Chapter X: Part III: Continuation by Dr. Stuber.15 (2)

"This has since been placed there by the munificence of an estimable citizen of Philadelphia. It was imported from Italy; the name of the artist is Francis Lazzarini; it is composed of Carara marble, and cost 500 guineas.

"It was the first piece of sculpture of that size which had been seen in America. Franklin is represented in a standing posture; one arm is supported by means of some books, in his right hand he holds an inverted sceptre, an emblem of anti-monarchical principles, and in his left a scroll of paper. He is dressed in a Roman toga. The resemblance is correct; the head is a copy from the excellent bust produced by the chisel of Houdon. The following inscription is engraven on the pedestal:

THIS STATUE

OF

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

WAS PRESENTED BY

WILLIAM BINGHAM, ESQ.,

1792.

"Franklin's life," says the anonymous writer of the foregoing, "affords one of the finest moral lessons that can be offered up to the admiration, the applause, or the imitation of mankind.

"As a man, we have beheld him practising and inculcating the virtues of frugality, temperance, and industry.

"As a citizen, we have seen him repelling the efforts of tyranny, and ascertaining the liberty of his countrymen.

"As a legislator, he affords a bright example of a genius soaring above corruption, and continually aiming at the happiness of his constituents.

"As a politician, we survey him, on one hand, acquiring the aid of a powerful nation, by means of his skilful negotiations; and on the other, calling forth the common strength of a congress of republics, by fixing a central point to which they could all look up, and concentrating their common force for the purposes of union, harmony, legislation, and defence.

"As a philosopher, his labours and his discoveries are calculated to advance the interests of humanity: he might, indeed, have been justly termed the friend of man, the benefactor of the universe!

"The pursuits and occupations of his early youth afford a most excellent and instructive example to the young; his middle life, to the adult; his advanced years, to the aged. From him the poor may learn to acquire wealth, and the rich to adapt it to the purposes of beneficence.

"In regard to his character, he was rather sententious than fluent; more disposed to listen than to talk; a judicious rather than an imposing companion. He was what, perhaps, every able man is, impatient of interruption; for he used to mention the custom of the Indians with great applause, who, after listening with a profound attention to the observations of each other, preserve a respectful silence for some minutes before they begin their own reply.

"He was polite in his manners, and never gave a pointed contradiction to the assertions of his friends or his antagonists, but treated every argument with great calmness, and conquered his adversaries rather by the force of reason than assertion."

The advice of his death reached France at a period well adapted to excite great emotions; and in the National Assembly, 11th June, 1790, Mr. Mirabeau the elder addressed the assembly as follows:

"FRANKLIN IS DEAD!"

[A profound silence reigned throughout the hall.]

"The genius which gave freedom to America and scattered torrents of
light upon Europe, is returned to the bosom of the Divinity!

"The sage whom two worlds claim; the man, disputed by the history
of the sciences and the history of empires, holds, most
undoubtedly, an elevated rank among the human species.

"Political cabinets have but too long notified the death of those
who were never great but in their funeral orations; the etiquette
of courts has but too long sanctioned hypocritical grief. Nations
ought only to mourn for their benefactors; the representatives of
free men ought never to recommend any other than the heroes of
humanity to their homage.

"The Congress hath ordered a general mourning for one month
throughout the fourteen confederated states, on account of the
death of Franklin; and America hath thus acquitted her tribute of
admiration in behalf of one of the fathers of her constitution.

"Would it not be worthy of you, fellow-legislators, to unite
yourselves in this religious act, to participate in this homage
rendered in the face of the universe to the rights of man, and to
the philosopher who has so eminently propagated the conquest of
them throughout the world?

"Antiquity would have elevated altars to that mortal who, for the
advantage of the human race, embracing both heaven and earth in his
vast and extensive mind, knew how to subdue thunder and tyranny!

"Enlightened and free, Europe at least owes its remembrance and its
regret to one of the greatest men who has ever served the cause of
philosophy and of liberty.

"I propose that a decree do now pass, enacting that the National
Assembly shall wear mourning during three days for Benjamin
Franklin."

MM. de la Rochefoucault and Lafayette immediately rose in order to second this motion.

The assembly adopted it, at first by acclamation; and afterward decreed, by a large majority, amid the plaudits of all the spectators, that on Monday 14th of June, it should go into mourning for three days; that the discourse of M. Mirabeau should be printed; and that the president should write a letter of condolence upon the occasion to the Congress of America.[17]

The following character of Dr. Franklin, by one of his intimate friends, is so ably and accurately drawn, that we cannot refrain adding it to the foregoing.

"There is in the character of every distinguished person something to admire and something to imitate. The incidents that have marked the life of a great man always excite curiosity and often afford improvement. If there be talents which we can never expect to equal, if there be a series of good fortune which we can never expect to enjoy, we still need not lose the labour of our biographical inquiries. We may probably become acquainted with habits which it may be prudent to adopt, and discover virtues which we cannot fail to applaud. It will be easy for the reader to make a full application of these remarks in his contemplations upon the late celebrated DR. FRANKLIN. By his death one of the best lights of the world may be said to be extinguished. I shall not attempt any historical details of the life of this illustrious patriot and philosopher, as I have nothing farther in view than to make a few comments upon the most striking traits of his character.

"Original genius was peculiarly his attribute. The native faculties of his mind qualified him to penetrate into every science: and his unremitted diligence left no field of knowledge unexplored. There were no limits to his curiosity. His inquiries were spread over the whole face of nature. But the study of man seemed to be his highest delight: and if his genius had any special bias, it lay in discovering those things that made men wiser and happier. As truth was the sole object of his researches, he was, of course, no sectary: and as reason was his guide, he embraced no system which that did not authorize. In short, he laid the whole volume of nature open before him, and diligently and faithfully perused it.

"Nor were his political attainments less conspicuous than his philosophical. The ancients usually ranked good fortune among those circumstances of life which indicate merit. In this view Dr. Franklin is almost unrivalled, having seldom undertaken more than he accomplished. The world are too well acquainted with the events of his political career to require, at this time, a particular enumeration of them. It may be presumed the historians of the American revolution will exhibit them in proper colours.

"If Dr. Franklin did not aspire after the splendour of eloquence, it was only because the demonstrative plainness of his manner was superior to it. Though he neither loved political debate nor excelled in it, he still preserved much influence in public assemblies, and discovered an aptitude in his remarks on all occasions. He was not fond of taking a leading part in such investigations as could never terminate in any degree of certainty. To come forward in questions which, in their nature, are indefinite, and in their issue problematical, does not comport with the caution of a man who has taught himself to look, for demonstration. He reserved his observations for those cases which science could enlighten and common sense approve. The simplicity of his style was well adapted to the clearness of his understanding. His conceptions were so bright and perfect, that he did not choose to involve them in a cloud of expressions. If he used metaphors, it was to illustrate, and not to embellish the truth. A man possessing such a lively imagery of ideas should never affect the arts of a vain rhetorician, whose excellence consists only in a beautiful arrangement of words.

"But whatever claims to eminence Dr. Franklin may have as a politician or a scholar, there is no point of light in which his character shines with more lustre than when we view him as a man or a citizen. He was eminently great in common things. Perhaps no man ever existed whose life can, with more justice, be denominated useful. Nothing ever passed through his hands without receiving improvement, and no person ever went into his company without gaining wisdom. His sagacity was so sharp and his science so various, that, whatever might be the profession or occupation of those with whom he conversed, he could meet every one upon his own ground. He could enliven every conversation with an anecdote, and conclude it with a moral.

"The whole tenour of his life was a perpetual lecture against the idle, the extravagant, and the proud. It was his principal aim to inspire mankind with a love of industry, temperance, and frugality, and to inculcate such duties as promote the important interests of humanity. He never wasted a moment of time, or lavished a farthing of money in folly or dissipation. Such expenses as the dignity of his station required he readily sustained, limiting them by the strictest rules of propriety. Many public institutions experienced his well-timed liberality, and he manifested a sensibility of heart by numerous acts of private charity.

"By a judicious division of time, Dr. Franklin acquired the art of doing everything to advantage, and his amusements were of such a nature as could never militate with the main objects of his pursuit. In whatever situation he was placed by chance or design, he extracted something useful for himself or others. His life was remarkably full of incident. Every circumstance of it turned to some valuable account. The maxims which his discerning mind has formed apply to innumerable cases and characters. Those who move in the lowest, equally with those who move in the most elevated rank in society, may be guided by his instructions. In the private deportment of his life, he in many respects has furnished a most excellent model. His manners were easy and accommodating, and his address winning and respectful. All who knew him speak of him as a most agreeable man, and all who have heard of him applaud him as a very useful one. A man so wise and so amiable could not but have many admirers and many friends."

* * * * *

The following are extracts from the will and codicil of Dr. Franklin:

* * * * *

"With regard to my books, those I had in France and those I left in Philadelphia being now assembled together here, and a catalogue made of them, it is my intention to dispose of the same as follows: My 'History of the Academy of Sciences,' in sixty or seventy volumes quarto, I give to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, of which I have the honour to be president. My collection in folio, of 'Les Arts et les Metiers' [Arts and Trade], I give to the American Philosophical Society, established in New-England, of which I am a member. My quarto edition of the same, 'Arts et Metiers', I give to the Library Company of Philadelphia. Such and so many of my books as I shall mark on the said catalogue with the name of my grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache, I do hereby give to him: and such and so many of my books as I shall mark on the said catalogue with the name of my grandson William Bache, I do hereby give to him: and such as shall be marked with the name of Jonathan Williams, I hereby give to my cousin of that name. The residue and remainder of all my books, manuscripts, and papers, I do give to my grandson William Temple Franklin. My share in the Library Company of Philadelphia I give to my grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache, confiding that he will permit his brothers and sisters to share in the use of it.

"I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my first instructions in literature to the free grammar-schools established there. I therefore give one hundred pounds sterling to my executors, to be by them, the survivers or surviver of them, paid over to the managers or directors of the freeschools in my native town of Boston, to be by them, or those persons or person who shall have the superintendance and management of the said schools, put out to interest, and so continued at interest for ever; which interest annually shall be laid out in silver medals, and given as honorary rewards annually by the directors of the said freeschools, for the encouragement of scholarship in the said schools, belonging to the said town, in such manner as to the discretion of the selectmen of the said town shall seem meet. Out of the salary that may remain due to me as president of the state, I do give the sum of two thousand pounds to my executors, to be by them, the survivers or surviver of them, paid over to such person or persons as the legislature of this state, by an act of Assembly, shall appoint to receive the same, in trust, to be employed for making the Schuylkill navigable.

* * * * *

"During the number of years I was in business as a stationer, printer, and postmaster, a great many small sums became due to me, for books, advertisements, postage of letters, and other matters, which were not collected, when, in 1757, I was sent by the Assembly to England as their agent, and by subsequent appointments continued there till 1775; when, on my return, I was immediately engaged in the affairs of Congress, and sent to France in 1776, where I remained nine years, not returning till 1785; and the said debts not being demanded in such a length of time, have become in a manner obsolete, yet are nevertheless justly due. These, as they are stated in my great folio leger E, I bequeath to the contributors of the Pennsylvania Hospital, hoping that those debtors, and the descendants of such as are deceased, who now, as I find, make some difficulty of satisfying such antiquated demands as just debts, may, however, be induced to pay or give them as charity to that excellent institution. I am sensible that much must inevitably be lost, but I hope something considerable may be received. It is possible, too, that some of the parties charged may have existing old unsettled accounts against me: in which case the managers of the said hospital will allow and deduct the amount, or pay the balances, if they find it against me.

* * * * *

"I request my friends, Henry Hill, Esq., John Jay, Esq., Francis Hopkinson, Esq., and Mr. Edward Duffield, of Benfield, in Philadelphia county, to be the executors of this my last will and testament, and I hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose.

"I would have my body buried with as little expense or ceremony as may be.

* * * * *

"Philadelphia, July 17, 1788."

CODICIL.

"I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, in the foregoing or annexed last will and testament named, having farther considered the same, do think proper to make and publish the following codicil or addition thereto:

"It having long been a fixed political opinion of mine, that in a democratical state there ought to be no offices of profit, for the reasons I had given in an article of my drawing in our constitution, it was my intention, when I accepted the office of president, to devote the appointed salary to some public uses: accordingly, I had, before I made my will in July last, given large sums of it to colleges, schools, building of churches, &c.; and in that will I bequeathed two thousand pounds more to the state, for the purpose of making the Schuylkill navigable; but understanding since that such a sum will do but little towards accomplishing such a work, and that the project is not likely to be undertaken for many years to come; and having entertained another idea, that I hope may be more extensively useful, I do hereby revoke and annul that bequest, and direct that the certificates I have for what remains due to me of that salary be sold towards raising the sum of two thousand pounds sterling, to be disposed of as I am now about to order.

"It has been an opinion, that he who receives an estate from his ancestors is under some kind of obligation to transmit the same to his posterity. This obligation does not lie on me, who never inherited a shilling from any ancestor or relation. I shall, however, if it is not diminished by some accident before my death, leave a considerable estate among my descendants and relations. The above observation is made merely as some apology to my family for my making bequests that do not appear to have any immediate relation to their advantage.

"I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my first instructions in literature to the free grammar-schools established there. I have, therefore, already considered those schools in my will. But I am also under obligations to the state of Massachusetts for having, unasked, appointed me formerly their agent in England, with a handsome salary, which continued some years; and although I accidentally lost in their service, by transmitting Governor Hutchinson's letters, much more than the amount of what they gave me, I do not think that ought in the least to diminish my gratitude. I have considered that among artisans, good apprentices are most likely to make good citizens; and having myself been bred to a manual art, printing, in my native town, and afterward assisted to set up my business in Philadelphia by kind loans of money from two friends there, which was the foundation of my fortune, and of all the utility in life that may be ascribed to me, I wish to be useful, even after my death, if possible, in forming and advancing other young men, that may be serviceable to their country in both these towns. To this end I devote two thousand pounds sterling, which I give, one thousand thereof to the inhabitants of the town of Boston, in Massachusetts, and the other thousand to the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, in trust, to and for the uses, intents, and purposes herein after mentioned and declared. The said sum of one thousand pounds sterling, if accepted by the inhabitants of the town of Boston, shall be managed under the direction of the selectmen, united with the ministers of the oldest Episcopalian, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches in that town, who are to let out the same upon interest at five per cent. per annum, to such young married artificers, under the age of twenty-five years, as have served an apprenticeship in the said town, and faithfully fulfilled the duties required in their indentures, so as to obtain a good moral character from at least two respectable citizens, who are willing to become their sureties in a bond, with the applicants, for the repayment of the money so lent, with interest, according to the terms hereinafter prescribed; all which bonds are to be taken for Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in current gold coin: and the managers shall keep a bound book or books, wherein shall be entered the names of those who shall apply for and receive the benefit of this institution, and of their sureties, together with the sums lent, the dates, and other necessary and proper records respecting the business and concerns of this institution: and as these loans are intended to assist young married artificers in setting up their business, they are to be proportioned by the discretion of the managers, so as not to exceed sixty pounds sterling to one person, nor to be less than fifteen pounds. And if the number of appliers so entitled should be so large as that the sum will not suffice to afford to each as much as might otherwise not be improper, the proportion to each shall be diminished, so as to afford every one some assistance. These aids may, therefore, be small at first; but as the capital increases by the accumulated interest, they will be more ample. And in order to serve as many as possible in their turn, as well as to make the repayment of the principal borrowed more easy, each borrower shall be obliged to pay, with the yearly interest, one tenth part of the principal; which sums of principal and interest so paid in shall be again let out to fresh borrowers. And as it is presumed that there will always be found in Boston virtuous and benevolent citizens willing to bestow a part of their time in doing good to the rising generation, by superintending and managing this institution gratis, it is hoped that no part of the money will at any time be dead or diverted to other purposes, but be continually augmenting by the interest, in which case there may, in time, be more than the occasion in Boston shall require: and then some may be spared to the neighbouring or other towns in the said state of Massachusetts, which may desire to have it, such towns engaging to pay punctually the interest, and the proportions of the principal annually to the inhabitants of the town of Boston. If this plan is executed, and succeeds, as is projected, without interruption for one hundred years, the sum will then be one hundred and thirty-one thousand pounds, of which I would have the managers of the donation to the town of Boston then lay out, at their discretion, one hundred thousand pounds in public works, which may be judged of most general utility to the inhabitants, such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public buildings, baths, pavements, or whatever may make living in the town more convenient to its people, and render it more agreeable to strangers resorting thither for health or a temporary residence. The remaining thirty-one thousand pounds I would have continued to be let out on interest, in the manner above directed, for another hundred years; as I hope it will have been found that the institution has had a good effect on the conduct of youth, and been of service to many worthy characters and useful citizens. At the end of this second term, if no unfortunate accident has prevented the operation, the sum will be four millions and sixty-one thousand pounds sterling, of which I leave one million and sixty-one thousand pounds to the disposition and management of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, and three millions to the disposition of the government of the state, not presuming to carry my views farther.

"All the directions herein given respecting the disposition and management of the donation to the inhabitants of Boston, I would have observed respecting that to the inhabitants of Philadelphia; only, as Philadelphia is incorporated, I request the corporation of that city to undertake the management agreeably to the said directions, and I do hereby vest them with full and ample powers for that purpose. And having considered that the covering its ground-plat with buildings and pavements, which carry off most of the rain, and prevent its soaking into the earth, and renewing and purifying the springs, whence the water of the wells must gradually grow worse, and, in time, be unfit for use, as I find has happened in all old cities, I recommend that, at the end of the first hundred years, if not done before, the corporation of the city employ a part of the hundred thousand pounds in bringing by pipes the water of Wissahiccon Creek into the town, so as to supply the inhabitants, which I apprehend may be done without great difficulty, the level of that creek being much above that of the city, and may be made higher by a dam. I also recommend making the Schuylkill completely navigable. At the end of the second hundred years, I would have the disposition of the four millions and sixty-one thousand pounds divided between the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia and the government of Pennsylvania, in the same manner as herein directed with respect to that of the inhabitants of Boston and the government of Massachusetts. It is my desire that this institution should take place and begin to operate within one year after my decease; for which purpose due notice should be publicly given previous to the expiration of that year, that those for whose benefit this establishment is intended may make their respective applications; and I hereby direct my executor, the survivers or surviver of them, within six months after my decease, to pay over the said sum of two thousand pounds sterling to such persons as shall be duly appointed by the selectmen of Boston and the corporation of Philadelphia to receive and take charge of their respective sums of one thousand pounds each for the purposes aforesaid. Considering the accidents to which all human affairs and projects are subject in such a length of time, I have, perhaps, too much flattered myself with a vain fancy that these dispositions, if carried into execution, will be continued without interruption, and have the effects proposed; I hope, however, that if the inhabitants of the two cities should not think fit to undertake the execution, they will at least accept the offer of these donations as a mark of my good-will, a token of my gratitude, and a testimony of my earnest desire to be useful to them even after my departure. I wish, indeed, that they may both undertake to endeavour the execution of the project, because I think that, though unforeseen difficulties may arise, expedients will be found to remove them, and the scheme be found practicable. If one of them accepts the money with the conditions and the other refuses, my will then is that both sums be given to the inhabitants of the city accepting, the whole to be applied to the same purpose and under the same regulations directed for the separate parts; and if both refuse, the money remains, of course, in the mass of my estate, and it is to be disposed of therewith, according to my will made the seventeenth day of July, 1788. I wish to be buried by the side of my wife, if it may be, and that a marble stone, to be made by Chambers, six feet long, four feet wide, plain, with only a small moulding round the upper edge, and this inscription,

Benjamin}
and } Franklin,
Deborah }
178-, be placed over us both.

"My fine crabtree walking-stick, with a gold head, curiously wrought in the form of the Cap of Liberty, I give to my friend and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it were a sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it. It was a present to me from that excellent woman Madame de Forbach, the Dowager Duchess of Deux Ponts, connected with some verses which should go with it.

* * * * *

"Philadelphia, 23d June, 1789."

The following epitaph was written by Dr. Franklin for himself when he was only _twenty-three years of age_, as appears by the original (with various corrections), found among his papers, and from which this is a faithful copy:

[_Epitaph, written 1728._]

"THE BODY

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

PRINTER,

(like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out,
and stripped of its lettering and gilding),
lies here food for worms;
yet the work itself shall not be lost,
for it will (as he believed) appear once more
in a new and more elegant edition,
revised and corrected
by

THE AUTHOR."

FOOTNOTES:

[15] Dr. Stuber was born in Philadelphia, of German parents. He was sent at an early age to the university, where his genius, diligence, and amiable temper soon acquired him the particular notice and favour of those under whose immediate direction he was placed. After passing through the common course of study in a much shorter time than usual, he left the university at the age of sixteen, with great reputation. Not long after, he entered on the study of physic; and the zeal with which he pursued it, and the advances he made, gave his friends reason to form the most flattering prospects of his future eminence and usefulness in the profession. As Dr. Stuber's circumstances were very moderate, he did not think this pursuit well calculated to answer them. He therefore relinquished it after he had obtained a degree in the profession, and qualified himself to practice with credit and success, and immediately entered on the study of the law. While in the pursuit of the last-mentioned object, he was prevented, by a premature death, from reaping the fruit of those talents with which he was endowed, and of a youth spent in the ardent and successful pursuit of useful and elegant literature.

[16] Three days previous to his decease, he desired his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Bache, to have his bed made, "_in order that he might die in a decent manner_," as was his expression: an idea probably suggested by an acquaintance with the custom of the ancients. Mrs. Bache having replied that she hoped he would recover, and live many years longer, he instantly rejoined, "_I hope not_."

[17] The Congress of the United States thus expressed their sentiments in return.

RESOLVED, _by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled_, That the President of
the United States be requested to cause to be communicated to the
National Assembly of France, the peculiar sensibility of Congress
to the tribute paid to the memory of Benjamin Franklin by the
enlightened and free representatives of a great nation, in their
decree of the eleventh June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety.

Signed,
FRED. AUG. MUHLENBERG,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
JOHN ADAMS,
_Vice-President of the United States
and President of the Senate_.

Approved, March the 2d, 1791.

Signed,
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
_President of the United States_.

WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN.

_The Examination of Dr. Franklin before the British House of Commons, relative to the Repeal of the American Stamp-act._[18]

1766, Feb. 3. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., and a number of other persons, were "ordered to attend the committee of the whole House of Commons, to whom it was referred to consider farther the several papers relative to America, which were presented to the House by Mr. Secretary Conway, &c."

_Q._ What is your name and place of abode?

_A._ Franklin, of Philadelphia.

_Q._ Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?

_A._ Certainly, many, and very heavy taxes.

_Q._ What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, laid by the laws of the colony?

_A._ There are taxes on all estates, real and personal; a poll tax; a tax on all offices, professions, trades, and businesses, according to their profits; an excise on all wine, rum, and other spirits; and a duty of ten pounds per head on all negroes imported, with some other duties.

_Q._ For what purposes are those taxes laid?

_A._ For the support of the civil and military establishments of the country, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war.

_Q._ How long are those taxes to continue?

_A._ Those for discharging the debt are to continue till 1772, and longer if the debt should not be then all discharged. The others must always continue.

_Q._ Was it not expected that the debt would have been sooner discharged?

_A._ It was, when the peace was made with France and Spain. But a fresh war breaking out with the Indians, a fresh load of debt was incurred; and the taxes, of course, continued longer by a new law.

_Q._ Are not all the people very able to pay those taxes?

_A._ No. The frontier counties all along the continent having been frequently ravaged by the enemy, and greatly impoverished, are able to pay very little tax. And therefore, in consideration of their distresses, our late tax laws do expressly favour those counties, excusing the sufferers; and I suppose the same is done in other governments.

_Q._ Are not you concerned in the management of the _postoffice_ in America?

_A._ Yes. I am deputy postmaster-general of North America.

_Q._ Don't you think the distribution of stamps _by post_ to all the inhabitants very practicable, if there was no opposition?

_A._ The posts only go along the seacoasts; they do not, except in a few instances, go back into the country; and if they did, sending for stamps by post would occasion an expense of postage, amounting, in many cases, to much more than that of the stamps themselves. * * * *

_Q._ From the thinness of the back settlements, would not the stamp-act be extremely inconvenient to the inhabitants, if executed?

_A._ To be sure it would; as many of the inhabitants could not get stamps when they had occasion for them, without taking long journeys, and spending perhaps three or four pounds, that the crown might get sixpence.

_Q._ Are not the colonies, from their circumstances, very able to pay the stamp duty?

_A._ In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough in the colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.

_Q._ Don't you know that the money arising from the stamps was all to be laid out in America?

_A._ I know it is appropriated by the act to the American service; but it will be spent in the conquered colonies, where the soldiers are; not in the colonies that pay it.

_Q._ Is there not a balance of trade due from the colonies where the troops are posted, that will bring back the money to the old colonies?

_A._ I think not. I believe very little would come back. I know of no trade likely to bring it back. I think it would come from the colonies where it was spent directly to England; for I have always observed, that in every colony, the more plenty the means of remittance to England, the more goods are sent for and the more trade with England carried on.

_Q._ What number of white inhabitants do you think there are in Pennsylvania?

_A._ I suppose there may be about one hundred and sixty thousand?

_Q._ What number of them are Quakers?

_A._ Perhaps a third.

_Q._ What number of Germans?

_A._ Perhaps another third; but I cannot speak with certainty.

_Q._ Have any number of the Germans seen service as soldiers in Europe?

_A._ Yes, many of them, both in Europe and America.

_Q._ Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp duty as the English?

_A._ Yes, and more; and with reason, as their stamps are, in many cases, to be double.

_Q._ How many white men do you suppose there are in North America?

_A._ About three hundred thousand, from sixteen to sixty years of age?

_Q._ What may be the amount of one year's imports into Pennsylvania from Britain?

_A._ I have been informed that our merchants compute the imports from Britain to be above L500,000.

_Q._ What may be the amount of the produce of your province exported to Britain?

_A._ It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed L40,000.

_Q._ How, then, do you pay the balance?

_A._ The balance is paid by our produce carried to the West Indies (and sold in our own islands, or to the French, Spaniards, Danes, and Dutch); by the same produce carried to other colonies in North America (as to New-England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina, and Georgia); by the same, carried to different parts of Europe (as Spain, Portugal, and Italy). In all which places we receive either money, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for remittance to Britain; which, together with all the profits on the industry of our merchants and mariners, arising in those circuitous voyages, and the freights made by their ships, centre finally to Britain to discharge the balance, and pay for British manufactures continually used in the provinces, or sold to foreigners by our traders.

_Q._ Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on the Spanish trade?

_A._ Yes, I have heard that it has been greatly obstructed by some new regulations, and by the English men-of-war and cutters stationed all along the coast in America.

_Q._ Do you think it right that America should be protected by this country, and pay no part of the expense?

_A._ That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, and paid, during the last war, near twenty-five thousand men, and spent many millions.

_Q._ Were you not reimbursed by Parliament?

_A._ We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, we had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond what might reasonably be expected from us; and it was a very small part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in particular, disbursed about L500,000; and the reimbursements, in the whole, did not exceed L60,000.

_Q._ You have said that you pay heavy taxes in Pennsylvania; what do they amount to in the pound?

_A._ The tax on all estates, real and personal, is eighteen pence in the pound, fully rated; and the tax on the profits of trades and professions, with other taxes, do, I suppose, make full half a crown in the pound.

_Q._ Do you know anything of the _rate of exchange_ in Pennsylvania, and whether it has fallen lately?

_A._ It is commonly from one hundred and seventy to one hundred and seventy-five. I have heard that it has fallen lately from one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and sixty-two and a half, owing, I suppose, to their lessening their orders for goods; and when their debts to this country are paid, I think the exchange will probably be at par.

_Q._ Do not you think the people of America would submit to pay the stamp duty if it was moderated?

_A._ No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. * * * *

_Q._ What was the temper of America towards Great Britain _before the year_ 1763?

_A._ The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of the crown, and paid in their courts obedience to acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper: they were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain; for its laws, its customs, and manners; and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be an _Old England-man_ was, of itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us.

_Q._ And what is their temper now?

_A._ Oh, very much altered.

_Q._ Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament to make laws for America questioned till lately?

_A._ The authority of Parliament was allowed to be valid in all laws, except such as should lay internal taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties to regulate commerce.

_Q._ In what proportion had population increased in America?

_A._ I think the inhabitants of all the provinces together, taken at a medium, double in about twenty-five years. But their demand for British manufactures increases much faster; as the consumption is not merely in proportion to their numbers, but grows with the growing abilities of the same numbers to pay for them. In 1723, the whole importation from Britain to Pennsylvania was but about L15,000 sterling; it is now near half a million.

_Q._ In what light did the people of America use to consider the Parliament of Great Britain?

_A._ They considered the Parliament as the great bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges, and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they relied on it that the Parliament, on application, would always give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into Parliament, with a clause to make royal instructions laws in the colonies, which the House of Commons would not pass, and it was thrown out.

_Q._ And have they not still the same respect for Parliament?

_A._ No, it is greatly lessened.

_Q._ To what cause is that owing?

_A._ To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into the colonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper money among themselves,[19] and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive and hear their humble petitions.

_Q._ Don't you think they would submit to the stamp-act if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty reduced to some particulars of small moment?

_A._ No, they will never submit to it.

_Q._ What do you think is the reason that the people in America increase faster than in England?

_A._ Because they marry younger and more generally.

_Q._ Why so?

_A._ Because any young couple that are industrious may easily obtain land of their own, on which they can raise a family.

_Q._ Are not the lower rank of people more at their ease in America than in England?

_A._ They may be so if they are sober and diligent, as they are better paid for their labour.

_Q._ What is your opinion of a future tax, imposed on the same principle with that of the stamp-act? How would the Americans receive it?

_A._ Just as they do this. They would not pay it.

_Q._ Have you not heard of the resolutions of this house and of the House of Lords, asserting the right of Parliament relating to America, including a power to tax the people there?

_A._ Yes, I have heard of such resolutions.

_Q._ What will be the opinion of the Americans on those resolutions?

_A._ They will think them unconstitutional and unjust.

_Q._ Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that the Parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties there?

_A._ I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to regulate commerce, but a right to lay internal taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are not represented there.

_Q._ On what do you found your opinion, that the people in America made any such distinction?

_A._ I know that whenever the subject has occurred in conversation where I have been present, it has appeared to be the opinion of every one, that we could not be taxed by a Parliament wherein we were not represented. But the payment of duties laid by an act of Parliament as regulations of commerce was never disputed.

_Q._ But can you name any act of Assembly, or public act of any of your governments, that made such distinction?

_A._ I do not know that there was any; I think there was never an occasion to make any such act, till now that you have attempted to tax us: _that_ has occasioned resolutions of Assembly declaring the distinction, in which I think every Assembly on the continent, and every member in every Assembly, have been unanimous. * * * *

_Q._ You say the colonies have always submitted to external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament only, in laying internal taxes; now, can you show that there is any kind of _difference between the two taxes_ to the colony on which they may be laid?

_A._ I think the difference is very great. An _external_ tax is a duty laid on commodities imported; that duty is added to the first cost and other charges on the commodity, and, when it is offered for sale, makes a part of the price. If the people do not like it at that price, they refuse it; they are not obliged to pay it. But an _internal_ tax is forced from the people without their consent, if not laid by their own representatives. The stamp-act says we shall have no commerce, make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry nor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums; and thus it is intended to extort our money from us, or ruin us by the consequences of refusing to pay it.

_Q._ But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid on the necessaries of life imported into your colony, will not that be the same thing in its effects as an internal tax?

_A._ I do not know a single article imported into the _northern_ colonies but what they can either do without or make themselves.

_Q._ Don't you think cloth from England absolutely necessary to them?

_A._ No, by no means absolutely necessary; with industry and good management, they may well supply themselves with all they want.

_Q._ Will it not take a long time to establish that manufacture among them; and must they not, in the mean while, suffer greatly?

_A._ I think not. They have made a surprising progress already; and I am of opinion that, before their old clothes are worn out, they will have new ones of their own making.

_Q._ Can they possibly find wool enough in North America?

_A._ They have taken steps to increase the wool. They entered into general combinations to eat no more lamb; and very few lambs were killed last year. This course, persisted in, will soon make a prodigious difference in the quantity of wool. And the establishing of great manufactories, like those in the clothing towns here, is not necessary, as it is where the business is to be carried on for the purposes of trade. The people will all spin and work for themselves, in their own houses.

_Q._ Can there be wool and manufacture enough in one or two years?

_A._ In three years I think there may.

_Q._ Does not the severity of the winter in the northern colonies occasion the wool to be of bad quality?

_A._ No, the wool is very fine and good. * * * *

_Q._ Considering the resolution of Parliament[20] _as to the right_, do you think, if the stamp-act is repealed, that the North Americans will be satisfied?

_A._ I believe they will.

_Q._ Why do you think so?

A. I think the resolutions of _right_ will give them very little concern if they are never attempted to be carried into practice. The colonies will probably consider themselves in the same situation in that respect with Ireland: they know you claim the same right with regard to Ireland, but you never exercise it. And they may believe you never will exercise it in the colonies any more than in Ireland, unless on some very extraordinary occasion.

_Q._ But who are to be the judges of that extraordinary occasion? Is not the Parliament?

_A._ Though the Parliament may judge of the occasion, the people will think it can never exercise such right till representatives from the colonies are admitted into Parliament; and that, whenever the occasion arises, representatives _will_ be ordered. * *

_Q._ Can anything less than a military force carry the stamp-act into execution?

_A._ I do not see how a military force can be applied to that purpose.

_Q._ Why may it not?

_A._ Suppose a military force sent into America, they will find nobody in arms; what are they then to do? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will not find a rebellion: they may indeed make one.

_Q._ If the act is not repealed, what do you think will be the consequence?

_A._ A total loss of the respect and affection the people of America bear to this country, and of all the commerce that depends on that respect and affection.

_Q._ How can the commerce be affected?

_A._ You will find that, if the act is not repealed, they will take very little of your manufactures in a short time.

_Q._ Is it in their power to do without them?

_A._ I think they may very well do without them.

_Q._ Is it their interest not to take them?

_A._ The goods they take from Britain are either necessaries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. The first, as cloth, &c., with a little industry they can make at home; the second they can do without till they are able to provide them among themselves; and the last, which are much the greatest part, they will strike off immediately. They are mere articles of fashion, purchased and consumed because the fashion in a respected country; but will now be detested and rejected. The people have already struck-off, by general agreement, the use of all goods fashionable in mournings, and many thousand pounds worth are sent back as unsaleable.

_Q._ Is it their interest to make cloth at home?

_A._ I think they may at present get it cheaper from Britain, I mean of the same fineness and neatness of workmanship; but when one considers other circumstances, the restraints on their trade, and the difficulty of making remittances, it is their interest to make everything.

_Q._ Suppose an act of internal regulations connected with a tax, how would they receive it?

_A._ I think it would be objected to.

_Q._ Then no regulation with a tax would be submitted to?

_A._ Their opinion is, that when aids to the crown are wanted, they are to be asked of the several assemblies, according to the old established usage; who will, as they always have done, grant them freely. And that their money ought not to be given away without their consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted with their circumstances and abilities. The granting aids to the crown is the only means they have of recommending themselves to their sovereign; and they think it extremely hard and unjust that a body of men, in which they have no representatives, should make a merit to itself of giving and granting what is not their own, but theirs; and deprive them of a right they esteem of the utmost importance, as it is the security of all their other rights.

_Q._ But is not the postoffice, which they have long received, a tax as well as a regulation?

_A._ No; the money paid for the postage of a letter is not of the nature of a tax; it is merely a _quantum meruit_ for a service done: no person is compellable to pay the money if he does not choose to receive the service. A man may still, as before the act, send his letter by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thinks it cheaper and safer.

_Q._ But do they not consider the regulations of the postoffice, by the act of last year, as a tax?

_A._ By the regulations of last year, the rate of postage was generally abated near thirty per cent. through all America; they certainly cannot consider such abatement _as a tax_.

_Q._ If an excise was laid by Parliament, which they might likewise avoid paying by not consuming the articles excised, would they then not object to it?

_A._ They would certainly object to it, as an excise is unconnected with any service done, and is merely an aid, which they think ought to be asked of them and granted by them, if they are to pay it, and can be granted for them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not empowered for that purpose.

_Q._ You say they do not object to the right of Parliament in laying duties on goods to be paid on their importation: now, is there any kind of difference between a duty on the _importation_ of goods and an excise on their _consumption_?