30G 



THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA 



Financial 

 Mainstay 

 of the 

 Government 



Often 

 Misjudged 



Yellow Fever 

 Episode 



Founding 

 Girard College 



harvest- time would speud twelve hours at a time with the 

 pitchfork loading the hay wagon. 



This was the man who at the opening of the War of 

 1812 bought out the old Bank of the United States, and 

 during the war was the financial mainstay of the govern- 

 ment. In 1814 when the government called for a loan of 

 $5,000,000 the subscriptions amounted to only $20,000. 

 The credit of the country was at its lowest ebb ; but 

 Girard had faith in the nation and saved the day by 

 coming out from behind the ramparts of his bank and 

 advancing the entire sum. He did not stickle about the 

 interest ; he had faith, and he could wait for that, he 

 said. 



In childhood Girard had sustained an accident which 

 blinded one of his eyes and gave a distorted twist to his 

 features. The bitterness attendant upon this was prob- 

 ably the cause in part of his shyness and unsocial habits. 

 Many of his contemporaries thought him harsh and re- 

 clusive, but this opinion undoubtedly arose from his man- 

 ner rather than from any lack of kindness and humanity 

 in Girard' s heart, for the open record of his life is suffi- 

 cient evidence of his altruistic nature. During the 

 epidemic of yellow fever which swept over Philadelphia in 

 1793, he was insti-umental in organizing a hospital for the 

 plague-stricken people and gave largely to it. And when 

 no one could be hired to take charge of it, Girard him- 

 self, although his business interests suffered greatly from 

 his absence, went to the hospital aud for sixty days 

 laboured with might and main to establish order and 

 cleanliness. 



During his life he gave thousands of dollars to the city 

 of Philadelphia for public improvements and was a 

 liberal contributor to many churches and various chari- 

 ties. At his death he left about nine million dollars to 

 philanthropic enterprises, his principal bequest being the 

 orphanage known as Girard College. This unique insti- 

 tution receives orphans between the ages of six and ten 



