THE CULTIVATOR. 
84 
and coming round found myself again at Market-street wharf, near 
the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught of the river wa¬ 
ter; and being filled with one of my rolls gave the other two to a 
woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, 
and were waiting to go farther. Thus refreshed, I walked again up 
the street, which by this time had many clean dressed people in it, 
who were walking the same way; I joined them and thereby was 
led into the great meeting-house of the Quakers near the market. 
I sat down among them, and after looking round awhile, and hear¬ 
ing nothing said, being very drowsy, through labor and the want of 
rest the preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continued so till the 
meeting broke up, when some one was kind enough to rouse me.— 
This therefore was the first house I was in, or slept in, in Philadel¬ 
phia.”— Franklin’s Mem. vol. 1, pp. 24, 25. 
Before the rupture between Great Britain and these States, in 
1775, Franklin resided in London, as a colonial agent. While there 
he attracted the notice of the elder Pitt, then Lord Chatham, who 
headed the opposition to Lord North’s administration. Lord Chat¬ 
ham not only paid to Franklin the civilities due to a man of worth, 
but counselled him, and made him a confidant, on subjects connect¬ 
ed with American affairs ; and when about to present to Parliament 
a plan of pacification between the mother country and her colonies, 
invited him to be present at the presentation. The subjoined ex¬ 
tract relates to what took place on that occasion. 
“On Wednesday, Lord Stanhope, at Lord Chatham’s request, 
called upon me, and carried me down to the house of lords, which 
■was soon very full. Lord Chatham, in a most excellent speech, in¬ 
troduced, explained and supported his plan. When he sat down, 
Lord Dartmouth rose, and very properly said, it contained matter of 
su"h weight and magnitude as to require much consideration, and 
therefore he hoped the noble earl did not expect their lordships to 
decide upon it by an immediate vote, but would be willing it should 
lie on the table for consideration. Lord Chatham answered readily, 
that he expected nothing more. But Lord Sandwich rose, and in a 
petulant, vehement speech, opposed its being received at all, and 
gave his opinion, that it ought to be immediately rejected, with the 
contempt it deserved ; that he could never believe it to be the pro¬ 
duction of any British peer; that it appeared to him rather the work 
of some American; and turning his face towards me, who was lean¬ 
ing on the bar, said, he fancied he had in his eye the person who 
drew it up, one of the bitterest and most mischievous enemies this 
country had ever known.” “ Lord Chatham, in his reply to Lord 
Sandwich, took notice of his illiberal insinuation, that the plan was 
not the person’s who proposed it; declared that it was entirely his 
own, a declaration he thought himself the more obliged to make, as 
many of their lordships appeared to have so mean an opinion of it; 
for if it was so weak or so bad a thing, it was proper in him to take 
care that no other person should unjustly share in the censure it de¬ 
served. That it had heretofore been reckoned his vice not to take ad¬ 
vice ; but he made no scruple to declare, that if he were the first 
minister of this country [which he afterwards was] and had the care 
of settling this momentous business, he should not be ashamed of 
publicly calling to his assistance, a person so wholly acquainted with 
American affairs as the gentleman alluded to, and so injuriously re¬ 
flected on; one, he was pleased to say, whom all Europe held in 
high estimation, for his knowledge and wisdom, and ranked with 
our Boyles and Newtons ; who was an honour, not to the English 
nation only, but to human nature !”— Vol. 1. Memoirs, pp. 323, 
324. 
This deserved compliment to our countryman could hardly have 
come from a higher source. 
How, the young reader will naturally inquire, did Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin rise to so high a condition from so humble an origin 1 By the 
same means, we answer, that any young man, following his exam¬ 
ple, may acquire knowledge and wealth—the means, if well appli¬ 
ed, of rendering him respectable, useful and happy. Franklin enjoy¬ 
ed no greater advantages of education, or of friends, in his youth, than 
thousands do who will read these remarks. The whole secret is this: 
He Resolved to be a good and a great man, and relied, under the 
blessings of Providence, upon his OWN exertions to effect his end 
—and he nobly achieved his object. He early adopted definite rules for 
the government of his conduct, which had a controlling influence in 
his after life. These rules, among other things, inculcated study 
and reflection, and temperance, industry, frugality and justice. In 
the next number of the Cultivator, we shall speak of these rules, 
and his manner of enforcing them, more at large, that those who 
are ambitious of following his footsteps, though at a remote distance, 
may profit by them.— Cultivator. 
THE CULTIVATOR-SEPT. 1834 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
DRAINING. 
The operation of draining is performed to free land from an ex¬ 
cess of water. Where such excess is allowed to remain, ploughing 
can only be imperfectly performed, and few of the cultivated crops 
can be grown with profit. Superfluous water is hurtful in the soil, 
and also in the subsoil, if it lies within the range of the roots of farm 
crops, by excluding air and heat, the vivifying influence of which, in 
the soil, is essential to healthy growth, and to the decomposition of 
vegetable food. If this water comes from springs, its temperature 
is too cold for cultivated plants; and if it settles from the surface, it 
stagnates, and during the heats of summer becomes deleterious 
alike to the health of plants and animals. Draining, therefore, is of 
primary inmortance upon most of our cultivated farms. And as the 
season has arrived when this operation is best performed, and when 
the laborers upon a farm have most leisure, we propose to make it 
the subject of a few remarks. 
A superabundance of water may arise from various causes, singly 
or combined, and various methods of draining are practised for its 
removal. 
Where there is a flat or slightly inclined surface, and a tenacious 
subsoil, of clay or hardpan, the rains that fall are arrested in their 
descent by the latter, and produce a cold, wet, uncongenial berth for 
healthy and vigorous vegetation. The best remedy in this case 
is under-draining—because it is believed the cheapest and most 
efficient mode, and causes no waste of land. When this tena¬ 
cious subsoil is thin, and is underlaid by a porous stratum, the sur¬ 
plus water is often got rid of by boring or sinking pits through the 
tenacious layer. Pits or wells for this purpose are filled with large 
stones, and serve as outlets to the drains. 
A tenacious subsoil is sometimes disposed in a concave or hollow 
form, the exterior raised and the centre depressed, so as to retain 
the water, and form ponds or marshes. These can only be drained 
bv an outlet through their rims, sunk below the level of the basin, 
into which lateral drains, covered or open, may be made to empty, 
to the extent required. 
A tenacious subsoil may overlay a porous one, which is filled with 
water ; and if the strata incline from a horizontal position, as they 
generally do, the water from below will frequently burst through the 
subsoil and become prejudicial to tillage husbandry. The evil here 
is to be remedied by cutting underdrains, through the tenacious sub¬ 
soil, or by pits through it, by which the water may at once rise and 
be carried off by drains. A substantial drain across the upper bor¬ 
der of a field, Will often be sufficient, in this way, to lay dry the 
grounds below. 
When both the soil and subsoil are tenacious clay or hardpan, 
draining will effect but little benefit, except in preventing the ap¬ 
proach of waters from other grounds. Resort must be here had to 
ridging, or underdrains repeated at intervals of 20 to 25 feet. 
In many cases springs burst forth, in marshy grounds, and spread 
their waters over a wide extent, without being perceptible to the su¬ 
perficial observer. These should be intercepted at or near the source, 
so that their waters do not spread and saturate the soil, by sufficient 
drains, which may be covered, or blind drains, and should terminate 
in the main drain, or upon a lower surface. 
The last cause of a superabundance of water which we shall no¬ 
tice, is that where, originating from springs, it descends from higher 
grounds, and saturates the slope, and perhaps the level at its base, 
so as to render the grounds in a measure unproductive. A porous 
soil often conceals the water from observation, as it filters through 
it without coming to the surface, but it nevertheless renders the soil 
cold and unproductive. These waters should be arrested and car¬ 
ried off by horizontal drains across the slope, as near the source of 
the spring as practicable; perhaps at intervals below, and also at 
the base of the slope. These drains should be so deep, where it is 
practicable, as to afford an ample channel for the water in the hard 
subsoil, as otherwise the water will continue to pass down upon the 
face of the subsoil, and under the drains. These should be covered 
drains also, as being more efficient in remedying the evil than open 
drains, and if well constructed, requiring no repair. 
