Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed, Volume 1 (of 2): A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own WritingsBruce, Wiliam Cabell
History
Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed, Volume 1 (of 2): A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings
Bruce, Wiliam Cabell
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
borrow what cannon they could from Governor George Clinton. Fortunately for
Pennsylvania, the cockles of that Governor's heart were of the kind that
glow and expand with generous benevolence when warmed by the bottle. At
first, he refused peremptorily to let the embassy have any cannon, but,
later on when he sat at meat, or rather drink, with the members of his
council, there was, we are told by Franklin in the _Autobiography_, great
drinking of Madeira wine, as the custom of New York then was. With the
progress of the dinner, he softened by degrees, and said that he would lend
six. After a few more bumpers, he advanced to ten, and, at length, he very
good-naturedly conceded eighteen. They were fine cannon, eighteen-pounders,
with their carriages, and were soon transported and mounted on the battery
in Pennsylvania, where the associators kept a nightly guard while the war
lasted; and where, among the rest, Franklin regularly took his turn of duty
as a common soldier.
The activity of Franklin at this conjuncture not only won him a high degree
of popularity with his fellow-citizens but also the good will of the
Governor of Pennsylvania and his Council, who took him into their
confidence, and consulted with him whenever it was felt that their
concurrence was needed by the association. When they approved his
suggestion that a fast should be proclaimed for the purpose of invoking the
blessing of Heaven upon the association, and it was found that no such
thing had ever been thought of in Pennsylvania before, he even fell back
upon his New England training, and drew up a proclamation for the purpose
in the usual form which was translated into German, printed in both English
and German, and circulated throughout the Province. The fast day fixed by
the paper gave the clergy of the different sects in Pennsylvania a
favorable opportunity for urging the members of their flocks to enroll
themselves as members of the association, and it was the belief of Franklin
that, if peace had not soon been declared, all the religious congregations
in the Province except those of the Quakers would have been enlisted in the
movement for the defence of the Province.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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