their minds and the development of their moral principles, above the many temptations, to which, through poverty and ignorance they are exposed; and I am particularly desirous to provide for such a number of poor male white orphan children, as can be trained in one institution, a better education, as well as a more comfortable maintenance, than they usually receive from the application of the public funds."

The college was erected by a building committee appointed by city councils. The object of Girard was to have a substantial building erected, "avoiding needless ornament, and attending chiefly to the strength, convenience, and neatness of the whole." The college grounds, containing forty-one acres, are located at Twentieth Street and Girard Avenue, and the main building is one of the finest specimens of Greek architecture in the world.

Many biographers pronounce the lifework of Stephen Girard a "labor of love and philanthropy." But Girard did not recognize it as such. Justice was his motto, duty was his creed, action was his faith. His advice to all was: "Learn to know thy duty, and do it." He believed in recompense, but not rewards. He was a strong man, with assured faith in his convictions.

One of the main avenues of the city, a park, and an observatory, as well as the college which he founded, bear his name. Within the city two statues have been erected to his memory, one at the college chapel, erected by his grandniece, Ellen E. Girard, and presented in her behalf to the city by the Hon. Carroll Brewster, November 19, 1895; and the other at the west plaza of the City Hall, Broad and Market streets, erected by the alumni of Girard College, May 20, 1897, on the fiftieth anniversary of the ad

mission of boys into the college. In gazing on this statue, we feel the power and significance of the words of Thomas B. Reed, the orator on the occasion of the dedication: "Surely, if the immortal dead, serene with the wisdom of eternity, are not above all joy and pride, he must feel a thrill to know that no mariner or merchant ever sent forth a venture upon unknown seas, which came back with richer cargoes or in statelier ships."

F'

WOMEN OF PHILADELPHIA.

ROM the earliest times women have occupied a promi

nent place in the history of Philadelphia, and have been noted for their charity, patriotism, piety, education, and social reforms. The first woman of whom we have any information is Armgard Prince, a daughter of the Swedish governor. Another was Elizabeth Hard, a worthy, good woman," of "sweet, innocent deportment," who first lived in a cåve at the foot of Chestnut Street. She was energetic and industrious, and "thought it expedient to help her husband at one end of the saw, and to fetch all such water to make mortar of, as they then had to build their chimney." She was brave, strong, and courageous, and better able to endure the roughness of an early settler's life than many of her companions of more gentle birth, who were accustomed to English homes of luxury. Margaret Preston, an early settler, became a well-known Indian interpreter, and wrote many letters descriptive of William Penn's treatment of the Indians.

Another woman of note was Hannah Callowhill Penn, second wife of William Penn. She was gracious and pleasant of manner, possessed a keen intellect and resolute will, and became a social favorite in the colony. Her eldest son, John Penn, called "the American," was born during her visit to this country. In 1701, in company with Letitia Penn, a daughter of William Penn by his first wife, she returned to England.

Hannah Callowhill Penn.

During the last illness of her husband she managed his large estate, and urged him to convey Pennsylvania, with the lower counties of Delaware, to the King of Great Britain in consideration of a certain sum of money, for she believed that her children would in time lose control of the province. At his death she became sole executrix of his estate. When Sir William Keith, the deputy governor, attempted to secure

control of the government, she wrote a letter in defense of her rights in the province of Pennsylvania, and this letter caused the defeat of Keith's projects and the loss to him of his office.

As the city increased in population each sect or class became the basis of a select society, which was controlled by influential women. Although the Friends were dominant in Philadelphia at this time, yet the colonial maids and matrons were not always the staid, plain Quakeresses historians represent them to be. Among the dissenters was

Sarah Eckley, a wealthy Quakeress, who eloped with Colonel Coxe to the Jersey shore, and was married under the light of a pine torch in a Jersey forest. The Society of Friends were greatly shocked, and declared that "the news of Sarah Eckley's marriage is both sorrowful and surprising."

A noted society leader in colonial Philadelphia was Sarah Franklin, daughter of Benjamin Franklin. She was beautiful, witty, well educated, and " simple in her manners, like her respected father." When twenty-three years of age she married Richard Bache, an Englishman. During the Revolution Sarah Bache and other patriotic women formed associations for the relief of American soldiers, and accomplished great good. The demure Quakeress Sally Wister was also a well-known figure in those days. She was an intimate friend of Deborah Norris, and for her wrote an account of the British soldiers during their occupancy of Philadelphia. Sally Wister lived surrounded by troops, and her diary shows that she and the "saucy Debbie Norris," as she called her friend, were greatly interested in fine-looking soldiers, and she pictures with vivacity a phase of history which would have been lost had it not been for her diary.

Perhaps the most beautiful woman in Philadelphia society at the time of the Revolution and later was Anne Willing, afterwards Mrs. Bingham, famous on both continents for her beauty, wealth, and courtly bearing. She represented American beauty, grace, and elegance at the court of Louis XVI. of France, and while in London was admired and welcomed in the best society. Another celebrated beauty, Deborah McClenahan Stewart, also attracted great attention in London, and we read in a lady's diary: "I think,

from the observance I have made upon those ladies from Philadelphia whom I have been acquainted with, that they are more easy in their manners, and discover a greater desire to render themselves acceptable, than the women of Boston, where education appears to be better, and they seem to be sensible of their consequence in society. have seen some good specimens of their brilliancy, first in Mrs. Bingham, and now in Mrs. Stewart."

There were brave women in Philadelphia, noted for

their active patriotism during the Revolution.

Among these

was Mary Mor

Anne Willing Bingham.

Cambridge with

her husband, Dr. John Morgan, physician in chief to the army. It was Hannah Israel who, when she saw the British about to drive her husband's cattle out of the meadow,