The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Illustrated by Tales, Sketches, and AnecdotesGoodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
History
The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Illustrated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes
Goodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790; Statesmen -- United States -- Biography
16. "We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister, Mr.
Beatty, who complained to me that the men did not generally attend his
prayers and exhortations. When they enlisted they were promised,
besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which was punctually
served out to them, half in the morning and half in the evening, and I
observed they were punctual in attending to receive it.
17. "Upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, 'It is perhaps below the dignity
of your profession to act as steward of the rum; but if you were to
distribute it out only just after prayers, you would have them all
about you.' He liked the thought, undertook the task, and, with the
help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to
satisfaction; and never were prayers more generally and more
punctually attended. So that I think this method preferable to the
punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on
divine service.
18. "I had hardly finished this business, and got my fort well stored
with provisions, when I received a letter from the governor,
acquainting me that he had called the assembly, and wished my
attendance there, if the posture of affairs on the frontiers was such
that my remaining there was no longer necessary. My friends, too, of
the assembly pressing me by their letters to be, if possible, at the
meeting, and my three intended forts being now completed, and the
inhabitants contented to remain on their farms under that protection,
I resolved to return; the more willingly, as a New-England officer,
Colonel Clapham, experienced in Indian war, being on a visit to our
establishment, consented to accept the command.
19. "I gave him a commission, and, parading the garrison, had it read
before them, and introduced him to them as an officer, who, from his
skill in military affairs, was much more fit to command them than
myself; and giving them a little exhortation, took my leave. I was
escorted as far as Bethlehem, where I rested a few days to recover
from the fatigue I had undergone. The first night, lying on a good
bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different from my hard lodging on
the floor of a hut at Gnadenhutten, with only a blanket or two.
20. "While at Bethlehem, I inquired a little into the practices of the
Moravians; some of them had accompanied me, and all were very kind to
me. I found they worked for a common stock, ate at common tables, and
slept in common dormitories, great numbers together. In the
dormitories I observed loop-holes at certain distances, all along just
under the ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed for change of
air. I went to their church, where I was entertained with good music,
the organ being accompanied with violins, hautboys, flutes, and
clarionets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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