69. PREFACE TO POOR RICHARD IMPROVED: 1748 (P. H. S.) Kind Reader The favourable Reception my annual Labours have met with from the Publick these 15 Years past, has engaged me in Gratitude to endeavour some Improvements of my Almanack. And since my Friend Taylor is no more, whose Ephemerides so long and so agreeably serv'd and entertain'd these Provinces, I have taken the Liberty to imitate his well-known Method, and give two Pages for each Month; which affords me Room for several valuable Additions, as will best appear on Inspection and Comparison with former Almanacks. Yet I have not so far follow'd his Method, as not to continue my own when I thought it preferable; and thus my Book is increas'd to a Size beyond his, and contains much more Matter. Hail Night serene! thro' Thee where'er we turn But lo! - what's that I see appear? It seems far off a pointed flame; From Earthwards too the shining Meteor came: How swift it climbs th' etherial Space! And now it traverses each Sphere, And seems some knowing Mind, familiar to the Place, And lead me on thro' all th' unbeaten Wilds of Day; Where Planets in pure Streams of Ether driven, Swim thro' the blue Expanse of Heav'n. There let me, thy Companion, stray From Orb to Orb, and now behold Souse down into Prose again, my Muse; for Poetry's no more thy Element, than Air is that of the Flying-Fish; whose Flights, like thine, are therefore always short and heavy. -1 1 Then follows an account from Middleton of the severe cold of British America, in the neighbourhood of Hudson Bay. - ED. 70. PLAIN TRUTH:1 (P. H. S.) OR, SERIOUS CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY OF AND PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA BY A TRADESMAN OF PHILADELPHIA Captâ urbe, nihil fit reliqui victis. Sed, per deos immortales, vos ego appello, qui semper domos, villas, signa, tabulas vestras, tantæ æstimationis fecistis; si ista, cujuscumque modi sint, quæ amplexamini, retinere, si voluptatibus vestris otium præbere vultis; expergiscimini aliquando, et capessite rempublicam. Non agitur nunc... de sociorum injuriis; LIBERTAS ET ANIMA nostra in dubio est.... Dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est. Vos cunctamini etiam nunc, et dubitatis quid... faciatis ?... Scilicet res ipsa aspera est, sed vos non timetis eam. Imo vero maxime; sed inertiâ et mollitiâ animi, alius alium exspectantes, cunctamini; videlicet, Diis immortalibus confisi, qui hanc rempublicam in maxumis periculis servavere. Non votis, neque suppliciis muliebribus, auxilia deorum parantur: vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo, prospere omnia cedunt. Ubi socordiæ tete (sic) atque ignaviæ tradideris, nequicquam deos implores; irati, infestique sunt. M. POR. CATO, in SALUST. PRINTED IN THE YEAR MDCCXLVII 2 1 Published November 14, 1747. See the biographical sketch in Vol. X for a full history of this tract.— Ed. 2 The design and the wood-cut are not badly executed. At the bottom is a part of the motto inserted in the title-page; Non votis [neque suppliciis muliebribus, auxilia deorum parantur]. — ED. 336 IT is said the wise Italians make this proverbial Remark on our Nation, viz. "The English feel, but they do not see." That is, they are sensible of Inconveniencies when they are present, but do not take sufficient Care to prevent them: their natural Courage makes them too little apprehensive of Danger, so that they are often surpriz'd by it, unprovided of the proper Means of Security. When 'tis too late, they are sensible of their Imprudence: After great Fires, they provide Buckets and Engines: after a Pestilence they think of keeping clean their Streets and common Shores: and when a Town has been sack'd by their Enemies, they provide for its Defence, &c. This Kind of After-Wisdom is indeed so common with us, as to occasion the vulgar, tho' very significant Saying, When the Steed is stolen, you shut the Stable Door. But the more insensible we generally are of publick Danger, and indifferent when warn'd of it, so much the more freely, openly, and earnestly, ought such as apprehend it, to speak their Sentiments; that if possible, those who seem to sleep, may be awaken'd, to think of some Means of Avoiding or Preventing the Mischief before it be too late. Believing therefore that 'tis my Duty, I shall honestly speak my Mind in the following Paper. War, at this Time, rages over a great Part of the known World; our News-Papers are Weekly filled with fresh Accounts of the Destruction it everywhere occasions. Pennsylvania, indeed, situate in the Center of the Colonies, has hitherto enjoy'd profound Repose; and tho' our Nation is engag'd in a bloody War, with two great and powerful Kingdoms, yet, defended, in a great Degree, from the French on the one Hand, by the Northern Provinces, and from the VOL. II-Z Spaniards on the other by the Southern, at no small Expence to each, our People have, till lately, slept securely in their Habitations. There is no British Colony excepting this, but has made some Kind of Provision for its Defence; many of them have therefore never been attempted by an Enemy; and others. that were attack'd, have generally defended themselves with Success. The Length and Difficulty of our Bay and River have been thought so effectual a Security to us, that hitherto no Means have been entered into that might discourage an Attempt upon us, or prevent its succeeding. But whatever Security this might have been while both Country and City were poor, and the Advantage to be expected scarce worth the Hazard of an Attempt, it is now doubted whether we can any longer safely depend upon it. Our Wealth, of late Years much encreas'd, is one strong Temptation, our defenceless State another, to induce an Enemy to attack us; while the Acquaintance they have lately gained with our Bay and River, by Means of the Prisoners and Flags of Truce they have had among us; by Spies which they almost everywhere maintain, and perhaps from Traitors among ourselves; with the Facility of getting Pilots to conduct them; and the known Absence of Ships of War, during the greatest Part of the Year, from both Virginia and New-York, ever since the War began, render the Appearance of Success to the Enemy far more promising, and therefore highly encrease our Danger. That our Enemies may have Spies abroad, and some even in these Colonies, will not be made much doubt of, when 'tis considered, that such has been the Practice of all Nations in all Ages, whenever they were engaged, or intended to |