agent_\nis extremely disagreeable to a very great number of the most serious\nand reputable inhabitants of the province; and the _proof_ is, my\nhaving been rejected at the last election, though I had represented\nthe city in assembly for fourteen years.\"\n\nAnd do those of you, gentlemen, reproach me with this, who, among\nnear four thousand voters, had scarcely a score more than I had? It\nseems then, that your _elections_ were very near being _rejections_,\nand thereby furnishing the same proof in your case that you\nproduce in mine, of _your_ being likewise extremely disagreeable to\na very great number of the most serious and reputable people. Do\nyou, honourable sir, reproach me with this, who, for almost twice\nfourteen years have been rejected (if _not being chosen_ is _to be\nrejected_) by the same people? and (unable, with all your wealth and\nconnections, and the influence they give you, to obtain an election\nin the county where you reside, and the city where you were born,\nand are best known) have been obliged to accept a seat from one of\nthe out-counties, the remotest of the province!--It is known, sir,\nto the persons who proposed me, that I was first chosen against my\ninclination, and against my entreaties that I might be suffered\nto remain a private man. In none of the fourteen elections you\nmention, did I ever appear as a candidate. I never did, directly or\nindirectly, solicit any man's vote. For six of the years in which\nI was annually chosen, I was absent, residing in England; during\nall which time, your secret and open attacks upon my character and\nreputation were incessant; and yet you gained no ground. And can you\nreally, gentlemen, find matter of triumph in this _rejection_ as you\ncall it? A moment's reflection on the means by which it was obtained\nmust make you ashamed of it.\n\nNot only my duty to the crown, in carrying the post-office act more\nduly into execution, was made use of to exasperate the ignorant, as\nif I was encreasing my own profits, by picking their pockets; but my\nvery zeal in opposing the murderers, and supporting the authority of\ngovernment; and even my humanity, with regard to the innocent Indians\nunder our protection, were mustered among my offences, to stir up\nagainst me those religious bigots, who are of all savages the most\nbrutish. Add to this, the numberless falshoods propagated as truths,\nand the many perjuries procured among the wretched rabble, brought to\nswear themselves intitled to a vote: And yet so _poor a superiority_\nobtained at all this expence of honour and conscience! can this,\ngentlemen, be matter of triumph? Enjoy it then. Your exultation,\nhowever, was short. Your artifices did not prevail every where; nor\nyour double tickets and whole boxes of forged votes. A great majority\nof the new-chosen assembly were of the old members, and remain\nuncorrupted. They still stood firm for the people, and will obtain\njustice from the proprietaries. But what does that avail to you, who\nare in the proprietary interest? And what comfort can it afford you,\nwhen, by the assembly's choice of an agent, it appears that the same,\nto you obnoxious, man (notwithstanding all your venomous invectives\nagainst him) still retains so great a share of the public confidence?\n\nBut \"this step, you say, gives you the more lively affliction, as it\nis taken at the _very moment_ when you were informed by a member of\nthe house, that the governor had assured him of his having received\ninstructions from the proprietaries, to give his assent to the\ntaxation of their estates; in the _same manner_ that the estates\nof other persons are to be taxed; and also _to confirm_, for the\npublic use, the several squares formerly _claimed_ by the city.\"\nO the force of friendship! the power of interest! What politeness\nthey infuse into a writer, and what _delicate_ expressions they\nproduce!--The dispute between the proprietaries and us was about the\n_quantum_, the _rate_ of their taxation, and not about the _manner_;\nbut now, when all the world condemns them for requiring a partial\nexemption of their estates, and they are forced to submit to an\nhonest equality, it is called \"_assenting_ to be taxed in the _same\nmanner_ with the people.\" Their _restitution_ of five public squares\nin the plan of the city, which they had near forty years unjustly\nand dishonourably seized and detained from us, (directing their\nsurveyor to map streets over them, in order to turn them into lots,\nand their officers to sell a part of them;) this their _disgorging_\nis softly called _confirming_ them for the public use; and instead\nof the plain words \"_formerly given_ to the city, by the first\nproprietary, their father,\" we have the cautious pretty expression\nof \"formerly _claimed_ by the city:\" Yes; not only _formerly_, but\n_always_ claimed, ever since they were _promised_ and _given_ to\nencourage the settlers; and ever will be _claimed_, till we are\nput in actual possession of them. It is pleasant, however, to see\nhow lightly and tenderly you trip over these matters, as if you\ntrod upon eggs. But that \"_very moment_,\" that precious moment!\nWhy was it so long delayed? Why were those healing instructions so\nlong withheld and concealed from the people? They were, it seems,\nbrought over by Mr. Allen:[70] intelligence was received by various\nhands from London, that orders were sent by the proprietaries, from\nwhich great hopes were entertained of an accommodation. Why was\nthe bringing and the delivery of such orders so long _denied_? The\nreason is easily understood. Messieurs Barclays, friends to both\nproprietaries and people, wished for that gentleman's happy arrival;\nhoping his _influence_, added to the _power_ and _commissions_ the\nproprietaries had vested him with, might prove effectual in restoring\nharmony and tranquillity among us; but _he_, it seems, hoped his\n_influence_ might do the business, without those additions. There\nappeared on his arrival some prospect (from sundry circumstances) of\na _change_ to be made in the house by the approaching election. The\nproprietary friends and creatures knew the heart of their master;\nand how extremely disagreeable to him that _equal taxation_, that\n_restitution_, and the other _concessions_ to be made for the sake of\na reconciliation, must necessarily be. They hoped therefore to spare\nhim all those mortifications, and thereby secure a greater portion\nof his favour. Hence the instructions were not produced to the last\nassembly, though they arrived before the September sitting, when the\ngovernor was in town, and actually did business with the house. Nor\nto the new assembly were they mentioned, till the \"_very moment_,\"\nthe fatal moment, when the house were on the point of choosing that\nwicked adversary of the proprietary to be an _agent_ for the province\nin England.\n\nBut I have, you say, a \"fixed _enmity to the proprietaries_,\" and\n\"you believe it will _preclude all accommodation_ of our disputes\nwith them, even on just and reasonable terms.\" And why do you think\nI have a fixed enmity to the proprietaries? I have never had any\npersonal difference with them. I am no land-jobber; and therefore\nhave never had any thing to do with their land-office or officers; if\nI had, probably, like others, I might have been obliged to truckle\nto their measures, or have had like causes of complaint. But our\nprivate interests never clashed; and all their resentment against\nme, and mine to them, has been on the public account. Let them do\njustice to the people of Pensylvania, act honourably by the citizens\nof Philadelphia, and become honest men; my enmity, if that's of\nany consequence, ceases from the \"_very moment_;\" and, as soon as\nI possibly can, I promise to love, honour and respect them. In the\nmean time, why do you \"believe it will preclude all _accommodation_\nwith them on just and reasonable terms?\" Do you not boast, that their\ngracious condescensions are in the hands of the governor; and that\n\"if this had been the usual time for business, his honour would have\nsent them down in a message to the house.\" How then can my going\nto England prevent this accommodation? The governor can call the\nhouse when he pleases; and, one would think, that, at least in your\nopinion, my being out of the way would be a favourable circumstance.\nFor then, by \"cultivating the disposition shown by the proprietaries,\nevery _reasonable demand_ that can be made on the part of the people\nmight be obtained: in vigorously insisting on which, you promise to\nunite most earnestly with the rest of the house.\" It seems then we\nhave \"_reasonable demands_\" to make, and, as you call them a little\nhigher, _equitable demands_. This is much for proprietary minions to\nown; but you are all growing better, in imitation of your master,\nwhich is indeed very commendable. And if the accommodation here\nshould fail, I hope, that though you dislike the person a majority\nof two to one in the house have thought fit to appoint an agent,\nyou will nevertheless, in duty to your country, continue the noble\nresolution of uniting with the rest of the house, in vigorously\ninsisting on that _equity_ and _justice_, which such an union will\nundoubtedly obtain for us.\n\nI pass over the trivial charge against the assembly, that they \"acted\nwith _unnecessary haste_ in proceeding to this appointment, without\nmaking a small adjournment,\" &c. and your affected apprehensions of\ndanger from that haste. The necessity of expedition on this occasion\nis as obvious to every one out of doors, as it was to those within;\nand the fears you mention are not, I fancy, considerable enough\nto break your rest. I come then to your _high_ charge against me,\n\"that I heretofore ventured, _contrary_ to an act of assembly, to\nplace the public money in the stocks; whereby this province suffered\na loss of 6000_l._ and that sum, added to the 5000_l._ granted for my\nexpences, makes the whole cost of my former voyage to England amount\nto _eleven thousand pounds_!\" How wisely was that form in our laws\ncontrived, which, when a man is arraigned for his life, requires\nthe evidence to speak _the truth_, the _whole truth_, and _nothing\nbut the truth_! The reason is manifest. A falshood may destroy the\ninnocent, so may _part of a truth_ without _the whole_; and a mixture\nof truth and falshood may be full as pernicious. You, Mr. Chief\nJustice, and the other justices among the protesters, and you, sir,\nwho are a counsellor at law, must all of you be well acquainted with\nthis excellent form; and when you arraigned my reputation (dearer\nto me than life) before the assembly, and now at the respectable\ntribunal of the public, would it not have well become your honours\nto have had some small regard at least to the spirit of that form?\nYou might have mentioned, that the direction of the act, to lodge\nthe money in the bank, subject to the drafts of the trustees of the\nloan-office here, was impracticable; that the bank refused to receive\nit on those terms, it being contrary to their settled rules to take\ncharge of money subject to the orders of unknown people living in\ndistant countries. You might have mentioned, that the house being\ninformed of this, and having no immediate call for the money, did\n_themselves_ adopt the measure of placing it in the stocks, which\nthen were low, where it might on a peace produce a considerable\nprofit, and in the mean time accumulate an interest: that they even\npassed a bill, directing the subsequent sums granted by parliament to\nbe placed with the former: that the measure was prudent and safe; and\nthat the loss arose, not from _placing_ the money _in_ the stocks,\nbut from the imprudent and unnecessary _drawing it out_ at the very\ntime when they were lowest, on some slight uncertain rumours of a\npeace concluded: that if the assembly had let it remain another year,\ninstead of losing they would have gained _six thousand pounds_; and\nthat after all, since the exchange at which they sold their bills\nwas near _twenty per cent_ higher when they drew than when the\nstocks were purchased, the loss was far from being so great as you\nrepresent it. All these things you might have said; for they are, and\nyou know them to be, part of the _whole truth_; but they would have\nspoiled your accusation. The late speaker of your honourable house,\nMr. Norris, (who has, I suppose, all my letters to him, and copies\nof his own to me, relating to that transaction) can testify with how\nmuch integrity and clearness I managed the whole affair. All the\nhouse were sensible of it, being from time to time fully acquainted\nwith the facts. If I had gone to gaming in the stocks with the\npublic money, and through my fault a sum was lost, as your protest\nwould insinuate, why was I not censured and punished for it when I\nreturned? You, honourable sir, (my enemy of seven years standing) was\nthen in the house. You were appointed on the committee for examining\nmy accounts; you reported, that you found them just, and signed\nthat report.[71] I never solicited the employ of agent; I made no\nbargain for my future service, when I was ordered to England by the\nassembly; nor did they vote me any salary. I lived there near six\nyears at my own expence, and I made no charge or demand when I came\nhome. You, sir, of all others, was the very member that proposed (for\nthe honour and justice of the house) a compensation to be made me\nof the _five thousand pounds_ you mention. Was it with an intent to\nreproach me thus publicly for accepting it? I thanked the house for\nit then, and I thank you now for proposing it: though you, who have\nlived in England, can easily conceive, that besides the prejudice to\nmy private affairs by my absence, a _thousand pounds_ more would not\nhave reimbursed me. The money voted was immediately paid me. But if\nI had occasioned the loss of _six thousand pounds_ to the province,\nhere was a fair opportunity of securing easily the greatest part\nof it; why was not the _five thousand pounds_ deducted, and the\nremainder called for? The reason is, this accusation was not then\ninvented. Permit me to add, that supposing the whole _eleven thousand\npounds_ an expence occasioned by my voyage to England, yet the\ntaxation of the proprietary estate now established will, when valued\nby years purchase, be found in time an advantage to the public, far\nexceeding that expence. And if the expence is at present a burthen,\nthe odium of it ought to lie on those, who, by their injustice, made\nthe voyage necessary; and not on me, who only submitted to the orders\nof the house in undertaking it.\n\nI am now to take leave (perhaps a last leave) of the country I\nlove, and in which I have spent the greatest part of my life.--ESTO\nPERPETUA.--I wish every kind of prosperity to my friends,--and I\nforgive my enemies.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n _Philadelphia, Nov. 5, 1764._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[70]\n\n_Extract of a Letter, dated London, August 6, 1764, from David Barclay\nand Sons, to Messieurs James and Drinker._\n\n\"We very much wish for William Allen's happy arrival on your side;\nwhen we hope his influence, added to the _power_ and _commissions_\nthe proprietaries have invested him with, may prove effectual, in\nrestoring harmony and tranquillity among you, so much to be desired\nby every well-wisher to your province. Pray be assured of our\nsincerest and best wishes for the success of this salutary work,\nand that nothing in our power, to contribute thereto, will ever be\nwanting.\"\n\n[71]\n\n_Report of the Committee on Benjamin Franklin's Accounts._\n\n\"In obedience to the order of the house, we have examined the account\nof Benjamin Franklin, Esq. with the vouchers to us produced in\nsupport thereof, and do find the same account to be just, and that he\nhas expended, in the immediate service of this province, the sum of\n_seven hundred and fourteen pounds, ten shillings and seven-pence_,\nout of the sum of _fifteen hundred pounds_ sterling to him remitted\nand paid, exclusive of any allowance or charge for his support and\nservices for the province.\n\n JOHN MORTON, JOHN HUGHES,\n WILLIAM ALLEN, SAMUEL RHOADS,\n JOHN ROSS, JOHN WILKINSON,\n JOHN MOOR, ISAAC PEARSON.\n JOSEPH FOX,\n\n February 19, 1763.\n\n\"The house taking the foregoing report of the committee of accounts\ninto consideration, and having spent some time therein,\n\n \"RESOLVED,\n\n\"That the sum of _five hundred pounds_ sterling _per annum_ be\nallowed and given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq. late agent for the\nprovince of Pensylvania at the court of Great Britain, during his\nabsence of six years from his business and connections, in the\nservice of the public; and that the thanks of this house be also\ngiven to the said gentleman by Mr. Speaker, from the chair; as\nwell for the faithful discharge of his duty to this province in\nparticular, as for the many and important services done America in\ngeneral, during his residence in Great Britain.\"\n\n _Thursday, March 31, 1763._\n\n\"Pursuant to a resolve of the nineteenth of last month, that the\nthanks of this house be given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq. for his many\nservices not only to the province of Pensylvania, but to America in\ngeneral, during his late agency at the court of Great Britain; the\nsame were this day accordingly given in form from the chair.--To\nwhich Mr. Franklin, respectfully addressing himself to the Speaker,\nmade answer, That he was thankful to the house, for the very\nhandsome and generous allowance they had been pleased to make him\nfor his services; but that the approbation of this house was, in his\nestimation, far above every other kind of recompence.\" _Votes_, 1763.\n\n\n\n\n _Remarks on a Plan for the future Management of Indian Affairs[72]._\n\n\nThe regulations in this plan seem to me to be in general very good:\nbut some few appear to want explanation, or farther consideration.\n\n_Clause_ 3. Is it intended by this clause, to prevent the trade that\nIndians, living near the frontiers, may choose to carry on with the\ninhabitants, by bringing their skins into the [English] settlements?\nThis prevention is hardly practicable; as such trade may be carried\non in many places out of the observation of government; the frontier\nbeing of great extent, and the inhabitants thinly settled in the\nwoods, remote from each other. The Indians too do not every where\nlive in towns sufficiently numerous to encourage traders to reside\namong them, but in scattered families, here and there, often shifting\ntheir situation for the sake of better hunting; and if they _are_\nnear the English settlements, it would seem to them very hard to be\nobliged to carry their skins for sale to remote towns or posts, when\nthey could dispose of them to their neighbours, with less trouble,\nand to greater advantage; as the goods they want for them, are and\nmust be dearer at such remote posts.\n\n4. The colony \"laws for regulating Indian affairs or commerce\" are\nthe result of long experience, made by people on the spot, interested\nto make them good; and it would be well to consider the matter\nthoroughly, before they are repealed, to make way for new untried\nschemes.\n\nBy whom are they to be repealed? By the colony assemblies, or by\nparliament? Some difficulty will arise here.\n\n13. The districts seem too large for this. The Indians under the care\nof the northern superintendant, by this plan, border on the colonies\nof Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,\nNew York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia: the\nsuperintendant's situation, remote from many of these, may occasion\ngreat inconvenience, if his consent is always to be necessary in such\ncases.\n\n14. This seems too much to be done, when the vastness of the district\nis considered. If there were more districts and smaller, it might be\nmore practicable.\n\n15 and 16. Are these agents or commissaries to try causes where life\nis concerned? Would it not be better, to send the criminals into some\ncivil well settled government or colony for trial, where good juries\ncan be had?\n\n18. \"_Chief for the whole tribe; who shall constantly reside with the\ncommissary, &c._\" Provision must then be made for his maintenance,\nas particular Indians have no estates, but live by hunting, and\ntheir public has no funds or revenues. Being used to rambling, it\nwould perhaps not be easy to find one, who would be obliged to this\nconstant residence; but it may be tried.\n\n22. If the agent and his deputies, and the commissaries, are not to\ntrade, should it not be a part of their oath, that they will have no\nconcern in such trade, directly or indirectly? Private agreements\nbetween them and the traders, for share of profits, should be guarded\nagainst, and the same care taken to prevent, if possible, private\nagreements between them and the purchasers of Indian lands.\n\n31. ---- \"or trading at any other post, &c.\" This should be so\nexpressed, as to make the master liable for the offence of the\nservant; otherwise it will have no effect.\n\n33. I doubt the settling of _tariffs_ will be a matter of difficulty.\nThere may be differences of fineness, goodness, and value, in the\ngoods of different traders, that cannot be properly allowed for by\ngeneral tariffs. And it seems contrary to the nature of commerce,\nfor government to interfere in the prices of commodities. Trade is a\nvoluntary thing between buyer and seller; in every article of which,\neach exercises his own judgment, and is to please himself. Suppose\neither Indian or trader is dissatisfied with the tariff, and refuses\nbarter on those terms, are the refusers to be compelled? if not, why\nshould an Indian be forbidden to take more goods for skins than your\ntariff allows, if the trader is willing to give them, or a trader\nmore skins for his goods, if the Indian is willing to give them?\nWhere there are a number of different traders, the separate desire\nof each to get more custom will operate in bringing down their goods\nto a reasonable price. It therefore seems to me, that trade will\nbest find and make its own rates; and that government cannot well\ninterfere, unless it will take the whole trade into its own hands (as\nin some colonies it does) and manage it by its own servants, at its\nown risque.\n\n38. I apprehend, that if the Indians cannot get _rum_ of fair\ntraders, it will be a great means of defeating all these regulations,\nthat direct the trade to be carried on at certain posts. The\ncountries and forests are so very large, it is scarce possible to\nguard every part, so as to prevent unlicensed traders drawing the\nIndians and the trade to themselves, by rum and other spiritous\nliquors, which all savage people are so fond of. I think they will\ngenerally trade where they can get rum, preferably to where it is\nrefused them; and the proposed prohibition will therefore be a great\nencouragement to unlicensed traders, and promote such trade. If the\ncommissaries, or officers at the posts, can prevent the selling of\nrum during the barter for other goods, and until the Indians are\nabout going away, it is perhaps all that is practicable or necessary.\nThe missionaries will, among other things, endeavour to prevail with\nthem to live soberly and avoid drunkenness.\n\n39. The Indian trade, so far as _credit_ is concerned, has hitherto\nbeen carried on wholly upon honour. They have among themselves no\nsuch things as prisons or confinements for debt. This article seems\nto imply, that an Indian may be compelled by law to pay a debt of\nfifty shillings or under. Our legal method of compulsion is by\nimprisonment: the Indians cannot and will not imprison one another;\nand if we attempt to imprison them, I apprehend it would be generally\ndisliked by the nations, and occasion breaches. They have such\nhigh ideas of the value of personal liberty, and such slight ones\nof the value of personal property;[73] that they would think the\ndisproportion monstrous between the liberty of a man, and a debt of\na few shillings; and that it would be excessively inequitable and\nunjust, to take away the one for a default in payment of the other.\nIt seems to me therefore best, to leave that matter on its present\nfooting; the debts _under_ fifty shillings as irrecoverable by law,\nas this article proposes for the debts _above_ fifty shillings.\nDebts of honour are generally as well paid as other debts. Where\nno compulsion can be used, it is more disgraceful to be dishonest.\nIf the trader thinks his risque greater in trusting any particular\nIndian, he will either not do it, or proportion his price to his\nrisque.\n\n44. As the goods for the Indian trade all come from England, and the\npeltry is chiefly brought to England; perhaps it will be best to lay\nthe duty here, on the exportation of the one, and the importation of\nthe other, to avoid meddling with the question, of the right to lay\nduties in America by parliament here.\n\nIf it is thought proper to carry the trading part of this plan into\nexecution, would it not be well to _try it first in a few posts_,\nto which the present colony laws for regulating the Indian trade do\nnot reach; that by experience its utility may be ascertained, or its\ndefects discovered and amended, before it is made general, and those\nlaws repealed to make way for it?--If the Indians find by experience,\nthat they are better used in their trade at the posts, under these\nregulations, than at other places, may it not make them desirous of\nhaving the regulations extended to other places; and when extended,\nbetter satisfied with them upon reflection and comparison[74]?\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[72] The plan remarked upon was under the consideration of ministry\nbefore the close of the year 1766, and (as I am inclined to think)\nafter the commencement of 1765. I can go no nearer as to its date.\n\nIt is needless to enter into the particulars of it, as the remarks\nexplain themselves; except perhaps as to the following points. The\ntrade was to be open; there were to be two superintendants to it; in\nthe northern district the trade was to be carried on at fixed posts,\nin the southern within the Indian town; the military were to have no\npower over the superintendants or the Indian trade, even in war time,\nunless with the superintendants' assent, or in great exigencies;\nthe superintendants, by themselves or deputies, were to make annual\nvisitations among the Indians, to see to justice, &c. and their\nproceedings were to be very summary; and no credit was to be given to\nthe Indians beyond fifty shillings, for no higher debt was to be made\nrecoverable. B. V.\n\n[73] For an account of the sentiments and manners of the Indians, see\nan essay by our author in a subsequent part of this volume. _Editor._\n\n[74] The editor has given the following memorandum of Indian\n_fighting men_, inhabiting near the distant posts, in 1762; to\nindulge the curious in future times. The paper is in Dr. Franklin's\nhand-writing: but it must not be mistaken as containing a list of the\nwhole of the nations enumerated, but only such part of them as lived\nnear the places described. B. V.\n\nA list of the number of fighting men of the different nations of\nIndians, through which I (George Croghan) passed, living at or near\nthe several posts.\n\n SANDUSKY.\n\n Wyandotts and Mohickons 200\n\n DETROIT.\n\n Poutauwautimies 150\n Ottawas 250\n Wyandotts 250\n Cheapwas 320 970\n\n MICHILEMAKINAC.\n\n Ottawas 250\n Cheapwas 400 650\n\n LA BAY.\n\n Meynomeneys 110\n Pervons 360\n Sax 300\n Reynard 320 1090\n\n ST. JOSEPH'S.\n\n Poutauwautimies 200\n Ottawas (some distance) 150 350\n\n THE MIAMIES.\n\n Mincamies or Twigtwees 230\n\n OUITANON.\n\n Ouitanons 200\n Thickapoose 180\n Musquiton 90\n Pyankishaws 100 570\n\n SHAWANESE.\n\n At the lower town, on Scioto 240\n At the upper town, on Muskingum 60 300\n ----\n 4360\n\nThere is a nation, back of the Bay, who used formerly to come there\nto visit the French when they were in possession of that post, called\n_La Sieu_, computed to be 2500 fighting men; who have this summer\nsent word to Mr. Gorrell, who commands there, that they purpose\npaying him a visit late this fall or in the spring.\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nAMERICAN SUBJECTS,\n\nDURING THE\n\n_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nAMERICAN SUBJECTS,\n\nDURING THE\n\n_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.\n\n\n _Causes of the American Discontents before 1768[75]._\n\n The waves never rise but when the winds blow.\n\n PROV.\n\n SIR,\n\nAs the cause of the present ill humour in America, and of the\nresolutions taken there to purchase less of our manufactures, does\nnot seem to be generally understood, it may afford some satisfaction\nto your readers, if you give them the following short historical\nstate of facts.\n\nFrom the time that the colonies were first considered as capable\nof _granting aids to the crown_, down to the end of the last war,\nit is said, that the constant mode of obtaining those aids was,\nby requisition made from the crown, through its governors, to the\nseveral assemblies, in circular letters from the secretary of state,\nin his majesty's name, setting forth the occasion, requiring them\nto take the matter into consideration, and expressing a reliance on\ntheir prudence, duty, and affection to his majesty's government, that\nthey would grant such sums, or raise such numbers of men, as were\nsuitable to their respective circumstances.\n\nThe colonies, being accustomed to this method, have from time to time\ngranted money to the crown, or raised troops for its service, in\nproportion to their abilities, and, during all the last war, beyond\ntheir abilities; so that considerable sums were returned them yearly\nby parliament, as they had exceeded their proportion.\n\nHad this happy method of requisition been continued (a method that\nleft the king's subjects in those remote countries the pleasure\nof showing their zeal and loyalty, and of imagining that they\nrecommended themselves to their sovereign by the liberality of their\nvoluntary grants) there is no doubt, but all the money that could\nreasonably be expected to be raised from them in any manner, might\nhave been obtained, without the least heart-burning, offence, or\nbreach of the harmony of affections and interests, that so long\nsubsisted between the two countries.\n\nIt has been thought wisdom in a government exercising sovereignty\nover different kinds of people, to have _some regard to prevailing\nand established opinions_ among the people to be governed, wherever\nsuch opinions might in their effects obstruct or promote public\nmeasures. If they tend to obstruct public service, they are to be\nchanged, if possible, before we attempt to act against them; and they\ncan only be changed by reason and persuasion. But if public business\ncan be carried on without thwarting those opinions, if they can be,\non the contrary, made subservient to it; they are not unnecessarily\nto be thwarted, how absurd such popular opinions may be in their\nnature.\n\nThis had been the wisdom of our government with respect to raising\nmoney in the colonies. It was well known, that the colonists\nuniversally were of opinion, that no money could be levied from\nEnglish subjects but by their own consent, given by themselves or\ntheir chosen representatives; that therefore whatever money was to be\nraised from the people in the colonies must first be granted by their\nassemblies, as the money raised in Britain is first to be granted by\nthe house of commons; that this right of granting their own money was\nessential to English liberty; and that if any man, or body of men in\nwhich they had no representative of their choosing, could tax them\nat pleasure, they could not be said to have any property, any thing\nthey could call their own. But as these opinions did not hinder their\ngranting money voluntarily and amply, whenever the crown, by its\nservants, came into their assemblies (as it does into its parliaments\nof Britain or Ireland) and demanded aids; therefore that method was\nchosen, rather than the hateful one of arbitrary taxes.\n\nI do not undertake here to support these opinions of the Americans;\nthey have been refuted by a late act of parliament, declaring its own\npower; which very parliament, however, showed wisely so much tender\nregard to those inveterate prejudices, as to repeal a tax that had\nmilitated against them. And those prejudices are still so fixed and\nrooted in the Americans, that it has been supposed, not a single\nman among them has been convinced of his error, even by that act of\nparliament.\n\nThe person then, who first projected to lay aside the accustomed\nmethod of requisition, and to raise money on America by _stamps_,\nseems not to have acted wisely, in deviating from that method\n(which the colonists looked upon as constitutional) and thwarting\nunnecessarily the fixed prejudices of so great a number of the king's\nsubjects. It was not, however, for want of knowledge, that what he\nwas about to do would give them offence; he appears to have been\nvery sensible of this, and apprehensive that it might occasion some\ndisorders; to prevent or suppress which, he projected another bill,\nthat was brought in the same session with the stamp act, whereby\nit was to be made lawful for military officers in the colonies to\nquarter their soldiers in private houses. This seemed intended to awe\nthe people into a compliance with the other act. Great opposition\nhowever being raised here against the bill by the agents from the\ncolonies and the merchants trading thither (the colonists declaring,\nthat under such a power in the army, no one could look on his house\nas his own, or think he had a home, when soldiers might be thrust\ninto it and mixed with his family at the pleasure of an officer) that\npart of the bill was dropped; but there still remained a clause, when\nit passed into a law, to oblige the several assemblies to provide\nquarters for the soldiers, furnishing them with firing, bedding,\ncandles, small beer or rum, and sundry other articles, at the expence\nof the several provinces. And this act continued in force when the\nstamp act was repealed; though, if obligatory on the assemblies, it\nequally militated against the American principle above mentioned,\nthat money is not to be raised on English subjects without their\nconsent.\n\nThe colonies, nevertheless, being put into high good humour by the\nrepeal of the stamp act, chose to avoid a fresh dispute upon the\nother, it being temporary and soon to expire, never, as they hoped,\nto revive again; and in the mean time they, by various ways, in\ndifferent colonies, provided for the quartering of the troops, either\nby acts of their own assemblies, without taking notice of the act\nof parliament, or by some variety or small diminution, as of salt\nand vinegar, in the supplies required by the act; that what they\ndid might appear a voluntary act of their own, and not done in due\nobedience to an act of parliament, which, according to their ideas of\ntheir rights, they thought hard to obey.\n\nIt might have been well if the matter had then passed without\nnotice; but a governor having written home an angry and aggravating\nletter upon this conduct in the assembly of his province, the\nouted [proposer[76]] of the stamp act and his adherents (then in\nthe opposition) raised such a clamour against America, as being in\nrebellion, and against those who had been for the repeal of the stamp\nact, as having thereby been encouragers of this supposed rebellion;\nthat it was thought necessary to enforce the quartering act by\nanother act of parliament, taking away from the province of New York\n(which had been the most explicit in its refusal) all the powers of\nlegislation, till it should have complied with that act. The news\nof which greatly alarmed the people every where in America, as the\nlanguage of such an act seemed to them to be--obey implicitly laws\nmade by the parliament of Great Britain to raise money on you without\nyour consent, or you shall enjoy no rights or privileges at all.\n\nAt the same time a person lately in high office[77] projected the\nlevying more money from America, by new duties on various articles\nof our own manufacture (as glass, paper, painters' colours, &c.)\nappointing a new board of customs, and sending over a set of\ncommissioners, with large salaries, to be established at Boston,\nwho were to have the care of collecting those duties, which were by\nthe act expressly mentioned to be intended for the payment of the\nsalaries of governors, judges, and other officers of the crown in\nAmerica; it being a pretty general opinion here, that those officers\nought not to depend on the people there, for any part of their\nsupport.\n\nIt is not my intention to combat this opinion. But perhaps it may be\nsome satisfaction to your readers, to know what ideas the Americans\nhave on the subject. They say then, as to governors, that they\nare not like princes whose posterity have an inheritance in the\ngovernment of a nation, and therefore an interest in its prosperity;\nthey are generally strangers to the provinces they are sent to\ngovern; have no estate, natural connection, or relation there, to\ngive them an affection for the country; that they come only to make\nmoney as fast as they can; are sometimes men of vicious characters\nand broken fortunes, sent by a minister merely to get them out of the\nway; that as they intend staying in the country no longer than their\ngovernment continues, and purpose to leave no family behind them,\nthey are apt to be regardless of the good-will of the people, and\ncare not what is said or thought of them after they are gone. Their\nsituation at the same time gives them many opportunities of being\nvexatious; and they are often so, notwithstanding their dependence\non the assemblies for all that part of their support, that does not\narise from fees established by law, but would probably be much more\nso, if they were to be supported by money drawn from the people\nwithout their consent or good-will, which is the professed design of\nthis new act. That if by means of these forced duties, government\nis to be supported in America, without the intervention of the\nassemblies, their assemblies will soon be looked upon as useless; and\na governor will not call them, as having nothing to hope from their\nmeeting, and perhaps something to fear from their inquiries into,\nand remonstrances against, his mal-administration. That thus the\npeople will be deprived of their most essential right. That it being\n(as at present) a governor's interest to cultivate the good-will,\nby promoting the welfare of the people he governs, can be attended\nwith no prejudice to the mother-country, since all the laws he may be\nprevailed on to give his assent to are subject to revision here, and\nif reported against by the board of trade, are immediately repealed\nby the crown; nor dare he pass any law contrary to his instructions;\nas he holds his office during the pleasure of the crown, and his\nsecurities are liable for the penalties of their bonds, if he\ncontravenes those instructions. This is what they say as to governors.\n\nAs to _judges_, they alledge, that being appointed from hence, and\nholding their commissions not during good behaviour, as in Britain,\nbut during pleasure: all the weight of interest or influence would\nbe thrown into one of the scales (which ought to be held even) if\nthe salaries are also to be paid out of duties raised upon the\npeople without their consent, and independent of their assemblies\napprobation or disapprobation of the judges behaviour. That it is\ntrue, judges should be free from all influence; and therefore,\nwhenever government here will grant commissions to able and honest\njudges during good behaviour, the assemblies will settle permanent\nand ample salaries on them during their commissions; but at present,\nthey have no other means of getting rid of an ignorant or an unjust\njudge (and some of scandalous characters have, they say, been\nsometimes sent them) left, but by starving them out.\n\nI do not suppose these reasonings of theirs will appear here to have\nmuch weight. I do not produce them with an expectation of convincing\nyour readers. I relate them merely in pursuance of the task I have\nimposed on myself, to be an impartial historian of American facts and\nopinions. -- --\n\nThe colonists being thus greatly alarmed, as I said before, by the\nnews of the act for abolishing the legislature of New York, and the\nimposition of these new duties, professedly for such disagreeable\npurposes (accompanied by a new set of revenue officers, with large\nappointments, which gave strong suspicions, that more business of\nthe same kind was soon to be provided for them, that they might\nearn their salaries) began seriously to consider their situation;\nand to revolve afresh in their minds, grievances, which, from their\nrespect and love for this country, they had long borne and seemed\nalmost willing to forget. They reflected how lightly the interest\nof _all_ America had been estimated here, when the interests of\na _few_ of the inhabitants of Great Britain happened to have the\nsmallest competition with it. That the whole American people was\nforbidden the advantage of a direct importation of wine, oil, and\nfruit, from Portugal; but must take them loaded with all the expence\nof a voyage one thousand leagues round about, being to be landed\nfirst in England, to be re-shipped for America; expences amounting,\nin war-time, at least to thirty pounds per cent more than otherwise\nthey would have been charged with; and all this merely, that a few\nPortugal merchants in London may gain a commission on those goods\npassing through their hands. (Portugal merchants, by the bye, that\ncan complain loudly of the smallest hardships laid on their trade by\nforeigners, and yet even in the last year could oppose with all their\ninfluence the giving ease to their fellow-subjects labouring under so\nheavy an oppression!) That on a slight complaint of a few Virginia\nmerchants, nine colonies had been restrained from making paper-money,\nbecome absolutely necessary to their internal commerce, from the\nconstant remittance of their gold and silver to Britain.--But not\nonly the interest of a particular body of _merchants_, but the\ninterest of any small body of British _tradesmen or artificers_ has\nbeen found, they say, to outweigh that of all the king's subjects in\nthe colonies. There cannot be a stronger natural right than that of\na man's making the best profit he can of the natural produce of his\nlands, provided he does not thereby hurt the state in general. Iron\nis to be found every where in America, and beaver are the natural\nproduce of that country: hats, and nails and steel are wanted there\nas well as here. It is of no importance to the common welfare of the\nempire, whether a subject of the king gets his living by making hats\non this, or on that side of the water. Yet the hatters of England\nhave prevailed to obtain an act in their own favour, restraining\nthat manufacture in America; in order to oblige the Americans to\nsend their beaver to England to be manufactured, and purchase back\nthe hats, loaded with the charges of a double transportation. In\nthe same manner have a few nail-makers, and still a smaller body of\nsteel-makers (perhaps there are not half a dozen of these in England)\nprevailed totally to forbid by an act of parliament the erecting of\nslitting-mills, or steel furnaces in America; that the Americans may\nbe obliged to take all their nails for their buildings, and steel for\ntheir tools, from these artificers, under the same disadvantages.[78]\n\n\nAdded to these, the Americans remembered the act authorizing the most\ncruel insult that perhaps was ever offered by one people to another,\nthat of _emptying our gaols_ into their settlements; Scotland too\nhaving within these two years obtained the privilege it had not\nbefore, of sending its rogues and villains also to the plantations--I\nsay, reflecting on these things, they said one to another (their\nnewspapers are full of such discourses) \"These people are not content\nwith making a monopoly of us (forbidding us to trade with any other\ncountry of Europe, and compelling us to buy every thing of them,\nthough in many articles we could furnish ourselves ten, twenty, and\neven to fifty per cent cheaper elsewhere;) but now they have as good\nas declared they have a right to tax us ad libitum, internally and\nexternally; and that our constitutions and liberties shall all be\ntaken away, if we do not submit to that claim.\n\n\"They are not content with the high prices at which they sell us\ntheir goods, but have now begun to enhance those prices by new\nduties, and by the expensive apparatus of a new set of officers,\nappear to intend an augmentation and multiplication of those\nburthens, that shall still be more grievous to us. Our people have\nbeen foolishly fond of their superfluous modes and manufactures,\nto the impoverishing our own country, carrying off all our cash,\nand loading us with debt; they will not suffer us to restrain the\nluxury of our inhabitants, as they do that of their own, by laws:\nthey can make laws to discourage or prohibit the importation of\nFrench superfluities: but though those of England are as ruinous to\nus as the French ones are to them, if we make a law of that kind,\nthey immediately repeal it. Thus they get all our money from us by\ntrade; and every profit we can any where make by our fisheries,\nour produce, or our commerce, centres finally with them;--but this\ndoes not satisfy.--It is time then to take care of ourselves by\nthe best means in our power. Let us unite in solemn resolution and\nengagements with and to each other, that we will give these new\nofficers as little trouble as possible, by not consuming the British\nmanufactures on which they are to levy the duties. Let us agree to\nconsume no more of their expensive gewgaws. Let us live frugally,\nand let us industriously manufacture what we can for ourselves:\nthus we shall be able honourably to discharge the debts we already\nowe them; and after that, we may be able to keep some money in\nour country, not only for the uses of our internal commerce, but\nfor the service of our gracious sovereign, whenever he shall have\noccasion for it, and think proper to require it of us in the old\nconstitutional manner.--For notwithstanding the reproaches thrown\nout against us in their public papers and pamphlets, notwithstanding\nwe have been reviled in their senate as rebels and traitors, we are\ntruly a loyal people. Scotland has had its rebellions, and England\nits plots against the present royal family; but _America is untainted\nwith those crimes_; there is in it scarce a man, there is not a\nsingle native of our country, who is not firmly attached to his King\nby principle and by affection. But a new kind of loyalty seems to\nbe required of us, a loyalty to parliament; a loyalty, that is to\nextend, it is said, to a surrender of all our properties, whenever\na house of commons, in which there is not a single member of our\nchusing, shall think fit to grant them away without our consent, and\nto a patient suffering the loss of our privileges as Englishmen, if\nwe cannot submit to make such surrender. We were separated too far\nfrom Britain by the ocean, but we were united to it by respect and\nlove; so that we could at any time freely have spent our lives and\nlittle fortunes in its cause: but this unhappy new system of politics\ntends to dissolve those bands of union, and to sever us for ever.\"\n\nThese are the wild ravings of the, at present, half-distracted\nAmericans. To be sure, no reasonable man in England can approve\nof such sentiments, and, as I said before, I do not pretend to\nsupport or justify them: but I sincerely wish, for the sake of the\nmanufactures and commerce of Great Britain, and for the sake of the\nstrength, which a firm union with our growing colonies would give us,\nthat these people had never been thus needlessly driven out of their\nsenses.\n\n I am, yours, &c.\n\n F. S.[79]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[75] This letter first appeared in a London paper, January 7, 1768,\nand was afterwards reprinted as a postscript to The true Sentiments\nof America, printed for Almon, 1768. B. V.\n\n[76] Mr. George Grenville. B. V.\n\n[77] Mr. Charles Townsend. B. V.\n\n[78] I shall here give the reader the note at the end of the fourth\nparagraph of the farmer's seventh letter (written by Mr. Dickenson.)\n\n\"Many remarkable instances might be produced of the extraordinary\ninattention with which bills of great importance concerning these\ncolonies have passed in parliament; which is owing, as it is\nsupposed, to the bills being brought in, by the persons who have\npoints to carry, so artfully framed, that it is not easy for the\nmembers in general in the haste of business, to discover their\ntendency.\n\n\"The following instances show the truth of this remark.\n\n\"When Mr. Grenville, in the violence of reformation and innovation,\nformed the 4th George III. chap. 15th, for regulating the American\ntrade, the word 'Ireland' was dropt in the clause relating to our\niron and lumber, so that we could send these articles to no other\npart of Europe, but to Great Britain. This was so unreasonable a\nrestriction, and so contrary to the sentiments of the legislature,\nfor many years before, that it is surprising it should not have been\ntaken notice of in the house. However, the bill passed into a law.\nBut when the matter was explained, this restriction was taken off in\na subsequent act.\n\n\"I cannot say, how long after the taking off this restriction, as I\nhave not the acts, but I think in less than eighteen months, another\nact of parliament passed, in which the word 'Ireland' was left out as\nit had been before. The matter being a second time explained was a\nsecond time regulated.\n\n\"Now if it be considered, that the omission mentioned, struck off,\nwith one word, so very great a part of our trade, it must appear\nremarkable: and equally so is the method by which rice became an\nenumerated commodity, and therefore could be carried to Great Britain\nonly.\n\n\"The enumeration was obtained, (says Mr. Gee on Trade, p. 32) by\none Cole, a captain of a ship, employed by a company then trading\nto Carolina; for several ships going from England thither, and\npurchasing rice for Portugal, prevented the aforesaid captain of a\nloading. Upon his coming home he possessed one Mr. Lowndes, a member\nof parliament, (who was frequently employed to prepare bills) with an\nopinion, that carrying rice directly to Portugal was a prejudice to\nthe trade of England, and privately got a clause into an act to make\nit an enumerated commodity, by which means he secured a freight to\nhimself. But the consequence proved a vast loss to the nation.\n\n\"I find that this clause, 'privately got into an act, for the benefit\nof Captain Cole, to the vast loss of the nation,' is foisted into the\n3d Anne, chapter 5th, intitled, 'an act for granting to her majesty\na further subsidy on wines and merchandizes imported,' with which\nit has no more connection, than with 34th Edward I. 34th and 35th\nof Henry VIII. or the 25th Charles II. which provide that no person\nshall be taxed but by himself or his representatives.\" B. V.\n\n[79] F. S. possibly means Franklin's Seal. The paper, however, is\nundoubtedly the production of Dr. Franklin.\n\nIn the _collection of tracts on the subjects of taxing the British\ncolonies in America, and regulating their trade_ (printed in 1773,\nin 4 vols. 8vo. by Almon) I find _two_ papers, said there to have\nbeen published originally in 1739, and to have been drawn up by a\nclub of American merchants, at the head of whom were Sir William\nKeith (governor of Pensylvania), Joshua Gee, and many other eminent\npersons. The _first_ paper proposes the raising a small body of\nregular troops under the command of an officer appointed by the\ncrown and independent of the governors (who were nevertheless to\nassist him in council on emergent occasions) in order to protect the\nIndian trade, and take care of the boundaries and back settlements.\nThey were to be supported by a revenue to be established by _act of\nparliament_, in America; which revenue was to arise out of a duty\non _stampt paper and parchment_. The _second_ paper goes into the\nparticulars of this proposed stamp duty, offers reasons for extending\nit over all the British plantations, and recites its supposed\nadvantages. If these papers are at all genuine (a fact about which I\nam not in the least informed) Mr. George Grenville does not appear to\nhave been original in conceiving _stamps_ as a proper subject for his\nnew tax. See ib. vol. I. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Letter concerning the Gratitude of America, and the probability\n and effects of an Union with Great Britain; and concerning the\n Repeal or Suspension of the Stamp-Act._[80]\n\n\n _Jan. 6, 1766._\n\n SIR,\n\nI have attentively perused the paper you sent me, and am of opinion,\nthat the measure it proposes, of an _union_ with the colonies, is a\nwise one: but I doubt it will hardly be thought so here, till it is\ntoo late to attempt it. The time has been, when the colonies would\nhave esteemed it a great advantage, as well as honour to them, to be\npermitted to send members to parliament; and would have asked for\nthat privilege, if they could have had the least hopes of obtaining\nit. The time is now come, when they are indifferent about it, and\nwill probably not ask it, though they might accept it if offered\nthem; and the time will come, when they will certainly refuse it.\nBut if such an union were now established (which methinks it highly\nimports this country to establish) it would probably subsist as long\nas Britain shall continue a nation. This people, however, is too\nproud, and too much despises the Americans, to bear the thought of\nadmitting them to such an equitable participation in the government\nof the whole. Then the _next best_ thing seems to be, leaving them\nin the quiet enjoyment of their respective constitutions; and when\nmoney is wanted for any public service in which they ought to bear\na part, calling upon them by requisitorial letters from the crown\n(according to the long established custom) to grant such aids as\ntheir loyalty shall dictate, and their abilities permit. The very\nsensible and benevolent author of that paper, seems not to have\nknown, that such a constitutional custom subsists, and has always\nhitherto been practised in America; or he would not have expressed\nhimself in this manner: \"It is evident beyond a doubt, to the\nintelligent and impartial, that after the very extraordinary efforts,\nwhich were effectually made by Great Britain in the late war to\nsave the colonists from destruction, and attended of necessity with\nan enormous load of debts in consequence, that the same colonists,\nnow firmly secured from foreign enemies, should be somehow induced\nto contribute some proportion towards the exigencies of state in\nfuture.\" This looks as if he conceived the war had been carried on\nat the sole expence of Great Britain, and the colonies only reaped\nthe benefit, without hitherto sharing the burthen, and were therefore\nnow indebted to Britain on that account. And this is the same kind\nof argument that is used by those who would fix on the colonies the\nheavy charge of unreasonableness and ingratitude, which I think\nyour friend did not intend. Please to acquaint him then, that the\nfact is not so: that every year during the war, requisitions were\nmade by the crown on the colonies for raising money and men; that\naccordingly they made _more extraordinary_ efforts, in proportion\nto their abilities, than Britain did; that they raised, paid and\nclothed, for five or six years, near 25,000 men, besides providing\nfor other services (as building forts, equipping guard-ships, paying\ntransports, &c.) And that this was more than their fair proportion is\nnot merely an opinion of mine, but was the judgment of government\nhere, in full knowledge of all the facts; for the then ministry, to\nmake the burthen more equal, recommended the case to parliament, and\nobtained a reimbursement to the Americans of about 200,000_l._ sterling\nevery year; which amounted only to about two fifths of their expence;\nand great part of the rest lies still a load of debt upon them; heavy\ntaxes on all their estates, real and personal, being laid by acts\nof their assemblies to discharge it, and yet will not discharge it\nin many years. While then these burthens continue: while Britain\nrestrains the colonies in every branch of commerce and manufactures\nthat she thinks interferes with her own; while she drains the\ncolonies, by her trade with them, of all the cash they can procure\nby every art and industry in any part of the world, and thus keeps\nthem always in her debt: (for they can make no law to discourage the\nimportation of your to _them_ ruinous superfluities, as _you_ do\nthe superfluities of France; since such a law would immediately be\nreported against by your board of trade, and repealed by the crown:)\nI say while these circumstances continue, and while there subsists\nthe established method of royal requisitions, for raising money on\nthem by their own assemblies on every proper occasion; can it be\nnecessary or prudent to distress and vex them by taxes laid here, in\na parliament wherein they have no representative, and in a manner\nwhich they look upon to be unconstitutional and subversive of their\nmost valuable rights; and are they to be thought unreasonable and\nungrateful if they oppose such taxes? Wherewith, they say, shall we\nshow our loyalty to our gracious king, if our money is to be given\nby others, without asking our consent? And if the parliament has a\nright thus to take from us a penny in the pound, where is the line\ndrawn that bounds that right, and what shall hinder their calling\nwhenever they please for the other nineteen shillings and eleven\npence? Have we then any thing that we can call our own? It is more\nthan probable, that bringing representatives from the colonies to sit\nand act here as members of parliament, thus uniting and consolidating\nyour dominions, would in a little time _remove_ these objections\nand difficulties, and make the future government of the colonies\neasy: but, till some such thing is done, I apprehend no taxes, laid\nthere by parliament here, will ever be collected, but such as must\nbe stained with blood: and I am sure the profit of such taxes will\nnever answer the expence of collecting them, and that the respect and\naffection of the Americans to this country will in the struggle be\ntotally lost, perhaps never to be recovered; and therewith all the\ncommercial and political advantages, that might have attended the\ncontinuance of this respect and this affection.\n\nIn my own private judgment I think an immediate repeal of the\nstamp-act would be the best measure for _this_ country; but a\nsuspension of it for three years, the best for _that_. The _repeal_\nwould fill them with joy and gratitude, re-establish their respect\nand veneration for parliament, restore at once their ancient and\nnatural love for this country, and their regard for every thing\nthat comes from it; hence the trade would be renewed in all its\nbranches; they would again indulge in all the expensive superfluities\nyou supply them with, and their own new assumed home industry\nwould languish. But the _suspension_, though it might continue\ntheir fears and anxieties, would at the same time keep up their\nresolutions of industry and frugality; which in two or three years\nwould grow into habits, to their lasting advantage. However, as the\nrepeal will probably not be now agreed to,[81] from what I think a\nmistaken opinion, that the honour and dignity of government is better\nsupported by persisting in a wrong measure once entered into, than\nby rectifying an error as soon as it is discovered; we must allow\nthe next best thing for the advantage of both countries is, the\nsuspension; for as to executing the act by force, it is madness, and\nwill be ruin to the whole.\n\nThe rest of your friend's reasonings and propositions appear to me\ntruly just and judicious; I will therefore only add, that I am as\ndesirous of his acquaintance and intimacy, as he was of my opinion.\n\n I am, with much esteem,\n\n Your obliged friend.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[80] The name of the person to whom this letter is addressed cannot\nbe made out in the original copy. The letter, to which it is a reply,\nappears to have contained the letter of some third person equally\nunknown to the editor. B. V.\n\n[81] It was however agreed to in the same year, viz. in 1766. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Letter from Governor Pownall to Dr. Franklin, concerning an equal\n communication of rights, privileges, &c. to America by Great\n Britain._[82]\n\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nThe following _objection_ against communicating to the colonies the\nrights, privileges, and powers of the realm, as to parts of the\nrealm, has been made. I have been endeavouring to obviate it, and I\ncommunicate [it] to you, in hopes of your promised assistance.\n\nIf, _say the objectors_, we communicate to the colonies the power\nof sending representatives, and in consequence expect them to\nparticipate in an _equal share and proportion_ of all our taxes, we\nmust grant to them all the powers of trade and manufacturing, which\nany other parts of the realm within the isle of Great Britain enjoy:\nif so, perchance the profits of the Atlantic commerce may converge to\nsome centre in America; to Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, or to some\nof the isles: if so, then the natural and artificial produce of the\ncolonies, and in course of consequences the landed interest of the\ncolonies, will be promoted; while the natural and artificial produce\nand landed interest of Great Britain will be depressed, to its utter\nruin and destruction; and consequently the balance of the power of\ngovernment, although still _within the realm_, will be _locally_\ntransferred from Great Britain to the colonies. Which consequence,\nhowever it may suit a citizen of the world, must be folly and madness\nto a Briton.--My fit is gone off, and though weak, both from the gout\nand a concomitant and very ugly fever, I am much better.--Would be\nglad to see you.\n\n Your friend,\n\n J. POWNALL.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[82] This letter bears no date. It was written possibly about the\ntime that governor Pownall was engaged in publishing his book on the\n_administration of the colonies_. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _On the back of the foregoing letter of Governor Pownall, are the\n following minutes, by Dr. Franklin._\n\n\nThis _objection_ goes upon the supposition, that whatever the\ncolonies gain, Britain must lose; and that if the _colonies_ can be\nkept from gaining an advantage, _Britain will gain it_:--\n\nIf the colonies are fitter for a particular trade than Britain, they\nshould have it, and Britain apply to what it is more fit for. The\nwhole empire is a gainer. And if Britain is not so fit or so well\nsituated for a particular advantage, _other_ countries will get\nit, _if the colonies do not_. Thus Ireland was forbid the woollen\nmanufacture and remains poor: but this has given to the French the\ntrade and wealth Ireland might have gained for the British empire.\n\nThe government cannot _long_ be retained without the union. Which is\nbest (supposing your case) to have a total separation, or a change\nof the seat of government?--It by no means follows, that promoting\nand advancing the landed interest in America will depress that\nof Britain: the contrary has always been the fact. Advantageous\nsituations and circumstances will always secure and fix manufactures:\nSheffield against all Europe for these 300 years past.--\n\nImpracticability.\n\nDanger of innovation.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\n _The Examination of Dr. Benjamin Franklin before the English House\n of Commons, in February, 1766, relative to the Repeal of the\n American Stamp Act._[83]\n\n_Q._ What is your name, and place of abode?\n\n_A._ Franklin, of Philadelphia.\n\n_Q._ Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?\n\n_A._ Certainly many, and very heavy taxes.\n\n_Q._ What are the present taxes in Pensylvania, laid by the laws of\nthe colony?\n\n_A._ There are taxes on all estates real and personal; a poll tax; a\ntax on all offices, professions, trades and businesses, according to\ntheir profits; an excise on all wine, rum, and other spirits; and a\nduty of ten pounds per head on all negroes imported, with some other\nduties.\n\n_Q._ For what purposes are those taxes laid?\n\n_A._ For the support of the civil and military establishments of the\ncountry, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war.\n\n_Q._ How long are those taxes to continue?\n\n_A._ Those for discharging the debt are to continue till 1772, and\nlonger, if the debt should not be then all discharged. The others\nmust always continue.\n\n_Q._ Was it not expected that the debt would have been sooner\ndischarged?\n\n_A._ It was, when the peace was made with France and Spain. But a\nfresh war breaking out with the Indians, a fresh load of debt was\nincurred; and the taxes, of course, continued longer by a new law.\n\n_Q._ Are not all the people very able to pay those taxes?\n\n_A._ No. The frontier counties, all along the continent, having been\nfrequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly impoverished, are able\nto pay very little tax. And therefore, in consideration of their\ndistresses, our late tax laws do expressly favour those counties,\nexcusing the sufferers; and I suppose the same is done in other\ngovernments.\n\n_Q._ Are not you concerned in the management of the _post-office_ in\nAmerica?\n\n_A._ Yes. I am deputy post-master general of North America.\n\n_Q._ Don't you think the distribution of stamps _by post_ to all the\ninhabitants very practicable, if there was no opposition?\n\n_A._ The posts only go along the sea-coasts; they do not, except in a\nfew instances, go back into the country; and if they did, sending for\nstamps by post would occasion an expence of postage, amounting, in\nmany cases, to much more than that of the stamps themselves.\n\n_Q._ Are you acquainted with Newfoundland?\n\n_A._ I never was there.\n\n_Q._ Do you know whether there are any post-roads on that island?\n\n_A._ I have heard that there are no roads at all, but that the\ncommunication between one settlement and another is by sea only.\n\n_Q._ Can you disperse the stamps by post in Canada?\n\n_A._ There is only a post between Montreal and Quebec. The\ninhabitants live so scattered and remote from each other in that vast\ncountry, that posts cannot be supported among them, and therefore\nthey cannot get stamps per post. The _English colonies_ too along the\nfrontiers are very thinly settled.\n\n_Q._ From the thinness of the back settlements, would not the stamp\nact be extremely inconvenient to the inhabitants, if executed?\n\n_A._ To be sure it would; as many of the inhabitants could not get\nstamps when they had occasion for them, without taking long journeys,\nand spending perhaps three or four pounds, that the crown might get\nsix-pence.\n\n_Q._ Are not the colonies, from their circumstances, very able to pay\nthe stamp duty?\n\n_A._ In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough in the\ncolonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.[84]\n\n_Q._ Don't you know that the money arising from the stamps was all to\nbe laid out in America?\n\n_A._ I know it is appropriated by the act to the American service;\nbut it will be spent in the conquered colonies, where the soldiers\nare; not in the colonies that pay it.\n\n_Q._ Is there not a balance of trade due from the colonies where the\ntroops are posted, that will bring back the money to the old colonies?\n\n_A._ I think not. I believe very little would come back. I know\nof no trade likely to bring it back. I think it would come from\nthe colonies where it was spent, directly to England; for I have\nalways observed, that in every colony the more plenty the means of\nremittance to England, the more goods are sent for, and the more\ntrade with England carried on.\n\n_Q._ What number of white inhabitants do you think there are in\nPensylvania?\n\n_A._ I suppose there may be about one hundred and sixty thousand.\n\n_Q._ What number of them are Quakers?\n\n_A._ Perhaps a third.\n\n_Q._ What number of Germans?\n\n_A._ Perhaps another third; but I cannot speak with certainty.\n\n_Q._ Have any number of the Germans seen service, as soldiers, in\nEurope?\n\n_A._ Yes, many of them, both in Europe and America.\n\n_Q._ Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp duty as the English?\n\n_A._ Yes, and more; and with reason, as their stamps are, in many\ncases, to be double[85].\n\n_Q._ How many white men do you suppose there are in North America?\n\n_A._ About three hundred thousand, from sixteen to sixty years of\nage[86].\n\n_Q._ What may be the amount of one year's imports into Pensylvania\nfrom Britain?\n\n_A._ I have been informed that our merchants compute the imports from\nBritain to be above 500,000_l._\n\n_Q._ What may be the amount of the produce of your province exported\nto Britain?\n\n_A._ It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted in\nBritain. I suppose it cannot exceed 40,000_l._\n\n_Q._ How then do you pay the balance?\n\n_A._ The balance is paid by our produce carried to the West Indies\n(and sold in our own islands, or to the French, Spaniards, Danes,\nand Dutch)--by the same [produce] carried to other colonies in North\nAmerica, (as to New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina,\nand Georgia)--by the same, carried to different parts of Europe, (as\nSpain, Portugal, and Italy.) In all which places we receive either\nmoney, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for remittance to\nBritain; which, together with all the profits on the industry of our\nmerchants and mariners, arising in those circuitous voyages, and the\nfreights made by their ships, centre finally in Britain to discharge\nthe balance, and pay for British manufactures continually used in the\nprovince, or sold to foreigners by our traders.\n\n_Q._ Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on the Spanish\ntrade?\n\n_A._ Yes, I have heard that it has been greatly obstructed by some\nnew regulations, and by the English men of war and cutters stationed\nall along the coast in America.\n\n_Q._ Do you think it right that America should be protected by this\ncountry, and pay no part of the expence?\n\n_A._ That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, and paid,\nduring the last war, near twenty-five thousand men, and spent many\nmillions.\n\n_Q._ Were you not reimbursed by parliament?\n\n_A._ We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, we had advanced\nbeyond our proportion, or beyond what might reasonably be expected\nfrom us; and it was a very small part of what we spent. Pensylvania,\nin particular, disbursed about 500,000_l._ and the reimbursements, in\nthe whole, did not exceed 60,000_l._\n\n_Q._ You have said, that you pay heavy taxes in Pensylvania, what do\nthey amount to in the pound?\n\n_A._ The tax on all estates, real and personal, is eighteen pence in\nthe pound, fully rated; and the tax on the profits of trades and\nprofessions, with other taxes, do, I suppose, make full half-a-crown\nin the pound.\n\n_Q._ Do you know any thing of the _rate of exchange in_ Pensylvania,\nand whether it has fallen lately?\n\n_A._ It is commonly from one hundred and seventy to one hundred\nand seventy-five. I have heard, that it has fallen lately from one\nhundred and seventy-five to one hundred sixty-two and a half; owing,\nI suppose, to their lessening their orders for goods; and when their\ndebts to this country are paid, I think the exchange will probably be\nat par.\n\n_Q._ Do not you think the people of America would submit to pay the\nstamp duty, if it was moderated?\n\n_A._ No, never, unless compelled by force of arms.\n\n_Q._ Are not the taxes in Pensylvania laid on unequally, in order to\nburthen the English trade; particularly the tax on professions and\nbusiness?\n\n_A._ It is not more burthensome in proportion, than the tax on lands.\nIt is intended, and supposed to take an equal proportion of profits.\n\n_Q._ How is the assembly composed? Of what kinds of people are the\nmembers; landholders or traders?\n\n_A._ It is composed of landholders, merchants, and artificers.\n\n_Q._ Are not the majority landholders?\n\n_A._ I believe they are.\n\n_Q._ Do not they, as much as possible, shift the tax off from the\nland, to ease that, and lay the burthen heavier on trade?\n\n_A._ I have never understood it so. I never heard such a thing\nsuggested. And indeed an attempt of that kind could answer no\npurpose. The merchant or trader is always skilled in figures, and\nready with his pen and ink. If unequal burthens are laid on his\ntrade, he puts an additional price on his goods; and the consumers,\nwho are chiefly landholders, finally pay the greatest part, if not\nthe whole.\n\n_Q._ What was the temper of America towards Great Britain _before the\nyear_ 1763[87]?\n\n_A._ The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the\ngovernment of the crown, and paid, in their courts, obedience to\nacts of parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old\nprovinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons,\nor armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this\ncountry at the expence only of a little pen, ink, and paper: they\nwere led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection\nfor Great Britain; for its laws, its customs, and manners, and even\na fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce.\nNatives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be\nan _Old England-man_ was, of itself, a character of some respect, and\ngave a kind of rank among us.\n\n_Q._ And what is their temper now?\n\n_A._ O, very much altered.\n\n_Q._ Did you ever hear the authority of parliament to make laws for\nAmerica questioned till lately?\n\n_A._ The authority of parliament was allowed to be valid in all laws,\nexcept such as should lay internal taxes. It was never disputed in\nlaying duties to regulate commerce.\n\n_Q._ In what proportion hath population increased in America?\n\n_A._ I think the inhabitants of all the provinces together, taken at\na medium, double in about twenty-five years. But their demand for\nBritish manufactures increases much faster; as the consumption is not\nmerely in proportion to their numbers, but grows with the growing\nabilities of the same numbers to pay for them. In 1723, the whole\nimportation from Britain to Pensylvania was but about 15,000_l._\nsterling; it is now near half a million.\n\n_Q._ In what light did the people of America use to consider the\nparliament of Great Britain?\n\n_A._ They considered the parliament as the great bulwark and\nsecurity of their liberties and privileges, and always spoke of it\nwith the utmost respect and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they\nthought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they\nrelied on it, that the parliament, on application, would always give\nredress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this,\nwhen a bill was brought into parliament, with a clause, to make royal\ninstructions laws in the colonies, which the house of commons would\nnot pass, and it was thrown out.\n\n_Q._ And have they not still the same respect for parliament?\n\n_A._ No, it is greatly lessened.\n\n_Q._ To what causes is that owing?\n\n_A._ To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their\ntrade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into [the]\ncolonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper-money among\nthemselves,[88] and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps,\ntaking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to\nreceive and hear their humble petitions.\n\n_Q._ Don't you think they would submit to the stamp act, if it was\nmodified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty reduced to some\nparticulars, of small moment?\n\n_A._ No, they will never submit to it.\n\n_Q._ What do you think is the reason that the people in America\nincrease faster than in England?\n\n_A._ Because they marry younger, and more generally.\n\n_Q._ Why so?\n\n_A._ Because any young couple, that are industrious, may easily\nobtain land of their own, on which they can raise a family.\n\n_Q._ Are not the lower rank of people more at their ease in America\nthan in England?\n\n_A._ They may be so, if they are sober and diligent; as they are\nbetter paid for their labour.\n\n_Q._ What is your opinion of a future tax, imposed on the same\nprinciple with that of the stamp act? how would the Americans receive\nit?\n\n_A._ Just as they do this. They would not pay it.\n\n_Q._ Have not you heard of the resolutions of this house, and of\nthe house of lords, asserting the right of parliament relating to\nAmerica, including a power to tax the people there?\n\n_A._ Yes, I have heard of such resolutions.\n\n_Q._ What will be the opinion of the Americans on those resolutions?\n\n_A._ They will think them unconstitutional and unjust.\n\n_Q._ Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that the parliament\nhad no right to lay taxes and duties there?\n\n_A._ I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to\nregulate commerce, but a right to lay internal taxes was never\nsupposed to be in parliament, as we are not represented there.\n\n_Q._ On what do you found your opinion, that the people in America\nmade any such distinction?\n\n_A._ I know that whenever the subject has occurred in conversation\nwhere I have been present, it has appeared to be the opinion of every\none, that we could not be taxed in a parliament where we were not\nrepresented. But the payment of duties laid by act of parliament as\nregulations of commerce, was never disputed.\n\n_Q._ But can you name any act of assembly, or public act of any of\nyour governments, that made such distinction?\n\n_A._ I do not know that there was any; I think there was never an\noccasion to make any such act, till now that you have attempted to\ntax us: _that_ has occasioned resolutions of assembly, declaring the\ndistinction, in which I think every assembly on the continent, and\nevery member in every assembly, have been unanimous.\n\n_Q._ What then could occasion conversations on that subject before\nthat time?\n\n_A._ There was in 1754 a proposition made (I think it came from\nhence) that in case of a war, which was then apprehended, the\ngovernors of the colonies should meet, and order the levying of\ntroops, building of forts, and taking every other necessary measure\nfor the general defence; and should draw on the treasury here for the\nsums expended; which were afterwards to be raised in the colonies\nby a general tax, to be laid on them by _act of parliament_. This\noccasioned a good deal of conversation on the subject; and the\ngeneral opinion was, that the parliament neither would nor could\nlay any tax on us, till we were duly represented in parliament;\nbecause it was not just, nor agreeable to the nature of an English\nconstitution.\n\n_Q._ Don't you know there was a time in New York, when it was under\nconsideration to make an application to parliament to lay taxes on\nthat colony, upon a deficiency arising from the assembly's refusing\nor neglecting to raise the necessary supplies for the support of the\ncivil government?\n\n_A._ I never heard of it.\n\n_Q._ There was such an application under consideration in New\nYork:--and do you apprehend they could suppose the right of\nparliament to lay a tax in America was only local, and confined to\nthe case of a deficiency in a particular colony, by a refusal of its\nassembly to raise the necessary supplies?\n\n_A._ They could not suppose such a case, as that the assembly would\nnot raise the necessary supplies to support its own government. An\nassembly that would refuse it must want common sense; which cannot be\nsupposed. I think there was never any such case at New York, and that\nit must be a misrepresentation, or the fact must be misunderstood.\nI know there have been some attempts, by ministerial instructions\nfrom hence, to oblige the assemblies to settle permanent salaries\non governors, which they wisely refused to do; but I believe no\nassembly of New York, or any other colony, ever refused duly to\nsupport government by proper allowances, from time to time, to public\nofficers.\n\n_Q._ But in case a governor, acting by instruction, should call on\nan assembly to raise the necessary supplies, and the assembly should\nrefuse to do it, do you not think it would then be for the good of\nthe people of the colony, as well as necessary to government, that\nthe parliament should tax them?\n\n_A._ I do not think it would be necessary. If an assembly could\npossibly be so absurd, as to refuse raising the supplies requisite\nfor the maintenance of government among them, they could not long\nremain in such a situation; the disorders and confusion occasioned by\nit must soon bring them to reason.\n\n_Q._ If it should not, ought not the right to be in Great Britain of\napplying a remedy?\n\n_A._ A right, only to be used in such a case, I should have no\nobjection to; supposing it to be used merely for the good of the\npeople of the colony.\n\n_Q._ But who is to judge of that, Britain or the colony?\n\n_A._ Those that feel can best judge.\n\n_Q._ You say the colonies have always submitted to external taxes,\nand object to the right of parliament only in laying internal taxes;\nnow can you show, that there is any kind of _difference between the\ntwo taxes_ to the colony on which they may be laid?\n\n_A._ I think the difference is very great. An _external_ tax is a\nduty laid on commodities imported; that duty is added to the first\ncost and other charges on the commodity, and, when it is offered to\nsale, makes a part of the price. If the people do not like it at\nthat price, they refuse it; they are not obliged to pay it. But an\n_internal_ tax is forced from the people without their consent, if\nnot laid by their own representatives. The stamp act says, we shall\nhave no commerce, make no exchange of property with each other,\nneither purchase nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry\nnor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums; and thus it is\nintended to extort our money from us, or ruin us by the consequences\nof refusing to pay it.\n\n_Q._ But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid on the\nnecessaries of life imported into your colony, will not that be the\nsame thing in its effects as an internal tax?\n\n_A._ I do not know a single article imported into the _northern_\ncolonies, but what they can either do without, or make themselves.\n\n_Q._ Don't you think cloth from England absolutely necessary to them?\n\n_A._ No, by no means absolutely necessary; with industry and good\nmanagement, they may very well supply themselves with all they want.\n\n_Q._ Will it not take a long time to establish that manufacture among\nthem; and must they not in the mean while suffer greatly?\n\n_A._ I think not. They have made a surprising progress already. And I\nam of opinion, that before their old clothes are worn out, they will\nhave new ones of their own making.\n\n_Q._ Can they possibly find wool enough in North America?\n\n_A._ They have taken steps to increase the wool. They entered into\ngeneral combinations to eat no more lamb; and very few lambs were\nkilled last year. This course, persisted in, will soon make a\nprodigious difference in the quantity of wool. And the establishing\nof great manufactories, like those in the clothing towns here, is not\nnecessary, as it is where the business is to be carried on for the\npurposes of trade. The people will all spin, and work for themselves,\nin their own houses.\n\n_Q._ Can there be wool and manufacture enough in one or two years?\n\n_A._ In three years, I think there may.\n\n_Q._ Does not the severity of the winter, in the northern colonies,\noccasion the wool to be of bad quality?\n\n_A._ No, the wool is very fine and good.\n\n_Q._ In the more southern colonies, as in Virginia, don't you know,\nthat the wool is coarse, and only a kind of hair?\n\n_A._ I don't know it. I never heard it. Yet I have been sometimes\nin Virginia. I cannot say I ever took particular notice of the wool\nthere, but I believe it is good, though I cannot speak positively of\nit; but Virginia, and the colonies south of it, have less occasion\nfor wool; their winters are short, and not very severe; and they\ncan very well clothe themselves with linen and cotton of their own\nraising for the rest of the year.\n\n_Q._ Are not the people in the more northern colonies obliged to\nfodder their sheep all the winter?\n\n_A._ In some of the most northern colonies they may be obliged to do\nit, some part of the winter.\n\n_Q._ Considering the resolutions of parliament[89], _as to the\nright_; do you think, if the stamp act is repealed, that the North\nAmericans will be satisfied?\n\n_A._ I believe they will.\n\n_Q._ Why do you think so?\n\n_A._ I think the resolutions of _right_ will give them very little\nconcern, if they are never attempted to be carried into practice. The\ncolonies will probably consider themselves in the same situation, in\nthat respect, with Ireland: they know you claim the same right with\nregard to Ireland, but you never exercise it. And they may believe\nyou never will exercise it in the colonies, any more than in Ireland,\nunless on some very extraordinary occasion.\n\n_Q._ But who are to be the judges of that extraordinary occasion? Is\nnot the parliament?\n\n_A._ Though the parliament may judge of the occasion, the people will\nthink it can never exercise such right, till representatives from\nthe colonies are admitted into parliament; and that, whenever the\noccasion arises, representatives _will_ be ordered.\n\n_Q._ Did you never hear that Maryland, during the last war, had\nrefused to furnish a quota towards the common defence?\n\n_A._ Maryland has been much misrepresented in that matter. Maryland,\nto my knowledge, never refused to contribute, or grant aids to the\ncrown. The assemblies, every year during the war, voted considerable\nsums, and formed bills to raise them. The bills were, according\nto the constitution of that province, sent up to the council, or\nupper house, for concurrence, that they might be presented to the\ngovernor, in order to be enacted into laws. Unhappy disputes between\nthe two houses--arising from the defects of that constitution\nprincipally--rendered all the bills but one or two abortive. The\nproprietary's council rejected them. It is true, Maryland did\ncontribute its proportion; but it was, in my opinion, the fault of\nthe government, not of the people.\n\n_Q._ Was it not talked of in the other provinces as a proper measure,\nto apply to parliament to compel them?\n\n_A._ I have heard such discourse; but as it was well known, that the\npeople were not to blame, no such application was ever made, nor any\nstep taken towards it.\n\n_Q._ Was it not proposed at a public meeting?\n\n_A._ Not that I know of.\n\n_Q._ Do you remember the abolishing of the paper-currency in New\nEngland, by act of assembly?\n\n_A._ I do remember its being abolished in the Massachusett's Bay.\n\n_Q._ Was not lieutenant-governor Hutchinson principally concerned in\nthat transaction?\n\n_A._ I have heard so.\n\n_Q._ Was it not at that time a very unpopular law?\n\n_A._ I believe it might, though I can say little about it, as I lived\nat a distance from that province.\n\n_Q._ Was not the _scarcity of gold and silver_ an argument used\nagainst abolishing the paper?\n\n_A._ I suppose it was[90].\n\n_Q._ What is the present opinion there of that law? Is it as\nunpopular as it was at first?\n\n_A._ I think it is not.\n\n_Q._ Have not instructions from hence been sometimes sent over to\ngovernors, highly oppressive and unpolitical?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Have not some governors dispensed with them for that reason?\n\n_A._ Yes, I have heard so.\n\n_Q._ Did the Americans ever dispute the controling power of\nparliament to regulate the commerce?\n\n_A._ No.\n\n_Q._ Can any thing less than a military force carry the stamp act\ninto execution?\n\n_A._ I do not see how a military force can be applied to that purpose.\n\n_Q._ Why may it not?\n\n_A._ Suppose a military force sent into America, they will find\nnobody in arms; what are they then to do? They cannot force a man\nto take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will not find a\nrebellion: they may indeed make one.\n\n_Q._ If the act is not repealed, what do you think will be the\nconsequences?\n\n_A._ A total loss of the respect and affection the people of America\nbear to this country, and of all the commerce that depends on that\nrespect and affection.\n\n_Q._ How can the commerce be affected?\n\n_A._ You will find, that if the act is not repealed, they will take\nvery little of your manufactures in a short time.\n\n_Q._ Is it in their power to do without them?\n\n_A._ I think they may very well do without them.\n\n_Q._ Is it their interest not to take them?\n\n_A._ The goods they take from Britain are either necessaries,\nmere conveniences, or superfluities. The first, as cloth, &c.\nwith a little industry they can make at home; the second they can\ndo without, till they are able to provide them among themselves;\nand the last, which are much the greatest part, they will strike\noff immediately. They are mere articles of fashion, purchased and\nconsumed, because the fashion in a respected country; but will now be\ndetested and rejected. The people have already struck off, by general\nagreement, the use of all goods fashionable in mournings, and many\nthousand pounds worth are sent back as unsaleable.\n\n_Q._ Is it their interest to make cloth at home?\n\n_A._ I think they may at present get it cheaper from Britain, I mean\nof the same fineness and neatness of workmanship: but when one\nconsiders other circumstances, the restraints on their trade, and the\ndifficulty of making remittances, it is their interest to make every\nthing.\n\n_Q._ Suppose an act of internal regulations connected with a tax, how\nwould they receive it?\n\n_A._ I think it would be objected to.\n\n_Q._ Then no regulation with a tax would be submitted to?\n\n_A._ Their opinion is, that when aids to the crown are wanted, they\nare to be asked of the several assemblies, according to the old\nestablished usage; who will, as they always have done, grant them\nfreely. And that their money ought not to be given away, without\ntheir consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted with their\ncircumstances and abilities. The granting aids to the crown is the\nonly means they have of recommending themselves to their sovereign;\nand they think it extremely hard and unjust, that a body of men, in\nwhich they have no representatives, should make a merit to itself of\ngiving and granting what is not its own, but theirs; and deprive them\nof a right they esteem of the utmost value and importance, as it is\nthe security of all their other rights.\n\n_Q._ But is not the post-office, which they have long received, a tax\nas well as a regulation?\n\n_A._ No; the money paid for the postage of a letter is not of the\nnature of a tax; it is merely a _quantum meruit_ for a service done;\nno person is compellable to pay the money, if he does not choose to\nreceive the service. A man may still, as before the act, send his\nletter by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thinks\nit cheaper and safer.\n\n_Q._ But do they not consider the regulations of the post-office, by\nthe act of last year, as a tax?\n\n_A._ By the regulations of last year the rate of postage was\ngenerally abated near thirty per cent through all America; they\ncertainly cannot consider such abatement _as a tax_.\n\n_Q._ If an excise was laid by parliament, which they might likewise\navoid paying, by not consuming the articles excised, would they then\nnot object to it?\n\n_A._ They would certainly object to it, as an excise is unconnected\nwith any service done, and is merely an aid, which they think ought\nto be asked of them, and granted by them, if they are to pay it; and\ncan be granted for them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not\nimpowered for that purpose.\n\n_Q._ You say, they do not object to the right of parliament, in\nlaying duties on goods to be paid on their importation: now, is there\nany kind of difference between a duty on the _importation_ of goods,\nand an excise on their _consumption_?\n\n_A._ Yes; a very material one: an excise, for the reasons I have\njust mentioned, they think you can have no right to lay within their\ncountry. But _the sea_ is yours; you maintain, by your fleets, the\nsafety of navigation in it, and keep it clear of pirates; you may\nhave therefore a natural and equitable right to some _toll_ or duty\non merchandizes carried through that part of your dominions, towards\ndefraying the expence you are at in ships to maintain the safety of\nthat carriage.\n\n_Q._ Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty laid on the\nproduce of their lands _exported_? And would they not then object to\nsuch a duty?\n\n_A._ If it tended to make the produce so much dearer abroad, as to\nlessen the demand for it, to be sure they would object to such a\nduty; not to your right of laying it, but they would complain of it\nas a burthen, and petition you to lighten it.\n\n_Q._ Is not the duty paid on the tobacco exported, a duty of that\nkind?\n\n_A._ That, I think, is only on tobacco carried coast-wise, from one\ncolony to another, and appropriated as a fund for supporting the\ncollege at Williamsburgh, in Virginia.\n\n_Q._ Have not the assemblies in the West Indies the same natural\nrights with those in North America?\n\n_A._ Undoubtedly.\n\n_Q._ And is there not a tax laid there on their sugars exported?\n\n_A._ I am not much acquainted with the West Indies; but the duty of\nfour and a half per cent on sugars exported was, I believe, granted\nby their own assemblies.[91]\n\n_Q._ How much is the poll-tax in your province laid on unmarried men?\n\n_A._ It is, I think, fifteen shillings, to be paid by every single\nfreeman, upwards of twenty-one years old.\n\n_Q._ What is the annual amount of _all_ the taxes in Pensylvania?\n\n_A._ I suppose about 20,000_l._ sterling.\n\n_Q._ Supposing the stamp act continued and enforced, do you imagine\nthat ill-humour will induce the Americans to give as much for worse\nmanufactures of their own, and use them, preferably to better of ours?\n\n_A._ Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely to gratify one\npassion as another, their resentment as their pride.\n\n_Q._ Would the people at Boston discontinue their trade?\n\n_A._ The merchants are a very small number compared with the body\nof the people, and must discontinue their trade, if nobody will buy\ntheir goods.\n\n_Q._ What are the body of the people in the colonies?\n\n_A._ They are farmers, husbandmen, or planters.\n\n_Q._ Would they suffer the produce of their lands to rot?\n\n_A._ No; but they would not raise so much. They would manufacture\nmore, and plow less.\n\n_Q._ Would they live without the administration of justice in civil\nmatters, and suffer all the inconveniencies of such a situation for\nany considerable time, rather than take the stamps, supposing the\nstamps were protected by a sufficient force, where every one might\nhave them?\n\n_A._ I think the supposition impracticable, that the stamps should\nbe so protected as that every one might have them. The act requires\nsub-distributors to be appointed in every county town, district,\nand village, and they would be necessary. But the _principal_\ndistributors, who were to have had a considerable profit on the\nwhole, have not thought it worth while to continue in the office; and\nI think it impossible to find sub-distributors fit to be trusted,\nwho, for the trifling profit that must come to their share, would\nincur the odium, and run the hazard that would attend it; and if they\ncould be found, I think it impracticable to protect the stamps in so\nmany distant and remote places.\n\n_Q._ But in places where they could be protected, would not the\npeople use them, rather than remain in such a situation, unable to\nobtain any right, or recover, by law, any debt?\n\n_A._ It is hard to say what they would do. I can only judge what\nother people will think, and how they will act, by what I feel within\nmyself. I have a great many debts due to me in America, and I had\nrather they should remain unrecoverable by any law, than submit to\nthe stamp act. They will be debts of honour. It is my opinion the\npeople will either continue in that situation, or find some way to\nextricate themselves, perhaps by generally agreeing to proceed in the\ncourts without stamps.\n\n_Q._ What do you think a sufficient military force to protect the\ndistribution of the stamps in every part of America?\n\n_A._ A very great force, I can't say what, if the disposition of\nAmerica is for a general resistance.\n\n_Q._ What is the number of men in America able to bear arms, or of\ndisciplined militia?\n\n_A._ There are, I suppose, at least----\n\n[_Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in again._]\n\n_Q._ Is the American stamp act an equal tax on the country?\n\n_A._ I think not.\n\n_Q._ Why so?\n\n_A._ The greatest part of the money must arise from law-suits for the\nrecovery of debts, and be paid by the lower sort of people, who were\ntoo poor easily to pay their debts. It is therefore a heavy tax on\nthe poor, and a tax upon them for being poor.\n\n_Q._ But will not this increase of expence be a means of lessening\nthe number of law-suits?\n\n_A._ I think not; for as the costs all fall upon the debtor, and are\nto be paid by him, they would be no discouragement to the creditor to\nbring his action.\n\n_Q._ Would it not have the effect of excessive usury?\n\n_A._ Yes, as an oppression of the debtor.\n\n_Q._ How many ships are there laden annually in North America with\n_flax-seed_ for Ireland?\n\n_A._ I cannot speak to the number of ships, but I know, that in 1752\nten thousand hogsheads of flax-seed, each containing seven bushels,\nwere exported from Philadelphia to Ireland. I suppose the quantity\nis greatly increased since that time, and it is understood, that the\nexportation from New York is equal to that from Philadelphia.\n\n_Q._ What becomes of the flax that grows with that flax-seed?\n\n_A._ They manufacture some into coarse, and some into a middling kind\nof linen.\n\n_Q._ Are there any _slitting-mills_ in America?[92]\n\n_A._ I think there are three, but I believe only one at present\nemployed. I suppose they will all be set to work, if the interruption\nof the trade continues.\n\n_Q._ Are there any _fulling-mills_ there?\n\n_A._ A great many.\n\n_Q._ Did you never hear, that a great quantity of stockings were\ncontracted for, for the army, during the war, and manufactured in\nPhiladelphia?\n\n_A._ I have heard so.\n\n_Q._ If the stamp-act should be repealed, would not the Americans\nthink they could oblige the parliament to repeal every external\ntax-law now in force?\n\n_A._ It is hard to answer questions of what people at such a distance\nwill think.\n\n_Q._ But what do you imagine they will think were the motives of\nrepealing the act?\n\n_A._ I suppose they will think, that it was repealed from a\nconviction of its inexpediency; and they will rely upon it, that\nwhile the same inexpediency subsists, you will never attempt to make\nsuch another.\n\n_Q._ What do you mean by its inexpediency?\n\n_A._ I mean its inexpediency on several accounts, the poverty and\ninability of those who were to pay the tax, the general discontent it\nhas occasioned, and the impracticability of enforcing it.\n\n_Q._ If the act should be repealed, and the legislature should show\nits resentment to the opposers of the stamp-act, would the colonies\nacquiesce in the authority of the legislature? What is your opinion\nthey would do?\n\n_A._ I don't doubt at all, that if the legislature repeal the\nstamp-act, the colonies will acquiesce in the authority.\n\n_Q._ But if the legislature should think fit to ascertain its right\nto lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, contrary to their\nopinion, would they submit to pay the tax?\n\n_A._ The proceedings of the people in America have been considered\ntoo much together. The proceedings of the assemblies have been very\ndifferent from those of the mobs, and should be distinguished, as\nhaving no connection with each other. The _assemblies_ have only\npeaceably resolved what they take to be their rights: they have\ntaken no measures for opposition by force, they have not built a\nfort, raised a man, or provided a grain of ammunition, in order to\nsuch opposition. The ring-leaders of riots, they think ought to be\npunished; they would punish them themselves, if they could. Every\nsober, sensible man would wish to see rioters punished, as otherwise\npeaceable people have no security of person or estate.--But as to an\ninternal tax, how small soever, laid by the legislature here on the\npeople there, while they have no representatives in this legislature,\nI think it will never be submitted to: they will oppose it to the\nlast.--They do not consider it as at all necessary for you to raise\nmoney on them by your taxes; because they are, and always have been,\nready to raise money by taxes among themselves, and to grant large\nsums, equal to their abilities, upon requisition from the crown. They\nhave not only granted equal to their abilities, but, during all the\nlast war, they granted far beyond their abilities, and beyond their\nproportion with this country (you yourselves being judges) to the\namount of many hundred thousand pounds; and this they did freely and\nreadily, only on a sort of promise, from the secretary of state, that\nit should be recommended to parliament to make them compensation. It\nwas accordingly recommended to parliament, in the most honourable\nmanner for them. America has been greatly misrepresented and abused\nhere, in papers, and pamphlets, and speeches, as ungrateful, and\nunreasonable, and unjust; in having put this nation to immense\nexpence for their defence, and refusing to bear any part of that\nexpence. The colonies raised, paid, and clothed, near twenty-five\nthousand men during the last war; a number equal to those sent from\nBritain, and far beyond their proportion; they went deeply into debt\nin doing this, and all their taxes and estates are mortgaged, for\nmany years to come, for discharging that debt. Government here was\nat that time very sensible of this. The colonies were recommended\nto parliament. Every year the king sent down to the house a written\nmessage to this purpose, \"that his majesty, being highly sensible\nof the zeal and vigour with which his faithful subjects in North\nAmerica had exerted themselves, in defence of his majesty's just\nrights and possessions; recommended it to the house to take the\nsame into consideration, and enable him to give them a proper\ncompensation.\" You will find those messages on your own journals\nevery year of the war to the very last; and you did accordingly\ngive 200,000_l._ annually to the crown, to be distributed in such\ncompensation to the colonies. This is the strongest of all proofs\nthat the colonies, far from being unwilling to bear a share of the\nburthen, did exceed their proportion; for if they had done less, or\nhad only equalled their proportion, there would have been no room or\nreason for compensation. Indeed the sums, reimbursed them, were by no\nmeans adequate to the expence they incurred beyond their proportion:\nbut they never murmured at that; they esteemed their sovereign's\napprobation of their zeal and fidelity, and the approbation of this\nhouse, far beyond any other kind of compensation, therefore there\nwas no occasion for this act, to force money from a willing people:\nthey had not refused giving money for the _purposes_ of the act, no\nrequisition had been made, they were always willing and ready to do\nwhat could reasonably be expected from them, and in this light they\nwish to be considered.\n\n_Q._ But suppose Great Britain should be engaged in a _war in\nEurope_, would North America contribute to the support of it?\n\n_A._ I do think they would, as far as their circumstances would\npermit. They consider themselves as a part of the British empire,\nand as having one common interest with it: they may be looked on\nhere as foreigners, but they do not consider themselves as such.\nThey are zealous for the honour and prosperity of this nation; and,\nwhile they are well used, will always be ready to support it, as far\nas their little power goes.--In 1739 they were called upon to assist\nin the expedition against Carthagena, and they sent three thousand\nmen to join your army.[93] It is true Carthagena is in America, but\nas remote from the northern colonies, as if it had been in Europe.\nThey make no distinction of wars, as to their duty of assisting in\nthem. I know the _last war_ is commonly spoken of here as entered\ninto for the defence, or for the sake of the people in America. I\nthink it is quite misunderstood. It began about the limits between\nCanada and Nova Scotia; about territories to which the _crown_ indeed\nlaid claim, but [which] were not claimed by any British _colony_;\nnone of the lands had been granted to any colonist, we had therefore\nno particular concern or interest in that dispute.--As to the Ohio,\nthe contest there began about your right of trading in the Indian\ncountry, a right you had by the treaty of Utretcht, which the French\ninfringed; they seized the traders and their goods, which were your\nmanufactures; they took a fort which a company of your merchants, and\ntheir factors and correspondents had erected there, to secure that\ntrade. Braddock was sent with an army to re-take that fort (which\nwas looked on here as another incroachment on the king's territory)\nand to protect your trade. It was not till after his defeat that the\ncolonies were attacked.[94] They were before in perfect peace with\nboth French and Indians; the troops were not therefore sent for their\ndefence. The trade with the Indians, though carried on in America, is\nnot an _American interest_. The people of America are chiefly farmers\nand planters, scarce any thing that they raise or produce is an\narticle of commerce with the Indians. The Indian trade is a _British\ninterest_; it is carried on with British manufactures, for the profit\nof British merchants and manufacturers; therefore the war, as it\ncommenced for the defence of territories of the crown (the property\nof no American) and for the defence of a trade purely British, was\nreally a British war--and yet the people of America made no scruple\nof contributing their utmost towards carrying it on, and bringing it\nto a happy conclusion.\n\n_Q._ Do you think then that the taking possession of the king's\nterritorial rights, and _strengthening the frontiers_, is not an\nAmerican interest?\n\n_A._ Not particularly, but conjointly a British and an American\ninterest.\n\n_Q._ You will not deny that the preceding war, the _war with Spain_,\nwas entered into for the sake of America; was it not _occasioned by\ncaptures made in the American_ seas?\n\n_A._ Yes; captures of ships carrying on the British trade there with\nBritish manufactures.\n\n_Q._ Was not the _late war with the_ Indians, _since the peace with\nFrance_, a war for America only?\n\n_A._ Yes; it was more particularly for America than the former; but\nit was rather a consequence or remains of the former war, the Indians\nnot having been thoroughly pacified; and the Americans bore by much\nthe greatest share of the expence. It was put an end to by the army\nunder General Bouquet; there were not above three hundred regulars in\nthat army, and above one thousand Pensylvanians.\n\n_Q._ Is it not necessary to send troops to America, to defend the\nAmericans against the Indians?\n\n_A._ No, by no means; it never was necessary. They defended\nthemselves when they were but an handful, and the Indians much more\nnumerous. They continually gained ground, and have driven the Indians\nover the mountains, without any troops sent to their assistance from\nthis country. And can it be thought necessary now to send troops for\ntheir defence from those diminished Indian tribes, when the colonies\nare become so populous, and so strong? There is not the least\noccasion for it, they are very able to defend themselves.\n\n_Q._ Do you say there were no more than three hundred regular troops\nemployed in the late Indian war?\n\n_A._ Not on the Ohio, or the frontiers of Pensylvania, which was\nthe chief part of the war that affected the colonies. There were\ngarrisons at Niagara, Fort Detroit, and those remote posts kept for\nthe sake of your trade; I did not reckon them; but I believe that on\nthe whole the number of Americans, or provincial troops, employed in\nthe war, was greater than that of the regulars. I am not certain, but\nI think so.\n\n_Q._ Do you think the assemblies have a right to levy money on the\nsubject there, to grant _to the crown_?\n\n_A._ I certainly think so, they have always done it.\n\n_Q._ Are they acquainted with the declaration of rights? And do they\nknow that, by that statute, money is not to be raised on the subject\nbut by consent of parliament?\n\n_A._ They are very well acquainted with it.\n\n_Q._ How then can they think they have a right to levy money for the\ncrown, or for any other than local purposes?\n\n_A._ They understand that clause to relate to subjects only within\nthe realm; that no money can be levied on them for the crown, but\nby consent of parliament. _The colonies_ are not supposed to be\nwithin the realm; they have assemblies of their own, which are their\nparliaments, and they are, in that respect, in the same situation\nwith Ireland. When money is to be raised for the crown upon the\nsubject in Ireland, or in the colonies, the consent is given in\nthe parliament of Ireland, or in the assemblies of the colonies.\nThey think the parliament of Great Britain cannot properly give\nthat consent, till it has representatives from America; for the\npetition of right expressly says, it is to be by _common consent in\nparliament_; and the people of America have no representatives in\nparliament, to make a part of that common consent.\n\n_Q._ If the stamp act should be repealed, and an act should pass,\nordering the assemblies of the colonies to indemnify the sufferers by\nthe riots, would they obey it?\n\n_A._ That is a question I cannot answer.\n\n_Q._ Suppose the king should require the colonies to grant a revenue,\nand the parliament should be against their doing it, do they think\nthey can grant a revenue to the king, _without_ the consent of the\nparliament of Great Britain?\n\n_A._ That is a deep question. As to my own opinion, I should think\nmyself at liberty to do it, and should do it, if I liked the occasion.\n\n_Q._ When money has been raised in the colonies, upon requisitions,\nhas it not been granted to the king?\n\n_A._ Yes, always; but the requisitions have generally been for some\nservice expressed, as to raise, clothe, and pay troops, and not for\nmoney only.\n\n_Q._ If the act should pass, requiring the American assemblies to\nmake compensation to the sufferers, and they should disobey it, and\nthen the parliament should, by another act, lay an internal tax,\nwould they then obey it?\n\n_A._ The people will pay no internal tax; and I think an act to\noblige the assemblies to make compensation is unnecessary; for I am\nof opinion, that as soon as the present heats are abated, they will\ntake the matter into consideration, and if it is right to be done,\nthey will do it of themselves.\n\n_Q._ Do not letters often come into the post-offices in America\ndirected to some inland town where no post goes?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Can any private person take up those letters and carry them as\ndirected?\n\n_A._ Yes; any friend of the person may do it, paying the postage that\nhas accrued.\n\n_Q._ But must not he pay an additional postage for the distance to\nsuch inland town?\n\n_A._ No.\n\n_Q._ Can the post-master answer delivering the letter, without being\npaid such additional postage?\n\n_A._ Certainly he can demand nothing, where he does no service.\n\n_Q._ Suppose a person, being far from home, finds a letter in a\npost-office directed to him, and he lives in a place to which the\npost generally goes, and the letter is directed to that place, will\nthe post-master deliver him the letter, without his paying the\npostage receivable at the place to which the letter is directed?\n\n_A._ Yes; the office cannot demand postage for a letter that it does\nnot carry, or farther than it does carry it.\n\n_Q._ Are not ferrymen in America obliged, by act of parliament, to\ncarry over the posts without pay?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Is not this a tax on the ferrymen?\n\n_A._ They do not consider it as such, as they have an advantage from\npersons travelling with the post.\n\n_Q._ If the stamp-act should be repealed, and the crown should make a\nrequisition to the colonies for a sum of money, would they grant it?\n\n_A._ I believe they would.\n\n_Q._ Why do you think so?\n\n_A._ I can speak for the colony I live in; I had it in _instruction_\nfrom the assembly to assure the ministry, that as they always had\ndone, so they should always think it their duty, to grant such aids\nto the crown as were suitable to their circumstances and abilities,\nwhenever called upon for that purpose, in the usual constitutional\nmanner; and I had the honour of communicating this instruction to\nthat honourable gentleman then minister.[95]\n\n_Q._ Would they do this for a British concern, as suppose a war in\nsome part of Europe, that did not affect them?\n\n_A._ Yes, for any thing that concerned the general interest. They\nconsider themselves as part of the whole.\n\n_Q._ What is the usual constitutional manner of calling on the\ncolonies for aids?\n\n_A._ A letter from the secretary of state.\n\n_Q._ Is this all you mean; a letter from the secretary of state?\n\n_A._ I mean the usual way of requisition, in a circular letter from\nthe secretary of state, by his majesty's command, reciting the\noccasion, and recommending it to the colonies to grant such aids as\nbecame their loyalty, and were suitable to their abilities.\n\n_Q._ Did the secretary of state ever write for _money_ for the crown?\n\n_A._ The requisitions have been to raise, clothe, and pay men, which\ncannot be done without money.\n\n_Q._ Would they grant money alone, if called on?\n\n_A._ In my opinion they would, money as well as men, when they have\nmoney, or can make it.\n\n_Q._ If the parliament should repeal the stamp act, will the assembly\nof Pensylvania rescind their resolutions?\n\n_A._ I think not.\n\n_Q._ Before there was any thought of the stamp act, did they wish for\na representation in parliament?\n\n_A._ No.\n\n_Q._ Don't you know that there is, in the Pensylvanian charter, an\nexpress reservation of the right of parliament to lay taxes there?\n\n_A._ I know there is a clause in the charter, by which the king\ngrants that he will levy no taxes on the inhabitants, unless it be\nwith the consent of the assembly, or by act of parliament.\n\n_Q._ How then could the assembly of Pensylvania assert, that laying a\ntax on them by the stamp act was an infringement of their rights?\n\n_A._ They understand it thus: by the same charter, and otherwise,\nthey are intitled to all the privileges and liberties of Englishmen;\nthey find in the great charters, and the petition and declaration\nof rights, that one of the privileges of English subjects is, that\nthey are not to be taxed but by their _common consent_; they have\ntherefore relied upon it, from the first settlement of the province,\nthat the parliament never would, nor could, by colour of that\nclause in the charter, assume a right of taxing them, _till_ it had\nqualified itself to exercise such right, by admitting representatives\nfrom the people to be taxed, who ought to make a part of that common\nconsent.\n\n_Q._ Are there any words in the charter that justify that\nconstruction?\n\n_A._ The common rights of Englishmen, as declared by Magna Charta,\nand the petition of right, all justify it.\n\n_Q._ Does the distinction between internal and external taxes exist\nin the words of the charter?\n\n_A._ No, I believe not.\n\n_Q._ Then may they not, by the same interpretation, object to the\nparliament's right of external taxation?\n\n_A._ They never _have_ hitherto. Many arguments have been lately\nused here to show them that there is no difference, and that if you\nhave no right to tax them internally, you have none to tax them\nexternally, or make any other law to bind them. At present they do\nnot reason so; but in time they may possibly be convinced by these\narguments.\n\n_Q._ Do not the resolutions of the Pensylvania assembly say--all\ntaxes?\n\n_A._ If they do, they mean only internal taxes; the same words have\nnot always the same meaning here and in the colonies. By taxes they\nmean internal taxes; by duties they mean customs; these are their\nideas of the language.\n\n_Q._ Have you not seen the resolutions of the Massachusett's Bay\nassembly?\n\n_A._ I have.\n\n_Q._ Do they not say, that neither external nor internal taxes can be\nlaid on them by parliament?\n\n_A._ I don't know that they do; I believe not.\n\n_Q._ If the same colony should say, neither tax nor imposition could\nbe laid, does not that province hold the power of parliament can lay\nneither?\n\n_A._ I suppose that by the word imposition, they do not intend to\nexpress duties to be laid on goods imported, as _regulations of\ncommerce_.\n\n_Q._ What can the colonies mean then by imposition as distinct from\ntaxes?\n\n_A._ They may mean many things, as impressing of men, or of\ncarriages, quartering troops on private houses, and the like; there\nmay be great impositions that are not properly taxes.\n\n_Q._ Is not the post-office rate an internal tax laid by act of\nparliament?\n\n_A._ I have answered that.\n\n_Q._ Are all parts of the colonies equally able to pay taxes?\n\n_A._ No, certainly; the frontier parts, which have been ravaged by\nthe enemy, are greatly disabled by that means; and therefore, in such\ncases, are usually favoured in our tax-laws.\n\n_Q._ Can we, at this distance, be competent judges of what favours\nare necessary?\n\n_A._ The parliament have supposed it, by claiming a right to make\ntax-laws for America; I think it impossible.\n\n_Q._ Would the repeal of the stamp act be any discouragement of your\nmanufactures? Will the people that have begun to manufacture decline\nit?\n\n_A._ Yes, I think they will; especially if, at the same time, the\ntrade is opened again, so that remittances can be easily made. I have\nknown several instances that make it probable. In the war before\nlast, tobacco being low, and making little remittance, the people of\nVirginia went generally into family-manufactures. Afterwards, when\ntobacco bore a better price, they returned to the use of British\nmanufactures. So fulling-mills were very much disused in the last war\nin Pensylvania, because bills were then plenty, and remittances could\neasily be made to Britain for English cloth and other goods.\n\n_Q._ If the stamp act should be repealed, would it induce the\nassemblies of America to acknowledge the rights of parliament to tax\nthem, and would they erase their resolutions?\n\n_A._ No, never.\n\n_Q._ Are there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?\n\n_A._ None that I know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by\nforce of arms.\n\n_Q._ Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?\n\n_A._ No power, how great soever, can force men to change their\nopinions.\n\n_Q._ Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or as a regulation?\n\n_A._ Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency; _every\nassembly_ encouraged it, and supported it in its infancy, by grants\nof money, which they would not otherwise have done; and the people\nhave always paid the postage.\n\n_Q._ When did you receive the instructions you mentioned?\n\n_A._ I brought them with me, when I came to England, about fifteen\nmonths since.\n\n_Q._ When did you communicate that instruction to the minister?\n\n_A._ Soon after my arrival,--while the stamping of America was under\nconsideration, and _before_ the bill was brought in.\n\n_Q._ Would it be most for the interest of Great Britain, to employ\nthe hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in manufactures?\n\n_A._ In tobacco, to be sure.\n\n_Q._ What used to be the pride of the Americans?\n\n_A._ To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.\n\n_Q._ What is now their pride?\n\n_A._ To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new\nones.\n\n _Withdrew._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[83] 1766. Feb. 3. Benjamin Franklin, Esq. and a number of other\npersons were \"ordered to attend the committee of the whole house [of\ncommons] to whom it was referred, to consider farther the several\npapers [relative to America] which were presented to the house by Mr.\nSecretary Conway, &c.\"\n\nFeb. 13. Benjamin Franklin, Esq. having passed through his\nexamination, was exempted from farther attendance.\n\nFeb. 24. The resolutions of the committee were reported by the\nchairman, Mr. Fuller, their _seventh_ and last resolution setting\nforth \"that it was their opinion that the house be moved, that leave\nbe given to bring in a bill to repeal the stamp act.\" A proposal for\nre-committing this resolution was negatived by 240 votes to 133. (See\nthe Journals of the House of Commons.)\n\nThis examination of Dr. Franklin was printed in the year 1767, under\nthe form of a shilling pamphlet. It is prior in point of date to some\nof the foregoing pieces; but I readily submitted to this derangement,\nthinking by this means to provide the reader with a knowledge of the\nproceedings on which the examination was grounded. B. V.\n\n[84] \"The stamp act says, that the Americans shall have no commerce,\nmake no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase nor\ngrant nor recover debts; they shall neither marry nor make their\nwills, unless they pay such and such sums\" in _specie_ for the stamps\nwhich must give validity to the proceedings. The operation of such a\ntax, had it obtained the consent of the people, appeared inevitable;\nand its annual productiveness, if I recollect well, was estimated\nby its proposer in the house of commons at the committee for\nsupplies, at 100,000_l._ sterling. The colonies being already reduced\nto the necessity of having _paper_-money, by sending to Britain the\nspecie they collected in foreign trade, in order to make up for the\ndeficiency of their other returns for Britain's manufactures; there\nwere doubts where could remain the _specie_ sufficient to answer the\ntax. B. V.\n\n[85] The stamp act provides that a double duty should be laid \"where\nthe instrument, proceedings, &c. shall be engrossed, written, or\nprinted, within the said colonies and plantations, in any other\nthan the English language.\" This measure, I presume, appeared to be\nsuggested by motives of convenience, and the policy of assimilating\npersons of foreign to those of British descent, and preventing their\ninterference in the conduct of law business till this change should\nbe effected. It seems however to have been deemed too precipitate,\nimmediately to extend this clause to newly-conquered countries. An\nexemption therefore was granted, in this particular, with respect to\nCanada and Grenada, for the space of five years, to be reckoned from\nthe commencement of the duty. (See the Stamp Act.) B. V.\n\n[86] Strangers excluded, some parts of the northern colonies double\ntheir numbers in fifteen or sixteen years; to the southward they are\nlonger, but, taking one with another, they have doubled by natural\ngeneration only, once in twenty-five years. Pensylvania, I believe,\n_including strangers_, has doubled in about sixteen years. The\ncalculation for February 1766 will not then suit 1779. B. V.\n\n[87] In the year 1733--\"for the welfare and prosperity of our\nsugar colonies in America,\" and \"for remedying discouragements of\nplanters;\" duties were \"_given and granted_\" to George the Second\nupon all rum, spirits, molasses, syrups, sugar, and paneles of\nforeign growth, produce, and manufacture, imported into our colonies.\nThis _regulation of trade_, for the benefit of the general empire\nwas acquiesced in, notwithstanding the introduction of the novel\nterms \"give and grant.\" But the act, which was made only for the\nterm of five years, and had been several times renewed in the\nreign of George the Second, and once in the reign of George the\nThird; was renewed again in the year 1763, in the reign of George\nthe Third, and _extended to other articles, upon new and altered\ngrounds_. It was stated in the preamble to this act, \"that it was\nexpedient that new provisions and regulations should be established\nfor _improving the revenue of this kingdom_;\" \"that it was just and\nnecessary that a revenue should be raised in America for defending,\nprotecting, and securing the same;\" \"and that the commons of Great\nBritain ... desirous of making some provision ... towards _raising\nthe said revenue_ in America, have resolved to give and grant to\nhis majesty the several rates and duties, &c.\" Mr. Mauduit, agent\nfor Massachusett's Bay, tells us, that he was instructed in the\nfollowing terms to oppose Mr. Grenville's taxing system.--\"You are\nto remonstrate against these measures, and, if possible, to obtain a\nrepeal of the sugar act, and prevent the imposition of any further\nduties or taxes on the colonies. Measures will be taken that you may\nbe joined by all the other agents. _Boston, June 14, 1764._\"\n\nThe question proposed to Dr. Franklin alludes to this sugar act in\n1763. Dr. Franklin's answer appears to deserve the best attention of\nthe reader. B. V.\n\n[88] Some of the colonies have been reduced to the necessity of\nbartering, from the want of a medium of traffic. See p. 146. B. V.\n\n[89] Afterwards expressed in the Declaratory-Act. B. V.\n\n[90] See the answer to the report of the board of trade, p. 144. B. V.\n\n[91] See the note to Lord Howe's letter to our author. B. V.\n\n[92] i. e. Mills for the slitting of iron. B. V.\n\n[93] Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth commanded this expedition;\nwith what success, is well known. B. V.\n\n[94] When this army was in the utmost distress from the want of\nwaggons, &c. our author and his son voluntarily traversed the\ncountry, in order to collect a sufficient quantity; and they had zeal\nand address enough to effect their purpose, upon pledging themselves,\nto the amount of many thousand pounds, for payment. It was but just\nbefore Dr. Franklin's last return to America, that the accounts in\nthis transaction were passed at home. B. V.\n\n[95] I take the following to be the history of this transaction.\n\nUntil 1763, and the years following, whenever Great Britain wanted\nsupplies directly from the colonies, the secretary of state, in his\nmajesty's name, sent them a letter of requisition, in which the\noccasion for the supplies was expressed; and the colonies returned\na _free gift_, the mode of levying which _they_ wholly prescribed.\nAt this period, a chancellor of the exchequer (Mr. George Grenville)\nsteps forth and says to the house of commons: _We must call for money\nfrom the colonies in the way of a tax_;--and to the colony-agents,\n_write to your several colonies, and tell them, if they dislike a\nduty upon stamps, and prefer any other method of raising the money\nthemselves, I shall be content, provided the_ amount _be but raised_.\n\"That is,\" observed the colonies, when commenting upon his terms, \"if\nwe will not tax ourselves, _as we may be directed_, the parliament\nwill tax us,\" Dr. Franklin's instructions, spoken of above, related\nto this gracious option. As the colonies could not choose \"_another_\ntax,\" while they disclaimed _every_ tax; the parliament passed the\nstamp-act.\n\nIt seems that the only part of the offer which bore a show of favour,\nwas the grant of the _mode of levying_--and this was the only\ncircumstance which was _not new_.\n\nSee Mr. Mauduit's account of Mr. Grenville's conference with the\nagents, confirmed by the agents for Georgia and Virginia, and Mr.\nBurke's speech, in 1774, p. 55. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Attempts of Dr. Franklin for Conciliation of Great Britain with\n the Colonies[96]._\n\n\n _London, Nov. 28, 1768._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nI received your obliging favour of the 12th instant. Your sentiments\nof the importance of the present dispute between Great Britain and\nthe colonies, appear to me extremely just. There is nothing I wish\nfor more than to see it amicably and equitably settled.\n\nBut Providence will bring about its own ends by its own means; and if\nit intends the downfal of a nation, that nation will be so blinded by\nits pride, and other passions, as not to see its danger, or how its\nfall may be prevented.\n\nBeing born and bred in one of the countries, and having lived long\nand made many agreeable connexions of friendship in the other, I wish\nall prosperity to both: but I have talked, and written so much and\nso long on the subject, that my acquaintance are weary of hearing,\nand the public of reading any more of it, which begins to make me\nweary of talking and writing; especially as I do not find that I\nhave gained any point, in either country, except that of rendering\nmyself suspected, by my impartiality; in England, of being too much\nan American, and in America of being too much an Englishman. Your\nopinion, however, weighs with me, and encourages me to try one\neffort more, in a full, though concise state of facts, accompanied\nwith arguments drawn from those facts; to be published about the\nmeeting of parliament, after the holidays.\n\nIf any good may be done I shall rejoice; but at present I almost\ndespair.\n\nHave you ever seen the barometer so low as of late?\n\nThe 22d instant mine was at 28, 41, and yet the weather fine and fair.\n\n With sincere esteem, I am, dear friend,\n\n Yours, affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[96] I cannot pretend to say what is the publication promised in this\nletter; unless it alludes to the one given above at p. 225; in which\ncase there is a mistake in the date of the year. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Queries from Mr. Strahan._\n\nTO DR. FRANKLIN[97].\n\n\n _Nov. 21, 1769._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nIn the many conversations we have had together about our present\ndisputes with North America, we perfectly agreed in wishing they may\nbe brought to a speedy and happy conclusion. How this is to be done,\nis not so easily ascertained.\n\n_Two objects_, I humbly apprehend, his majesty's servants have now in\ncontemplation. 1st. To relieve the colonies from the taxes complained\nof, which they certainly had no hand in imposing. 2dly, To preserve\nthe honour, the dignity, and the supremacy of the British legislature\nover all his majesty's dominions.\n\nAs I know your singular knowledge of the subject in question, and\nam as fully convinced of your cordial attachment to his majesty,\nand your sincere desire to promote the happiness equally of all his\nsubjects, I beg you would in your own clear, brief, and explicit\nmanner, send me an answer to the following questions: I make this\nrequest now, because this matter is of the utmost importance, and\nmust very quickly be agitated. And I do it with the more freedom,\nas you know me and my motives too well to entertain the most remote\nsuspicion that I will make an improper use of any information you\nshall hereby convey to me.\n\n1st. Will not a repeal of all the duties (that on tea excepted, which\nwas before paid here on exportation, and of course no new imposition)\nfully satisfy the colonists[98]? If you answer in the negative,\n\n2d. Your reasons for that opinion?\n\n3d. Do you think the only effectual way of composing the present\ndifferences is to put the Americans precisely in the situation they\nwere in before the passing of the late stamp-act?--If that is your\nopinion,\n\n4th. Your reasons for that opinion?\n\n5th. If this last method is deemed by the legislature, and his\nmajesty's ministers, to be repugnant to their duty, as guardians of\nthe just rights of the crown and of their fellow-subjects; can you\nsuggest any other way of terminating these disputes, consistent with\nthe ideas of justice and propriety conceived by the king's subjects\non both sides of the Atlantic?\n\n6. And if this method was actually followed, do you not think it\nwould actually encourage the violent and factious part of the\ncolonists to aim at still farther concessions from the mother-country?\n\n7th. If they are relieved in part only, what do you, as a reasonable\nand dispassionate man, and an equal friend to both sides, imagine\nwill be the probable consequences?\n\nThe answers to these questions, I humbly conceive, will include all\nthe information I want; and I beg you will favour me with them as\nsoon as may be. Every well-wisher to the peace and prosperity of the\nBritish empire, and every friend to our truly happy constitution,\nmust be desirous of seeing even the most trivial causes of dissention\namong our fellow-subjects removed. Our domestic squabbles, in my\nmind, are nothing to what I am speaking of. This you know much\nbetter than I do, and therefore I need add nothing farther to\nrecommend this subject to your serious consideration. I am, with\nthe most cordial esteem and attachment, dear sir, your faithful and\naffectionate humble servant,\n\n W. S.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[97] These letters have often been copied into our public prints.\nMr. Strahan, the correspondent, is printer to the king, and now\nrepresentative in parliament for Malmsbury in Wiltshire. An intimacy\nof long standing had subsisted between him and Dr. Franklin. B. V.\n\nIt was the father of the present Mr. Strahan, who is also\nking's-printer, and member of parliament. The friendship, which so\nlong subsisted between Mr. Strahan and Dr. Franklin, the latter, in\n1775, formally abjured, in a letter addressed to Mr. Strahan, which\nwill be found in the order of its date, in a subsequent part of this\nwork. _Editor._\n\n[98] In the year 1767, for the express purpose of raising a revenue\nin America, glass, red-lead, white-lead, painters' colours,\npaper, and _tea_ (which last article was subject to various\n_home_-impositions) became charged by act of parliament, with new\n_permanent_ duties payable in the American ports. Soon after, in the\nsame sessions, (the East-India Company promising indemnification\nfor the experiment) a _temporary_ alteration was made with respect\nto the _home_ customs or excise upon certain teas, in the hope\nthat a deduction in the nominal imposition, by producing a more\nextended consumption, would give an increased sum to the exchequer.\nMr. Strahan, comparing only the _amounts_ of the imposed American\nduty, and the deducted home duty, determines that the Americans\nhad suffered no new imposition. The Americans it seems, thought\notherwise. Had we established this precedent for a revenue, we\nthought we had every thing to hope; yet we affect surprise, when the\ncolonies avoided an acquiescence which by parity of reasoning gave\n_them_ every thing to fear. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Answer to the preceding Queries._\n\n\n _Craven Street, Nov. 29, 1769._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nBeing just returned to town from a little excursion, I find yours\nof the 21st, containing a number of queries, that would require\na pamphlet to answer them fully. You, however, desire only brief\nanswers, which I shall endeavour to give.\n\nPrevious to your queries, you tell me, that \"you apprehend his\nmajesty's servants have now in contemplation, 1st, To relieve the\ncolonists from the taxes complained of; 2d, To preserve the honour,\nthe dignity, and the supremacy of the British legislature over\nall his majesty's dominions.\" I hope your information is good;\nand that what you suppose to be in contemplation will be carried\ninto execution, by repealing all the laws, that have been made for\nraising a revenue in America by authority of parliament without\nthe consent of the people there. The honour and dignity of the\nBritish legislature will not be hurt by such an act of justice and\nwisdom. The wisest councils are liable to be misled, especially in\nmatters remote from their inspection. It is the persisting in an\nerror, not the correcting it, that lessens the honour of any man\nor body of men. The supremacy of that legislature, I believe, will\nbe best preserved by making a very sparing use of it; never but\nfor the evident good of the colonies themselves, or of the whole\nBritish empire; never for the partial advantage of Britain to their\nprejudice. By such prudent conduct, I imagine, that supremacy may\nbe gradually strengthened, and in time fully established; but\notherwise, I apprehend it will be disputed, and lost in the dispute.\nAt present the colonies consent and submit to it, for the regulations\nof general commerce; but a submission to acts of parliament was no\npart of their original constitution. Our former kings governed their\ncolonies, as they had governed their dominions in France, without\nthe participation of British parliaments. The parliament of England\nnever presumed to interfere in that prerogative, till the time of the\ngreat rebellion, when they usurped the government of all the king's\nother dominions, Ireland, Scotland, &c. The colonies that held for\nthe king, they conquered by force of arms, and governed afterwards\nas conquered countries; but New England, having not opposed the\nparliament, was considered and treated as a sister-kingdom, in amity\nwith England (as appears by the Journals, _March 10, 1642_.)\n\n1st. \"Will not a repeal of all the duties (that on tea excepted,\nwhich was before paid here on exportation, and of course no new\nimposition) fully satisfy the colonists?\"\n\n_Answer_, I think not.\n\n2d. \"Your reasons for that opinion?\"\n\n_A._ Because it is not the sum paid in that duty on tea that is\ncomplained of as a burden, but the principle of the act, expressed\nin the preamble, viz. That those duties were laid for the better\nsupport of government, and the administration of justice in the\ncolonies[99]. This the colonists think unnecessary, unjust, and\ndangerous to their most important rights. _Unnecessary_, because in\nall the colonies (two or three new ones excepted[100]) government\nand the administration of justice were, and always had been, well\nsupported without any charge to Britain: _unjust_, as it has made\nsuch colonies liable to pay such charge for others, in which they had\nno concern or interest: _dangerous_, as such mode of raising money\nfor those purposes tended to render their assemblies useless; for\nif a revenue could be raised in the colonies for all the purposes\nof government by act of parliament, without grants from the people\nthere, governors, who do not generally love assemblies, would never\ncall them; they would be laid aside; and when nothing should depend\non the people's good-will to government, their rights would be\ntrampled on; they would be treated with contempt. Another reason,\nwhy I think they would not be satisfied with such a partial repeal,\nis that their agreements, not to import till the repeal takes place,\ninclude the whole; which shows, that they object to the whole; and\nthose agreements will continue binding on them, if the whole is not\nrepealed.\n\n3d. \"Do you think the only effectual way of composing the present\ndifferences is to put the Americans precisely in the situation they\nwere in before the passing of the late stamp act?\"\n\n_A._ I think so.\n\n4th. \"Your reasons for that opinion?\"\n\n_A._ Other methods have been tried. They have been refused or rebuked\nin angry letters. Their petitions have been refused or rejected by\nparliament. They have been threatened with the punishments of treason\nby resolves of both houses. Their assemblies have been dissolved\nand troops have been sent among them: but all these ways have only\nexasperated their minds and widened the breach. Their agreements to\nuse no more British manufactures have been strengthened; and these\nmeasures, instead of composing differences, and promoting a good\ncorrespondence, have almost annihilated your commerce with those\ncountries, and greatly endanger the national peace and general\nwelfare.\n\n5th. \"If this last method is deemed by the legislature, and his\nmajesty's ministers, to be repugnant to their duty as guardians of\nthe just rights of the crown, and of their fellow-subjects; can you\nsuggest any other way of terminating these disputes, consistent with\nthe ideas of justice and propriety conceived by the king's subjects\non _both_ sides the Atlantic?\"\n\n_A._ I do not see how that method can be deemed repugnant to the\nrights of the crown. If the Americans are put into their former\nsituation, it must be an act of parliament; in the passing of which\nby the king, the rights of the crown are exercised, not infringed. It\nis indifferent to the crown, whether the aids received from America\nare granted by parliament here, or by the assemblies there, provided\nthe quantum be the same; and it is my opinion, that more will be\ngenerally granted there voluntarily, than can ever be exacted or\ncollected from thence by authority of parliament. As to the rights\nof fellow-subjects (I suppose you mean the people of Britain) I\ncannot conceive how those will be infringed by that method. They will\nstill enjoy the right of granting their own money, and may still, if\nit pleases them, keep up their claim to the right of granting ours;\na right they can never exercise properly, for want of a sufficient\nknowledge of us, our circumstances and abilities (to say nothing of\nthe little likelihood there is that we should ever submit to it)\ntherefore a right that can be of no good use to them; and we shall\ncontinue to enjoy in fact the right of granting our money, with\nthe opinion, now universally prevailing among us, that we are free\nsubjects of the king, and that fellow-subjects of one part of his\ndominions are not sovereigns over fellow-subjects in any other part.\nIf the subjects on the different sides of the Atlantic have different\nand opposite ideas of \"justice and propriety,\" no one \"method\" can\npossibly be consistent with both. The best will be, to let each\nenjoy their own opinions, without disturbing them, when they do not\ninterfere with the common good.\n\n6th. \"And if this method were actually allowed, do you not think it\nwould encourage the violent and factious part of the colonists, to\naim at still farther concessions from the mother-country?\"\n\n_A._ I do not think it would. There may be a few among them that\ndeserve the name of factious and violent, as there are in all\ncountries; but these would have little influence, if the great\nmajority of sober reasonable people were satisfied. If any colony\nshould happen to think, that some of your regulations of trade are\ninconvenient to the general interest of the empire, or prejudicial\nto them without being beneficial to you, they will state these\nmatters to parliament in petitions as heretofore; but will, I\nbelieve, take no violent steps to obtain what they may hope for in\ntime from the wisdom of government here. I know of nothing else they\ncan have in view: the notion that prevails here, of their being\ndesirous to set up a kingdom or commonwealth of their own, is to\nmy certain knowledge entirely groundless. I therefore think, that\non a total repeal of all duties, laid expressly for the purpose of\nraising a revenue on the people of America without their consent,\nthe present uneasiness would subside; the agreements not to import\nwould be dissolved; and the commerce flourish as heretofore; and I\nam confirmed in this sentiment by all the letters I have received\nfrom America, and by the opinions of all the sensible people who have\nlately come from thence, crown-officers excepted. I know, indeed,\nthat the people of Boston are grievously offended by the quartering\nof troops among them, as they think, contrary to law, and are very\nangry with the board of commissioners, who have calumniated them to\ngovernment; but as I suppose the withdrawing of those troops may be\na consequence of reconciliating measures taking place; and that the\ncommission also will be either dissolved, if found useless, or filled\nwith more temperate and prudent men, if still deemed useful and\nnecessary; I do not imagine these particulars would prevent a return\nof the harmony so much to be wished[101].\n\n7th. \"If they are relieved in part only, what do you, as a reasonable\nand dispassionate man, and an equal friend to both sides, imagine\nwill be the probable consequence?\"\n\n_A._ I imagine, that repealing the offensive duties in part will\nanswer no end to this country; the commerce will remain obstructed,\nand the Americans go on with their schemes of frugality, industry,\nand manufactures, to their own great advantage. How much that may\ntend to the prejudice of Britain, I cannot say; perhaps not so much\nas some apprehend, since she may in time find new markets. But I\nthink, if the union of the two countries continues to subsist, it\nwill not hurt the general interest; for whatever wealth Britain loses\nby the failing of its trade with the colonies, America will gain; and\nthe crown will receive equal aids from its subjects upon the whole,\nif not greater.\n\nAnd now I have answered your questions, as to what may be, in my\nopinion, the consequences of this or that supposed measure, I will\ngo a little further, and tell you, what I fear is more likely to\ncome to pass in _reality_. I apprehend, that the ministry, at least\nthe American part of it, being fully persuaded of the right of\nparliament, think it ought to be enforced, whatever may be the\nconsequences; and at the same time do not believe, there is even now\nany abatement of the trade between the two countries on account of\nthese disputes; or that if there is, it is small, and cannot long\ncontinue. They are assured by the crown-officers in America, that\nmanufactures are impossible there; that the discontented are few,\nand persons of little consequence; that almost all the people of\nproperty and importance are satisfied, and disposed to submit quietly\nto the taxing power of parliament; and that, if the revenue-acts are\ncontinued, and those duties only that are called anti-commercial be\nrepealed, and others perhaps laid in their stead, the power ere long\nwill be patiently submitted to, and the agreements not to import be\nbroken, when they are found to produce no change of measures here.\nFrom these and similar misinformations, which seem to be credited,\nI think it likely, that no thorough redress of grievances will be\nafforded to America this session. This may inflame matters still\nmore in that country; farther rash measures there may create more\nresentment here, that may produce not merely ill-advised dissolutions\nof their assemblies, as last year, but attempts to dissolve their\nconstitution[102]; more troops may be sent over, which will create\nmore uneasiness; to justify the measures of government, your writers\nwill revile the Americans in your newspapers, as they have already\nbegun to do, treating them as miscreants, rogues, dastards, rebels,\n&c. to alienate the minds of the people here from them, and which\nwill tend farther to diminish their affections to this country.\nPossibly too, some of their warm patriots may be distracted enough\nto expose themselves by some mad action to be sent for hither, and\ngovernment here be indiscreet enough to hang them, on the act of\nHenry VIII[103]. Mutual provocations will thus go on to complete the\nseparation; and instead of that cordial affection, that once and so\nlong existed, and that harmony, so suitable to the circumstances,\nand so necessary to the happiness, strength, safety, and welfare of\nboth countries, an implacable malice and mutual hatred, such as we\nnow see subsisting between the Spaniards and Portuguese, the Genoese\nand Corsicans, from the same original misconduct in the superior\ngovernments, will take place: the sameness of nation, the similarity\nof religion, manners, and language not in the least preventing in\nour case, more than it did in theirs.--I hope, however, that this\nmay all prove false prophecy, and that you and I may live to see as\nsincere and perfect a friendship established between our respective\ncountries, as has so many years subsisted between Mr. Strahan, and\nhis truly affectionate old friend,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[99] \"Men may lose little property by an act which takes away all\ntheir freedom. When a man is robbed of a trifle on the highway, it is\nnot the two-pence lost that makes the capital outrage.\" \"Would twenty\nshillings have ruined Mr. Hampden's fortune? No! but the payment of\nhalf twenty shillings, on the principle it was demanded, would have\nmade him a slave.\" See Mr. Burke's speeches in 1774 and 1775. B. V.\n\n[100] Nova Scotia, Georgia, the Floridas, and Canada. B. V.\n\n[101] \"The opposition [to Lord Rockingham's administration]\" says\nLord Chesterfield, \"are for taking vigorous, as they call them, but\nI call them violent measures; not less than _les dragonades_; and to\nhave the tax collected by the troops we have there. For my part, I\nnever saw a forward child mended by whipping: and I would not have\nthe mother become a step-mother.\" Letter, No. 360.\n\n\"Is it a certain maxim,\" pleads Mr. Burke, \"that the fewer causes of\ndissatisfaction are left by government, the more the subject will be\ninclined to resist and rebel?\" \"I confess I do not feel the least\nalarm from the discontents which are to arise from putting people at\ntheir ease. Nor do I apprehend the destruction of this empire, from\ngiving, by an act of free grace and indulgence, to two millions of my\nfellow-citizens, some share of those rights, upon which I have always\nbeen taught to value myself.\" Speeches in 1774 and 1775. B. V.\n\n[102] This was afterwards attempted by the British legislature, in\nthe case of the Massachusett's Bay. B. V.\n\n[103] The lords and commons very prudently concurred in an address\nfor this purpose, and the king graciously assured them of his\ncompliance with their wishes. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _State of the Constitution of the Colonies, by Governor\n Pownall[104]; with Remarks by Dr. Franklin._\n\n[PRINCIPLES.]\n\n1. Wherever any Englishmen go forth without the realm, and make\nsettlements in partibus exteris, \"These settlements as English\nsettlements, and these inhabitants as English subjects (carrying with\nthem the laws of the land wherever they form colonies, and receiving\nhis majesty's protection by virtue of his royal charter[105]\"\nor commissions of government) \"have and enjoy all liberties and\nimmunities of free and natural subjects, to all intents constructions\nand purposes whatsoever, as if they and every of them were born\nwithin the realm[106];\" and are bound by the like allegiance as every\nother subject of the realm.\n\nRemarks. _The settlers of colonies in America did not carry with them\nthe_ laws of the land, _as being bound by them wherever they should\nsettle. They left the realm to avoid the inconveniences and hardships\nthey were under, where some of those laws were in force, particularly\necclesiastical laws, those for payment of tythes and others. Had it\nbeen understood, that they were to carry these laws with them, they\nhad better have staid at home among their friends, unexposed to\nthe risques and toils of a new settlement. They carried with them,\na right to_ such parts _of the_ laws of the land, _as they should\njudge advantageous or useful to them; a right to be free from those\nthey thought hurtful; and a right to make such others, as they should\nthink necessary, not infringing the general rights of Englishmen: and\nsuch_ new _laws they were to form, as agreeable as might be to the\nlaws of England_. B. F.\n\n2. Therefore the _common law of England_, and all _such statutes_ as\nwere enacted and in force at _the time_ in which such settlers went\nforth, and such colonies and plantations were established, (except as\nhereafter excepted) together with all such alterations and amendments\nas the said common law may have received, is from time to time, and\nat all times, the law of those colonies and plantations.\n\nRem. _So far as they adopt it, by express laws or by practice._ B. F.\n\n3. Therefore all statutes, touching the _right of the succession_,\nand settlement of the crown, with the statutes of treason relating\nthereto[107]; all statutes, _regulating_ or limiting the general\npowers and _authority of the crown_, and the exercise of the\njurisdiction thereof; all statutes, _declaratory of the rights and\nliberty of the subject_, do extend to all British subjects in the\ncolonies and plantations as of common right, and as if they and every\nof them were born within the realm.\n\nRem. _It is doubted, whether any settlement of the crown by\nparliament, takes place in the colonies, otherwise than by consent\nof the assemblies there. Had the rebellion in 1745 succeeded so\nfar as to settle the Stuart family again on the throne, by act of\nparliament, I think the colonies would not have thought themselves\nbound by such act. They would still have adhered to the present\nfamily as long as they could._ B. F.\n\nObservation in reply. _They are bound to the king and his successors,\nand we know no succession but by act of parliament._ T. P.\n\n4. All statutes enacted _since_ the establishment of colonies and\nplantations do extend to and operate within the said colonies and\nplantations, in which statutes the same _are specially named_.\n\nRem. _It is doubted, whether any act of parliament should_ of right\n_operate in the colonies_: in fact _several of than have and do\noperate_. B. F.\n\n5. Statutes and customs, which respect only the _special and local\ncircumstances_ of the realm, do not extend to and operate within\nsaid colonies and plantations, where no such special and local\ncircumstances are found.--(Thus the _ecclesiastical and canon_ law,\nand all _statutes respecting tythes_, the laws respecting _courts\nbaron and copyholds_, the _game acts_, the statutes _respecting\nthe poor_ and settlements, and all other laws and statutes,\nhaving special reference to special and local circumstances and\nestablishments within the realm, do not extend to and operate within\nthese settlements, in partibus exteris, where no such circumstances\nor establishments exist.)\n\nRem. _These laws have no force in America: not merely because local\ncircumstances differ, but because they have never been adopted, or\nbrought over by acts of assembly or by practice in the courts._ B. F.\n\n6. No statutes made _since_ the establishment of said colonies and\nplantations (_except_ as above described in articles 3 and 4) do\nextend to and operate within said colonies and plantations.\n\nQuery.--Would any statute made since the establishment of said\ncolonies and plantations, which statute imported, to _annul_\nand abolish the powers and jurisdictions of their respective\nconstitutions of government, where the same was not contrary to\nthe laws, or any otherwise forfeited or abated; or which statute\nimported, to take away, or did take away, the rights and privileges\nof the settlers, as British subjects: would such statute, as of\nright, extend to and operate within said colonies and plantations?\n\nAnswer. _No. The parliament has no such power. The charters cannot be\naltered but by consent of both parties--the king and the colonies._\nB. F.\n\n\n[COROLLARIES FROM THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES.]\n\nUpon the matters of fact, right and law, as above stated, it is, that\nthe British subjects thus settled in partibus exteris without the\nrealm, so long as they are excluded from an intire union with the\nrealm as parts of and within the same, have a right to have (as they\nhave) and to be governed by (as they are) a _distinct intire civil\ngovernment_, of the like powers, pre-eminences and jurisdictions\n(conformable to the like rights, privileges, immunities, franchises,\nand civil liberties) as are to be found and are established in the\nBritish government, respecting the British subject within the realm.\n\nRem. _Right._ B. F.\n\nHence also it is, that the _rights of the subject_, as declared\nin the petition of right, that the _limitation of prerogative_ by\nthe act for abolishing the star-chamber and for regulating the\nprivy-council, &c. that the habeas corpus act, the statute of frauds,\nthe bill of rights, do of common right extend to and are in force\nwithin said colonies and plantations.\n\nRem. _Several of these rights are established by special colony laws.\nIf any are not yet so established, the colonies have right to such\nlaws: and the covenant having been made in the charters by the king,\nfor himself and his successors, such laws ought to receive the royal\nassent_ as of right. B. F.\n\nHence it is, that the _freeholders_ within the precincts of these\njurisdictions have (as of right they ought to have) a _share in the\npower of making those laws_ which they are to be governed by, by the\nright which they have of sending their representatives to act for\nthem and to consent for them in all matters of legislation, which\nrepresentatives, when met in general assembly, have, together with\nthe crown, a right to perform and do all the like acts respecting\nthe matters, things and rights within the precincts of their\njurisdiction, as the parliament hath respecting the realm and British\ndominions.\n\nHence also it is, that all the _executive offices_ (from the supreme\ncivil magistrate, as locum tenens to the king, down to that of\nconstable and head-borough) must of right be established with all\nand the like powers, neither more nor less than as defined by the\nconstitution and law, as in fact they are established.\n\nHence it is, that the _judicial offices and courts of justice_,\nestablished within the precincts of said jurisdictions, have, as\nthey ought of right to have, all those jurisdictions and powers \"as\nfully and amply to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as the courts\nof king's bench, common pleas, and exchequer, within his majesty's\nkingdom of England, have, and ought to have, and are empowered to\ngive judgment and award execution thereupon[108].\"\n\nHence it is, that by the possession enjoyment and exercise of his\nmajesty's _great seal_, delivered to his majesty's governor, there\nis established within the precincts of the respective jurisdictions\nall the same and like _powers of chancery_ (except where by charters\nspecially excluded) as his majesty's chancellor within his majesty's\nkingdom of England hath, and of right ought to have, by delivery\nof the great seal of England.--And hence it is, that all the like\nrights, privileges and powers, follow the use, exercise and\napplication of the great seal of each colony and plantation within\nthe precincts of said jurisdiction, as doth, and ought of right to\nfollow the use, exercise, and application of the great seal.\n\nHence also it is, that _appeals in real actions_, \"whereby the lands,\ntenements, and hereditaments of British subjects may be drawn into\nquestion and disposed of[109],\" do not lie, as of right and by law\nthey ought not to lie, to the king in council.\n\nHence also it is, that there is _not_ any law now in being,\nwhereby _the subject_ within said colonies and plantations can be\n_removed[110] from the jurisdiction to which he is amenable_ in\nall his right, and through which his service and allegiance must\nbe derived to the crown, and from which no appeal lies in criminal\ncauses, so as that such subject may become amenable to a jurisdiction\nforeign to his natural and legal resiancy; to which he may be thereby\ntransported, and under which he may be brought to trial and receive\njudgment, contrary to the rights and privileges of the subject, as\ndeclared by the spirit and intent and especially by the 16th \u00a7 of\nthe habeas corpus act. And if the person of any subject within the\nsaid colonies and plantations _should_ be seized or detained by any\npower issuing from any court, without the jurisdiction of the colony\nwhere he then had his legal resiancy, it would become the duty of the\ncourts of justice _within_ such colony (it is undoubtedly of their\njurisdiction so to do) to issue the writ of _habeas corpus_[111].\n\nHence also it is, that in like manner as \"the _command and\ndisposition of the militia, and of all forces by sea and land_,\nand of all forts and places of strength, is, and by the laws of\nEngland ever was, the undoubted right of his majesty and his royal\npredecessors, kings and queens of England, within all his majesty's\nrealms and dominions[112],\" in like manner as the supreme military\npower and command (so far as the constitution knows of and will\njustify its establishment) is inseparably annexed to, and forms\nan essential part of the office of supreme civil magistrate, the\noffice of king: in like manner, in all _governments under the king_,\nwhere the constituents are British subjects and of full and perfect\nright entitled to the British laws and constitution, the supreme\nmilitary command within the precincts of such jurisdictions must\nbe inseparably annexed to the office of supreme civil magistrate,\n(his majesty's regent, vice-regent, lieutenant, or locum tenens, in\nwhat form soever established) so that the king cannot, by any[113]\ncommission of regency, by any commission or charter of government,\nseparate or withdraw the supreme command of the military from the\noffice of supreme civil magistrate--either by reserving this command\nin his own hands, to be exercised and executed independent of the\ncivil power; or by granting a distinct commission to any military\ncommander in chief, so to be exercised and executed; but more\nespecially not within such jurisdictions where such supreme military\npower (so far as the constitution knows and will justify the same)\nis _already_ annexed and granted to the office of supreme civil\nmagistrate.--And hence it is, that the king cannot erect or establish\nany law martial or military command, by any commission which may\nsupersede and not be subject to the supreme civil magistrate,\nwithin the respective precincts of the civil jurisdictions of said\ncolonies and plantations, otherwise than in such manner as the said\nlaw martial and military commissions are annexed or subject to the\nsupreme civil jurisdiction within his majesty's realms and dominions\nof Great Britain and Ireland; and hence it is, that the establishment\nand exercise of such commands and commissions would be illegal[114].\n\nRem. _The king has the command of all military force in his\ndominions: but in every distinct state of his dominions there should\nbe the consent of the parliament or assembly (the representative\nbody) to the_ raising and keeping up _such military force. He cannot\neven raise troops and quarter them in another, without the consent\nof that other. He cannot_ of right _bring troops raised in Ireland\nand quarter them in Britain, but with the consent of the parliament\nof Britain: nor carry to Ireland and quarter there, soldiers raised\nin Britain, without the consent of the Irish parliament, unless in\ntime of war and cases of extreme exigency.--In 1756, when the Speaker\nwent up to present the money-bills, he said among other things,\nthat \"England was capable of fighting her own battles and defending\nherself; and although ever attached to your majesty's person, ever at\nease under your just government, they cannot forbear taking notice\nof some circumstances in the present situation of affairs, which\nnothing but the confidence in your justice could hinder from alarming\ntheir most serious apprehensions. Subsidies to foreign princes, when\nalready burthened with a debt scarce to be borne, cannot but be\nseverely felt._ An army of foreign troops, a thing unprecedented,\nunheard of, unknown, brought into England, _cannot but alarm, &c.\n&c._\" (_See the Speech._)\n\n_N. B. These_ foreign troops _were part of the king's subjects,\nHanoverians, and all in _his_ service, which the same thing as_**** B.\nF.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[104] This State of the Constitution of the Colonies was printed\nat the close of 1769, and communicated to various persons, with a\nview to prevent mischief, from the misunderstandings between the\ngovernment of Great Britain and the people of America. I have taken\nthe liberty of ascribing it to governor Pownall, as his name could\nhave been no secret at the time. Dr. Franklin's remarks (which from\ntheir early date are the more curious) are in manuscript, and from an\nobservation in reply signed T. P. appear to have been communicated to\ngovernor Pownall. B. V.\n\n[105] Pratt and York.\n\n[106] General words in all charters.\n\n[107] [i. e.] All statutes respecting the general relation between\nthe crown and the subject, not such as respect any particular or\npeculiar establishment of the realm of England. As for instance: by\nthe 13th and 14th of Car. II. c. 2, the supreme military power is\ndeclared to be in general, without limitation, in his majesty, and to\nhave always been of right annexed to the office of king of England,\nthroughout all his majesty's realms and dominions; yet the enacting\nclause, which respects only the peculiar establishment of the militia\nof England, extends to the realm of England only: so that the supreme\nmilitary power of the crown in all other his majesty's realms and\ndominions stands, _as to this statute_, on the basis of its general\npower, unlimited. However, the several legislatures of his majesty's\nkingdom of Ireland, of his dominions of Virginia, and of the several\ncolonies and plantations in America, have, by laws to which the king\nhath given his consent, operating within the precincts of their\nseveral jurisdictions, limited the powers of it and regulated the\nexercise thereof.\n\n[108] Law in New England, confirmed by the crown, Oct. 22, 1700.\n\n[109] 16th Car. I. c. 10.\n\n[110] The case of the court erected by act of parliament 11 and\n12th of William III. c. 7, (since the enacting of the habeas corpus\nact) for the trial of piracies, felonies and robberies committed in\nor upon the sea, or in any haven, river, creek or place _where the\nadmiral has jurisdiction_, does no way affect this position: nor doth\nthe 14 \u00a7 of the said statute, directing that the commissioners, of\nwhom such court consists, may issue their warrant for apprehending\nsuch pirates, &c. in order to their being tried in the colonies,\nor _sent into England_, any way militate with the doctrine here\nlaid down: nor can it be applied as _the case of a jurisdiction\nactually existing_, which supersedes the jurisdictions of the courts\nin the colonies and plantations, and as what authorises the taking\nthe accused of such piracies &c. _from those jurisdictions_, and\nthe sending such _so taken_ to England for trial.--It cannot be\napplied as a case similar and in point to the application of an act\nof parliament (passed in the 35th of Henry VIII. concerning the\n_trial of treasons_) lately recommended in order to the sending\npersons accused of committing crimes in the plantations to England\nfor trial: because this act of the 11th and 12th of William, c.\n7, respects _crimes_ committed in places, \"_where the admiral has\njurisdiction_,\" and _cases_ to which the jurisdiction of those\nprovincial courts _do not extend_. In the _case of treasons committed\nwithin the jurisdiction of the colonies and plantations_, there are\ncourts competent to try such crimes and to give judgment thereupon,\nwhere the trials of such are regulated by laws to which the king\nhath given his consent: from which there lies no appeal, and wherein\nthe king hath given power and instruction to his governor as to\nexecution or respite of judgment. The said act of Henry VIII, which\nprovides remedy for a case which supposes _the want_ of due legal\njurisdiction, cannot be any way, or by any rule, applied to a case\nwhere there _is_ due legal and competent jurisdiction.\n\n[111] [The] referring to an old act made for the trial of treasons\ncommitted out of the realm, by such persons as had no legal resiancy\nbut within the realm, and who were of the realm, applying the purview\nof that statute, which was made to bring subjects of the realm who\nhad committed treason out of the realm (where there was _no criminal\njurisdiction to which they could be amenable_) to trial within the\nrealm, under that criminal jurisdiction to which alone by their\nlegal resiancy and allegiance they were amenable; applying this to\nthe case of subjects whose _legal_ resiancy is _without_ the realm,\nand who are by that resiancy and their allegiance amenable to a\njurisdiction authorized and empowered to try and give judgment upon\nall capital offences whatsoever without appeal; thus applying this\nstatute so as to take up a proceeding, for which there is no legal\nprocess either by common or statute law as now established, but in\ndefiance of which there is a legal process established by the habeas\ncorpus act;----would be, to disfranchise the subject in America of\nthose rights and liberties which by statute and common law he is now\nentitled to.\n\n[112] 13th and 14th Car. II. c. 2.\n\n[113] If the king was to absent himself for a time from the realm,\nand did as usual leave a regency in his place, (his locum tenens\nas supreme civil magistrate) could he authorize and commission any\nmilitary commander in chief to command the militia forts and forces,\n_independent of such regency_? Could he do this in Ireland? Could\nhe do this in the colonies and plantations, where the governor is\nalready, by commission or charter or both under the great seal,\nmilitary commander in chief, as part of (and inseparably annexed\nto) the office of supreme civil magistrate, his majesty's locum\ntenens within said jurisdictions? If he could, then, while openly,\nby patent according to law, he appeared to establish a free British\nconstitution, he might by a fallacy establish a military power and\ngovernment.\n\n[114] Governor P. accompanied this paper to Dr. F. with a sort\nof prophetic remark. After stating, that these theorems, and\ntheir application to existing cases, were intended to remedy the\nprejudice, indigestion, indecision and errors, then prevailing\neither in opinions or conduct; he adds, \"the very attention to the\ninvestigation may lead to the discovery of _some truths respecting\nthe whole British empire_, then little thought of and scarce even\nsuspected, and which perhaps it would not be _prudent_ at this time\nto mark and point out.\"--The minister however judged the _discussion_\nof _dubious_ rights over growing states, a better policy than\npossession, discretion and silence; he turned civilian, and lost an\nempire. B. V.\n\n\n\n\nTO MR. DUBOURG.\n\n _Concerning the Dissentions between England and America._[115]\n\n\n _London, October 2, 1770._\n\nI see with pleasure that we think pretty much alike on the subjects\nof English America. We of the colonies have never insisted, that we\nought to be exempt from contributing to the common expences necessary\nto support the prosperity of the empire. We only assert, that having\nparliaments of our own, and not having representatives in that of\nGreat Britain, our parliaments are the only judges of what we can\nand what we ought to contribute in this case; and that the English\nparliament has no right to take our money without our consent. In\nfact, the British empire is not a single state; it comprehends many;\nand though the parliament of Great Britain has arrogated to itself\nthe power of taxing the colonies, it has no more right to do so,\nthan it has to tax Hanover. We have the same king, but not the same\nlegislatures.\n\nThe dispute between the two countries has already cost England many\nmillions sterling, which it has lost in its commerce, and America has\nin this respect been a proportionable gainer. This commerce consisted\nprincipally of superfluities; objects of luxury and fashion, which we\ncan well do without; and the resolution we have formed, of importing\nno more till our grievances are redressed, has enabled many of our\ninfant manufactures to take root; and it will not be easy to make our\npeople abandon them in future, even should a connection more cordial\nthan ever succeed the present troubles. I have indeed no doubt,\nthat the parliament of England will finally abandon its present\npretensions, and leave us to the peaceable enjoyment of our rights\nand privileges.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[115] Re-translated from the French edition of Dr. Franklin's works.\n_Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _A Prussian Edict, assuming Claims over Britain._\n\n\n _Dantzick, Sept. 5, 1773._[116]\n\nWe have long wondered here at the supineness of the English nation,\nunder the Prussian impositions upon its trade entering our port. We\ndid not, till lately, know the claims, ancient and modern, that hang\nover that nation, and therefore could not suspect, that it might\nsubmit to those impositions from a sense of duty, or from principles\nof equity. The following edict, just made public, may, if serious,\nthrow some light upon this matter:\n\n\"FREDERICK, by the grace of God, king of Prussia &c. &c. &c. to all\npresent and to come,[117] health. The peace now enjoyed throughout\nour dominions, having afforded us leisure to apply ourselves to the\nregulation of commerce, the improvement of our finances, and at the\nsame time the easing our _domestic_ subjects in their taxes: for\nthese causes, and other good considerations us thereunto moving, we\nhereby make known, that, after having deliberated these affairs in\nour council, present our dear brothers, and other great officers of\nthe state, members of the same; we, of our certain knowledge, full\npower, and authority royal, have made and issued this present edict,\nviz.\n\n\"Whereas it is well known to all the world, that the first German\nsettlements made in the island of Britain, were by colonies of\npeople, subjects to our renowned ducal ancestors, and drawn from\ntheir dominions, under the conduct of Hengist, Horsa, Hella, Uffa,\nCerdicus, Ida, and others; and that the said colonies have flourished\nunder the protection of our august house, for ages past, have never\nbeen emancipated therefrom, and yet have hitherto yielded little\nprofit to the same: and whereas we ourself have in the last war\nfought for and defended the said colonies, against the power of\nFrance, and thereby enabled them to make conquests from the said\npower in America, for which we have not yet received adequate\ncompensation: and whereas it is just and expedient that a revenue\nshould be raised from the said colonies in Britain towards our\nindemnification; and that those who are descendants of our ancient\nsubjects, and thence still owe us due obedience, should contribute to\nthe replenishing of our royal coffers: (as they must have done, had\ntheir ancestors remained in the territories now to us appertaining)\nwe do therefore hereby ordain and command, that, from and after\nthe date of these presents, there shall be levied and paid to our\nofficers of the _customs_, on all goods, wares, and merchandizes,\nand on all grain and other produce of the earth, exported from the\nsaid island of Britain, and on all goods of whatever kind imported\ninto the same, a duty of four and a half per cent ad valorem, for\nthe use of us and our successors.--And that the said duty may more\neffectually be collected, we do hereby ordain, that all ships or\nvessels bound from Great Britain to any other part of the world, or\nfrom any other part of the world to Great Britain, shall in their\nrespective voyages touch at our port of Koningsberg, there to be\nunladen, searched, and charged with the said duties.\n\n\"And whereas there hath been from time to time discovered in the\nsaid island of Great Britain, by our colonists there, many mines or\nbeds of _iron_-stone; and sundry subjects of our ancient dominion,\nskilful in converting the said stone into metal, have in time past\ntransported themselves thither, carrying with them and communicating\nthat art; and the inhabitants of the said island, presuming that\nthey had a natural right to make the best use they could of the\nnatural productions of their country, for their own benefit, have\nnot only built furnaces for smelting the said stone into iron, but\nhave erected plating-forges, slitting-mills, and steel-furnaces, for\nthe more convenient manufacturing of the same, thereby endangering\na diminution of the said manufacture in our ancient dominion; we\ndo therefore hereby farther ordain, that, from and after the date\nhereof, no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or\nany plating-forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any furnace for\nmaking steel, shall be erected or continued in the said island of\nGreat Britain: and the lord lieutenant of every county in the said\nisland is hereby commanded, on information of any such erection\nwithin his county, to order, and by force to cause the same to be\nabated and destroyed, as he shall answer the neglect thereof to us\nat his peril. But we are nevertheless graciously pleased to permit\nthe inhabitants of the said island to transport their iron into\nPrussia, there to be manufactured, and to them returned, they paying\nour Prussian subjects for the workmanship, with all the costs of\ncommission, freight, and risk, coming and returning; any thing herein\ncontained to the contrary notwithstanding.\n\n\"We do not, however, think fit to extend this our indulgence to\nthe article of _wool_; but meaning to encourage not only the\nmanufacturing of woollen cloth, but also the raising of wool in\nour ancient dominions, and to prevent both, as much as may be, in\nour said island, we do hereby absolutely forbid the transportation\nof wool from thence even to the mother-country, Prussia: and that\nthose islanders may be farther and more effectually restrained in\nmaking any advantage of their own wool, in the way of manufacture,\nwe command, that none shall be carried out of one country into\nanother; nor shall any worsted, bay, or woollen-yarn, cloth, says,\nbays, kerseys, serges, frizes, druggets, cloth-serges, shalloons, or\nany other drapery stuffs or woollen manufactures whatsoever, made\nup or mixed with wool in any of the said counties, be carried into\nany other county, or be water-borne even across the smallest river\nor creek, on penalty of forfeiture of the same, together, with the\nboats, carriages, horses, &c. that shall be employed in removing\nthem.--Nevertheless, our loving subjects there are hereby permitted\n(if they think proper) to use all their wool as manure, for the\nimprovement of their lands.\n\n\"And whereas the art and mystery of making _hats_ hath arrived at\ngreat perfection in Prussia, and the making of hats by our remoter\nsubjects ought to be as much as possible restrained: and forasmuch\nas the islanders before mentioned, being in possession of wool,\nbeaver, and other furs, have presumptuously conceived they had a\nright to make some advantage thereof, by manufacturing the same into\nhats, to the prejudice of our domestic manufacture: we do therefore\nhereby strictly command and ordain, that no hats or felts whatsoever,\ndyed or undyed, finished or unfinished, shall be loaden or put into\nor upon any vessel, cart, carriage, or horse, to be transported or\nconveyed out of one county in the said island into another county, or\nto any other place whatsoever, by any person or persons whatsoever,\non pain of forfeiting the same, with a penalty of five hundred\npounds sterling for every offence. Nor shall any hat-maker in any\nof the said counties employ more than two apprentices, on penalty\nof five pounds sterling per month: we intending hereby that such\nhat-makers, being so restrained, both in the production and sale of\ntheir commodity, may find no advantage in continuing their business.\nBut, lest the said islanders should suffer inconveniency by the want\nof hats, we are farther graciously pleased to permit them to send\ntheir beaver furs to Prussia, and we also permit hats made thereof to\nbe exported from Prussia to Britain; the people thus favored to pay\nall costs and charges of manufacturing, interest, commission to our\nmerchants, insurance and freight going and returning, as in the case\nof iron.\n\n\"And lastly, being willing farther to favour our said colonies\nin Britain, we do hereby also ordain and command, that all the\n_thieves_, highway and street robbers, housebreakers, forgerers,\nmurderers, s--d--tes, and villains of every denomination, who have\nforfeited their lives to the law in Prussia, but whom we, in our\ngreat clemency, do not think fit here to hang, shall be emptied out\nof our gaols into the said island of Great Britain, for the better\npeopling of that country.\n\n\"We flatter ourselves, that these our royal regulations and commands\nwill be thought _just and reasonable_ by our much-favoured colonists\nin England; the said regulations being copied from their statutes\nof 10 and 11 Will. III. c. 10.--5 Geo. II. c. 22.--23 Geo. II. c.\n29.--4 Geo. I. c. 11. and from other equitable laws made by their\nparliaments, or from instructions given by their princes, or from\nresolutions of both houses, entered into for the good government of\ntheir _own colonies in Ireland and America_.\n\n\"And all persons in the said island are hereby cautioned, not to\noppose in any wise the execution of this our edict, or any part\nthereof, such opposition being high-treason; of which all who are\nsuspected shall be transported in fetters from Britain to Prussia,\nthere to be tried and executed according to the Prussian law.\n\n \"Such is our pleasure.\n\n \"Given at Potsdam, this twenty-fifth day of the month of August,\n one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the\n thirty-third year of our reign.\n\n \"By the king, in his council.\n\n \"RECHTM\u00c6SSIG, Sec.\"\n\n\nSome take this edict to be merely one of the king's _jeux d'esprit_:\nothers suppose it serious, and that he means a quarrel with England:\nbut all here think the assertion it concludes with, \"that these\nregulations are copied from acts of the English parliament respecting\ntheir colonies,\" a very injurious one; it being impossible to\nbelieve, that a people distinguished for their love of liberty; a\nnation so wise, so liberal in its sentiments, so just and equitable\ntowards its neighbours, should, from mean and injudicious views\nof petty immediate profit, treat its own children in a manner so\narbitrary and tyrannical!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[116] This _intelligence extraordinary_, I believe, first appeared in\nthe Public Advertiser. I have reprinted it from a copy which I found\nin the Gentleman's Magazine. B. V.\n\n[117] _A tous presens et \u00e0 venir._ ORIGINAL.\n\n\n\n\n _Preface by the British Editor [Dr. Franklin] to \"The Votes and\n Proceedings of the Freeholders, and other Inhabitants of the Town\n of Boston, in Town-Meeting assembled according to Law (published by\n Order of the Town), &c[118]._\"\n\n\nAll accounts of the discontent, so general in our colonies, have\nof late years been industriously smothered and concealed here, it\nseeming to suit the views of the American minister[119] to have it\nunderstood, that by his great abilities, all faction was subdued,\nall opposition suppressed, and the whole country quieted. That the\ntrue state of affairs there may be known, and the true causes of that\ndiscontent well understood, the following piece (not the production\nof a private writer, but the unanimous act of a large American city)\nlately printed in New England, is republished here. This nation, and\nthe other nations of Europe, may thereby learn, with more certainty,\nthe grounds of a dissention, that possibly may, sooner or later, have\nconsequences interesting to them all.\n\nThe colonies had, from their first settlement, been governed with\nmore ease than perhaps can be equalled by any instance in history\nof dominions so distant. Their affection and respect for this\ncountry, while they were treated with kindness, produced an almost\nimplicit obedience to the instructions of the prince, and even to\nacts of the British parliament, though the right of binding them by\na legislature, in which they were unrepresented, was never clearly\nunderstood. That respect and affection produced a partiality in\nfavour of every thing that was English; whence their preference of\nEnglish modes and manufactures; their submission to restraints on\nthe importation of foreign goods, which they had but little desire\nto use; and the monopoly we so long enjoyed of their commerce, to\nthe great enriching of our merchants and artificers. The mistaken\npolicy of the stamp act first disturbed this happy situation; but the\nflame thereby raised was soon extinguished by its repeal, and the old\nharmony restored, with all its concomitant advantage to our commerce.\nThe subsequent act of another administration, which, not content\nwith an established exclusion of foreign manufactures, began to make\nour own merchandize dearer to the consumers there by heavy duties,\nrevived it again; and combinations were entered into throughout the\ncontinent, to stop trading with Britain till those duties should be\nrepealed. All were accordingly repealed but one--_the duty on tea_.\nThis was reserved (professedly so) as a standing claim and exercise\nof the right, assumed by parliament, of laying such duties[120].\nThe colonies, on this repeal, retracted their agreement, so far\nas related to all other goods, except that on which the duty was\nretained. This was trumpeted here by the minister for the colonies\nas a triumph; there it was considered only as a decent and equitable\nmeasure, showing a willingness to meet the mother-country in\nevery advance towards a reconciliation; and this disposition to\na good understanding was so prevalent, that possibly they might\nsoon have relaxed in the article of tea also. But the system of\ncommissioners of customs, officers without end, with fleets and\narmies for collecting and enforcing those duties, being continued;\nand these acting with much indiscretion and rashness (giving great\nand unnecessary trouble and obstruction to business, commencing\nunjust and vexatious suits, and harassing commerce in all its\nbranches, while that minister kept the people in a constant state of\nirritation by instructions which appeared to have no other end than\nthe gratifying his private resentment[121]) occasioned a persevering\nadherence to their resolutions in that particular; and the event\nshould be a lesson to ministers, not to risque, through pique, the\nobstructing any one branch of trade; since the course and connection\nof general business may be thereby disturbed to a degree, impossible\nto be foreseen or imagined. For it appears, that the colonies,\nfinding their humble petitions to have this duty repealed were\nrejected and treated with contempt, and that the produce of the duty\nwas applied to the rewarding, with undeserved salaries and pensions,\nevery one of their enemies; the duty itself became more odious, and\ntheir resolution to starve it more vigorous and obstinate. The Dutch,\nthe Danes, and French, took this opportunity, thus offered them by\nour imprudence, and began to smuggle their teas into the plantations.\nAt first this was something difficult; but at length, as all business\nis improved by practice, it became easy. A coast fifteen hundred\nmiles in length could not in all parts be guarded, even by the whole\nnavy of England; especially where their restraining authority was\nby all the inhabitants deemed unconstitutional, the smuggling of\ncourse considered as patriotism. The needy wretches too, who, with\nsmall salaries, were trusted to watch the ports day and night, in all\nweathers, found it easier and more profitable, not only to wink, but\nto sleep in their beds; the merchants' pay being more generous than\nthe king's. Other India goods also, which, by themselves, would not\nhave made a smuggling voyage sufficiently profitable, accompanied\ntea to advantage; and it is feared the cheap French silks, formerly\nrejected as not to the taste of the colonies, may have found their\nway with the wares of India, and now established themselves in the\npopular use and opinion.\n\nIt is supposed, that at least a million of Americans drink tea\ntwice a day, which, at the first cost here, can scarce be reckoned\nat less than half-a-guinea a head per annum. This market, that,\nin the five years which have run on since the act passed, would\nhave paid 2,500,000 guineas for tea alone into the coffers of the\ncompany, we have wantonly lost to foreigners. Meanwhile it is said\nthe duties have so diminished, that the whole remittance of the\nlast year amounted to no more than the pitiful sum of 85_l._[122]\nfor the expence of some hundred thousands, in armed ships and\nsoldiers to support the officers. Hence the tea, and other India\ngoods, which might have been sold in America, remain rotting in the\ncompany's warehouses[123]; while those of foreign ports are known\nto be cleared by the American demand. Hence, in some degree, the\ncompany's inability to pay their bills; the sinking of their stock,\nby which millions of property have been annihilated; the lowering\nof their dividend, whereby so many must be distressed; the loss to\ngovernment of the stipulated 400,000_l._ a year[124], which must\nmake a proportionable reduction in our savings towards the discharge\nof our enormous debt: and hence in part the severe blow suffered by\ncredit in general[125], to the ruin of many families; the stagnation\nof business in Spitalfields and at Manchester, through want of vent\nfor their goods; with other future evils, which, as they cannot, from\nthe numerous and secret connections in general commerce, easily be\nforeseen, can hardly be avoided.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[118] \"Boston printed: London reprinted, and sold by J. Wilkie, in\nSt. Paul's Church-yard. 1773.\"--I have given the reader _only the\npreface_.\n\nIt is said, that this little piece very much irritated the ministry.\nIt was their determination, that the Americans should receive teas\nonly from Great Britain. And accordingly the East-India company\nsent out large cargoes under their protection. The colonists every\nwhere refused, either entrance, or else permission of sale, except\nat Boston, where, the force of government preventing more moderate\nmeasures, certain persons in disguise threw it into the sea.\n\nThe preamble of the stamp act produced the tea act; the tea act\nproduced violence; violence, acts of parliament; acts of parliament,\na revolt.\n\n----\"A little neglect,\" says _poor Richard_, \"may breed great\nmischief: for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe\nthe horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost; being\novertaken and slain by the _enemy_; all for want of a little care\nabout a horse-shoe nail.\" B. V.\n\n[119] Lord Hilsborough.--This nobleman, already first lord of trade,\nwas introduced in 1768 into the _new-titled office_ of secretary of\nstate for the colonies. B. V.\n\n[120] Mr. Burke tells us (in his speech in 1774) that this\npreambulary tax had lost us at once the benefit of the west and of\nthe east; had thrown open folding-doors to contraband; and would be\nthe means of giving the profits of the colony-trade to every nation\nbut ourselves. He adds in the same place, \"It is indeed a tax of\nsophistry, a tax of pedantry, a tax of disputation, a tax of war\nand rebellion, a tax for any thing but benefit to the imposers, or\nsatisfaction to the subject.\" B. V.\n\n[121] Some of his circular letters had been criticised, and exposed\nby one or two of the American assemblies.\n\n[122] \"Eighty-five pounds I am assured, my lords, is the whole\nequivalent, we have received for all the hatred and mischief, and\nall the infinite losses this kingdom has suffered during that year,\nin her disputes with North America.\" See the bishop of St. Asaph's\nintended speech. B. V.\n\n[123] At this time they contained many millions of pounds of tea,\nincluding the usual stock on hand. Mr. Burke, in his speech in 1774,\nsupposes, that America might have given a vent for ten millions\nof pounds. This seems to have been the greater part of the whole\nquantity. B. V.\n\n[124] On account of a temporary compromise of certain disputes with\ngovernment. B. V.\n\n[125] Seen in certain memorable mercantile failures in the year 1772.\nB. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Account of Governor Hutchinson's Letters[126]._\n\n TO THE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL IN WAITING.\n\n (Copy.)\n\n\n _Whitehall, Dec. 3, 1773._\n\n SIR,\n\nThe agent for the house of representatives of the province of\nMassachusett's Bay [Dr. Franklin] having delivered to lord\nDartmouth, an address of that house to the king, signed by their\nspeaker; complaining of the conduct of the governor [Hutchinson] and\nlieutenant governor [Andrew Oliver] of that province, in respect to\ncertain private letters written by them to their correspondent in\nEngland, and praying that they may be removed from their posts in\nthat government; his lordship hath presented the said address to his\nmajesty, and his majesty having signified his pleasure, that the said\naddress should be laid before his majesty in his privy council, I am\ndirected by lord Dartmouth to transmit the same accordingly, together\nwith a copy of the agent's letter to his lordship, accompanying the\nsaid address.\n\n I am, sir,\n\n Your most obedient humble servant,\n\n (Signed) J. POWNALL.\n\n\nTO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH.\n\n (Copy.)\n\n _London, Aug. 21, 1773._\n\n MY LORD,\n\nI have just received from the house of representatives of the\nMassachusett's Bay, their address to the king, which I now inclose,\nand send to your lordship, with my humble request in their behalf,\nthat you would be pleased to present it to his majesty the first\nconvenient opportunity.\n\nI have the pleasure of hearing from that province by my late letters,\nthat a sincere disposition prevails in the people there to be on good\nterms with the mother-country; that the assembly have declared their\ndesire only to be put into the situation they were in before the\nstamp act: _They aim at no novelties_. And it is said, that having\nlately discovered, as they think, the authors of their grievances\nto be some of their own people, their resentment against Britain is\nthence much abated.\n\nThis good disposition of theirs (will your lordship permit me to say)\nmay be cultivated by a favourable answer to this address, which I\ntherefore hope your goodness will endeavour to obtain.\n\n With the greatest respect,\n\n I have the honour to be, my lord, &c.\n\n B. FRANKLIN,\n\n _Agent for the House of Representatives_.\n\n\nTHE PETITION.\n\nTO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.\n\n MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,\n\nWe your majesty's loyal subjects, the representatives of your ancient\ncolony of Massachusett's Bay, in general court legally assembled,\nby virtue of your majesty's writ under the hand and seal of the\ngovernor, beg leave to lay this our humble petition before your\nmajesty.\n\nNothing but the sense of duty we owe to our sovereign, and the\nobligation we are under to consult the peace and safety of the\nprovince, could induce us to remonstrate to your majesty [concerning]\nthe mal-conduct of persons, who have heretofore had the confidence\nand esteem of this people; and whom your majesty has been pleased,\nfrom the purest motives of rendering your subjects happy, to advance\nto the highest places of trust and authority in the province.\n\nYour majesty's humble petitioners, with the deepest concern and\nanxiety, have seen the discords and animosities which have too long\nsubsisted between your subjects of the parent-state and those of the\nAmerican colonies. And we have trembled with apprehensions, that the\nconsequences, naturally arising therefrom, would at length prove\nfatal to both countries.\n\nPermit us humbly to suggest to your majesty, that your subjects here\nhave been inclined to believe, that the grievances which they have\nsuffered, and still continue to suffer, have been occasioned by your\nmajesty's ministers and principal servants being, unfortunately for\nus, _misinformed_ in certain facts of very interesting importance to\nus. It is for this reason that former assemblies have, from time to\ntime, prepared a true state of facts to be laid before your majesty;\nbut their humble remonstrances and petitions, it is presumed, have by\nsome means been prevented from reaching your royal hand.\n\nYour majesty's petitioners have very lately had before them _certain\npapers_, from which they humbly conceive, it is most reasonable\nto suppose, that there has been long a conspiracy of evil men in\nthis province, who have contemplated measures and formed a plan\nto advance themselves to power, and raise their own fortunes, by\nmeans destructive of the charter of the province, at the expence of\nthe quiet of the nation, and to the annihilating of the rights and\nliberties of the American colonies.\n\nAnd we do with all due submission to your majesty beg leave\nparticularly to complain of the conduct of his excellency Thomas\nHutchinson, Esq. governor, and the honourable Andrew Oliver, Esq.\nlieutenant-governor of this your majesty's province, as having a\nnatural and efficacious tendency to interrupt and alienate the\naffections of your majesty, our rightful sovereign, from this your\nloyal province; to destroy that harmony and good-will between Great\nBritain and this colony, which every honest subject should strive to\nestablish; to excite the resentment of the British administration\nagainst this province; to defeat the endeavours of our agents and\nfriends to serve us by a fair representation of our state of facts;\nto prevent our humble and repeated petitions from reaching the ear\nof your majesty, or having their desired effect. And finally, that\nthe said Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver have been among the\nchief instruments in introducing a fleet and army into this province,\nto establish and perpetuate their plans, whereby they have been not\nonly greatly instrumental [in] disturbing the peace and harmony\nof the government, and causing unnatural and hateful discords and\nanimosities between the several parts of your majesty's extensive\ndominions; but are justly chargeable with all that corruption of\nmorals, and all that confusion, misery, and bloodshed, which have\nbeen the natural effects of posting an army in a populous town.\n\nWherefore we most humbly pray, that your majesty would be pleased\nto remove from their posts in this government the said Thomas\nHutchinson, Esquire, and Andrew Oliver, Esquire; who have, by\ntheir above-mentioned conduct, and otherwise, rendered themselves\njustly obnoxious to your loving subjects, and entirely lost their\nconfidence; and place such good and faithful men in their stead, as\nyour majesty in your wisdom shall think fit.\n\n In the name and by order of the house of\n representatives,\n\n THOMAS CUSHING, _Speaker_.\n\n\nTO THE LORDS COMMITTEE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRIVY COUNCIL FOR PLANTATION\nAFFAIRS.\n\n THE PETITION OF ISRAEL MAUDUIT,\n\n _Humbly sheweth unto your lordships_,\n\nThat having been informed, that an address, in the name of\nthe house of representatives of his majesty's colony of\nMassachusett's Bay, has been presented to his majesty by Benjamin\nFranklin, Esquire, praying the removal of his majesty's governor\nand lieutenant-governor, which is appointed to be taken into\nconsideration on Thursday next; your petitioner, on the behalf of the\nsaid governor and lieutenant governor, humbly prays, that he may be\nheard by counsel in relation to the same, before your lordships shall\nmake any report on the said address.\n\n ISRAEL MAUDUIT.\n\n _Clement's Lane, Jan. 10, 1775._\n\n\n _The Examination of Dr. Franklin, at the Council Chamber, Jan. 17,\n 1774[127]. Present, Lord President, the Secretaries of State, and\n many other Lords; Dr. Franklin and Mr. Bollan; Mr. Mauduit and Mr.\n Wedderburn._\n\nDr. Franklin's Letter and the Address, Mr. Pownall's Letter, and\nMr. Mauduit's Petition, were read.\n\n_Mr. Wedderburn._ The address mentions certain papers: I could wish\nto be informed what are those papers?\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ They are the letters of Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver.\n\n_Court._ Have you brought them?\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ No, but here are attested copies.\n\n_Court._ Do you mean to found a charge upon them? if you do, you must\nproduce the letters.\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ These copies are attested by several gentlemen at\nBoston, and a notary public.\n\n_Mr. Wedderburn._ My lords, we shall not take advantage of any\nimperfection in the proof. We admit that the letters are Mr.\nHutchinson's and Mr. Oliver's hand writing: reserving to ourselves\nthe right of inquiring how they were obtained.\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ I did not expect that counsel would have been\nemployed on this occasion.\n\n_Court._ Had you not notice sent you of Mr. Mauduit's having\npetitioned to be heard by counsel on behalf of the governor and\nlieutenant governor.\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ I did receive such notice; but I thought this had\nbeen a matter of _politics_, not of law, and have not brought my\ncounsel.\n\n_Court._ Where a charge is brought, the parties have a right to be\nheard by counsel or not, as they choose.\n\n_Mr. Mauduit._ My lords, I am not a native of that country, as these\ngentlemen are. I know well Dr. Franklin's abilities, and wish to\nput the defence of my friends more upon a parity with the attack;\nhe will not therefore wonder that I choose to appear before your\nlordships with the assistance of counsel. My friends, in their\nletters to me, have desired (if any proceedings, as they say, should\nbe had upon this address) that they may have a hearing in their own\njustification, that their innocence may be fully cleared, and their\nhonour vindicated, and have made provision accordingly. I do not\nthink myself at liberty therefore to give up the assistance of my\ncounsel, in defending them against this unjust accusation.\n\n_Court._ Dr. Franklin may have the assistance of counsel, or go on\nwithout it, as he shall choose.\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ I desire to have counsel.\n\n_Court._ What time do you want?\n\n_Dr. Franklin._ Three weeks.\n\n_Ordered_ that the further proceedings be on Saturday 29th\ninstant[128].\n\n\n_To the Printer of the Public Advertiser._[129]\n\n SIR,\n\nFinding that two gentlemen have been unfortunately engaged in a duel\nabout a transaction and its circumstances, of which both of them\nare totally ignorant and innocent, I think it incumbent upon me to\ndeclare (for the prevention of farther mischief, as far as such a\ndeclaration may contribute to prevent it) that I alone am the person,\nwho obtained and transmitted to Boston the letters in question.\nMr. W. could not communicate them, because they were never in his\npossession; and for the same reason they could not be taken from him\nby Mr. T. They were not of the nature of _private_ letters between\nfriends. They were written by public officers to persons in public\nstations, on public affairs, and intended to procure public measures;\nthey were therefore handed to other public persons, who might be\ninfluenced by them to produce those measures. Their tendency was to\nincense the mother-country against her colonies, and, by the steps\nrecommended, to widen the breach, which they effected. The chief\ncaution expressed with regard to privacy was, to keep their contents\nfrom the colony agents, who, the writers apprehended, might return\nthem, or copies of them, to America. That apprehension was, it seems,\nwell founded, for the first agent who laid his hands on them thought\nit his duty to transmit them to his constituents[130].\n\n _Craven Street, Dec. 25, 1773._\n\n B. FRANKLIN,\n\n _Agent for the House of Representatives\n of the Massachusett's Bay_.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[126] Governor Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor Andrew Oliver,\nCharles Paxton, Esq. Nathaniel Rogers, Esq. and Mr. G. Roome,\nhaving sent from Boston certain representations and informations\nto Thomas Whately, Esq. member of parliament, private secretary to\nMr. George Grenville (the father of the stamp act) when in office,\nand afterwards one of the lords of trade; these letters were, by a\nparticular channel, conveyed back to Boston. The assembly of the\nprovince were so much exasperated, that they returned home attested\ncopies of the letters, accompanied with a petition and remonstrance,\nfor the removal of governor Hutchinson, and lieutenant-governor\nAndrew Oliver, from their posts. The council of the province\nlikewise, on their part, entered into thirteen resolves, in tendency\nand import similar to the petition of the assembly; five of which\nresolves were unanimous, and only one of them had so many as three\ndissentients. In consequence of the assembly's petition, the above\nproceedings and examination took place.\n\nDr. Franklin having naturally a large share in these transactions,\nmade still larger by the impolitic and indecent persecution of his\ncharacter, I have exhibited the whole more at length, than I should\notherwise have thought proper. B. V.\n\n[127] The editor has taken this examination from Mr. Mauduit's copy\nof the Letters of Governor Hutchinson, &c. second edition, 1774,\np. 17. He has Mr. Mauduit's authority for supposing it faithfully\nrepresented. B. V.\n\n[128] The privy council accordingly met on the 29th of January,\n1774, when Mr. Dunning and Mr. John Lee appeared as counsel for\nthe assembly, and Mr. Wedderburn as counsel for the governor and\nlieutenant governor. Mr. Wedderburn was very long in his answer,\nwhich chiefly related to the mode of obtaining and sending away Mr.\nWhately's letters; and spoke of Dr. Franklin in terms of abuse, which\nnever escape from one gentleman towards another. In the event, the\ncommittee of the privy council made a report, in which was expressed\nthe following opinion: \"The lords of the committee do agree humbly\nto report, as their opinion to your majesty, that the petition is\nfounded upon resolutions formed on false and erroneous allegations;\nand is groundless, vexatious, and scandalous, and calculated only\nfor the seditious purposes of keeping up a spirit of clamour and\ndiscontent in the said province. And the lords of the committee do\nfurther humbly report to your majesty, that nothing has been laid\nbefore them which does or can, in their opinion, in any manner, or\nin any degree, impeach the honour, integrity, or conduct of the said\ngovernor or lieutenant-governor; and their lordships are humbly of\nopinion, that the said petition ought to be dismissed.\"\n\nFeb. 7th, 1774. \"His majesty, taking the said report into\nconsideration, was pleased, with the advice of his privy-council, to\napprove thereof; and to order, that the said petition of the house of\nrepresentatives of the province of Massachusett's Bay be dismissed\nthe board--as groundless, vexatious, and scandalous; and calculated\nonly for the seditious purpose of keeping up a spirit of clamour and\ndiscontent in the said province.\"--A former petition against governor\nBernard met with a dismission couched in similar terms. B. V.\n\n[129] Some letters had passed in the public prints between Mr. Thomas\nWhately's brother and Mr. John Temple, concerning the manner in which\nthe letters of Governor Hutchinson &c. had escaped from among the\npapers of Mr. Thomas Whately, at this time deceased.\n\nThe one gentleman wished to avoid the charge of having given them,\nthe other of having taken them. At length the dispute became so\npersonal and pointed, that Mr. Temple thought it necessary to call\nthe brother into the field. The letter of provocation appeared in\nthe morning, and the parties met in the afternoon. Dr. Franklin, was\nnot then in town; it was after some interval that he received the\nintelligence. What had passed he could not foresee; he endeavoured to\nprevent what still might follow. B. V.\n\n[130] It was in consequence of this letter that Mr. Wedderburn\nventured to make the most odious personal applications. Mr. Mauduit\nhas prudently omitted part of them in his account of the proceedings\nbefore the privy-council. They are given here altogether however (as\nwell as they could be collected) to mark the politics of the times,\nand the nature of the censures passed in England upon Dr. Franklin's\ncharacter.\n\n\"The letters could not have come to Dr. Franklin,\" said Mr.\nWedderburn, \"by fair means. The writers did not give them to him, nor\nyet did the deceased correspondent, who, from our intimacy, would\notherwise have told me of it: nothing then will acquit Dr. Franklin\nof the charge of obtaining them by fraudulent or corrupt means, for\nthe most malignant of purposes; unless he stole them, from the person\nwho stole them. This argument is irrefragable.\"----\n\n\"I hope, my lords, you will mark [and brand] the man, for the honour\nof this country, of Europe, and of mankind. Private correspondence\nhas hitherto been held sacred in times of the greatest party\nrage, not only in politics but religion.\"--\"He has forfeited all\nthe respect of societies and of men. Into what companies will he\nhereafter go with an unembarassed face, or the honest intrepidity of\nvirtue. Men will watch him with a jealous eye, they will hide their\npapers from him, and lock up their escrutoires. He will henceforth\nesteem it a libel to be called a _man of letters, homo_ trium[131]\n_literarum_!\n\n\"But he not only took away the letters from one brother, but kept\nhimself concealed till he nearly occasioned the murder of the other.\nIt is impossible to read his account, expressive of the coolest and\nmost deliberate malice, without horror.\" [_Here he read the letter\nabove, Dr. Franklin being all the time present._]--Amidst these\ntragical events, of one person nearly murdered, of another answerable\nfor the issue, of a worthy governor hurt in his dearest interests,\nthe fate of America in suspense; here is a man, who, with the utmost\ninsensibility of remorse, stands up and avows himself the author of\nall. I can compare it only to Zanga in Dr. Young's _Revenge_.[132]\n\n \"Know then 'twas----I:\n I forged the letter, I disposed the picture;\n I hated, I despised, and I destroy.\n\n\"I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper, attributed by poetic\nfiction only to the bloody African, is not surpassed by the coolness\nand apathy of the wily American?\"\n\nThese pleadings for a time worked great effect: the lords\nassented, the town was convinced, Dr. Franklin was disgraced[133],\nand Mr. Wedderburn seemed in the road for every kind of\nadvancement.--Unfortunately for Mr. Wedderburn, the events of the\nwar did not correspond with his systems. Unfortunately too for his\n\"irrefragable argument,\" Dr. Franklin afterwards took an oath in\nchancery[134], that at the time that he transmitted the letters he\nwas ignorant of the party to whom they had been addressed, having\nhimself received them from a third person, and for the express\npurpose of their being conveyed to America. Unfortunately also for\nMr. Wedderburn's \"worthy governor,\" that governor himself, _before_\nthe arrival of Dr Franklin's packet in Boston, sent over one of\nDr. Franklin's own \"private\" letters to England, expressing some\nlittle coyness indeed upon the occasion, but desiring secrecy, lest\nhe should be prevented procuring _more_ useful intelligence from\nthe same source[135]. Whether Mr. Wedderburn in his speech intended\nto draw a particular case and portraiture, for the purpose only of\ninjuring Dr. Franklin, or meant that his language and epithets should\napply generally to all, whether friends or foes, whose practice\nshould be found similar to it, is a matter that must be left to be\nadjusted between governor Hutchinson and Mr. Wedderburn.\n\nBut to return to Dr. Franklin. It was not singular perhaps, that,\nas a man of honour, he should surrender his name to public scrutiny\nin order to prevent mischief to others, and yet not betray his\ncoadjutor (even to the present moment) to relieve his own fame from\nthe severest obloquy; but perhaps it belonged to few besides Dr.\nFranklin, to possess mildness and magnanimity enough to refrain from\nintemperate expressions and measures against Mr. Wedderburn and his\nsupporters, after all that had passed. B. V.\n\n[131] i. e. Fur (or _thief_).\n\n[132] Act Vth.\n\n[133] He was dismissed from his place in the post-office.\n\n[134] A copy of the proceedings in chancery has been in my\npossession, but being at present mislaid I speak only from memory\nhere.\n\n[135] See the Remembrancer for the year 1776, part 2d. p. 61 col.\n1st, and 2d.\n\n\n\n\n _Rules for reducing a Great Empire to a small one, presented to a\n late Minister, when he entered upon his Administration._[136]\n\n\nAn ancient sage valued himself upon this, that though he could\nnot fiddle, he knew how to make a great city of a little one. The\nscience, that I, a modern, simpleton, am about to communicate, is the\nvery reverse.\n\nI address myself to all ministers, who have the management of\nextensive dominions, which, from their very greatness, are become\ntroublesome to govern--because the multiplicity of their affairs\nleaves no time for fiddling.\n\nI. In the first place, gentlemen, you are to consider, that a great\nempire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.\nTurn your attention therefore first to your _remotest_ provinces;\nthat, as you get rid of them, the next may follow in order.\n\nII. That the possibility of this separation may always exist,\ntake special care the provinces are _never incorporated with the\nmother-country_; that they do not enjoy the same common rights, the\nsame privileges in commerce, and that they are governed by severer\nlaws, all of your enacting, without allowing them any share in the\nchoice of the legislators. By carefully making and preserving such\ndistinctions, you will (to keep to my simile of the cake) act like a\nwise gingerbread-baker; who, to facilitate a division, cuts his dough\nhalf through in those places, where, when baked, he would have it\nbroken to pieces.\n\nIII. Those remote provinces have perhaps been acquired, purchased, or\nconquered, at the sole expence of the settlers or their ancestors,\nwithout the aid of the mother-country. If this should happen to\nincrease her strength, by their growing numbers, ready to join in her\nwars; her commerce, by their growing demand for her manufactures; or\nher naval power, by greater employment for her ships and seamen, they\nmay probably suppose some merit in this, and that it entitles them\nto some favour: you are therefore to _forget it all, or resent it_,\nas if they had done you injury. If they happen to be zealous whigs,\nfriends of liberty, nurtured in revolution principles; remember\nall that to their prejudice, and contrive to punish it: for such\nprinciples, after a revolution is thoroughly established, are of no\nmore use; they are even odious and abominable.\n\nIV. However peaceably your colonies have submitted to your\ngovernment, shown their affection to your interests, and patiently\nborne their grievances, you are to suppose them _always inclined\nto revolt_, and treat them accordingly. Quarter troops among them,\nwho, by their insolence, may provoke the rising of mobs, and by their\nbullets and bayonets suppress them. By this means, like the husband\nwho uses his wife ill from suspicion, you may in time convert your\nsuspicions into realities.\n\nV. Remote provinces must have governors and judges, to represent\nthe royal person and execute every where the delegated parts of his\noffice and authority. You, ministers, know, that much of the strength\nof government depends on the opinion of the people, and much of that\nopinion on the _choice of rulers_ placed immediately over them. If\nyou send them wise and good men for governors, who study the interest\nof the colonists, and advance their prosperity; they will think their\nking wise and good, and that he wishes the welfare of his subjects.\nIf you send them learned and upright men for judges, they will think\nhim a lover of justice. This may attach your provinces more to his\ngovernment. You are therefore to be careful who you recommend for\nthose offices.--If you can find prodigals, who have ruined their\nfortunes, broken gamesters or stock-jobbers, these may do well as\ngovernors, for they will probably be rapacious, and provoke the\npeople by their extortions. Wrangling proctors and pettyfogging\nlawyers too are not amiss, for they will be for ever disputing and\nquarrelling with their little parliaments. If withal they should be\nignorant, wrong-headed and insolent, so much the better. Attorneys\nclerks and Newgate solicitors will do for chief justices, especially\nif they hold their places during your pleasure:--and all will\ncontribute to impress those ideas of your government, that are\nproper for a people you would wish to renounce it.\n\nVI. To confirm these impressions, and strike them deeper,\nwhenever the injured come to the capital with complaints of\nmal-administration, oppression, or injustice, _punish such suitors_\nwith long delay, enormous expence, and a final judgment in favour\nof the oppressor. This will have an admirable effect every way.\nThe trouble of future complaints will be prevented, and governors\nand judges will be encouraged to farther acts of oppression and\ninjustice, and thence the people may become more disaffected, and at\nlength desperate.\n\nVII. When such governors have crammed their coffers, and made\nthemselves so odious to the people, that they can no longer remain\namong them with safety to their persons, _recal and reward_ them with\npensions. You may make them baronets too, if that respectable order\nshould not think fit to resent it. All will contribute to encourage\nnew governors in the same practice, and make the supreme government\ndetestable.\n\nVIII. If, when you are engaged in war, your colonies should vie in\nliberal aids of men and money against the common enemy upon your\nsimple requisition, and give far beyond their abilities,--reflect,\nthat a penny, taken from them by your power, is more honourable to\nyou, than a pound presented by their benevolence; _despise therefore\ntheir voluntary grants_, and resolve to harass them with _novel\ntaxes_.--They will probably complain to your parliament, that they\nare taxed by a body in which they have no representative, and that\nthis is contrary to common right. They will petition for redress. Let\nthe parliament flout their claims, reject their petitions, refuse\neven to suffer the reading of them, and treat the petitioners with\nthe utmost contempt. Nothing can have a better effect in producing\nthe alienation proposed; for though many can forgive injuries, none\never forgave contempt.\n\nIX. In laying these taxes, _never regard the heavy burthens_ those\nremote people already undergo, in defending their own frontiers,\nsupporting their own provincial government, making new roads,\nbuilding bridges, churches, and other public edifices, which in\nold countries have been done to your hands, by your ancestors, but\nwhich occasion constant calls and demands on the purses of a new\npeople.--Forget the restraint you lay on their trade for your own\nbenefit, and the advantage a monopoly of this trade gives your\nexacting merchants. Think nothing of the wealth those merchants and\nyour manufacturers acquire by the colony commerce, their increased\nability thereby to pay taxes at home, their accumulating, in the\nprice of their commodities, most of those taxes, and so levying them\nfrom their consuming customers: all this, and the employment and\nsupport of thousands of your poor by the colonists, you are entirely\nto forget. But remember to make your arbitrary tax more grievous to\nyour provinces, by public declarations, importing, that your power of\ntaxing them has _no limits_, so that when you take from them without\ntheir consent a shilling in the pound, you have a clear right to the\nother nineteen. This will probably weaken every idea of security\nin their property, and convince them, that under such a government\nthey have nothing they can call their own; which can scarce fail of\nproducing the happiest consequences!\n\nX. Possibly indeed some of them might still comfort themselves and\nsay, \"though we have no property, we have yet something left that\nis valuable, we have constitutional _liberty, both of person and of\nconscience_. This king, these lords, and these commons, who it seems\nare too remote from us to know us and feel for us, cannot take from\nus our habeas corpus right, or our right of trial by a jury of our\nneighbours: they cannot deprive us of the exercise of our religion,\nalter our ecclesiastical constitution, and compel us to be papists,\nif they please, or Mahometans.\" To annihilate this comfort, begin by\nlaws to perplex their commerce with infinite regulations, impossible\nto be remembered and observed: ordain seizures of their property for\nevery failure, take away the trial of such property by jury, and give\nit to arbitrary judges of your own appointing, and of the lowest\ncharacters in the country, whose salaries and emoluments are to arise\nout of the duties or condemnations, and whose appointments are during\npleasure. Then let there be a formal declaration of both houses, that\nopposition to your edicts is treason, and that persons suspected of\ntreason in the provinces may, according to some obsolete law, be\nseized and sent to the metropolis of the empire for trial; and pass\nan act, that those there charged with certain other offences shall\nbe sent away in chains from their friends and country, to be tried\nin the same manner for felony. Then erect a new court of inquisition\namong them, accompanied by an armed force, with instructions to\ntransport all such suspected persons, to be ruined by the expence,\nif they bring over evidences to prove their innocence, or be found\nguilty and hanged, if they cannot afford it. And lest the people\nshould think you cannot possibly go any farther, pass another solemn\ndeclaratory act, \"that king, lords, and commons had, have, and of\nright ought to have, full power and authority to make statutes of\nsufficient force and validity to bind the unrepresented provinces _in\nall cases whatsoever_.\" This will include spiritual with temporal,\nand taken together must operate wonderfully to your purpose, by\nconvincing them, that they are at present under a power, something\nlike that spoken of in the Scriptures, which can not only kill their\nbodies, but damn their souls to all eternity, by compelling them, if\nit pleases, to worship the devil.\n\nXI. To make your taxes more odious, and more likely to procure\nresistance, send from the capital a _board of officers_ to\nsuperintend the collection, _composed of the most indiscreet_,\nill-bred, and insolent you can find. Let these have large salaries\nout of the extorted revenue, and live in open grating luxury upon\nthe sweat and blood of the industrious, whom they are to worry\ncontinually with groundless and expensive prosecutions, before the\nabove-mentioned arbitrary revenue-judges; all at the cost of the\nparty prosecuted, though acquitted, because the king is to pay no\ncosts. Let these men, by your order, be exempted from all the common\ntaxes and burthens of the province, though they and their property\nare protected by its laws. If any revenue officers are suspected of\nthe least tenderness for the people, discard them. If others are\njustly complained of, protect and reward them. If any of the under\nofficers behave so as to provoke the people to drub them, promote\nthose to better offices: this will encourage others to procure for\nthemselves such profitable drubbings, by multiplying and enlarging\nsuch provocations, and all will work towards the end you aim at.\n\nXII. Another way to make your tax odious is, to _misapply the\nproduce of it_. If it was originally appropriated for the defence\nof the provinces, and the better support of government, and\nthe administration of justice, where it may be necessary; then\napply none of it to that defence, but bestow it, where it is not\nnecessary, in augmenting salaries or pensions to every governor,\nwho has distinguished himself by his enmity to the people, and by\ncalumniating them to their sovereign. This will make them pay it more\nunwillingly, and be more apt to quarrel with those that collect it,\nand those that imposed it, who will quarrel again with them, and all\nshall contribute to your own purpose, of making them weary of your\ngovernment.\n\nXIII. If the people of any province have been accustomed to _support\ntheir own governors and judges_ to satisfaction, you are to\napprehend, that such governors and judges may be thereby influenced\nto treat the people kindly, and to do them justice. This is another\nreason for applying part of that revenue in larger salaries to such\ngovernors and judges, given, as their commissions are, during _your_\npleasure only, forbidding them to take any salaries from their\nprovinces; that thus the people may no longer hope any kindness from\ntheir governors, or (in crown cases) any justice from their judges.\nAnd as the money, thus misapplied in one province, is extorted from\nall, probably all will resent the misapplication.\n\nXIV. If the parliaments of your provinces should dare to claim\nrights, or complain of your administration, order them to be harassed\nwith _repeated dissolutions_. If the same men are continually\nreturned by new elections, adjourn their meetings to some country\nvillage, where they cannot be accommodated, and there keep them\nduring pleasure; for this, you know, is your prerogative, and an\nexcellent one it is, as you may manage it, to promote discontents\namong the people, diminish their respect, and increase their\ndisaffection.\n\nXV. Convert the brave honest officers of your _navy_ into pimping\ntide-waiters and colony officers of the _customs_. Let those, who\nin time of war fought gallantly in defence of the commerce of their\ncountrymen, in peace be taught to prey upon it. Let them learn\nto be corrupted by great and real smugglers; but (to show their\ndiligence) scour with armed boats every bay, harbour, river, creek,\ncove or nook, throughout the coast of your colonies; stop and detain\nevery coaster, every wood-boat, every fisherman, tumble their\ncargoes and even their ballast inside out, and upside down; and if\na pennyworth of pins is found un-entered, let the whole be seized\nand confiscated. Thus shall the trade of your colonists suffer more\nfrom their friends in time of peace, than it did from their enemies\nin war. Then let these boats' crews land upon every farm in their\nway, rob their orchards, steal their pigs and poultry, and insult\nthe inhabitants. If the injured and exasperated farmers, unable to\nprocure other justice, should attack the aggressors, drub them, and\nburn their boats, you are to call this _high treason and rebellion_,\norder fleets and armies into their country, and threaten to carry\nall the offenders three thousand miles to be hanged, drawn, and\nquartered.--O! this will work admirably!\n\nXVI. If you are told of _discontents_ in your colonies, never\nbelieve that they are general, or that you have given occasion for\nthem; therefore do not think of applying any remedy, or of changing\nany offensive measure. Redress no grievance, lest they should be\nencouraged to demand the redress of some other grievance. Grant no\nrequest, that is just and reasonable, lest they should make another,\nthat is unreasonable. Take all your informations of the state of\nthe colonies from your governors and officers in enmity with them.\nEncourage and reward these leasing-makers, secrete their lying\naccusations, lest they should be confuted, but act upon them as the\nclearest evidence; and believe nothing you hear from the friends\nof the people. Suppose all _their_ complaints to be invented and\npromoted by a few factious demagogues, whom if you could catch and\nhang, all would be quiet. Catch and hang a few of them accordingly,\nand the blood of the martyrs shall work miracles in favour of your\npurpose[137].\n\nXVII. If you see _rival nations_ rejoicing at the prospect of your\ndisunion with your provinces, and endeavouring to promote it, if\nthey translate, publish and applaud all the complaints of your\ndiscontented colonists, at the same time privately stimulating you to\nseverer measures, let not that alarm or offend you. Why should it?\nsince you all mean the same thing?\n\nXVIII. If any colony should _at their own charge erect a fortress_,\nto secure their _port_ against the fleets of a foreign enemy, get\nyour governor to betray that fortress into your hands. Never think\nof paying what it cost the country, for that would look, at least,\nlike some regard for justice; but turn it into a citadel, to awe\nthe inhabitants and curb their commerce. If they should have lodged\nin such fortress the very arms they bought and used to aid you in\nyour conquests, seize them all; it will provoke like ingratitude\nadded to robbery. One admirable effect of these operations will be,\nto discourage every other colony from erecting such defences, and\nso their and your enemies may more easily invade them, to the great\ndisgrace of your government, and of course the furtherance of your\nproject.\n\nXIX. Send armies into their country, under pretence of protecting the\ninhabitants; but, instead of garrisoning the forts on their frontiers\nwith those troops, to prevent incursions, demolish those forts, and\norder the troops into the heart of the country, that the savages may\nbe encouraged to attack the frontiers[138], and that the troops may\nbe protected by the inhabitants: this will seem to proceed from your\n_ill-will or your ignorance_, and contribute farther to produce\nand strengthen an opinion among them, that you are no longer fit to\ngovern them[139].\n\nXX. Lastly, invest the _general of your army in the provinces_ with\ngreat and unconstitutional powers, and free him from the controul of\neven your own civil governors. Let him have troops enow under his\ncommand, with all the fortresses in his possession, and who knows but\n(like some provincial generals in the Roman empire, and encouraged\nby the universal discontent you have produced) he may take it into\nhis head to set up for himself? If he should, and you have carefully\npractised these few excellent rules of mine, take my word for it,\nall the provinces will immediately join him--and you will that day\n(if you have not done it sooner) get rid of the trouble of governing\nthem, and all the plagues attending their commerce and connection\nfrom thenceforth and for ever.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[136] These rules first appeared in a London newspaper about the\nbeginning of the year 1774, and have several times since been\nintroduced into our public prints.--The minister alluded to is\nsupposed to be the Earl of Hillsborough.\n\n\"The causes and motions of seditions (says Lord Bacon) are,\ninnovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws and customs,\nbreaking of privileges, general oppression, advancement of unworthy\npersons, strangers, dearths, disbanded soldiers, factions grown\ndesperate, and whatsoever in offending people joineth and knitteth\nthem in a common cause.\" B. V.\n\n[137] One of the American writers affirms, \"That there has not been\na single instance in which _they_ have complained, without being\nrebuked, or in which they have been complained _against_, without\nbeing punished.\"--A fundamental mistake in the minister occasioned\nthis. Every individual in New England (the peccant country) was held\na coward or a knave, and the disorders, which spread abroad there,\nwere treated as the result of the _too great lenity_ of Britain! By\nthe aid of this short and benevolent rule, judgment was ever wisely\npredetermined, to the shutting out redress on the one hand, and\ninforcing every rigour of punishment on the other. B. V.\n\n[138] I am not versed in Indian affairs, but I find, that in April,\n1773, the assembled chiefs of the western nations told one of our\nIndian agents, \"that they remembered their father, the king of Great\nBritain's message, delivered to them last fall, of demolishing\nFort Pittsburg (on the Ohio) and removing the soldiers with their\nsharp-edged weapons out of the country:--this gave them great\npleasure, as it was a strong proof of his paternal kindness towards\nthem.\" (See Considerations on the Agreement with Mr. T. Walpole for\nLands upon the Ohio, p. 9). This is general history: I attempt no\napplication of facts, personally invidious. B. V.\n\n[139] As the reader may be inclined to divide his belief between\nthe wisdom of ministry and the candor and veracity of Dr. Franklin,\nI shall inform him that two contrary objections may be made to the\ntruth of this representation. The first is, that the conduct of Great\nBritain is made _too_ absurd for possibility, and the second, that\nit is not made absurd _enough_ for fact. If we consider that this\npiece does not include the measures subsequent to 1773, the latter\ndifficulty is easily set aside. The former I can only solve by the\nmany instances in history, where the infatuation of individuals has\nbrought the heaviest calamities upon nations. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _State of America on Dr. Franklin's Arrival there._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, May 16, 1775._\n\n DEAR FRIEND[140],\n\nYou will have heard before this reaches you, of a march stolen by the\nregulars into the country by night, and of their _expedition_ back\nagain. They retreated 20 miles in [6] hours.\n\nThe governor had called the assembly to propose Lord North's pacific\nplan, but, before the time of their meeting, began cutting of\nthroats.--You know it was said he carried the sword in one hand, and\nthe olive branch in the other; and it seems he chose to give them a\ntaste of the sword first.\n\nHe is doubling his fortifications at Boston, and hopes to secure\nhis troops till succour arrives. The place indeed is naturally so\ndefensible, that I think them in no danger.\n\nAll America is exasperated by his conduct, and more firmly united\nthan ever. The breach between the two countries is grown wider, and\nin danger of becoming irreparable.\n\nI had a passage of six weeks, the weather constantly so moderate that\na London wherry might have accompanied us all the way. I got home\nin the evening, and the next morning was unanimously chosen by the\nassembly a delegate to the congress, now sitting.\n\nIn coming over, I made a valuable philosophical discovery, which I\nshall communicate to you when I can get a little time. At present am\nextremely hurried.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Yours most affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[140] I run much risque in the publication of the three following\nletters[141]; but I think they contain such valuable facts, and\nshow so well the nature of Dr. Franklin's temper, that I ought to\nencounter some difficulty, rather than suffer them to be lost. B. V.\n\n[141] The other two letters will be found in the order of their\ndates, July 7, and Oct. 3, 1775. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Proposed Vindication and Offer from Congress to Parliament, in\n 1775[142]._\n\n\nForasmuch as the enemies of America, in the parliament of Great\nBritain, to render us odious to the nation, and give an ill\nimpression of us in the minds of other European powers, have\nrepresented us as unjust and ungrateful in the highest degree;\nasserting on every occasion, that the colonies were settled at the\nexpence of Britain; that they were, at the expence of the same,\nprotected in their infancy; that they now ungratefully and unjustly\nrefuse to contribute to their own protection, and the common defence\nof the nation; that they aim at independence; that they intend an\nabolition of the navigation acts; and that they are fraudulent in\ntheir commercial dealings, and purpose to cheat their creditors in\nBritain, by avoiding the payment of their just debts:--\n\n[And] as, by frequent repetition, these groundless assertions and\nmalicious calumnies may, if not contradicted and refuted, obtain\nfarther credit, and be injurious throughout Europe to the reputation\nand interest of the confederate colonies, it seems proper and\nnecessary to examine them in our own just vindication.\n\nWith regard to the first, _that the colonies were_ settled _at\nthe expence of Britain_, it is a known fact, that none of the\ntwelve united colonies were settled, or even discovered, at the\nexpence of England. Henry the VIIth indeed granted a commission to\nSebastian Cabot, a Venetian, and his sons, to sail into the western\nseas for the discovery of new countries; but it was to be \"_suis_\neorum propriis sumptibus et expensis,\" at their _own_ costs and\ncharges[143]. They discovered, but soon slighted and neglected, these\nnorthern territories; which were, after more than a hundred years\ndereliction, purchased of the natives, and settled at the charge\nand by the labour of private men and bodies of men, our ancestors,\nwho came over hither for that purpose. But our adversaries have\nnever been able to produce any record, that ever the _parliament_ or\ngovernment of England was at the smallest expence on these accounts:\non the contrary, there exists on the journals of parliament a\nsolemn declaration in 1642, (only twenty-two years after the first\nsettlement of the Massachusetts, when, if such expence had ever been\nincurred, some of the members must have known and remembered it)\n\"That these colonies had been planted and established _without any\nexpence to the state_.[144]\" _New-York_ is the only colony in the\nfounding of which England can pretend to have been at any expence,\nand that was only the charge of a small armament to take it from the\nDutch, who planted it. But to retain this colony at peace, another at\nthat time, full as valuable, planted by private countrymen of _ours_,\nwas given up by the crown to the Dutch in exchange, viz. Surinam, now\na wealthy sugar-colony in Guiana, and which, but for that cession,\nmight still have remained in our possession. Of late, indeed, Britain\nhas been at some expence in planting two colonies, _Georgia_[145]\nand _Nova Scotia_; but those are not in our confederacy; and the\nexpence she has been at in their name, has chiefly been in grants of\nsums unnecessarily large, by way of salaries to officers sent from\nEngland, and in jobs to friends, whereby dependants might be provided\nfor; those excessive grants not being requisite to the welfare and\ngood government of the colonies; which good government (as experience\nin many instances of other colonies has taught us) may be much more\nfrugally, and full as effectually provided for, and supported.\n\nWith regard to the second assertion, _that these colonies were_\nprotected _in their infant state by England_, it is a notorious fact,\nthat in none of the many wars with the Indian natives, sustained\nby our infant settlements for a century after our first arrival,\nwere ever any troops or forces of any kind sent from England to\nassist us; nor were any forts built at her expence to secure our\nsea-ports from foreign invaders; nor any ships of war sent to protect\nour trade, till many years after our first settlement, when our\ncommerce became an object of revenue, or of advantage to British\nmerchants, and then it was thought necessary to have a frigate in\nsome of our ports, during peace, to give weight to the authority of\ncustom-house officers, who were to restrain that commerce for the\nbenefit of England. Our own arms, with our poverty, and the care of\na kind providence, were all this time our only protection, while\nwe were neglected by the English government; which either thought\nus not worth its care, or, having no good will to some of us, on\naccount of our different sentiments in religion and politics, was\nindifferent what became of us. On the other hand, the colonies have\nnot been wanting to do what they could in every war for annoying the\nenemies of Britain. They formerly assisted her in the conquest of\nNova Scotia. In the war before last they took Louisbourg, and put\nit into her hands. She made her peace with that strong fortress, by\nrestoring it to France, greatly to their detriment. In the last war,\nit is true, Britain sent a fleet and army, who acted with an equal\narmy of ours, in the reduction of Canada; and perhaps thereby did\nmore for us, than we in the preceding wars had done for her. Let it\nbe remembered however, that she rejected the plan we formed in the\ncongress at Albany, in 1754, for our own defence, by an union of the\ncolonies; an union she was jealous of, and therefore chose to send\nher own forces; otherwise her aid to protect us was not wanted. And\nfrom our first settlement to that time, her military operations in\nour favour were small, compared with the advantages she drew from\nher exclusive commerce with us. We are however willing to give full\nweight to this obligation; and as we are daily growing stronger, and\nour assistance to her becomes of more importance, we should with\npleasure embrace the first opportunity of showing our gratitude, by\nreturning the favour in kind. But when Britain values herself as\naffording us protection, we desire it may be considered, that we\nhave followed _her_ in all _her_ wars, and joined with her at our\nown expence against all she thought fit to quarrel with. This she\nhas required of us, and would never permit us to keep peace with any\npower she declared her enemy, though by separate treaties we might\nwell have done it. Under such circumstances, when, at her instance,\nwe made nations our enemies, whom we might otherwise have retained\nour friends; we submit it to the common sense of mankind, whether\nher protection of us in these wars was not our _just due_, and to\nbe claimed of _right_, instead of being received as a _favour_?\nAnd whether, when all the parts of an empire exert themselves to\nthe utmost in their common defence, and in annoying the common\nenemy, it is not as well the _parts_ that protect the _whole_, as\nthe _whole_ that protects the _parts_? The protection then has\nbeen proportionably mutual. And whenever the time shall come, that\nour abilities may as far exceed hers, as hers have exceeded ours,\nwe hope we shall be reasonable enough to rest satisfied with her\nproportionable exertions, and not think we do too much for a part of\nthe empire, when that part does as much as it can for the whole.\n\nThe charge against us, _that we refuse to_ contribute _to our own\nprotection_, appears from the above to be groundless: but we farther\ndeclare it to be absolutely false; for it is well known, that we ever\nheld it as our duty to grant aids to the crown, upon requisition,\ntowards carrying on its wars; which duty we have cheerfully complied\nwith, to the utmost of our abilities; insomuch that frequent and\ngrateful acknowledgments thereof by king and parliament appear\non their records[146]. But as Britain has enjoyed a most gainful\nmonopoly of our commerce, the same, with our maintaining the dignity\nof the king's representative in each colony, and all our own separate\nestablishments of government, civil and military, has ever hitherto\nbeen deemed an equivalent for such aids, as might otherwise be\nexpected from us in time of peace. And we hereby declare, that on a\nreconciliation with Britain, we shall _not only_ continue _to grant\naids in time of war_, as aforesaid; but, whenever she shall think fit\nto abolish her monopoly, and give us the same privileges of trade as\nScotland received at the union, and allow us a free commerce with\nall the rest of the world, we shall willingly agree (and we doubt\nnot it will be ratified by our constituents) to _give and pay_ into\nthe sinking fund [100,000_l._] sterling per annum for the term of one\nhundred years, which, duly, faithfully, and inviolably applied to\nthat purpose, is demonstrably more than sufficient to extinguish _all\nher present national_ debt, since it will in that time amount, at\nlegal British interest, to more than 230,000,000_l._[147]\n\nBut if Britain does not think fit to accept this proposition, we,\nin order to remove her groundless jealousies, _that we aim at\nindependence, and an abolition of the navigation act_, (which hath\nin truth never been our intention) and to avoid all future disputes\nabout the right of making that and other acts for regulating our\ncommerce, do hereby declare ourselves ready and willing to enter\ninto a _covenant with Britain_, that she shall fully possess,\nenjoy, and exercise that right, for an hundred years to come, the\nsame being _bon\u00e2 fide_ used for the common benefit; and in case of\nsuch agreement, that every assembly be advised by us, to confirm it\nsolemnly, by laws of their own, which, once made, cannot be repealed\nwithout the assent of the crown.\n\nThe last charge, _that we are dishonest traders, and aim at\ndefrauding our creditors in Britain_, is sufficiently and\nauthentically refuted by the solemn declarations of the British\nmerchants to parliament, (both at the time of the stamp-act and in\nthe last session) who bore ample testimony to the general good faith\nand fair dealing of the Americans, and declared their confidence in\nour integrity, for which we refer to their petitions on the journals\nof the house of commons. And we presume we may safely call on the\nbody of the British tradesmen, who have had experience of both, to\nsay, whether they have not received much more punctual payment from\nus than they generally have from the members of their own two houses\nof parliament.\n\nOn the whole of the above it appears, that the charge of\n_ingratitude_ towards the mother country, brought with so much\nconfidence against the colonies, is totally without foundation; and\nthat there is much more reason for retorting that charge on Britain,\nwho not only never contributes any aid, nor affords, by an exclusive\ncommerce, any advantages to Saxony, _her_ mother country; but no\nlonger since than in the last war, without the least provocation,\nsubsidized the king of Prussia while he ravaged that _mother\ncountry_, and carried fire and sword into its capital, the fine city\nof Dresden. An example we hope no provocation will induce us to\nimitate.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[142] The following paper was drawn up in a committee of congress,\nJune 25, 1775, but does not appear on their minutes, a severe act of\nparliament, which arrived about that time, having determined them not\nto give the sum proposed in it.--[It was first printed in the Public\nAdvertiser for July 18, 1777. B. V.]\n\n[143] See the Commission in the Appendix to Pownall's Administration\nof the Colonies. Edit. 1775.\n\n[144] \"Veneris, 10 March, 1642. Whereas the plantations in New\nEngland have, by the blessing of the Almighty, had good and\nprosperous success, _without any public charge to this state_, and\nare now likely to prove very happy for the propagation of the gospel\nin those parts, and very beneficial and commodious to this kingdom\nand nation: the commons, now assembled in parliament, &c. &c. &c.\"\nSee Governor Hutchinson's History. B. V.\n\n[145] Georgia has since acceded, July, 1775.\n\n[146] Supposed to allude to certain passages in the Journals of the\nhouse of commons on the 4th of April, 1748, 28th January, 1756, 3d\nFebruary, 1756, 16th and 19th of May, 1757, 1st of June, 1758, 26th\nand 30th of April, 1759, 26th and 31st of March, and 28th of April,\n1760, 9th and 20th January, 1761, 22d and 26th January, 1762, and\n14th and 17th March, 1763. B. V.\n\n[147] See Dr. Price's Appeal on the National Debt. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Reprobation of Mr. Strahan's parliamentary Conduct._[148]\n\n\n _Philadelphia, July 5, 1775._\n\n MR. STRAHAN,\n\nYou are a member of that parliament, and have formed part of that\nmajority, which has condemned my native country to destruction.\n\nYou have begun to burn our towns, and to destroy their inhabitants!\n\nLook at your hands!--they are stained with the blood of your\nrelations and your acquaintances.\n\nYou and I were long friends; you are at present my enemy, and I am\nyours.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[148] This letter appeared, shortly after the period of its date,\nin most of the public papers. We extract it from the Gentleman's\nMagazine. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Conciliation hopeless from the Conduct of Great Britain to\n America._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, July 7, 1775._\n\n DEAR FRIEND[149],\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the\nperfidy of general Gage, and his attack on the country people, that\npropositions of attempting an accomodation were not much relished;\nand it has been with difficulty that we have carried another\nhumble petition to the crown, to give Britain one more chance, one\nopportunity more of recovering the friendship of the colonies;\nwhich however I think she has not sense enough to embrace, and so I\nconclude she has lost them for ever.\n\nShe has begun to burn our sea-port towns; secure, I suppose, that we\nshall never be able to return the outrage in kind. She may doubtless\ndestroy them all; but if she wishes to recover our commerce, are\nthese the probable means? She must certainly be distracted; for no\ntradesman out of Bedlam ever thought of encreasing the number of his\ncustomers by knocking them [on] the head; or of enabling them to pay\ntheir debts by burning their houses.\n\nIf she wishes to have us subjects and that we should submit to her as\nour compound sovereign, she is now giving us such miserable specimens\nof her government, that we shall ever detest and avoid it, as a\ncomplication of robbery, murder, famine, fire and pestilence.\n\nYou will have heard, before this reaches you, of the treacherous\nconduct * * * to the remaining people in Boston, in detaining their\ngoods, after stipulating to let them go out with their effects, on\npretence that merchants' goods were not effects; the defeat of a\ngreat body of his troops by the country people at Lexington; some\nother small advantages gained in skirmishes with their troops; and\nthe action at Bunker's-hill, in which they were twice repulsed, and\nthe third time gained a dear victory. Enough has happened, one would\nthink, to convince your ministers, that the Americans will fight, and\nthat this is a harder nut to crack than they imagined.\n\nWe have not yet applied to any foreign power for assistance, nor\noffered our commerce for their friendship. Perhaps we never may: yet\nit is natural to think of it, if we are pressed.\n\nWe have now an army on the establishment which still holds yours\nbesieged.\n\nMy time was never more fully employed. In the morning at six, I am\nat the committee of safety, appointed by the assembly to put the\nprovince in a state of defence; which committee holds till near nine,\nwhen I am at the congress, and that sits till after four in the\nafternoon. Both these bodies proceed with the greatest unanimity,\nand their meetings are well attended. It will scarce be credited in\nBritain, that men can be as diligent with us from zeal for the public\ngood, as with you for thousands per annum. Such is the difference\nbetween uncorrupted new states, and corrupted old ones.\n\nGreat frugality and great industry are now become fashionable here:\ngentlemen, who used to entertain with two or three courses, pride\nthemselves now in treating with simple beef and pudding. By these\nmeans, and the stoppage of our consumptive trade with Britain, we\nshall be better able to pay our voluntary taxes for the support of\nour troops. Our savings in the article of trade amount to near five\nmillion sterling per annum.\n\nI shall communicate your letter to Mr. Winthrop, but the camp is at\nCambridge, and he has as little leisure for philosophy as myself. * *\n* Believe me ever, with sincere esteem, my dear friend,\n\n Yours most affectionately.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[149] This and the two following letters were addressed to Dr.\nPriestley, as appears by a letter from that gentleman to the editor\nof the Monthly Magazine, which will be found in the appendix to the\npresent volume. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Account of the first Campaign made by the British Forces in\n America[150]._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, Oct. 3, 1775._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nI am to set out to-morrow for the camp[151], and having but just\nheard of this opportunity, can only write a line to say that I am\nwell and hearty.--Tell our dear good friend * * *, who sometimes has\nhis doubts and despondencies about our firmness, that America is\ndetermined and unanimous; a very few tories and place-men excepted,\nwho will probably soon export themselves.--Britain, at the expence\nof three millions, has killed one hundred and fifty Yankies this\ncampaign, which is 20,000_l._ a head; and at Bunker's Hill she gained\na mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking post on\nPloughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand children have been\nborn in America. From these _data_ his mathematical head will easily\ncalculate the time and expence necessary to kill us all, and conquer\nour whole territory. My sincere respects to * * * *, and to the club\nof honest whigs at * * * * *. Adieu. I am ever\n\n Yours most affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[150] This letter has been several times very incorrectly printed: it\nis here given from a genuine copy. B. V.\n\n[151] Dr. Franklin, col. Harrison, and Mr. Lynch, were at this time\nappointed by congress (of which they were members) to confer on\ncertain subjects with gen. Washington. The American army was then\nemployed in blocking up gen. Howe in Boston; and I believe it was\nduring this visit, that gen. Washington communicated the following\nmemorable anecdote to Dr. Franklin; _viz._ \"that there had been a\ntime, when this army had been so destitute of military stores, as\nnot to have powder enough in all its magazines, to furnish more than\n_five_ rounds per man for their small arms.\" Great guns were out\nof the question; they were fired now and then, only to show that\nthey had them. Yet this secret was kept with so much address and\ngood countenance from both armies, that gen. Washington was enabled\neffectually to continue the blockade. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Probability of a Separation._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, Oct. 3, 1775._\n\nI wish as ardently as you can do for peace, and should rejoice\nexceedingly in co-operating with you to that end. But every ship from\nBritain brings some intelligence of new measures, that tend more and\nmore to exasperate: and it seems to me, that until you have found\nby dear experience the reducing us by force impracticable, you will\nthink of nothing fair and reasonable. We have as yet resolved only on\ndefensive measures. If you would recal your forces and stay at home,\nwe should meditate nothing to injure you. A little time so given for\ncooling on both sides would have excellent effects. But you will goad\nand provoke us. You despise us too much; and you are insensible of\nthe Italian adage, that _there is no little enemy_. I am persuaded\nthe body of the British people are our friends; but they are\nchangeable, and by your lying gazettes may soon be made our enemies.\nOur respect for them will proportionally diminish; and I see clearly\nwe are on the high road to mutual enmity, hatred, and detestation. A\nseparation will of course be inevitable. It is a million of pities\nso fair a plan, as we have hitherto been engaged in for increasing\nstrength and empire with _public felicity_, should be destroyed by\nthe mangling hands of a few blundering ministers. It will not be\ndestroyed: God will protect and prosper it: you will only exclude\nyourselves from any share in it. We hear, that more ships and troops\nare coming out. We know you may do us a great deal of mischief, but\nwe are determined to bear it patiently as long as we can; but if you\nflatter yourselves with beating us into submission, you know neither\nthe people nor the country.\n\nThe congress is still sitting, and will wait the result of their\n_last_ petition.\n\n\n\n\n _Letter to Monsieur Dumas, urging him to sound the several Courts\n of Europe, by Means of their Ambassadors at the Hague, as to any\n Assistance they may be disposed to afford America in her Struggle\n for Independence[152]._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, Dec. 9, 1775._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nI received your several favours, of May 18, June 30, and July 8,\nby Messrs. Vaillant and Pochard; whom, if I could serve upon your\nrecommendation, it would give me great pleasure. Their total want of\nEnglish is at present an obstruction to their getting any employment\namong us; but I hope they will soon obtain some knowledge of it. This\nis a good country for artificers or farmers, but gentlemen of mere\nscience in _les belles lettres_ cannot so easily subsist here, there\nbeing little demand for their assistance among an industrious people,\nwho, as yet, have not much leisure for studies of that kind.\n\nI am much obliged by the kind present you have made us of your\nedition of _Vattel_. It came to us in good season, when the\ncircumstances of a rising state make it necessary frequently to\nconsult the law of nations. Accordingly that copy which I kept\n(after depositing one in our own public library here, and sending\nthe other to the college of Massachusett's Bay, as you directed) has\nbeen continually in the hands of the members of our congress, now\nsitting, who are much pleased with your notes and preface, and have\nentertained a high and just esteem for their author. Your manuscript\n_Id\u00e9e sur le government et la royaut\u00e9_, is also well relished, and\nmay, in time, have its effect. I thank you, likewise, for the other\nsmaller pieces, which accompanied Vattel. _Le court expos\u00e9 de ce qui\ns'est pass\u00e9 entre la cour Br. et les colonies, &c._ being a very\nconcise and clear statement of facts, will be reprinted here for the\nuse of our new friends in Canada. The translations of the proceedings\nof our congress are very acceptable. I send you herewith what of them\nhas been farther published here, together with a few newspapers,\ncontaining accounts of some of the successes providence has favoured\nus with. We are threatened from England with a very powerful force,\nto come next year against us. We are making all the provision in our\npower here to oppose that force, and we hope we shall be able to\ndefend ourselves. But, as the events of war are always uncertain,\npossibly, after another campaign, we may find it necessary to ask\naid of some foreign power. It gives us great pleasure to learn from\nyou, that _toute l'Europe nous souhaite le plus heureux succes pour\nle maintien de nos libert\u00e9s_. But we wish to know, whether any one\nof them, from principles of humanity, is disposed magnanimously to\nstep in for the relief of an oppressed people, or whether, if, as\nit seems likely to happen, we should be obliged to break off all\nconnection with Britain, and declare ourselves an independent people,\nthere is any state or power in Europe, who would be willing to enter\ninto an alliance with us for the benefit of our commerce, which\namounted, before the war, to near seven millions sterling per annum,\nand must continually increase, as our people increase most rapidly.\nConfiding, my dear friend, in your good will to us and our cause,\nand in your sagacity and abilities for business, the committee of\ncongress, appointed for the purpose of establishing and conducting\na correspondence with our friends in Europe, of which committee\nI have the honour to be a member, have directed me to request of\nyou, that, as you are situated at the Hague, where ambassadors from\nall the courts reside, you would make use of the opportunity that\nsituation affords you, of discovering, if possible, the disposition\nof the several courts with respect to such assistance or alliance,\nif we should apply for the one, or propose the other. As it may\npossibly be necessary, in particular instances, that you should, for\nthis purpose, confer directly with some great ministers, and show\nthem this letter as your credential, we only recommend it to your\ndiscretion, that you proceed therein with such caution, as to keep\nthe same from the knowledge of the English ambassador, and prevent\nany public appearance, at present, of your being employed in any such\nbusiness, as thereby, we imagine, many inconveniences may be avoided,\nand your means of rendering us service, increased.\n\nThat you may be better able to answer some questions, which will\nprobably be put to you, concerning our present situation, we inform\nyou--that the whole continent is very firmly united--the party for\nthe measures of the British ministry being very small, and much\ndispersed--that we have had on foot, the last campaign, an army of\nnear twenty-five thousand men, wherewith we have been able, not only\nto block up the king's army in Boston, but to spare considerable\ndetachments for the invasion of Canada, where we have met with\ngreat success, as the printed papers sent herewith will inform\nyou, and have now reason to expect the whole province may be soon\nin our possession--that we purpose greatly to increase our force\nfor the ensuing year; and thereby we hope, with the assistance\nof well-disciplined militia, to be able to defend our coast,\nnotwithstanding its great extent--that we have already a small\nsquadron of armed vessels, to protect our coasting trade, who have\nhad some success in taking several of the enemy's cruisers, and some\nof their transport vessels and store-ships. This little naval force\nwe are about to augment, and expect it may be more considerable in\nthe next summer.\n\nWe have hitherto applied to no foreign power. We are using the\nutmost industry in endeavouring to make salt-petre, and with daily\nincreasing success. Our artificers are also every where busy in\nfabricating small arms, casting cannon, &c. yet both arms and\nammunition are much wanted. Any merchants, who would venture to send\nships, laden with those articles, might make great profit; such is\nthe demand in every colony, and such generous prices are and will be\ngiven; of which, and of the manner of conducting such a voyage, the\nbearer, Mr. Storey, can more fully inform you: and whoever brings in\nthose articles, is allowed to carry off the value in provisions, to\nour West Indies, where they will probably fetch a very high price,\nthe general exportation from North America being stopped. This you\nwill see more particularly in a printed resolution of the congress.\n\nWe are in great want of good engineers, and wish you could engage,\nand send us two able ones, in time for the next campaign, one\nacquainted with field service, sieges, &c. and the other with\nfortifying of sea-ports. They will, if well recommended, be made\nvery welcome, and have honourable appointments, besides the expences\nof their voyage hither, in which Mr. Storey can also advise them. As\nwhat we now request of you, besides taking up your time, may put you\nto some expense, we send you for the present, enclosed, a bill for\none hundred pounds sterling, to defray such expences, and desire you\nto be assured that your services will be considered, and honourably\nrewarded by the congress.\n\nWe desire, also, that you would take the trouble of receiving from\nArthur Lee, esquire, agent for the congress in England, such letters\nas may be sent by him to your care, and of forwarding them to us with\nyour dispatches. When you have occasion to write to him to inform\nhim of any thing, which it may be of importance that our friends\nthere should be acquainted with, please to send your letters to him,\nunder cover, directed to Mr. Alderman Lee, merchant, on Tower-hill,\nLondon; and do not send it by post, but by some trusty shipper, or\nother prudent person, who will deliver it with his own hand. And\nwhen you send to us, if you have not a direct safe opportunity, we\nrecommend sending by way of St. Eustatia, to the care of Messrs.\nRobert and Cornelius Stevenson, merchants there, who will forward\nyour dispatches to me.\n\n With sincere and great esteem and respect,\n\n I am, sir,\n\n Your most obedient, humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n Mons. Dumas.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[152] This letter is taken from an American periodical publication\nentitled The Port Folio, in which it appeared July 31, 1802. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Letter from Lord Howe to Dr. Franklin[153]._\n\n\n _Eagle, June the 20th, 1776._\n\nI cannot, my worthy friend, permit the letters and parcels, which I\nhave sent (in the state I received them) to be landed, without adding\na word upon the subject of the injurious extremities in which our\nunhappy disputes have engaged us.\n\nYou will learn the nature of my mission, from the official\ndispatches which I have recommended to be forwarded by the same\nconveyance. Retaining all the earnestness I ever expressed, to see\nour differences accommodated; I shall conceive, if I meet with the\ndisposition in the colonies which I was once taught to expect, the\nmost flattering hopes of proving serviceable in the objects of\nthe king's paternal solicitude, by promoting the establishment of\nlasting peace and union with the colonies. But if the deep-rooted\nprejudices of America, and the necessity of preventing her trade from\npassing into foreign channels, must keep us still a divided people;\nI shall, from every private as well as public motive, most heartily\nlament, that this is not the moment wherein those great objects of my\nambition are to be attained; and that I am to be longer deprived of\nan opportunity, to assure you personally of the regard with which I am\n\n Your sincere and faithful\n\n humble servant,\n\n HOWE.\n\nP. S. I was disappointed of the opportunity I expected for sending\nthis letter, at the time it was dated; and have ever since been\nprevented by calms and contrary winds from getting here, to inform\ngeneral Howe of the commission with which I have the satisfaction to\nbe charged, and of his being joined in it.\n\n _Off of Sandy Hook, 12th of July._\n\n Superscribed, HOWE.\n\n _To Benjamin Franklin, Esq.\n Philadelphia._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[153] In the year 1776 an act of parliament passed, to prohibit\nand restrain, on the one hand, the trade and intercourse of the\nrefractory colonies respectively during the revolt; and on the other\nhand, to enable persons appointed by the crown to grant _pardons_\nand declare any particular district at the _king's peace, &c._ Lord\nHowe (who had been previously appointed commander of the fleet in\nNorth America) was, on May 3, declared joint _commissioner_ with his\nbrother gen. Howe, for the latter purposes of the act. He sailed May\n12; and while off the Massachusett's coast prepared a declaration\nannouncing this commission, and accompanied it with circular letters.\nJuly 4, independence had been declared; but nevertheless congress\n(invited by various attempts made to procure a conference) resolved\nto send Messieurs Franklin, J. Adams, and E. Rutledge, to learn\nthe propositions of the commissioners, by whom authorized, and to\nwhom addressed. The commissioners having no power to treat with\ncongress in its public capacity, and congress not being impowered\nby their representatives to rescind the act of independence, the\nconference was broken off. It remains only to add, that, on Sept.\n19, the commissioners declared themselves ready to confer with any\nof the well-affected, on the means of restoring peace and permanent\nunion with every colony as part of the British empire; and promised\na _revision_ of the several royal _instructions_ supposed to lay\nimproper restraints on colony-legislation, and also the king's\n_concurrence_ in a revision of the objectionable acts of parliament:\nwhich seemed the ultimatum of the commission.--Parliament however,\nby a subsequent act (which, among other things, formally renounced\ntaxation in North America and the West Indies) authorized five\ncommissioners to treat, settle, and agree, even with congress; but\nsubject to the farther confirmation of parliament. Lord Carlisle, and\nMessieurs Johnson and Eden, with the commanders in chief of the land\nand sea forces, were the commissioners appointed by the crown under\nthis act; and Dr. Adam Ferguson was made secretary to the commission.\n\nMr. Henry Strachey had been secretary to the _first_ commission,\nattended with the following singular circumstance, as stated in the\nhouse of lords. In this commission for restoring peace to America,\n\"(or _in other words_ to induce America at once to put a confidence\nin the crown, and to believe that the parliament of England is a\nsufficiently powerful and honest barrier for them to trust to) the\nsecretary (Mr. Strachey) had 500_l._ granted for life out of the _four\nand a half_ per cent. duty, filched by the crown from the West-India\nIslands, and in opposition to a solemn address of parliament desiring\nthat it might be applied to the original purposes for which it was\ngranted by the respective assemblies of the islands.\"--What these\noriginal purposes of the grants were, I meant very briefly to have\nstated: but have not been able to procure the proper documents in\ntime. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Dr. Franklin's Answer to Lord Howe._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, July 30, 1776._\n\n MY LORD,\n\nI received safe the letters your lordship so kindly forwarded to me,\nand beg you to accept _my_ thanks.\n\nThe official dispatches to which you refer me, contain nothing more\nthan what we had seen in the act of parliament, viz. \"Offers of\npardon upon submission;\" which I was sorry to find; as it must give\nyour lordship pain to be sent so far on so hopeless a business.\n\nDirecting pardons to be offered to the colonies, who are the very\nparties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our ignorance,\nbaseness, and insensibility, which your uninformed and proud nation\nhas long been pleased to entertain of us; but it can have no other\neffect than that of encreasing our resentments.----It is impossible\nwe should think of submission to a government, that has, with the\nmost wanton barbarity and cruelty, burned our defenceless towns in\nthe midst of winter; excited the savages to massacre our (peaceful)\nfarmers; and our slaves to murder their masters; and is even now[154]\nbringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood.\nThese atrocious injuries have extinguished every spark of affection\nfor that parent country we once held so dear: but were it possible\nfor _us_ to forget and forgive them, it is not possible for _you_ (I\nmean the British nation) to forgive the people you have so heavily\ninjured; you can never confide again in those as fellow-subjects, and\npermit them to enjoy equal freedom, to whom you know you have given\nsuch just causes of lasting enmity; and this must impel you, were we\nagain under your government, to endeavour the breaking our spirit by\nthe severest tyranny, and obstructing by every means in your power\nour growing strength and prosperity.\n\nBut your lordship mentions \"the king's paternal solicitude for\npromoting the establishment of lasting peace and union with the\ncolonies.\" If by _peace_ is here meant, a peace to be entered into\nby distinct states, now at war; and his majesty has given your\nlordship powers to treat with us of such a peace, I may venture to\nsay, though without authority, that I think a treaty for that purpose\nnot quite impracticable, before we enter into foreign alliances.\nBut I am persuaded you have no such powers. Your nation, though, by\npunishing those American governors who have fomented the discord,\nrebuilding our burnt towns, and repairing as far as possible the\nmischiefs done us, she might recover a great share of our regard; and\nthe greatest share of our growing commerce, with all the advantages\nof that additional strength, to be derived from a friendship with\nus; yet I know too well her abounding pride and deficient wisdom, to\nbelieve she will ever take such salutary measures. Her fondness for\nconquest as a warlike nation; her lust of dominion as an ambitious\none; and her thirst for a gainful monopoly as a commercial one (none\nof them legitimate causes of war) will join to hide from her eyes\nevery view of her true interest, and continually goad her on in these\nruinous distant expeditions, so destructive both of lives and of\ntreasure, that they must prove as pernicious to her in the end, as\nthe Croisades formerly were to most of the nations of Europe.\n\nI have not the vanity, my lord, to think of intimidating, by thus\npredicting the effects of this war; for I know it will in England\nhave the fate of all my former predictions; not to be believed till\nthe event shall verify it.\n\nLong did I endeavour, with unfeigned and unwearied zeal, to preserve\nfrom breaking that fine and noble porcelaine vase----the British\nempire; for I knew that being once broken, the separate parts could\nnot retain even their _share_ of the strength and value that existed\nin the whole; and that a perfect _re-union_ of those parts could\nscarce ever be hoped for. Your lordship may possibly remember the\ntears of joy that wetted my cheek, when, at your good sister's in\nLondon, you once gave me expectations, that a reconciliation might\nsoon take place. I had the misfortune to find these expectations\ndisappointed, and to be treated as the cause of the mischief I was\nlabouring to prevent. My consolation under that groundless and\nmalevolent treatment was, that I retained the friendship of many wise\nand good men in that country; and among the rest, some share in the\nregard of lord Howe.\n\nThe well-founded esteem, and permit me to say affection, which I\nshall always have for your lordship, make it painful to me to see you\nengaged in conducting a war, the great ground of which (as described\nin your letter) is \"the necessity of preventing the American _trade_\nfrom passing into foreign channels.\" To me it seems, that neither the\nobtaining or retaining any trade, how valuable soever, is an object\nfor which men may justly spill each other's blood; that the true\nand sure means of extending and securing commerce are the goodness\nand cheapness of commodities; and that the profits of no trade can\never be equal to the expence of compelling it, and holding it by\nfleets and armies. I consider this war against us, therefore, as both\nunjust and unwise; and I am persuaded, that cool and dispassionate\nposterity will condemn to infamy those who advised it; and that even\nsuccess will not save from some degree of dishonour, those who have\nvoluntarily engaged to conduct it.\n\nI know your great motive in coming hither, was the hope of being\ninstrumental in a reconciliation; and I believe, when you find that\nto be impossible, on any terms given you to propose, you will then\nrelinquish so odious a command, and return to a more honourable\nprivate station.\n\nWith the greatest and most sincere respect, I have the honour to be,\n\n My lord,\n\n Your lordship's most obedient, humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN[155].\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[154] About this time the Hessians, &c. had just arrived from Europe,\nat Staten Island and New York. B. V.\n\n[155] It occurs to me to mention that Dr. Franklin was supposed to\nhave been the inventor of a little _emblematical design_ at the\ncommencement of our disputes, representing the state of Great Britain\nand her colonies, should the former persist in restraining the\nlatter's trade, destroying their currency, and taxing their people by\nlaws made by a legislature in which they were not represented.--Great\nBritain was supposed to have been placed upon the globe: but the\ncolonies, her limbs, being severed from her, she was seen lifting\nher eyes and mangled stumps to heaven; her shield, which she was\nunable to wield, lay useless by her side; her lance had pierced New\nEngland; the laurel branch was fallen from the hand of Pensylvania;\nthe English oak had lost its head, and stood a bare trunk with a few\nwithered branches; briars and thorns were on the ground beneath it;\nour ships had brooms at their topmast heads, denoting their being\nupon sale; and Britannia herself was seen sliding off the world, no\nlonger able to hold its balance; her fragments overspread with the\nlabel _date obolum Belisario_.--This in short, was the fable of the\nbelly and the members reversed. But I tell the story chiefly for the\nsake of the _moral_, which has the air of having been suggested by\nDr. Franklin[156]; and is as follows.--\"The political moral of this\npicture is now easily discovered. History affords us many instances\nof the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures ill suited\nto the temper and genius of its people. The ordaining of laws in\nfavour of _one_ part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression\nof _another_, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy.\nAn _equal_ dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and\nadvantages, is what every part is intitled to, and ought to enjoy;\nit being a matter of no moment to the state, whether a subject\ngrows rich and flourishing on the Thames or the Ohio, in Edinburgh\nor Dublin. These measures never fail to create great and violent\njealousies and animosities between the people favoured and the people\noppressed: from whence a total separation of affections, interests,\npolitical obligations, and all manners of connections, necessarily\nensues; by which the whole state is weakened and perhaps ruined for\never.\"\n\nThis language is part of the same system with the following fragment\nof a sentence, which Dr. Franklin inserted in a political publication\nof one of his friends. \"The attempts to establish _arbitrary power_\nover so great a part of the British empire, [are] to the imminent\nhazard of our most valuable commerce, and of that national strength,\nsecurity, and felicity, which depend on _union_ and _liberty_;\"--The\npreservation of which, I am told, he used to say, had been the great\nobject and labour of his life; the whole being such a thing _as the\nworld before never saw_. B. V.\n\n[156] This design was printed on a _card_, and Dr. Franklin at the\ntime I believe occasionally used to write his notes on such cards.\nIt was also printed on a _half sheet of paper_, with an explanation\nby some other person, and the moral given above. The drawing was but\nmoderately executed.\n\n\n\n\n _Comparison of Great Britain and America as to Credit, in\n 1777[157]._\n\n\nIn borrowing money a man's credit depends on some or all of the\nfollowing particulars.\n\nFirst, His known conduct respecting former loans, and his punctuality\nin discharging them.\n\nSecondly, His industry.\n\nThirdly, His frugality.\n\nFourthly, The amount and the certainty of his income, and the freedom\nof his estate from the incumbrances of prior debts.\n\nFifthly, His well founded prospects of greater future ability, by the\nimprovement of his estate in value, and by aids from others.\n\nSixthly, His known prudence in managing his general affairs, and the\nadvantage they will probably receive from the loan which he desires.\n\nSeventhly, His known probity and honest character, manifested by\nhis voluntary discharge of debts, which he could not have been\nlegally compelled to pay. The circumstances which give credit to an\n_individual_ ought to have, and will have, their weight upon the\nlenders of money to _public bodies_ or nations. If then we consider\nand compare Britain and America, in these several particulars, upon\nthe question, \"To which is it safest to lend money?\" We shall find,\n\n1. Respecting _former loans_, that America, which borrowed ten\nmillions during the last war for the maintenance of her army of\n25,000 men and other charges, had faithfully discharged and paid\nthat debt, and all her other debts, in 1772. Whereas Britain, during\nthose ten years of peace and profitable commerce, had made little or\nno reduction of her debt; but on the contrary, from time to time,\ndiminished the hopes of her creditors, by a wanton diversion and\nmisapplication of the sinking fund destined for discharging it.\n\n2. Respecting _industry_; every man [in America] is employed, the\ngreater part in cultivating their own lands, the rest in handicrafts,\nnavigation, and commerce. An idle man there is a rarity, idleness\nand inutility are disgraceful. In England, the number of that\ncharacter is immense, fashion has spread it far and wide; hence\nthe embarrassments of private fortunes, and the daily bankruptcies\narising from an universal fondness for appearance and expensive\npleasures; and hence, in some degree, the mismanagement of public\nbusiness; for habits of business, and ability in it, are acquired\nonly by practice; and where universal dissipation, and the perpetual\npursuit of amusement are the mode, the youth, educated in it,\ncan rarely afterwards acquire that patient attention and close\napplication to affairs, which are so necessary to a statesman charged\nwith the care of national welfare. _Hence_ their frequent errors in\npolicy, and hence the weariness at public councils, and backwardness\nin going to them, the constant unwillingness to engage in any measure\nthat requires thought and consideration, and the readiness for\npostponing every new proposition; which postponing is therefore the\nonly part of business that they come to be expert in, an expertness\nproduced necessarily by so much daily practice. Whereas in America,\nmen bred to close employment in their private affairs, attend with\nease to those of the public, when engaged in them, and nothing fails\nthrough negligence.\n\n3. Respecting _frugality_; the manner of living in America is more\nsimple and less expensive than that in England: plain tables, plain\nclothing, and plain furniture in houses prevail, with few carriages\nof pleasure; there, an expensive appearance hurts credit, and\nis avoided: in England, it is often assumed to gain credit, and\ncontinued to ruin. Respecting _public_ affairs, the difference is\nstill greater. In England, the salaries of officers, and emoluments\nof office are enormous. The king has a million sterling per annum,\nand yet cannot maintain his family free of debt: secretaries of\nstate, lords of treasury, admiralty, &c. have vast appointments: an\nauditor of the exchequer has sixpence in the pound, or a fortieth\npart of all the public money expended by the nation; so that when a\nwar costs forty millions one million is paid to him: an inspector\nof the mint, in the last new coinage, received as his fee 65,000_l._\nsterling per annum; to all which rewards no service these gentlemen\ncan render the public is by any means equivalent. All this is paid\nby the people, who are oppressed by taxes so occasioned, and thereby\nrendered less able to contribute to the payment of necessary national\ndebts. In America, salaries, where indispensible, are extremely\nlow; but much of the public business is done gratis. The honour of\nserving the public ably and faithfully is deemed sufficient. _Public\nspirit_ really exists there, and has great effects. In England it\nis universally deemed a non-entity, and whoever pretends to it is\nlaughed at as a fool, or suspected as a knave. The committees of\ncongress which form the board of war, the board of treasury, the\nboard of foreign affairs, the naval board, that for accounts, &c. all\nattend the business of their respective functions, without any salary\nor emolument whatever, though they spend in it much more of their\ntime than any lord of treasury or admiralty in England can spare from\nhis amusements. A British minister lately computed, that the whole\nexpence of the Americans, in their _civil_ government over three\nmillions of people amounted to but 70,000_l._ sterling, and drew from\nthence a conclusion, that they ought to be taxed, until their expence\nwas equal in proportion to that which it costs Britain to govern\neight millions. He had no idea of a contrary conclusion, that if\nthree millions may be well governed for 70,000_l._ eight millions may\nbe as well governed for three times that sum, and that therefore the\nexpence of his own government should be diminished. In that corrupted\nnation no man is ashamed of being concerned in lucrative _government\njobs_, in which the public money is egregiously misapplied and\nsquandered, the treasury pillaged, and more numerous and heavy taxes\naccumulated, to the great oppression of the people. But the prospect\nof a greater number of such jobs by a war is an inducement with\nmany, to cry out for war upon all occasions, and to oppose every\nproposition of peace. Hence the constant increase of the national\ndebt, and the absolute improbability of its ever being discharged.\n\n4. Respecting the _amount and certainty of income, and solidity of\nsecurity_; the _whole_ thirteen states of America are engaged for\nthe payment of every debt contracted by the congress, and the debt\nto be contracted by the present war is the _only_ debt they will\nhave to pay; all, or nearly all, the former debts of particular\ncolonies being already discharged. Whereas England will have to pay\nnot only the enormous debt this war must occasion, but all their\nvast preceding debt, or the interest of it,--and while America is\nenriching itself by prizes made upon the British commerce, more than\nit ever did by any commerce of its own, under the restraints of a\nBritish monopoly; Britain is growing poorer by the loss of that\nmonopoly, and the diminution of its revenues, and of course less able\nto discharge the present indiscreet increase of its expences.\n\n5. Respecting prospects of greater future ability, Britain has none\nsuch. Her islands are circumscribed by the ocean; and excepting a\nfew parks or forests, she has no new land to cultivate, and cannot\ntherefore extend her improvements. Her numbers too, instead of\nincreasing from increased subsistence, are continually diminishing\nfrom growing luxury, and the increasing difficulties of maintaining\nfamilies, which of course discourage early marriages. Thus she\nwill have fewer people to assist in paying her debts, and that\ndiminished number will be poorer. America, on the contrary, has,\nbesides her lands already cultivated, a vast territory yet to be\ncultivated; which, being cultivated, continually increases in value\nwith the increase of people; and the people, who double themselves\nby a _natural propagation_ every twenty-five years, will double yet\nfaster, by the accession of _strangers_, as long as lands are to be\nhad for new families; so that every twenty years there will be a\ndouble number of inhabitants obliged to discharge the public debts;\nand those inhabitants, being more opulent, may pay their shares with\ngreater ease.\n\n6. Respecting _prudence_ in general affairs, and the advantages to\nbe expected from the loan desired; the Americans are cultivators of\nland; those engaged in fishery and commerce are few, compared with\nthe others. They have ever conducted their several governments with\nwisdom, avoiding wars, and vain expensive projects, delighting only\nin their peaceable occupations, which must, considering the extent of\ntheir uncultivated territory, find them employment still for ages.\nWhereas England, ever unquiet, ambitious, avaricious, imprudent,\nand quarrelsome, is half of the time engaged in war, always at an\nexpence infinitely greater than the advantage to be obtained by it,\nif successful. Thus they made war against Spain in 1739, for a claim\nof about 95,000_l._ (scarce a groat for each individual of the nation)\nand spent forty millions sterling in the war, and the lives of fifty\nthousand men; and finally made peace without obtaining satisfaction\nfor the sum claimed. Indeed, there is scarce a nation in Europe,\nagainst which she has not made war on some frivolous pretext or\nother, and thereby imprudently accumulated a debt, that has brought\nher on the verge of bankruptcy. But the most indiscreet of all her\nwars, is the present against America, with whom she might, for ages,\nhave preserved her profitable connection only by a just and equitable\nconduct. She is now acting like a mad shop-keeper, who, by beating\nthose that pass his doors, attempts to make them come in and be his\ncustomers. America cannot submit to such treatment, without being\nfirst ruined, and, being ruined, her custom will be worth nothing.\nEngland, to effect this, is increasing her debt, and irretrievably\nruining herself. America, on the other hand, aims only to establish\nher liberty, and that freedom of commerce which will be advantageous\nto all Europe; and by abolishing that monopoly which she laboured\nunder, she will profit infinitely more than enough to repay any debt,\nwhich she may contract to accomplish it.\n\n7. Respecting _character in the honest payment of debts_; the\npunctuality with which America has discharged her public debts was\nshown under the first head. And the general good disposition of the\npeople to such punctuality has been manifested in their faithful\npayment of _private_ debts to England, since the commencement of\nthis war. There were not wanting some politicians [in America] who\nproposed _stopping that payment_, until peace should be restored,\nalleging, that in the usual course of commerce, and of the credit\ngiven, there was always a debt existing equal to the trade of\neighteen months: that the trade amounting to five millions sterling\nper annum, the debt must be seven millions and an half; that this sum\npaid to the British merchants would operate to prevent that distress,\nintended to be brought upon Britain, by our stoppage of commerce\nwith her; for the merchants, receiving this money, and no orders\nwith it for farther supplies, would either lay it out in the public\nfunds, or in employing manufacturers to accumulate goods for a future\nhungry market in America upon an expected accommodation, by which\nmeans the funds would be kept up and the manufacturers prevented\nfrom murmuring. But _against this it was alleged_, that injuries\nfrom ministers should not be revenged on merchants; that the credit\nwas in consequence of private contracts, made in confidence of good\nfaith; that these ought to be held sacred and faithfully complied\nwith; for that, whatever public utility might be supposed to arise\nfrom a breach of private faith, it was unjust, and would in the end\nbe found unwise--honesty being in truth the best policy. On this\nprinciple the proposition was universally rejected; and though the\nEnglish prosecuted the war with unexampled barbarity, burning our\ndefenceless towns in the midst of winter, and arming savages against\nus; the debt was punctually paid; and the merchants of London have\ntestified to the parliament, and will testify to all the world, that\nfrom their experience in dealing with us they had, before the war, no\napprehension of our unfairness; and that since the war they have been\nconvinced, that their good opinion of us was well founded. England,\non the contrary, an old, corrupt, extravagant, and profligate nation,\nsees herself deep in debt, which she is in no condition to pay; and\nyet is madly, and dishonestly running deeper, without any possibility\nof discharging her debt, but by a public bankruptcy.\n\nIt appears, therefore, from the general industry, frugality,\nability, prudence, and virtue of America, that she is a much safer\ndebtor than Britain;--to say nothing of the satisfaction generous\nminds must have in reflecting, that by loans to America they are\nopposing tyranny, and aiding the cause of liberty, which is the cause\nof all mankind.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[157] This paper was written, translated, printed, and circulated,\nwhile Dr. Franklin was at the court of Paris, for the purpose of\ninducing foreigners to lend money to America in preference to Great\nBritain.\n\n\n\n\n PAPERS,\n\n DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA,\n\n OR\n\n RELATING TO THAT COUNTRY,\n\n WRITTEN\n\n _SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION_.\n\n\n\n\n PAPERS,\n\n DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA,\n\n OR\n\n RELATING TO THAT COUNTRY,\n\n WRITTEN\n\n _SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION_.\n\n\n\n\n _Remarks concerning the Savages of North-America[158]._\n\n\nSavages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which\nwe think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs.\n\nPerhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with\nimpartiality, we should find no people so rude, as to be without any\nrules of politeness; nor any so polite, as not to have some remains\nof rudeness.\n\nThe Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors; when old,\ncounsellors; for all their government is by the council or advice\nof the sages; there is no force, there are no prisons, no officers\nto compel obedience, or inflict punishment. Hence they generally\nstudy oratory, the best speaker having the most influence. The\nIndian women till the ground, dress the food, nurse and bring up\nthe children, and preserve and hand down to posterity the memory\nof public transactions. These employments of men and women are\naccounted natural and honourable. Having few artificial wants, they\nhave abundance of leisure for improvement by conversation. Our\nlaborious manner of life, compared with theirs, they esteem slavish\nand base; and the learning on which we value ourselves, they regard\nas frivolous and useless. An instance of this occurred at the treaty\nof Lancaster, in Pensylvania, anno 1744, between the government\nof Virginia and the six nations. After the principal business was\nsettled, the commissioners from Virginia acquainted the Indians by a\nspeech, that there was at Williamsburg a college, with a fund, for\neducating Indian youth; and that if the chiefs of the Six Nations\nwould send down half a dozen of their sons to that college, the\ngovernment would take care that they should be well provided for,\nand instructed in all the learning of the white people. It is one of\nthe Indian rules of politeness, not to answer a public proposition\nthe same day that it is made; they think it would be treating it\nas a light matter, and that they show it respect by taking time\nto consider it, as of a matter important. They therefore deferred\ntheir answer till the day following; when their speaker began,\nby expressing their deep sense of the kindness of the Virginia\ngovernment, in making them that offer; \"for we know,\" says he, \"that\nyou highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those colleges, and\nthat the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very\nexpensive to you. We are convinced therefore, that you mean to do us\ngood by your proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are\nwise, must know, that different nations have different conceptions\nof things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of\nthis kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have\nhad some experience of it: several of our young people were formerly\nbrought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were\ninstructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they\nwere bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods,\nunable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a\ncabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly,\nwere therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellors;\nthey were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less\nobliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it: and to\nshow our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send\nus a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education,\ninstruct them in all we know, and make _men_ of them.\"\n\nHaving frequent occasions to hold public councils, they have acquired\ngreat order and decency in conducting them. The old men sit in the\nforemost ranks, the warriors in the next, and the women and children\nin the hindmost. The business of the women is to take exact notice of\nwhat passes, imprint it in their memories, for they have no writing,\nand communicate it to their children. They are the records of the\ncouncil, and they preserve tradition of the stipulations in treaties\na hundred years back; which, when we compare with our writings, we\nalways find exact. He that would speak, rises. The rest observe a\nprofound silence. When he has finished and sits down, they leave him\nfive or six minutes to recollect, that, if he has omitted any thing\nhe intended to say, or has any thing to add, he may rise again and\ndeliver it. To interrupt another, even in common conversation, is\nreckoned highly indecent. How different this is from the conduct of\na polite British house of commons, where scarce a day passes without\nsome confusion, that makes the speaker hoarse in calling _to order_;\nand how different from the mode of conversation in many polite\ncompanies of Europe, where, if you do not deliver your sentence with\ngreat rapidity, you are cut off in the middle of it by the impatient\nloquacity of those you converse with, and never suffered to finish it!\n\nThe politeness of these savages in conversation is indeed carried to\nexcess, since it does not permit them to contradict or deny the truth\nof what is asserted in their presence. By this means they indeed\navoid disputes; but then it becomes difficult to know their minds,\nor what impression you make upon them. The missionaries who have\nattempted to convert them to christianity, all complain of this as\none of the great difficulties of their mission. The Indians hear with\npatience the truths of the gospel explained to them, and give their\nusual tokens of assent and approbation: you would think they were\nconvinced. No such matter. It is mere civility.\n\nA Swedish minister, having assembled the chiefs of the Sasquehannah\nIndians, made a sermon to them, acquainting them with the principal\nhistorical facts on which our religion is founded; such as the fall\nof our first parents by eating an apple, the coming of Christ to\nrepair the mischief, his miracles and suffering, &c.--When he had\nfinished, an Indian orator stood up to thank him. \"What you have told\nus,\" says he, \"is all very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It\nis better to make them all into cyder. We are much obliged by your\nkindness in coming so far, to tell us those things which you have\nheard from your mothers. In return, I will tell you some of those we\nhave heard from ours.\n\n\"In the beginning, our fathers had only the flesh of animals to\nsubsist on, and if their hunting was unsuccessful, they were\nstarving. Two of our young hunters having killed a deer, made a fire\nin the woods to broil some parts of it. When they were about to\nsatisfy their hunger, they beheld a beautiful young woman descend\nfrom the clouds, and seat herself on that hill which you see yonder\namong the Blue Mountains. They said to each other, it is a spirit\nthat perhaps has smelt our broiling venison, and wishes to eat of\nit: let us offer some to her. They presented her with the tongue:\nshe was pleased with the taste of it, and said, Your kindness shall\nbe rewarded. Come to this place after thirteen moons, and you shall\nfind something that will be of great benefit in nourishing you and\nyour children to the latest generations. They did so, and to their\nsurprise, found plants they had never seen before; but which, from\nthat ancient time, have been constantly cultivated among us, to\nour great advantage. Where her right hand had touched the ground,\nthey found maize; where her left hand had touched it, they found\nkidney-beans; and where her backside had sat on it, they found\ntobacco.\" The good missionary, disgusted with this idle tale, said,\n\"What I delivered to you were sacred truths, but what you tell me is\nmere fable, fiction, and falsehood.\" The Indian, offended, replied,\n\"My brother, it seems your friends have not done you justice in your\neducation; they have not well instructed you in the rules of common\ncivility. You saw that we, who understand and practice those rules,\nbelieved all your stories, why do you refuse to believe ours?\"\n\nWhen any of them come into our towns, our people are apt to crowd\nround them, gaze upon them, and incommode them where they desire to\nbe private; this they esteem great rudeness, and the effect of the\nwant of instruction in the rules of civility and good manners. \"We\nhave,\" say they, \"as much curiosity as you, and when you come into\nour towns, we wish for opportunities of looking at you; but for this\npurpose we hide ourselves behind bushes, where you are to pass, and\nnever intrude ourselves into your company.\"\n\nTheir manner of entering one another's villages has likewise its\nrules. It is reckoned uncivil in travelling strangers, to enter a\nvillage abruptly, without giving notice of their approach. Therefore,\nas soon as they arrive within hearing, they stop and hollow,\nremaining there till invited to enter. Two old men usually come\nout to them, and lead them in. There is in every village a vacant\ndwelling, called the strangers' house. Here they are placed, while\nthe old men go round from hut to hut, acquainting the inhabitants,\nthat strangers are arrived, who are probably hungry and weary;\nand every one sends them what he can spare of victuals, and skins\nto repose on. When the strangers are refreshed, pipes and tobacco\nare brought; and then, but not before, conversation begins, with\nenquiries who they are, whither bound, what news, &c. and it usually\nends with offers of service, if the strangers have occasion for\nguides, or any necessaries for continuing their journey; and nothing\nis exacted for the entertainment.\n\nThe same hospitality, esteemed among them as a principal virtue,\nis practised by private persons; of which _Conrad Weiser_, our\ninterpreter, gave me the following instance. He had been naturalized\namong the Six Nations, and spoke well the Mohuck language. In going\nthrough the Indian country, to carry a message from our governor to\nthe council at Onondaga, he called at the habitation of Canassetego,\nan old acquaintance, who embraced him, spread furs for him to sit\non, and placed before him some boiled beans and venison, and mixed\nsome rum and water for his drink. When he was well refreshed, and\nhad lit his pipe, Canassetego began to converse with him: asked how\nhe had fared the many years since they had seen each other, whence\nhe then came, what occasioned the journey, &c. Conrad answered all\nhis questions; and when the discourse began to flag, the Indian,\nto continue it, said, \"Conrad, you have lived long among the white\npeople, and know something of their customs; I have been sometimes\nat Albany, and have observed, that once in seven days they shut up\ntheir shops, and assemble all in the great house; tell me what it\nis for? What do they do there?\" \"They meet there,\" says Conrad, \"to\nhear and learn _good things_.\" \"I do not doubt,\" says the Indian,\n\"that they tell you so; they have told me the same: but I doubt the\ntruth of what they say, and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately\nto Albany to sell my skins and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum,\n&c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson; but I was a\nlittle inclined this time to try some other merchants. However, I\ncalled first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver.\nHe said he could not give more than four shillings a pound: but,\nsays he, I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet\ntogether to learn _good things_, and I am going to the meeting. So\nI thought to myself, since I cannot do any business to-day, I may\nas well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up\na man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did\nnot understand what he said; but perceiving that he looked much at\nme, and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so\nI went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe,\nwaiting till the meeting should break up. I thought too, that the\nman had mentioned something of beaver, and I suspected it might be\nthe subject of their meeting. So when they came out I accosted my\nmerchant. Well, Hans, says I, I hope you have agreed to give more\nthan four shillings a pound? No, says he, I cannot give so much, I\ncannot give more than three shillings and sixpence. I then spoke\nto several other dealers, but they all sung the same song, three\nand sixpence, three and sixpence. This made it clear to me that my\nsuspicion was right; and that whatever they pretended of meeting to\nlearn _good things_, the real purpose was to consult how to cheat\nIndians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and\nyou must be of my opinion. If they met so often to learn _good\nthings_, they would certainly have learned some before this time.\nBut they are still ignorant. You know our practice. If a white man,\nin travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all\ntreat him as I do you; we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is\ncold, and give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirst and\nhunger; and we spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on: we\ndemand nothing in return[159]. But if I go into a white man's house\nat Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, Where is your\nmoney? and if I have none, they say, Get out you Indian dog. You see\nthey have not yet learned those little _good things_, that we need\nno meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them\nto us when we were children; and therefore it is impossible their\nmeetings should be, as they say, for any such purpose, or have any\nsuch effect; they are only to contrive _the cheating of Indians in\nthe price of beaver_.\"\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[158] This paper and the two next in order were published in separate\npamphlets in this country, in the year 1784, and afterwards, in 1787,\nformed part of a small collection of our author's papers, printed for\nDilly. It is from this collection we extract them. _Editor._\n\n[159] It is remarkable, that in all ages and countries, hospitality\nhas been allowed as the virtue of those, whom the civilized were\npleased to call Barbarians. The Greeks celebrated the Scythians for\nit, the Saracens possessed it eminently; and it is to this day the\nreigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul too, in the relation\nof his voyage and shipwreck, on the island of Melita, says, \"The\nbarbarous people shewed us no little kindness; for they kindled a\nfire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and\nbecause of the cold.\"\n\n\n\n\n _The internal State of America; being a true Description of the\n Interest and Policy of that vast Continent._\n\n\nThere is a tradition, that, in the planting of New-England, the\nfirst settlers met with many difficulties and hardships; as is\ngenerally the case when a civilized people attempt establishing\nthemselves in a wilderness country. Being piously disposed, they\nsought relief from Heaven, by laying their wants and distresses\nbefore the Lord, in frequent set days of fasting and prayer. Constant\nmeditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy\nand discontented; and, like the children of Israel, there were many\ndisposed to return to that Egypt, which persecution had induced\nthem to abandon. At length, when it was proposed in the assembly to\nproclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose, and remarked,\nthat the inconveniences they suffered, and concerning which they had\nso often wearied heaven with their complaints, were not so great\nas they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the\ncolony strengthened; that the earth began to reward their labour, and\nto furnish liberally for their subsistence; that the seas and rivers\nwere found full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy; and,\nabove all, that they were there in the full enjoyment of liberty,\ncivil and religious: he therefore thought, that reflecting and\nconversing on these subjects would be more comfortable, as tending\nmore to make them contented with their situation; and that it would\nbe more becoming the gratitude they owed to the Divine Being, if,\ninstead of a fast, they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice\nwas taken; and from that day to this they have, in every year,\nobserved circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish\nemployment for a thanksgiving day; which is therefore constantly\nordered and religiously observed.\n\nI see in the public newspapers of different states frequent\ncomplaints of _hard times, deadness of trade, scarcity of money,\n&c. &c._ It is not my intention to assert or maintain, that these\ncomplaints are entirely without foundation. There can be no country\nor nation existing, in which there will not be some people so\ncircumstanced, as to find it hard to gain a livelihood; people who\nare not in the way of any profitable trade, and with whom money is\nscarce, because they have nothing to give in exchange for it; and\nit is always in the power of a small number to make a great clamour.\nBut let us take a cool view of the general state of our affairs, and\nperhaps the prospect will appear less gloomy than has been imagined.\n\nThe great business of the continent is agriculture. For one artisan,\nor merchant, I suppose, we have at least one hundred farmers, by\nfar the greatest part cultivators of their own fertile lands,\nfrom whence many of them draw not only food necessary for their\nsubsistence, but the materials of their clothing, so as to need very\nfew foreign supplies; while they have a surplus of productions to\ndispose of, whereby wealth is gradually accumulated. Such has been\nthe goodness of Divine Providence to these regions, and so favourable\nthe climate, that, since the three or four years of hardship in the\nfirst settlement of our fathers here, a famine or scarcity has never\nbeen heard of amongst us; on the contrary, though some years may have\nbeen more, and others less plentiful, there has always been provision\nenough for ourselves, and a quantity to spare for exportation. And\nalthough the crops of last year were generally good, never was\nthe farmer better paid for the part he can spare commerce, as the\npublished price currents abundantly testify. The lands he possesses\nare also continually rising in value with the increase of population;\nand, on the whole, he is enabled to give such good wages to those who\nwork for him, that all who are acquainted with the old world must\nagree, that in no part of it are the labouring poor so generally\nwell fed, well clothed, well lodged, and well paid, as in the United\nStates of America.\n\nIf we enter the cities, we find, that, since the revolution, the\nowners of houses and lots of ground have had their interest vastly\naugmented in value; rents have risen to an astonishing height, and\nthence encouragement to increase building, which gives employment\nto an abundance of workmen, as does also the increased luxury and\nsplendour of living of the inhabitants, thus made richer. These\nworkmen all demand and obtain much higher wages than any other part\nof the world would afford them, and are paid in ready money. This\nrank of people therefore do not, or ought not, to complain of hard\ntimes; and they make a very considerable part of the city inhabitants.\n\nAt the distance I live from our American fisheries, I cannot speak\nof them with any degree of certainty; but I have not heard, that the\nlabour of the valuable race of men employed in them is worse paid,\nor that they meet with less success, than before the revolution. The\nwhale-men indeed have been deprived of one market for their oil;\nbut another, I hear, is opening for them, which it is hoped may be\nequally advantageous; and the demand is constantly increasing for\ntheir spermaceti candles, which therefore bear a much higher price\nthan formerly.\n\nThere remain the merchants and shopkeepers. Of these, though\nthey make but a small part of the whole nation, the number is\nconsiderable, too great indeed for the business they are employed\nin; for the consumption of goods in every country has its limits;\nthe faculties of the people, that is, their ability to buy and pay,\nbeing equal only to a certain quantity of merchandize. If merchants\ncalculate amiss on this proportion, and import too much, they will\nof course find the sale dull for the overplus, and some of them will\nsay, that trade languishes. They should, and doubtless will, grow\nwiser by experience, and import less. If too many artificers in\ntown, and farmers from the country, flattering themselves with the\nidea of leading easier lives, turn shopkeepers, the whole natural\nquantity of that business divided among them all may afford too small\na share for each, and occasion complaints, that trading is dead;\nthese may also suppose, that it is owing to scarcity of money, while,\nin fact, it is not so much from the fewness of buyers, as from the\nexcessive number of sellers, that the mischief arises; and, if every\nshopkeeping farmer and mechanic would return to the use of his plough\nand working tools, there would remain of widows, and other women,\nshopkeepers sufficient for the business, which might then afford them\na comfortable maintenance.\n\nWhoever has travelled through the various parts of Europe, and\nobserved how small is the proportion of people in affluence or easy\ncircumstances there, compared with those in poverty and misery;\nthe few rich and haughty landlords, the multitude of poor, abject,\nrack-rented, tythe-paying tenants, and half-paid and half-starved\nragged labourers; and views here the happy mediocrity, that so\ngenerally prevails throughout these states, where the cultivator\nworks for himself, and supports his family in decent plenty, will,\nmethinks, see abundant reason to bless Divine Providence for the\nevident and great difference in our favour, and be convinced, that no\nnation known to us enjoys a greater share of human felicity.\n\nIt is true, that in some of the states there are parties and\ndiscords; but let us look back, and ask if we were ever without them?\nSuch will exist wherever there is liberty; and perhaps they help\nto preserve it. By the collision of different sentiments, sparks of\ntruth are struck out, and political light is obtained. The different\nfactions, which at present divide us, aim all at the public good: the\ndifferences are only about the various modes of promoting it. Things,\nactions, measures, and objects of all kinds, present themselves to\nthe minds of men in such a variety of lights, that it is not possible\nwe should all think alike at the same time on every subject, when\nhardly the same man retains at all times the same ideas of it.\nParties are therefore the common lot of humanity; and ours are by\nno means more mischievous or less beneficial than those of other\ncountries, nations, and ages, enjoying in the same degree the great\nblessing of political liberty.\n\nSome indeed among us are not so much grieved for the present state\nof our affairs, as apprehensive for the future. The growth of luxury\nalarms them, and they think we are from that alone in the high road\nto ruin. They observe, that no revenue is sufficient without economy,\nand that the most plentiful income of a whole people from the natural\nproductions of their country may be dissipated in vain and needless\nexpences, and poverty be introduced in the place of affluence. This\nmay be possible. It however rarely happens: for there seems to be in\nevery nation a greater proportion of industry and frugality, which\ntend to enrich, than of idleness and prodigality, which occasion\npoverty; so that upon the whole there is a continual accumulation.\nReflect what Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain were in the time of\nthe Romans, inhabited by people little richer than our savages, and\nconsider the wealth they at present possess, in numerous well-built\ncities, improved farms, rich moveables, magazines stocked with\nvaluable manufactures, to say nothing of plate jewels, and coined\nmoney; and all this, notwithstanding their bad, wasteful, plundering\ngovernments, and their mad destructive wars; and yet luxury and\nextravagant living has never suffered much restraint in those\ncountries. Then consider the great proportion of industrious frugal\nfarmers inhabiting the interior parts of these American states,\nand of whom the body of our nation consists, and judge whether it\nis possible, that the luxury of our sea-ports can be sufficient to\nruin such a country.--If the importation of foreign luxuries could\nruin a people, we should probably have been ruined long ago; for the\nBritish nation claimed a right, and practised it, of importing among\nus not only the superfluities of their own production, but those of\nevery nation under heaven; we bought and consumed them, and yet we\nflourished and grew rich. At present our independent governments may\ndo what we could not then do, discourage by heavy duties, or prevent\nby heavy prohibitions, such importations, and thereby grow richer;\nif, indeed, which may admit of dispute, the desire of adorning\nourselves with fine clothes, possessing fine furniture, with elegant\nhouses, &c. is not, by strongly inciting to labour and industry,\nthe occasion of producing a greater value, than is consumed in the\ngratification of that desire.\n\nThe agriculture and fisheries of the United States are the great\nsources of our increasing wealth. He that puts a seed into the earth\nis recompensed, perhaps, by receiving forty out of it; and he who\ndraws a fish out of our water, draws up a piece of silver.\n\nLet us (and there is no doubt but we shall) be attentive to these,\nand then the power of rivals, with all their restraining and\nprohibiting acts, cannot much hurt us. We are sons of the earth\nand seas, and, like Ant\u00e6us in the fable, if, in wrestling with a\nHercules, we now and then receive a fall, the touch of our parents\nwill communicate to us fresh strength and vigour to renew the contest.\n\n\n\n\n _Information to those who would remove to America._\n\n\nMany persons in Europe having directly or by letters, expressed to\nthe writer of this, who is well acquainted with North-America, their\ndesire of transporting and establishing themselves in that country;\nbut who appear to him to have formed, through ignorance, mistaken\nideas and expectations of what is to be obtained there; he thinks it\nmay be useful, and prevent inconvenient, expensive, and fruitless\nremovals and voyages of improper persons, if he gives some clearer\nand truer notions of that part of the world, than appear to have\nhitherto prevailed.\n\nHe finds it is imagined by numbers, that the inhabitants of North\nAmerica are rich, capable of rewarding, and disposed to reward, all\nsorts of ingenuity; that they are at the same time ignorant of all\nthe sciences, and consequently, that strangers, possessing talents in\nthe belles-lettres, fine arts, &c. must be highly esteemed, and so\nwell paid, as to become easily rich themselves; that there are also\nabundance of profitable offices to be disposed of, which the natives\nare not qualified to fill; and that, having few persons of family\namong them, strangers of birth must be greatly respected, and of\ncourse easily obtain the best of those offices, which will make all\ntheir fortunes: that the governments too, to encourage emigrations\nfrom Europe, not only pay the expence of personal transportation,\nbut give lands gratis to strangers, with negroes to work for them,\nutensils of husbandry, and stocks of cattle. These are all wild\nimaginations; and those who go to America with expectations founded\nupon them will surely find themselves disappointed.\n\nThe truth is, that though there are in that country few people so\nmiserable as the poor of Europe, there are also very few that in\nEurope would be called rich; it is rather a general happy mediocrity\nthat prevails. There are few great proprietors of the soil, and\nfew tenants; most people cultivate their own lands, or follow some\nhandicraft or merchandise; very few rich enough to live idly upon\ntheir rents or incomes, or to pay the high prices given in Europe\nfor painting, statues, architecture, and the other works of art,\nthat are more curious than useful. Hence the natural geniuses, that\nhave arisen in America with such talents, have uniformly quitted\nthat country for Europe, where they can be more suitably rewarded.\nIt is true, that letters and mathematical knowledge are in esteem\nthere, but they are at the same time more common than is apprehended;\nthere being already existing nine colleges or universities, viz.\nfour in New England, and one in each of the provinces of New York,\nNew Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all furnished with\nlearned professors; besides a number of smaller academies: these\neducate many of their youth in the languages, and those sciences\nthat qualify men for the professions of divinity, law, or physic.\nStrangers indeed are by no means excluded from exercising those\nprofessions; and the quick increase of inhabitants every where gives\nthem a chance of employ, which they have in common with the natives.\nOf civil offices, or employments, there are few; no superfluous ones,\nas in Europe; and it is a rule established in some of the states,\nthat no office should be so profitable as to make it desirable.\nThe thirty-sixth article of the constitution of Pensylvania runs\nexpressly in these words: \"As every freeman, to preserve his\nindependence (if he has not a sufficient estate) ought to have some\nprofession, calling, trade, or farm, whereby he may honestly subsist,\nthere can be no necessity for, nor use in, establishing offices of\nprofit; the usual effects of which are dependence and servility,\nunbecoming freemen, in the possessors and expectants; faction,\ncontention, corruption, and disorder among the people. Wherefore,\nwhenever an office, through increase of fees or otherwise, becomes so\nprofitable, as to occasion many to apply for it, the profits ought to\nbe lessened by the legislature.\"\n\nThese ideas prevailing more or less in all the United States, it\ncannot be worth any man's while, who has a means of living at home,\nto expatriate himself, in hopes of obtaining a profitable civil\noffice in America; and as to military offices, they are at an end\nwith the war, the armies being disbanded. Much less is it adviseable\nfor a person to go thither, who has no other quality to recommend\nhim but his birth. In Europe it has indeed its value; but it is a\ncommodity that cannot be carried to a worse market than to that of\nAmerica, where people do not enquire concerning a stranger, _What is\nhe?_ but _What can he do?_ If he has any useful art, he is welcome;\nand if he exercises it, and behaves well, he will be respected by all\nthat know him; but a mere man of quality, who on that account wants\nto live upon the public by some office or salary, will be despised\nand disregarded. The husbandman is in honour there, and even the\nmechanic, because their employments are useful. The people have a\nsaying, that God Almighty is himself a mechanic, the greatest in\nthe universe; and he is respected and admired more for the variety,\ningenuity, and utility of his handiworks, than for the antiquity of\nhis family. They are pleased with the observation of a negro, and\nfrequently mention it, that Boccarora (meaning the white man) make de\nblack man workee, make de horse workee, make de ox workee, make ebery\nting workee; only de hog. He de hog, no workee; he eat, he drink, he\nwalk about, he go to sleep when he please, he libb like a gentleman.\nAccording to these opinions of the Americans, one of them would think\nhimself more obliged to a genealogist, who could prove for him that\nhis ancestors and relations for ten generations had been ploughmen,\nsmiths, carpenters, turners, weavers, tanners, or even shoemakers,\nand consequently that they were useful members of society; than if he\ncould only prove that they were gentlemen, doing nothing of value,\nbut living idly on the labour of others, mere _fruges consumere\nnati_[160], and otherwise _good for nothing_, till by their death\ntheir estates, like the carcase of the negro's gentleman-hog, come to\nbe _cut up_.\n\nWith regard to encouragements for strangers from government, they are\nreally only what are derived from good laws and liberty. Strangers\nare welcome, because there is room enough for them all, and therefore\nthe old inhabitants are not jealous of them; the laws protect them\nsufficiently, so that they have no need of the patronage of great\nmen; and every one will enjoy securely the profits of his industry.\nBut if he does not bring a fortune with him, he must work and be\nindustrious to live. One or two years residence give him all the\nrights of a citizen; but the government does not at present, whatever\nit may have done in former times, hire people to become settlers, by\npaying their passages, giving land, negroes, utensils, stock, or any\nother kind of emolument whatsoever. In short, America is the land of\nlabour, and by no means what the English call Lubberland, and the\nFrench Pays de Cocagne, where the streets are said to be paved with\nhalf-peck loaves, the houses tiled with pancakes, and where the fowls\nfly about ready roasted, crying, _Come eat me!_\n\nWho then are the kind of persons to whom an emigration to America\nmay be advantageous? And what are the advantages they may reasonably\nexpect?\n\nLand being cheap in that country, from the vast forests still void\nof inhabitants, and not likely to be occupied in an age to come,\ninsomuch that the propriety of an hundred acres of fertile soil full\nof wood may be obtained near the frontiers, in many places, for\neight or ten guineas, hearty young labouring men, who understand\nthe husbandry of corn and cattle, which is nearly the same in that\ncountry as in Europe, may easily establish themselves there. A little\nmoney saved of the good wages they receive there, while they work\nfor others, enables them to buy the land and begin their plantation,\nin which they are assisted by the good-will of their neighbours,\nand some credit. Multitudes of poor people from England, Ireland,\nScotland, and Germany, have by this means in a few years become\nwealthy farmers, who, in their own countries, where all the lands are\nfully occupied, and the wages of labour low, could never have emerged\nfrom the mean condition wherein they were born.\n\nFrom the salubrity of the air, the healthiness of the climate, the\nplenty of good provisions, and the encouragement to early marriages,\nby the certainty of subsistence in cultivating the earth, the\nincrease of inhabitants by natural generation is very rapid in\nAmerica, and becomes still more so by the accession of strangers;\nhence there is a continual demand for more artisans of all the\nnecessary and useful kinds, to supply those cultivators of the\nearth with houses, and with furniture and utensils of the grosser\nsorts, which cannot so well be brought from Europe. Tolerably good\nworkmen in any of those mechanic arts are sure to find employ, and\nto be well paid for their work, there being no restraints preventing\nstrangers from exercising any art they understand, nor any permission\nnecessary. If they are poor, they begin first as servants or\njourneymen; and if they are sober, industrious, and frugal, they\nsoon become masters, establish themselves in business, marry, raise\nfamilies, and become respectable citizens.\n\nAlso, persons of moderate fortunes and capitals, who, having a\nnumber of children to provide for, are desirous of bringing them\nup to industry, and to secure estates for their posterity, have\nopportunities of doing it in America, which Europe does not afford.\nThere they may be taught and practise profitable mechanic arts,\nwithout incurring disgrace on that account, but on the contrary\nacquiring respect by such abilities. There small capitals laid\nout in lands, which daily become more valuable by the increase of\npeople, afford a solid prospect of ample fortunes thereafter for\nthose children. The writer of this has known several instances of\nlarge tracts of land, bought, on what was then the frontier of\nPennsylvania, for ten pounds per hundred acres, which, when the\nsettlements had been extended far beyond them, sold readily, without\nany improvement made upon them, for three pounds per acre. The acre\nin America is the same with the English acre, or the acre of Normandy.\n\nThose, who desire to understand the state of government in America,\nwould do well to read the constitutions of the several states,\nand the articles of confederation that bind the whole together\nfor general purposes, under the direction of one assembly, called\nthe congress. These constitutions have been printed, by order of\ncongress, in America; two editions of them have also been printed in\nLondon; and a good translation of them into French has lately been\npublished at Paris.\n\nSeveral of the princes of Europe of late, from an opinion of\nadvantage to arise by producing all commodities and manufactures\nwithin their own dominions, so as to diminish or render useless\ntheir importations, have endeavoured to entice workmen from other\ncountries, by high salaries, privileges, &c. Many persons, pretending\nto be skilled in various great manufactures, imagining, that America\nmust be in want of them, and that the congress would probably be\ndisposed to imitate the princes above mentioned, have proposed to\ngo over, on condition of having their passages paid, lands given,\nsalaries appointed, exclusive privileges for terms of years, &c.\nSuch persons, on reading the articles of confederation, will find,\nthat the congress have no power committed to them, or money put into\ntheir hands, for such purposes; and that if any such encouragement\nis given, it must be by the government of some separate state. This,\nhowever, has rarely been done in America; and when it has been done,\nit has rarely succeeded, so as to establish a manufacture, which the\ncountry was not yet so ripe for as to encourage private persons to\nset it up; labour being generally too dear there, and hands difficult\nto be kept together, every one desiring to be a master, and the\ncheapness of land inclining many to leave trades for agriculture.\nSome indeed have met with success, and are carried on to advantage;\nbut they are generally such as require only a few hands, or wherein\ngreat part of the work is performed by machines. Goods that are\nbulky, and of so small value as not well to bear the expence of\nfreight, may often be made cheaper in the country than they can\nbe imported; and the manufacture of such goods will be profitable\nwherever there is a sufficient demand. The farmers in America produce\nindeed a good deal of wool and flax; and none is exported, it is\nall worked up; but it is in the way of domestic manufacture, for\nthe use of the family. The buying up quantities of wool and flax,\nwith the design to employ spinners, weavers, &c. and form great\nestablishments, producing quantities of linen and woollen goods for\nsale, has been several times attempted in different provinces; but\nthose projects have generally failed, goods of equal value being\nimported cheaper. And when the governments have been solicited to\nsupport such schemes by encouragements, in money, or by imposing\nduties on importation of such goods, it has been generally refused,\non this principle, that if the country is ripe for the manufacture,\nit may be carried on by private persons to advantage; and if not,\nit is a folly to think of forcing nature. Great establishments of\nmanufacture require great numbers of poor to do the work for small\nwages; those poor are to be found in Europe, but will not be found\nin America, till the lands are all taken up and cultivated, and\nthe excess of people, who cannot get land, want employment. The\nmanufacture of silk, they say, is natural in France, as that of\ncloth in England, because each country produces in plenty the first\nmaterial: but if England will have a manufacture of silk as well as\nthat of cloth, and France of cloth as well as that of silk, these\nunnatural operations must be supported by mutual prohibitions, or\nhigh duties on the importation of each other's goods; by which means\nthe workmen are enabled to tax the home consumer by greater prices,\nwhile the higher wages they receive makes them neither happier nor\nricher, since they only drink more and work less. Therefore the\ngovernments in America do nothing to encourage such projects. The\npeople, by this means, are not imposed on either by the merchant or\nmechanic: if the merchant demands too much profit on imported shoes,\nthey buy of the shoe-maker; and if he asks too high a price, they\ntake them of the merchant: thus the two professions are checks on\neach other. The shoemaker, however, has, on the whole, a considerable\nprofit upon his labour in America, beyond what he had in Europe, as\nhe can add to his price a sum nearly equal to all the expences of\nfreight and commission, risque or insurance, &c. necessarily charged\nby the merchant. And the case is the same with the workmen in every\nother mechanic art. Hence it is, that artisans generally live\nbetter and more easily in America than in Europe; and such as are\ngood economists make a comfortable provision for age, and for their\nchildren. Such may, therefore, remove with advantage to America.\n\nIn the old long-settled countries of Europe, all arts, trades,\nprofessions, farms, &c. are so full, that it is difficult for a poor\nman who has children to place them where they may gain, or learn to\ngain, a decent livelihood. The artisans, who fear creating future\nrivals in business, refuse to take apprentices, but upon conditions\nof money, maintenance, or the like, which the parents are unable to\ncomply with. Hence the youth are dragged up in ignorance of every\ngainful art, and obliged to become soldiers, or servants, or thieves,\nfor a subsistence. In America, the rapid increase of inhabitants\ntakes away that fear of rivalship, and artisans willingly receive\napprentices from the hope of profit by their labour, during the\nremainder of the time stipulated, after they shall be instructed.\nHence it is easy for poor families to get their children instructed;\nfor the artisans are so desirous of apprentices, that many of them\nwill even give money to the parents, to have boys from ten to fifteen\nyears of age bound apprentices to them, till the age of twenty-one;\nand many poor parents have, by that means, on their arrival in the\ncountry, raised money enough to buy land sufficient to establish\nthemselves, and to subsist the rest of their family by agriculture.\nThese contracts for apprentices are made before a magistrate, who\nregulates the agreement according to reason and justice, and, having\nin view the formation of a future useful citizen, obliges the master\nto engage by a written indenture, not only that, during the time\nof service stipulated, the apprentice shall be duly provided with\nmeat, drink, apparel, washing, and lodging, and at its expiration\nwith a complete new suit of clothes, but also, that he shall be\ntaught to read, write, and cast accounts; and that he shall be well\ninstructed in the art or profession of his master, or some other, by\nwhich he may afterwards gain a livelihood, and be able in his turn to\nraise a family. A copy of this indenture is given to the apprentice\nor his friends, and the magistrate keeps a record of it, to which\nrecourse may be had, in case of failure by the master in any point\nof performance. This desire among the masters, to have more hands\nemployed in working for them, induces them to pay the passages of\nyoung persons, of both sexes, who, on their arrival, agree to serve\nthem one, two, three, or four years; those who have already learned a\ntrade, agreeing for a shorter term, in proportion to their skill, and\nthe consequent immediate value of their service; and those who have\nnone, agreeing for a longer term, in consideration of being taught\nan art their poverty would not permit them to acquire in their own\ncountry.\n\nThe almost general mediocrity of fortune that prevails in America,\nobliging its people to follow some business for subsistence, those\nvices, that arise usually from idleness, are in a great measure\nprevented. Industry and constant employment are great preservatives\nof the morals and virtue of a nation. Hence bad examples to youth\nare more rare in America, which must be a comfortable consideration\nto parents. To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under\nits various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and\npractised. Atheism is unknown there; infidelity rare and secret; so\nthat persons may live to a great age in that country, without having\ntheir piety shocked by meeting with either an atheist or an infidel.\nAnd the Divine Being seems to have manifested his approbation of\nthe mutual forbearance and kindness with which the different sects\ntreat each other, by the remarkable prosperity with which he has been\npleased to favour the whole country.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[160]\n\n ... born\n Merely to eat up the corn. WATTS.\n\n\n\n\nTO THE EARL OF BUCHAN[161].\n\n _Concerning new Settlements in America._\n\n\n _Passy, March 17, 1783._\n\n MY LORD,\n\nI received the letter your lordship did me the honour of writing to\nme the 18th past, and am much obliged by your kind congratulations on\nthe return of peace, which I hope will be lasting.\n\nWith regard to the terms on which lands may be acquired in America,\nand the manner of beginning new settlements on them, I cannot give\nbetter information than may be found in a book lately printed at\nLondon, under some such title as--_Letters from a Pensylvanian\nFarmer_, by Hector St. John. The only encouragement we hold out to\nstrangers are, _a good climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and\nwater, plenty of provisions and food, good pay for labour, kind\nneighbours, good laws, and a hearty welcome_. The rest depends on a\nman's own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be\nbought. All settlements are undertaken at private expence; the public\ncontributes nothing but defence and justice. I have long observed of\nyour people, that their sobriety, frugality, industry and honesty,\nseldom fail of success in America, and of procuring them a good\nestablishment among us.\n\nI do not recollect the circumstance you are pleased to mention, of\nmy having saved a citizen at St. Andrew's by giving a turn to his\ndisorder; and I am curious to know, what the disorder was, and what\nthe advice I gave, that proved so salutary[162]. With great regard\nI have the honour to be, my lord, your lordship's most obedient and\nmost humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[161] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for July, 1794, to which it was\ncommunicated by the nobleman to whom it is addressed. _Editor._\n\n[162] It was a fever in which the Earl of Buchan, then lord Cadross,\nlay sick at St. Andrew's; and the advice was, not to blister,\naccording to the old practice and the opinion of the learned Dr.\nSimson, brother of the celebrated geometrician at Glasgow. B.\n\n\n\n\n _A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews, and of the\n Antifederalists in the United States of America[163]._\n\n\nA zealous advocate for the proposed federal constitution in a certain\npublic assembly said, that \"the repugnance of a great part of mankind\nto good government was such, that he believed, that if an angel from\nheaven was to bring down a constitution, formed there for our use, it\nwould nevertheless meet with violent opposition.\" He was reproved for\nthe supposed extravagance of the sentiment, and he did not justify\nit. Probably it might not have immediately occurred to him, that the\nexperiment had been tried, and that the event was recorded in the\nmost faithful of all histories, the Holy Bible; otherwise he might,\nas it seems to me, have supported his opinion by that unexceptionable\nauthority.\n\nThe Supreme Being had been pleased to nourish up a single family,\nby continued acts of his attentive providence, till it became a\ngreat people: and having rescued them from bondage by many miracles,\nperformed by his servant Moses, he personally delivered to that\nchosen servant, in presence of the whole nation, a constitution and\ncode of laws for their observance, accompanied and sanctioned with\npromises of great rewards, and threats of severe punishments, as the\nconsequence of their obedience or disobedience.\n\nThis constitution, though the Deity himself was to be at its head\n(and it is therefore called by political writers a theocracy) could\nnot be carried into execution but by the means of his ministers;\nAaron and his sons were therefore commissioned to be, with Moses, the\nfirst established ministry of the new government.\n\nOne would have thought, that the appointment of men, who had\ndistinguished themselves in procuring the liberty of their nation,\nand had hazarded their lives in openly opposing the will of a\npowerful monarch, who would have retained that nation in slavery,\nmight have been an appointment acceptable to a grateful people; and\nthat a constitution, framed for them by the Deity himself, might on\nthat account have been secure of an universal welcome reception. Yet\nthere were, in every one of the thirteen tribes, some discontented,\nrestless spirits, who were continually exciting them to reject the\nproposed new government, and this from various motives.\n\nMany still retained an affection for Egypt, the land of their\nnativity, and these, whenever they felt any inconvenience or\nhardship, though the natural and unavoidable effect of their change\nof situation, exclaimed against their leaders as the authors of\ntheir trouble: and were not only for returning into Egypt, but for\nstoning their deliverers[164]. Those inclined to idolatry were\ndispleased that their golden calf was destroyed. Many of the chiefs\nthought the new constitution might be injurious to their particular\ninterests, that the profitable places would be _engrossed by the\nfamilies and friends of Moses and Aaron_, and others, equally well\nborn, excluded.[165]--In Josephus, and the Talmud, we learn some\nparticulars, not so fully narrated in the scripture. We are there\ntold, that Corah was ambitious of the priesthood, and offended that\nit was conferred on Aaron; and this, as he said, by the authority of\nMoses only, _without the consent of the people_. He accused Moses of\nhaving, by various artifices, fraudulently obtained the government,\nand deprived the people of their liberties, and of conspiring with\nAaron to perpetuate the tyranny in their family. Thus, though\nCorah's real motive was the supplanting of Aaron, he persuaded the\npeople, that he meant only the public good; and they, moved by his\ninsinuations, began to cry out, \"Let us maintain the common liberty\nof our _respective tribes_; we have freed ourselves from the slavery\nimposed upon us by the Egyptians, and shall we suffer ourselves to\nbe made slaves by Moses? If we must have a master, it were better to\nreturn to Pharaoh, who at least fed us with bread and onions, than\nto serve this new tyrant, who, by his operations, has brought us\ninto danger of famine.\" Then they called in question the _reality\nof his conference_ with God, and objected to the privacy of the\nmeetings, and the preventing any of the people from being present at\nthe colloquies, or even approaching the place, as grounds of great\nsuspicion. They accused Moses also of _peculation_, as embezzling\npart of the golden spoons and the silver chargers, that the princes\nhad offered at the dedication of the altar[166], and the offerings\nof gold by the common people[167], as well as most of the poll\ntax[168]; and Aaron they accused of pocketing much of the gold of\nwhich he pretended to have made a molten calf. Besides peculation,\nthey charged Moses with _ambition_; to gratify which passion, he had,\nthey said, deceived the people, by promising to bring them to a land\nflowing with milk and honey; instead of doing which, he had brought\nthem _from_ such a land; and that he thought light of all this\nmischief, provided he could make himself an _absolute prince_[169].\nThat, to support the new dignity with splendour in his family, the\npartial poll tax, already levied and given to Aaron[170], was to be\nfollowed by a general one[171], which would probably be augmented\nfrom time to time, if he were suffered to go on promulgating new\nlaws, on pretence of new occasional revelations of the divine will,\ntill their whole fortunes were devoured by that aristocracy.\n\nMoses denied the charge of peculation, and his accusers were\ndestitute of proofs to support it; though _facts_, if real, are in\ntheir nature capable of proof. \"I have not,\" said he (with holy\nconfidence in the presence of God), \"I have not taken from this\npeople the value of an ass, nor done them any other injury.\" But\nhis enemies had made the charge, and with some success among the\npopulace; for no kind of accusation is so readily made, or easily\nbelieved, by knaves, as the accusation of knavery.\n\nIn fine, no less than two hundred and fifty of the principal men\n\"famous in the congregation, men of renown[172],\" heading and\nexciting the mob, worked them up to such a pitch of phrenzy, that\nthey called out, stone 'em, stone 'em, and thereby secure our\nliberties; and let us choose other captains, that may lead us back\ninto Egypt, in case we do not succeed in reducing the Canaanites.\n\nOn the whole, it appears, that the Israelites were a people jealous\nof their newly acquired liberty, which jealousy was in itself\nno fault; but that, when they suffered it to be worked upon by\nartful men, pretending public good, with nothing really in view\nbut private interest, they were led to oppose the establishment of\nthe new constitution, whereby they brought upon themselves much\ninconvenience and misfortune. It farther appears, from the same\ninestimable history, that when, after many ages, the constitution\nhad become old and much abused, and an amendment of it was proposed,\nthe populace, as they had accused Moses of the ambition of making\nhimself a prince, and cried out, stone him, stone him; so, excited by\ntheir high-priests and scribes, they exclaimed against the Messiah,\nthat he aimed at becoming king of the Jews, and cried, crucify him,\ncrucify him. From all which we may gather, that popular opposition\nto a public measure is no proof of its impropriety, even though the\nopposition be excited and headed by men of distinction.\n\nTo conclude, I beg I may not be understood to infer, that our general\nconvention was divinely inspired when it formed the new federal\nconstitution, merely because that constitution has been unreasonably\nand vehemently opposed: yet, I must own, I have so much faith in the\ngeneral government of the world by Providence, that I can hardly\nconceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare\nof millions now existing, and to exist in the posterity of a great\nnation, should be suffered to pass without being in some degree\ninfluenced, guided and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent and\nbeneficent ruler, in whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and\nhave their being.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[163] From the Repository, vol. II. p. 313. _Editor._\n\n[164] Numbers, chap. xiv.\n\n[165] Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 3. \"And they gathered themselves\ntogether against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, ye\ntake too much upon you, seeing all the congregations are holy,\nevery one of them,--wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the\ncongregation.\"\n\n[166] Numbers, chap. vii.\n\n[167] Exodus, chapter xxxv. ver. 22.\n\n[168] Numbers, chap. iii. and Exodus, chap. xxx.\n\n[169] Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 13. \"Is it a small thing that thou\nhast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill\nus in this wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince\nover us?\"\n\n[170] Numbers, chap. iii.\n\n[171] Exodus, chap. xxx.\n\n[172] Numbers, chap. xvi.\n\n\n\n\n _Final Speech of Dr. Franklin in the late Federal Convention[173]._\n\n\n MR. PRESIDENT,\n\nI confess that I do not entirely approve of this constitution at\npresent: but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for having\nlived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by\nbetter information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even\non important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be\notherwise. It is, therefore, that, the older I grow, the more apt I\nam to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment\nof others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think\nthemselves in possession of all truth, and that whenever others\ndiffer from them, it is so far error. Steel, a protestant, in a\ndedication, tells the pope, that \"the only difference between our two\nchurches, in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is,\nthe Romish church is infallible, and the church of England never in\nthe wrong.\" But, though many private persons think almost as highly\nof their own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express\nit so naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a little dispute\nwith her sister, said, I don't know how it happens, sister, but I\nmeet with nobody but myself that is always in the right. _Il n'y a\nque moi qui a toujours raison._ In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to\nthis constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I\nthink a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of\ngovernment but what may be a blessing, if well administered; and\nI believe farther, that this is likely to be well administered for\na course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms\nhave done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted\nas to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I\ndoubt too, whether any other convention we can obtain, may be able\nto make a better constitution. For when you assemble a number of\nmen, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably\nassemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions,\ntheir errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish\nviews. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected?\nIt therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching\nso near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our\nenemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear, that our councils\nare confounded, like those of the builders of Babylon, and that our\nstates are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the\npurpose of cutting each other's throats.\n\nThus I consent, sir, to this constitution, because I expect no\nbetter, and because I am not sure, that this is not the best. The\nopinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.\nI have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these\nwalls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us,\nin returning to our constituents, were to report the objections he\nhas had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans in support of them,\nwe might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all\nthe salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our\nfavour among foreign nations, as well as among ourselves, from our\nreal or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of\nany government, in procuring and securing happiness to the people,\ndepends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of that\ngovernment, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors.\n\nI hope therefore, that for our own sakes, as part of the people, and\nfor the sake of our posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously\nin recommending this constitution, wherever our influence may extend,\nand turn our future thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it\nwell administered.\n\nOn the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish, that every member\nof the convention, who may still have objections, would with me, on\nthis occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make\nmanifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.\n\n[The motion was then made for adding the last formula, viz.\n\nDone in Convention, by the unanimous consent, &c. which was agreed\nto, and added accordingly.]\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[173] From the American Museum, vol. II. p. 558. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nMORAL SUBJECTS\n\nAND\n\n_THE ECONOMY OF LIFE_.\n\n\n\n\nPAPERS\n\nON\n\nMORAL SUBJECTS\n\nAND\n\n_THE ECONOMY OF LIFE_.\n\n\n\n\n _The Busy-Body._--No. I[174].\n\n FROM THE AMERICAN WEEKLY MERCURY, FROM TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, TO\n TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1728,--9.\n\n\n MR. ANDREW BRADFORD,\n\nI design this to acquaint you, that I, who have long been one of your\ncourteous readers, have lately entertained some thought of setting up\nfor an author myself; not out of the least vanity, I assure you, or\ndesire of showing my parts, but purely for the good of my country.\n\nI have often observed with concern, that your Mercury is not always\nequally entertaining. The delay of ships expected in, and want of\nfresh advices from Europe, make it frequently very dull; and I find\nthe freezing of our river has the same effect on news as trade.--With\nmore concern have I continually observed the growing vices and\nfollies of my country folk: and though reformation is properly the\nconcern of every man, that is, every one ought to mend one; yet it\nis too true in this case, that what is every body's business is no\nbody's business, and the business is done accordingly. I therefore,\nupon mature deliberation, think fit to take no body's business wholly\ninto my own hands; and, out of zeal for the public good, design\nto erect myself into a kind of censor morum; purposing, with your\nallowance, to make use of the Weekly Mercury as a vehicle, in which\nmy remonstrances shall be conveyed to the world.\n\nI am sensible I have, in this particular, undertaken a very\nunthankful office, and expect little besides my labour for my pains.\nNay, it is probable, I may displease a great number of your readers,\nwho will not very well like to pay ten shillings a year for being\ntold of their faults. But as most people delight in censure, when\nthey themselves are not the objects of it, if any are offended at my\npublicly exposing their private vices, I promise they shall have the\nsatisfaction, in a very little time, of seeing their good friends and\nneighbours in the same circumstances.\n\nHowever, let the fair sex be assured, that I shall always treat them\nand their affairs with the utmost decency and respect. I intend now\nand then to dedicate a chapter wholly to their service; and if my\nlectures any way contribute to the embellishment of their minds, and\nbrightening of their understandings, without offending their modesty,\nI doubt not of having their favour and encouragement.\n\nIt is certain, that no country in the world produces naturally finer\nspirits than ours, men of genius for every kind of science, and\ncapable of acquiring to perfection every qualification, that is in\nesteem among mankind. But as few here have the advantage of good\nbooks, for want of which, good conversation is still more scarce,\nit would, doubtless, have been very acceptable to your readers,\nif, instead of an old out-of-date article from Muscovy or Hungary,\nyou had entertained them with some well chosen extract from a good\nauthor. This I shall sometimes do, when I happen to have nothing\nof my own to say that I think of more consequence. Sometimes, I\npurpose to deliver lectures of morality of philosophy, and (because\nI am naturally inclined to be meddling with things that do not\nconcern me) perhaps I may sometimes talk politics. And if I can by\nany means furnish out a weekly entertainment for the public, that\nwill give a rational diversion, and at the same time be instructive\nto the readers, I shall think my leisure hours well employed: and\nif you publish this, I hereby invite all ingenious gentlemen and\nothers (that approve of such an undertaking) to my assistance and\ncorrespondence.\n\nIt is like, by this time, you have a curiosity to be acquainted with\nmy name and character. As I do not aim at public praise, I design\nto remain concealed: and there are such numbers of our family and\nrelations at this time in the country, that, though I have signed my\nname at full length, I am not under the least apprehension of being\ndistinguished and discovered by it. My character indeed, I would\nfavour you with, but that I am cautious of praising myself, lest I\nshould be told my trumpeter's dead: and I cannot find in my heart, at\npresent, to say any thing to my own disadvantage.\n\nIt is very common with authors in their first performances, to talk\nto their readers thus, If this meets with a suitable reception,\nor, if this should meet with due encouragement, I shall hereafter\npublish, &c.--This only manifests the value they put on their\nown writings, since they think to frighten the public into their\napplause, by threatening, that unless you approve what they have\nalready wrote, they intend never to write again; when perhaps it\nmay not be a pin matter, whether they ever do or no. As I have not\nobserv'd the critics to be more favourable on this account, I shall\nalways avoid saying any thing of the kind; and conclude with telling\nyou, that if you send me a bottle of ink and a quire of paper by the\nbearer, you may depend on hearing further from,\n\n Sir,\n\n Your most humble servant,\n\n THE BUSY-BODY.\n\n\n_The Busy-Body._--No. II.\n\nFROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1728,--9.\n\n All fools have still an itching to deride,\n And fain would be upon the laughing side.--POPE.\n\nMonsieur Rochefocault tells us somewhere in his Memoirs, that the\nPrince of Cond\u00e9 delighted much in ridicule, and used frequently\nto shut himself up for half a day together, in his chamber, with\na gentleman, that was his favourite, purposely to divert himself\nwith examining what was the foible, or ridiculous side, of every\nnoted person in the court. That gentleman said afterwards in some\ncompany, that he thought nothing was more ridiculous in any body,\nthan this same humour in the prince; and I am somewhat inclined to\nbe of this opinion. The general tendency there is among us to this\nembellishment (which I fear has too often grossly imposed upon my\nloving countrymen instead of wit) and the applause it meets with\nfrom a rising generation, fill me with fearful apprehensions for the\nfuture reputation of my country: a young man of modesty (which is the\nmost certain indication of large capacities) is hereby discouraged\nfrom attempting to make any figure in life: his apprehensions of\nbeing outlaughed, will force him to continue in a restless obscurity,\nwithout having an opportunity of knowing his own merit himself, or\ndiscovering it to the world, rather than venture to expose himself in\na place, where a pun or a sneer shall pass for wit, noise for reason,\nand the strength of the argument be judged by that of the lungs.\nAmong these witty gentlemen let us take a view of Ridentius: what a\ncontemptible figure does he make with his train of paltry admirers?\nThis wight shall give himself an hour's diversion with the cock of\na man's hat, the heels of his shoes, an unguarded expression in his\ndiscourse, or even some personal defect; and the height of his low\nambition is to put some one of the company to the blush, who perhaps\nmust pay an equal share of the reckoning with himself. If such a\nfellow makes laughing the sole end and purpose of his life, if it is\nnecessary to his constitution, or if he has a great desire of growing\nsuddenly fat, let him eat; let him give public notice where any dull\nstupid rogues may get a quart of four-penny for being laugh'd at; but\nit is barbarously unhandsome, when friends meet for the benefit of\nconversation, and a proper relaxation from business, that one should\nbe the butt of the company, and four men made merry at the cost of\nthe fifth.\n\nHow different from this character is that of the good-natured, gay\nEugenius? who never spoke yet but with a design to divert and please;\nand who was never yet baulked in his intention. Eugenius takes more\ndelight in applying the wit of his friends, than in being admired\nhimself: and if any one of the company is so unfortunate as to be\ntouched a little too nearly, he will make use of some ingenious\nartifice to turn the edge of ridicule another way, chusing rather to\nmake himself a public jest, than be at the pain of seeing his friend\nin confusion.\n\nAmong the tribe of laughers I reckon the pretty gentlemen, that\nwrite satyrs, and carry them about in their pockets, reading them\nthemselves in all company they happen into; taking an advantage of\nthe ill taste of the town, to make themselves famous for a pack of\npaltry, low nonsense, for which they deserve to be kicked, rather\nthan admired, by all who have the least tincture of politeness. These\nI take to be the most incorrigible of all my readers; nay, I expect\nthey will be squibbing at the Busy-Body himself. However, the only\nfavour he begs of them is this, that if they cannot controul their\noverbearing itch of scribbling, let him be attacked in downright\nbiting lyricks; for there is no satyr he dreads half so much, as an\nattempt towards a panegyrick.\n\n\n_The Busy-Body._--No. III.\n\nFROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1728,--9.\n\n Non vultus instantis Tyranni\n Mente quatit solida, nec auster,\n Dux inquieti turbidus Adri\u00e6,\n Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus.--HOR.\n\nIt is said, that the Persians, in their ancient constitution, had\npublic schools, in which virtue was taught as a liberal art or\nscience: and it is certainly of more consequence to a man, that he\nhas learnt to govern his passions; in spite of temptation, to be just\nin his dealings, to be temperate in his pleasures, to support himself\nwith fortitude under his misfortunes, to behave with prudence in all\nhis affairs, and in every circumstance of life; I say, it is of much\nmore real advantage to him to be thus qualified, than to be a master\nof all the arts and sciences in the world beside.\n\nVirtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glorious, and\nhappy.--He that is acquainted with Cato, as I am, cannot help\nthinking as I do now, and will acknowledge he deserves the name,\nwithout being honoured by it. Cato is a man whom fortune has placed\nin the most obscure part of the country. His circumstances are\nsuch, as only put him above necessity, without affording him many\nsuperfluities: yet who is greater than Cato? I happened but the\nother day to be at a house in town, where, among others, were met,\nmen of the most note in this place; Cato had business with some of\nthem, and knocked at the door. The most trifling actions of a man,\nin my opinion, as well as the smallest features and lineaments of\nthe face, give a nice observer some notion of his mind. Methought\nhe rapped in such a peculiar manner, as seemed of itself to express\nthere was one who deserved as well as desired admission. He appeared\nin the plainest country garb; his great coat was coarse, and looked\nold and thread bare; his linen was homespun; his beard, perhaps, of\nseven days growth; his shoes thick and heavy; and every part of his\ndress corresponding. Why was this man received with such concurring\nrespect from every person in the room, even from those, who had never\nknown him or seen him before? It was not an exquisite form of person\nor grandeur of dress, that struck us with admiration. I believe long\nhabits of virtue have a sensible effect on the countenance: there was\nsomething in the air of his face, that manifested the true greatness\nof his mind; which likewise appeared in all he said, and in every\npart of his behaviour, obliging us to regard him with a kind of\nveneration. His aspect is sweetened with humanity and benevolence,\nand at the same time emboldened with resolution, equally free from\ndiffident bashfulness and an unbecoming assurance. The consciousness\nof his own innate worth and unshaken integrity renders him calm\nand undaunted in the presence of the most great and powerful, and\nupon the most extraordinary occasions. His strict justice and known\nimpartiality make him the arbitrator and decider of all differences,\nthat arise for many miles around him, without putting his neighbours\nto the charge, perplexity, and uncertainty of law-suits. He always\nspeaks the thing he means, which he is never afraid or ashamed to\ndo, because he knows he always means well; and therefore is never\nobliged to blush, and feel the confusion of finding himself detected\nin the meanness of a falshood. He never contrives ill against his\nneighbour, and therefore is never seen with a lowring, suspicious\naspect. A mixture of innocence and wisdom makes him ever seriously\nchearful. His generous hospitality to strangers, according to his\nability, his goodness, his charity, his courage in the cause of the\noppressed, his fidelity in friendship, his humility, his honesty and\nsincerity, his moderation and his loyalty to the government, his\npiety, his temperance, his love to mankind, his magnanimity, his\npublic spiritedness, and, in fine, his consummate virtue, make him\njustly deserve to be esteemed the glory of his country.\n\n The brave do never shun the light,\n Just are their thoughts, and open are their tempers;\n Freely without disguise they love and hate;\n Still are they found in the fair face of day,\n And heaven and men are judges of their actions.--ROWE.\n\nWho would not rather choose, if it were in his choice, to merit the\nabove character, than be the richest, the most learned, or the most\npowerful man in the province without it?\n\nAlmost every man has a strong natural desire of being valued and\nesteemed by the rest of his species; but I am concerned and grieved\nto see how few fall into the right and only infallible method of\nbecoming so. That laudable ambition is too commonly misapply'd and\noften ill employed. Some, to make themselves considerable, pursue\nlearning; others grasp at wealth; some aim at being thought witty;\nand others are only careful to make the most of an handsome person:\nbut what is wit, or wealth, or form, or learning, when compared with\nvirtue? It is true, we love the handsome, we applaud the learned,\nand we fear the rich and powerful; but we even worship and adore\nthe virtuous. Nor is it strange; since men of virtue are so rare,\nso very rare to be found. If we were as industrious to become good,\nas to make ourselves great, we should become really great by being\ngood, and the number of valuable men would be much increased; but it\nis a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness; and I\npronounce it as certain, that there was never yet a truly great man,\nthat was not at the same time truly virtuous.\n\nO Cretico! thou sour philosopher! thou cunning statesman! thou\nart crafty, but far from being wise. When wilt thou be esteemed,\nregarded, and beloved like Cato? When wilt thou, among thy creatures,\nmeet with that unfeigned respect and warm good-will that all men\nhave for him? Wilt thou never understand, that the cringing, mean,\nsubmissive deportment of thy dependants, is (like the worship paid\nby Indians to the devil) rather through fear of the harm thou mayst\ndo them, than out of gratitude for the favours they have received of\nthee? Thou art not wholly void of virtue; there are many good things\nin thee, and many good actions reported of thee. Be advised by thy\nfriend: neglect those musty authors; let them be covered with dust,\nand moulder on their proper shelves; and do thou apply thyself to a\nstudy much more profitable, the knowledge of mankind and of thyself.\n\nThis is to give notice, that the Busy-Body strictly forbids all\npersons, from this time forward, of what age, sex, rank, quality,\ndegree, or denomination soever, on any pretence, to inquire who is\nthe author of this paper, on pain of his displeasure (his own near\nand dear relations only excepted).\n\nIt is to be observed, that if any bad characters happen to be drawn\nin the course of these papers, they mean no particular person, if\nthey are not particularly applied.\n\nLikewise, that the author is no party-man, but a general meddler.\n\nN. B. Cretico lives in a neighbouring province.\n\n\n_The Busy-Body._--No. IV.\n\nFROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1728,--9.\n\n Nequid nimis.\n\nIn my first paper, I invited the learned and the ingenious to join\nwith me in this undertaking; and I now repeat that invitation. I\nwould have such gentlemen take this opportunity (by trying their\ntalent in writing) of diverting themselves and friends, and improving\nthe taste of the town. And because I would encourage all wit of our\nown growth and produce, I hereby promise, that whoever shall send\nme a little essay on some moral or other subject, that is fit for\npublic view in this manner, (and not basely borrowed from any other\nauthor) I shall receive it with candour, and take care to place it to\nthe best advantage. It will be hard, if we cannot muster up in the\nwhole country a sufficient stock of sense to supply the Busy-Body at\nleast for a twelve-month. For my own part, I have already professed,\nthat I have the good of my country wholly at heart in this design,\nwithout the least sinister view; my chief purpose being to inculcate\nthe noble principles of virtue, and depreciate vice of every kind.\nBut as I know the mob hate instruction, and the generality would\nnever read beyond the first line of my lectures, if they were\nactually filled with nothing but wholesome precepts and advice, I\nmust therefore sometimes humour them in their own way. There are a\nset of great names in the province, who are the common objects of\npopular dislike. If I can now and then overcome my reluctance, and\nprevail with myself to satirize a little, one of these gentlemen,\nthe expectation of meeting with such a gratification will induce\nmany to read me through, who would otherwise proceed immediately\nto the foreign news. As I am very well assured the greatest men\namong us have a sincere love for their country, notwithstanding its\ningratitude, and the insinuations of the envious and malicious to the\ncontrary, so I doubt not but they will cheerfully tolerate me in the\nliberty I design to take for the end abovementioned.\n\nAs yet I have but few correspondents, though they begin now to\nincrease. The following letter, left for me at the printer's, is one\nof the first I have received, which I regard the more for that it\ncomes from one of the fair sex, and because I have myself oftentimes\nsuffered under the grievance therein complained of.\n\n\n_To the Busy-Body._\n\n SIR,\n\nYou having set yourself up for a censuror morum (as I think you call\nit) which is said to mean a reformer of manners, I know no person\nmore proper to be applied to for redress in all the grievances we\nsuffer from want of manners in some people. You must know, I am a\nsingle woman, and keep a shop in this town for a livelihood. There\nis a certain neighbour of mine, who is really agreeable company\nenough, and with whom I have had an intimacy of some time standing;\nbut of late she makes her visits so exceedingly often, and stays so\nvery long every visit, that I am tired out of all patience. I have\nno manner of time at all to myself; and you, who seem to be a wise\nman, must needs be sensible, that every person has little secrets\nand privacies, that are not proper to be exposed even to the nearest\nfriend. Now I cannot do the least thing in the world, but she must\nknow about it; and it is a wonder I have found an opportunity to\nwrite you this letter. My misfortune is, that I respect her very\nwell, and know not how to disoblige her so much as to tell her, I\nshould be glad to have less of her company; for if I should once\nhint such a thing, I am afraid she would resent it so as never to\ndarken my door again.--But alas, Sir, I have not yet told you half\nmy affliction. She has two children that are just big enough to\nrun about and do pretty mischief: these are continually along with\nmamma, either in my room or shop, if I have ever so many customers\nor people with me about business. Sometimes they pull the goods off\nmy low shelves down to the ground, and perhaps where one of them has\njust been making water. My friend takes up the stuff, and cries,\n\"Oh! thou little wicked mischievous rogue!\" But however, it has done\nno great damage; it is only wet a little, and so puts it up upon\nthe shelf again. Sometimes they get to my cask of nails behind the\ncounter, and divert themselves, to my great vexation, with mixing my\nten-penny and eight-penny and four-penny together. I endeavour to\nconceal my uneasiness as much as possible, and with a grave look\ngo to sorting them out. She cries, \"Don't thee trouble thyself,\nneighbour. Let them play a little; I'll put all to rights before I\ngo.\" But things are never so put to rights but that I find a great\ndeal of work to do after they are gone. Thus, Sir, I have all the\ntrouble and pesterment of children, without the pleasure of calling\nthem my own; and they are now so used to being here that they will\nbe content no where else. If she would have been so kind as to have\nmoderated her visits to ten times a day, and staid but half an hour\nat a time, I should have been contented, and I believe never have\ngiven you this trouble. But this very morning they have so tormented\nme that I could bear no longer; for while the mother was asking me\ntwenty impertinent questions, the youngest got to my nails, and with\ngreat delight rattled them by handfuls all over the floor; and the\nother at the same time made such a terrible din upon my counter with\na hammer, that I grew half distracted. I was just then about to make\nmyself a new suit of pinners, but in the fret and confusion I cut it\nquite out of all manner of shape, and utterly spoiled a piece of the\nfirst muslin. Pray, sir, tell me what I shall do. And talk a little\nagainst such unreasonable visiting in your next paper: though I would\nnot have her affronted with me for a great deal, for sincerely I love\nher and her children, as well, I think, as a neighbour can, and she\nbuys a great many things in a year at my shop. But I would beg her\nto consider, that she uses me unmercifully, though I believe it is\nonly for want of thought. But I have twenty things more to tell you\nbesides all this: there is a handsome gentleman that has a mind (I\ndon't question) to make love to me; but he can't get the opportunity\nto----O dear, here she comes again; I must conclude\n\n \"Your's, &c.\n\n \"PATIENCE.\"\n\nIndeed, it is well enough, as it happens, that she is come to shorten\nthis complaint, which I think is full long enough already, and\nprobably would otherwise have been as long again. However, I must\nconfess, I cannot help pitying my correspondent's case, and in her\nbehalf, exhort the visitor to remember and consider the words of the\nwise man, withdraw thy foot from the house of thy neighbour, lest\nhe grow weary of thee and so hate thee. It is, I believe, a nice\nthing and very difficult, to regulate our visits in such a manner,\nas never to give offence by coming too seldom, or too often, or\ndeparting too abruptly, or staying too long. However, in my opinion,\nit is safest for most people, in a general way, who are unwilling to\ndisoblige, to visit seldom, and tarry but a little while in a place;\nnotwithstanding pressing invitations, which are many times insincere.\nAnd though more of your company should be really desired; yet in this\ncase, too much reservedness is a fault more easily excused than the\ncontrary.\n\nMen are subject to various inconveniencies merely through lack of\na small share of courage, which is a quality very necessary in\nthe common occurrences of life, as well as in a battle. How many\nimpertinencies do we daily suffer with great uneasiness, because we\nhave not courage enough to discover our dislike? And why may not\na man use the boldness and freedom of telling his friends, that\ntheir long visits sometimes incommode him? On this occasion, it may\nbe entertaining to some of my readers, if I acquaint them with the\nTurkish manner of entertaining visitors, which I have from an author\nof unquestionable veracity; who assures us, that even the Turks are\nnot so ignorant of civility and the arts of endearment, but that\nthey can practise them with as much exactness as any other nation,\nwhenever they have a mind to show themselves obliging.\n\n\"When you visit a person of quality (says he) and have talked over\nyour business, or the compliments, or whatever concern brought\nyou thither, he makes a sign to have things served in for the\nentertainment, which is generally a little sweetmeat, a dish of\nsherbet, and another of coffee; all which are immediately brought in\nby the servants, and tendered to all the guests in order, with the\ngreatest care and awfulness imaginable. At last comes the finishing\npart of your entertainment, which is, perfuming the beards of the\ncompany; a ceremony which is performed in this manner. They have for\nthe purpose a small silver chaffing dish, covered with a lid full of\nholes, and fixed upon a handsome plate. In this they put some fresh\ncoals, and upon them a piece of lignum aloes, and shutting it up, the\nsmoke immediately ascends with a grateful odour through the holes of\nthe cover. This smoke is held under every one's chin, and offered as\nit were a sacrifice to his beard. The bristly idol soon receives the\nreverence done to it, and so greedily takes in and incorporates the\ngummy steam, that it retains the savour of it, and may serve for a\nnosegay a good while after.\n\n\"This ceremony may perhaps seem ridiculous at first hearing; but it\npasses among the Turks for an high gratification. And I will say this\nin its vindication, that its design is very wise and useful. For it\nis understood to give a civil dismission to the visitants, intimating\nto them, that the master of the house has business to do, or some\nother avocation, that permits them to go away as soon as they please;\nand the sooner after this ceremony the better. By this means you may,\nat any time, without offence, deliver yourself from being detained\nfrom your affairs by tedious and unseasonable visits; and from being\nconstrained to use that piece of hypocrisy, so common in the world,\nof pressing those to stay longer with you, whom perhaps in your heart\nyou wish a great way off for having troubled you so long already.\"\n\nThus far my author. For my own part, I have taken such a fancy to\nthis Turkish custom, that for the future I shall put something like\nit in practice. I have provided a bottle of right French brandy for\nthe men, and citron water for the ladies. After I have treated with\na dram, and presented a pinch of my best snuff, I expect all company\nwill retire, and leave me to pursue my studies for the good of the\npublic.\n\n\n_Advertisement._\n\nI give notice, that I am now actually compiling, and design to\npublish in a short time, the true history of the rise, growth, and\nprogress of the renowned Tiff Club. All persons who are acquainted\nwith any facts, circumstances, characters, transactions, &c. which\nwill be requisite to the perfecting and embellishment of the said\nwork, are desired to communicate the same to the author, and direct\ntheir letters to be left with the printer hereof.\n\nThe letter signed Would-be-something is come to hand.\n\n\n_The Busy-Body._--No. V.\n\nFROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, TO TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 1728,--9.\n\n Vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est,\n Occipiti c\u00e6co, postic\u00e6 occurrite sann\u00e6. PERSIUS.\n\nThis paper being design'd for a terror to evil doers, as well as a\npraise to them that do well, I am lifted up with secret joy to find,\nthat my undertaking is approved, and encourag'd by the just and good,\nand that few are against me but those who have reason to fear me.\n\nThere are little follies in the behaviour of most men, which their\nbest friends are too tender to acquaint them with; there are little\nvices and small crimes which the law has no regard to or remedy for:\nthere are likewise great pieces of villany sometimes so craftily\naccomplished, and so circumspectly guarded, that the law can take\nno hold of the actors. All these things, and all things of this\nnature, come within my province as Censor, and I am determined not to\nbe negligent of the trust I have reposed in myself, but resolve to\nexecute my office diligently and faithfully.\n\nAnd that all the world may judge with how much humanity, as well as\njustice, I shall behave in this office; and that even my enemies\nmay be convinced I take no delight to rake into the dunghill lives\nof vicious men; and to the end that certain persons may be a little\neased of their fears, and relieved from the terrible palpitations\nthey have lately felt and suffered, and do still suffer; I hereby\ngraciously pass an act of general oblivion, for all offences, crimes,\nand misdemeanors of what kind soever, committed from the beginning\nof the year 1681, until the day of the date of my first paper, and\npromise only to concern myself with such as have been since and shall\nhereafter be committed. I shall take no notice who has (heretofore)\nraised a fortune by fraud and oppression, nor who by deceit and\nhypocrisy; what woman has been false to her good husband's bed, nor\nwhat man has, by barbarous usage or neglect, broke the heart of a\nfaithful wife, and wasted his health and substance in debauchery;\nwhat base wretch has betrayed his friend, and sold his honesty for\ngold, nor what baser wretch first corrupted him, and then bought the\nbargain: all this, and much more of the same kind, I shall forget,\nand pass over in silence; but then it is to be observed, that I\nexpect and require a sudden and general amendment.\n\nThese threatenings of mine, I hope will have a good effect, and, if\nregarded, may prevent abundance of folly and wickedness in others,\nand, at the same time, save me abundance of trouble: and that people\nmay not flatter themselves with the hopes of concealing their loose\nmisdemeanors from my knowledge, and in that view persist in evil\ndoing, I must acquaint them, that I have lately entered into an\nintimacy with the extraordinary person, who some time since wrote\nme the following letter; and who, having a wonderful faculty, that\nenables him to discover the most secret iniquity, is capable of\ngiving me great assistance in my designed work of reformation.\n\n \"MR. BUSY-BODY,\n\n\"I rejoice, sir, at the opportunity you have given me to be\nserviceable to you, and, by your means, to this province. You must\nknow, that such have been the circumstances of my life, and such\nwere the marvellous concurrences of my birth, that I have not only\na faculty of discovering the actions of persons, that are absent\nor asleep, but even of the devil himself, in many of his secret\nworkings, in the various shapes, habits, and names of men and women:\nand having travelled and conversed much, and met but with a very few\nof the same perceptions and qualifications, I can recommend myself\nto you as the most useful man you can correspond with. My father's\nfather's father (for we had no grandfathers in our family) was\nthe same John Bunyan that writ that memorable book, The Pilgrim's\nProgress, who had, in some degree, a natural faculty of second sight.\nThis faculty (how derived to him our family memoirs are not very\nclear) was enjoyed by all his descendants, but not by equal talents.\nIt was very dim in several of my first cousins, and probably had\nbeen nearly extinct in our particular branch, had not my father\nbeen a traveller. He lived, in his youthful days, in New England.\nThere he married, and there was born my elder brother, who had so\nmuch of this faculty, as to discover witches in some of their occult\nperformances. My parents transporting themselves to Great Britain,\nmy second brother's birth was in that kingdom. He shared but a small\nportion of this virtue, being only able to discern transactions about\nthe time of, and for the most part after, their happening. My good\nfather, who delighted in the Pilgrim's Progress, and mountainous\nplaces, took shipping, with his wife, for Scotland, and inhabited in\nthe Highlands, where myself was born; and whether the soil, climate,\nor astral influences, of which are preserved divers prognosticks,\nrestored our ancestor's natural faculty of second sight, in a greater\nlustre to me, than it had shined in through several generations, I\nwill not here discuss. But so it is, that I am possessed largely\nof it, and design, if you encourage the proposal, to take this\nopportunity of doing good with it, which I question not will be\naccepted of in a grateful way by many of your honest readers, though\nthe discovery of my extraction bodes me no deference from your great\nscholars and modern philosophers. This my father was long ago aware\nof, and lest the name alone should hurt the fortunes of his children,\nhe, in his shiftings from one country to another, wisely changed it.\n\n\"Sir, I have only this further to say, how I may be useful to you,\nand as a reason for my not making myself more known in the world:\nby virtue of this great gift of nature, second-sightedness, I do\ncontinually see numbers of men, women, and children, of all ranks,\nand what they are doing, while I am sitting in my closet; which is\ntoo great a burthen for the mind, and makes me also conceit, even\nagainst reason, that all this host of people can see and observe me,\nwhich strongly inclines me to solitude, and an obscure living; and,\non the other hand, it will be an ease to me to disburthen my thoughts\nand observations in the way proposed to you, by sir, your friend and\nhumble servant.\"\n\nI conceal this correspondent's name, in my care for his life\nand safety, and cannot but approve his prudence, in chusing to\nlive obscurely. I remember the fate of my poor monkey: he had an\nillnatured trick of grinning and chattering at every thing he saw\nin peticoats: my ignorant country neighbours got a notion, that pug\nsnarled by instinct at every female who had lost her virginity. This\nwas no sooner generally believed, than he was condemned to death:\nby whom I could never learn, but he was assassinated in the night,\nbarbarously stabbed and mangled in a thousand places, and left\nhanging dead on one of my gate posts, where I found him the next\nmorning.\n\nThe Censor observing, that the itch of scribbling begins to spread\nexceedingly, and being carefully tender of the reputation of his\ncountry, in point of wit and good sense, has determined to take all\nmanner of writings in verse or prose, that pretend to either, under\nhis immediate cognizance; and accordingly, hereby prohibits the\npublishing any such for the future, till they have first passed his\nexamination, and received his imprimatur: for which he demands as a\nfee only sixpence per sheet.\n\nN. B. He nevertheless permits to be published, all satirical remarks\non the Busy-Body, the above prohibition notwithstanding, and without\nexamination, or requiring the said fees; which indulgence the small\nwits, in and about this city, are advised gratefully to accept and\nacknowledge.\n\nThe gentleman, who calls himself Sirronio, is directed, on receipt of\nthis, to burn his great book of Crudities.\n\nP. S. In compassion to that young man, on account of the great pains\nhe has taken, in consideration of the character I have just received\nof him, that he is really good natured, and on condition he shows it\nto no foreigner, or stranger of sense, I have thought fit to reprieve\nhis said great book of Crudities from the flames, till further order.\n\n\n Noli me tangere\n\nI had resolved, when I first commenced this design, on no account to\nenter into a public dispute with any man; for I judged it would be\nequally unpleasant to me and my readers, to see this paper filled\nwith contentious wrangling, answers, replies, &c. which is a way\nof writing that is endless, and, at the same time, seldom contains\nany thing that is either edifying or entertaining. Yet, when such a\nconsiderable man as Mr. ---- finds himself concerned so warmly to\naccuse and condemn me, as he has done in Keimer's last Instructor,\nI cannot forbear endeavouring to say something in my own defence,\nfrom one of the worst of characters that could be given me by a man\nof worth. But as I have many things of more consequence to offer the\npublic, I declare, that I will never, after this time, take notice\nof any accusations, not better supported with truth and reason; much\nless may every little scribbler, that shall attack me, expect an\nanswer from the Busy-Body.\n\nThe sum of the charge delivered against me, either directly or\nindirectly, in the said paper, is this: not to mention the first\nweighty sentence concerning vanity and ill-nature, and the shrewd\nintimation, that I am without charity, and therefore can have no\npretence to religion, I am represented as guilty of defamation and\nscandal, the odiousness of which is apparent to every good man,\nand the practice of it opposite to christianity, morality, and\ncommon justice, and, in some cases, so far below all these, as to be\ninhuman; as a blaster of reputations; as attempting, by a pretence,\nto screen myself from the imputation of malice and prejudice; as\nusing a weapon, which the wiser and better part of mankind hold in\nabhorrence; and as giving treatment which the wiser and better part\nof mankind dislike on the same principles, and for the same reason,\nas they do assassination, &c.; and all this is inferred and concluded\nfrom a character I have wrote in my Number III.\n\nIn order to examine the justice and truth of this heavy charge, let\nus recur to that character. And here we may be surprized to find\nwhat a trifle has raised this mighty clamour and complaint, this\ngrievous accusation!--The worst thing said of the person, in what is\ncalled my gross description (be he who he will to whom my accuser has\napplied the character of Cretico) is, that he is a sour philosopher,\ncrafty, but not wise. Few humane characters can be drawn that will\nnot fit some body, in so large a country as this; but one would\nthink, supposing I meant Cretico a real person, I had sufficiently\nmanifested my impartiality, when I said, in that very paragraph,\nthat Cretico is not without virtue; that there are many good things\nin him, and many good actions reported of him; which must be allowed\nin all reason, very much to overbalance in his favour those worst\nwords, sour tempered, and cunning. Nay, my very enemy and accuser\nmust have been sensible of this, when he freely acknowledges, that he\nhas been seriously considering, and cannot yet determine, which he\nwould choose to be, the Cato or Cretico of that paper; since my Cato\nis one of the best of characters. Thus much in my own vindication. As\nto the only reasons there given, why I ought not to continue drawing\ncharacters, viz. Why should any man's picture be published which he\nnever sat for; or his good name taken from him any more than his\nmoney or possessions, at the arbitrary will of another, &c. I have\nbut this to answer: the money or possessions, I presume, are nothing\nto the purpose; since no man can claim a right either to those or a\ngood name, if he has acted so as to forfeit them. And are not the\npublic the only judges what share of reputation they think proper\nto allow any man? Supposing I was capable, and had an inclination,\nto draw all the good and bad characters in America, why should a\ngood man be offended with me for drawing good characters? And if I\ndraw ill ones, can they fit any but those that deserve them? And\nought any but such to be concerned that they have their deserts? I\nhave as great an aversion and abhorrence for defamation and scandal\nas any man, and would, with the utmost care, avoid being guilty of\nsuch base things: besides I am very sensible and certain, that if I\nshould make use of this paper to defame any person, my reputation\nwould be sooner hurt by it than his; and the Busy-Body would quickly\nbecome detestable; because, in such a case, as is justly observed,\nthe pleasure arising from a tale of wit and novelty soon dies away\nin generous and honest minds, and is followed with a secret grief,\nto see their neighbours calumniated. But if I myself was actually\nthe worst man in the province, and any one should draw my true\ncharacter, would it not be ridiculous in me to say, he had defamed\nand scandalized me, unless he had added in a matter of truth? If any\nthing is meant by asking, why any man's picture should be published\nwhich he never sat for? it must be, that we should give no character\nwithout the owner's consent. If I discern the wolf disguised in\nharmless wool, and contriving the destruction of my neighbour's\nsheep, must I have his permission, before I am allowed to discover\nand prevent him? If I know a man to be a designing knave, must I\nask his consent, to bid my friends beware of him? If so, then, by\nthe same rule, supposing the Busy-Body had really merited all his\nenemy had charged him with, his consent likewise ought to have been\nobtained, before so terrible an accusation was published against him.\n\nI shall conclude with observing, that in the last paragraph save one\nof the piece now examined, much ill nature and some good sense are\nco-inhabitants (as he expresses it). The ill nature appears, in his\nendeavouring to discover satire, where I intended no such thing, but\nquite the reverse: the good sense is this, that drawing too good a\ncharacter of any one is a refined manner of satire, that may be as\ninjurious to him as the contrary, by bringing on an examination that\nundresses the person, and in the haste of doing it, he may happen\nto be stript of what he really owns and deserves. As I am Censor, I\nmight punish the first, but I forgive it. Yet I will not leave the\nlatter unrewarded; but assure my adversary, that in consideration of\nthe merit of those four lines, I am resolved to forbear injuring him\non any account in that refined manner.\n\nI thank my neighbour P---- W----l for his kind letter.\n\nThe lions complained of shall be muzzled.\n\n\n_The Busy-Body._--No. VIII.\n\nFROM TUESDAY, MARCH 20, TO THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1729.\n\n Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,\n Auri sacra fames?----VIRGIL.\n\nOne of the greatest pleasures an author can have, is, certainly, the\nhearing his works applauded. The hiding from the world our names,\nwhile we publish our thoughts, is so absolutely necessary to this\nself-gratification, that I hope my well-wishers will congratulate\nme on my escape from the many diligent, but fruitless enquiries,\nthat have of late been made after me. Every man will own, that an\nauthor, as such, ought to be hid by the merit of his productions\nonly; but pride, party, and prejudice, at this time, run so very\nhigh, that experience shows we form our notions of a piece by the\ncharacter of the author. Nay, there are some very humble politicians\nin and about this city, who will ask, on which side the writer is,\nbefore they presume to give their opinion of the thing wrote. This\nungenerous way of proceeding I was well aware of before I published\nmy first speculation; and therefore concealed my name. And I appeal\nto the more generous part of the world, if I have, since I appeared\nin the character of the Busy-Body, given an instance of my siding\nwith any party more than another, in the unhappy divisions of my\ncountry; and I have, above all, this satisfaction in myself, that\nneither affection, aversion, or interest, have biassed me to use any\npartiality towards any man, or set of men; but whatsoever I find\nnonsensical, ridiculous, or immorally dishonest, I have, and shall\ncontinue openly to attack, with the freedom of an honest man, and a\nlover of my country.\n\nI profess I can hardly contain myself, or preserve the gravity and\ndignity that should attend the censorial office, when I hear the odd\nand unaccountable expositions, that are put upon some of my works,\nthrough the malicious ignorance of some, and the vain pride of more\nthan ordinary penetration in others; one instance of which many of\nmy readers are acquainted with. A certain gentleman has taken a\ngreat deal of pains to write a key to the letter in my Number IV,\nwherein he has ingeniously converted a gentle satyr upon tedious\nand impertinent visitants, into a libel on some of the government.\nThis I mention only as a specimen of the taste of the gentleman; I\nam, forsooth, bound to please in my speculations, not that I suppose\nmy impartiality will ever be called in question on that account.\nInjustices of this nature I could complain of in many instances; but\nI am at present diverted by the reception of a letter, which, though\nit regards me only in my private capacity, as an adept, yet I venture\nto publish it for the entertainment of my readers.\n\n\n \"_To Censor Morum, Esq. Busy-Body General of the Province of\n Pennsylvania, and the Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex upon\n Delaware._\n\n \"HONOURABLE SIR,\n\n\"I judge by your lucubrations, that you are not only a lover of truth\nand equity, but a man of parts and learning, and a master of science;\nas such I honour you. Know then, most profound sir, that I have,\nfrom my youth up, been a very indefatigable student in, and admirer\nof, that divine science, astrology. I have read over Scot, Albertus\nMagnus, and Cornelius Agrippa, above three hundred times; and was\nin hopes, by my knowledge and industry, to gain enough to have\nrecompensed me for my money expended, and time lost in the pursuit\nof this learning. You cannot be ignorant, sir, (for your intimate\nsecond-sighted correspondent knows all things) that there are large\nsums of money hidden under ground in divers places about this town,\nand in many parts of the country: but alas, sir, notwithstanding I\nhave used all the means laid down in the immortal authors before\nmentioned, and when they failed the ingenious Mr. P--d--l, with his\nmercurial wand and magnet, I have still failed in my purpose. This,\ntherefore, I send, to propose and desire an acquaintance with you,\nand I do not doubt, notwithstanding my repeated ill fortune, but we\nmay be exceedingly serviceable to each other in our discoveries; and\nthat if we use our united endeavours, the time will come, when the\nBusy-Body, his second-sighted correspondent, and your very humble\nservant, will be three of the richest men in the province: and then,\nsir, what may we not do? A word to the wise is sufficient.\n\n \"I conclude with all demonstrable respect,\n\n \"Yours and Urania's Votary,\n\n \"TITAN PLEIADES.\"\n\n\nIn the evening after I had received this letter, I made a visit to\nmy second-sighted friend, and communicated to him the proposal.\nWhen he had read it, he assured me, that to his certain knowledge,\nthere is not at this time so much as one ounce of silver or gold\nhid under ground in any part of this province; for that the late\nand present scarcity of money had obliged those, who were living,\nand knew where they had formerly hid any, to take it up, and use it\nin their own necessary affairs: and as to all the rest, which was\nburied by pirates and others in old times, who were never like to\ncome for it, he himself had long since dug it all up, and applied it\nto charitable uses; and this he desired me to publish for the general\ngood. For, as he acquainted me, there are among us great numbers of\nhonest artificers and labouring people, who, fed with a vain hope\nof growing suddenly rich, neglect their business, almost to the\nruining of themselves and families, and voluntarily endure abundance\nof fatigue in a fruitless search after imaginary hidden treasure.\nThey wander through the woods and bushes by day, to discover the\nmarks and signs; at midnight they repair to the hopeful spots with\nspades and pickaxes; full of expectation, they labour violently,\ntrembling at the same time in every joint, through fear of certain\nmalicious demons, who are said to haunt and guard such places. At\nlength a mighty hole is dug, and perhaps several cartloads of earth\nthrown out; but, alas, no cag or iron pot is found! no seaman's chest\ncrammed with Spanish pistoles, or weighty pieces of eight! Then they\nconclude, that through some mistake in the procedure, some rash word\nspoke, or some rule of art neglected, the guardian spirit had power\nto sink it deeper into the earth, and convey it out of their reach.\nYet, when a man is once thus infatuated, he is so far from being\ndiscouraged by ill success, that he is rather animated to double his\nindustry, and will try again and again in a hundred different places,\nin hopes at last of meeting with some lucky hit, that shall at once\nsufficiently reward him for all his expense of time and labour.\n\nThis odd humour of digging for money through a belief, that much\nhas been hid by pirates formerly frequenting the river, has for\nseveral years been mighty prevalent among us; insomuch that you\ncan hardly walk half a mile out of the town on any side, without\nobserving several pits dug with that design, and perhaps some lately\nopened. Men, otherwise of very good sense, have been drawn into this\npractice, through an overweening desire of sudden wealth, and an easy\ncredulity of what they so earnestly wished might be true. While the\nrational and almost certain methods of acquiring riches by industry\nand frugality are neglected or forgotten. There seems to be some\npeculiar charm in the conceit of finding money; and if the sands of\nSchuylkil were so much mixed with small grains of gold, that a man\nmight in a day's time, with care and application, get together to the\nvalue of half a crown, I make no question but we should find several\npeople employed there, that can with ease earn five shillings a day\nat their proper trades.\n\nMany are the idle stories told of the private success of some people,\nby which others are encouraged to proceed; and the astrologers,\nwith whom the country swarms at this time, are either in the belief\nof these things themselves, or find their advantage in persuading\nothers to believe them; for they are often consulted about the\ncritical times for digging, the methods of laying the spirit, and the\nlike whimsies, which renders them very necessary to, and very much\ncaressed by, the poor deluded money-hunters.\n\nThere is certainly something very bewitching in the pursuit after\nmines of gold and silver and other valuable metals, and many have\nbeen ruined by it. A sea-captain of my acquaintance used to blame\nthe English for envying Spain their mines of silver, and too much\ndespising or overlooking the advantages of their own industry\nand manufactures. For my part, says he, I esteem the banks of\nNewfoundland to be a more valuable possession than the mountains\nof Potosi; and when I have been there on the fishing account, have\nlooked upon every cod pulled up into the vessel as a certain quantity\nof silver ore, which required only carrying to the next Spanish port\nto be coined into pieces of eight; not to mention the national profit\nof fitting out and employing such a number of ships and seamen. Let\nhonest Peter Buckram, who has long, without success, been a searcher\nafter hidden money, reflect on this, and be reclaimed from that\nunaccountable folly. Let him consider, that every stitch he takes\nwhen he is on his shop board is picking up part of a grain of gold,\nthat will in a few days time amount to a pistole; and let Faber think\nthe same of every nail he drives, or every stroke with his plane.\nSuch thoughts may make them industrious, and of consequence in time\nthey may be wealthy. But how absurd is it to neglect a certain profit\nfor such a ridiculous whimsey: to spend whole days at the George, in\ncompany with an idle pretender to astrology, contriving schemes to\ndiscover what was never hidden, and forgetful how carelessly business\nis managed at home in their absence: to leave their wives and a\nwarm bed at midnight (no matter if it rain, hail, snow, or blow a\nhurricane, provided that be the critical hour) and fatigue themselves\nwith the violent exercise of digging for what they shall never find,\nand perhaps getting a cold that may cost their lives, or at least\ndisordering themselves so as to be fit for no business beside for\nsome days after. Surely this is nothing less than the most egregious\nfolly and madness.\n\nI shall conclude with the words of my discreet friend, Agricola, of\nChester County, when he gave his son a good plantation:--\"My son,\"\nsays he, \"I give thee now a valuable parcel of land; I assure thee\nI have found a considerable quantity of gold by digging there; thee\nmayst do the same; but thee must carefully observe this, Never to dig\nmore than plow-deep.\"\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[174] These are the \"humorous pieces\" mentioned by Dr. Franklin\nin his Memoirs, page 86. We are indebted for them to an American\ncorrespondent, who obtained a copy with great difficulty, some\ndepredating hand having torn from the file of the Mercury, in the\nPhiladelphia Library, several of the numbers containing the pieces in\nquestion. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _The Way to Wealth, as clearly shown in the Preface of an old\n Pensylvania Almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved[175]._\n\n\n COURTEOUS READER,\n\nI have heard, that nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to\nfind his works respectfully quoted by others. Judge, then, how much\nI must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to\nyou. I stopped my horse lately, where a great number of people were\ncollected, at an auction of merchants goods. The hour of the sale not\nbeing come, they were conversing on the badness of the times; and\none of the company called to a plain clean old man, with white locks,\n'Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these\nheavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay\nthem? What would you advise us to?'--Father Abraham stood up, and\nreplied, 'If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short,\n\"for a word to the wise is enough,\" as Poor Richard says.' They\njoined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him, he\nproceeded as follows:\n\n'Friends, says he, the taxes are, indeed, very heavy, and, if\nthose laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay,\nwe might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and\nmuch more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our\nidleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much\nby our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or\ndeliver us, by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good\nadvice, and something may be done for us; \"God helps them that help\nthemselves,\" as poor Richard says.\n\n'I. It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people\none tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service: but\nidleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases,\nabsolutely shortens life. \"Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than\nlabour wears, while the used key is always bright,\" as poor Richard\nsays. \"But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for\nthat is the stuff life is made of,\" as poor Richard says. How much\nmore than is necessary do we spend in sleep! forgetting, that \"the\nsleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping\nenough in the grave,\" as poor Richard says.\n\n'\"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must\nbe,\" as poor Richard says, \"the greatest prodigality;\" since, as\nhe elsewhere tells us, \"lost time is never found again; and what\nwe call time enough always proves little enough:\" let us then up\nand be doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do\nmore with less perplexity. \"Sloth makes all things difficult, but\nindustry all easy; and he that riseth late, must trot all day, and\nshall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels\nso slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let\nnot that drive thee; and early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man\nhealthy, wealthy, and wise,\" as poor Richard says.\n\n'So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We may make\nthese times better, if we bestir ourselves. \"Industry need not wish,\nand he that lives upon hope will die fasting. There are no gains\nwithout pains; then help hands, for I have no lands,\" or, if I have,\nthey are smartly taxed. \"He, that hath a trade, hath an estate; and\nhe, that hath a calling, hath an office of profit and honour,\" as\npoor Richard says; but then the trade must be worked at, and the\ncalling well followed, or neither the estate nor the office will\nenable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious, we shall never\nstarve; for, \"at the working man's house, hunger looks in, but\ndares not enter.\" Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for\n\"industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them.\" What though you\nhave found no treasure, nor has any rich relation left you a legacy,\n\"diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to\nindustry. Then plow deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have\ncorn to sell and to keep.\" Work while it is called to-day, for you\nknow not how much you may be hindered to-morrow. \"One to-day is worth\ntwo to-morrows,\" as poor Richard says; and farther, \"never leave that\ntill to-morrow, which you can do to-day.\" If you were a servant,\nwould you not be ashamed that a good master should catch you idle?\nAre you then your own master? Be ashamed to catch yourself idle, when\nthere is so much to be done for yourself, your family, your country,\nand your king. Handle your tools without mittens; remember, that\n\"the cat in gloves catches no mice,\" as poor Richard says. It is\ntrue, there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed; but\nstick to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for \"constant\ndropping wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse\nate in two the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks.\"\n\n'Methinks I hear some of you say, \"must a man afford himself no\nleisure?\" I will tell thee, my friend, what poor Richard says;\n\"employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since\nthou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.\" Leisure is\ntime for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will\nobtain, but the lazy man never; for \"a life of leisure and a life of\nlaziness are two things. Many, without labour, would live by their\nwits only, but they break for want of stock;\" whereas industry gives\ncomfort, and plenty, and respect. \"Fly pleasures, and they will\nfollow you. The diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a\nsheep and a cow, every body bids me good-morrow.\"\n\n'II. But with our industry we must likewise be steady, settled, and\ncareful, and oversee our own affairs with our own eyes, and not trust\ntoo much to others; for, as poor Richard says,\n\n \"I never saw an oft-removed tree,\n Nor yet an oft-removed family,\n That throve so well as those that settled be.\"\n\nAnd again, \"three removes is as bad as a fire;\" and again, \"keep thy\nshop, and thy shop will keep thee;\" and again, \"if you would have\nyour business done, go, if not, send.\" And again,\n\n \"He that by the plough would thrive,\n Himself must either hold or drive.\"\n\nAnd again, \"the eye of a master will do more work than both his\nhands;\" and again, \"want of care does us more damage than want of\nknowledge;\" and again, \"not to oversee workmen, is to leave them your\npurse open.\" Trusting too much to other's care is the ruin of many;\nfor, \"in the affairs of this world, men are saved, not by faith, but\nby the want of it;\" but a man's own care is profitable; for, \"if you\nwould have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself.\nA little neglect may breed great mischief; for want of a nail the\nshoe was lost, and for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for\nwant of a horse the rider was lost,\" being overtaken and slain by the\nenemy; all for want of a little care about a horse-shoe nail.\n\n'III. So much for industry, my friends, and attention to ones own\nbusiness; but to these we must add frugality, if we would make our\nindustry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to\nsave as he gets, \"keep his nose all his life to the grind-stone, and\ndie not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will;\" and\n\n \"Many estates are spent in the getting,\n Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting,\n And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.\"\n\n\"If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting. The\nIndies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than\nher incomes.\"\n\n'Away then, with your expensive follies, and you will not then have\nso much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes, and chargeable\nfamilies; for\n\n \"Women and wine, game and deceit,\n Make the wealth small, and the want great.\"\n\nAnd farther, \"what maintains one vice, would bring up two children.\"\nYou may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or a little punch now and\nthen, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little\nentertainment now and then, can be no great matter; but remember,\n\"many a little makes a mickle.\" Beware of little expences; \"a small\nleak will sink a great ship,\" as poor Richard says; and again, \"who\ndainties love, shall beggars prove;\" and moreover, \"fools make\nfeasts, and wise men eat them.\"\n\n'Here you are all got together to this sale of fineries and\nnick-nacks. You call them _goods_, but if you do not take care, they\nwill prove _evils_ to some of you. You expect they will be sold\ncheap, and perhaps they may, for less than they cost; but, if you\nhave no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what\npoor Richard says, \"buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou\nshalt sell thy necessaries.\" And again, \"at a great penny-worth pause\na while.\" He means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only,\nand not real; or the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business,\nmay do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, \"many\nhave been ruined by buying good pennyworths.\" Again, \"it is foolish\nto lay out money in a purchase of repentance;\" and yet this folly is\npractised every day at auctions, for want of minding the almanack.\nMany a one, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a\nhungry belly, and half starved their families; \"silks and satins,\nscarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire,\" as poor Richard says.\nThese are not the necessaries of life, they can scarcely be called\nthe conveniences; and yet, only because they look pretty, how many\nwant to have them? By these and other extravagancies, the genteel are\nreduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly\ndespised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained\ntheir standing; in which case it appears plainly, that \"a ploughman\non his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees,\" as poor Richard\nsays. Perhaps they have had a small estate left them, which they knew\nnot the getting of; they think \"it is day, and will never be night;\"\nthat a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but\n\"always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in soon comes\nto the bottom,\" as poor Richard says; and then, \"when the well is\ndry, they know the worth of water.\" But this they might have known\nbefore, if they had taken his advice: \"if you would know the value of\nmoney go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a borrowing goes a\nsorrowing,\" as poor Richard says; and indeed so does he that lends\nto such people, when he goes to get it in again. Poor Dick farther\nadvises, and says,\n\n \"Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse,\n Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.\"\n\nAnd again, \"pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more\nsaucy.\" When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more,\nthat your appearance may be all of a piece; but poor Dick says, \"it\nis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that\nfollow it:\" and it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as\nfor the frog to swell, in order to equal the ox.\n\n \"Vessels large may venture more,\n But little boats should keep near shore.\"\n\nIt is, however, a folly soon punished; for, as poor Richard says,\n\"pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt; pride breakfasted with\nplenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.\" And, after all,\nof what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked,\nso much is suffered? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it\nmakes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy, it hastens\nmisfortune.\n\n'But what madness must it be to _run in debt_ for these\nsuperfluities! We are offered, by the terms of this sale, six months\ncredit; and that, perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it,\nbecause we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine\nwithout it. But ah! think what you do when you run in debt; you give\nto another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time,\nyou will be ashamed to see your creditor, you will be in fear when\nyou speak to him, you will make poor pitiful sneaking excuses, and,\nby degrees, come to lose your veracity, and sink into base, downright\nlying; for, \"the second vice is lying, the _first_ is running in\ndebt,\" as poor Richard says; and again, to the same purpose, \"lying\nrides upon debt's back;\" whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to\nbe ashamed nor afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty\noften deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. \"It is hard for an\nempty bag to stand upright.\" What would you think of that prince,\nor of that government, who should issue an edict, forbidding you to\ndress like a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or\nservitude? Would you not say, that you were free, have a right to\ndress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your\nprivileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about\nto put yourself under that tyranny, when you run in debt for such\ndress! your creditor has authority, at his pleasure, to deprive you\nof your liberty, by confining you in gaol for life, or by selling you\nfor a servant, if you should not be able to pay him. When you have\ngot your bargain, you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but,\nas poor Richard says, \"creditors have better memories than debtors;\ncreditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set-days and\ntimes.\" The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is\nmade before you are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you bear your\ndebt in mind, the term, which at first seemed so long, will, as it\nlessens, appear extremely short: time will seem to have added wings\nto his heels as well as his shoulders. \"Those have a short lent, who\nowe money to be paid at Easter.\" At present, perhaps, you may think\nyourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little\nextravagance without injury; but\n\n \"For age and want save while you may,\n No morning sun lasts a whole day.\"\n\nGain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever, while you live,\nexpence is constant and certain; and, \"it is easier to build two\nchimneys than to keep one in fuel,\" as poor Richard says: so \"rather\ngo to bed supperless than rise in debt.\"\n\n \"Get what you can, and what you get hold,\n 'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.\"\n\nAnd when you have got the philosopher's stone, sure you will no\nlonger complain of bad times, or the difficulty of paying taxes.\n\n'IV. This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom: but, after\nall, do not depend too much upon your own industry, and frugality,\nand prudence, though excellent things; for they may all be blasted,\nwithout the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing\nhumbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to\nwant it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered, and was\nafterwards prosperous.\n\n'And now, to conclude, \"experience keeps a dear school, but fools\nwill learn in no other,\" as poor Richard says, and scarce in that;\nfor, it is true, \"we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct:\"\nhowever, remember this, \"they that will not be counselled cannot be\nhelped;\" and farther, that \"if you will not hear reason she will\nsurely rap your knuckles,\" as poor Richard says.'\n\nThus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it and\napproved the doctrine; and immediately practised the contrary, just\nas if it had been a common sermon, for the auction opened and they\nbegan to buy extravagantly.--I found the good man had thoroughly\nstudied my almanacks, and digested all I had dropt on those topics\nduring the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made\nof me must have tired any one else; but my vanity was wonderfully\ndelighted with it, though I was conscious, that not a tenth part\nof the wisdom was my own, which he ascribed to me, but rather the\ngleanings that I had made of the sense of all ages and nations.\nHowever, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and, though\nI had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away,\nresolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do\nthe same, thy profit will be as great as mine.\n\n I am, as ever,\n\n Thine to serve thee,\n\n RICHARD SAUNDERS.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[175] Dr. Franklin, as I have been made to understand, for many years\npublished the Pensylvania Almanack, called _Poor Richard [Saunders]_,\nand furnished it with various sentences and proverbs, which had\nprincipal relation to the topics of \"industry, attention to one's\nown business, and frugality.\" The whole or chief of these sentences\nand proverbs he at last collected and digested in the above general\npreface, which his countrymen read with much avidity and profit. B. V.\n\n\n\n\n _Advice to a Young Tradesman[176]._\n\n Written Anno 1748.\n\n TO MY FRIEND A. B.\n\nAs you have desired it of me, I write the following hints, which have\nbeen of service to me, and may, if observed, be so to you.\n\n\nRemember, that _time_ is money. He, that can earn ten shillings a day\nby his labour, and goes abroad, or sits idle one half of that day,\nthough he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought\nnot to reckon _that_ the only expence; he has really spent, or rather\nthrown away, five shillings besides.\n\nRemember, that _credit_ is money. If a man lets his money lie in my\nhands after it is due, he gives me the interest, or so much as I can\nmake of it, during that time. This amounts to a considerable sum\nwhere a man has good and large credit, and makes good use of it.\n\nRemember, that money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can\nbeget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five\nshillings turned is six, turned again it is seven and three-pence,\nand so on till it becomes an hundred pounds. The more there is of it,\nthe more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker\nand quicker. He that kills a breeding sow destroys all her offspring\nto the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown destroys all\nthat it might have produced, even scores of pounds.\n\nRemember, that six pounds a year is but a groat a day. For this\nlittle sum (which may be daily wasted either in time or expence\nunperceived) a man of credit may, on his own security, have the\nconstant possession and use of an hundred pounds. So much in stock,\nbriskly turned by an industrious man, produces great advantage.\n\nRemember this saying, \"the good paymaster is lord of another man's\npurse.\" He that is known to pay punctually and exactly to the time he\npromises may at any time, and on any occasion, raise all the money\nhis friends can spare. This is sometimes of great use. After industry\nand frugality, nothing contributes more to the raising of a young\nman in the world than punctuality and justice in all his dealings:\ntherefore, never keep borrowed money an hour beyond the time you\npromised, lest a disappointment shut up your friend's purse for ever.\n\nThe most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be\nregarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine\nat night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer: but\nif he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your voice at a tavern,\nwhen you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day;\ndemands it before he can receive it in a lump.\n\nIt shows, besides, that you are mindful of what you owe; it makes you\nappear a careful as well as an honest man, and that still increases\nyour credit.\n\nBeware of thinking all your own that you possess, and of living\naccordingly. It is a mistake that many people who have credit fall\ninto. To prevent this, keep an exact account for some time, both of\nyour expences and your income. If you take the pains at first to\nmention particulars, it will have this good effect: you will discover\nhow wonderfully small trifling expences mount up to large sums, and\nwill discern what might have been, and may for the future be saved,\nwithout occasioning any great inconvenience.\n\nIn short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the\nway to market. It depends chiefly on two words, _industry_ and\n_frugality_; that is, waste neither _time_ nor _money_, but make the\nbest use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing will do, and\nwith them every thing. He, that gets all he can honestly, and saves\nall he gets (necessary expences excepted), will certainly become\n_rich_--if that Being who governs the world, to whom all should look\nfor a blessing on their honest endeavours, doth not, in his wise\nprovidence, otherwise determine.\n\n AN OLD TRADESMAN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[176] This paper and the hints that follow it are from the\nRepository, vol. II. p. 169 and 171, where, as they are placed under\nthe head of original articles, we presume they first appeared.\n_Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Necessary Hints to those that would be Rich._\n\n Written Anno 1736.\n\n\nThe use of money is all the advantage there is in having money.\n\nFor six pounds a year you may have the use of one hundred pounds,\nprovided you are a man of known prudence and honesty.\n\nHe, that spends a groat a day idly, spends idly above six pounds a\nyear, which is the price for the use of one hundred pounds.\n\nHe, that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, one day\nwith another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each\nday.\n\nHe, that idly loses five shillings worth of time, loses five\nshillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the sea.\n\nHe, that loses five shillings, not only loses that sum, but all the\nadvantage that might be made by turning it in dealing, which, by the\ntime that a young man becomes old, will amount to a considerable sum\nof money.\n\nAgain: he, that sells upon credit, asks a price for what he sells\nequivalent to the principal and interest of his money for the time he\nis to be kept out of it; therefore, he, that buys upon credit, pays\ninterest for what he buys, and he, that pays ready money, might let\nthat money out to use: so that he, that possesses any thing he has\nbought, pays interest for the use of it.\n\nYet, in buying goods, it is best to pay ready money, because he,\nthat sells upon credit, expects to lose five per cent by bad debts;\ntherefore he charges, on all he sells upon credit, an advance, that\nshall make up that deficiency.\n\nThose, who pay for what they buy upon credit, pay their share of this\nadvance.\n\nHe, that pays ready money, escapes, or may escape, that charge.\n\n A penny sav'd is two-pence clear,\n A pin a day's a groat a year.\n\n\n\n\n _The way to make Money Plenty in every Man's Pocket[177]._\n\n\nAt this time, when the general complaint is, that \"money is scarce,\"\nit will be an act of kindness to inform the moneyless how they may\nreinforce their pockets. I will acquaint them with the true secret\nof money-catching, the certain way to fill empty purses, and how to\nkeep them always full. Two simple rules, well observed, will do the\nbusiness.\n\nFirst, let honesty and industry be thy constant companions; and\n\nSecondly, spend one penny less than thy clear gains.\n\nThen shall thy hide-bound pocket soon begin to thrive, and will\nnever again cry with the empty belly-ach: neither will creditors\ninsult thee, nor want oppress, nor hunger bite, nor nakedness freeze\nthee. The whole hemisphere will shine brighter, and pleasure spring\nup in every corner of thy heart. Now, therefore, embrace these rules\nand be happy. Banish the bleak winds of sorrow from thy mind, and\nlive independent. Then shalt thou be a man, and not hide thy face at\nthe approach of the rich, nor suffer the pain of feeling little when\nthe sons of fortune walk at thy right hand: for independency, whether\nwith little or much, is good fortune, and placeth thee on even ground\nwith the proudest of the golden fleece. Oh, then, be wise, and let\nindustry walk with thee in the morning, and attend thee until thou\nreachest the evening hour for rest. Let honesty be as the breath of\nthy soul, and never forget to have a penny when all thy expences are\nenumerated and paid: then shalt thou reach the point of happiness,\nand independence shall be thy shield and buckler, thy helmet and\ncrown; then shall thy soul walk upright, nor stoop to the silken\nwretch because he hath riches, nor pocket an abuse because the hand\nwhich offers it wears a ring set with diamonds.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[177] From the American Museum, vol. II. p. 86. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _New Mode of Lending Money[178]._\n\n\n _Paris, April 22, 1784._\n\nI send you herewith a bill for ten louis d'ors. I do not pretend to\ngive such a sum. I only _lend_ it to you. When you shall return to\nyour country, you cannot fail getting into some business, that will\nin time enable you to pay all your debts. In that case, when you\nmeet with another honest man in similar distress, you must _pay me_\nby lending this sum to him, enjoining him, to _discharge the debt_\nby a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with such\nanother opportunity. I hope it may thus go through many hands before\nit meet with a _knave_ to stop its progress. This is a trick of mine\nfor doing a good deal with a little money. I am not rich enough to\nafford _much_ in good works, and so am obliged to be cunning and make\nthe most of a _little_.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[178] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for September, 1797;\ncommunicated by the gentleman who received it. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _An Economical Project[179]._\n\n TO THE AUTHORS OF THE JOURNAL.\n\n\n MESSIEURS,\n\nYou often entertain us with accounts of new discoveries. Permit me to\ncommunicate to the public, through your paper, one, that has lately\nbeen made by myself, and which I conceive may be of great utility.\n\nI was the other evening in a grand company, where the new lamp of\nMessrs. Quinquet and Lange was introduced, and much admired for\nits splendor; but a general enquiry was made, whether the oil it\nconsumed was not in proportion to the light it afforded, in which\ncase there would be no saving in the use of it. No one present could\nsatisfy us in that point, which all agreed ought to be known, it\nbeing a very desirable thing to lessen, if possible, the expence of\nlighting our apartments, when every other article of family expence\nwas so much augmented.\n\nI was pleased to see this general concern for economy, for I love\neconomy exceedingly.\n\nI went home, and to bed, three or four hours after midnight, with my\nhead full of the subject. An accidental sudden noise waked me about\nsix in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with\nlight; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been\nbrought into it: but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came\nin at the windows. I got up and looked out to see what might be the\noccasion of it, when I saw the sun just rising above the horison,\nfrom whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my\ndomestic having negligently omitted the preceding evening to close\nthe shutters.\n\nI looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found that it was\nbut six o'clock; and still thinking it something extraordinary, that\nthe sun should rise so early, I looked into the almanack, where I\nfound it to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked\nforward too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till\ntowards the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded\nhis rising so long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me\nhave never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard\nthe astronomical part of the almanack, will be as much astonished\nas I was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially\nwhen I assure them, _that he gives light as soon as he rises_. I\nam convinced of this. I am certain of my fact. One cannot be more\ncertain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And, having repeated\nthis observation the three following mornings, I found always\nprecisely the same result.\n\nYet so it happens, that when I speak of this discovery to others,\nI can easily perceive by their countenances, though they forbear\nexpressing it in words, that they do not quite believe me. One,\nindeed, who is a learned natural philosopher, has assured me, that I\nmust certainly be mistaken as to the circumstance of the light coming\ninto my room; for it being well known, as he says, that there could\nbe no light abroad at that hour, it follows that none could enter\nfrom without; and that of consequence, my windows being accidentally\nleft open, instead of letting in the light, had only served to let\nout the darkness: and he used many ingenious arguments to shew me how\nI might, by that means, have been deceived. I own, that he puzzled me\na little, but he did not satisfy me; and the subsequent observations\nI made, as above mentioned, confirmed me in my first opinion.\n\nThis event has given rise in my mind to several serious and important\nreflections. I considered that, if I had not been awakened so early\nin the morning, I should have slept six hours longer by the light of\nthe sun, and in exchange have lived six hours the following night by\ncandle-light; and the latter being a much more expensive light than\nthe former, my love of economy induced me to muster up what little\narithmetic I was master of, and to make some calculations, which I\nshall give you, after observing that utility is, in my opinion, the\ntest of value in matters of invention, and that a discovery which\ncan be applied to no use, or is not good for something, is good for\nnothing.\n\nI took for the basis of my calculation the supposition that there\nare 100,000 families in Paris, and that these families consume in\nthe night half a pound of bougies, or candles per hour. I think this\nis a moderate allowance, taking one family with another; for though\nI believe some consume less, I know that many consume a great deal\nmore. Then estimating seven hours per day, as the medium quantity\nbetween the time of the sun's rising and ours, he rising during the\nsix following months from six to eight hours before noon, and there\nbeing seven hours of course per night in which we burn candles, the\naccount will stand thus:--\n\nIn the six months between the twentieth of March and the twentieth of\nSeptember, there are\n\n Nights 183\n\n Hours of each night in which we burn\n candles 7\n -------\n Multiplication gives for the total number\n of hours 1,281\n\n These 1,281 hours multiplied by 100,000,\n the number of inhabitants give 128,100,000\n\n One hundred twenty-eight millions and\n one hundred thousand hours, spent at\n Paris by candle-light, which, at half\n a pound of wax and tallow per hour,\n gives the weight of 64,050,000\n\n Sixty-four millions and fifty thousand of\n pounds, which, estimating the whole\n at the medium price of thirty sols the\n pound, makes the sum of ninety-six\n millions and seventy-five thousand\n livres tournois 96,075,000\n\nAn immense sum! that the city of Paris might save every year, by the\neconomy of using sunshine instead of candles.\n\nIf it should be said, that people are apt to be obstinately attached\nto old customs, and that it will be difficult to induce them to\nrise before noon, consequently my discovery can be of little use: I\nanswer, _Nil desperandum_. I believe all who have common sense, as\nsoon as they have learnt from this paper that it is day-light when\nthe sun rises, will contrive to rise with him; and, to compel the\nrest, I would propose the following regulations:\n\nFirst. Let a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that\nis provided with shutters to keep out the light of the sun.\n\nSecond. Let the same salutary operation of police be made use of to\nprevent our burning candles, that inclined us last winter to be more\neconomical in burning wood; that is, let guards be placed in the\nshops of the wax and tallow chandlers, and no family be permitted to\nbe supplied with more than one pound of candles per week.\n\nThird. Let guards also be posted to stop all the coaches, &c. that\nwould pass the streets after sun-set, except those of physicians,\nsurgeons, and midwives.\n\nFourth. Every morning, as soon as the run rises, let all the bells\nin every church be set ringing; and if that is not sufficient, let\ncannon be fired in every street, to wake the sluggards effectually,\nand make them open their eyes to see their true interest.\n\nAll the difficulty will be in the first two or three days: after\nwhich the reformation will be as natural and easy as the present\nirregularity: for, _ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute_. Oblige a\nman to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he\nshall go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had\neight hours sleep, he will rise more willingly at four the morning\nfollowing. But this sum of ninety-six millions and seventy-five\nthousand livres is not the whole of what may be saved by my\neconomical project. You may observe, that I have calculated upon only\none half of the year, and much may be saved in the other, though the\ndays are shorter. Besides, the immense stock of wax and tallow left\nunconsumed during the summer will probably make candles much cheaper\nfor the ensuing winter, and continue them cheaper as long as the\nproposed reformation shall be supported.\n\nFor the great benefit of this discovery, thus freely communicated\nand bestowed by me on the public, I demand neither place, pension,\nexclusive privilege, nor any other reward whatever. I expect only\nto have the honour of it. And yet I know there are little envious\nminds who will, as usual, deny me this, and say, that my invention\nwas known to the ancients, and perhaps they may bring passages out of\nthe old books in proof of it. I will not dispute with these people,\nthat the ancients knew not the sun would rise at certain hours; they\npossibly had, as we have, almanacks that predicted it: but it does\nnot follow from thence, that they knew _he gave light as soon as he\nrose_. This is what I claim as my discovery. If the antients knew\nit, it might have been long since forgotten, for it certainly was\nunknown to the moderns, at least to the Parisians, which to prove, I\nneed use but one plain simple argument. They are as well-instructed,\njudicious and prudent a people as exist any where in the world, all\nprofessing, like myself, to be lovers of economy; and, from the many\nheavy taxes required from them by the necessities of the state, have\nsurely an abundant reason to be economical. I say it is impossible,\nthat so sensible a people, under such circumstances, should have\nlived so long by the smoaky, unwholesome and enormously expensive\nlight of candles, if they had really known, that they might have had\nas much pure light of the sun for nothing.\n\n I am, &c.\n\n An ABONNE.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[179] \"A translation of this letter appeared in one of the daily\npapers of Paris about the year 1784. The following is the original\npiece, with some additions and corrections made in it by the author.\"\nNote by the editor of the Repository, from which we extract the\nletter. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\nTO JOHN ALLEYNE, ESQ.[180]\n\n _On early Marriages._\n\n\n _Craven Street, Aug. 9, 1768_.\n\n DEAR JACK,\n\nYou desire, you say, my impartial thoughts on the subject of an early\nmarriage, by way of answer to the numberless objections, that have\nbeen made by numberless persons, to your own. You may remember, when\nyou consulted me on the occasion, that I thought youth on both sides\nto be no objection. Indeed, from the marriages that have fallen under\nmy observation, I am rather inclined to think, that early ones stand\nthe best chance of happiness. The temper and habits of the young are\nnot yet become so stiff and uncomplying, as when more advanced in\nlife; they form more easily to each other, and hence many occasions\nof disgust are removed. And if youth has less of that prudence, which\nis necessary to manage a family, yet the parents and elder friends of\nyoung married persons are generally at hand to afford their advice,\nwhich amply supplies that defect; and by early marriage, youth is\nsooner formed to regular and useful life; and possibly some of those\naccidents or connections, that might have injured the constitution,\nor reputation, or both, are thereby happily prevented. Particular\ncircumstances of particular persons may possibly sometimes make it\nprudent to delay entering into that state; but in general, when\nnature has rendered our bodies fit for it, the presumption is in\nnature's favour, that she has not judged amiss in making us desire\nit. Late marriages are often attended, too, with this further\ninconvenience, that there is not the same chance that the parents\nshall live to see their offspring educated. \"Late children,\" says\nthe Spanish proverb, \"are early orphans.\" A melancholy reflection\nto those whose case it may be! With us in America, marriages are\ngenerally in the morning of life; our children are therefore educated\nand settled in the world by noon; and thus, our business being done,\nwe have an afternoon and evening of cheerful leisure to ourselves,\nsuch as our friend at present enjoys. By these early marriages we\nare blessed with more children; and from the mode among us, founded\nby nature, of every mother suckling and nursing her own child, more\nof them are raised. Thence the swift progress of population among\nus, unparalleled in Europe. In fine, I am glad you are married, and\ncongratulate you most cordially upon it. You are now in the way of\nbecoming a useful citizen; and you have escaped the unnatural state\nof celibacy for life--the fate of many here, who never intended it,\nbut who, having too long postponed the change of their condition,\nfind, at length, that it is too late to think of it, and so live all\ntheir lives in a situation, that greatly lessens a man's value. An\nodd volume of a set of books bears not the value of its proportion\nto the set: what think you of the odd half of a pair of scissars? it\ncannot well cut any thing; it may possibly serve to scrape a trencher.\n\nPray make my compliments and best wishes acceptable to your bride.\nI am old and heavy, or I should ere this have presented them in\nperson. I shall make but small use of the old man's privilege, that\nof giving advice to younger friends. Treat your wife always with\nrespect; it will procure respect to you, not only from her, but from\nall that observe it. Never use a slighting expression to her, even\nin jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to\nend in angry earnest. Be studious in your profession, and you will be\nlearned. Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober\nand temperate, and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and\nyou will be happy. At least, you will, by such conduct, stand the\nbest chance for such consequences. I pray God to bless you both!\nbeing ever your affectionate friend,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[180] From the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1789. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\nTO DOCTOR MATHER OF BOSTON[181].\n\n _Effect of early Impressions on the Mind._\n\n\n REV. SIR,\n\nI received your kind letter, with your excellent advice to the people\nof the United States, which I read with great pleasure, and hope it\nwill be duly regarded. Such writings, though they may be lightly\npassed over by many readers, yet, if they make a deep impression on\none active mind in a hundred, the effects may be considerable.\n\nPermit me to mention one little instance, which, though it relates\nto myself, will not be quite uninteresting to you. When I was a boy,\nI met with a book entitled, \"Essays to do good,\" which I think was\nwritten by your father. It had been so little regarded by a former\npossessor, that several leaves of it were torn out; but the remainder\ngave me such a turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my\nconduct through life: for I have always set a greater value on the\ncharacter of a doer of good, than any other kind of reputation; and\nif I have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the public\nowes the advantage of it to that book.\n\nYou mention your being in your seventy-eighth year. I am in my\nseventy ninth. We are grown old together. It is now more than sixty\nyears since I left Boston; but I remember well both your father and\ngrandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them in\ntheir houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning\nof 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pensylvania. He\nreceived me in his library; and, on my taking leave, showed me a\nshorter way out of the house, through a narrow passage, which was\ncrossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew,\nhe accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when\nhe said hastily, \"Stoop, stoop!\" I did not understand him, till I\nfelt my head hit against the beam. He was a man who never missed any\noccasion of giving instruction; and upon this he said to me: \"You\nare young, and have the world before you: stoop as you go through\nit, and you will miss many hard thumps.\" This advice, thus beat into\nmy heart, has frequently been of use to me: and I often think of it,\nwhen I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by\ntheir carrying their heads too high.\n\nI long much to see again my native place; and once hoped to lay my\nbones there. I left it in 1723. I visited it in 1733, 1743, 1753, and\n1763; and in 1773 I was in England. In 1775 I had a sight of it, but\ncould not enter, it being in possession of the enemy. I did hope to\nhave been there in 1783, but could not obtain my dismission from this\nemployment here; and now I fear I shall never have that happiness. My\nbest wishes however attend my dear country, \"_esto perpetua_.\" It is\nnow blessed with an excellent constitution: may it last for ever!\n\nThis powerful monarchy continues its friendship for the United\nStates. It is a friendship of the utmost importance to our security,\nand should be carefully cultivated. Britain has not yet well digested\nthe loss of its dominion over us; and has still at times some\nflattering hopes of recovering it. Accidents may increase those\nhopes, and encourage dangerous attempts. A breach between us and\nFrance would infallibly bring the English again upon our backs:\nand yet we have some wild beasts among our countrymen, who are\nendeavouring to weaken that connection.\n\nLet us preserve our reputation, by performing our engagements; our\ncredit, by fulfilling our contracts; and our friends, by gratitude\nand kindness: for we know not how soon we may again have occasion for\nall of them.\n\n With great and sincere esteem,\n\n I have the honour to be,\n\n Reverend Sir,\n\n Your most obedient and most humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n _Passy, May 12, 1784._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[181] From the American Museum, Vol. VII. p. 100. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _The Whistle[182]._\n\n\n _Passy, Nov. 10, 1779._\n\nI received my dear friend's two letters, one for Wednesday, and one\nfor Saturday. This is again Wednesday. I do not deserve one for to\nday, because I have not answered the former. But indolent as I am,\nand averse to writing, the fear of having no more of your pleasing\nepistles, if I do not contribute to the correspondence, obliges me to\ntake up my pen: and as Mr. B. has kindly sent me word, that he sets\nout to-morrow to see you; instead of spending this Wednesday evening,\nas I have done its name-sakes, in your delightful company, I sit down\nto spend it in thinking of you, in writing to you, and in reading\nover and over again your letters.\n\nI am charmed with your description of Paradise, and with your plan\nof living there; and I approve much of your conclusion, that in\nthe mean time, we should draw all the good we can from this world.\nIn my opinion, we might all draw more good from it than we do, and\nsuffer less evil, if we would but take care not to give too much for\n_whistles_. For to me it seems, that most of the unhappy people we\nmeet with, are become so by neglect of that caution.\n\nYou ask, what I mean? You love stories, and will excuse my telling\none of myself.\n\nWhen I was a child, at seven years old, my friends, on a holiday,\nfilled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where\nthey sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of\na _whistle_, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I\nvoluntarily offered him all my money for it. I then came home, and\nwent whistling all over the house, much pleased with my _whistle_,\nbut disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins,\nunderstanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times\nas much for it as it was worth. This put me in mind what good things\nI might have bought with the rest of the money; and they laughed\nat me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the\nreflection gave me more chagrin, than the _whistle_ gave me pleasure.\n\nThis however was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing\non my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary\nthing, I said to myself, _Don't give too much for the whistle_; and\nso I saved my money.\n\nAs I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men,\nI thought I met with many, very many, who _gave too much for the\nwhistle_.\n\nWhen I saw any one too ambitious of court favours, sacrificing his\ntime in attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue,\nand perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, _This\nman gives too much for his whistle_.\n\nWhen I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself\nin political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by\nthat neglect, _He pays, indeed_, says I, _too much for his whistle_.\n\nIf I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living,\nall the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his\nfellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake\nof accumulating wealth, _Poor man_, says I, _you pay too much for\nyour whistle_.\n\nWhen I meet a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement\nof the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and\nruining his health in their pursuit, _Mistaken man_, says I, _you are\nproviding pain for yourself, instead of pleasure: you give too much\nfor your whistle_.\n\nIf I see one fond of appearance, of fine clothes, fine houses, fine\nfurniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he\ncontracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, _Alas_, says I, _he\nhas paid dear, very dear, for his whistle_.\n\nWhen I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl, married to an\nill-natured brute of a husband, _What a pity it is_, says I, _that\nshe has paid so much for a whistle_!\n\nIn short, I conceived, that great part of the miseries of mankind\nwere brought upon them by the false estimates they had made of the\nvalue of things, and by their giving too much for their _whistles_.\n\nYet I ought to have charity for these unhappy people, when I\nconsider, that with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there\nare certain things in the world so tempting, for example, the apples\nof king John, which happily are not to be bought; for if they were\nput to sale by auction, I might very easily be led to ruin myself in\nthe purchase, and find, that I had once more given too much for the\n_whistle_.\n\nAdieu, my dearest friend, and believe me ever yours very sincerely\nand with unalterable affection,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[182] This story has generally been supposed to have been written\nby Dr. Franklin for his nephew: but it seems, by the introductory\nparagraphs, which we have no where seen prefixed to the story but\nin a small collection of our author's works printed at Paris, to\nhave been addressed to some female relative. The two concluding\nparagraphs, which are from the same source, are equally new to us.\n_Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _A Petition to those who have the Superintendency of\n Education[183]._\n\n\nI address myself to all the friends of youth, and conjure them to\ndirect their compassionate regards to my unhappy fate, in order\nto remove the prejudices of which I am the victim. There are twin\nsisters of us: and the two eyes of man do not more resemble, nor are\ncapable of being upon better terms with each other, than my sister\nand myself, were it not for the partiality of our parents, who make\nthe most injurious distinctions between us. From my infancy, I have\nbeen led to consider my sister as a being of a more elevated rank. I\nwas suffered to grow up without the least instruction, while nothing\nwas spared in her education. She had masters to teach her writing,\ndrawing, music, and other accomplishments; but if by chance I touched\na pencil, a pen, or a needle, I was bitterly rebuked: and more than\nonce I have been beaten for being aukward, and wanting a graceful\nmanner. It is true, my sister associated me with her upon some\noccasions; but she always made a point of taking the lead, calling\nupon me only from necessity, or to figure by her side.\n\nBut conceive not, sirs, that my complaints are instigated merely\nby vanity--No; my uneasiness is occasioned by an object much more\nserious. It is the practice in our family, that the whole business of\nproviding for its subsistence falls upon my sister and myself. If any\nindisposition should attack my sister--and I mention it in confidence\nupon this occasion, that she is subject to the gout, the rheumatism\nand cramp, without making mention of other accidents--what would be\nthe fate of our poor family? Must not the regret of our parents be\nexcessive, at having placed so great a difference between sisters,\nwho are so perfectly equal? Alas! we must perish from distress: for\nit would not be in my power even to scrawl a suppliant petition\nfor relief, having been obliged to employ the hand of another in\ntranscribing the request, which I have now the honour to prefer to\nyou.\n\nCondescend, sirs, to make my parents sensible of the injustice of an\nexclusive tenderness, and of the necessity of distributing their care\nand affection among all their children equally.\n\n I am, with a profound respect,\n\n Sirs,\n\n Your obedient servant,\n\n THE LEFT HAND.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[183] From the American Museum, Vol. VII. p. 265. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _The handsome and deformed Leg[184]._\n\n\nThere are two sorts of people in the world, who, with equal degrees\nof health and wealth, and the other comforts of life, become, the\none happy, and the other miserable. This arises very much from the\ndifferent views in which they consider things, persons, and events;\nand the effect of those different views upon their own minds.\n\nIn whatever situation men can be placed, they may find conveniences\nand inconveniences; in whatever company, they may find persons and\nconversation more or less pleasing: at whatever table, they may\nmeet with meats and drinks of better and worse taste, dishes better\nand worse dressed; in whatever climate, they will find good and bad\nweather: under whatever government, they may find good and bad laws,\nand good and bad administration of those laws; in whatever poem, or\nwork of genius, they may see faults and beauties; in almost every\nface, and every person, they may discover fine features and defects,\ngood and bad qualities.\n\nUnder these circumstances, the two sorts of people above mentioned\nfix their attention, those, who are disposed to be happy, on the\nconveniences of things, the pleasant parts of conversation, the\nwell-dressed dishes, the goodness of the wines, the fine weather,\n&c. and enjoy all with cheerfulness. Those, who are to be unhappy,\nthink and speak only of the contraries. Hence they are continually\ndiscontented themselves, and, by their remarks, sour the pleasures\nof society, offend personally many people, and make themselves every\nwhere disagreeable. If this turn of mind was founded in nature,\nsuch unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. But as the\ndisposition to criticise, and to be disgusted, is, perhaps, taken up\noriginally by imitation, and is, unawares, grown into a habit, which,\nthough at present strong, may nevertheless be cured, when those who\nhave it are convinced of its bad effects on their felicity; I hope\nthis little admonition may be of service to them, and put them on\nchanging a habit, which, though in the exercise it is chiefly an\nact of imagination, yet has serious consequences in life, as it\nbrings on real griefs and misfortunes. For, as many are offended by,\nand nobody loves, this sort of people, no one shows them more than\nthe most common civility and respect, and scarcely that; and this\nfrequently puts them out of humour, and draws them into disputes\nand contentions. If they aim at obtaining some advantage in rank or\nfortune, nobody wishes them success, or will stir a step, or speak a\nword, to favour their pretensions. If they incur public censure or\ndisgrace, no one will defend or excuse, and many join to aggravate\ntheir misconduct, and render them completely odious. If these people\nwill not change this bad habit, and condescend to be pleased with\nwhat is pleasing, without fretting themselves and others about the\ncontraries, it is good for others to avoid an acquaintance with\nthem; which is always disagreeable, and sometimes very inconvenient,\nespecially when one finds oneself entangled in their quarrels.\n\nAn old philosophical friend of mine was grown, from experience, very\ncautious in this particular, and carefully avoided any intimacy\nwith such people. He had, like other philosophers, a thermometer,\nto show him the heat of the weather, and a barometer, to mark when\nit was likely to prove good or bad; but there being no instrument\ninvented to discover, at first sight, this unpleasing disposition\nin a person, he, for that purpose, made use of his legs; one of\nwhich was remarkably handsome, the other, by some accident, crooked\nand deformed. If a stranger, at the first interview, regarded his\nugly leg more than his handsome one, he doubted him. If he spoke\nof it, and took no notice of the handsome leg, that was sufficient\nto determine my philosopher to have no further acquaintance with\nhim. Every body has not this two-legged instrument; but every\none, with a little attention, may observe signs of that carping,\nfault-finding disposition, and take the same resolution of avoiding\nthe acquaintance of those infected with it, I therefore advise those\ncritical querulous, discontented, unhappy people, that, if they wish\nto be respected and beloved by others, and happy in themselves, they\nshould _leave off looking at the ugly leg_.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[184] From the Columbian Magazine, Vol. I. p. 61. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Morals of Chess[185]._\n\n\nPlaying at chess is the most ancient and most universal game known\namong men; for its original is beyond the memory of history, and it\nhas, for numberless ages, been the amusement of all the civilized\nnations of Asia, the Persians, the Indians, and the Chinese. Europe\nhas had it above a thousand years; the Spaniards have spread it over\ntheir part of America, and it begins lately to make its appearance\nin these states. It is so interesting in itself, as not to need the\nview of gain to induce engaging in it; and thence it is never played\nfor money. Those, therefore, who have leisure for such diversions,\ncannot find one that is more innocent; and the following piece,\nwritten with a view to correct (among a few young friends) some\nlittle improprieties in the practice of it, shows, at the same time,\nthat it may, in its effects on the mind, be not merely innocent, but\nadvantageous, to the vanquished as well as the victor.\n\nThe game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very\nvaluable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life,\nare to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits,\nready on all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we have\noften points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with,\nand in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that\nare, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it. By\nplaying at chess, then, we may learn,\n\nI. _Foresight_, which looks a little into futurity, and considers\nthe consequences that may attend an action: for it is continually\noccurring to the player, \"If I move this piece, what will be the\nadvantage of my new situation? What use can my adversary make of it\nto annoy me? What other moves can I make to support it, and to defend\nmyself from his attacks?\"\n\nII. _Circumspection_, which surveys the whole chess-board, or scene\nof action, the relations of the several pieces and situations, the\ndangers they are respectively exposed to, the several possibilities\nof their aiding each other, the probabilities that the adversary\nmay take this or that move, and attack this or the other piece, and\nwhat different means can be used to avoid his stroke, or turn its\nconsequences against him.\n\nIII. _Caution_, not to make our moves too hastily. This habit is best\nacquired by observing strictly the laws of the game, such as, \"If you\ntouch a piece, you must move it somewhere: if you set it down, you\nmust let it stand:\" and it is therefore best that these rules should\nbe observed, as the game thereby becomes more the image of human\nlife, and particularly of war; in which, if you have incautiously put\nyourself into a bad and dangerous position, you cannot obtain your\nenemy's leave to withdraw your troops, and place them more securely,\nbut you must abide all the consequences of your rashness.\n\nAnd, lastly, we learn by chess the habit of _not being discouraged\nby present bad appearances in the state of our affairs_, the habit\nof _hoping for a favourable change_, and that of _persevering in the\nsearch of resources_. The game is so full of events, there is such\na variety of turns in it, the fortune of it is so subject to sudden\nvicissitudes, and one so frequently, after long contemplation,\ndiscovers the means of extricating oneself from a supposed\ninsurmountable difficulty, that one is encouraged to continue the\ncontest to the last, in hopes of victory by our own skill, or at\nleast of getting a stale mate, by the negligence of our adversary.\nAnd whoever considers, what in chess he often sees instances of,\nthat particular pieces of success are apt to produce presumption,\nand its consequent inattention, by which the loss may be recovered,\nwill learn not to be too much discouraged by the present success of\nhis adversary, nor to despair of final good fortune upon every little\ncheck he receives in the pursuit of it.\n\nThat we may, therefore, be induced more frequently to choose this\nbeneficial amusement, in preference to others, which are not attended\nwith the same advantages, every circumstance which may increase the\npleasures of it should be regarded; and every action or word that\nis unfair, disrespectful, or that in any way may give uneasiness,\nshould be avoided, as contrary to the immediate intention of both the\nplayers, which is to pass the time agreeably.\n\nTherefore, first, if it is agreed, to play according to the strict\nrules; then those rules are to be exactly observed by both parties,\nand should not be insisted on for one side, while deviated from by\nthe other--for this is not equitable.\n\nSecondly, if it is agreed, not to observe the rules exactly, but one\nparty demands indulgencies, he should then be as willing to allow\nthem to the other.\n\nThirdly, no false move should ever be made to extricate yourself out\nof difficulty, or to gain an advantage. There can be no pleasure in\nplaying with a person once detected in such unfair practice.\n\nFourthly, if your adversary is long in playing you ought not to hurry\nhim, or express any uneasiness at his delay. You should not sing, nor\nwhistle, nor look at your watch, nor take up a book to read, nor make\na tapping with your feet on the floor, or with your fingers on the\ntable, nor do any thing that may disturb his attention. For all these\nthings displease; and they do not show your skill in playing, but\nyour craftiness or your rudeness.\n\nFifthly, you ought not to endeavour to amuse and deceive your\nadversary, by pretending to have made bad moves, and saying, that you\nhave now lost the game, in order to make him secure and careless, and\ninattentive to your schemes: for this is fraud and deceit, not skill\nin the game.\n\nSixthly, you must not, when you have gained a victory, use any\ntriumphing or insulting expression, nor show too much pleasure; but\nendeavour to console your adversary, and make him less dissatisfied\nwith himself, by every kind of civil expression, that may be used\nwith truth, such as, \"you understand the game better than I, but you\nare a little inattentive;\" or, \"you play too fast;\" or, \"you had the\nbest of the game, but something happened to divert your thoughts, and\nthat turned it in my favour.\"\n\nSeventhly, if you are a spectator while others play, observe the most\nperfect silence. For if you give advice, you offend both parties,\nhim against whom you give it, because it may cause the loss of his\ngame, him in whose favour you give it, because, though it be good\nand he follows it, he loses the pleasure he might have had, if you\nhad permitted him to think until it had occurred to himself. Even\nafter a move or moves, you must not, by replacing the pieces, show\nhow it might have been placed better: for that displeases, and may\noccasion disputes and doubts about their true situation. All talking\nto the players lessens or diverts their attention, and is therefore\nunpleasing. Nor should you give the least hint to either party, by\nany kind of noise or motion. If you do, you are unworthy to be a\nspectator. If you have a mind to exercise or show your judgment, do\nit in playing your own game, when you have an opportunity, not in\ncriticising, or meddling with, or counselling the play of others.\n\nLastly, if the game is not to be played rigorously, according to the\nrules above mentioned, then moderate your desire of victory over your\nadversary, and be pleased with one over yourself. Snatch not eagerly\nat every advantage offered by his unskilfulness or inattention; but\npoint out to him kindly, that by such a move he places or leaves a\npiece in danger and unsupported; that by another he will put his\nking in a perilous situation, &c. By this generous civility (so\nopposite to the unfairness above forbidden) you may, indeed, happen\nto lose the game to your opponent, but you will win what is better,\nhis esteem, his respect, and his affection, together with the silent\napprobation and good-will of impartial spectators.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[185] This letter has appeared in too many forms in this country,\nand is too well known to be Dr. Franklin's, to require being\nauthenticated. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _The Art of procuring Pleasant Dreams[186]._\n\n INSCRIBED TO MISS ****,\n\n Being written at her request.\n\n\nAs a great part of our life is spent in sleep, during which we have\nsometimes pleasing, and sometimes painful dreams, it becomes of some\nconsequence to obtain the one kind, and avoid the other; for, whether\nreal or imaginary, pain is pain, and pleasure is pleasure. If we can\nsleep without dreaming, it is well that painful dreams are avoided.\nIf, while we sleep, we can have any pleasing dreams, it is, as the\nFrench say, _tant gagn\u00e9_, so much added to the pleasure of life.\n\nTo this end, it is, in the first place, necessary, to be careful in\npreserving health, by due exercise, and great temperance; for, in\nsickness, the imagination is disturbed; and disagreeable, sometimes\nterrible, ideas are apt to present themselves. Exercise should\nprecede meals, not immediately follow them: the first promotes, the\nlatter, unless moderate, obstructs digestion. If, after exercise,\nwe feed sparingly, the digestion will be easy and good, the body\nlightsome, the temper cheerful, and all the animal functions\nperformed agreeably. Sleep, when it follows, will be natural and\nundisturbed, while indolence, with full feeding, occasions nightmares\nand horrors inexpressible: we fall from precipices, are assaulted\nby wild beasts, murderers, and demons, and experience every variety\nof distress. Observe, however, that the quantities of food and\nexercise are relative things: those who move much may, and indeed\nought, to eat more; those who use little exercise should eat little.\nIn general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eat about\ntwice as much as nature requires. Suppers are not bad, if we have not\ndined; but restless nights naturally follow hearty suppers, after\nfull dinners. Indeed, as there is a difference in constitutions, some\nrest well after these meals; it costs them only a frightful dream,\nand an apoplexy, after which they sleep till doomsday. Nothing is\nmore common in the newspapers, than instances of people, who, after\neating a hearty supper, are found dead a-bed in the morning.\n\nAnother means of preserving health, to be attended to, is the having\na constant supply of fresh air in your bed-chamber. It has been a\ngreat mistake, the sleeping in rooms exactly closed, and in beds\nsurrounded by curtains. No outward air that may come into you is\nso unwholesome, as the unchanged air, often breathed, of a close\nchamber. As boiling water does not grow hotter by longer boiling, if\nthe particles that receive greater heat can escape; so living bodies\ndo not putrify, if the particles, as fast as they become putrid, can\nbe thrown off. Nature expels them by the pores of the skin and the\nlungs, and in a free open air they are carried off; but, in a close\nroom, we receive them again and again, though they become more and\nmore corrupt. A number of persons crowded into a small room thus\nspoil the air in a few minutes, and even render it mortal, as in\nthe Black Hole at Calcutta. A single person is said to spoil only a\ngallon of air per minute, and therefore requires a longer time to\nspoil a chamber full; but it is done, however, in proportion, and\nmany putrid disorders hence have their origin. It is recorded of\nMethusalem, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have\nbest preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for,\nwhen he had lived five hundred years, an angel said to him: \"Arise,\nMethusalem, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live yet five\nhundred years longer.\" But Methusalem answered and said, \"If I am to\nlive but five hundred years longer it is not worth while to build\nme an house--I will sleep in the air, as I have been used to do.\"\nPhysicians, after having for ages contended, that the sick should\nnot be indulged with fresh air, have at length discovered, that it\nmay do them good. It is therefore to be hoped, that they may in\ntime discover likewise, that it is not hurtful to those who are in\nhealth, and that we may be then cured of the _a\u00ebrophobia_, that at\npresent distresses weak minds, and make them choose to be stifled and\npoisoned, rather than leave open the window of a bed-chamber, or put\ndown the glass of a coach.\n\nConfined air, when saturated with perspirable matter[187], will\nnot receive more; and that matter must remain in our bodies, and\noccasion diseases: but it gives some previous notice of its being\nabout to be hurtful, by producing certain uneasinesses, slight\nindeed at first, such as, with regard to the lungs, is a trifling\nsensation, and to the pores of the skin a kind of restlessness,\nwhich is difficult to describe, and few that feel it know the\ncause of it. But we may recollect, that sometimes, on waking in\nthe night, we have, if warmly covered, found it difficult to get\nasleep again. We turn often without finding repose in any position.\nThis figettiness, to use a vulgar expression for want of a better,\nis occasioned wholly by an uneasiness in the skin, owing to the\nretension of the perspirable matter--the bed-clothes having received\ntheir quantity, and, being saturated, refusing to take any more.\nTo become sensible of this by an experiment, let a person keep his\nposition in the bed, but throw off the bed-clothes, and suffer fresh\nair to approach the part uncovered of his body; he will then feel\nthat part suddenly refreshed; for the air will immediately relieve\nthe skin, by receiving, licking up, and carrying off, the load of\nperspirable matter that incommoded it. For every portion of cool air,\nthat approaches the warm skin, in receiving its part of that vapour,\nreceives therewith a degree of heat, that rarifies and renders it\nlighter, when it will be pushed away, with its burthen, by cooler\nand therefore heavier fresh air; which, for a moment, supplies its\nplace, and then, being likewise changed and warmed, gives way to a\nsucceeding quantity. This is the order of nature, to prevent animals\nbeing infected by their own perspiration. He will now be sensible of\nthe difference between the part exposed to the air, and that which,\nremaining sunk in the bed, denies the air access: for this part now\nmanifests its uneasiness more distinctly by the comparison, and the\nseat of the uneasiness is more plainly perceived, than when the whole\nsurface of the body was affected by it.\n\nHere, then, is one great and general cause of unpleasing dreams.\nFor when the body is uneasy, the mind will be disturbed by it, and\ndisagreeable ideas of various kinds will, in sleep, be the natural\nconsequences. The remedies, preventative and curative, follow:\n\n1. By eating moderately (as before advised for health's sake) less\nperspirable matter is produced in a given time; hence the bed-clothes\nreceive it longer before they are saturated; and we may, therefore,\nsleep longer, before we are made uneasy by their refusing to receive\nany more.\n\n2. By using thinner and more porous bed-clothes, which will suffer\nthe perspirable matter more easily to pass through them, we are less\nincommoded, such being longer tolerable.\n\n3. When you are awakened by this uneasiness, and find you cannot\neasily sleep again, get out of bed, beat up and turn your pillow,\nshake the bed-clothes well, with at least twenty shakes, then throw\nthe bed open, and leave it to cool; in the meanwhile, continuing\nundrest, walk about your chamber, till your skin has had time to\ndischarge its load, which it will do sooner as the air may be drier\nand colder. When you begin to feel the cold air unpleasant, then\nreturn to your bed, and you will soon fall asleep, and your sleep\nwill be sweet and pleasant. All the scenes presented to your fancy\nwill be of the pleasing kind. I am often as agreeably entertained\nwith them, as by the scenery of an opera. If you happen to be too\nindolent to get out of bed, you may, instead of it, lift up your\nbed-clothes with one arm and leg, so as to draw in a good deal of\nfresh air, and, by letting them fall, force it out again. This,\nrepeated twenty times, will so clear them of the perspirable matter\nthey have imbibed, as to permit your sleeping well for some time\nafterwards. But this latter method is not equal to the former.\n\nThose who do not love trouble, and can afford to have two beds, will\nfind great luxury in rising, when they wake in a hot bed, and going\ninto the cool one. Such shifting of beds would also be of great\nservice to persons ill of a fever, as it refreshes and frequently\nprocures sleep. A very large bed, that will admit a removal so\ndistant from the first situation as to be cool and sweet, may in a\ndegree answer the same end.\n\nOne or two observations more will conclude this little piece. Care\nmust be taken when you lie down, to dispose your pillow so as to\nsuit your manner of placing your head, and to be perfectly easy;\nthen place your limbs so as not to bear inconveniently hard upon one\nanother, as, for instance, the joints of your ancles: for though a\nbad position may at first give but little pain and be hardly noticed,\nyet a continuance will render it less tolerable, and the uneasiness\nmay come on while you are asleep, and disturb your imagination.\n\nThese are the rules of the art. But though they will generally prove\neffectual in producing the end intended, there is a case in which the\nmost punctual observance of them will be totally fruitless. I need\nnot mention the case to you, my dear friend, but my account of the\nart would be imperfect without it. The case is, when the person, who\ndesires to have pleasant dreams, has not taken care to preserve, what\nis necessary above all things,\n\n A GOOD CONSCIENCE.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[186] From the Columbian Magazine, vol. I. p. 64. _Editor._\n\n[187] What physicians call the perspirable matter, is that vapour\nwhich passes off from our bodies, from the lungs, and through the\npores of the skin. The quantity of this is said to be five-eighths of\nwhat we eat.\n\n\n\n\n _Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout[188]._\n\n\n _Midnight, October 22, 1780._\n\n_Franklin._--Eh! Oh! Eh! What have I done to merit these cruel\nsufferings?\n\n_Gout._--Many things; you have ate and drank too freely, and too much\nindulged those legs of yours in their indolence.\n\n_Franklin._--Who is it that accuses me?\n\n_Gout._--It is I, even I, the gout.\n\n_Franklin._--What! my enemy in person?\n\n_Gout._--No, not your enemy.\n\n_Franklin._--I repeat it; my enemy: for you would not only torment my\nbody to death, but ruin my good name: you reproach me as a glutton\nand a tipler; now all the world that knows me will allow, that I am\nneither the one nor the other.\n\n_Gout._--The world may think as it pleases: it is always very\ncomplaisant to itself, and sometimes to its friends; but I very well\nknow, that the quantity of meat and drink proper for a man, who takes\na reasonable degree of exercise, would be too much for another, who\nnever takes any.\n\n_Franklin._--I take--Eh! Oh!--as much exercise--Eh!--as I can, Madam\nGout. You know my sedentary state, and on that account, it would\nseem, Madam Gout, as if you might spare me a little, seeing it is\nnot altogether my own fault.\n\n_Gout._--Not a jot: your rhetoric and your politeness are thrown\naway; your apology avails nothing. If your situation in life is a\nsedentary one, your amusements, your recreations, at least, should be\nactive. You ought to walk or ride; or, if the weather prevents that,\nplay at billiards. But let us examine your course of life. While the\nmornings are long, and you have leisure to go abroad, what do you\ndo? Why, instead of gaining an appetite for breakfast, by salutary\nexercise, you amuse yourself with books, pamphlets, or newspapers,\nwhich commonly are not worth the reading. Yet you eat an inordinate\nbreakfast, four dishes of tea, with cream, and one or two buttered\ntoasts, with slices of hung beef, which I fancy are not things the\nmost easily digested. Immediately afterward you sit down to write at\nyour desk, or converse with persons who apply to you on business.\nThus the time passes till one, without any kind of bodily exercise.\nBut all this I could pardon, in regard, as you say, to your sedentary\ncondition. But what is your practice after dinner. Walking in the\nbeautiful gardens of those friends with whom you have dined would be\nthe choice of men of sense: yours is to be fixed down to chess, where\nyou are found engaged for two or three hours! This is your perpetual\nrecreation, which is the least eligible of any for a sedentary man,\nbecause, instead of accelerating the motion of the fluids, the rigid\nattention it requires helps to retard the circulation and obstruct\ninternal secretions. Wrapt in the speculations of this wretched\ngame, you destroy your constitution. What can be expected from such\na course of living, but a body replete with stagnant humours, ready\nto fall a prey to all kinds of dangerous maladies, if I, the gout,\ndid not occasionally bring you relief by agitating these humours, and\nso purifying or dissipating them. If it was in some nook or alley\nin Paris, deprived of walks, that you played awhile at chess after\ndinner, this might be excusable, but the same taste prevails with\nyou in Passey, Auteuil, Montmartre, or Sanoy, places where there are\nthe finest gardens and walks, a pure air, beautiful women, and most\nagreeable and instructive conversation; all which you might enjoy by\nfrequenting the walks! But these are rejected for this abominable\ngame of chess. Fie, then, Mr. Franklin! But amidst my instructions, I\nhad almost forgot to administer my wholsome corrections: so take that\ntwinge--and that.\n\n_Franklin._--Oh! Eh! Oh!--Ohhh! As much instruction as you please,\nMadam Gout, and as many reproaches, but pray, Madam, a truce with\nyour corrections!\n\n_Gout._--No, sir, no--I will not abate a particle of what is so much\nfor your good--therefore--\n\n_Franklin._--Oh! Ehhh!--It is not fair to say I take no exercise,\nwhen I do very often, going out to dine, and returning in my carriage.\n\n_Gout._--That of all imaginable exercise is the most slight and\ninsignificant, if you allude to the motion of a carriage suspended\non springs. By observing the degree of heat obtained by different\nkinds of motion we may form an estimate of the quantity of exercise\ngiven by each. Thus, for example, if you turn out to walk in winter\nwith cold feet, in an hour's time you will be in a glow all over;\nride on horseback, the same effect will scarcely be perceived by\nfour hours round trotting: but if you loll in a carriage, such as you\nhave mentioned, you may travel all day, and gladly enter the last\ninn to warm your feet by a fire. Flatter yourself then no longer,\nthat half an hour's airing in your carriage deserves the name of\nexercise. Providence has appointed few to roll in carriages, while\nhe has given to all a pair of legs, which are machines infinitely\nmore commodious and serviceable. Be grateful, then, and make a proper\nuse of yours. Would you know, how they forward the circulation of\nyour fluids, in the very action of transporting you from place to\nplace? observe when you walk, that all your weight is alternately\nthrown from one leg to the other; this occasions a great pressure on\nthe vessels of the foot, and repels their contents. When relieved,\nby the weight being thrown on the other foot, the vessels of the\nfirst are allowed to replenish, and by a return of this weight, this\nrepulsion again succeeds; thus accelerating the circulation of the\nblood. The heat produced in any given time depends on the degree of\nthis acceleration: the fluids are shaken, the humours attenuated, the\nsecretions facilitated, and all goes well; the cheeks are ruddy, and\nhealth is established. Behold your fair friend at Auteuil: a lady\nwho received from bounteous nature more really useful science, than\nhalf a dozen such pretenders to philosophy, as you, have been able to\nextract from all your books. When she honours you with a visit, it is\non foot. She walks all hours of the day, and leaves indolence and its\nconcomitant maladies to be endured by her horses. In this see at once\nthe preservative of her health and personal charms. But you, when\nyou go to Auteuil, must have your carriage, though it is no farther\nfrom Passy to Auteuil, than from Auteuil to Passy.\n\n_Franklin._--Your reasonings grow very tiresome.\n\n_Gout._--I stand corrected. I will be silent and continue my office:\ntake that, and that.\n\n_Franklin._--Oh! Ohh! Talk on, I pray you!\n\n_Gout._--No, no; I have a good number of twinges for you to-night,\nand you may be sure of some more to-morrow.\n\n_Franklin._--What, with such a fever! I shall go distracted. Oh! Eh!\nCan no one bear it for me?\n\n_Gout._--Ask that of your horses; they have served you faithfully.\n\n_Franklin._--How can you so cruelly sport with my torments?\n\n_Gout._--Sport? I am very serious. I have here a list of your\noffences against your own health distinctly written, and can justify\nevery stroke inflicted on you.\n\n_Franklin._--Read it then.\n\n_Gout._--It is too long a detail; but I will briefly mention some\nparticulars.\n\n_Franklin._--Proceed--I am all attention.\n\n_Gout._--Do you remember how often you have promised yourself, the\nfollowing morning, a walk in the grove of Boulogne, in the garden de\nla Muette, or in your own garden, and have violated your promise,\nalledging, at one time, it was too cold, at another too warm, too\nwindy, too moist, or what else you pleased; when in truth it was too\nnothing, but your insuperable love of ease?\n\n_Franklin._--That I confess may have happened occasionally, probably\nten times in a year.\n\n_Gout._--Your confession is very far short of the truth; the gross\namount is one hundred and ninety-nine times.\n\n_Franklin._--Is it possible?\n\n_Gout._--So possible that it is fact; you may rely on the accuracy\nof my statement. You know Mr. B----'s gardens, and what fine walks\nthey contain; you know the handsome flight of an hundred steps, which\nlead from the terrace above to the lawn below. You have been in the\npractice of visiting this amiable family twice a week after dinner,\nand as it is a maxim of your own, that \"a man may take as much\nexercise in walking a mile up and down stairs, as in ten on level\nground,\" what an opportunity was here for you to have had exercise in\nboth these ways? Did you embrace it, and how often?\n\n_Franklin._--I cannot immediately answer that question.\n\n_Gout._--I will do it for you; not once.\n\n_Franklin._--Not once?\n\n_Gout._--Even so. During the summer you went there at six o'clock.\nYou found the charming lady, with her lovely children and friends,\neager to walk with you, and entertain you with their agreeable\nconversation: and what has been your choice? Why to sit on the\nterrace, satisfying yourself with the fine prospect, and passing\nyour eye over the beauties of the garden below, without taking one\nstep to descend and walk about in them. On the contrary, you call\nfor tea, and the chess-board; and lo! you are occupied in your seat\ntill nine o'clock, and that beside two hours play after dinner;\nand then, instead of walking home, which would have bestirred you\na little, you step into your carriage. How absurd to suppose, that\nall this carelessness can be reconcileable with health, without my\ninterposition!\n\n_Franklin._--I am convinced now of the justness of poor Richard's\nremark, that, \"Our debts and our sins are always greater than we\nthink for.\"\n\n_Gout._--So it is! you philosophers are sages in your maxims, and\nfools in your conduct.\n\n_Franklin._--But do you charge among my crimes, that I return in a\ncarriage from Mr. B----'s?\n\n_Gout._--Certainly: for having been seated all the while, you cannot\nobject the fatigue of the day, and cannot want therefore the relief\nof a carriage.\n\n_Franklin._--What then would you have me do with my carriage?\n\n_Gout._--Burn it, if you choose; you would at least get heat out of\nit once in this way; or if you dislike that proposal, here's another\nfor you: observe the poor peasants who work in the vineyards and\ngrounds about the villages of Passy, Anteuil, Chaillois, &c.; you may\nfind every day among these deserving creatures, four or five old men\nand women, bent and perhaps crippled by weight of years, and too long\nand too great labour. After a most fatiguing day, these people have\nto trudge a mile or two to their smoky huts. Order your coachmen to\nset them down. That is an act that will be good for your soul; and\nat the same time, after your visit to the B----'s, if you return on\nfoot, that will be good for your body.\n\n_Franklin._--Ah! how tiresome you are.\n\n_Gout._--Well then, to my office; it should not be forgotten, that I\nam your physician. There.\n\n_Franklin._--Ohhh! what a devil of a physician!\n\n_Gout._--How ungrateful are you to say so! Is it not I, who, in the\ncharacter of your physician, have saved you from the palsy, dropsy,\nand apoplexy? one or other of which would have done for you long ago,\nbut for me.\n\n_Franklin._--I submit, and thank you for the past, but intreat the\ndiscontinuance of your visits for the future: for in my mind one had\nbetter die, than be cured so dolefully. Permit me just to hint, that\nI have also not been unfriendly to _you_. I never feed physician, or\nquack of any kind, to enter the list against you; if then you do not\nleave me to my repose, it may be said you are ungrateful too.\n\n_Gout._--I can scarcely acknowledge that as any objection. As to\nquacks, I despise them: they may kill you, indeed, but cannot injure\nme. And as to regular physicians, they are at last convinced, that\nthe gout, in such a subject as you are, is no disease, but a remedy;\nand wherefore cure a remedy?--but to our business--There.--\n\n_Franklin._--Oh! Oh!--for heaven's sake leave me; and I promise\nfaithfully never more to play at chess, but to take exercise daily,\nand live temperately.\n\n_Gout._--I know you too well. You promise fair; but, after a few\nmonths of good health, you will return to your old habits; your fine\npromises will be forgotten like the forms of the last year's clouds.\nLet us then finish the account and I will go. But I leave you with an\nassurance, of visiting you again at a proper time and place; for my\nobject is your good, and you are sensible now, that I am your real\nfriend.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[188] We have no authority for ascribing this paper to Dr. Franklin,\nbut its appearance, with his name, in a small collection of his works\nprinted a few years ago at Paris, and cited before, page 480. As the\nrest of the papers in that collection are genuine, this probably is\nalso genuine. What we give is a translation. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\nTO MISS HUBBARD.\n\n _On the Death of Relatives[189]._\n\n\n _Philadelphia, Feb. 22, 1756._\n\nI condole with you. We have lost a most dear and valuable\nrelation[190]. But it is the will of God and nature, that these\nmortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is to enter into real\nlife. This is rather an embryo state, a preparation for living. A man\nis not completely born until he be dead. Why then should we grieve,\nthat a new child is born among the immortals, a new member added to\ntheir happy society? We are spirits. That bodies should be lent us,\nwhile they can afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge,\nor doing good to our fellow-creatures, is a kind and benevolent act\nof God. When they become unfit for these purposes, and afford us\npain instead of pleasure, instead of an aid become an incumbrance,\nand answer none of the intentions for which they were given, it is\nequally kind and benevolent, that a way is provided by which we may\nget rid of them. Death is that way. We ourselves, in some cases,\nprudently choose a partial death. A mangled painful limb, which\ncannot be restored, we willingly cut off. He, who plucks out a tooth,\nparts with it freely, since the pain goes with it: and he, who quits\nthe whole body, parts at once with all pains, and possibilities of\npains and diseases, it was liable to, or capable of making him suffer.\n\nOur friend and we were invited abroad on a party of pleasure, which\nis to last for ever. His chair was ready first, and he is gone before\nus. We could not all conveniently start together: and why should you\nand I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know where\nto find him?\n\n Adieu.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[189] From the Columbian Magazine, Vol. I, p. 208. _Editor._\n\n[190] Dr. Franklin's brother, Mr. John Franklin.\n\n\n\n\nTO MADAME BRILLIANT.\n\n _The Ephemera an Emblem of human Life[191]._\n\n\nYou may remember, my dear friend, that when we lately spent that\nhappy day, in the delightful garden and sweet society of the Moulin\nJoly, I stopt a little in one of our walks, and staid some time\nbehind the company. We had been shown numberless skeletons of a kind\nof little fly, called an ephemera, whose successive generations,\nwe were told, were bred and expired within the day. I happened to\nsee a living company of them on a leaf, who appeared to be engaged\nin conversation. You know I understand all the inferior animal\ntongues: my too great application to the study of them is the best\nexcuse I can give for the little progress I have made in your\ncharming language. I listened through curiosity to the discourse of\nthese little creatures; but as they, in their national vivacity,\nspoke three or four together, I could make but little of their\nconversation. I found, however, by some broken expressions that\nI heard now and then, they were disputing warmly on the merit of\ntwo foreign musicians, one a _cousin_, the other a _muscheto_; in\nwhich dispute they spent their time, seemingly as regardless of the\nshortness of life, as if they had been sure of living a month. Happy\npeople! thought I, you live certainly under a wise, just, and mild\ngovernment, since you have no public grievances to complain of, nor\nany subject of contention, but the perfections or imperfections of\nforeign music. I turned my head from them to an old grey-headed\none, who was single on another leaf, and talking to himself. Being\namused with his soliloquy, I put it down in writing, in hopes it\nwill likewise amuse her to whom I am so much indebted for the most\npleasing of all amusements, her delicious company, and heavenly\nharmony.\n\n\"It was,\" says he, \"the opinion of learned philosophers of our race,\nwho lived and flourished long before my time, that this vast world,\nthe Moulin Joly, could not itself subsist more than eighteen hours:\nand I think there was some foundation for that opinion; since, by\nthe apparent motion of the great luminary, that gives life to all\nnature, and which in my time has evidently declined considerably\ntowards the ocean at the end of our earth, it must then finish its\ncourse, be extinguished in the waters that surround us, and leave the\nworld in cold and darkness, necessarily producing universal death and\ndestruction. I have lived seven of those hours; a great age, being\nno less than four hundred and twenty minutes of time. How very few\nof us continue so long? I have seen generations born, flourish, and\nexpire. My present friends are the children and grand-children of\nthe friends of my youth, who are now, alas no more! And I must soon\nfollow them; for, by the course of nature, though still in health,\nI cannot expect to live above seven or eight minutes longer. What\nnow avails all my toil and labour, in amassing honey-dew on this\nleaf, which I cannot live to enjoy! What the political struggles I\nhave been engaged in, for the good of my com-patriot inhabitants of\nthis bush, or my philosophical studies, for the benefit of our race\nin general! for in politics (what can laws do without morals?) our\npresent race of ephemer\u00e6 will in a course of minutes become corrupt,\nlike those of other and older bushes, and consequently as wretched:\nand in philosophy how small our progress! Alas! art is long, and life\nis short! My friends would comfort me with the idea of a name, they\nsay, I shall leave behind me; and they tell me, I have lived long\nenough to nature and to glory. But what will fame be to an ephemera,\nwho no longer exists? and what will become of all history in the\neighteenth hour, when the world itself, even the whole Moulin Joly,\nshall come to its end, and be buried in universal ruin?\"----\n\nTo me, after all my eager pursuits, no solid pleasures now remain,\nbut the reflection of a long life spent in meaning well, the sensible\nconversation of a few good lady ephemer\u00e6, and now and then a kind\nsmile and a tune from the ever amiable Brilliant.\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[191] From the American Museum, Vol. VIII. p. 183. It was written\nduring the author's residence at Passy, and a translation of it at\nthat time appeared in one of the Parisian periodical publications.\nThis appears to be the original piece. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n APPENDIX:\n\n CONTAINING\n\n 1. PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION, BUT OMITTED,\n IN THE PRECEDING VOLUMES:\n\n AND\n\n 2. LETTERS BY SEVERAL EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE\n OF DR. FRANKLIN'S MANNERS\n AND CHARACTER.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX, No. I.\n\nCONTAINING PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION, BUT OMITTED, IN THE PRECEDING\nVOLUMES.\n\n\n\n\n _Letter to Sir Hans Sloane[192]._\n\n\n _June 2, 1725._\n\n SIR,\n\nHaving lately been in the northern parts of America, I have brought\nfrom thence a purse made of the _asbestos_, a piece of the stone, and\na piece of the wood, the pithy part of which is of the same nature,\nand called by the inhabitants salamander cotton. As you are noted\nto be a lover of curiosities, I have informed you of these: and if\nyou have any inclination to purchase or see them, let me know your\npleasure, by a line directed for me at the Golden Fan in Little\nBritain, and I will wait upon you with them.\n\n I am, sir,\n\n Your most humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nP. S. I expect to be out of town in two or three days, and therefore\nbeg an immediate answer.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[192] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for [___], 1780, where it\nappears among other original letters to Sir Hans Sloane, from\ndifferent persons. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Letter to Michael Collinson, Esq[193]._\n\n\n [No date.]\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nUnderstanding that an account of our dear departed friend, Mr. Peter\nCollinson, is intended to be given to the public, I cannot omit\nexpressing my approbation of the design. The characters of good men\nare exemplary, and often stimulate the well disposed to an imitation,\nbeneficial to mankind, and honourable to themselves. And as you\nmay be unacquainted with the following instances of his zeal and\nusefulness in promoting knowledge, which fell within my observation,\nI take the liberty of informing you, that in 1730, a subscription\nlibrary being set on foot at Philadelphia, he encouraged the design\nby making several very valuable presents to it, and procuring others\nfrom his friends: and as the library company had a considerable sum\narising annually to be laid out in books, and needed a judicious\nfriend in London to transact the business for them, he voluntarily\nand cheerfully undertook that service, and executed it for more\nthan thirty years successively, assisting in the choice of books,\nand taking the whole care of collecting and shipping them, without\never charging or accepting any consideration for his trouble. The\nsuccess of this library (greatly owing to his kind countenance and\ngood advice) encouraged the erecting others in different places on\nthe same plan; and it is supposed, there are now upwards of thirty\nsubsisting in the several colonies, which have contributed greatly\nto the spreading of useful knowledge in that part of the world; the\nbooks he recommended being all of that kind, and the catalogue\nof this first library being much respected and followed by those\nlibraries that succeeded.\n\nDuring the same time he transmitted to the directors of the\nlibrary the earliest accounts of every new European improvement in\nagriculture and the arts, and every philosophical discovery; among\nwhich, in 1745, he sent over an account of the new German experiments\nin electricity, together with a glass tube, and some directions for\nusing it so as to repeat those experiments. This was the first notice\nI had of that curious subject, which I afterwards prosecuted with\nsome diligence, being encouraged by the friendly reception he gave\nto the letters I wrote to him upon it. Please to accept this small\ntestimony of mine to his memory, for which I shall ever have the\nutmost respect; and believe me, with sincere esteem, dear sir,\n\n Your most humble servant,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[193] From the London Magazine, for April, 1776. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Letter respecting Captain Cook._\n\n To all captains and commanders of armed ships, acting by commission\n from the congress of the United States of America, now in war with\n Great Britain.\n\n\n GENTLEMEN,\n\nA ship having been fitted out from England, before the commencement\nof this war, to make discoveries of new countries in unknown seas,\nunder the conduct of that most celebrated navigator, Captain\nCook,--an undertaking truly laudable in itself, as the increase of\ngeographical knowledge facilitates the communication between distant\nnations, in the exchange of useful products and manufactures, and the\nextension of arts whereby the common enjoyments of human life are\nmultiplied and augmented, and science of other kinds increased, to\nthe benefit of mankind in general.--This is therefore most earnestly\nto recommend to every one of you, that in case the said ship, which\nis now expected to be soon in the European seas on her return, should\nhappen to fall into your hands, you would not consider her as an\nenemy, nor suffer any plunder to be made of the effects contained in\nher, nor obstruct her immediate return to England, by detaining her\nor sending her into any other part of Europe or America, but that you\nwould treat the said captain Cook and his people with all civility\nand kindness, affording them, as common friends to mankind, all the\nassistance in your power, which they may happen to stand in need of.\nIn so doing, you will not only gratify the generosity of your own\ndispositions, but there is no doubt of your obtaining the approbation\nof the congress[194], and your own American owners.\n\n I have the honour to be, gentlemen,\n\n Your most obedient, &c.\n\n B. FRANKLIN,\n\n Minister plenipotentiary from the congress of the\n United States to the court of France.\n\n _At Passy, near Paris,\n this 10th day of March, 1779._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[194] Dr. Kippis, in his Life of Captain Cook, had asserted, upon\nwhat he deemed unquestionable authority, that Dr. Franklin's orders\nwere instantly reversed, and that it was directed by congress, to\nseize captain Cook, if an opportunity of doing it occurred: but,\nfinding that the information was false, he addressed a letter to the\neditor of the Gentleman's Magazine, in September, 1795, publicly\nacknowledging his mistake.\n\nIn the American Museum, from which we have taken Dr. Franklin's\nletter, the correspondent who communicated the letter says, that \"the\ngenerous proceeding of Dr. Franklin in writing it was so well known\nin England, and the sentiments it manifested so much approved by the\ngovernment there, that, when Cook's Voyage was printed, the admiralty\nsent to Dr. Franklin a copy of the same in three volumes quarto,\naccompanied with the elegant collection of plates, and a very polite\nletter from lord Howe, signifying, that the present was made with\nhis majesty's express approbation; and the royal society having, in\nhonour of that illustrious navigator, one of their members, struck\nsome gold medals to be distributed among his friends and the friends\nof his voyage, one of those medals, was also sent to Dr. Franklin,\nby order of the society, together with a letter from their worthy\npresident, sir Joseph Banks, expressing likewise, that it was sent\nwith the approbation of his majesty.\" _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _An Address to the Public, from the Pensylvania Society for\n promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of free Negroes,\n unlawfully held in Bondage[195]._\n\n\nIt is with peculiar satisfaction, we assure the friends of humanity,\nthat, in prosecuting the design of our association, our endeavours\nhave proved successful, far beyond our most sanguine expectations.\n\nEncouraged by this success, and by the daily progress of that\nluminous and benign spirit of liberty, which is diffusing itself\nthroughout the world, and humbly hoping for the continuance of the\ndivine blessing on our labours, we have ventured to make an important\naddition to our original plan, and do, therefore, earnestly solicit\nthe support and assistance of all, who can feel the tender emotions\nof sympathy and compassion, or relish the exalted pleasure of\nbeneficence.\n\nSlavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that\nits very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may\nsometimes open a source of serious evils.\n\nThe unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal,\ntoo frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human\nspecies. The galling chains, that bind his body, do also fetter his\nintellectual faculties, and impair the social affections of his\nheart. Accustomed to move like a mere machine, by the will of a\nmaster, reflection is suspended; he has not the power of choice; and\nreason and conscience have but little influence over his conduct,\nbecause he is chiefly governed by the passion of fear. He is poor and\nfriendless--perhaps worn out by extreme labour, age, and disease.\n\nUnder such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune to\nhimself, and prejudicial to society.\n\nAttention to emancipated black people, it is therefore to be\nhoped, will become a branch of our national police; but as far as\nwe contribute to promote this emancipation, so far that attention\nis evidently a serious duty incumbent on us, and which we mean to\ndischarge to the best of our judgment and abilities.\n\nTo instruct, to advise, to qualify those, who have been restored to\nfreedom, for the exercise and enjoyment of civil liberty, to promote\nin them habits of industry, to furnish them with employments suited\nto their age, sex, talents, and other circumstances, and to procure\ntheir children an education calculated for their future situation\nin life; these are the great outlines of the annexed plan, which\nwe have adopted, and which we conceive will essentially promote\nthe public good, and the happiness of these our hitherto too much\nneglected fellow-creatures.\n\nA plan so extensive cannot be carried into execution without\nconsiderable pecuniary resources, beyond the present ordinary funds\nof the society. We hope much from the generosity of enlightened and\nbenevolent freemen, and will gratefully receive any donations or\nsubscriptions for this purpose, which may be made to our treasurer,\nJames Starr, or to James Pemberton, chairman of our committee of\ncorrespondence.\n\n Signed by order of the society,\n\n B. FRANKLIN, PRESIDENT.\n\n _Philadelphia,\n 9th of November, 1789._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[195] In an American periodical publication, this address and the\nplan that follows it are ascribed to the pen of Dr. Franklin, which\ninduces us to give them a place here. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Plan for improving the Condition of the Free Blacks._\n\n\nThe business relative to free blacks shall be transacted by a\ncommittee of twenty-four persons, annually elected by ballot, at the\nmeeting of this society, in the month called April; and in order\nto perform the different services with expedition, regularity, and\nenergy, this committee shall resolve itself into the following\nsub-committees, viz:\n\n\nI.\n\nA committee of inspection, who shall superintend the morals, general\nconduct, and ordinary situation of the free negroes, and afford them\nadvice and instruction, protection from wrongs, and other friendly\noffices.\n\n\nII.\n\nA committee of guardians, who shall place out children and young\npeople with suitable persons, that they may (during a moderate time\nof apprenticeship, or servitude) learn some trade or other business\nof subsistence. The committee may effect this partly by a persuasive\ninfluence on parents and the persons concerned; and partly by\nco-operating with the laws, which are, or may be enacted for this,\nand similar purposes: in forming contracts on these occasions, the\ncommittee shall secure to the society, as far as may be practicable,\nthe right of guardianship over the persons so bound.\n\n\nIII.\n\nA committee of education, who shall superintend the\nschool-instruction of the children and youth of the free blacks; they\nmay either influence them to attend regularly the schools, already\nestablished in this city, or form others with this view; they shall,\nin either case, provide, that the pupils may receive such learning,\nas is necessary for their future situation in life; and especially\na deep impression of the most important, and generally acknowledged\nmoral and religious principles. They shall also procure and preserve\na regular record of the marriages, births, and manumissions of all\nfree blacks.\n\n\nIV.\n\nA committee of employ, who shall endeavour to procure constant\nemployment for those free negroes who are able to work: as the want\nof this would occasion poverty, idleness, and many vicious habits.\nThis committee will, by sedulous enquiry, be enabled to find common\nlabour for a great number; they will also provide, that such, as\nindicate proper talents, may learn various trades, which may be\ndone by prevailing upon them to bind themselves for such a term\nof years, as shall compensate their masters for the expence and\ntrouble of instruction and maintenance. The committee may attempt the\ninstitution of some useful and simple manufactures, which require but\nlittle skill, and also may assist, in commencing business, such as\nappear to be qualified for it.\n\nWhenever the committee of inspection shall find persons of any\nparticular description requiring attention, they shall immediately\ndirect them to the committee, of whose care they are the proper\nobjects.\n\nIn matters of a mixed nature, the committees shall confer, and, if\nnecessary, act in concert. Affairs of great importance shall be\nreferred to the whole committee.\n\nThe expence, incurred by the prosecution of this plan, shall be\ndefrayed by a fund, to be formed by donations, or subscriptions, for\nthese particular purposes, and to be kept separate from the other\nfunds of this society.\n\nThe committee shall make a report of their proceedings, and of the\nstate of their stock, to the society, at their quarterly meetings, in\nthe months called April and October.\n\n _Philadelphia,\n 26th October, 1789._\n\n\n\n\n _Paper: a Poem[196]._\n\n\n Some wit of old--such wits of old there were--\n Whose hints show'd meaning, whose allusions care,\n By one brave stroke to mark all human kind,\n Call'd clear blank paper ev'ry infant mind;\n When still, as opening sense her dictates wrote,\n Fair virtue put a seal, or vice a blot.\n\n The thought was happy, pertinent, and true;\n Methinks a genius might the plan pursue.\n I (can you pardon my presumption), I--\n No wit, no genius, yet for once will try.\n\n Various the papers various wants produce,\n The wants of fashion, elegance, and use.\n Men are as various: and, if right I scan,\n Each sort of _paper_ represents some _man_.\n\n Pray note the fop--half powder and half lace--\n Nice, as a bandbox were his dwelling-place:\n He's the _gilt-paper_, which apart you store,\n And lock from vulgar hands in the 'scrutoire.\n\n Mechanics, servants, farmers, and so forth,\n Are _copy-paper_, of inferior worth;\n Less priz'd, more useful, for your desk decreed,\n Free to all pens, and prompt at ev'ry need.\n\n The wretch, whom av'rice bids to pinch and spare,\n Starve, cheat, and pilfer, to enrich an heir,\n Is coarse _brown-paper_; such as pedlars choose\n To wrap up wares, which better men will use.\n\n Take next the miser's contrast, who destroys\n Health, fame, and fortune, in a round of joys.\n\n Will any paper match him? Yes, throughout,\n He's a true _sinking-paper_, past all doubt.\n\n The retail politician's anxious thought\n Deems _this_ side always right, and _that_ stark nought;\n He foams with censure; with applause he raves--\n A dupe to rumours, and a tool of knaves;\n He'll want no type his weakness to proclaim,\n While such a thing as _fools-cap_ has a name.\n\n The hasty gentleman, whose blood runs high,\n Who picks a quarrel, if you step awry,\n Who can't a jest, or hint, or look endure:\n What's he? What? _Touch-paper_ to be sure.\n\n What are our poets, take them as they fall,\n Good, bad, rich, poor, much read, not read at all?\n Them and their works in the same class you'll find;\n They are the mere _waste-paper_ of mankind.\n\n Observe the maiden, innocently sweet,\n She's fair _white-paper_, an unsullied sheet;\n On which the happy man, whom fate ordains,\n May write his _name_, and take her for his pains.\n\n One instance more, and only one I'll bring;\n 'Tis the _great man_ who scorns a little thing,\n Whose thoughts, whose deeds, whose maxims are his own,\n Form'd on the feelings of his heart alone:\n True genuine _royal-paper_ is his breast;\n Of all the kinds most precious, purest, best.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[196] We have been told, that this poem is not Franklin's, and the\nname of some other person was at the time mentioned to us as the\nauthor; but as we have forgotten both the name and the authority, and\nas the poem has been ascribed to Dr. Franklin in the American Museum,\nwe think it not right to omit it. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Plain Truth; or serious Considerations on the present State of the\n City of Philadelphia, and Province of Pensylvania:_\n\n BY A TRADESMAN OF PHILADELPHIA[197].\n\n Capta urbe, nihil fit reliqui victis. Sed, per deos immortales,\n vos ego appello, qui semper domos, villas, signa, tabulas vestras,\n tant\u00e6 \u00e6stimationis fecistis; si ista, cujuscumque modi sint, qu\u00e6\n amplexamini, retinere, si voluptatibus vestris otium pr\u00e6bere\n vultis; expergiscimini aliquando, & capessite rempublicam. Non\n agitur nunc de sociorum injuriis; _libertas & anima_ nostra in\n dubio est. Dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est. Vos cunctamini\n etiam nunc, & dubitatis quid faciatis? Scilicet, res ipsa aspera\n est, sed vos non timetis eam. Imo vero maxime; sed inerti\u00e2 &\n molliti\u00e2 animi, alius alium expectantes, cunctamini; videlicit,\n diis immortalibus confisi, qui hanc rempublicam in maximis\n periculis servavere _non votis, neque suppliciis muliebribus,\n auxilia deorum parantur_: vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo,\n prospere omnia cedunt. Ubi socordi\u00e6 tete atque ignavi\u00e6 tradideris,\n nequicquam deos implores; irati, infestique sunt.\n\n M. POR. CAT. IN SALUST.\n\n\nIt is said, the wise Italians make this proverbial remark on our\nnation, viz. The English _feel_, but they do not _see_. That is,\nthey are sensible of inconveniences when they are present, but do\nnot take sufficient care to prevent them: their natural courage\nmakes them too little apprehensive of danger, so that they are often\nsurprised by it, unprovided of the proper means of security. When\nit is too late, they are sensible of their imprudence: after great\nfires, they provide buckets and engines: after a pestilence, they\nthink of keeping clean their streets and common sewers: and when a\ntown has been sacked by their enemies, they provide for its defence,\n&c. This kind of _after-wisdom_ is indeed so common with us, as to\noccasion the vulgar, though very insignificant saying, _When the\nsteed is stolen, you shut the stable door_.\n\nBut the more insensible we generally are of public danger and\nindifferent when warned of it, so much the more freely, openly, and\nearnestly, ought such as apprehend it to speak their sentiments;\nthat, if possible, those who seem to sleep may be awakened, to think\nof some means of avoiding or preventing the mischief, before it be\ntoo late.\n\nBelieving therefore, that it is my _duty_, I shall honestly speak my\nmind in the following paper.\n\nWar, at this time, rages over a great part of the known world; our\nnewspapers are weekly filled with fresh accounts of the destruction\nit every where occasions. Pensylvania, indeed, situate in the centre\nof the colonies, has hitherto enjoyed profound repose; and though\nour nation is engaged in a bloody war, with two great and powerful\nkingdoms, yet, defended, in a great degree, from the French, on the\none hand, by the northern provinces, and from the Spaniards, on the\nother, by the southern, at no small expence to each, our people have,\ntill lately, slept securely in their habitations.\n\nThere is no British colony, excepting this, but has made some kind\nof provision for its defence; many of them have therefore never been\nattempted by an enemy; and others, that were attacked, have generally\ndefended themselves with success. The length and difficulty of our\nbay and river have been thought so effectual a security to us, that\nhitherto no means have been entered into, that might discourage an\nattempt upon us, or prevent its succeeding.\n\nBut whatever security this might have been while both country and\ncity were poor, and the advantage to be expected scarce worth the\nhazard of an attempt, it is now doubted, whether we can any longer\nsafely depend upon it. Our wealth, of late years much encreased,\nis one strong temptation, our defenceless state another, to induce\nan enemy to attack us; while the acquaintance they have lately\ngained with our Bay and river, by means of the prisoners and flags\nof truce they have had among us; by spies which they almost every\nwhere maintain, and perhaps from traitors among ourselves; with\nthe facility of getting pilots to conduct them; and the known\nabsence of ships of war, during the greatest part of the year, from\nboth Virginia and New York, ever since the war began, render the\nappearance of success to the enemy far more promising, and therefore\nhighly encrease our danger.\n\nThat our enemies may have spies abroad, and some even in these\ncolonies, will not be made much doubt of, when it is considered, that\nsuch has been the practice of all nations in all ages, whenever\nthey were engaged, or intended to engage, in war. Of this we have\nan early example in the book of Judges (too pertinent to our case,\nand therefore I must beg leave a little to enlarge upon it) where\nwe are told, _Chap._ xviii, v. 2. That _the children of Dan sent of\ntheir family five men from their coasts to spie out the land, and\nsearch it, saying, Go, search the land_. These Danites it seems were\nat this time not very orthodox in their religion, and their spies\nmet with a certain idolatrous priest of their own persuasion, v. 3,\nand they said to him, _Who brought thee hither? What makest thou in\nthis place? And what hast thou here?_ [Would to God no such priests\nwere to be found among us]. And they said unto him, v. 5. _Ask\ncounsel of God, that we may know, whether our way which we go shall\nbe prosperous: and the priest said unto them, Go in peace; before\nthe Lord is your way wherein you go._ [Are there no priests among\nus, think you, that might, in the like case, give an enemy as good\nencouragement? It is well known, that we have numbers of the same\nreligion with those, who of late encouraged the French to invade our\nMother Country.] _And they came_, verse 7, _to Laish, and saw the\npeople that were therein, how they dwelt_ CARELESS, _after the manner\nof the Zidonians_, QUIET _and_ SECURE. They _thought_ themselves\nsecure, no doubt; and as they _never had been_ disturbed, vainly\nimagined they _never should_. It is not unlikely, that some might see\nthe danger they were exposed to by living in that _careless_ manner;\nbut that, if these publicly expressed their apprehensions, the rest\nreproached them as timorous persons, wanting courage or confidence in\ntheir gods, who (they might say) had hitherto protected them. But\nthe spies, verse 8, returned, and said to their countrymen, verse 9,\n_Arise, that we may go up against them; for we have seen the land,\nand behold it is very good! And are ye still? Be not slothful to go._\nVerse 10, _when ye go, ye shall come to a people_ SECURE; [that is, a\npeople that apprehend no danger, and therefore have made no provision\nagainst it; great encouragement this!] _and to a large land, and a\nplace where there is no want of any thing_. What could they desire\nmore? Accordingly we find, in the following verses, that _six hundred\nmen_ only, _appointed with weapons of war_, undertook the conquest of\nthis _large land_; knowing that 600 men, armed and disciplined, would\nbe an over-match perhaps for 60,000, unarmed, undisciplined, and off\ntheir guard. And when they went against it, the idolatrous priest,\nverse 17, _with his graven image, and his ephod, and his seraphim,\nand his molten image_, [plenty of superstitious trinkets] joined with\nthem, and, no doubt, gave them all the intelligence and assistance in\nhis power; his heart, as the text assures us, _being glad_, perhaps\nfor reasons more than one. And now, what was the fate of poor Laish!\nThe 600 men being arrived, found, as the spies had reported, a people\nQUIET and SECURE, verse 20, 21, _And they smote them with the edge\nof the sword, and burnt the city with_ FIRE; _and there was no_\nDELIVERER, _because it was far from Zidon_.--Not so far from Zidon,\nhowever, as Pensylvania is from Britain; and yet we are, if possible,\nmore _careless_ than the people of Laish! As the scriptures are given\nfor our reproof, instruction and warning, may we make a due use of\nthis example, before it be too late!\n\nAnd is our _country_, any more than our city, altogether free from\ndanger? Perhaps not. We have, it is true, had a long peace with the\nIndians: but it is a long peace indeed, as well as a long lane, that\nhas no ending. The French know the power and importance of the Six\nNations, and spare no artifice, pains or expence, to gain them to\ntheir interest. By their priests they have converted many to their\nreligion, and these[198] have openly espoused their cause. The rest\nappear irresolute what part to take; no persuasions, though enforced\nwith costly presents, having yet been able to engage them generally\non our side, though we had numerous forces on their borders, ready\nto second and support them. What then may be expected, now those\nforces are, by orders from the crown, to be disbanded, when our\nboasted expedition is laid aside, through want (as it may appear to\nthem) either of strength or courage; when they see, that the French\nand their Indians, boldly, and with impunity, ravage the frontiers\nof New York, and scalp the inhabitants; when those few Indians,\nthat engaged with us against the French, are left exposed to their\nresentment: when they consider these things, is there no danger that,\nthrough disgust at our usage, joined with fear of the French power,\nand greater confidence in their promises and protection than in ours,\nthey may be wholly gained over by our enemies, and join in the war\nagainst us? If such should be the case, which God forbid, how soon\nmay the mischief spread to our frontier countries? And what may we\nexpect to be the consequence, but desertion of plantations, ruin,\nbloodshed and confusion!\n\nPerhaps some in the city, towns, and plantations near the river,\nmay say to themselves, \"An Indian war on the frontiers will not\naffect us; the enemy will never come near our habitations; let\nthose concerned take care of themselves.\" And others who live in\nthe country, when they are told of the danger the city is in from\nattempts by sea, may say, \"What is that to us? The enemy will be\nsatisfied with the plunder of the town, and never think it worth\nhis while to visit our plantations: let the town take care of\nitself.\"--These are not mere suppositions, for I have heard some\ntalk in this strange manner. But are these the sentiments of true\nPensylvanians, of fellow-countrymen, or even of men, that have common\nsense or goodness? Is not the whole province one body, united by\nliving under the same laws, and enjoying the same privileges? Are not\nthe people of city and country connected as relations, both by blood\nand marriage, and in friendships equally dear? Are they not likewise\nunited in interest, and mutually useful and necessary to each other?\nWhen the feet are wounded, shall the head say, it is not me; I will\nnot trouble myself to contrive relief! Or if the head is in danger,\nshall the hands say, we are not affected, and therefore will lend\nno assistance! No. For so would the body be easily destroyed: but\nwhen all parts join their endeavours for its security, it is often\npreserved. And such should be the union between the country and the\ntown; and such their mutual endeavours for the safety of the whole.\nWhen New England, a distant colony, involved itself in a grievous\ndebt to reduce Cape Breton, we freely gave four thousand pounds for\n_their_ relief. And at another time, remembering that Great Britain,\nstill more distant, groaned under heavy taxes in supporting the war,\nwe threw in our mite to their assistance, by a free gift of three\nthousand pounds: and shall country and town join in helping strangers\n(as those comparatively are) and yet refuse to assist each other?\n\nBut whatever different opinions we have of our security in other\nrespects, our TRADE, all seem to agree, is in danger of being ruined\nin another year. The great success of our enemies, in two different\ncruizes this last summer in our bay, must give them the greatest\nencouragement to repeat more frequently their visits, the profit\nbeing almost certain, and the risk next to nothing. Will not the\nfirst effect of this be, an enhancing of the price of all foreign\ngoods to the tradesman and farmer, who use or consume them? For\nthe rate of insurance will increase, in proportion to the hazard\nof importing them; and in the same proportion will the price of\nthose goods increase. If the price of the tradesman's work, and the\nfarmer's produce, would increase equally with the price of foreign\ncommodities, the damage would not be so great: but the direct\ncontrary must happen. For the same hazard or rate of insurance,\nthat raises the price of what is imported, must be deducted out of,\nand lower the price of what is exported. Without this addition and\ndeduction, as long as the enemy cruize at our capes, and take those\nvessels that attempt to _go out_, as well as those that endeavour to\n_come in_, none can afford to trade, and business must be soon at a\nstand. And will not the consequences be, a discouragement of many\nof the vessels that used to come from other places to purchase our\nproduce, and thereby a turning of the trade to ports that can be\nentered with less danger, and capable of furnishing them with the\nsame commodities, as New York, &c.; a lessening of business to every\nshopkeeper, together with multitudes of bad debts, the high rate of\ngoods discouraging the buyers, and the low rates of their labour\nand produce, rendering them unable to pay for what they had bought;\nloss of employment to the tradesman, and bad pay for what little he\ndoes; and lastly, loss of many inhabitants, who will retire to other\nprovinces not subject to the like inconveniences; whence a lowering\nof the value of lands, lots, and houses.\n\nThe enemy, no doubt, have been told, that the people of Pensylvania\nare Quakers, and against all defence, from a principle of conscience;\nthis, though true of a part, and that a small part only of the\ninhabitants, is commonly said of the whole; and what may make it\nlook probable to strangers is, that in fact, nothing is done by any\npart of the people towards their defence. But to refuse defending\none's self, or one's country, is so unusual a thing among mankind,\nthat possibly they may not believe it, till by experience, they find\nthey can come higher and higher up our river, seize our vessels,\nland and plunder our plantations and villages, and retire with their\nbooty unmolested. Will not this confirm the report, and give them the\ngreatest encouragement to strike one bold stroke for the city, and\nfor the whole plunder of the river?\n\nIt is said by some, that the expence of a vessel, to guard our trade,\nwould be very heavy, greater than perhaps all the enemy can be\nsupposed to take from us at sea would amount to; and that it would\nbe cheaper for the government to open an insurance office, and pay\nall losses. But is this right reasoning? I think not; for what the\nenemy takes is clear loss to us, and gain to him; increasing his\nriches and strength, as much as it diminishes ours, so making the\ndifference double; whereas the money, paid our own tradesmen for\nbuilding and fitting out a vessel of defence, remains in the country,\nand circulates among us; what is paid to the officers and seamen,\nthat navigate her, is also spent ashore, and soon gets into other\nhands; the farmer receives the money for her provisions, and, on the\nwhole, nothing is clearly lost to the country but her wear and tear,\nor so much as she sells for at the end of the war less than her first\ncost. This loss, and a trifling one it is, is all the inconvenience;\nbut how many and how great are the conveniences and advantages! and\nshould the enemy, through our supineness and neglect to provide for\nthe defence both of our trade and country, be encouraged to attempt\nthis city, and after plundering us of our goods, either _burn it_,\nor put it to ransom, how great would that loss be! besides the\nconfusion, terror, and distress, so many hundreds of families would\nbe involved in!\n\nThe thought of this latter circumstance so much affects me, that\nI cannot forbear expatiating somewhat more upon it. You have, my\ndear countrymen and fellow citizens, riches to tempt a considerable\nforce to unite and attack you, but are under no ties or engagements\nto unite for your defence. Hence, on the first alarm, _terror_ will\nspread over all; and as no man can with certainty depend that another\nwill stand by him, beyond doubt very many will seek safety by a\nspeedy flight. Those, that are reputed rich, will flee, through fear\nof torture, to make them produce more than they are able. The man,\nthat has a wife and children, will find them hanging on his neck,\nbeseeching him with tears to quit the city, and save his life, to\nguide and protect them in that time of general desolation and ruin.\nAll will run into confusion, amidst cries and lamentations, and the\nhurry and disorder of departers, carrying away their effects. The\nfew that remain will be unable to resist. _Sacking_ the city will\nbe the first, and _burning_ it, in all probability, the last act of\nthe enemy. This, I believe, will be the case, if you have timely\nnotice. But what must be your condition, if suddenly surprized,\nwithout previous alarm, perhaps in the night! Confined to your\nhouses, you will have nothing to trust to but the enemy's mercy.\nYour best fortune will be, to fall under the power of commanders of\nking's ships, able to controul the mariners; and not into the hands\nof _licentious privateers_. Who can, without the utmost horror,\nconceive the miseries of the latter! when your persons, fortunes,\nwives, and daughters, shall be subject to the wanton and unbridled\nrage, rapine, and lust, of negroes, mulattoes, and others, the vilest\nand most abandoned of mankind[199]. A dreadful scene! which some may\nrepresent as exaggerated. I think it my duty to warn you: judge for\nyourselves.\n\nIt is true, with very little notice, the rich may shift for\nthemselves. The means of speedy flight are ready in their hands;\nand with some previous care to lodge money and effects in distant\nand secure places, though they should lose much, yet enough may be\nleft them, and to spare. But most unhappily circumstanced indeed are\nwe, the middling people, the tradesmen, shopkeepers, and farmers of\nthis province and city! We cannot all fly with our families; and if\nwe could, how shall we subsist? No; we and they, and what little we\nhave gained by hard labour and industry, must bear the brunt: the\nweight of contributions, extorted by the enemy (as it is of taxes\namong ourselves) must be surely borne by us. Nor can it be avoided,\nas we stand at present; for though we are numerous, we are quite\ndefenceless, having neither forts, arms, union, nor discipline. And\nthough it were true, that our trade might be protected at no great\nexpence, and our country and our city easily defended, if proper\nmeasures were but taken; yet, who shall take these measures? Who\nshall pay that expence? On whom may we fix our eyes with the least\nexpectation, that they will do any thing for our security? Should\nwe address that wealthy and powerful body of people, who have ever\nsince the war governed our elections, and filled almost every seat\nin our assembly; should we intreat them to consider, if not as\nfriends, at least as legislators, that _protection_ is as truly due\nfrom the government to the people, as _obedience_ from the people to\nthe government; and that if, on account of their religious scruples,\nthey themselves could do no act for our defence, yet they might\nretire, relinquish their power for a season, quit the helm to freer\nhands during the present tempest, to hands, chosen by their own\ninterest too, whose prudence and moderation, with regard to them,\nthey might safely confide in; secure, from their own native strength,\nof resuming again their present station, whenever it shall please\nthem: should we remind them, that the public money, raised _from\nall_, belongs _to all_; that since they have, for their own ease,\nand to secure themselves in the quiet enjoyment of their religious\nprinciples (and may they long enjoy them) expended such large sums\nto oppose petitions, and engage favourable representations of their\nconduct, if they themselves could by no means be free to appropriate\nany part of the public money for our defence; yet it would be no\nmore than justice, to spare us a reasonable sum for that purpose,\nwhich they might easily give to the king's use as heretofore,\nleaving all the appropriation to others, who would faithfully apply\nit as we desired: should we tell them, that though the treasury be\nat present empty, it may soon be filled by the outstanding public\ndebts collected; or at least credit might be had for such a sum, on\na single vote of the assembly: that though _they_ themselves may\nbe resigned and easy under this naked, defenceless state of the\ncountry, it is far otherwise with a very great part of the people;\nwith _us_, who can have no confidence that God will protect those,\nthat neglect the use of rational means for their security; nor have\nany reason to hope, that our losses, if we should suffer any, may\nbe made up by collections in our favour at home. Should we conjure\nthem by all the ties of neighbourhood, friendship, justice, and\nhumanity, to consider these things; and what distraction, misery, and\nconfusion, what desolation and distress, may possibly be the effect\nof their _unseasonable_ predominancy and perseverance; yet all would\nbe in vain: for they have already been, by great numbers of the\npeople, petitioned in vain. Our late governor did for years solicit,\nrequest, and even threaten them in vain. The council have since twice\nremonstrated to them in vain. Their religious prepossessions are\nunchangeable, their obstinacy invincible. Is there then the least\nhope remaining, that from that quarter any thing should arise for our\nsecurity?\n\nAnd is our prospect better, if we turn our eyes to the strength of\nthe opposite party, those great and rich men, merchants and others,\nwho are ever railing at Quakers for doing what their principles\nseem to require, and what in charity we ought to believe they think\ntheir duty, but take no one step themselves for the public safety.\nThey have so much wealth and influence, if they would use it, that\nthey might easily, by their endeavours and example, raise a military\nspirit among us, make us fond, studious of, and expert in, martial\ndiscipline, and affect every thing that is necessary, under God, for\nour protection. But _envy_ seems to have taken possession of their\nhearts, and to have eaten out and destroyed every generous, noble,\npublic-spirited sentiment. _Rage_ at the disappointment of their\nlittle schemes for power, gnaws their souls, and fills them with\nsuch cordial hatred to their opponents, that every proposal, by the\nexecution of which _those_ may receive benefit as well as themselves,\nis rejected with indignation. \"What,\" say they, \"shall we lay out\nour money to protect the trade of Quakers? Shall we fight to defend\nQuakers? No; let the trade perish, and the city burn; let what will\nhappen, we shall never lift a finger to prevent it.\" Yet the Quakers\nhave _conscience_ to plead for their resolution not to fight, which\nthese gentlemen have not. Conscience with you, gentlemen, is on the\nother side of the question: conscience enjoins it as a _duty_ on you\n(and indeed I think it such on every man) to defend your country,\nyour friends, your aged parents, your wives, and helpless children:\nand yet you resolve not to perform this duty, but act contrary to\nyour own consciences, because the Quakers act according to theirs.\nTill of late, I could scarce believe the story of him, who refused\nto pump in a sinking ship, because one on board, whom he hated,\nwould be saved by it as well as himself. But such, it seems, is the\nunhappiness of human nature, that our passions, when violent, often\nare too hard for the united force of reason, duty, and religion.\n\nThus unfortunately are we circumstanced at this time, my dear\ncountrymen and fellow-citizens; we, I mean, the middling people;\nthe farmers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen of this city and country.\nThrough the dissensions of our leaders, through mistaken principles\nof religion, joined with a love of worldly power, on the one hand;\nthrough pride, envy, and implacable resentment on the other;\nour lives, our families, and little fortunes, dear to us as any\ngreat man's can be to him, are to remain continually exposed to\ndestruction, from an enterprising, cruel, now well-informed, and\nby success encouraged, enemy. It seems as if heaven, justly\ndispleased at our growing wickedness, and determined to punish[200]\nthis once-favoured land, had suffered our chiefs to engage in these\nfoolish and mischievous contentions, for _little posts_ and _paltry\ndistinctions_, that our hands might be bound up, our understandings\ndarkened and misled, and every means of our security neglected. It\nseems as if our greatest men, our _cives nobilissimi_[201] of both\nparties, had sworn the ruin of the country, and invited the French,\nour most inveterate enemy to destroy it. Where then shall we seek\nfor succour and protection? The government we are immediately under\ndenies it to us; and if the enemy comes, we are _far from Zidon, and\nthere is no deliverer near_. Our case is dangerously bad; but perhaps\nthere is yet a remedy, if we have but the prudence and the spirit to\napply it.\n\nIf this new flourishing city, and greatly improving colony, is\ndestroyed and ruined, it will not be for want of numbers of\ninhabitants able to bear arms in its defence. It is computed, that we\nhave at least (exclusive of the Quakers) sixty thousand fighting men,\nacquainted with fire arms, many of them hunters and marksmen, hardy\nand bold. All we want is order, discipline, and a few cannon. At\npresent we are like the separate filaments of flax before the thread\nis formed, without strength, because without connection; but UNION\nwould make us strong, and even formidable. Though the _great_ should\nneither help nor join us; though they should even oppose our uniting,\nfrom some mean views of their own, yet, if we resolve upon it, and it\nplease God to inspire us with the necessary prudence and vigour, it\n_may_ be effected. Great numbers of our people are of British race,\nand though the fierce fighting animals of those happy islands are\nsaid to abate their native fire and intrepidity, when removed to a\nforeign clime, yet with the people it is not so; our neighbours of\nNew England afford the world a convincing proof, that Britons, though\na hundred years transplanted, and to the remotest part of the earth,\nmay yet retain, even to the third and fourth descent, that zeal for\nthe public good, that military prowess, and that undaunted spirit,\nwhich has in every age distinguished their nation. What numbers\nhave we likewise of _those brave people_, whose fathers in the last\nage made so glorious a stand for our religion and liberties, when\ninvaded by a powerful French army, joined by Irish Catholics, under\na bigotted popish king! Let the memorable siege of Londonderry, and\nthe signal actions of the Iniskillingers, by which the heart of that\nprince's schemes was broken, be perpetual testimonies of the courage\nand conduct of those noble warriors! Nor are there wanting amongst\nus, thousands of _that warlike_ nation, whose sons have ever since\nthe time of C\u00e6sar maintained the character he gave their fathers,\nof joining the most _obstinate courage_ to all the other military\nvirtues: I mean the brave and steady Germans. Numbers of whom have\nactually borne arms in the service of their respective princes; and\nif they fought well for their tyrants and oppressors, would they\nrefuse to unite with us in defence of their newly acquired and most\nprecious liberty and property? Were this union formed, were we once\nunited, thoroughly armed and disciplined, was every thing in our\npower done for our security, as far as human means and foresight\ncould provide, we might then, with more propriety, humbly ask the\nassistance of Heaven, and a blessing on our lawful endeavours.\nThe very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of\ndiscouraging our enemies; for it is a wise and true saying, that _one\nsword often keeps another in the scabbard_. The way to secure peace\nis to be prepared for war. They, that are on their guard, and appear\nready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being\nattacked, than the supine, secure and negligent. We have yet a winter\nbefore us, which may afford a good and almost sufficient opportunity\nfor this, if we seize and improve it with a becoming vigour. And if\nthe hints contained in this paper are so happy as to meet with a\nsuitable disposition of mind in his countrymen and fellow-citizens,\nthe writer of it will, in a few days, lay before them a form of\nan ASSOCIATION for the purposes herein mentioned, together with a\npracticable scheme for raising the money necessary for the defence of\nour trade, city, and country, without laying a burthen on any man.\n\n_May the God of wisdom, strength, and power, the Lord of the armies\nof Israel, inspire us with prudence in this time of danger, take\naway from us all the seeds of contention and division, and unite the\nhearts and counsels of all of us, of whatever sect or nation, in one\nbond of peace, brotherly love, and generous public spirit; may he\ngive us strength and resolution to amend our lives, and remove from\namong us every thing that is displeasing to him; afford us his most\ngracious protection, confound the designs of our enemies, and give\npeace in all our borders, is the sincere prayer of_\n\n A TRADESMAN of Philadelphia.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[197] For this pamphlet we are indebted to the same American\ncorrespondent, who furnished us with the papers intitled The\nBusy-Body: but it came too late for insertion in its proper place,\nwhich, agreeably to its date, is at the commencement of the present\nvolume. Dr. W. Smith, in his eulogium on our author, delivered before\nthe American philosophical society, speaks of this production as\nfollows: \"In 1744, a Spanish privateer, having entered the Bay of\nDelaware, ascended as high as Newcastle, to the great terror of the\ncitizens of Philadelphia. On this occasion Franklin wrote his first\npolitical pamphlet called Plain Truth, to exhort his fellow-citizens\nto the bearing of arms; which laid the foundation of those military\nassociations, which followed, at different times, for the defence of\nthe country.\" We presume that Dr. Smith is correct in his date, but\nthe copy sent us by our correspondent, which is the second edition,\nwas printed in 1747. _Editor._\n\n[198] The praying Indians.\n\n[199] By accounts, the ragged crew of the Spanish privateer that\nplundered Mr. Liston's, and another plantation, a little below\nNewcastle, was composed of such as these. The _honour_ and _humanity_\nof their officers may be judged of, by the treatment they gave\npoor captain Brown, whom they took with Martin's ship in returning\nfrom their cruize. Because he bravely defended himself and vessel\nlonger than they expected, for which every generous enemy would\nhave esteemed him, did they, after he had struck and submitted,\nbarbarously _stab_ and _murder_ him, though on his knees begging\nquarter!\n\n[200] When God determined to punish his chosen people, the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem, who, though breakers of his other laws,\nwere scrupulous observers of that ONE, which required keeping holy\nthe Sabbath-day; he suffered even the strict observation of that\ncommand to be their ruin: for Pompey, observing that they then\nobstinately refused to fight, made a general assault on that day,\ntook the town, and butchered them with as little mercy as he found\nresistance.\n\n JOSEPHUS.\n\n[201] Conjuravere cives nobilissimi patriam incendere; GALLORUM\nGENTEM, infestissimam nomini Romano, ad bellum arcessunt.\n\n CAT. IN SALUST.\n\n\n\n\n _Four Letters[202] to George Whatley, Esq. Treasurer of the\n Foundling Hospital, London._\n\n\nLetter I.\n\n _Passy, near Paris, Aug. 21, 1784._\n\n MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,\n\nI received your kind letter of May 3, 1783. I am ashamed that it\nhas been so long unanswered. The indolence of old age, frequent\nindisposition, and too much business, are my only excuses. I had\ngreat pleasure in reading it, as it informed me of your welfare.\n\nYour excellent little work, \"The Principles of Trade,\" is too\nlittle known. I wish you would send me a copy of it by the bearer,\nmy grandson and secretary, whom I beg leave to recommend to your\ncivilities. I would get it translated and printed here, and if your\nbookseller has any quantity of them left, I should be glad he would\nsend them to America. The ideas of our people there, though rather\nbetter than those that prevail in Europe, are not so good as they\nshould be: and that piece might be of service among them.\n\nSince and soon after the date of your letter, we lost, unaccountably\nas well as unfortunately, that worthy, valuable young man you\nmention, your namesake Maddeson. He was infinitely regretted by all\nthat knew him.\n\nI am sorry your favourite charity does not go on as you could wish\nit. It is shrunk indeed by your admitting only 60 children in a year.\nWhat you have told your brethren respecting America is true. If you\nfind it difficult to dispose of your children in England, it looks\nas if you had too many people. And yet you are afraid of emigration.\nA subscription is lately set on foot here to encourage and assist\nmothers in nursing their infants themselves at home; the practice of\nsending them to the _Enfans Trouv\u00e9s_ having risen here to a monstrous\nexcess, as by the annual bills it appears they amount to near one\nthird of the children born in Paris. This subscription is likely to\nsucceed, and may do a great deal of good, though it cannot answer all\nthe purposes of a foundling hospital.\n\nYour eyes must continue very good, since you are able to write so\nsmall a hand without spectacles. I cannot distinguish a letter even\nof large print, but am happy in the invention of double spectacles,\nwhich, serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my\neyes as useful to me as ever they were. If all the other defects and\ninfirmities of old age could be as easily and cheaply remedied, it\nwould be worth while, my friend, to live a good deal longer. But I\nlook upon death to be as necessary to our constitutions as sleep. We\nshall rise refreshed in the morning.--Adieu, and believe me ever,\n\n Your's most affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n\nLetter II.\n\n _Passy, May 19, 1785._\n\n DEAR OLD FRIEND,\n\nI received the very good letter you sent me by my grandson, together\nwith your resemblance, which is placed in my chamber and gives me\ngreat pleasure: there is no trade, they say, without returns, and\ntherefore I am punctual in making those you have ordered. I intended\nthis should have been a long epistle, but I am interrupted, and can\nonly add, that I am ever,\n\n Yours, most affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\nMy grandson presents his most affectionate respects.\n\n\nLetter III.\n\n _Passy, May 23, 1785._\n\n DEAR OLD FRIEND,\n\nI sent you a few lines the other day with the medallion, when I\nshould have written more, but was prevented by the coming in of a\n_bavard_, who worried me till evening. I bore with him, and now you\nare to bear with me, for I shall probably _bavarder_ in answering\nyour letter.\n\nI am not acquainted with the saying of Alphonsus, which you allude to\nas a sanctification of your rigidity in refusing to allow me the plea\nof old age as an excuse for my want of exactitude in correspondence.\nWhat was that saying?--You do not, it seems, feel any occasion for\nsuch an excuse, though you are, as you say, rising 75, but I am\nrising (perhaps more properly falling) 80--and I leave the excuse\nwith you till you arrive at that age; perhaps you may then be more\nsensible of its validity, and see fit to use it for yourself.\n\nI must agree with you, that the gout is bad, and that the stone is\nworse. I am happy in not having them both together, and I join in\nyour prayer, that you may live till you die without either. But I\ndoubt the author of the epitaph you sent me is a little mistaken,\nwhen, speaking of the world, he says, that\n\n ----------------He ne'er car'd a pin\n What they said or may say of the mortal within.\n\nIt is so natural to wish to be well spoken of, whether alive or dead,\nthat I imagine he could not be quite exempt from that desire, and\nthat at least he wished to be thought a wit, or he would not have\ngiven himself the trouble of writing so good an epitaph to leave\nbehind him. Was it not worthy of his care, that the world should\nsay he was an honest and a good man? I like better the concluding\nsentiment in the old song, called the old man's wish, wherein, after\nwishing for a warm house in a country town, an easy horse, some good\nold authors, ingenious and cheerful companions, pudding on Sundays,\nwith stout ale and a bottle of burgundy, &c. &c. in separate\nstanzas, each ending with this burden,\n\n May I govern my passions with absolute sway,\n And grow wiser and better as strength wears away,\n Without gout or stone by a gentle decay--\n\nhe adds for the last stanza,\n\n With courage undaunted may I face my last day,\n And when I am gone may the better sort say,\n In the morning when sober, in the evening when mellow,\n He's gone--and not left behind him his fellow.\n For he govern'd his passions, &c.\n\nWhat signifies our wishing? Things happen after all as they will\nhappen. I have sung that _wishing song_ a thousand times when I was\nyoung, and now find at fourscore, that the three contraries have\nbefallen me, being subject to the gout, and the stone, and not being\nyet master of all my passions. Like the proud girl in my country,\nwho wished and resolved not to marry a parson, nor a presbyterian,\nnor an Irishman, and at length found herself married to an Irish\npresbyterian parson! You see I have some reason to wish that in a\nfuture state I may not only be _as well as I was_, but a little\nbetter. And I hope it: for I too, with your poet, _trust in God_. And\nwhen I observe, that there is great frugality as well as wisdom in\nhis works, since he has been evidently sparing, both of labour and\nmaterials; for by the various wonderful inventions of propagation,\nhe has provided for the continual peopling his world with plants and\nanimals without being at the trouble of repeated new creations; and\nby the natural reduction of compound substances to their original\nelements, capable of being employed in new compositions, he has\nprevented the necessity of creating new matter; for that the earth,\nwater, air, and perhaps fire, which being compounded, form wood, do,\nwhen the wood is dissolved, return, and again become air, earth, fire\nand water:--I say, that when I see nothing annihilated, and not even\na drop of water wasted, I cannot suspect the annihilation of souls,\nor believe that he will suffer the daily waste of millions of minds\nready made that now exist, and put himself to the continual trouble\nof making new ones. Thus finding myself to exist in the world, I\nbelieve I shall in some shape or other always exist. And with all the\ninconveniences human _life_ is liable to, I shall not object to a new\nedition of mine; hoping, however, that the errata of the last may be\ncorrected.\n\nI return your note of children received in the foundling hospital\nat Paris, from 1741 to 1755 inclusive, and I have added the\nyears preceding, as far back as 1710, together with the general\nchristenings of the city; and the years succeeding, down to 1770.\nThose since that period I have not been able to obtain. I have noted\nin the margin the gradual increase, viz. from every tenth child so\nthrown upon the public, till it comes to every third. Fifteen years\nhave passed since the last account, and probably it may now amount\nto one half. Is it right to encourage this monstrous deficiency of\nnatural affection? A surgeon I met with here excused the women of\nParis, by saying seriously, that they _could not_ give suck, _Car,\ndit-il, ils n'ont point de tetons_. He assured me it was a fact, and\nbade me look at them, and observe how flat they were on the breast;\nthey have nothing more there, says he, than I have upon the back\nof my hand. I have since thought that there might be some truth in\nhis observation, and that possibly Nature finding they made no use\nof bubbies, has left off giving them any. Yet since Rousseau, with\nadmirable eloquence pleaded for the rights of children to their\nmother's milk, the mode has changed a little, and some ladies of\nquality now suckle their infants and find milk enough. May the mode\ndescend to the lower ranks, till it becomes no longer the custom to\npack their infants away, as soon as born, to the _Enfants Trouv\u00e9s_,\nwith the careless observation, that the king is better able to\nmaintain them. I am credibly informed, that nine-tenths of them\ndie there pretty soon; which is said to be a great relief to the\ninstitution, whose funds would not otherwise be sufficient to bring\nup the remainder. Except the few persons of quality above-mentioned,\nand the multitude who send to the hospital, the practice is to hire\nnurses in the country, to carry out the children and take care of\nthem there. Here is an office for examining the health of nurses and\ngiving them licences. They come to town on certain days of the week\nin companies to receive the children, and we often meet trains of\nthem on the road returning to the neighbouring villages with each\na child in arms. But those who are good enough to try this way of\nraising their children are often not able to pay the expence, so that\nthe prisons of Paris are crouded with wretched fathers and mothers\nconfined _pour mois de nourice_; though it is laudably a favourite\ncharity to pay for them, and set such prisoners at liberty. I wish\nsuccess to the new project of assisting the poor to keep their\nchildren at home, because I think there is no nurse like a mother (or\nnot many) and that if parents did not immediately send their infants\nout of their sight, they would in a few days begin to love them, and\nthence be spurred to greater industry for their maintenance. This is\na subject you understand better than I, and therefore, having perhaps\nsaid too much, I drop it. I only add to the notes a remark from the\nhistory of the Academy of Sciences, much in favour of the foundling\ninstitution.\n\nThe Philadelphia bank goes on, as I hear, very well. What you call\nthe Cincinnati institution is no institution of our government, but\na private convention among the officers of our late army, and so\nuniversally disliked by the people, that it is supposed it will be\ndropped. It was considered as an attempt to establish something like\nan hereditary rank or nobility. I hold with you that it was wrong;\nmay I add, that all descending honours are wrong and absurd; that\nthe honour of virtuous actions appertains only to him that performs\nthem, and is in its nature incommunicable. If it were communicable\nby descent, it must also be divisible among the descendants, and\nthe more ancient the family the less would be found existing in any\none branch of it; to say nothing of the greater chance of unlucky\ninterruptions.\n\nOur constitution seems not to be well understood with you. If the\ncongress were a permanent body, there would be more reason in being\njealous of giving it powers. But its members are chosen annually, and\ncannot be chosen more than three years successively, nor more than\nthree years in seven, and any of them may be recalled at any time,\nwhenever their constituents shall be dissatisfied with their conduct.\nThey are of the people, and return again to mix with the people,\nhaving no more durable pre-eminence than the different grains of sand\nin an hour-glass. Such an assembly cannot easily become dangerous\nto liberty. They are the servants of the people, sent together to do\nthe people's business and promote the public welfare; their powers\nmust be sufficient, or their duties cannot be performed. They have\nno profitable appointments, but a mere payment of daily wages, such\nas are scarcely equivalent to their expences, so that having no\nchance for great places and enormous salaries or pensions, as in some\ncountries, there is no briguing or bribing for elections. I wish old\nEngland were as happy in its government, but I do not see it. Your\npeople, however, think their constitution the best in the world, and\naffect to despise ours. It is comfortable to have a good opinion of\none's self, and of every thing that belongs to us, to think one's own\nreligion, king, and wife, the best of all possible wives, kings, and\nreligions. I remember three Greenlanders, who had travelled two years\nin Europe, under the care of some Moravian missionaries, and had\nvisited Germany, Denmark, Holland and England, when I asked them at\nPhiladelphia (when they were in their way home) whether, now they had\nseen how much more commodiously the white people lived by the help of\nthe arts, they would not chuse to remain among us--their answer was,\nthat they were pleased with having had an opportunity of seeing many\nfine things, _but they chose to live in their own country_: which\ncountry, by the way, consisted of rock only, for the Moravians were\nobliged to carry earth in their ship from New York, for the purpose\nof making there a cabbage garden!\n\nBy Mr. Dollond's saying, that my double spectacles could only serve\nparticular eyes, I doubt he has not been rightly informed of their\nconstruction, I imagine it will be found pretty generally true, that\nthe same convexity of glass through which a man sees clearest and\nbest at the distance proper for reading, is not the best for greater\ndistances. I therefore had formerly two pair of spectacles, which I\nshifted occasionally, as in travelling I sometimes read and often\nwant to regard the prospects. Finding this change troublesome, and\nnot always sufficiently ready, I had the glasses cut out and half\nof each kind associated in the same circle, the least convex, for\ndistant objects the upper half, and the most convex, for reading,\nthe lower half: by this means, as I wear my spectacles constantly,\nI have only to move my eyes up or down, as I want to see distinctly\nfar or near, the proper glasses being always ready. This I find more\nparticularly convenient since my being in France; the glasses that\nserve me best at table to see what I eat, being the best to see the\nfaces of those on the other side of the table who speak to me, and\nwhen one's ears are not well accustomed to the sounds of a language,\na sight of the movements in the features of him that speaks helps\nto explain; so that I understand French better by the help of my\nspectacles.\n\nMy intended translator of your piece, the only one I know who\nunderstands _the subject_ as well as the two languages, which a\ntranslator ought to do, or he cannot make so good a translation, is\nat present occupied in an affair that prevents his undertaking it;\nbut that will soon be over.--I thank you for the notes. I should be\nglad to have another of the printed pamphlets.\n\nWe shall always be ready to take your children, if you send them to\nus; I only wonder, that since London draws to itself and consumes\nsuch numbers of your country people, your country should not, to\nsupply their places, want and willingly receive the children you have\nto dispose of. That circumstance, together with the multitude who\nvoluntarily part with their freedom as men, to serve for a time as\nlacqueys, or for life as soldiers in consideration of small wages,\nseems to me a proof that your island is over-peopled, and yet it is\nafraid of emigrations! Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever,\n\n Yours, very affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n\nLetter IV.\n\n _Philadelphia, May 18, 1787._\n\nI received duly my good old friend's letter of the 19th of February,\nwith a copy of one from Mr. Williams, to whom I shall communicate it\nwhen I see him, which I expect soon to do. He is generally a punctual\ncorrespondent, and I am surprised you have not heard from him.\n\nI thank you much for your notes on banks; they are just and\nsolid, as far as I can judge of them. Our bank here has met with\ngreat opposition, partly from envy, and partly from those who\nwish an emission of more paper-money, which they think the bank\ninfluence prevents. But it has stood all attacks, and went on well\nnotwithstanding the assembly repealed its charter; a new assembly has\nrestored it; and the management is so prudent, that I have no doubt\nof its continuing to go on well. The dividend has never been less\nthan 6 per cent, nor will that be augmented for some time, as the\nsurplus profit is reserved to face accidents. The dividend of 11 per\ncent, which was once made, was from a circumstance scarce avoidable.\nA new company was proposed, and prevented only by admitting a number\nof new partners. As many of the first set were averse to this, and\nchose to withdraw; it was necessary to settle their accounts; so all\nwere adjusted, the profits shared that had been accumulated, and the\nnew and old proprietors jointly began on a new and equal footing.\nTheir notes are always instantly paid on demand, and pass on all\noccasions as readily as silver, because they will always produce\nsilver.\n\nYour medallion is in good company, it is placed with those of Lord\nChatham, Lord Camden, Marquis of Rockingham, Sir George Savil, and\nsome others, who honoured me with a share of friendly regard when in\nEngland. I believe I have thanked you for it, but I thank you again.\n\nI believe with you, that if our plenipotentiary is desirous of\nconcluding a treaty of commerce, he may need patience. But if I were\nin his place, and not otherwise instructed, I should be apt to say,\nTake your own time, gentlemen. If the treaty cannot be made as much\nto your advantage as to ours, don't make it. I am sure the want of it\nis not more to our disadvantage than to yours. Let the merchants on\nboth sides treat with one another. _Laissez les faire._\n\nI have never considered attentively the congress scheme for coining,\nand I have it not now at hand, so that at present I can say nothing\nto it. The chief uses of coining seem to be ascertaining the fineness\nof the metals, and saving the time that would otherwise be spent in\nweighing to ascertain the quantity. But the convenience of fixed\nvalues to pieces is so great as to force the currency of some whose\nstamp is worn off, that should have assured their fineness, and which\nare evidently not of half their due weight; this is the case at\npresent with the sixpences in England, which one with another do not\nweigh three-pence.\n\nYou are now 78, and I am 82. You tread fast upon my heels: but,\nthough you have more strength and spirit, you cannot come up with\nme till I stop; which must now be soon; for I am grown so old as to\nhave buried most of the friends of my youth; and I now often hear\npersons, whom I knew when children, called _old_ Mr. such a one, to\ndistinguish them from their sons now men grown, and in business; so\nthat by living twelve years beyond _David's_ period, I seem to have\nintruded myself into the company of posterity, when I ought to have\nbeen a-bed and asleep. Yet had I gone at 70, it would have cut off 12\nof the most active years of my life, employed too in matters of the\ngreatest importance; but whether I have been doing good or mischief,\nis for time to discover. I only know that I intended well, and I hope\nall will end well.\n\nBe so good as to present my affectionate respects to Dr. Rowley. I\nam under great obligations to him, and shall write to him shortly.\nIt will be a pleasure to him to hear that my malady does not grow\nsensibly worse, and that is a great point: for it has always been so\ntolerable, as not to prevent my enjoying the pleasures of society,\nand being cheerful in conversation. I owe this in a great measure to\nhis good counsels.\n\n Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever,\n\n Yours, most affectionately,\n\n B. FRANKLIN.\n\n _Geo. Whatley, Esq._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[202] These letters did not come into our possession till the\npreceding sheets and even the subsequent appendix were printed. We\nare indebted for them to Mr. I. T. Rutt, the originals of which were\nput into his hands about twelve years ago by a relation of his, the\nnephew of the gentleman to whom they were addressed. \"Mr. Whatley,\nthe friend of Dr. Franklin,\" Mr. Rutt informs us, \"had engaged in\nmercantile pursuits, and was for some time a British consul in the\nMediterranean. During the latter years of his life, he devoted his\ntime to various objects of public utility, for which he was well\nqualified, and particularly attached himself to the interests of\nthe Foundling Hospital, of which he was the treasurer. He died in\n1791, aged 82, having survived his correspondent not quite a year.\"\n_Editor._\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX, No. II.\n\nCONTAINING LETTERS, BY SEVERAL EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF DR.\nFRANKLIN'S MANNERS AND CHARACTER.\n\n\n\n\n _Letter from the late Dr. Price to a Gentleman in America._\n\n\n _Hackney, June 19, 1790._\n\n DEAR SIR,\n\nI am hardly able to tell you how kindly I take the letters with which\nyou favour me. Your last, containing an account of the death of our\nexcellent friend, Dr. Franklin, and the circumstances attending it,\ndeserves my particular gratitude. The account which he has left of\nhis life will show, in a striking example, how a man, by talents,\nindustry, and integrity, may rise from obscurity to the first\neminence and consequence in the world; but it brings his history no\nlower than the year 1757, and I understand, that since he sent over\nthe copy, which I have read, he has been able to make no additions to\nit. It is with a melancholy regret I think of his death; but to death\nwe are all bound by the irreversible order of nature, and in looking\nforward to it, there is comfort in being able to reflect--that we\nhave not lived in vain, and that all the useful and virtuous shall\nmeet in a better country beyond the grave.\n\nDr. Franklin, in the last letter I received from him, after\nmentioning his age and infirmities, observes, that it has been\nkindly ordered by the author of nature, that, as we draw nearer the\nconclusion of life, we are furnished with more helps to wean us from\nit, among which one of the strongest is the loss of dear friends. I\nwas delighted with the account you gave in your letter of the honour\nshown to his memory at Philadelphia, and by congress; and yesterday\nI received a high additional pleasure, by being informed, that the\nnational assembly of France had determined to go into mourning for\nhim[203].--What a glorious scene is opened there! The annals of the\nworld furnish no parallel to it. One of the honours of our departed\nfriend is, that he has contributed much to it.\n\n I am, with great respect,\n\n Your obliged and very\n\n humble servant,\n\n RICHARD PRICE.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[203] Congress ordered a general mourning throughout the United\nStates for a month: the national assembly of France decreed, that\nthe assembly do wear mourning for three days, that a funeral oration\nbe delivered by M. Mirabeau, the elder, and that the president\nwrite a letter of condolence to congress: and the common-council of\nParis paid the extraordinary tribute, of attending in a body at a\nfuneral oration, delivered by the Abbe Fauchet, in the Rotunda of the\nmarket-place, which was hung with black, illuminated with chandeliers\nand rows of lamps, and decorated with suitable devices. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Letter from Mr. Thomas Jefferson to the late Dr. William Smith, of\n Philadelphia[204]._\n\n\nI feel both the wish and the duty to communicate, in compliance with\nyour request, whatever, within my knowledge, might render justice to\nthe memory of our great countryman, Dr. Franklin, in whom philosophy\nhas to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But my\nopportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his life have not\nbeen equal to my desire of making them known.\n\nI can only, therefore, testify in general, that there appeared\nto me more respect and veneration attached to the character of\nDr. Franklin in France, than to that of any other person in the\nsame country, foreign or native. I had opportunities of knowing\nparticularly, how far these sentiments were felt by the foreign\nambassadors and ministers at the court of Versailles. The fable of\nhis capture by the Algerines, propagated by the English newspapers,\nexcited no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up\nto please certain readers; but nothing could exceed the anxiety of\nhis diplomatic brethren on a subsequent report of his death, which,\nalthough premature, bore some marks of authenticity.\n\nI found the ministers of France equally impressed with his talents\nand integrity. The count de Vergennes, particularly, gave me repeated\nand unequivocal demonstrations of his entire confidence in him.\n\nWhen he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its\npatriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the\nking ordered him to be handsomely complimented, and furnished him\nwith a litter and mules of his own, the only kind of conveyance the\nstate of his health could bear.\n\nThe succession to Dr. Franklin, at the court of France, was an\nexcellent school of humility to me. On being presented to any one, as\nthe minister of America, the common-place question was, \"_c'est vous\nMonsieur, qui remplacez le Docteur Franklin?_\"--is it you, sir, who\nreplace Dr. Franklin? I generally answered--\"No one can replace him,\nsir; I am only his successor.\"\n\nI could here relate a number of those _bon mots_, with which he was\nused to charm every society, as having heard many of them; but these\nare not your object. Particulars of greater dignity happened not to\noccur, during his stay of nine months after my arrival in France.\n\nA little before that time, Argand had invented his celebrated lamp,\nin which the flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, and thus brought\ninto contact with the air, within as well as without. Dr. Franklin\nhad been on the point of the same discovery. The idea had occurred to\nhim; but he had tried a bullrush as a wick, which did not succeed.\nHis occupations did not permit him to repeat and extend his trials to\nthe introduction of a larger column of air, than could pass through\nthe stem of a bullrush.\n\nAbout that time, also, the king of France gave him a signal testimony\nof respect, by joining him with some of the most illustrious men of\nthe nation to examine that ignis-fatuus of philosophy, the animal\nmagnetism of the maniac, Mesmer; the pretended effects of which had\nastonished all Paris. From Dr. Franklin's hand, in conjunction with\nhis brethren of the learned committee, that compound of fraud and\nfolly was unveiled, and received its death-wound. After this nothing\nvery interesting was before the public, either in philosophy or\npolitics, during his stay; and he was principally occupied in winding\nup his affairs, and preparing for his return to America.\n\nThese small offerings to the memory of our great and dear friend\n(whom time will be making still greater, while it is spunging us from\nits records) must be accepted by you, sir, in that spirit of love\nand veneration for him, in which they are made; and not according to\ntheir insignificancy in the eyes of a world, which did not want this\nmite to fill up the measure of his worth.\n\nHis death was an affliction which was to happen to us at some time or\nother. We have reason to be thankful he was so long spared; that the\nmost useful life should be the longest also; that it was protracted\nso far beyond the ordinary span allotted to humanity, as to avail us\nof his wisdom and virtue, in the establishment of our freedom in the\nwest; and to bless him with a view of its dawn in the east, where men\nseemed till now to have learned every thing--but _how to be free_.\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[204] Extracted from the Eulogium on Dr. Franklin, delivered by Dr.\nW. Smith, before the American philosophical society. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n _Letter from the late Dr. Joseph Priestley to the Editor of the\n Monthly Magazine[205]._\n\n\n SIR,\n\nI have just read in the Monthly Review, vol. 36, p. 357, that the\nlate Mr. Pennant said of Dr. Franklin, that, \"living under the\nprotection of our mild government, he was secretly playing the\nincendiary, and too successfully inflaming the minds of our fellow\nsubjects in America, till that great explosion happened, which for\never disunited us from our once happy colonies.\"\n\nAs it is in my power, as far as my testimony will be regarded, to\nrefute this charge, I think it due to our friendship to do it. It\nis probable, that no person now living was better acquainted with\nDr. Franklin and his sentiments on all subjects of importance, than\nmyself, for several years before the American war. I think I knew him\nas well as one man can generally know another. At that time I spent\nthe winters in London, in the family of the Marquis of Lansdown,\nand few days passed without my seeing more or less of Dr. Franklin;\nand the last day that he passed in England, having given out that\nhe should depart the day before, we spent together, without any\ninterruption, from morning till night.\n\nNow he was so far from wishing for a rupture with the colonies,\nthat he did more than most men would have done, to prevent it. His\nconstant advice to his countrymen, he always said, was \"to bear every\nthing from England, however unjust;\" saying, that \"it could not\nlast long, as they would soon outgrow all their hardships.\" On this\naccount Dr. Price, who then corresponded with some of the principal\npersons in America, said, he began to be very unpopular there. He\nalways said, \"If there must be a war, it will be a war of ten years,\nand I shall not live to see the end of it.\" This I have heard him say\nmany times.\n\nIt was at his request, enforced by that of Dr. Fothergil, that I\nwrote an anonymous pamphlet, calculated to show the injustice and\nimpolicy of a war with the colonies, previous to the meeting of a new\nparliament. As I then lived at Leeds, he corrected the press himself,\nand, to a passage, in which I lamented the attempt to establish\narbitrary power in so large a part of the British empire, he added\nthe following clause, \"to the imminent danger of our most valuable\ncommerce, and of that national strength, security, and felicity,\nwhich depend on union and on liberty.\"\n\nThe unity of the British empire, in all its parts, was a favourite\nidea of his. He used to compare it to a beautiful China vase, which,\nif once broken, could never be put together again: and so great an\nadmirer was he at the time of the British constitution, that he said\nhe saw no inconvenience from its being extended over a great part\nof the globe. With these sentiments he left England; but when, on\nhis arrival in America, he found the war begun, and that there was\nno receding, no man entered more warmly into the interests of what\nhe then considered as _his country_, in opposition to that of Great\nBritain. Three of his letters to me, one written immediately on his\nlanding, and published in the collection of his Miscellaneous Works,\np. 365, 552, and 555[206], will prove this.\n\nBy many persons, Dr. Franklin is considered as having been a\ncold-hearted man, so callous to every feeling of humanity, that the\nprospect of all the horrors of a civil war could not affect him. This\nwas far from being the case. A great part of the day abovementioned\nthat we spent together, he was looking over a number of American\nnewspapers, directing me what to extract from them for the English\nones; and, in reading them, he was frequently not able to proceed\nfor the tears literally running down his cheeks. To strangers he was\ncold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged to more\npleasantry and good humour. By this he was the delight of a club, to\nwhich he alludes in one of the letters above referred to, called the\n_whig-club_, that met at the London coffee-house, of which Dr. Price,\nDr. Kippis, Mr. John Lee, and others of the same stamp, were members.\n\nHoping that this vindication of Dr. Franklin will give pleasure to\nmany of your readers, I shall proceed to relate some particulars\nrelating to his behaviour, when lord Loughborough, then Mr.\nWedderburn, pronounced his violent invective against him at the\nprivy-council, on his presenting the complaints of the province of\nMassachusetts (I think it was) against their governor. Some of the\nparticulars may be thought amusing.\n\nOn the morning of the day on which the cause was to be heard, I\nmet Mr. Burke, in Parliament-street, accompanied by Dr. Douglas,\nafterwards bishop of Carlisle; and after introducing us to each\nother, as men of letters, he asked me whither I was going? I said I\ncould tell him where I _wished_ to go. He then asking me where that\nwas, I said to the privy-council, but that I was afraid I could not\nget admission. He then desired me to go along with him. Accordingly\nI did; but when we got into the anti-room, we found it quite filled\nwith persons as desirous of getting admission as ourselves. Seeing\nthis, I said, we should never get through the crowd. He said, \"Give\nme your arm;\" and locking it fast in his, he soon made his way to\nthe door of the privy-council. I then said, Mr. Burke, you are an\nexcellent leader; he replied, \"I wish other persons thought so too.\"\n\nAfter waiting a short time, the door of the privy-council opened,\nand we entered the first, when Mr. Burke took his stand behind the\nfirst chair next to the president, and I behind that the next to his.\nWhen the business was opened, it was sufficiently evident, from the\nspeech of Mr. Wedderburn, who was counsel for the governor, that the\nreal object of the court was to insult Dr. Franklin. All this time\nhe stood in a corner of the room, not far from me, without the least\napparent emotion.\n\nMr. Dunning, who was the leading counsel on the part of the colony,\nwas so hoarse, that he could hardly make himself heard; and Mr. Lee,\nwho was the second, spoke but feebly in reply; so that Mr. Wedderburn\nhad a complete triumph. At the sallies of his sarcastic wit, all\nthe members of the council, the president himself (Lord Gower) not\nexcepted, frequently laughed outright. No person belonging to the\ncouncil behaved with decent gravity, except Lord North, who, coming\nlate, took his stand behind the chair opposite to me.\n\nWhen the business was over, Dr. Franklin, in going out, took me by\nthe hand, in a manner that indicated some feeling. I soon followed\nhim, and going through the anti-room, saw Mr. Wedderburn there\nsurrounded with a circle of his friends and admirers. Being known to\nhim, he stepped forwards as if to speak to me; but I turned aside,\nand made what haste I could out of the place.\n\nThe next morning I breakfasted with the doctor, when he said, \"He\nhad never before been so sensible of the power of a good conscience;\nfor that if he had not considered the thing for which he had been\nso much insulted, as one of the best actions of his life, and what\nhe should certainly do again in the same circumstances, he could not\nhave supported it.\" He was accused of clandestinely procuring certain\nletters, containing complaints against the governor, and sending them\nto America, with a view to excite their animosity against him, and\nthus to embroil the two countries. But he assured me, that he did not\neven know that such letters existed, till they were brought to him\nas agent for the colony, in order to be sent to his constituents;\nand the cover of the letters on which the direction had been\nwritten, being lost, he only guessed at the person to whom they were\naddressed, by the contents.\n\nThat Dr. Franklin, notwithstanding he did not show it at the time,\nwas much impressed by the business of the privy council, appeared\nfrom this circumstance: when he attended there, he was dressed in\na suit of Manchester velvet; and Silas Dean told me, that, when\nthey met at Paris to sign the treaty between France and America, he\npurposely put on that suit.\n\nHoping that this communication will be of some service to the memory\nof Dr. Franklin, and gratify his friends,\n\n I am, sir, your's, &c.\n\n J. PRIESTLEY.\n\n _Northumberland, Nov. 10, 1802._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[205] Inserted in the number for February, 1803. _Editor._\n\n[206] Answering to page [___] of the present volume. _Editor._\n\n\n\n\n FINIS.\n\n\n JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,\n\n _Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row_.\n\n\n\n\n INDEX.\n\n\n A.\n\n _Accent_, or emphasis, wrong placing of, a fault in modern tunes, ii. 345.\n\n _Accidents_ at sea, how to guard against, ii. 172.\n\n _Adams_, Mr. Matthew, offers the use of his library to Franklin, i. 16.\n\n _Addison_, Franklin an assiduous imitator of, in his youth, i. 13.\n\n _Advice_ to youth in reading, ii. 378.\n to emigrants to America, iii. 398.\n to a crafty statesman, 430.\n to a young tradesman, 463.\n to a young married man, 477.\n to players at chess, 490.\n\n _\u00c6pinus_, his hypothesis of magnetism, i. 412.\n\n _Agriculture_ takes place of manufactures till a country is fully settled,\n iii. 107.\n the great business of America, 393.\n\n _Air_, some of the properties of, ii. 226.\n its properties with respect to electricity, i. 204.\n properties of its particles, 205. ii. 1.\n its currents over the globe, i. 207.\n resists the electric fluid and confines it to bodies, 241.\n its effects in electrical experiments, 253.\n its elasticity not affected by electricity, 254.\n its friction against trees, 270, 323.\n has its share of electricity, 333.\n its electricity denser above than below, 335.\n in rooms, electrified positively and negatively, 353.\n attracts water, ii. 1.\n when saturated with water precipitates it, 2.\n dissolves water, and, when dry, oil, 4.\n why suffocating, when impregnated with oil or grease, _ibid._\n supports water, 5, 46, 49.\n why less heated in the higher regions than near the earth's surface,\n 6.\n how it creates hurricanes, _ibid._\n winds, 8.\n whirlwinds, 10.\n effects of heat upon, 50.\n its effects on the barometer, 92.\n condensed, supposed to form the centre of the earth, 119, 127.\n noxious, corrected by vegetation, 129.\n observations on the free use of, 213.\n rare, no bad conductor of sound, 337.\n fresh, beneficial effects of, in bed-rooms, iii. 495.\n\n _Air-thermometer_, electrical, experiments with, i. 336.\n\n _Albany_ plan of union, short account of, i. 127.\n its singular fate, 129.\n papers relating to, iii. 3.\n motives on which formed, 4.\n rejects partial unions, 6.\n its president and grand council, 9.\n election of members, 12.\n place of first meeting, 13.\n new election, _ibid._\n proportion of members after three years, 15.\n meetings of the grand council and call, 16.\n allowance to members, 17.\n power of president and his duty, 18.\n treaties of peace and war, _ibid._\n Indian trade and purchases, 19.\n new settlements, 21.\n military establishments, 23.\n laws and taxes, 24, 26.\n issuing of money, 25.\n appointment of officers, 27.\n rejected in England, 29.\n\n _Almanack._ _See Poor Richard._\n\n _Alphabet_, a new one proposed, ii. 357.\n examples of writing in it, 360.\n correspondence on its merits, 361.\n\n _Amber_, electrical experiments on, i. 403.\n\n _America_, North, air of, drier than that of England and France, ii. 140.\n why marriages are more frequent there than in Europe, 385.\n why labour will long continue dear there, _ibid._\n argument against the union of the colonies of, under one government,\n 401.\n state of toleration there, 457.\n reflections on the scheme of imposing taxes on, without its consent,\n iii. 30.\n thoughts on the representation of, in the British parliament, 37.\n interest of Great Britain with regard to, 39.\n forts in the back settlements of, no security against France, 99.\n wars carried on there against the French, not merely in the cause of\n the colonies, 105.\n preference of the colonies of, to the West Indian colonies, 113.\n great navigable rivers of, favourable to inland trade, 118.\n what commodities the inland parts of, are fitted to produce, 119.\n the productions of, do not interfere with those of Britain, 123.\n union of the colonies of, in a revolt against Britain, impossible but\n from grievous oppression, 132.\n reasons given for restraining paper-bills of credit there, 144.\n intended scheme of a bank there, described, 155.\n attempts of Franklin for conciliation of Britain with, 286.\n feeling of, as to Britain, in May 1775, 346.\n conciliation of Britain with, hopeless, 355.\n account of the first campaign of the British forces against, 357.\n application of, to foreign courts, for aid in its independence, 360.\n credit of, with that of Britain, in 1777, compared, 372.\n true description of the interest and policy of, 391.\n information to those emigrating thither, 398.\n terms on which land may be obtained for new settlements there, 409.\n\n _Americans_, their prejudices for whatever is English, i. 144.\n\n _Anchor_, a swimming one proposed, ii. 181, 185.\n\n _Ancients_, their experimental learning too often slighted, ii. 146.\n\n _Anecdote_ of Franklin's early spirit of enterprise, i. 11.\n of a Swedish clergyman among the Indians, iii. 386.\n of an Indian who went to church, 389.\n\n _Animal_ food, Franklin's abstinence from, i. 20.\n return to, 47.\n humorous instance of abstinence from, 49.\n heat, whence it arises, ii. 79, 125.\n magnetism, detected and exposed, i. 150.\n\n _Animalcules_, supposed to cause the luminous appearance of sea-water,\n ii. 89.\n\n _Animals_, how to kill them by electricity, i. 415.\n\n _Antifederalists_ of America, comparison of, to the ancient Jews,\n iii. 410.\n\n _Apprentices_ easier placed out in America than in Europe, iii. 407.\n indentures of, how made in America, 408.\n\n _Argumentation_, bad effects of, as a habit, i. 17.\n best method of, 22.\n\n _Armies_, best means of supporting them, ii. 400.\n\n _Armonica_, musical instrument so called, described, ii. 330.\n manner of playing on it, 334.\n\n _Asbestos_, specimen of, sold by Franklin to Sir Hans Sloane, i. 60.\n letter relating to it, iii. 513.\n\n _Astrology_, letter to the Busy-body on, iii. 448.\n\n _Atmosphere_ sometimes denser above than below, ii. 6.\n electrical, its properties, i. 294.\n\n _Aurora borealis_ explained, i. 212.\n conjectures respecting, 257, ii. 69.\n query concerning, i. 293.\n\n\n B.\n\n _Badoin_, Mr. letters from, i. 314, 324.\n\n _Ballads_, two, written by Franklin in his youth, i. 16.\n\n _Balls_ of fire in the air, remark concerning, ii. 337.\n\n _Barometer_, how acted on by air, ii. 92.\n\n _Barrels_ for gunpowder, new sort proposed, i. 376.\n\n _Bass_, unnecessary in some tunes, ii. 343.\n\n _Bathing_ relieves thirst, ii. 104.\n observations on, 211.\n\n _Battery_, electrical, its construction, i. 193.\n\n _Baxter_, Mr. observations on his enquiry into the nature of the soul,\n ii. 110.\n\n _Beccaria_, character of his book on electricity, i. 310.\n\n _Beer_, not conducive to bodily strength, i. 62.\n\n _Bells_, form in consecrating them at Paris, i. 384.\n\n _Belly-ache_, dry, lead a cause of, ii. 220.\n\n _Bermuda_, little thunder there, i. 216.\n\n _Bermudian_ sloops, advantages of their construction, ii. 173.\n\n _Bernoulli_, Mr. his plan for moving boats, ii. 179.\n\n _Bevis_, Dr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.\n\n _Bible_, anecdote of its concealment in the reign of Mary, i. 7.\n travestied by Dr. Brown, 31.\n\n _Bills_ of mortality, reasonings, formed on those for capital cities,\n not applicable to the country, ii. 383.\n\n _Birth_, noble, no qualification in America, iii. 400.\n\n _Bishops_, none in America, and why, ii. 456, 458.\n\n _Black clothes_ heat more and dry sooner than white, ii. 108.\n not fit for hot climates, 109.\n\n _Blacksmith_, trade of, hereditary in Franklin's family, i. 4.\n\n _Blindness_ occasioned both by lightning and electricity, i. 228.\n\n _Boats_, difference of their sailing in shoal and deep water, ii. 160.\n management of, best understood by savages, 176.\n how rowed by the Chinese, 177.\n methods of moving them by machinery, _ibid._\n improvement of Mr. Bernoulli's plan for moving them, 179.\n proposal for a new mode of moving them, _ibid._\n double, advantage of, 173, 174.\n one built by Sir W. Petty, _ibid._\n\n _Bodies_, electrified negatively, repel each other, ii. 294.\n effect of blunt, compared with pointed ones, i. 172, 223.\n\n _Body_, human, specifically lighter than water, ii. 208.\n political and human, compared, iii. 115.\n\n _Boerhaave_, his opinion of the propagation of heat, ii. 58.\n of steam from fermenting liquors, 59.\n\n _Boiling_ water, experiments with, i. 332, 344, 345.\n pot, bottom of, why cold, 387.\n\n _Bolton_, Mr. experiment by, i. 346.\n\n _Books_ read by Franklin in his youth, i. 15, 18, 20, 21.\n\n _Boston_, the birth-place of Franklin, i. 8.\n why quitted by him in his youth, 27,\n its inhabitants decrease, ii. 210.\n preface to proceedings of the town meeting of, iii. 317.\n\n _Boyle's_ lectures, effect of, on Franklin, i. 79.\n\n _Braddock_, general, defeat of, i. 131.\n\n _Bradford_, printer at Philadelphia, i. 34, 102.\n\n _Brass_, hot, yields unwholesome steams, ii. 249\n\n _Brientnal_, Joseph, a member of the Junto club, i. 83.\n\n _Brimstone_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.\n\n _Bristol waters_, an alledged fact concerning, ii. 95.\n\n _Britain_, incapacity of, to supply the colonies with manufactures,\n ii. 386.\n\n _British empire_, an union of several states, iii. 310.\n\n _Brown_, Dr. acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 30.\n travestied the bible, 31.\n\n _Bubbles_ on the surface of water, hypothesis respecting, ii. 48.\n\n _Buchan_, earl of, letter to, on the price of land for new settlements\n in America, iii. 409.\n\n _Buildings_, what kind safest from lightning, i. 379.\n\n _Bullion_, causes of its variation in price, iii. 153.\n\n _Bunyan's_ Voyages, a book early read by Franklin, i. 15, 28.\n\n _Bur_, cause of, round a hole struck through pasteboard, i. 280.\n\n _Burnet_, governor, his attention to Franklin in his youth, i. 44.\n\n _Busy-body_, essays under the title of, i. 86. iii. 422.\n\n\n C.\n\n _Cabinet-work_, veneered in England, shrinks and flies in America,\n ii. 140.\n\n _Cables_, why apt to part when weighing anchor in a swell, ii. 167.\n this defect of, remedied, 168.\n\n _Cabot_, Sebastian, his commission from Henry VII., iii. 348.\n\n _Calvinism_, Franklin educated in the principles of, i. 79.\n\n _Campaign_ in America, account of the first, iii. 357.\n\n _Canals_, observations on their depth, ii. 159.\n\n _Canada_, importance of, to England, i. 136.\n visited by Franklin, 147.\n its extent, iii. 20.\n pamphlet on the importance of, 89.\n easily peopled without draining Britain, 139.\n\n _Cancers_, specific for, i. 260, 261.\n\n _Candles_ lighted by electricity, i. 176.\n distance at which the flame of, may be seen, ii. 90.\n\n _Cann_, silver, a singular experiment on, i. 307.\n\n _Canoes_ of the American Indians, their advantages, ii. 176.\n\n _Canton_, Mr. John, experiments by, i. 286, 346.\n draws electricity from the clouds, 428.\n\n _Capitals_, their use in printing, ii. 352.\n\n _Caribbees_, possession of, only a temporary benefit, iii. 142.\n\n _Carolina_, South, see _Lightning_.\n\n _Cavendish_, lord Charles, his electrical experiments, i. 348.\n\n _Cayenne_ would be a great acquisition to Britain, iii. 140.\n\n _Centre_ of the earth, hypothesis concerning, ii. 119, 127.\n\n _Cessions_ from an enemy, on what grounds may be demanded, iii. 93.\n\n _Chapel_, nickname for a printing house, i. 63.\n\n _Character_, remarks on the delineation of, iii. 445.\n\n _Charcoal-fires_, hurtful, ii. 235.\n\n _Charging_ and discharging, in electricity, explained, i. 190.\n a number of bottles at once, how done, _ibid._\n\n _Charters_ of the colonies could not be altered by parliament, iii. 332.\n\n _Chess_, morals of, iii. 488.\n not an idle amusement, _ibid._\n teaches various virtues, 489.\n advice to those who play, 490.\n too intense an application to, injurious, 500.\n\n _Chimnies_, different kinds of, enumerated, ii. 228.\n inconvenience of the old-fashioned ones, 229.\n defect of more modern ones, 230.\n have not long been in use in England, 277.\n Staffordshire, described, 285.\n have a draft of air up and down, 289.\n may be used for keeping provisions in summer, 290.\n may be of use to miners, 291.\n funnels to, what the best, 292, 295.\n method of contracting them, 317.\n smoky. See _Smoky_.\n\n _China_, provision made there against famine, ii. 407.\n\n _Chinese_ wisely divide the holds of their vessels by partitions, ii. 171.\n how they row their boats, 177.\n their method of warming ground floors, 292.\n improvement in this method suggested, 293.\n their method of making large paper, 349.\n\n _Circle_, magical, account of, ii. 327, 328.\n\n _Cities_, spring water gradually deteriorates in, i. 163.\n do not supply themselves with inhabitants, ii. 384.\n\n _Clark_, Dr. of Boston, quoted, on the instigation of the American\n Indians against the English, iii. 95, 100, 102.\n\n _Clothes_, wet, may preserve from lightning, i. 213.\n will relieve thirst, ii. 104.\n do not give colds, _ibid._\n imbibe heat according to their colour, 108.\n white, most suitable for hot climates, _ibid._\n\n _Clothing_ does not give, but preserves, warmth, ii. 81.\n\n _Clouds_, at land and at sea, difference between, i. 207.\n formed at sea, how brought to rain on land, 208.\n driven against mountains, form springs and rivers, 209.\n passing different ways, accounted for, 211.\n electrical, attracted by trees, spires, &c. 213.\n manner in which they become electrised, 257, 305.\n are electrised sometimes negatively and sometimes positively, 274,\n 277, 284, 292.\n electricity drawn from them, at Marly, 420.\n by Mr. Cauton, 428.\n by Dr. Bevis, 429,\n by Mr. Wilson, _ibid._\n how supported in air, ii. 5.\n how formed, 7.\n whether winds are generated or can be confined in them, 57.\n have little more solidity than fogs, _ibid._\n\n _Club_, called the Junto, instituted by Franklin, i. 82.\n rules of, ii. 366, 369.\n questions discussed in, 369.\n\n _Coal_, sea, letter on the nature of, ii. 128.\n\n _Cold_, why seemingly greater in metals than in wood, ii. 56, 77.\n sensation of, how produced, 57.\n only the absence of heat, 81.\n produced by chemical mixtures, _ibid._\n evaporation. See _Evaporation_.\n\n _Colden_, Mr. his remarks on Abb\u00e9 Nollet's letters, i. 430.\n meteorological observations, ii. 51.\n observations on water-spouts, 53.\n\n _Colds_, causes of, ii. 214, 230.\n\n _Coleman_, William, a member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.\n\n _Colica pictorum_, caused by lead, ii. 219.\n\n _Collins_, John, an early friend of Franklin's, i. 17, 27, 41, 43, 44.\n\n _Collinson_, Mr. some account of, iii. 514.\n\n _Colonial_ governments in America of three kinds, iii. 50.\n\n _Colonies_, the settlement of, does not diminish national numbers,\n ii. 391.\n their prosperity beneficial to the mother country, iii. 113.\n are intitled to distinct governments, 303.\n American, preferable to the West Indies, _ibid._\n not dangerous to Britain, 132.\n aids to government, how given by, 225, 226.\n originally governed by the crown, independent of Parliament,\n 291.\n not settled at the expence of Britain, 348.\n\n _Colonists_ in America, double their number in 25 years, iii. 113.\n from Britain, their rights, 299.\n\n _Colours._ See _Clothes_.\n\n _Comazants_, or corposants, are electrical appearances, i. 248.\n\n _Commerce_, influence of, on the manners of a people, ii. 400.\n is best encouraged by being left free, 415.\n should not be prohibited in time of war, 417.\n by inland carriage, how supported, iii. 116.\n\n _Common-sense_, by Paine, Franklin supposed to have contributed to,\n i. 148.\n\n _Compass_, instances of its losing its virtue by lightning, i. 248.\n how to remedy the want of, at sea, ii. 191.\n\n _Conductors_ of lightning, very common in America, i. 113.\n first suggestion of the utility of, 227.\n construction of, 358.\n particulars relating to, 377.\n of electricity, difference in the action of, 200, 303.\n which the most perfect, 253, 256.\n and non-conductors, other terms substituted for, _ibid._\n of common fire, their properties and differences, ii. 76, 77.\n experiments on, ii. 77.\n\n _Congress_, Franklin appointed a delegate to, i. 146.\n proposed overture from, in 1775, iii. 347.\n\n _Consecration_ of bells in France, form of, i. 384.\n\n _Conspirators_, electrical, meaning of the term, i. 196.\n\n _Controversy_, benefit of, iii. 92.\n\n _Conversation_, advantage of useful topics of, at dinner, i. 12.\n\n _Cook_, captain, circular letter concerning, iii. 515.\n copy of the voyages of, presented to Franklin, by the Admiralty, 517.\n\n Cookery, at sea, generally bad, ii. 194.\n\n _Copper_, manner of covering houses with, ii. 318, 320, 322.\n\n _Copper_ plate printing-press, the first in America, constructed by\n Franklin, i. 77.\n\n _Corn_, ill policy of laying restraints on the exportation of, ii. 413,\n 418.\n\n _Countries_, distant and unprovided, a plan for benefiting, ii. 403.\n\n _Creation_, conjectures as to, ii. 118.\n\n _Credit_, that of America and Britain in 1777, compared, iii. 372.\n depends on payment of loans, 373.\n industry and frugality, 374.\n public spirit, 375.\n income and security, 376.\n prospects of future ability, _ibid._\n prudence, 377.\n character for honesty, 378.\n is money to a tradesman, 464.\n\n _Criminal_ laws, reflections on, ii. 439.\n\n _Crooked_ direction of lightning explained, i. 316.\n\n _Cutler_, circumstance that prevented Franklin's being apprenticed to\n one, i. 14.\n\n _Currents_ at sea, often not perceivable, ii. 185.\n\n _Cyder_, the best quencher of thirst, ii. 195.\n\n\n D.\n\n _Dalrymple_, Mr. scheme of a voyage under his command to benefit remote\n regions, ii. 403.\n\n _Damp_ air, why more chilling than dry air that is colder, ii. 56, 77.\n\n _Dampier_, account of a water-spout by, ii. 33.\n references to his voyage, on the subject of water-spouts, 58.\n\n _Dampness_ on walls, cause of, ii. 50.\n\n _Day-light_, proposal to use it instead of candle-light, iii. 470.\n\n _Deacon_, Isaac, from an underling to a surveyor, becomes inspector-\n general of America, i. 78.\n prognosticates the future eminence in life of Franklin, _ib._\n\n _Death_ of Franklin, i. 153.\n letter from Dr. Price on, iii. 541.\n of relatives, reflections on, 507.\n\n _Deism_, effects on Franklin of books written against, i. 79.\n\n _Deluge_, accounted for, ii. 127.\n\n _Denham_, a quaker, a friend of Franklin's, i. 54.\n extraordinary trait of honesty of, to his creditors, 67.\n Franklin's engagement with, as a clerk, 68, 70.\n\n _Denmark_, the people of, not subject to colds, ii. 244.\n\n _Denny_, governor, remarks on his official conduct in Pensylvania,\n iii. 170.\n\n _Desaquiliers_, his experiment on the vapour of hot iron, ii. 249.\n\n _Dew_, how produced, i. 207.\n\n _Dialogue_, between Franklin and the gout, iii. 499.\n\n _Dickenson_, Mr. his remarks on the views of England in framing laws\n over the colonies, iii. 234.\n remarks on his conduct, 192.\n on his protest, 202.\n\n _Discontented_ dispositions satirized, iii. 485.\n\n _Discontents_ in America before 1768, causes of, iii. 225.\n\n _Dissentions_ between England and America, letter on, iii. 310.\n\n _Dissertation_, early one of Franklin's, that he repented having written,\n i. 58.\n\n _Disputation_, modesty in, recommended, i. 21. ii. 317.\n\n _Disputes_ between Franklin and his brother, to whom he was apprenticed,\n i. 24.\n\n _Domien_, a traveller, short account of, i. 302.\n\n _Drawling_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.\n\n _Dreams_, art of procuring pleasant ones, iii. 493.\n\n _Dumas_, Monsieur, letter to, on the aid wanted by America in her struggle\n for independence, iii. 360.\n\n _Duna_ river, not to be confounded with the Dwina, iii. 119, note.\n\n _Dust_, how raised and carried up into the air, ii. 3.\n\n _Duties_, moral, the knowledge of, more important than the knowledge of\n nature, ii. 95.\n\n _Dutch_ iron stove, advantages and defects of, ii. 233.\n\n\n E.\n\n _Early_ impressions, lasting effect of, on the mind, iii. 478.\n\n _Earth_ will dissolve in air, ii. 2.\n dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 206.\n the, sometimes strikes lightning into the clouds, 274.\n grows no hotter under the summer sun, why, ii. 86.\n different strata of, 116.\n theory of, 117.\n\n _Earthquakes_, general good arising from, ii. 116.\n how occasioned, 120, 128.\n\n _Eaton_, in Northamptonshire, residence of Franklin's family, i. 3.\n\n _Ebb_ and flood, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.\n\n _Economical_ project, iii. 469.\n\n _Edinburgh_, an ordinance there against the purchase of prize-goods,\n ii. 447.\n\n _Education_ of women, controversy respecting, i. 17.\n\n _Eel_, electrical, of Surinam, i. 408, 409.\n\n _Effluvia_ of drugs, &c. will not pass through glass, i. 243.\n\n _Electrical_ air-thermometer described, i. 336, _et seq._\n atmosphere, how produced, 221.\n how drawn off, 222.\n atmospheres repel each other, 294.\n repel electric matter in other bodies, _ib._\n battery, its construction, 193.\n clouds, experiment regarding, 229.\n death, the easiest, 307.\n experiments, Franklin's eager pursuit of, 104.\n made in France, 109.\n various, 182, 229, 254, 255, 261, 271, 278, 286, 294, 307, 327,\n 337, 348, 371, 434.\n fire, not created by friction, but collected, 173.\n passes through water, 202.\n loves water and subsists in it, 203.\n diffused through all matter, 205\n visible on the surface of the sea, _ibid._\n its properties and uses, 214, _et seq._\n produces common fire, 214, 238, 356.\n has the same crooked direction as lightning, 315.\n fluid, its beneficial uses, 219.\n is strongly attracted by glass, 236.\n manner of its acting through glass hermetically sealed, 241.\n a certain quantity of, in all kinds of matter, 275.\n nature of its explosion, 280.\n chooses the best conductor, 281, 378.\n force, may be unboundedly increased, 251.\n horse-race, 334.\n jack for roasting, 197.\n kiss, its force increased, 177.\n kite, described, 268.\n machine; simple and portable one, described, 178.\n matter, its properties, 217, 294.\n party of pleasure, 202.\n phial, or Leyden bottle, its phenomena explained, 179.\n shock, observations on, 182.\n effects of a strong one on the human body, 297, 306.\n spark, perforates a quire of paper, 195.\n wheel, its construction, 196.\n self-moving one, 198.\n\n _Electricity_, summary of its progress, i. 104.\n positive and negative, discovered, 106.\n distinguished, 175.\n in a tourmalin, 370.\n does not affect the elasticity of the air, 254.\n its similarity to lightning, 288.\n its effects on paralysis, 401.\n of fogs in Ireland, 405.\n supposed affinity between, and magnetism, 410.\n\n _Electrics per se_ and non-electrics, difference between, i. 242, 258.\n\n _Electrified_ bumpers described, i. 203.\n\n _Electrisation_, what constitutes the state of, i. 218.\n various appearances of, 175.\n variety of, 176.\n\n _Electrising_ one's self, manner of, i. 174.\n\n _Elocution_, how best taught, ii. 374.\n\n _Embassador_ from the United States to France, Franklin appointed to the\n office of, i. 148.\n\n _Emblematical_ design illustrative of the American troubles, iii. 371.\n\n _Emigrants_ to America, advice to, iii. 398.\n\n _Empire_, rules for reducing a great one, iii. 334.\n\n _England_, Franklin's first arrival in, i. 55.\n second arrival in, as agent for the province of Pensylvania, 134.\n third arrival in, as agent for the same province, 141.\n its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.\n decrease of population in, doubtful, 296.\n\n _English_, effect of the ancient manners of, ii. 399.\n language, innovations in, 351.\n\n _Enterprises_, public, Franklin's early disposition for, i. 10.\n\n _Ephemera_, an emblem of human life, iii. 508.\n\n _Epitaph_ on Franklin's parents, i. 13.\n on himself, 155.\n\n _Episcopalians_, conduct of the American legislature towards, ii. 455.\n\n _Errors_ of Franklin's early life, i. 45, 58, 61, 80, 97.\n\n _Ether_, what, ii. 59.\n\n _Evaporation_, cold produced by, i. 344, ii. 76, 83, 85.\n of rivers, effects of, 106.\n\n _Examination_ of Franklin before the house of commons, i. 142, iii. 245.\n before the privy council, 328.\n further particulars of, 551.\n\n _Exchange_, rate of, between Philadelphia and Britain, iii. 252.\n\n _Exercise_, should precede meals, iii. 493.\n\n _Experiments_, to show the electrical effect of points, i. 171, 172.\n to prove the electrical state of the Leyden phial, 182.\n of firing spirits by a spark sent through a river, 202.\n to show how thunder-storms produce rain, 209.\n on the clouds, proposed, 228.\n on drugs electrified, 243.\n on the elasticity of the air, 254.\n on the electric fluid, 255.\n by Mr. Kennersley, 261.\n on the electricity of the clouds, 271.\n for increasing electricity, 278.\n by Mr. Canton, 286.\n in pursuance of those of Mr. Canton, 294.\n on a silver cann, 307.\n on the velocity of the electric fluid, 327, 329, 330.\n for producing cold by evaporation, 344.\n on the different effects of electricity, 357.\n by lord Charles Cavendish, 348.\n on the tourmalin, 371.\n to show the utility of long pointed rods to houses, 389.\n on amber, 403 _et seq._\n on the Leyden phial, 434.\n on different coloured cloths, ii. 108, 109.\n on the sailing of boats, 160.\n\n _Exportation_ of gold and silver, observations on, ii. 416.\n\n _Exports_ to North America and the West Indies, iii. 127, 128.\n to Pensylvania, 129, 250.\n from ditto, 250.\n\n _Eye_, retains the images of luminous objects, ii. 340.\n\n\n F.\n\n _Facts_, should be ascertained before we attempt to account for them,\n ii. 96.\n\n _Family_ of Franklin, account of, i. 5. _et seq._\n\n _Famine_, how provided against in China, ii. 407.\n\n _Fanning_, how it cools, ii. 87.\n\n _Farmers_, remonstrance in behalf of, ii. 420.\n\n _Federal_ constitution, speech on, iii. 416.\n\n _Felons_, transportation of, to America, highly disagreeable to the\n inhabitants, iii. 235.\n\n _Fermenting_ liquors, their steam deleterious, ii. 59.\n\n Fire, not destroyed by water, but dispersed, i. 172.\n makes air specifically lighter, 206.\n exists in all bodies, 214.\n common and electrical, exist together, _ibid._\n a region of, above our atmosphere, 257, ii. 124.\n many ways of kindling it, i. 356.\n exists in a solid or quiescent state in substances, _ibid._ ii. 80,\n 122.\n recovers its fluidity by combustion, _ibid._\n is a fluid permeating all bodies, 76.\n conductors of, are also best conductors of the electric fluid, _ibid._\n difference between, and electrical conductors, 77.\n how diffused through substances, 78.\n how generated in animated bodies, 79.\n theory of, 122.\n a fixed and permanent quantity of, in the universe, 123.\n its properties, 227.\n electrical, see _Electrical_.\n\n _Fire-companies_, numerous at Philadelphia, i. 103.\n\n _Fire-places_, Pensylvanian, account of, ii. 225.\n large and open, inconvenient, 228.\n hollow backed, by Gauger, 232.\n Staffordshire, 285.\n an ingenious one for serving two rooms, 296.\n\n _Fires_, at sea, how often produced, ii. 174.\n great and bright, damage the eyes and skin, 230.\n\n _Fisheries_, value of those of Newfoundland, iii. 452.\n\n _Flame_, preserves bodies from being consumed while surrounding them,\n ii. 310, 311.\n\n _Flaxseed_, amount of the exportation of from America to Ireland,\n iii. 270.\n\n _Flesh_, of animals, made tender by lightning and by electricity, i. 359,\n 414.\n\n _Flies_, drowned in America, brought to life in England, ii. 223.\n\n _Flood_ and ebb, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.\n\n _Florence_ flask, when filled with boiling water, not chargeable with\n electricity, i. 332, 345.\n\n _Fog_, great, in 1783, ii. 68.\n conjectures as to its cause, _ibid._\n\n _Fogs_, how supported in air, ii. 5.\n electricity of, in Ireland, i. 405.\n\n _Folger_, family-name of Franklin's mother, i. 8.\n\n _Foreigners_, the importation of, not necessary to fill up occasional\n vacancies in population, ii. 390.\n\n _Forts_ in the back settlements, not approved of, iii. 99.\n\n _Foster_, judge, notes on his argument for the impress of seamen, ii. 437.\n\n _Foundering_ at sea, accidents that occasion it, ii. 169, 170.\n\n _Fountain_, when electrified, its stream separates, i. 206.\n\n _Fowls_, improperly treated at sea, ii. 193.\n\n _Fragments_, political, ii. 411.\n\n _France_, its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.\n effects of its military manners, 399.\n\n _Franklin_, derivation of the name, i. 4.\n genealogy of the family of, 5.\n\n _Franks_, the improper use of, reprobated, ii. 435.\n\n _Freezing_ to death in summer, possibility of, ii. 84.\n\n _French_ language, its general use, ii. 353.\n\n _Frontiers_, in America, the attack of, the common cause of the state,\n iii. 109.\n\n _Frugality_, advantages of, ii. 397.\n observance of, in America, iii. 374\n\n _Fruit-walls_, blacking them recommended, ii. 110.\n\n _Fuel_, scarce in Philadelphia, ii. 225.\n\n _Fulling-mills_ in America, iii. 270.\n\n _Fusion_, cold, of metals, supposed, i. 215.\n proves a mistake, 339.\n error respecting it acknowledged, 355.\n\n\n G.\n\n _Galloway_, Mr, preface to his speech, iii. 163.\n\n _Garnish-money_, practice among printers of demanding it, i. 63.\n\n _Gauger_, M. his invention for fire-places, ii. 232.\n\n _Genealogy_ of the Franklin family, i. 5.\n\n _German_ stoves, advantages and disadvantages of, ii. 234.\n\n _Germany_, why the several states of, encourage foreign manufactures in\n preference to those of each other, iii. 118. note.\n\n _Gilding_, its properties as a conductor, i. 201.\n the effects of lightning and of electricity on, 229.\n fails as a conductor after a few shocks, 231.\n\n _Glass_, has always the same quantity of electrical fire, i. 191.\n possesses the whole power of giving a shock, 192, 247.\n in panes, when first used in an electrical experiment, 193, 194.\n great force in small portions of, 199.\n impermeable to the electric fluid, 234, 310.\n strongly attracts the electric fluid, 236.\n cannot be electrified negatively, _ibid._\n its opposite surfaces, how affected, _ibid._\n its component parts and pores extremely fine, 237.\n manner of its operation in producing electricity, _ibid._\n its elasticity, to what owing, 239.\n thick, resists a change of the quantity of electricity of its\n different sides, 242.\n rod of, will not conduct a shock, _ibid._\n when fluid, or red hot, will conduct electricity, 256.\n difference in its qualities, 301.\n error as to its pores, 302.\n will admit the electric fluid, when moderately heated, 345, 347.\n when cold retains the electric fluid, 346.\n experiments on warm and cold, 348.\n singular tube and ball of, 386.\n\n _Glasses_, musical, described, ii. 330, _et seq._\n\n _God_, saying in America respecting, iii. 401.\n\n _Godfrey_, Thomas, a lodger with Franklin, i. 81.\n a member of the Junto, 83.\n inventor of Hadley's quadrant, _ibid._\n wishes Franklin to marry a relation of his, 95.\n\n _Gold_ and silver, remarks on exportation of, ii. 416.\n\n _Golden_ fish, an electrical device, i. 233.\n\n _Government_, free, only destroyed by corruption of manners, ii. 397.\n\n _Gout_, dialogue with that disease, iii. 499.\n\n _Grace_, Robert, member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.\n\n _Gratitude_ of America, letter on, iii. 239.\n\n _Greasing_ the bottoms of ships, gives them more swiftness, ii. 180.\n\n _Greece_, causes of its superiority over Persia, ii. 397.\n\n _Greek_ empire, the destruction of, dispersed manufacturers over Europe,\n iii. 122.\n\n _Green_ and red, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.\n\n _Greenlanders_, their boats best for rowing, ii. 176.\n\n _Guadaloupe_, its value to Britain over-rated, iii. 139.\n\n _Gulph-stream_, observations on, ii. 186.\n whalers frequent its edges, _ibid._\n long unknown to any but the American fishermen, _ibid._\n how generated, 187.\n its properties, _ibid._\n tornadoes and water-spouts attending it, accounted for, 188.\n how to avoid it, 197.\n Nantucket whalers best acquainted with it, 198.\n thermometrical observations on, 199.\n journal of a voyage across, _ibid._\n\n _Gunpowder_, fired by electricity, i. 250.\n magazines of, how to secure them from lightning, 375.\n proposal for keeping it dry, 376.\n\n\n H.\n\n _Habits_, effects of, on population, ii. 393. 394.\n\n _Hadley's_ quadrant, by whom invented, i. 83, 95.\n\n _Hail_, brings down electrical fire, i. 292.\n how formed, ii. 66.\n\n _Hamilton_, Mr. a friend of Franklin's, i. 54, 88.\n\n _Handel_, criticism on one of his compositions, ii. 345.\n\n _Harmony_, in music, what, ii. 339.\n\n _Harp_, effect of, on the ancient Scotch tunes, ii. 340.\n\n _Harry_, David, companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 93.\n\n _Hats_, summer, should be white, ii. 109.\n the manufacture of, in New England, in 1760, iii. 131.\n\n _Health_ of seamen, Captain Cook's method of preserving it recommended,\n ii. 190.\n\n _Heat_, produced by electricity and by lightning, i. 338, 339.\n better conducted by some substances than others, ii. 56, 58.\n how propagated, 58.\n the pain it occasions, how produced, 78.\n in animals, how generated, 79, 125.\n in fermentation, the same as that of the human body, 80.\n great, at Philadelphia, in 1750, 85.\n general theory of, 122.\n\n _Herrings_, shoals of, perceived by the smoothness of the sea, ii. 150.\n\n _Hints_ to those that would be rich, iii. 466.\n\n _Holmes_, Robert, brother-in-law to Franklin, i. 37, 71.\n\n _Honesty_, often a very partial principle of conduct, ii. 430.\n\n _Honours_, all descending ones absurd, iii. 550.\n\n _Hopkins_, governor, his report of the number of inhabitants in Rhode\n Island, iii. 129.\n\n _Horse-race_, electrical, i. 335.\n\n _Hospital_, one founded by the exertions of Franklin, i. 126.\n\n _Hospitals_, foundling, state of in England and France, iii. 544*, 548*.\n\n _Hospitality_, a virtue of barbarians, iii. 391.\n\n _Houses_, remarks on covering them with copper, ii. 318, 320.\n many in Russia covered with iron plates, 319.\n their construction in Paris renders them little liable to fires, 321.\n\n _Howe_, lord, letter from, to Franklin, iii. 365.\n Franklin's answer to, 367.\n\n _Hudson's_ river, winds there, ii. 52, 59.\n\n _Hunters_, require much land to subsist on, ii. 384.\n\n _Hurricanes_, how produced, ii. 7.\n why cold in hot climates, _ibid._\n\n _Hutchinson_, governor, cause of the application for his removal,\n iii. 323.\n account of the letters of, 331, 551.\n\n _Hygrometer_, best substances for forming one, ii. 136.\n mahogany recommended for forming one, 141.\n\n\n I. J.\n\n _Jackson_, Mr. remarks on population by, ii. 392.\n\n _Jamaica_, its vacant lands not easily made sugar lands, iii. 140.\n\n _Javelle_, his machinery for moving boats, ii. 177.\n\n _Ice_ will not conduct an electric shock, i. 201.\n\n _Ice-islands_, dangerous to shipping, ii. 176.\n\n _Idleness_, the heaviest tax on mankind, ii. 411, iii. 454.\n encouraged by charity, ii. 422.\n reflections on, iii. 428.\n\n _Jefferson_, Mr. letter from, on the character of Franklin, iii. 545.\n\n _Jesuits_, hostility of the Indians in America excited by, iii. 95.\n\n _Ignorance_, a frank acknowledgment of, commendable, i. 308.\n\n _Imports_ into Pensylvania from Britain before 1766, iii. 250.\n\n _Impress_ of seamen, notes on Judge Foster's argument in favour of,\n ii. 437.\n\n _Inarticulation_ in modern singing, censured, ii. 348.\n\n _Increase_ of mankind, observations on, ii. 383, and _seq._\n what prevented by, 386, 387.\n how promoted, 388, 389.\n further observations on, 393.\n\n _Indemnification_, just ground for requiring cessions from an enemy,\n iii. 93.\n\n _Independence_, soon acquired in America, iii. 402.\n\n _Indian trade_ and affairs, remarks on a plan for the future management\n of, iii. 216.\n spirituous liquors the great encouragement of, 219.\n the debts from, must be left to honour, 220.\n not an American but a British interest, 275.\n\n _Indians_, of North America, a number of, murdered, i. 139.\n often excited by the French against the English, iii. 95.\n list of fighting men in the different nations of, 221.\n difference of their warfare from that of Europeans, 100.\n remarks concerning, 383.\n their mode of life, 384.\n public councils, 385.\n politeness in conversation, 386.\n rules in visiting, 388.\n\n _Industry_, effects of Franklin's, i. 85.\n the cause of plenty, ii. 396.\n essential to the welfare of a people, 411.\n relaxed by cheapness of provisions, 415.\n a greater portion of, in every nation, than of idleness, 396, 429,\n iii. 396.\n its prevalence in America, iii. 373.\n\n _Inflammability_ of the surface of rivers, ii. 130.\n\n _Inland_ commerce, instances of, iii. 120.\n\n _Innovations_ in language and printing, ii. 351.\n\n _Inoculation_, letter on the deaths occasioned by, ii. 215.\n success of, in Philadelphia, 216, 217.\n\n _Insects_, utility of the study of, ii. 93.\n\n _Interrogation_, the mark of, how to be placed, ii. 356.\n\n _Invention_, the faculty of, its inconveniences, i. 308.\n\n _Inventions_, new, generally scouted, _ibid._\n\n _Journal_ of a voyage, crossing the gulph-stream, ii. 199.\n from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.\n from the channel to America, 202, _et seq._\n\n _Iron_ contained in the globe, renders it a great magnet, ii. 119.\n query whether it existed at the creation, 126.\n hot, gives no bad smell, 247.\n yields no bad vapours, 248.\n rods, erected for experiments on the clouds, i. 270.\n conduct more lightning in proportion to their thickness, 282.\n\n _Islands_ far from a continent have little thunder, i. 216.\n\n _Italic_ types, use of, in printing, ii. 355.\n\n _Judges_, mode of their appointment in America, in 1768, iii. 23.\n\n _Junto._ See _Club_.\n\n\n K.\n\n _Keimer_, a connection of Franklin's, some account of, i. 35, 70, 93.\n\n _Keith_, sir William, Franklin patronized by, i. 39.\n deceived by, 54.\n character of, 57.\n\n _Kinnersley_, Mr. electrical experiments by, i. 261, _et seq._, 331.\n\n _Kiss_, electrical, i. 177.\n\n _Kite_ used to draw electricity from the clouds, i. 108.\n electrical, described, i. 268.\n\n _Knobs_, not so proper as points, for conducting lightning, i. 359.\n\n\n L.\n\n _Labour_, why it will long continue dear in America, ii. 385.\n its advantages, 427, 428.\n\n _Land_, terms on which it may be obtained in America, by settlers,\n iii. 409.\n\n _Landing_ in a surf, supposed practicable, how, ii. 154.\n tried without success, 155.\n\n _Language_, remarks on innovations in, ii. 351, _et seq._\n\n _Laughers_, satyrized, iii. 425.\n\n _Law_, the old courts of, in the colonies, as ample in their powers, as\n those in England, iii. 304.\n\n _Law-expenses_, no discouragement to law-suits, iii. 270.\n\n _Law-stamps_, a tax on the poor, iii. 269.\n\n _Lead_, effects of, on the human constitution, ii. 219.\n\n _Leaks_ in ships, why water enters by them most rapidly at first, ii. 109.\n means to prevent their being fatal, 170.\n\n _Leather_ globe, proposed, instead of glass, for electrical experiments,\n i. 267.\n\n _Left_ hand, a petition from, iii. 483.\n\n _Leg_, handsome and deformed, humourous anecdote of, iii. 437.\n\n _Legal_ tender of paper-money, its advantages, iii. 150.\n further remarks on, 151.\n\n _Lending_ money, new mode of, iii. 463.\n\n _Letter-founding_ effected by Franklin in America, i. 74.\n\n _Leutmann_, J. G. extract from his vulcanus famulans, ii. 298.\n\n _Leyden_ bottle, its phenomena explained, i. 179.\n analysed, 192.\n experiment to prove its qualities, 245.\n when sealed hermetically, retains long its electricity, 345.\n\n _Liberty_ of the press, observations on, ii. 463.\n abused, 465.\n of the cudgel, should be allowed in return, 467.\n\n _Libraries_, public, the first in America set on foot by Franklin, i. 99.\n are now numerous in America, 100.\n advantages of, to liberty, 101.\n\n _Life_ and death, observations on the doctrines of, ii. 222.\n\n _Light_, difference between that from the sun and that from a fire in\n electrical experiments, i. 173.\n difficulties in the doctrines of, i. 253.\n queries concerning, _ibid._\n visibility of its infinitely small particles computed, ii. 90.\n new theory of, 122.\n\n _Lighthouse-tragedy_, an early poem of Franklin's, i. 16.\n\n _Lightning_, represented by electricity, i. 176.\n drawn from the clouds, by a kite, 268.\n by an iron rod, _ibid._\n reasons for proposing the experiment on, 304.\n its effects at Newbury, 310.\n will leave other substances, to pass through metals, 312.\n communicates magnetism to iron, 314.\n objections to the hypothesis of its being collected from the sea,\n 318, 323.\n effects of, on a wire at New York, 326.\n on Mr. West's pointed rod, 340, _et seq._\n how it shivers trees, 359.\n effects of, on conductors in Carolina, 361, 362, 364.\n does not enter through openings, 368.\n should be distinguished from its light, 369.\n an explosion always accompanies it, _ibid._\n observations on its effects on St. Bride's church, 374, 382.\n how to preserve buildings from, 377.\n personal danger from, how best avoided, 381.\n brought down by a pointed rod, in a large quantity, 389.\n how to prevent a stroke of, at sea, ii. 175.\n\n _Linn\u00e6us_, instance of public benefit arising from his knowledge\n of insects, ii. 94.\n\n _London_, atmosphere of, moister than that of the country, ii. 139.\n\n _Loyalty_ of America before the troubles, iii. 237.\n\n _Luxury_, beneficial when not too common, ii. 389.\n definition of, 395, 425.\n extinguishes families, 395.\n not to be extirpated by laws, 401.\n further observations on, 425.\n\n _Lying-to_, the only mode yet used for stopping a vessel at sea, ii. 181.\n\n\n M.\n\n _Maddeson_, Mr. death of, lamented, iii. 544*.\n\n _Magazine_ of powder, how to secure it from lightning, i. 375.\n\n _Magical_ circle of circles, ii. 327.\n picture, i. 195.\n square of squares, ii. 324.\n\n _Magnetism_, animal, detected and exposed, i. 150.\n given by electricity, 248, 314.\n and electricity, affinity between, 410.\n supposed to exist in all space, ii. 119, 126.\n conjectures as to its effects on the globe, 120.\n enquiry how it first came to exist, 126.\n\n _Mahogany_, expands and shrinks, according to climate, ii. 138.\n recommended for an hygrometer, 141.\n\n _Mandeville_, Franklin's acquaintance with, i. 39.\n\n _Manners_, effects of, on population, ii. 393, _et seq._\n letter to the Busy-body on the want of, iii. 432.\n\n _Manufactures_, produce greater proportionate returns than raw materials,\n ii. 410.\n founded in the want of land for the poor, iii. 107.\n are with difficulty transplanted from one country to another, 121.\n hardly ever lost but by foreign conquest, 122.\n probability of their establishment in America, 260.\n want no encouragement from the government, if a country be ripe for\n them, 405.\n\n _Maritime_ observations, ii. 162.\n\n _Marly_, experiments made at, for drawing lightning from the clouds,\n i. 421.\n\n _Marriage_ of Franklin, i. 97.\n\n _Marriages_, where the greatest number take place, ii. 383.\n why frequent and early in America, 385. iii. 113, 403.\n early, letter on, iii. 475.\n\n _Maryland_, account of a whirlwind there, ii. 61.\n of paper bills formerly issued there, iii. 155.\n its conduct in a French war, previous to the American troubles,\n defended, 262.\n\n _Massachusets_ bay, petition of the inhabitants of, to the king, iii. 325.\n\n _Matter_, enquiry into the supposed vis inerti\u00e6 of, ii. 110.\n man can neither create nor annihilate it, 123.\n\n _Mawgridge_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 84.\n\n _Maxims_, prudential, from poor Richard's almanack, iii. 453.\n\n _Mazeas_, abbe, letter from, i. 420.\n\n _Meal_, grain, &c. manner of preserving them good for ages, i. 376.\n ii. 190.\n\n _Mechanics_, advantages of an early attention to, i. 14.\n\n _Mediocrity_, prevalence of, in America, iii. 399.\n\n _Melody_ in music, what, ii. 340.\n\n _Men_, six, struck down by an electric shock, i. 306.\n\n _Mercer_, Dr. letter from, on a water-spout, ii. 34.\n\n _Merchants_ and shopkeepers in America, iii. 394.\n\n _Meredith_, Hugh, companion of Franklin, short account of, i. 72, 76, 89.\n\n _Metalline_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 281.\n either prevent or conduct a stroke, 310.\n\n _Metals_, melted by electricity and by lightning, i. 215, 229.\n when melted by electricity, stain glass, 232.\n polished, spotted by electrical sparks, 253.\n feel colder than wood, why, ii. 56.\n\n _Meteorological_ observations, ii. 1, 45, 66.\n\n _Methusalem_ slept always in the open air, iii. 495.\n\n _Mickle_, Samuel, a prognosticator of evil, i. 81.\n\n _Military_ manners, effects of, ii. 398, 399.\n power of the king, remarks on, iii. 307.\n\n _Militia_ bill, Franklin the author of one, i. 132.\n particular one, rejected by the governor of Pensylvania, 100.\n iii. 157.\n\n _Mines_, method of changing air in them, ii. 291.\n of rock salt, conjectures as to their formation, 92.\n\n _Mists_, how supported in air, ii. 5.\n\n _Modesty_ in disputation recommended, ii. 317.\n\n _Money_, how to make it plenty, iii. 467.\n new mode of lending, 468.\n\n _Moral_ principles, state of Franklin's mind respecting, on his entering\n into business, i. 79.\n\n _Morals_ of chess, iii. 488.\n\n _Motion_, the communication and effects of, ii. 7, 8.\n of vessels at sea, how to be stopped, 181.\n\n _Mountains_, use of, in producing rain and rivers, i. 208.\n why the summits of, are cold, ii. 6.\n conjecture how they became so high, 91.\n\n _Music_, harmony and melody of the old Scotish, ii. 338.\n modern, defects of, 343.\n\n _Musical_ glasses described, ii. 330.\n\n\n N.\n\n _Nantucket_ whalers best acquainted with the gulph-stream, ii. 198.\n\n _National_ wealth, data for reasoning on, ii. 408.\n three ways of acquiring, 410.\n\n _Navigation_, difference of, in shoal and deep water, ii. 158.\n observations on, 195, 196.\n from Newfoundland to New York, 197.\n inland, in America, iii. 118.\n\n _Needle_ of a compass, its polarity reversed by lightning, i. 248, 325.\n of wood, circular motion of, by electricity, 332, 351.\n\n _Needles_, magnetised by electricity, i. 148.\n and pins, melted by electricity, 249.\n\n _Negatively_ electrised bodies repel each other, i. 294.\n\n _Negroes_ bear heat better, and cold worse, than whites, ii. 86.\n\n _Newbury_, effects of a stroke of lightning there, i. 310.\n\n _New-England_, former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper money,\n iii. 145.\n circumstances which rendered the restriction of paper money there not\n injurious, 148.\n abolition of paper currency there, 263.\n\n _Newfoundland_ fisheries, more valuable than the mines of Peru, iii. 452.\n\n _Newspaper_, one sufficient for all America, in 1721, i. 23.\n instance of one set up by Franklin at Philadelphia, 86.\n\n _New-York_, effects of lightning there, i. 326.\n former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, iii. 146.\n sentiments of the colonists on the act for abolishing the legislature\n of, 232.\n obtained in exchange for Surinam, 349.\n\n _Nollet_, Abb\u00e9, Franklin's theory of electricity opposed by, i. 113.\n remarks on his letters, 430.\n\n _Non-conductors_ of electricity, i. 378.\n\n _Non-electric_, its property in receiving or giving electrical fire,\n i. 193.\n\n _North-east_ storms in America, account of, ii. 68.\n\n _Nurses_, office at Paris for examining the health of, iii. 549*.\n\n\n O.\n\n _Oak_ best for flooring and stair-cases, ii. 321.\n\n _Ohio_, distance of its fort from the sea, iii. 119, note.\n\n _Oil_, effect of heat on, ii. 4.\n evaporates only in dry air, _ibid._\n renders air unfit to take up water, _ibid._\n curious instance of its effects on water in a lamp, 142.\n stilling of waves by means of, 144, 145, 148, 150, 151, 154.\n\n _Old_ man's wish, song so called quoted, iii. 546*.\n\n _Onslow_, Arthur, dedication of a work to, by Franklin, iii. 59.\n\n _Opinions_, vulgar ones too much slighted, ii. 146.\n regard to established ones, thought wisdom in a government, iii. 226.\n\n _Orthography_, a new mode of, ii. 359.\n\n _Osborne_, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53\n\n _Oversetting_ at sea, how it occurs, ii. 172.\n how to be prevented, _ibid._, 173.\n\n _Outriggers_ to boats, advantages of, ii. 173.\n\n\n P.\n\n _Packthread_, though wet, not a good conductor, i. 200.\n\n _Paine's_ Common Sense, Franklin supposed to have contributed to, i. 148.\n\n _Paper_, how to make large sheets, in the Chinese way, ii. 349.\n a poem, iii. 522.\n\n _Paper-credit_, cannot be circumscribed by law, ii. 418.\n\n _Paper-money_, pamphlet written by Franklin on, i. 91.\n American, remarks and facts relative to, iii. 144.\n advantages of, over gold and silver, iii. 152.\n\n _Papers_ on philosophical subjects, i. 169, _et seq._ ii. 1, _et seq._\n on general politics, ii. 383, _et seq._\n on American subjects, before the revolution, iii. 3, _et seq._\n during the revolution, iii. 225, _et seq._\n subsequent to the revolution, iii. 383, _et seq._\n on moral subjects, iii. 421, _et seq._\n\n _Parable_ against persecution, ii. 450.\n\n _Paradoxes_ inferred from some experiments, i. 262.\n\n _Paralysis_, effects of electricity on, i. 401.\n\n _Parliament_ of England, opinions in America, in 1766, concerning,\n iii. 254.\n\n _Parsons_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 83.\n\n _Parties_, their use in republics, iii. 396.\n\n _Party_ of pleasure, electrical, i. 202.\n\n _Passages_ to and from America, how to be shortened, ii. 138.\n why shorter from, than to, America, 189.\n\n _Passengers_ by sea, instructions to, ii. 192.\n\n _Patriotism_, spirit of, catching, iii. 90.\n\n _Peace_, the victorious party may insist on adequate securities in the\n terms of, iii. 96.\n\n _Penn_, governor, remarks on his administration, iii. 183.\n sold his legislative right in Pensylvania, but did not complete the\n bargain, 189.\n\n _Pensylvania_, Franklin appointed clerk to the general assembly of,\n i. 102.\n forms a plan of association for the defence of, 104.\n becomes a member of the general assembly of, 114.\n aggrievances of, iii. 50.\n infraction of its charter, 52.\n review of the constitution of, 59.\n former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, 146.\n rate of exchange there, 154.\n letter on the militia bill of, 157.\n settled by English and Germans, 162.\n English and German, its provincial languages, _ib._\n pecuniary bargains between the governors and assembly of, 165.\n taxes there, 246, 251.\n number of its inhabitants, 249.\n proportion of quakers, and of Germans, _ibid._\n exports and imports, 250.\n assembly of, in 1766, how composed, 252.\n\n _Pensylvanian_ fire-places, account of, ii. 223.\n particularly described, 235.\n effects of, 239.\n manner of using them, 241.\n advantages of, 243.\n objections to, answered, 247.\n directions to bricklayers respecting, 251.\n\n _Peopling_ of countries, observations on, ii. 383, _et seq._\n\n _Perkins_, Dr. letter from, on water-spouts, ii. 11.\n on shooting stars, 36.\n\n _Persecution_, parable against, ii. 450.\n of dissenters, letter on, 452.\n of quakers in New England, 454.\n\n _Perspirable_ matter, pernicious, if retained, ii. 50.\n\n _Perspiration_, necessary to be kept up, in hot climates, ii. 86.\n difference of, in persons when naked and clothed, 214.\n\n _Petition_ from the colonists of Massachusets bay, iii. 325.\n of the left hand, 483.\n\n _Petty_, sir William, a double vessel built by, ii. 174.\n\n _Philadelphia_, Franklin's first arrival at, i. 32.\n account of a seminary there, instituted by Franklin, 116 to 127.\n state of the public bank at, iii. 551*.\n\n _Phytolacca_, or poke weed, a specific for cancers, i. 261.\n\n _Picture_, magical, described, i. 195.\n\n _Plain_ truth, Franklin's first political pamphlet, iii. 524.\n\n _Plan_ for benefiting distant countries, ii. 403.\n for settling two western colonies, iii. 41.\n for the management of Indian affairs, remarks on, 216.\n for improving the condition of the free blacks, 519.\n\n _Planking_ of ships, improvement in, ii. 189.\n\n _Pleurisy_, Franklin attacked by, i. 71, 154.\n\n _Plus_ and minus electricity, in the Leyden bottle, i. 181.\n in other bodies, 185.\n\n _Pointed_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 283, 381.\n experiments and observations on, 388.\n objections to, answered, 395, 396.\n\n _Points_, their effects, i. 170.\n property of, explained, 223.\n experiment showing the effect of, on the clouds, 283.\n mistake respecting, 310.\n\n _Poke-weed_, a cure for cancers, i. 260, 261.\n\n _Polarity_ given to needles by electricity, i. 248.\n\n _Poles_ of the earth, if changed, would produce a deluge, ii. 127.\n\n _Political_ fragments, ii. 411.\n\n _Polypus_, a nation compared to, ii. 391.\n\n _Poor_, remarks on the management of, ii. 418.\n the better provided for, the more idle, 422.\n\n _Poor_ Richard, maxims of, iii. 453.\n\n _Pope_, criticism on two of his lines, i. 23.\n\n _Population_, observations on, ii. 383.\n causes which diminish it, 386.\n occasional vacancies in, soon filled by natural generation, 390.\n rate of its increase in America, 385. iii. 113, 250, 254.\n why it increases faster there, than in England, iii. 255.\n\n _Positions_ concerning national wealth, ii. 408.\n\n _Positiveness_, impropriety of, ii. 318.\n\n _Postage_, not a tax, but payment for a service, iii. 265.\n state of, in America, in 1766, 279.\n\n _Post-master_, and deputy post-master general, Franklin appointed to the\n offices of, i. 102, 127.\n\n _Potts_, Stephen, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84.\n\n _Poultry_, not good at sea, ii. 193.\n\n _Powder-magazines_, how secured from lightning, i. 375.\n\n _Power_ to move a heavy body, how to be augmented, ii. 191.\n\n _Pownall_, governor, memorial of, to the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 41.\n letter from, on an equal communication of rights to America, 243.\n constitution of the colonies by, 299.\n\n _Preface_ to Mr. Galloway's speech, iii. 163.\n to proceedings of the inhabitants of Boston, 317.\n\n _Presbyterianism_, established religion in New England, ii. 454.\n\n _Press_, account of the court of, ii. 463.\n liberty of, abused, 465.\n\n _Pressing_ of seamen, animadversions on, ii. 437.\n\n _Price_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's death, iii. 541.\n\n _Priestley_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's character, iii. 547.\n\n _Printers_ at Philadelphia before Franklin, i. 36.\n\n _Printing_, Franklin apprenticed to the business of, i. 15.\n works at it as a journeymen in England, 58, 62.\n in America, 35, 71.\n enters on the business of, as master, 78.\n observations on fashions in, ii. 355.\n\n _Prison_, society for relieving the misery of, i. 151.\n not known among the Indians of America, iii. 220.\n\n _Privateering_, reprobated, ii. 436.\n further observations on, 446.\n article to prevent it, recommended in national treaties, 448.\n inserted in a treaty between America and Prussia, 449.\n\n _Proas_, of the pacific ocean, safety of, ii. 173.\n flying, superior to any of our sailing boats, 176.\n\n _Produce_ of the inland parts of America, iii. 119.\n\n _Products_ of America, do not interfere with those of Britain, iii. 124.\n\n _Prose-writing_, method of acquiring excellence in, i. 18.\n\n _Protest_ against Franklin's appointment as colonial agent, remarks on,\n iii. 203.\n\n _Provisions_, cheapness of, encourages idleness, ii. 415.\n\n _Prussian_ edict, assuming claims over Britain, iii. 311.\n\n _Public_ services and functions of Franklin, i. 125.\n spirit, manifest in England, iii. 91.\n different opinion respecting it expressed, 375.\n\n _Punctuality_ of America in the payment of public debts, iii. 373.\n\n _Puckridge_, Mr. inventor of musical glasses, i. 136.\n\n\n Q.\n\n _Quaker-lady_, good advice of one to Franklin in his youth, i. 42.\n\n _Quakers_, persecution of, in New England, ii. 454.\n proportion of, in Pensylvania, iii. 249.\n\n _Quebec_, remarks on the enlargement of the province of, iii. 20, note.\n\n _Queries_ concerning light, i. 258.\n proposed at the Junto club, ii. 366.\n from Mr. Strahan, on the American disputes, iii. 287.\n\n _Questions_ discussed by the Junto club, ii. 369.\n\n\n R.\n\n _Rain_, how produced, i. 207.\n generally brings down electricity, 292.\n why never salt, ii. 32.\n different quantities of, falling at different heights, 133.\n\n _Ralph_, James, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53, 54, 57, 60.\n\n _Rarefaction_ of the air, why greater in the upper regions, ii. 6.\n\n _Read_, maiden name of Franklin's wife, i. 33, 37, 49, 54, 59, 70, 96.\n\n _Reading_, Franklin's early passion for, i. 15, 16.\n how best taught, ii. 372.\n advice to youth respecting, 378.\n\n _Recluse_, a Roman Catholic one, in London, i. 65.\n\n _Red_ and green, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.\n\n _Regimen_, sudden alterations of, not prejudicial, i. 49.\n\n _Religious_ sect, new one, intended establishment of, i. 48.\n\n _Repellency_, electrical, how destroyed, i. 172.\n\n _Representation_, American, in the British parliament, thoughts on,\n iii. 37, 243.\n\n _Repulsion_, electrical, the doctrine of, doubted, i. 333.\n considerations in support of, 349.\n\n _Revelation_, doubted by Franklin in his youth, i. 79.\n\n _Rhode-Island_, purchased for a pair of spectacles, iii. 21.\n its population at three periods, iii. 129.\n\n _Rich_, hints to those that would be, iii. 466.\n\n _Ridicule_, delight of the prince of Cond\u00e9 in, iii. 424.\n\n _Rivers_, from the Andes, how formed, i. 209.\n motion of the tides in, explained, ii. 96, 102.\n do not run into the sea, 105.\n evaporate before they reach the sea, 106.\n inflammability of the surface of, 130.\n\n _Rods_, utility of long pointed ones, to secure buildings from lightning,\n i. 388.\n See farther. _Iron._ _Lightning._ _Metalline._\n\n _Rome_, causes of its decline enquired into, ii. 398.\n political government of its provinces, iii. 136.\n\n _Rooms_, warm, advantages of, ii. 249.\n do not give colds, ibid.\n\n _Roots_, edible, might be dried and preserved for sea-store, ii. 190.\n\n _Rosin_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.\n\n _Rousseau_, his opinion of tunes in parts, ii. 342.\n\n _Rowing_ of boats, Chinese method of, ii. 177.\n\n _Rowley_, Dr. Franklin's obligations to, iii. 555*.\n\n\n S.\n\n _Sailing_, observations on, ii. 163.\n\n _Sails_, proposed improvements in, ii. 164, 166.\n\n _Saint_ Bride's church, stroke of lightning on, i. 374.\n\n _Salt_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 258.\n rock, conjectures as to its origin, ii. 91.\n\n _Saltness_ of the sea-water considered, _ib._\n\n _Savage_, John, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72.\n\n _Savages_ of North America, remarks on, iii. 383, _et seq._\n\n _School_, sketch of one, for Philadelphia, ii. 370.\n\n _Scotch_ tunes, harmony of, and melody, ii. 338.\n\n _Screaming_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.\n\n _Scull_, Nicholas, member of the Junto club, i. 83.\n\n _Sea_, electrical qualities of its component parts, i. 205.\n opinion, that it is the source of lightning, considered, 269, 321,\n 322.\n supposed cause of its luminous appearance, ii. 88.\n from what cause, salt, 91.\n has formerly covered the mountains, _ib._\n\n _Sea-coal_, has a vegetable origin, ii. 128.\n prejudices against the use of, at Paris, 278.\n\n _Sea-water_, soon loses its luminous quality, i. 269.\n considerations on the distillation of, ii. 103.\n how to quench thirst with, 104.\n thermometrical observation on, 199, _et seq._\n\n _Security_, a just ground to demand cessions from an enemy, iii. 93.\n\n _Separation_ of the colonies from Britain, probability of, in 1775,\n iii. 356.\n\n _Servants_ in England, the most barren parts of the people, ii. 395.\n\n _Settlements_, new, in America, letter concerning, iii. 409.\n\n _Settlers_ of British colonies, their rights, iii. 299.\n\n _Sheep_, a whole flock killed by lightning, i. 415.\n\n _Ships_, abandoned at sea, often saved, ii. 169.\n may be nicely balanced, 170.\n accidents to, at sea, how guarded against, 172.\n\n _Shirley_, governor, letters to, on the taxation of the colonies, iii. 30.\n on American representation in the British parliament, 37.\n\n _Shooting-stars_, letter on, ii. 36.\n\n _Shop-keepers_ in America, iii. 394.\n\n _Sides_ of vessels, the best construction of, ii. 172.\n\n _Silver_ cann, experiment with, i. 307.\n vessels, not so easily handled as glass, when filled with hot liquors,\n ii. 57.\n\n _Slavery_, society for the abolition of, i. 151.\n address to the public on the abolition of, iii. 517.\n\n _Slaves_, not profitable labourers, ii. 386.\n diminish population, ii. 387.\n\n _Slave-trade_, sentiment of a French moralist respecting, ii. 195.\n parody on the arguments in favour of, 450.\n\n _Sliding-plates_ for smoky chimnies described, ii. 287.\n\n _Slitting-mills_ in America, iii. 270.\n\n _Small_, Mr. Alexander, letter from, i. 374.\n\n _Smell_ of electricity, how produced, i. 244.\n\n _Smoke_, principle by which it ascends, ii. 257.\n stove that consumes it, 296.\n the burning of, useful in hot-houses, 316.\n\n _Smoky_ chimnies, observation on the causes and cure of, ii. 256.\n remedy for, if by want of air, 261, 262.\n if by too large openings in the room, 266, 268.\n if by too short a funnel, 269.\n if by overpowering each other, 270, 271.\n if by being overtopped, 271, 272.\n if by improper situation of a door, 273.\n if by smoke drawn down their funnels, 274, 275.\n if by strong winds, 275, 276.\n difficult sometimes to discover the cause of, 282.\n\n _Smuggling_, reflections on, ii. 430.\n encouragement of, not honest, 432.\n\n _Snow_, singular instance of its giving electricity, i. 373.\n\n _Soap-boiler_, part of Franklin's early life devoted to the business of,\n i. 10, 14.\n\n _Societies_, of which Franklin was president, i. 151.\n learned, of which he was a member, 135.\n\n _Socrates_, his mode of disputation, i. 21.\n\n _Songs_, ancient, give more pleasure than modern, ii. 342.\n modern, composed of all the defects of speech, 344.\n\n _Soul_, argument against the annihilation of, iii. 548*.\n\n _Sound_, best mediums for conveying, ii. 335.\n observations on, 336.\n queries concerning, 337.\n\n _Sounds_ just past, we have a perfect idea of their pitch, ii. 340.\n\n _Soup-dishes_ at sea, how to be made more convenient, ii. 195.\n\n _Spain_, what has thinned its population, ii. 390.\n\n _Specific_ weight, what, ii. 226.\n\n _Spectacles_, double, advantages of, iii. 544*, 551*.\n\n _Speech_, at Algiers, on slavery and piracy, ii. 450.\n of Mr. Galloway, preface to, iii. 163.\n last of Franklin, on the federal constitution, 416.\n\n _Spelling_, a new mode of, recommended, ii. 359.\n\n _Spheres_, electric, commodious ones, i. 178.\n\n _Spider_, artificial, described, i. 177.\n\n _Spirits_, fired without heating, i. 214, 245.\n linen wetted with, cooling in inflammations, ii. 87.\n should always be taken to sea in bottles, 175.\n\n _Spots_ in the sun, how formed, i. 260.\n\n _Squares_, magical square of, ii. 324.\n\n _Staffordshire_ chimney, description of, ii. 285.\n\n _Stamp-act_ in America stigmatized, iii. 228.\n letter on the repeal of, iii. 239.\n examination of Franklin on, 245.\n\n _Stars._ See _Shooting_.\n\n _State_, internal, of America, iii. 291.\n\n _Storms_, causes of, ii. 65.\n\n _Stove_, Dutch, its advantages and defects, ii. 233.\n German, ditto, 234.\n to draw downwards, by J. G. Leutmann, 298.\n for burning pit-coal and consuming its smoke, 301, 304, 308.\n\n _Strata_ of the earth, letter on, ii. 116.\n\n _Strahan_, Mr. queries by, on American politics, iii. 287.\n answer to the queries, 290.\n letter to, disclaiming his friendship, iii. 354.\n\n _Stuber_, Dr. continuator of Franklin's life, i. 98.\n\n _Studies_ of trifles, should be moderate, ii. 95.\n\n _Stuttering_, one of the affected beauties of modern tunes, ii. 245.\n\n _Sugar_, cruelties exercised in producing it, ii. 196.\n\n _Sulphur_ globe, its electricity different from that of the glass globe,\n i. 265.\n\n _Sun_, supplies vapour with fire, i. 207.\n why not wasted by expense of light, 259.\n effect of its rays on different coloured clothes, ii. 108.\n light of, proposed to be used instead of candlelight, iii. 470, 473.\n discovered to give light as soon as it rises, 471.\n\n _Surfaces_ of glass, different state of its opposite ones, when\n electrised, i. 191, 238.\n\n _Swimming_, skill of Franklin in, i. 66.\n art of, how to be acquired, ii. 206\n how a person unacquainted with it may avoid sinking, 208.\n a delightful and wholesome exercise, ii. 209, 211.\n advantage of, to soldiers, 210.\n inventions to improve it, _ibid._ 212.\n medical effects of, _ibid._\n\n\n T.\n\n _Tariffs_, not easily settled in Indian trade, iii. 218.\n\n _Tautology_, an affected beauty of modern songs, ii. 345.\n\n _Taxation_, American, letters to governor Shirley on, iii. 30.\n American, Dr. Franklin's examination on, iii. 246, 256.\n internal and external, distinguished, 259.\n on importation of goods and consumption, difference between, 266.\n\n _Tea-act_, the duty on, in America, how considered there, iii. 261, 317,\n 319.\n characterized by Mr. Burke, 319, _note_.\n\n _Teach_, or Blackbeard, name of a ballad written by Franklin in his youth,\n i. 16.\n\n _Thanks_ of the assembly of Pensylvania to Franklin, iii. 214.\n\n _Thanksgiving-days_ appointed in New England instead of fasts, iii. 392.\n\n _Theory_ of the earth, ii. 117.\n of light and heat, 122.\n\n _Thermometer_, not cooled by blowing on, when dry, ii. 87.\n electrical, described, and experiments with, ii. 336.\n\n _Thermometrical_ observations on the gulph-stream, ii. 199.\n on the warmth of sea-water, 200.\n\n _Thirst_, may be relieved by sea-water, how, ii. 105.\n\n _Thunder_ and lightning, how caused, i. 209.\n seldom heard far from land, 216.\n comparatively little at Bermuda, _ibid._\n defined, 378.\n\n _Thunder-gusts_, what, i. 203.\n hypothesis to explain them, 203, _et seq._\n\n _Tides_ in rivers, motion of, explained, ii. 96, 102.\n\n _Time_, occasional fragments of, how to be collected, ii. 412.\n is money to a tradesman, iii. 463.\n\n _Toads_ live long without nourishment, ii. 223.\n\n _Toleration_ in Old and New England compared, ii. 457.\n\n _Torpedo_, how to determine its electricity, i. 408, 409.\n\n _Tourmalin_, its singular electrical properties, i. 370.\n experiments on it, 371, 372.\n\n _Trade_, pleasure attending the first earnings in, i. 81.\n should be under no restrictions, ii. 415.\n exchanges in, may be advantageous to each party, 418.\n inland carriage no obstruction, to, iii. 116.\n great rivers in America, favourable to, 118.\n bills of credit, in lieu of money, the best medium of, 156.\n will find and make its own rates, 219.\n\n _Tradesman_, advice to a young one, iii. 463.\n\n _Transportation_ of felons to America, highly disagreeable to the\n inhabitants there, iii. 235.\n\n _Treaty_ between America and Prussia, humane article of, ii. 449.\n\n _Treasures_, hidden, search after, ridiculed, iii. 450.\n\n _Trees_, dangerous to be under, in thunder-storms, i. 213.\n the shivering of, by lightning, explained, 359.\n why cool in the sun, ii. 87.\n\n _Tubes_ of glass, electrical, manner of rubbing, i. 178.\n lined with a non-electric, experiment with, 240.\n exhausted, electric fire moves freely in, 241.\n\n _Tunes_, ancient Scotch, why give general pleasure, ii. 338.\n composed to the wire-harp, 341.\n in parts, Rousseau's opinion of, 342.\n modern, absurdities of, 344, _et seq._\n\n _Turkey_ killed by electricity, i. 299.\n\n _Turks_, ceremony observed by, in visiting, iii. 436.\n\n\n V. U.\n\n _Vacuum_, Torricellian, experiment with, i. 291.\n electrical experiment in, 317.\n\n _Vapour_, electrical experiment on, i. 343.\n\n _Vapours_ from moist hay, &c. easily fired by lightning, i. 215.\n cause of their rising considered, ii. 46, 49.\n\n _Vanity_, observation on, i. 2.\n\n _Varnish_, dry, burnt by electric sparks, i. 199.\n\n _Vattel's_ Law of Nations, greatly consulted by the American congress,\n iii. 360.\n\n _Vegetable_ diet, observed by Franklin, i. 20.\n abandoned by Franklin, why, 47.\n\n _Vegetation_, effects of, on noxious air, ii. 129.\n\n _Velocity_ of the electric fire, i. 319.\n\n _Virtue_ in private life exemplified, iii. 427.\n\n _Vernon_, Mr. reposes a trust in Franklin, which he violates, i. 44.\n\n _Vis_ inerti\u00e6 of matter, observations on, ii. 110.\n\n _Visits_, unseasonable and importunate, letter on, iii. 432.\n\n _Unintelligibleness_, a fault of modern singing, ii. 345.\n\n _Union_, Albany plan of. See _Albany_.\n\n _Union_ of America with Britain, letter on, iii. 239.\n\n _United_ states of America, nature of the congress of, iii. 550*.\n\n _Voyage_, from Boston to New York, i. 27.\n from New York to Philadelphia, 28.\n from Newfoundland to New York, remarks on, ii. 197.\n crossing the gulph stream, journal of, 199.\n from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.\n from the channel to America, 202.\n to benefit distant countries, proposed, 403.\n\n _Vulgar_ opinions, too much slighted, ii. 146.\n\n\n W.\n\n _Waggons_, number of, supplied by Franklin, on a military emergency,\n i. 131.\n\n _War_, civil, whether it strengthens a country considered, ii. 399.\n observations on, 435.\n laws of, gradually humanized, _ib._\n humane article respecting, in a treaty between Prussia and America,\n ii. 449.\n French, of 1757, its origin, iii. 274.\n\n _Warm_ rooms do not make people tender, or give colds, ii. 249.\n\n _Washington_, early military talents of, i. 130.\n Franklin's bequest to, 164.\n\n _Water_, a perfect conductor of electricity, i. 201.\n strongly electrified, rises in vapour, 204.\n particles of, in rising, are attached to particles of air, 205.\n and air, attract each other, 206.\n exploded like gunpowder, by electricity, 358.\n expansion of, when reduced to vapour, _ib._\n saturated with salt, precipitates the overplus, ii. 2.\n will dissolve in air, _ib._\n expands when boiling, _ib._\n how supported in air, 45.\n bubbles on the surface of, hypothesis respecting, 48.\n agitated, does not produce heat, 49, 96.\n supposed originally all salt, 91.\n fresh, produce of distillation only, _ib._\n curious effects of oil on, 142.\n\n _Water-casks_, how to dispose of, in leaky vessels, ii. 170.\n\n _Water-spouts_, observations on, ii. 11.\n whether they descend or ascend, 14, 23, 38.\n various appearances of, 16.\n winds blow from all points towards them, 21.\n are whirlwinds at sea, _ib._\n effect of one on the coast of Guinea, 33.\n account of one at Antigua, 34.\n various instances of, 38.\n Mr. Colden's observations on, 53.\n\n _Watson_, Mr. William, letter by, on thunder-clouds, i. 427.\n\n _Waves_, stilled by oil, ii. 144, 145, 148.\n greasy water, 146.\n\n _Wax_, when fluid will conduct electricity, i. 256.\n may be electrised positively and negatively, 291.\n\n _Wealth_, way to, iii. 453.\n national, positions to be examined concerning, ii. 408.\n but three ways of acquiring it, 410.\n\n _Webb_, George, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84, 86.\n\n _Wedderburn_, Mr. remarks on his treatment of Franklin before the privy\n council, iii. 330, 332, notes; 550.\n\n _West_, Mr. his conductor struck by lightning, i. 340.\n\n _Western_ colonies, plan for settling them, iii. 41.\n\n _Whatley_, Mr. four letters to, iii. 543*.\n\n _Wheels_, electrical, described, i. 196.\n\n _Whirlwinds_, how formed, ii. 10.\n observations on, 20.\n a remarkable one at Rome, 24.\n account of one in Maryland, 61.\n\n _Whistle_, a story, iii. 480.\n\n _White_, fittest colour for clothes in hot climates, ii. 109.\n\n _Will_, extracts from Franklin's, i. 155.\n\n _Wilson_, Mr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.\n\n _Wind_ generated by fermentation, ii. 59.\n\n _Winds_ explained, ii. 8, 9, 48.\n the explanation objected to, 50, 51.\n observations on, by Mr. Colden, 52.\n whether confined to, or generated in, clouds, 57.\n raise the surface of the sea above its level, 188.\n effect of, on sound, 337.\n\n _Winters_, hard, causes of, ii. 68.\n\n _Winthrop_, professor, letters from, i. 373, 382.\n\n _Wire_ conducts a great stroke of lightning, though destroyed itself,\n i. 282.\n\n _Wolfe_, general, i. 136.\n\n _Women_ of Paris, singular saying respecting, as mothers, iii. 548*.\n\n _Wood_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 172.\n why does not feel so cold as metals, ii. 56.\n\n _Woods_, not unhealthy to inhabit, ii. 130.\n\n _Woollen_, why warmer than linen, ii. 57, 81.\n\n _Words_, to modern songs, only a pretence for singing, ii. 348.\n\n _Wygate_, an acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 66.\n\n _Wyndham_, sir William, applies to Franklin to teach his sons swimming,\n i. 69.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\n Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n For consistency and clarity, the pound abbreviation 'l.' has been\n italicized, so for example '123,321l.' has been replaced by\n '123,321_l._' in the etext.\n\n For consistency, the date and salutation at the beginning of each\n letter, and the closing and name at the end of each letter,\n have been put on separate lines (they were sometimes placed on the\n same line in the original printed text).\n\n Three or more asterisks, sometimes spaced, were used by the editor\n to indicate omitted text, and sometimes '-- -- --' or '----' were used.\n Missing names were indicated by '----' or by '****'. For this reason\n thought breaks in the text are indicated by two blank lines, not by\n a line of asterisks.\n\n A deliberate blank space in the text is indicated by [___].\n\n All the changes noted in the Errata (pg vi) have been applied to the\n text.\n\n Many Footnotes have the signature 'B. V.' rather than 'Editor'. This is\n explained in Vol 1 p 399 Footnote [90], and is copied below for the\n reader's convenience:-\n Wherever this signature occurs, the note is taken from a volume of\n Dr. Franklin's writings, entitled Political, Miscellaneous, and\n Philosophical Pieces, printed for Johnson, 1779. The editor of that\n volume, though a young man at the time, had already evinced\n extraordinary talents, and was the friend and correspondent of our\n author. As he has chosen to withhold his name, we conceive ourselves\n not entitled to disclose it: but we shall take the freedom of an\n acquaintance to use the notes occasionally, deeming them in many\n instances valuable historical records. Editor.\n\n Except for those changes noted below, misspelling in the text, and\n inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, compleat;\n controul; inclose; smoaky; Pensylvania; Massachussets; New-England,\n New England; shopkeeper, shop-keeper.\n\n In addition:\n Pg vi Errata. Page '59' replaced by '39'.\n Pg 11. 'infringment' replaced by 'infringement'.\n Pg 23. 'would he' replaced by 'would be'.\n Pg 29. 'and slso to' replaced by 'and also to'.\n Pg 31. 'problably give' replaced by 'probably give'.\n Pg 39. 'iron mafacture' replaced by 'iron manufacture'.\n Pg 47. 'thesettlers;' replaced by 'the settlers;'.\n Pg 59 FN [16] 'our anthor' replaced by 'our author'.\n Pg 70. 'provice for' replaced by 'province for'.\n Pg 71. 'Twightwee' replaced by 'Twigtwee'.\n Pg 74. 'in theuse' replaced by 'in the use'.\n Pg 81. 'poll-tax of sen' replaced by 'poll-tax of ten'.\n Pg 84. 'Lower Countries' replaced by 'Lower Counties'.\n Pg 90. 'msy inspire' replaced by 'may inspire'.\n Pg 95 FN [26] 'Observatious' replaced by 'Observations'.\n Pg 104. 'meer names' replaced by 'mere names'.\n Pg 126 FN [44] '3,353,337' replaced by the correct total '3,363,337'.\n Pg 129 FN [46] 'those swo' replaced by 'those two'.\n Pg 131. 'Londom' replaced by 'London'.\n Pg 188. 'satisfacton' replaced by 'satisfaction'.\n Pg 196. 'farewel-speech' replaced by 'farewell speech'.\n Pg 204. 'sauction' replaced by 'sanction'.\n Pg 234 FN [78] 'Great Britian' replaced by 'Great Britain'.\n Pg 235. 'cruel idsult' replaced by 'cruel insult'.\n Pg 238 FN [79] 'trroops' replaced by 'troops'.\n Pg 253 FN [87] 'repeal or' replaced by 'repeal of'.\n Pg 267. 'Snpposing' replaced by 'Supposing'.\n Pg 267 et seq. Seventeen instances of '2.' replaced by 'Q.'\n Pg 281. 'T. In my opinion' replaced by 'A. In my opinion'.\n Pg 283. 'Q. I suppose' replaced by 'A. I suppose'.\n Pg 292 FN [99] ' slave' replaced by 'a slave.'.\n Pg 295 FN [101] 'froward child' replaced by 'forward child'.\n Pg 307. 'vice-gerent' replaced by 'vice-regent'.\n Pg 315. 'adn villains' replaced by 'and villains'.\n Pg 319 FN [120] 'wolud be' replaced by 'would be'.\n Pg 332 FN [130] 'Wedderburne' replaced by 'Wedderburn'.\n Pg 354. Missing anchor for Footnote [148] added.\n Pg 361. 'la royant\u00e9' replaced by 'la royaut\u00e9'.\n Pg 361. 'send yon' replaced by 'send you'.\n Pg 389. 'our intrepreter' replaced by 'our interpreter'.\n Pg 399. 'genuises' replaced by 'geniuses'.\n Pg 475. Missing anchor for Footnote [180] added.\n Pg 524 FN [197] 'who furnised' replaced by 'who furnished'.\n Pg 537. 'sentimeat' replaced by 'sentiment'.\n Pg 550*. 'oo muc h' replaced by 'too much'.\n Index Pg 4i. 'Animalcnles' replaced by 'Animalcules'.\n Index Pg 29i. 'relation batween' replaced by 'relation between'.\n\n The Index covers all three volumes and was originally printed\n at the end of Volume 1 only. It has been copied to the end of\n Volume 2 and 3 as a convenience for the reader.\n\n The Index had no page numbers in the original text; page numbers from\n 1i to 36i have been added for completeness. For clarity, some volume\n identifiers (i. or ii. or iii.) have been added, or removed, in the\n Index. Only references within this volume have been hyperlinked.\n\n The Index has some references to page numbers with a *, eg 551*. These\n are valid references; the book printer inserted pages 543*-556* between\n pages 542 and 543 in Vol iii.","title":"The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 3 [of 3]","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":171844}