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accuracy of Dr. Franklin's information, and the facility and manliness with which he communicated his sentiments. He represented facts in so strong a point of view, that the inexpediency of the act must have appeared clear to every unprejudiced mind.

Dr. Franklin about this period, in addition to his agency for Pennsylvania, received the separate appointments of agent for the respective colonies of New Jersey, Georgia, and Massachusetts. All of which he continued to fill with equal credit to himself and advantage to his constituents, during his stay in England.

In the course of this year (1766) he visited Holland and Germany, and received the greatest marks of attention and respect from men of science in those countries. In his passage through Holland, he learned from the watermen the effect which a diminution of the quantity of water in canals has, in impeding the progress of boats. Upon his re

Feb. 24. The resolutions of the committee were reported by the chairman, Mr. Fuller; their seventh and last resolution setting forth, "that it was their opinion that the house be moved, that leave be given to bring in a bill | to repeal the Stamp Act." A proposal for re-committing this resolution, was negatived by two hundred and forty.votes, to one hundred and thirty-three: and the act, after some opposition, was repealed about a year after it was enacted, and before it had ever been car-turn to England he was induced to make a ried into execution.* number of experiments, which tended to confirm the observation. These, with an ex

nexed thereto :

A ludicrous caricature was published on this occa-planation of the phenomenon, he communision, of which the following description was given, an-cated in a letter to his friend sir John Pringle, which will be found among his philosophical writings.

"An Account of a humorous political print, called. The Repeal; which (in the Painters' phrase) may be called A Companion to the Tomb-stone, a print not long since published.

"The subject of this print is the Funeral of Miss AME

STAMP, the favourite child and youngest daughter of

the honourable Mr. George Stamp, the well known
Gentle Shepherd. At one end of the print stands the
Family Vault, with a mutilated inscription, signifying
that within it lie (it is to be hoped never to rise
again) the remains of ........ Hearth Mon**,
Ship Mon**,. .. Excise B***....... Je B***.
Gen**** Warrants,.. ...&c.' On the top of the vault
are two heads on poles, like those on Temple Bar,

marked on the skull with the numbers 1715 and
1745. The vault is supposed to be situated on the side
of the river, along the Strand, of which the funeral pro-
cession proceeds. The Reverend Mr. ANTI-SEJANUS,

white rose and thistle interweaved, with the old motto of

that noted Constitutionalist, drawn to the life, appears first, reading the burial service: after him follow those two eminent pillars of the law, sir Bullface Doublefee § and Mr. Alexander Scotburn, supporting two black flags; on which are delineated the Stamps, with the Semper eadem; to which is annexed a new motto, consisting of those significant words, Three Farthings taken from the budget Beneath this motto, as if meant to certify the number of the despicable minority fighting under these banners, appear on one flag the figures 71. and on the other 122, with a flying label surrounding pears the sad father of the deceased child, the honoura ble Mr. George Stamp himself, with grief and despair pictured on his countenance, carrying in his arms the

both, bearing these words, All of a STAMP. Next ap

infant's coffin, on which is written Miss AME STAMP, born 1765, died 1766. Immediately after follows the chief mourner, Sejanus: then his grace of Spitalfields ¶ and lord Gawkee:** after these Jemmy Twitcher, with a catch by way of funeral anthem; and by his side his friend and partner Mr. Falconer Donald son of Halfar. At a little distance, to close the proces sion, are two worthy B****ps, Dr. Squirt, and another tight reverend gentleman, who shall be nameless: and behind them lie, on this side of the river, two huge bales of returned commodities, one marked Stamps from

America, the other Black Cloth from America.

"These few mourners are separated from the joyful scene that appears in the back ground, by the River

Thames, in which are riding three first-rate ships, called,
The ROCKINGHAM, The GRAFTON and The CONWAY.
Along the shore stand open warehouses for the seve

* The right honourable George Grenville, author of
the Stamp Act.
† Years of rebellion.
1 Mr. Scott.

§ Sir Fletcher Norton.

Mr. Alexander Wedderburn (afterwards lord Lough.
Sorough)
T (Perhaps) the duke of Bedford.
** (Perhaps) lord Gower. tt Lord Sandwich.
The marquis of Rockingham.

In the following year, as also in 1769, he visited Paris, where he was no less favourably received than he had been in Germany. He was introduced to the king (Louis XV.) and his sisters Mesdames de France, and particu larly distinguished by them: as he was also by the Academy of Sciences (of which he was afterwards elected a foreign associate,) and many other scientific and literary characters.

Mons. Dubourg, a member of the same academy, undertook a French translation of Dr. Franklin's letters on his Discoveries in Electricity, and the third English edition of the same work was now published in London. With respect to the general merit and originality of the experiments and hypotheses of Dr. Franklin, as described and explained in these letters, that eminent natural philosopher, the late Dr. Priestly, bears the following testimony in his " History of Electricity.”

"Nothing was ever written upon the subject of electricity, which was more generally read and admired in all parts of Europe than these letters. There is hardly any European language into which they have not been translated; and, as if this were not sufficient to make them properly known, a translation of them has lately been made into Latin. It is not easy to say, whether we are most pleased with the simplicity and perspicuity with which these letters are written, the modesty with which the author proposes every hypothesis of his own, or the noble frankness with

ral goods of our principal manufacturing towns, from which cargoes are Now shipping for America: among these is a large case, containing a statue of Mr. PITT, which is heaving on board a boat number 250; and there is another boat taking in goods, nearer the first-rates, which is numbered 105; numbers which will ever remain sacred to liberty, and render the memory of the triumphant MAJORITY, on this side of the river,

The duke of Grafton. Mr. secretary Conway. J revered by our latest posterity.

which he relates his mistakes, when they were corrected by subsequent experiments.

"Though the English have not been backward in acknowledging the great merit of this philosopher, he has had the singular good fortune to be, perhaps, even more celebrated abroad than at home; so that, to form a just idea of the great and deserved reputation of Dr. Franklin, we must read the foreign publications on the subject of electricity; in many of which the terms Franklinism, Franklinist, and the Franklinian system, occur in almost every page. In consequence of this, Dr. Franklin's principles bid fair to be handed down to posterity as equally expressive of the true principles of electricity, as the Newtonian philosophy is of the true system of nature in general.'

As Dr. Franklin has only mentioned his electrical discoveries in a very transient way, in the former part of these memoirs, and as they are of a most important and interesting nature, it has been thought a short digression on the subject would be excusable, and not void of entertainment. For this purpose the following account of the same, including the first experiment of the Lightning Kite, as given by Dr. Stuber, is here given.

"Dr. Franklin engaged in a course of electrical experiments, with all the ardour and thirst for discovery which characterized the philosophers of that day. Of all the branches of experimental philosophy, Electricity had been least explored. The attractive power of amber is mentioned by Theophrastus and Pliny, and, from them, by later naturalists. In the year 1600, Gilbert, an English physician, enlarged considerably the catalogue of substances which have the property of attracting light bodies. Boyle, Otto Guericke, a burgomaster of Magdeburg, (celebrated as the inventor of the air pump,) Dr. Wall, and sir Isaac Newton, added some facts. Guericke first observed the repulsive power of electricity, and the light and noise produced by it. In 1709, Hawkesbee communicated some important observations and experiments to the world. For several years elèctricity was entirely neglected, until Mr. Grey applied himself to it, in 1728, with great assiduity. He and his friend Mr. Wheeler, made a great variety of experiments; in which they demonstrated, that electricity may be communicated from one body to another, even without being in contact, and in this way may be conducted to a great distance. Mr. Grey afterwards found, that by suspending rods of iron by silk or hair lines, and bringing an excited tube under them, sparks might be drawn, and a light perceived at the extremities in the dark. M. Du Faye, intendant of the French king's gardens, made number of experiments, which added not a little to the science. He made the discovery

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of two kinds of electricity, which he called vitreous and resinous; the former produced by rubbing glass, the latter from excited sulphur, sealing-wax, &c. But this idea he afterwards gave up as erroneous. Between the years 1739 and 1742, Desaguliers made a number of experiments, but added little of importance. He first used the terms conductors and electrics, per se. 1742, several ingenious Germans engaged in this subject. Of these the principal were, professor Boze of Wittemberg, professor Winkler of Leipsic, Gordon, a Scotch Benedictine monk, professor of philosophy at Erfurt, and Dr. Ludolf of Berlin. The result of their researches astonished the philosophers of Europe. Their apparatus was large, and by means of it they were enabled to collect large quantities of electricity, and thus to produce phenomena which had been hitherto unobserved. They killed small birds, and set spirits on fire. Their experiments excited the curiosity of other philosophers. Collinson, about the year 1745, sent to the library company of Philadelphia an account of these experiments, together with a tube, and directions how to use it. Franklin, with some of his friends, immediately engaged in a course of experiments; the result of which is well known. He was enabled to make a number of important discoveries, and to propose theories to account for various phenomena; which have been universally adopted, and which bid fair to endure for ages. His observations he communicated, in a series of letters, to his friend Collinson; the first of which is dated March 28, 1747. In these he makes known the power of points in drawing and throwing off the electrical matter, which had hitherto escaped the notice of electricians. He also made the grand discovery of a plus and minus, or of a positive and negative state of electricity. We give him the honour of this, without hesitation; although the English have claimed it for their countryman Dr. Watson. Watson's paper is dated Jan. 21, 1748; Franklin's, July 11, 1747; several months prior. Shortly after, Franklin, from his principles of plus and minus state, explained, in a satisfactory manner, the phenomena of the Leyden phial, first observed by Mr. Cuneus, or by professor Muschenbroeck of Leyden, which had much perplexed philosophers.. He showed clearly that the bottle, when charged, contained no more electricity than before, but that as much was taken from one side as was thrown on the other; and that to discharge it, nothing was necessary but to make a communication between the two sides, by which the equilibrium might be restored, and that then no signs of electricity would remain. He afterwards demonstrated by experiments, that the electricity did not reside in the coating, as had been supposed, but in the pores

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of the glass itself. After a phial was charged, too generally for the interest of science, he removed the coating, and found that upon awaits unsuccessful experiments in philosoapplying a new coating the shock might still phy. He placed himself under a shed to be received. In the year 1749, he first sug- avoid the rain. His kite was raised. gested his idea of explaining the phenomena thunder-cloud passed over it. No sign of of thunder-gusts and of the aurora borealis, electricity appeared. He almost despaired upon electrical principles. He points out of success; when suddenly, he observed the many particulars in which lightning and loose fibres of his string to move towards an electricity agree; and he adduces many facts, erect position. He now presented his knuckle and reasonings from facts, in support of his to the key, and received a strong spark. How positions. In the same year he conceived the exquisite must his sensations have been at astonishingly bold and grand idea of ascer- this moment! On this experiment depended taining the truth of his doctrine, by actually the fate of his theory. If he succeeded, his drawing down the forked lightning, by means name would rank high amongst those who of sharp-pointed iron rods raised into the have improved science; if he failed, he must region of the clouds. Even in this uncertain inevitably be subjected to the derision of manstate, his passion to be useful to mankind dis- kind, or what is worse, their pity, as a wellplays itself in a powerful manner. Admit- meaning man, but a weak, silly projector.— ting the identity of electricity and lightning, The anxiety with which he looked for the and knowing the power of points in repelling result of his experiment, may be easily conbodies charged with electricity, and in conceived. Doubts and despair had begun to ducting their fire silently and imperceptibly, he suggests the idea of securing houses, ships, &c., from being damaged by lightning, by erecting pointed iron rods, which should rise some feet above the most elevated part, and descend some feet into the ground or the water. The effect of these, he concluded, would be either to prevent a stroke by repelling the cloud beyond the striking distance, or by drawing off the electrical fire which it contained; or, if they could not effect this, they would at least conduct the stroke to the earth, without any injury to the building.

"It was not until the summer of 1752, that he was enabled to complete his grand and unparalleled discovery by experiment. The plan which he had originally proposed, was, to erect on some high tower, or other elevated place, a sentry-box, from which should rise a pointed iron rod, insulated by being fixed in a cake of resin. Electrified clouds passing over this, would, he conceived, impart to it a portion of their electricity, which would be rendered evident to the senses by sparks being emitted, when a key, a knuckle, or other conductor was presented to it. Philadelphia at this time afforded no opportunity of trying an experiment of this kind. Whilst Franklin was waiting for the erection of a spire, it occurred to him, that he might have more ready access to the region of clouds, by means of a common kite. He prepared one, by attaching two cross sticks to a silk handkerchief, which would not suffer so much from the rain as paper. To his upright stick, was affixed an iron point. The string was, as usual, of hemp, except the lower end, which was silk. Where the hempen string terminated, a key was fastened. With this apparatus, on the appearance of a thunder-gust approaching, he went out into the commons, accompanied by his son, to whom alone he communicated his intentions, well knowing the ridicule which,

prevail, when the fact was ascertained in so clear a manner, that even the most incredulous could no longer withhold their assent. Repeated sparks were drawn from the key, a phial was charged, a shock given, and all the experiments made, which are usually performed with electricity.

"About a month before this period, some ingenious Frenchmen had completed the discovery in the manner originally proposed by Dr. Franklin. The letters which he sent to Mr. Collinson, it is said, were refused a place amongst the papers of the Royal Society of London. However this may be, Collinson published them in a separate volume, under the title of, New Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia, in America. They were read with avidity, and soon translated into different languages A very incorrect French translation fell into the hands of the celebrated Buffon, who, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which the work laboured, was much pleased with it, and repeated the experiments with success. He prevailed upon his friend, M. D'Alibard, to give to his countrymen a more correct translation of the work of the American electrician. This contributed much towards spreading a knowledge of Franklin's principles in France. The king, Louis XV., hearing of these experiments, expressed a wish to be a spectator of them. A course of experi ments was given at the seat of the Duc D'Ayen, at St. Germains, by M. De Lor. The applauses which the king bestowed upon Franklin, excited in Buffon, D'Alibard, and De Lor, an earnest desire of ascertaining the truth of his theory of thunder-gusts. Buffon erected his apparatus on the tower of Montbar, M. D'Alibard at Marly-la-ville, and De Lor at his house in the Estrapade, at Paris, some of the highest ground in that capital. D'Alibard's machine first showed signs of

electricity. On the 10th of May, 1752, a thunder-cloud passed over it, in the absence of M D'Alibard; and a number of sparks were drawn from it by Coiffier, a joiner, with whom D'Alibard had left directions how to proceed, and by M. Raulet, the prior of MarÎy-la-ville. An account of this experiment was given to the royal academy of sciences, in a memoir of M. D'Alibard, dated May 13, 1752. On the 16th of May, M. De Lor proved equally successful with the apparatus erected at his own house. These discoveries soon excited the philosophers of other parts of Europe to repeat the experiment. Amongst these, none signalized himself more than father Beccaria of Turin, to whose observations, science is much indebted. Even the cold regions of Russia were penetrated, by the ardour for discovery. Professor Richmann bade fair to add much to the stock of knowledge on this subject, when an unfortunate flash from his rod put a period to his existence. The friends of science will long remember with regret, the amiable martyr to electricity.

By these experiments, Franklin's theory was established in the most firm manner. When the truth of it could no longer be doubted, the vanity of men endeavoured to detract from its merit. That an American, an inhabitant of the obscure city of Philadelphia, the name of which was hardly known, should be able to make discoveries, and to frame theories, which had escaped the notice of the enlightened philosophers of Europe, was too mortifying to be admitted. He must certainly have taken the idea from some one

else.

An American, a being of an inferior order, make discoveries! Impossible. It was said, that the abbé Nollet, in 1748, had suggested the idea of the similarity of lightning and electricity, in his Leçons de Physique. It is true that the abbé mentions the idea; but he throws it out as a bare conjecture, and proposes no mode of ascertaining the truth of it. He himself acknowledges, that Franklin first entertained the bold thought of bringing lightning from the heavens, by means of pointed rods fixed in the air. The similarity of electricity and lightning is so strong, that we need not be surprised at notice being taken of it, as soon as electrical phenomena became familiar. We find it mentioned by Dr. Wall and Mr. Grey, while the science was in its infancy. But the honour of forming a regular theory of thundergusts, of suggesting a mode of determining the truth of it by experiments, and of putting these experiments in practice, and thus establishing his theory upon a firm and solid basis, is incontestibly due to Franklin. D'Alibard, who made the first experiments in France, says, that he only followed the track which Franklin had pointed out.

"It has been of late asserted, that the ho

nour of completing the experiment with the electrical kite, does not belong to Franklin. Some late English paragraphs have attributed it to some Frenchman, whose name they do not mention; and the abbé Bertholon gives it to M. De Romas, assessor to the presideal of Nérac; the English paragraphs probably refer to the same person. But a very slight attention will convince us of the injustice of this procedure. Dr. Franklin's experiment was made in June, 1752; and his letter, giving an account of it, is dated October 19, 1752. M. De Romas made his first attempt on the 14th of May, 1753, but was not successful until the 7th of June, a year after Franklin had completed the discovery, and when it was known to all the philosophers in Europe.

"Besides these great principles, Franklin's letters on electricity contain a number of facts and hints, which have contributed greatly towards reducing this branch of knowledge to a science. His friend, Mr. Kinnersley, communicated to him a discovery of the different kinds of electricity excited by rubbing glass and sulphur. This we have said, was first observed by M. Du Faye; but it was for many years neglected. The philosophers were disposed to account for the phenomena, rather from a difference in the quantity of electricity collected; and even Du Faye himself seems at last to have adopted this doctrine. Franklin at first entertained the same idea; but upon repeating the experiments, he perceived that Mr. Kinnersley was right; and that the vitreous and resinous electricity of Du Faye were nothing more than the positive and negative states which he had before observed; that the glass globe charged positively, or increased the quantity of electricity on the prime conductor, whilst the globe of sulphur diminished its natural quantity, or charged negatively. These experiments and observations opened a new field for investigation, upon which electricians entered with avidity; and their labours have added much to the stock of our knowledge.

"In September, 1752, Franklin entered upon a course of experiments, to determine the state of electricity in the clouds. From a number of experiments he formed this conclusion: "that the clouds of a thunder-gust are most commonly in a negative state of electricity, but sometimes in a positive state;" and from this it follows, as a necessary consequence, "that, for the most part, in thunder-strokes, it is the earth that strikes into the clouds, and not the clouds that strike into the earth." The letter containing these observations, is dated in September, 1753; and yet the discovery of ascending thunder has been said to be of a modern date, and has been attributed to the abbé Bertholon, who published his memoir on the subject in 1776

"Franklin's letters on electricity, have been translated into most of the European languages, and into Latin. In proportion as they have become known, his principles have been adopted. Some opposition was made to his theories, particularly by the abbé Nollet, who was, however, but feebly supported, whilst the first philosophers of Europe stepped forth in defence of Franklin's principles; amongst whom D'Alibard and Beccaria were the most distinguished. The opposition has gradually ceased, and the Franklinian system is now universally adopted, where science flourishes.

"The important practical use which Franklin made of his discoveries, the securing of houses from injury by lightning, has been already mentioned. Pointed conductors are now very common in America; but prejudice has hitherto prevented their general introduction into Europe, notwithstanding the most undoubted proofs of their utility have been given. But mankind can with difficulty be brought to lay aside established practices, or to adopt new ones. And perhaps we have more reason to be surprised that a practice, however rational, which was proposed about forty years ago, should in that time have been adopted in so many places, than that it has not universally prevailed. It is only by degrees that the great body of mankind can be led into new practices, however salutary their tendency. It is now nearly eighty years since innoculation was introduced into Europe and America; and it is so far from being general at present, that it will, perhaps, require one or two centuries to render

it so.

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To revert to Dr. Franklin's political transactions. His exertions and examination before the house of commons, having greatly contributed to the repeal of the Stamp Act; he now turned his attention towards obtaining the repeal of the Act restraining the legal tender of paper money in the colonies; another grievance they complained of. The ministry had at one time agreed to the repeal; not so much to serve the colonies, as from the impression that they might raise a revenue from paper money lent on mortgage, by the parliament appropriating the interest arising therefrom. This notion was, however, removed, by Dr. Franklin's assuring them, that no colony would issue money on those terms; and that the advantage arising to the commerce of Great Britain in America, from a plentiful currency, would thereby be lost, and the repeal answer no end, if the assemblies were not allowed to appropriate the interest themselves. The measure was afterwards dropt, and the restraint unwisely continued.

As early as the period of these discussions between Great Britain and her colonies, the

French government appear to have begun to take an interest in their affairs. The cir cumstance is thus alluded to in a letter of Dr. Franklin to his son, dated London, August 28, 1767.

"De Guerchy, the French ambassador, is gone home, and Mons. Durand is left minister plenipotentiary. He is extremely curious to inform himself in the affairs of America; pretends to have a great esteem for me, on account of the abilities shown in my examination; has desired to have all my political writings; invited me to dine with him, was very inquisitive, treated me with great civility, makes me visits, &c. I fancy that intriguing nation would like very well to meddle on this occasion, and blow up the coals between Great Britain and her colonies; but I hope we shall give them no opportunity."

Dr. Franklin was right in his conjectures, but his hopes were not realized; the opportunity was given, and they availed themselves of it,-eminently contributing to the separation of the two countries.

Certain resolutions of the town of Boston, respecting trade and manufactures, arrived in London about the commencement of the year 1768, and occasioned a considerable clamour they gave Dr. Franklin and the friends of America great concern. He endeavoured by every means to palliate the affair, by various writings in the newspapers; and the discontents of the British colonies being much the subject of general discussion at the time, and greatly misunderstood, he, with a view to elucidate the same, and soften the prevalent animosity against America, wrote and published (in the Chronicle of January 7th,) a piece signed F-S. intitled "Causes of the American discontents before 1768," with this inscription: "The waves never rise but when the winds blow." Prov.

This short tract, together with his “ Answer (in Nov. 1769,) to the queries of Mr. Strahan," (which were probably made under the dictation of administration,) give the best account of the then existing complaints of the colonies, and (from their not being attended to,) of the primitive cause of the disputes, that produced civil war, and terminated in their separation from Great Britain.* These papers, interesting for the historian, form, in some degree, a complement to these memoirs; and constitute sufficient proofs of Dr. Franklin's candour and foresight.

At this time a change of ministry took place, in which the American business was taken from lord Shelburne, and given to lord Hillsborough, as secretary of state for America, a new distinct apartment. There was a

* See also a letter of Dr. Franklin's, On the rise and progress of the differences between Great Britain and her American colonies: signed "A well wisher to the king and all his dominions," and addressed to the printer of the Public Advertiser --Private Correspondence.

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