bill for
incorporating the contributors according to the prayer of their
petition, and granting them a blank sum of money, which leave was
obtained chiefly on the consideration that the House could throw the
bill out if they did not like it, I drew it so as to make the
important clause a conditional one, viz., "And be it enacted, by the
authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors shall have met
and chosen their managers and treasurer, _and shall have raised by
their contributions a capital stock of----value_ (the yearly
interest of which is to be applied to the accommodating of the
sick poor in the said hospital, free of charge for diet, attendance,
advice, and medicines), _and shall make the same appear to the
satisfaction of the speaker of the Assembly for the time being_, that
_then_ it shall and may be lawful for the said speaker, and he is
hereby required, to sign an order on the provincial treasurer for the
payment of two thousand pounds, in two yearly payments, to the
treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied to the founding,
building, and finishing of the same."

This condition carried the bill through; for the members, who had
oppos'd the grant, and now conceiv'd they might have the credit of
being charitable without the expense, agreed to its passage; and then,
in soliciting subscriptions among the people, we urg'd the conditional
promise of the law as an additional motive to give, since every man's
donation would be doubled; thus the clause work'd both ways. The
subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite sum, and we
claim'd and receiv'd the public gift, which enabled us to carry the
design into execution. A convenient and handsome building was soon
erected; the institution has by constant experience been found useful,
and flourishes to this day; and I do not remember any of my political
manoeuvers, the success of which gave me at the time more pleasure,
or wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily excus'd myself for
having made some use of cunning.

It was about this time that another projector, the Rev. Gilbert
Tennent[89], came to me with a request that I would assist him in
procuring a subscription for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to
be for the use of a congregation he had gathered among the
Presbyterians, who were originally disciples of Mr. Whitefield.
Unwilling to make myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too
frequently soliciting their contributions, I abso