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brought into it: but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came in at the windows. I got up and looked out to fee what might be the occasion of it, when I faw the fun just rifing above the horizon, from whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my domestic having negligently omitted the preceding evening to close the shut-

ters.

I looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found It was but fix o'clock: and ftill thinking it fomething extraordinary that the fun should rife fo early, I looked into the almanack; where I found it to be the hour given for his rifing on that day. I looked forward too, and found he was to rife ftill earlier every day till towards the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded his rising fo long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me have never feen any figns of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard the astronomical part of the almanack, will be as much aftonifhed as I was, when they hear of his rifing fo early; and especially when I affure them, that he gives light as foon as he rifes. I am convinced of this. I am cer tain of the fact. One cannot be more certain of any fact, I faw it with my own eyes. And having repeated this obfervation the three following mornings, I found always precisely the fame refult.

Yet fo it happens, that when I fpeak of this discovery to others, I can easily perceive by their countenances, though they forbear expreffing it in words. that they do not quite believe me. One indeed, who is a learned natural philofopher, has affured me that I must certainly be mistaken as to the circumftance of the light coming into my room: for it being well known, as he fays, that there could be no light abroad at that hour, it follows that none could enter from without; and that of confequence, my windows being acci❤ dentally left open, instead of letting in the light, had only ferved to let out the darkness: and he ufed many ingenious arguments to fhew me how I raight by that means, have been deceived, I own that he puzzled me a little, but he did not fatisfy me; and the fubfequent obfervations I made as above mentioned, confirmed me in my firft opinion.

This event has given rife, in my mind, to feveral ferious and important reflections. I confidered that, if I had not

been awakened fo early in the morning, I fhould have flept Ax hours longer by the light of the fun, and in exchange have lived fix hours the following night by candle light; and the latter being a much more expensive light than the former, my love of economy induced me to mufter up what little arithmetic I was master of, and to make fome calculations, which I fhall give you, after obferving, that utility is, in my opinion, the test of value in matters of invention, and that a difcovery which can be applied to no ufe, or is nos good for fomething, is good for nothing.

I took for the bafes of my calculation the fuppofition that there are 100,000 families in Paris, and that these families confume in the night half a pound of bougies, or candles per hour. I think this is a moderate allowance, taking one family with another; for though I believe fome confume lefs, I know that many confume a great deal more. Then eftimating feven hours per day, as the medium quantity between the time of the fun's rifing and ours, he rifing during the fix following months from fix to eight hours be fore noon, and there being seven hours of course per night in which we burn candles, the account will stand thus

In the fix months between the twen

tieth of March and the twentieth of September, there are Nights Hours of each night which we burn candles

Multiplication gives for the total number

of hours

Thefe 1,281 hours multiplied by 100,000, the number of inhabitants, give

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One hundred twenty eight millions
and one hundred thousand hours, spent at
Paris by candle-light, which, at half a
pound of wax and tallow per hour, gives
the weight of
Sixty-four millions and fifty thousand of
pounds, which, eftimating the whole at the
medium price of thirty fols the pound,
makes the fum of ninety-fix millions and
feventy-five thousand livres tournois

183

3,282

128,100,000

64,050,00

96,075,000

An immenfe fum! that the city of Paris might fave every year, by the economy of using funfhine inftead of candles.

If it should be faid, that the people are apt to be obstinately attached to old cuftoms, and that it will be difficult to induce them to rife before noon, confequently my difcovery can be of little ufe; I anfwer, Nil defperandum. I believe all who have common fenfe, as foon as they have learnt from this paper that it is day-light when the fun rifes, will contrive to rife with him; and, to compel the rest, I would propofe the following regulations:

First let a tax be laid of a louis per window, on every window that is provided with shutters to keep out the light

of the fun.

Second. Let the fame falutary operation of police be made use of to prevent our burning candles, that inclined us laft winter to be more economical in burning wood : that is, let guards be placed in the fhops of the wax and tallow chandlers, and no family be permitted to be fupplied with more than one pound of candles per week.

Third. Let guards be posted to stop all the coaches, &c. that would pass the streets after sun-set, except those of phyficians, furgeons and midwives.

Fourth. Every morning, as foon as the fun rifes, let all the bells in every church be fet ringing; and if that is not fufficient, let cannon be fired in every street, and wake the fluggards effectually, "and make them open their eyes to see

their true interest.

All the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which the reformation, will be as natural and easy as the prefent irregularity: for, ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute. Oblige a man to rife at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he shall go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight hours fleep, he will rife more willingly at four the morning following. But this fum of ninety-fix millions and feventy-five thousand livres is not the whole of what may be faved by my œconomical project. You may obferve, that I have calculated upon only one half of the year, and much may be saved in the other, though the days are fhorter. Befides, the immense ftock of wax and tallow left unconfumed during the fummery will probably make candles much cheaper for the en

fuing winter, and continue cheaper as long as the propofed reformation fhall be fupported.

For the great benefit of this difcovery, thus freely communicated and bestowed by me on the public, I demand neither place, penfion, exclufive privilege, nor any other reward whatever. I expect only to have the honour of it. And yet I know there are little envious minds who will, as ufual, deny me this, and fay that my invention was known to the ancients, and perhaps they may bring passages out of the old books in proof of it. I will not difpute with these people that the ancients knew not the fun would rife at certain hours: they poffibly had, as we have, almanacks that predicted it; but it does not follow from thence that they knew he gave light as foon as he rofe. This is what I claim as my difcovery. If the ancients knew it, it must have long fince been forgotten, for it certainly was unknown to the moderns, at least to the Parifians; which to prove, I need ufe but one plain fimple argument. They are as well inftructed, judicious, and prudent a people as exist any where in the world, all profeffing, like myself, to be lovers of œconomy; and, from the many heavy taxes required from them by the neceffities of the ftate, have furely reason to be œconomical. I fay it is impoffible that fo fenfible a people, under fuch circumstances, fhould have lived fo long by the fmoky, unwholesome. and enormously expensive light of candles, if they had really known, that they might have had as much pure light of the fun for nothing. I am, &c.

-་ཡ*

AN ABONNE.

ON MODERN INNOVATIONS in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE, and in PRINTING.

I

TO NOAH WEBSTER, jun: Efq. at HARTFORD.

DEAR SIR,

Philadelphia, Dec. 26, 1789.

RECEIVED, fome time fince, your Differtations on the English Language. It is an excellent work and will be greatly useful in turning the thoughts of our countrymen to

correct writing. Pleafe to accept my thanks for it, as well as for the great honor you have done me in its dedication. I ought to have made this acknowledgement fooner, but much indifpofition prevented me.

I cannot but applaud your zeal for preferving the purity of our language both in its expreffion and pronunciation, and in correcting the popular errors feveral of our states are continually falling into with respect to both. Give me leave to mention fome of them, though poffibly they may already have occured to you. I wish, however, that in fome future publication of yours you would fet a discountenancing mark upon them, The first I remember, is the word improved. When I left New-England in the year 1723, this word had never been used among us, as far as I know, but in the fenfe of ameliorated, or made better, except once in a very old book of Dr. Mather's, entitled, Remarkable Providences. As that man wrote a very obfcure hand, I remember that when I read that word in his book, used instead of the word employed, I conjectured that it was an error of the printer, who had mistaken a short/in the writing for an 7, and ay with too fhort a tail for a v, whereby employed was converted into improved: but when I returned to Bofton in 1733, I found this change had obtained favour, and was then become common; for I met with it often in perufing the newspapers, where it frequently made an appearance rather ridiculous. Such, for inftance, as the advertisement of a country houfe to be fold, which had been many years improved as a tavern; and in the character of a deceased country gentleman, that he had been, for more than thirty years, improved as a juftice of the peace. This use of the word improve is peculiar to New-England, and not to be met with among any other speakers of English, either on this or the other fide of the water.

During my late abfence in France, I find that feveral other new words have been introduced into our parliamentary language. For example, I find a verb formed from the fubftantive notice. I should not have noticed this were it not that the gentleman, &c. Alfo another verb, from the subftantive advocate; The gentleman who advocates, or who has advocated that motion, &c. Another from the fubftantive progress, the most awkward and abominable of the three: The comimt

tee having progreffed, refolved to adjourn. The word opposed

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