The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (18 page)

The trustees of the academy, after a while, were incorporated
by a charter from the governor; their funds were increas'd by
contributions in Britain and grants of land from the proprietaries,
to which the Assembly has since made considerable addition;
and thus was established the present University of Philadelphia.
I have been continued one of its trustees from the beginning,
now near forty years, and have had the very great pleasure of seeing
a number of the youth who have receiv'd their education in it,
distinguish'd by their improv'd abilities, serviceable in public
stations and ornaments to their country.

When I disengaged myself, as above mentioned, from private business,
I flatter'd myself that, by the sufficient tho' moderate fortune
I had acquir'd, I had secured leisure during the rest of my life
for philosophical studies and amusements. I purchased all
Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had come from England to lecture here,
and I proceeded in my electrical experiments with great alacrity;
but the publick, now considering me as a man of leisure, laid hold
of me for their purposes, every part of our civil government,
and almost at the same time, imposing some duty upon me.
The governor put me into the commission of the peace; the corporation
of the city chose me of the common council, and soon after an alderman;
and the citizens at large chose me a burgess to represent them
in Assembly. This latter station was the more agreeable to me,
as I was at length tired with sitting there to hear debates,
in which, as clerk, I could take no part, and which were often
so unentertaining that I was induc'd to amuse myself with making
magic squares or circles, or any thing to avoid weariness; and I
conceiv'd my becoming a member would enlarge my power of doing good.
I would not, however, insinuate that my ambition was not flatter'd by all
these promotions; it certainly was; for, considering my low beginning,
they were great things to me; and they were still more pleasing,
as being so many spontaneous testimonies of the public good opinion,
and by me entirely unsolicited.

The office of justice of the peace I try'd a little, by attending
a few courts, and sitting on the bench to hear causes; but finding
that more knowledge of the common law than I possess'd was necessary
to act in that station with credit, I gradually withdrew from it,
excusing myself by my being oblig'd to attend the higher duties
of a legislator in the Assembly. My election to this trust was
repeated every year for ten years, without my ever asking any
elector for his vote, or signifying, either directly or indirectly,
any desire of being chosen. On taking my seat in the House,
my son was appointed their clerk.

The year following, a treaty being to be held with the Indians
at Carlisle, the governor sent a message to the House, proposing that
they should nominate some of their members, to be join'd with some
members of council, as commissioners for that purpose.
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The House
named the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself; and, being commission'd,
we went to Carlisle, and met the Indians accordingly.

As those people are extreamly apt to get drunk, and, when so,
are very quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly forbad the selling
any liquor to them; and when they complain'd of this restriction,
we told them that if they would continue sober during the treaty,
we would give them plenty of rum when business was over.
They promis'd this, and they kept their promise, because they could get
no liquor, and the treaty was conducted very orderly, and concluded
to mutual satisfaction. They then claim'd and receiv'd the rum; this was
in the afternoon; they were near one hundred men, women, and children,
and were lodg'd in temporary cabins, built in the form of a square,
just without the town. In the evening, hearing a great noise
among them, the commissioners walk'd out to see what was the matter.
We found they had made a great bonfire in the middle of the square;
they were all drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting.
Their dark-colour'd bodies, half naked, seen only by the gloomy light
of the bonfire, running after and beating one another with firebrands,
accompanied by their horrid yellings, form'd a scene the most
resembling our ideas of hell that could well be imagin'd; there was
no appeasing the tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At midnight
a number of them came thundering at our door, demanding more rum,
of which we took no notice.

The next day, sensible they had misbehav'd in giving us that disturbance,
they sent three of their old counselors to make their apology.
The orator acknowledg'd the fault, but laid it upon the rum;
and then endeavored to excuse the rum by saying, "The Great Spirit,
who made all things, made every thing for some use, and whatever use
he design'd any thing for, that use it should always be put to.
Now, when he made rum, he said 'Let this be for the Indians to get
drunk with,' and it must be so." And, indeed, if it be the design
of Providence to extirpate these savages in order to make room
for cultivators of the earth, it seems not improbable that rum may
be the appointed means. It has already annihilated all the tribes
who formerly inhabited the sea-coast.

In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of mine, conceived the idea
of establishing a hospital in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design,
which has been ascrib'd to me, but was originally his), for the reception
and cure of poor sick persons, whether inhabitants of the province
or strangers. He was zealous and active in endeavouring to procure
subscriptions for it, but the proposal being a novelty in America,
and at first not well understood, he met with but small success.

At length he came to me with the compliment that he found there
was no such thing as carrying a public-spirited project through
without my being concern'd in it. "For," says he, "I am often
ask'd by those to whom I propose subscribing, Have you consulted
Franklin upon this business? And what does he think of it?
And when I tell them that I have not (supposing it rather out of your
line), they do not subscribe, but say they will consider of it."
I enquired into the nature and probable utility of his scheme,
and receiving from him a very satisfactory explanation, I not only
subscrib'd to it myself, but engag'd heartily in the design of procuring
subscriptions from others. Previously, however, to the solicitation,
I endeavoured to prepare the minds of the people by writing on the
subject in the newspapers, which was my usual custom in such cases,
but which he had omitted.

The subscriptions afterwards were more free and generous;
but, beginning to flag, I saw they would be insufficient without
some assistance from the Assembly, and therefore propos'd to
petition for it, which was done. The country members did not at
first relish the project; they objected that it could only be
serviceable to the city, and therefore the citizens alone should
be at the expense of it; and they doubted whether the citizens
themselves generally approv'd of it. My allegation on the contrary,
that it met with such approbation as to leave no doubt of our
being able to raise two thousand pounds by voluntary donations,
they considered as a most extravagant supposition, and utterly impossible.

On this I form'd my plan; and asking leave to bring in a bill for
incorporating the contributors according to the prayer of their petition,
and granting them a blank sum of money, which leave was obtained
chiefly on the consideration that the House could throw the bill out
if they did not like it, I drew it so as to make the important clause
a conditional one, viz., "And be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
that when the said contributors shall have met and chosen their
managers and treasurer, and shall have raised by their contributions
a capital stock of —— value (the yearly interest of which is to be
applied to the accommodating of the sick poor in the said hospital,
free of charge for diet, attendance, advice, and medicines), and
shall make the same appear to the satisfaction of the speaker of
the Assembly for the time being, that then it shall and may be lawful
for the said speaker, and he is hereby required, to sign an order
on the provincial treasurer for the payment of two thousand pounds,
in two yearly payments, to the treasurer of the said hospital,
to be applied to the founding, building, and finishing of the same."

This condition carried the bill through; for the members, who had
oppos'd the grant, and now conceiv'd they might have the credit
of being charitable without the expence, agreed to its passage;
and then, in soliciting subscriptions among the people, we urg'd
the conditional promise of the law as an additional motive to give,
since every man's donation would be doubled; thus the clause
work'd both ways. The subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded
the requisite sum, and we claim'd and receiv'd the public gift,
which enabled us to carry the design into execution. A convenient
and handsome building was soon erected; the institution has
by constant experience been found useful, and flourishes to
this day; and I do not remember any of my political manoeuvres,
the success of which gave me at the time more pleasure, or wherein,
after thinking of it, I more easily excus'd myself for having made
some use of cunning.

It was about this time that another projector, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent,
came to me with a request that I would assist him in procuring
a subscription for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for
the use of a congregation he had gathered among the Presbyterians,
who were originally disciples of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to
make myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently
soliciting their contributions, I absolutely refus'd. He then
desired I would furnish him with a list of the names of persons I
knew by experience to be generous and public-spirited. I thought
it would be unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance with
my solicitations, to mark them out to be worried by other beggars,
and therefore refus'd also to give such a list. He then desir'd I
would at least give him my advice. "That I will readily do," said I;
"and, in the first place, I advise you to apply to all those whom
you know will give something; next, to those whom you are uncertain
whether they will give any thing or not, and show them the list
of those who have given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you
are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be mistaken."
He laugh'd and thank'd me, and said he would take my advice.
He did so, for he ask'd of everybody, and he obtained a much
larger sum than he expected, with which he erected the capacious
and very elegant meeting-house that stands in Arch-street.

Our city, tho' laid out with a beautiful regularity, the streets large,
strait, and crossing each other at right angles, had the disgrace
of suffering those streets to remain long unpav'd, and in wet
weather the wheels of heavy carriages plough'd them into a quagmire,
so that it was difficult to cross them; and in dry weather the dust
was offensive. I had liv'd near what was call'd the Jersey Market,
and saw with pain the inhabitants wading in mud while purchasing
their provisions. A strip of ground down the middle of that
market was at length pav'd with brick, so that, being once
in the market, they had firm footing, but were often over shoes
in dirt to get there. By talking and writing on the subject,
I was at length instrumental in getting the street pav'd with stone
between the market and the brick'd foot-pavement, that was on each
side next the houses. This, for some time, gave an easy access
to the market dry-shod; but, the rest of the street not being
pav'd, whenever a carriage came out of the mud upon this pavement,
it shook off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon cover'd
with mire, which was not remov'd, the city as yet having no scavengers.

After some inquiry I found a poor industrious man, who was willing
to undertake keeping the pavement clean, by sweeping it twice
a week, carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbours'
doors, for the sum of sixpence per month, to be paid by each house.
I then wrote and printed a paper setting forth the advantages
to the neighbourhood that might be obtain'd by this small expense;
the greater ease in keeping our houses clean, so much dirt not being
brought in by people's feet; the benefit to the shops by more custom,
etc., etc., as buyers could more easily get at them; and by not having,
in windy weather, the dust blown in upon their goods, etc., etc.
I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went
round to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these sixpences;
it was unanimously sign'd, and for a time well executed.
All the inhabitants of the city were delighted with the cleanliness
of the pavement that surrounded the market, it being a convenience
to all, and this rais'd a general desire to have all the streets paved,
and made the people more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose.

After some time I drew a bill for paving the city, and brought it
into the Assembly. It was just before I went to England, in 1757,
and did not pass till I was gone.
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and then with an alteration
in the mode of assessment, which I thought not for the better,
but with an additional provision for lighting as well as paving
the streets, which was a great improvement. It was by a private person,
the late Mr. John Clifton, his giving a sample of the utility of lamps,
by placing one at his door, that the people were first impress'd
with the idea of enlighting all the city. The honour of this
public benefit has also been ascrib'd to me but it belongs truly
to that gentleman. I did but follow his example, and have only
some merit to claim respecting the form of our lamps, as differing
from the globe lamps we were at first supply'd with from London.
Those we found inconvenient in these respects: they admitted
no air below; the smoke, therefore, did not readily go out above,
but circulated in the globe, lodg'd on its inside, and soon
obstructed the light they were intended to afford; giving, besides,
the daily trouble of wiping them clean; and an accidental stroke
on one of them would demolish it, and render it totally useless.
I therefore suggested the composing them of four flat panes,
with a long funnel above to draw up the smoke, and crevices
admitting air below, to facilitate the ascent of the smoke; by this
means they were kept clean, and did not grow dark in a few hours,
as the London lamps do, but continu'd bright till morning,
and an accidental stroke would generally break but a single pane,
easily repair'd.