Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/209

199 to compel the reſt, I would propoſe the following regulations.

Firſt. Let a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that is provided with ſhutters to keep out the light of the ſun. Second. Let the ſame ſalutary operation of police be made uſe of to prevent our burning candles, that inclined us laſt winter to be more œconomical in burning wood; that is, let guards be placed in the ſhops of the wax and tallow-chandlers, and no family be permitted to be ſupplied with more than one pound of candles per week. Third. Let guards alſo be poſted to ſtop all the coaches, &c. that would paſs the ſtreets after ſunſet, except thoſe of phyſicians, ſurgeons, and mid wives.

Fourth. Every morning, as ſoon as the ſun riſes, let all the bells in every church be ſet ringing: and if that is not ſufficient, let cannon be fired in every ſtreet, to wake the ſluggards effectually, and make them open their eyes to ſee their true intereſt.

All the difficulty will be in the firſt two or three days; after which the reformation will be as natural and eaſy as the preſent irregularity: for, ce n'eſt que le premier pas qui coute. Oblige a man to riſe at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he ſhall go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight hours ſleep, he will riſe more willingly at four the morning following. But this ſum of ninety-fix millions and ſeventy-five thouſand livres is not the whole of what may be ſaved by my œconomical project. You may obſerve, that I have calculated upon only one half of the year, and much may be ſaved in the other, though the days are ſhorter. Beſides, the immenſe ſtock of wax and tallow left unconſumed during the ſummer, will