ance, 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 opposed the grant, and now conceived they might have the credit of being charitable without the expense, agreed to its passage; and then in soliciting subscriptions among the people, we urged the conditional promise of the law as an additional motive to give, since every man's donation would be doubled: thus the clause worked both ways. The subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite sum, and we claimed and received 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 manœuvres, the success of which at the time gave me more pleasure; or, wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily excused myself for having made some use of cunning.

Our city, though laid out with a beautiful regularity, the streets large, straight, and crossing each other at right angles, had the disgrace of suffering those streets to remain long unpaved, and in wet weather the wheels of heavy carriages ploughed them into a quagmire, so that it was difficult to cross them; and in dry weather the dust was offensive. ĺ had lived near what was called 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 paved 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 streets paved with stone between the market and the brick foot pavement that was on the 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 paved, whenever a carriage came out of the mud upon this pavement, it shook off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon covered with mire, which was not removed, 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 It was about this time, that another pro- the sum of sixpence per month, to be paid by jector, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, came to me each house. I then wrote and printed a pawith a request, that I would assist him in pro- per, setting forth the advantages to the neighcuring a subscription for erecting a new bourhood that might be obtained from this meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a small expense; the greater ease in keeping congregation he had gathered among the our houses clean, so much dirt not being Presbyterians, who were originally disciples brought in by people's feet; the benefit to the of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make my-shops by more custom, as buyers could more self disagreeable to my fellow citizens, by too frequently soliciting their contributions, I absolutely refused. He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names of persons I knew by experience to be generous and pubfic spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance with my solicitation, to mark them out to be worried by other beggars, and therefore refused to give such a list. He then desired I would at least give him my advice. That I will do, said I; and, in the first place, I advise you to apply to all those who you know will give something; next, to those who 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 laughed and thanked me, and said he would take my advice. He did so, for he asked of every body, and he obtained a much larger sum than he expected, with which he erected the capacious and elegant meeting-house that stands in Arch street.

easily get at them; and by not having in windy weather the dust blown in upon their goods, &c. I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went round to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these sixpences; it was unanimously signed, 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 raised 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, 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, giving a sample of the utility of lamps, by placing one at his door, that the people were first impressed with the

idea of lighting all the city. The honour of | very pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit this public benefit has also been ascribed to of sickness. I asked who employed her 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 supplied with from London. They were found inconvenient in these respects: they admitted no air below; the smoke therefore did not readily go out above, but circulated in the globe, lodged on its inside, and soon obstructed the light they were intended to afford; giving besides the daily trouble of wiping them clean: and an accidental stroke on one of them would 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 continued bright till morning; and an accidental stroke would generally break but a single pane easily repaired. I have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did not, from the effect holes in the bottom of the globe-lamps used at Vauxhall, have in keeping them clean, learn to have such holes in their street lamps. But these holes being made for another purpose, viz. to communicate flame more suddenly to the wick by a little flax hanging down through them, the other use of letting in air, seems not to have been thought of: and therefore, after the lamps have been lit a few hours, the streets of London are very poorly illuminated.

The mention of these improvements puts me in mind of one I proposed, when in London, to Dr. Fothergill, who was among the best men I have known, and a great promoter of useful projects. I had observed that the streets, when dry, were never swept, and the light dust carried away; but it was suffered to accumulate till wet weather reduced it to mud; and then, after lying some days so deep on the pavement that there was no crossing but in paths kept clean by poor people with brooms, it was with great labour raked together and thrown up into carts open above, the sides of which suffered some of the slush at every jolt on the pavement to shake out and fall; sometimes to the annoyance of foot passengers. The reason given for not sweeping the dusty streets was, that the dust would fly into the windows of shops and houses. An accidental occurrence had instructed me how much sweeping might be done in a little time; I found at my door in Craven street, one morning, a poor woman sweeping my pavement with a birch broom; she appeared

* Fothergill, (John) F. R. S., an eminent physiciah born in 1712, at Carr end, in Yorkshire of Quaker

parents, died in 1780.

sweep there; she said, "Nobody; but I am poor and in distress, and I sweeps before gentlefolkses doors, and hopes they will give me something." I bid her sweep the whole street clean, and I would give her a shilling; this was at nine o'clock; at noon she came for the shilling. From the slowness I saw at first in her working, I could scarce believe that the work was done so soon, and sent my servant to examine it, who reported that the whole street was swept perfectly clean, and all the dust placed in the gutter which was in the middle; and the next rain washed it quite away, so that the pavement and even the kennel were perfectly clean. I then judged that if that feeble woman could sweep such a street in three hours, a strong active man might have done it in half the time. And here let me remark the convenience of having but one gutter in such a narrow street running down its middle, instead of two, one on each side near the footway. For where all the rain that falls on a street runs from the sides and meets in the middle, it forms there a current strong enough to wash away all the mud it meets with: but when divided into two channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and only makes the mud, it finds more fluid, so that the wheels of carriages, and feet of horses throw and dash it upon the foot pavement, (which is thereby rendered foul and slippery,) and sometimes splash it upon those who are walking. My proposal communicated to the doctor, was as follows:

"For the more effectually cleaning and keeping clean the streets of London and Westminster, it is proposed, that the several watchmen be contracted with to have the dust swept up in dry seasons, and the mud raked up at other times, each in the several streets and lanes of his round: that they be furnished with brooms and other proper instruments for these purposes, to be kept at their respective stands, ready to furnish the poor people they may employ in the service.

"That in the dry summer months the dust be all swept up into heaps at proper distances, before the shops and windows of houses are usually opened; when scavengers with close covered carts shall also carry it all away.

"That the mud, when raked up, be not left in heaps to be spread abroad again by the wheels of carriages and trampling of horses; but that the scavengers be provided with bodies of carts, not placed high upon wheels, but low upon sliders, with lattice bottoms, which being covered with straw, will retain the mud thrown into them, and permit the water to drain from it; whereby it will become much lighter, water making the greatest part of the weight. These bodies of carts

to be placed at convenient distances, and the | to have £600 a-year between us, if we could mud brought to them in wheelbarrows; they make that sum out of the profits of the office. remaining where placed till the mud is drain- To do this, a variety of improvements were ed, and then horses brought to draw them away."

I have since had doubts of the practicability of the latter part of this proposal, in all places, on account of the narrowness of some streets, and the difficulty of placing the draining sleds so as not to encumber too much the passage: but I am still of opinion that the former, requiring the dust to be swept up and carried away before the shops are open, is very practicable in the summer, when the days are long; for in walking through the Strand and Fleet street, one morning at seven o'clock, I observed there was not one shop open, though it was daylight and the sun up above three hours: the inhabitants of London, choosing voluntarily to live much by candle-light, and sleep by sun-shine; and yet often complain, (a little absurdly) of the duty on candles, and the high price of tallow.

Some may think these trifling matters, not worth minding or relating; but when they consider that though dust blown into the eyes of a single person, or into a single shop in a windy day, is but of small importance, yet the great number of the instances in a populous city, and its frequent repetition, gives it weight and consequence; perhaps they will not censure very severely those who bestow some attention to affairs of this seemingly low nature. Human felicity is produced, not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day. Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it: but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors: he shaves when most convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with a good instrument. With these sentiments, I have hazarded the few preceding pages, hoping they may afford hints which some time or other may be useful to a city I love, (having lived many years in it very happily,) and perhaps to some of our towns in America.

necessary; some of these were inevitably at first expensive; so that in the first four years the office became above £900 in debt to us. But it soon after began to repay us; and be fore I was displaced by a freak of the ministers, (of which I shall speak hereafter,) we had brought it to yield three times as much clear revenue to the crown as the post office of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction, they have received from it-not one farthing!

The business of the post office occasioned my taking a journey this year to New Eng land, where the college of Cambridge, of their own motion, presented me with the degree of Master of Arts. Yale college in Connecticut had before made me a similar compliment. Thus, without studying in any college, I came to partake of their honours. They were conferred in consideration of my improvements and discoveries in the electric branch of Natural Philosophy.

In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a congress of commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order of the lords of trade, to be assembled at Albany; there to confer with the chiefs of the Six nations, concerning the means of defending both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton having received this order, acquainted the house with it, requesting they would furnish proper presents for the Indians, to be given on this occasion; and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself, to join Mr. John Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters, as commissioners to act for Pennsylvania. The house approved the nomination, and provided the goods for the presents, though they did not much like treating out of the province; and we met the other commissioners at Albany, about the middle of June. In our way thither, I projected and drew up a plan for the union of all the colonies under one government, so far as might be necessary for defence, and other important general purposes. As we passed through New York, I had there shown my project to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs, and being fortified by their approbation, I ventured to lay it before the congress. It then appeared, that several of the commissioners had formed plans of the Having been some time employed by the same kind. A previous question was first post-master-general of America as his comp- taken, whether an union should be established, troller in regulating the several offices, and which passed in the affirmative, unanimously. bringing the officers to account, I was, upon A committee was then appointed, one memhis death, in 1753, appointed jointly with Mr.ber from each colony, to consider the several William Hu- to succeed him; by a com- plans, and report. Mine happened to be premission from the post-master-general in Eng-ferred, and with a few amendments was acland. The American office had hitherto ne- cordingly reported. By this plan the general ver paid any thing to that of Britain: we were government was to be administered by a pre

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time in the office, and therefore I proposed that the orders should be payable in a year, and to bear an interest of five per cent.: with these orders I supposed the provisions might easily be purchased. The assembly, with very little hesitation, adopted the proposal; the orders were immediately printed, and I was one of the committee directed to sign and dispose of them. The fund for paying them, was the interest of all the paper currency then extant in the province upon loan, to

who, when it was proposed to give him a government, requested it might be a government of blacks; as then, if he could not agree with his people, he might sell them. One of his friends, who sat next me, said, Franklin, why do you continue to side with those damned Quakers? had you not better sell them? the proprietor would give you a good price." The governor," said I," has not yet blacked them enough."-He, indeed, had laboured hard to blacken the assembly in all his messages, but they wiped off his colour-gether with the revenue arising from the exing as fast as he laid it on, and placed it in return thick upon his own face; so, that finding he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, as well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tired of the contest, and quitted the government.

cise, which being known to be more than sufficient, they obtained credit, and were not only taken in payment for the provisions; but many monied people who had cash lying by them, vested it in those orders, which they These public quarrels were all at bottom, found advantageous, as they bore interest owing to the proprietaries, our hereditary while upon hand, and might on any occasion governors; who, when any expense was to be be used as money; so that they were eagerly incurred for the defence of their province, all bought up, and in a few weeks none of with incredible meanness, instructed their them were to be seen. Thus this important deputies to pass no act for levying the neces-affair was by my means completed. Mr. sary taxes, unless their vast estates were in Quincy returned thanks to the assembly in the same act expressly exonerated; and they a handsome memorial, went home highly had even taken the bonds of these deputies pleased with the success of his embassy, and to observe such instructions. The assemblies ever after bore for me the most cordial and for three years held out against this injustice, affectionate friendship. though constrained to bend at last. At length captain Denny, who was governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey those instructions; how that was brought about, I shall show hereafter.

But I am got forward too fast with my story: there are still some transactions to be mentioned, that happened during the administration of governor Morris.

War being in a manner commenced with France, the government of Massachusetts Bay projected an attack upon Crown Point, and sent Mr. Quincy to Pennsylvania, and Mr. Pownal, (afterwards governor Pownal,) to New York to solicit assistance. As I was in the assembly, knew its temper, and was Mr. Quincy's countryman, he applied to me for my influence and assistance: I dictated his address to them, which was well received. They voted an aid of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions. But the governor refusing his assent to their bill, (which included this with other sums granted for the use of the crown,) unless a clause were inserted, exempting the proprietary estate from bearing any part of the tax that would be necessary; the assembly, though very desirous of making their grant to New England effectual, were at a loss how to accomplish it. Mr. Quincy laboured hard with the governor to obtain his assent, but he was obstinate. I then suggested a method of doing the business without the governor, by orders on the trustees of the loan office, which by law the assembly had the right of drawing. There was, indeed, little or no money at the

The British government, not choosing to permit the union of the colonies, as proposed at Albany, and to trust that union with their defence, lest they should thereby grow too military, and feel their own strength, (suspicion and jealousies at this time being entertained of them,) sent over general Braddock with two regiments of regular English troops for that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia, and thence marched to Frederick-town, in Maryland, where he halted for carriages. Our assembly, apprehending from some information, that he had received violent prejudices against them as averse to the service, wished me to wait upon him, not as from them, but as post-master-general, under the guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of conducting with most celerity and certainty, the dispatches between him and the governors of the several provinces, with whom he must necessarily have continual correspondence; and of which they proposed to pay the expense. My son accompanied me on this journey. We found the general at Frederick-town, waiting impatiently for the return of those whom we had sent through the back parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect wagons. I staid with him several days, dined with him daily, and had full opportunities of removing his prejudices, by the information of what the assembly had before his arrival actually done, and were still willing to do, to facilitate his operations. When I was about to depart, the returns of wagons to be obtained were brought in, by which it appeared, that they amounted