Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/132

122 as ſoon as two thouſand pounds were ſubſcribed, the fame fum ſhould be drawn from the treaſury by the ſpeaker's warrant, to be applied to the purpoſes of the inſtitution. The oppoſition, as the ſum was granted upon a contingency which they ſuppoſed would never take place, were ſilent, and the bill paſſed. The friends of the plan now redoubled their efforts, to obtain ſubſcriptions to the amount ſtated in the bill, and were ſoon ſucceſsful. This was the foundation of the Pennſylvania Hoſpital, which, with the Bettering-houſe and Diſpenſary, bears ample teſtimony of the humanity of the citizens of Philadelphia.

Dr. Franklin had conducted himſelf ſo well in the office of poft-maſter, and had ſhown himſelf to be ſo well acquainted with the buſineſs of that department, that it was thought expedient to raiſe him to a more dignified ſtation. In 1753 he was appointed deputy poſt-maſter-general for the. Britiſh colonies. The profits ariſing from the poſtage of letters formed no inconſiderable part of the revenue, which the crown of Great-Britain derived from theſe colonies. In the hands of Franklin, it is ſaid, that the poſt-office in America yielded annually thrice as much as that of Ireland.

The American colonies were much expoſed to depredations on their frontiers, by the Indians; and more particularly whenever a war took place between France and England. The colonies, individually, were either too weak to take efficient meaſures for their own defence, or they were unwilling to take upon themſelves the whole burden of erecting forts and maintaining garriſons, whilſt their neighbours, who partook equally with themſelves of the advantages, contributed nothing to the expence. Sometimes