USA > Pennsylvania > The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. IX > Part 46
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The event of Mr. Ludwick's death was thus noticed in the public papers:
" DIED, on the evening of the 17th inst. in the 80th year of his age, Christopher Ludwick, Baker General of the army of the United States during the Revolutionary war. His life was marked by a variety of incidents, which, if known, would prove interesting to every class of readers. In all the stations in which he acted, he
was distinguished for his strong natural sense, strict pro- bity, great benevolence, and uncommon intrepidity in asserting the cause of public and private justice."
His remains were conveyed to Germantown on tho ensuing Friday, followed by a number of his friends, and were interred in the Lutheran churchyard, near the relics of his first wife. A sermon suitable to the occa- sion was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Shaffer.
Thus closed the long and chequered life of a most singular but worthy and useful man. Of the domestic virtues of Mr. Ludwick, the surviving branches of his family are the affectionate and grateful witnesses. Of his patriotism and integrity, the testimony of General Washington, will be a lasting record. Of his liberality, there is scarcely a public institution in Philadelphia, cs- tablished before his decease, that does not possess some monument. Three Africans, whom he had emancipat- ed, proclaimed in tears over his grave, his regard to justice and the equal rights of man; while more than fifty persons who had been taught reading, writing, and arithmetic at his expense, in different schools in the city and its neighborhood, summed up the evidence of his uncommon public beneficence. His private charities were like the fires that blazed perpetually upon tho Jewish altar. The principal part of his business for many years before he died, was to find out and relieve objects of distress. This was done with a delicacy and secrecy, that conferred a double pleasure and obliga- tion. Ile discriminated, it is true, in the distribution of his charities. To the tippler, and drunkard, his hand was always closed; when applied to by such persons for relief, he used to say, "he had not carried packs of four upon his back for twenty years, to help people to destroy themselves by strong drink."
The same just and charitable disposition which go- verned his actions in life, manifested itself in an eminent degree in his will; in which, after bequeathing various family legacies, he gives five hundred pounds, in equal shares, to the German Iteformed church in Philadel- phia, to the German Society, to the University of Penn- sylvania, and the Lutheran church at Beggarstown, to be employed in educating poor childeren. To the Pennsylvania Hospital, he gives one hundred pounds for the relief of poor patients, and to the Guardians of the Poor, two hundred pounds, to be laid out in fire wood for the use of the poor in Philadelphia. The re- sidue of his cstate is then disposed of by the following bequest, viz:
"ITEM. As I have, ever since I arrived to the years of discretion, seen the benefit and advantage that arise to the community by the cducation and instruction of poor children, and have earnestly desired that an insti- tution could be established in this city or liberties, for the education of poor children of all denominations gra- tis, without any exception to country, extraction, or religious principles of their friends or parents;and as the residue and remainder of my estate will, in my opinion, amount to upwards of three thousand pounds specie, I am willing that the same shall be my mite or contribu- tion towards such institution, and flatter myself that many others will add and contribute to the fund for so laudable a purpose. And therefore I ( will, devise, and direct that all the residde and remainder of my es- state, real and personal, whatsoever and wheresoever, not hereinbefore otherwise disposed of, shall be appro- priated as and towards a fund, for the schooling and cd- ucating gratis of poor children of all denominations, in the eity and liberties of Philadelphia, without any ex- ception to the country. extraction, or religious princi- ples of their parents or friends; and for that purpose shall be vested by my executors, or the survivors or sur- vivor of thein, or the executor of such survivor, in the public funds, or placed out at an interest on good and sufficient land security, or in the purchase of well-secu- cured ground rents; and the annual interest and income thereof, from time to time, used and applied by them my said executors and the survivors or survivor of them,
. The original document is now in the possession of the Philadelphia Society for the Establishment and Sup- port of Charity Schools.
164
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CHRISTOPHER LUDWICK.
[MARCH
and in case of all their deaths, then by the Guardians or Overseers of the Poor in the said city or liberties for the time being, and their successors, for the sole use and purpose of defraying the expense of schooling and educating such poor children of the said city or liber- ties, whose parents or friends cannot afford to pay for the same, without any exception as above mentioned, until an institution and free school on the liberal princi- ples as herein above mentioned, shall be established and incorporated in the said city or liberties, when all the said residue and remainder of my estate, whether in in stock, mortgages or ground rents, and-otherwise, shall vest in and be added to the fund of such charitable institution and free school, for the use and purpose of educating poor children as above mentioned forever."
If before the lapse of five years, such a school should not be established, he orders the said residue of his estate, to be divided in unequal shares among the Ger- man Lutheran, the German Reformed, the English Episcopal, the First and Second Presbyterian, the Ro- man Catholic, and the African churches, and the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, to be employed by them, ex- clusively in educating poor children. His reason for in- cluding the Roman Catholic church, in this division of his property, (he said,) was to express his gratitude for the kindness he received from some Catholic peasants, above sixty years ago, in returning half starved and na- ked from Turkey to Vienna.
If this attempt to rescue from the rapid oblivion of the grave, the name of a venerable and excellent citi- zen, has afforded any gratification to the reader, it has not failed to excite some curiosity respecting his person.
His countenance was alternately animated and con- templative. The loss of an eye by an accident during the war had broken in upon the symmetry of his fea- tures. His person was tall, and discovered to the last year of his life an erectness, which was probably first im- posed upon it by the strictness of the Austrian military discipline.
It is not intended by this humble tribute to the talents and worth of Mr. Ludwick, to insinuate that his charac- ter was perfect. Strong and luxuriant virtues sometimes create a shade, which invites the growth of human weaknesses. Mr. Ludwick's only faults were in his temper; which was like a stream of water, that now and then appears turbid from a sudden shower of rain, but in a few hours resumes its natural clearness, and pours fertility and verdure upon the adjacent fields.
The incidents which have been related of the life and character of Mr. Ludwick, are replete with instruction to the statesman, the citizen, the moralist and the divine. They suggest many reflections: the following are a few of the most obvious.
1. The benefit of free schools: without the advantages Mr. Ludwick derived from one of them, he might have passed through life in obscurity, or ended his days pre- maturely, from the operation of vices which are the re- sults of a defect of education. It was from a grateful sense of the usefulness of the knowledge he acquired in a free school, that he took so much pains during his life, and in his will, to render that degree of knowledge more general, by educating the children of the poor people. The greatest favour that can be conferred up- on a poor child, is to give him the knowledge of letters and figures. It is equal to imparting to him a sixth sense.
2. The wealth and independence which were acquir- ed by Mr. Ludwick, forcibly exemplify the benefits of regular industry and economy in a mechanical employ- ment. Could the aggregate product of labor in agri- culture and the mechanical arts, be compared with the product of commerce and speculation under the equal circumstances in Pennsylvania, the balance would be greatly in favour of the former. This balance would be derived chiefly from economy which is connected with labour.
3. In every stage and situation of life, Mr. Ludwick
appeared to be, more or less, under the influence of the doctrines and precepts of Christianity. Part of this influence, it has been said, was derived from his educa- tion. But it was much increased by the following cir- cumstance: His father inherited from his grandfather, a piece of silver of the size of a French crown, on one side of which was marked in bass relief, a representa- tion of John baptizing our Saviour, with the following words in its exergue, in the German language. "The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." 1 John i. 7. On the other side, was the representation of a new born infant, lying in an open field, with the following words in its exergue: "I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, live." Ezekiel xvi. 6. This piece of silver Mr. Ludwick carried in his pocket, in all his voyages and travels in Europe, Asia and America. It was closely associated in his mind, with the respect and affection he bore for his ancestors, and with a belief of his interest in the blessings of the Gospel. In looking at it in all his difficulties and dangers, he found anima- tion and courage. In order to insure its safety and per- petuity, he had it fixed a few years ago in the lid of a silver tankard, in the front of which he had engraved the following device, a Bible, a plough and a sword; and under it the following motto: " May the religion, in- dustry and courage of a German parent, be the inherit- ance of his issue."
4. "If men were to record all their escapes from death," says a sensible writer, "they would find as ma- ny proofs of divine interposition in favour of their lives, as are recorded in the history of the life of Joseph." It is impossible to review the numerous causes of death to which Mr. Ludwick was exposed, from battles, fa- mine, the casualties of a sailor's life, vicissitudes and heat of climates, an enemy's camp, and yellow fevers, and his wonderful preservation from death for eighty years, and not acknowledge that a particular providence presides over the lives and affairs of men.
The following epitaph is inscribed on the tombstone of Mr. Ludwick, in the grave yard of the Lutheran church at Germantown.
IN MEMORY OF
CHRISTOPHER LUDWICK, AND OF HIS WIFE CATHARINE,
She died at Germantown the 21st September, 1796, Aged eighty years and five months; Ile died at Philadelphia the 17th June, 1801, Aged eighty years and nine months. .
He was born at Giessen in Hesse D'Armstadt in Germany, And learned the Baker's trade and business; In his early life he was a Soldier and a Sailor, and visited the East and West Indies;
In the year 1775, he came to and settled at Philadelphia, And by his industry at his trade and business, Acquired a handsome competency, part of which he Devoted to the service of his adopted country In the contest for the INDEPENDENCE Of AMERICA; Was appointed Baker General to the army, And for his faithful services received a written testimony From the Commander in Chief GENERAL WASHINGTON. On every occasion his zeal for the relief of the oppressed Was manifest; and by his last will, He bequeathed the greater part of his estate for the Education of children of the poor of all denominations gratis. He lived and died - Respected for his integrity and public spirit, By all who knew him. Reader, such was LUDWICK. Art thou poor, Venerate his character. Art thou rich, Imitate his example.
1832.]
UNION CANAL LOTTERY.
165
UNION CANAL LOTTERY.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
The Memorial of ARCHIBALD M'INTYRE, of the firm of Yates and M' Intyre, a Citizen of the State of New York, Respectfully showeth:
That your memorialist is the assignee of the Lottery privileges, vested in the Union Canal Company of Penn- sylvania, by virtue of a contract entered into between the said company and him, on the 26th day of Septem- ber, 1831; which contract will terminate on the 31st day of December, 1833.
Your memorialist will briefly advert to the circum- stances connected with his relation to the company.
The first contract was made October 27, 1821, and continued during three years. So far from its yielding large profits, it resulted in a loss of about TWENTY THOU- SAND DOLLARS.
The second contract, on more favorable terms, was made on the 24th of October, 1824, and continued till the 31st of December, 1829. During this contract, in January, 1828, an enquiry was had before the commit- tee of ways and means. The Union Canal Company and your memorialist were heard, and a report was made sanctioning and confirming the rights of the company, and affirming the validity of the contract. This CUI- tract expired.
The third contract was made on the 21st of Septem- ber, 1829, and continued until the 31st of December last. During its continuance, in the years 1830 and 1831, investigations were had before the committees of ways and means of those years. These committees sustained the rights of the company and of your memo- rialist.
The last session of the legislature terminated, and no step had been taken to purchase the lottery privileges of the company. The committee of ways and means had reported in the alternative, that this must be done, or the lotteries must continue. No other fund in faet existed, out of which to discharge the interest guaran- teed by the state. The legislature thus seemed to in- vite a new contract, and accordingly the existing one was made in September last.
It, as well as the preceding ones, was made to contin- ue only during two years. For a shorter time it was not consistent with the interest of your memorialist to make those arrangements, which the conducting of a business so hazardous required. In making the time thus short, he had reference to the possible wish of the Commonwealth, to extinguish by purchase, the lottery privileges of the Company.
Notwithstanding the conjectural estimates whieli have been made of the profits of your memorialist, be so- lemnly avers that the nett profits of Yates and M' mtyre, fell short, during the last year, of the sum ($30,000,) actually paid by them, on their contract to the Company: and that this profit is liable to be still further reduced by bad debts, as the sales of tickets are generally on credit.
In making these contracts, your memorialist was in- duced by the various acts of Assembly, representing this as a great work, worthy of public encouragement. He came to Pennsylvania;took advice of eminent profes- sional gentlemen, and made his contracts: since that time, so far from having any reason to question their validity, he has been confirmed, by a series of Legislative reports, amounting to little less than the express sanction of an act of Assembly, in the belief that they rested on the surest foundation, the faith of this Commonwealth.
As several questions have been raised on the con- struction of the laws conferring lottery privileges on the Union Canal Company, your memorialist will submit the authority by which he has been guided in forming his opinions.
The first question is, whether the acts of the 2d of April, 1811, and the 26th of March, 1821, gave the Company two separate grants of the privilege of raising
money by way of lottery. Your memorialist here begs leave to refer to an opinion given by HORACE BINNEY, Esq. January 5, 1827, a copy of which is annexed here- to. In the accounts of the Company, the money re- ceived under the last grant has, from the beginning, been so stated. The grant made by the act of 1811, has been pledged to loan holder and old stockholders; and your memorialist is informed that a suit is now pending, and ready for argument in the Supreme Court, which will judicially put a construction on the meaning of the acts of Assembly on this subject.
A second question has been raised, as to the right of the Company to borrow money, and to pledge the tolls, without interfering with the guarantee of the state. For this point your memorialists begs to refer to the annex- ed opinion, given September 15, 1826, by HORACE BIN- NEY and JOHN SERGEANT, Esq's.
A third question is, what is the true meaning of the terms " raise money by way of lottery." Your me- morialist here refers to the annexed opinion, given by Messrs. Binney, Sergeant, and Biddle, whose advice he -procured before entering on the drawing of any schemes under his present contract. The grant was one of a certain sum; it was a bounty; its application was directed; and it was a fund authorized to be pledg- ed. The act of 26th March, 1821, would seem clearly to express the meaning of the Legislature. By that act the company is authorized during twenty-five years, " to raise by way of lottery any sums that may be wanted for the purpose of paying to the holders of said stock, the six per cent. as afuresaid." The sum raised then was the sum wanted to pay the interest. This sum could be no other than that paid to the Company for that pur- pose, and could have no reference to the profits or losses of your memorialist. At the time of the passage of the act of 1821, it was a fact in the knowledge of the Legislature, officially communicated to them, that from the passage of the act of 1811, down to that time, no money had been raised in any other manner than by the sale of the privilege.
Your memorialist has submitted these considera- tions to your honorable bodies, with the highest respect for their wisdom and justice. He has been guilty of no concealment, no impositions, no artifice. All his acts have been public. No scheme of a lottery has been drawn, that was not first published throughout the state, and in every daily newspaper in Philadelphia- and, with the sanction of a commission from the Governor.
Your memoriahist sets up no new construction of the laws;he only asks that that construction which has been received, and acted under from the passage of the said laws down to this day; which has received Legislative sanction repeatedly, and on the faith of which he has confided, may not now, by a novel interpretation be dis- turbed.
- Any interference with the enjoyment of the privileges purchased by your memorialist, would be highly inju- rious to him. 11is business is a hazardous one, and sub- ject to great and numerous expenses. His profits, not- withstanding the enormously extravagant calculations which have been made, are moderate. No estimate of the extent of his sales can be formed, from the nominal amount ofthe schemes. At a fair average, not more than one-fourth of the tickets are sold, and of this fourth a considerable proportion is in other states where the sale of foreign tickets is not prohibited. Tickets are invariably sold to dealers at the scheme price. The risk of the tickets on hand, which certainly cannot affect the morals of the community, the managers incur. The credits to the venders are large. Sud- clenly to throw them out of business, could not fail to add heavily to the amount of bad debts. In fine, all the agents have been appointed-all the engagements, leases and liabilities entered into with a reference to the continuation of the contract till the thirty-first day of December, 1833.
Your memorialist prays that no law may be passed,
.
166
UNION CANAL LOTTERY.
[MARCH
depriving him of the benefit of a contract thus made in good faith. And he will ever pray. 1 ARCH'D. M'INTYRE.
February 20, 1832.
OPINION OF HORACE BINNEY, ESQ.
The power granted by the Legislature of Pennsylva- nia to the Union Canal Company to raise money by lotteries, stands as I conceive upon the following foot- ing:
The Act of 17th April, 1795, empowered the Presi- dent and Managers of the two companies then existing, to raise the sum of 400,000 dollars, to be applied in dif- ferent proportions to their respective works. This was a bounty to those corporations, to enable them to carry on their works-in effect a donation from the state-without any right in the Companies to treat it as capital stock, or indeed any thing but a gift.
The act of 4th March, 1807, authorized the two compa- nies to raise their respective proportions of the above grant separately; and in this act the description of a bounty is again given to the money to be thus raised, and the object of it defined to be, to enable the corpo- ration to put their tolls as low as possible. The act of in- corporation of the Union Canal Company, passed the 2d April, 1811, gives power to the Company to raise what it terms the residue of the original sum not exceeding 340,000 dollars, and repeats the description of the pre- vious act, that it is a bounty to enable the corporation to make the tolls as low as possible. It expressly em- powers the Company to raise by loan such sums of mo- ney as from time to time they may find expedient for the completion of their objects, upon the credit of their capital stock, including the nett proceeds and avails of the lotteries thereby authorized, and for the fulfilment of the terms and conditions of the loans to mortgage any part or the whole of their property, tolls, profits or estates whatsoever. And finally, to make this grant ef- fectual, it punishes the sale of foreign lottery tickets, by a fine payable to the corporation.
Thus far these acts speak a" consistent language up- on the subject of the lottery: the power of thus raising money, and the money when raised, are a bounty from the state to the corporation, -a property which they are authorized to mortgage, and upon the credit of which they are entitled to borrow money for completing the objects of their incorporation. The grant was in its na- ture indefeasible: the Legislature were bound to re- spect it as much as any other grant in the charter.
The supplementary act of 29th March, 1819, after authorizing the subscription of 2500 shares, pledges the avails and nett proceeds of the lottery to the payment of an annual interest of six per cent. upon all shares so subscribed, and after 2500 shares shall be zo subscribed, then upon former shares also; and after paying this in- terest, the excess is directed to go into the capital stock of the Company, and be invested, if not wanted to com- plete the works, in the funds of the United States, or other safe and productive fund, and the Company are authorized to make dividends on the interest arising therefrom.
4
Tlris subscription did not take effect. Butit is im- possible to avoid seeing, that what is done by the lotte- ry fund by the 3d and 9th sections of this act, is the re- sult of the position taken by the Legislature in the pre- amble to the 7th section, namely, that these may be con- sidered as public monies : yet that they were public monies in any other sense, than that in which all monies are which are destined to public improvement by corporations or individuals, there is nothing to warrant in any pre- ceding act of Assembly.
The act for the improvement of the state, passed the 26th March, 1821, puts this subject upon a different footing. Whenever 2500 shares are subscribed by in- dividuals, according to the former act, the Governor is
authorized to subscribe 250 on behalf of the state; and if the proceeds of the lottery granted to the Union Ca- nal Company, together with the tolls, shall not for twen- ty-five years yield a sum equal to an annual interest of 6 per cent. on all sums not exceeding 450,000 dollars sub- scribed by new subscribers, the Governor shall draw his warrant on the treasury for the deficiency. And in order to avoid all disability of the Company to pay such interest, so much of the 3d section of the former act, as pledges any portion of the avails of the lottery to the holders of former shares for the payment of interest, is suspended until the canal shall be completed, and the Presi- dent and Managers are authorized to continue during the said term of 25 years, to raise, by way of lottery, any sums that may be wanted for the purpose of paying the holders of said stock, six per cent. as aforesaid: Provid- ed, that whenever the nett proceeds of the tolls shall amount to six per cent. the privilege granted by this act of raising money by lottery shall, during such time, be suspended, except so far as is authorized by existing laws.
This act is certainly not clear. Such an interpreta- tion, however, ought to be given to it as is consistent with the faith of the Legislature, pledged in several of the preceding acts, and also with certain of its own pro- visions, about the meaning of which, there cannot be any reasonable doubt.
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