Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond came to me with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receipt of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne.  I looked grave, and said it would, I thought, be time enough to prepare for the rejoicing when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice.  They seem’d surpris’d that I did not immediately comply with their proposal.  “Why the d—­l!” says one of them, “you surely don’t suppose that the fort will not be taken?” “I don’t know that it will not be taken, but I know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty.”  I gave them the reasons of my doubting; the subscription was dropt, and the projectors thereby missed the mortification they would have undergone if the firework had been prepared.  Dr. Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said that he did not like Franklin’s forebodings.

Governor Morris, who had continually worried the Assembly with message after message before the defeat of Braddock, to beat them into the making of acts to raise money for the defense of the province, without taxing, among others, the proprietary estates, and had rejected all their bills for not having such an exempting clause, now redoubled his attacks with more hope of success, the danger and necessity being greater.  The Assembly, however, continu’d firm, believing they had justice on their side, and that it would be giving up an essential right if they suffered the governor to amend their money-bills.  In one of the last, indeed, which was for granting fifty thousand pounds, his propos’d amendment was only of a single word.  The bill expressed “that all estates, real and personal, were to be taxed, those of the proprietaries not excepted.”  His amendment was, for not read only:  a small, but very material alteration.  However, when the news of this disaster reached England, our friends there, whom we had taken care to furnish with all the Assembly’s answers to the governor’s messages, rais’d a clamor against the proprietaries for their meanness and injustice in giving their governor such instructions; some going so far as to say that, by obstructing the defense of their province, they forfeited their right to it.  They were intimidated by this, and sent orders to their receiver-general to add five thousand pounds of their money to whatever sum might be given by the Assembly for such purpose.

This, being notified to the House, was accepted in lieu of their share of a general tax, and a new bill was form’d, with an exempting clause, which passed accordingly.  By this act I was appointed one of the commissioners for disposing of the money, sixty thousand pounds.  I had been active in modelling the bill and procuring its passage, and had, at the same time, drawn a bill for establishing and disciplining of a voluntary militia, which I carried thro’ the House without much difficulty, as care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at their liberty.  To promote the association necessary to form the militia, I wrote a dialogue,<14> stating and answering all the objections I could think of to such a militia, which was printed, and had, as I thought, great effect.