discovery, he satisfactorily explained the phenomena of the Leyden phial, which was at that time exciting the wonder of all Europe, and had caused philosophers so much perplexity. His happiest conjecture, however, was that of the identity between lightning and the electric fid, though it was not until 1752, that he was enabled, effectually, to establish this important fact. He had long entertained the bold idea of ascertaining the truth of this doctrine, by actually drawing lightning from the clouds; and at length it occurred to him that he night procure communication between them and the earth by means of a common kite. With this simple apparatus, he awaited the approach of a thunder-cloud, and the kite was raised, but no sign of electricity appeared. His suspense and anxiety were almost insupportable; when suddenly he observed the loose fibres of the string to move; he presented his knuckle to the key by which it was held, and received a strong spark. On this experiment depended the fate of his theory. Repcated sparks were drawn from the key-a phial was charged-a shock given-and this brilliant discovery placed upon an immu table basis. Franklin, from time to time, forwarded accounts of his experiments to England, for the information of the Royal Society; but they were not admitted into the printed transactions of that learned body. His friend, Mr. Collinson, gave them to Cave, for insertion in The Gentleman's Magazine; but Cave, with great judgment, thought proper to publish them separately, in a pamphlet, the preface to which was written by Dr. Fothergill. By the additions which were subsequently made to this little work, it swelled into a quarto volume, and became the textbook of the science. It was translated into French, German, and Latin, and attracted the attention of all the philosophers in Europe. In France, the highest honours were paid to Franklin's labours: Buffon, D'Alibard, and De Lor, repeated and confirmed his experiments; and the king himself, Louis the Fifteenth, became a spectator of them. Russia, even, participated in this ardour; and the amiable Richman fell a martyr to his zeal-an unfortunate flash from the conductor putting a period to his existence. Eventually, the Royal Society began to reconsider the matter; and Franklin's grand experiment, the object of which had, at first, been treated with ridicule, was verified by Canton, and other members. Franklin was, accordingly, without solicitation, elected a fellow, and had paid to him the unusual honour of being chosen without payinent of the customary fees. He was also presented with the Copley medal for the year 1753; and, at a subsequent period, he had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by the Universities of St. Andrew's, Edinbur h, and Oxford. We now resume Our account of Franklin's political career. In the year just mentioned, he was presented with the degree of M. A., by the College of Cambridge, in New England; and, in the same year, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies. The American post-office had never previously made any returns for the revenue; but under the management and improvements of Franklin, it yielded to the crown three times as much as the post-office of Ireland. In 1754, he drew up his celebrated Albany Plan of Union, as a means of defence against the depredations of the Indians. The rejection of this plan was followed by the introduction of British troops into the colonies; this produced taxation, and was soon succeeded by the war, which ended in the final loss of America to the mother-country. In 1755, when the expedition of General Braddock, to dispossess the French of some of their encroachments, was in preparation, a difficulty arose for want of wagons, which Franklin supplied, to the number of one hundred and fifty. The expedition, however, failing, he was in danger of a ruinous loss, but was relieved from his obligations by the interference of the governor. lle was, subsequently, instrumental in forming a militia bili; and he was appointed colonel of the Philadelphia regiment of one thousand two hundred men, which he held until the troops were disbanded by order of the English government. On the 27th of July, 1757, Franklin arrived in London, in the character of agent to the general assembly, for the purpose of advocating the privileges of the people against the illiberal and unjust encroachments of the proprietaries. Much prejudice and delusion existed at the time in relation to the affairs of America; and Franklin, in consequence, published, anonymously, a work, entitled An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania. During his sojourn in England, he was engaged in a variety of political controversies, and was examined before a committee of the whole house of commons, relative to the practicability of enforcing the stamp act, which, in consequence of the information he afforded, was repealed. He returned to Philadelphia in the summer of 1762; and shortly afterwards received the thanks of the assembly, and a grant of £5,000. In 1764, through the exertions of the proprietaries, he lost his seat in the house; but there still remained in it a majority of his friends, and he was appointed to resume his agency at the court of Great Britain. In 1766, he visited Holland and Germany; and, in the following year, France, where Louis the Fifteenth shewed him particular marks of attention. After his return to England, he got embroiled relative to some political papers which had been clandestinely furnished to him, and which he forwarded to America, where they were published. He was, in consequence, dismissed from his office of deputy postmaster-general, after having been summoned before the privy-council, and severely censured. He was now looked upon by government with considerable jealousy, and it was proposed to arrest him upon the charge of fomenting a rebellion; but being apprised of this intention, he contrived to leave Englaud secretly, in March, 1775. On his return to Philadelphia, he was elected a delegate to the congress, and took an active part in bringing about a revolution. It was at this period he wrote the following memorable letter to his old friend in England, Mr. Strahan, the king's printer: "Philadelphia, July 5th, 1775. "Mr. STRAHAN,-You are a member of parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are signed with the blood of your relations. You and I were long friends :—you are now my enemy, and I am yours. B. FRANKLIN." In 1776, although in his seventyfirst year, he was called upon by congress, to proceed to France, for the purpose of completing the negotiations began by Silas Deane; and, in 1777, he was appointed plenipotentiary to the French court. He had now not only created a host of political enemies in this country, but was also attacked by certain philosophical opponents. Mr. Wilson, a fellow of the Royal Society, protested against pointed conductors, and performed several experiments, in order to prove the superiority of knobs. In consequence of Wilson's declarations, the pointed lightning conductors were taken down from the queen's palace, a circumstance which gave rise to the following epigram : Whilst you, great George, for safety hunt, By keeping to the point. A definitive treaty of peace having been signed between Great Britain and the United States, on the 3rd of September, 1783, Franklin requested to be recalled home. He arrived at Philadelphia in September, 1785, and was afterwards twice elected president of the assembly. His last public act was the signing of a memorial, on the 12th of February, 1789, for the abolition of slavery. He had been, for many years, subject to attacks of the gout, to which, in 1782, was added a nephritic colic; and, about the same period, he suffered the first pains of a disease, the most distressing in the list of bodily infirmities. They were three things he had always dreaded; and he used to observe, that, in relation to this complication of disorders, he was "something like the woman who had always entertained a great aversion to presbyterians, parsons, and Irishmen, and at last married an Irish presbyterian parson." These maladies confined him to his bed during the greater part of the last year of his life; but, notwithstanding the severe pains he laboured under, his natural cheerfulness never forsook him. His mental faculties were unimpaired, and his memory continued unaffected to the last hour of his existence. He was often obliged to take large doses of opium; but, in his moments of ease, he amused himself with reading, or in affectionate conversation with his family. He died on the 17th of April, 1790, and was buried on the 21st of April, in the cemetery of Christ's Church, Philadelphia. On the occasion of his funeral, every possible mark of public respect was shown to his memory: a general mourning, for one month, was ordered throughout America; and the national assembly of France paid a like honour in remembrance of his virtues. Franklin was, unquestionably, a great and extraordinary man; but he became so, more by the quantity than the quality of his capabilities. He never displayed any sudden bursts of genius; but his mind was in constant equable action. His greatness was an assemblage of littlenesses. As a statesman, an orator, and a diplomatist, he has been excelled by many, whose names are nearly forgotten. In the exercise of his patriotism, he was never required to make any severe personal sacrifices; and his scientific discoveries were more the result of patient observation than of extraordinary intellectual energy. Perseverance was his most striking quality, and temperance his highest virtue. His morality seems to have been, in a great degree, the result of discipline. He had conceived what he terms "the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection," and he "wished to live without committing any fault at any time." This must, indeed, have been an "arduous" undertaking for one who had previously married another man's wife; but he proceeded in his plan with great earnestness, drew out schemes of action, tabulated the virtues, and kept a daily register of his conduct. He began at length to suspect there was something in this which partook of "a kind of foppery in morals," and he discontinued the practice, from a consideration "that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, in order to keep his friends in countenance." Making, however, due allowances for the infirmity of human nature, he was an honest man. He was a kind husband, an affectionate father, and a sincere friend; a great lover of mankind, and a stern republican. He took, at all times, a great delight in doing good; and his assistance, whether required by individuals, or by public bodies, was "never solicited in vain. He gave large sums to different institutions during his life, and bequeathed, in his will, £2,000 for benevolent purposes. With all his soberness and methodical morality, he possessed an habitual gaiety, a relish for humorous incidents, and a happy mode of relating them. Franklin's conversation was sprightly and natural, and his manners were sufficiently bland for one who began life a journeyman printer, and ended it the founder of a republic. He was perfectly destitute of pride, and considered all honest men to be upon terms of equality. During the time he was in this country, in the dignified station of a political agent to the American assembly, he went to Mr. Watts's printing-office, in Wild Court, Lincoln's Inn Fields; and entering the press-room, proceeded to a particular press where two men were at work: Come, my friends," said he, "we will drink together; it is now forty years since I worked, like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer." A gallon of porter was sent for, and the three drank "success to printing." At a later period, the merchants in Philadelphia being desirous to establish an assembly for dancing, they drew up some rules, among which was one, "that no mechanic, or mechanic's wife or daughter, should be admitted, on any terms." This rule being submitted to Dr. Franklin, he remarked, that "it excluded God Almighty, who was, unquestionably, the greatest mechanic in the universe." In his latter years, he became immoderately fond of chess, and would sit at that amusement from six in the evening, until the following sunrise. On one occasion, at Passy, whilst engaged in the game with a French gentleman, his king became checked, at the time he would otherwise have had an opportunity to give a fatal blow to his adversary. Contrary to rule, he neglected his king, and made another move. "Sir," said the Frenchman, "you cannot do that, and leave your king in check." "I see he is in check," said the doctor; "but I shall not defend him. If he was a good king, like yours, he would deserve the protection of his subjects; but he is a tyrant, and has already cost more than he is worth-take him if you please; I can do without him, and will fight out the rest of the battle, én Re publicain." An enemy to everything aristocratic, Dr. Franklin, even in literature, did not attempt to rise above the "middling class." He had taught himself Latin, Italian, Spanish, and French; but his reading had neither been extensive nor select: he began with The Pilgrim's Progress, and ended with a newspaper. His early writings were loose and verbose; but his subsequent political essays and diplomatic communications, made some approaches to force and elegance. His eloquence was of an unpretending character; but he developed his ideas with clearness and precision. He had always at hand an immense stock of common sense, and possessed the very useful quality of being "eminently great in little things." JOHN DOLLOND. JOHN DOLLOND was born in Spitalfields, on the 10th of June, 1706. His father, a French protestant refugee, was a weaver; and Dollond himself was brought up to that employment. The necessities of the family preventing his being kept at school, he devoted his leisure hours to private study; and applying himself to mathematical pursuits, was soon able to construct sun-dials and draw geometrical schemes. An early marriage and an increasing family, added to the difficulties of his humble station; but he still found opportunity, by abridging his hours of rest, to extend his mathematical acquirements. He directed his attention principally to optics and astronomy; having prepared himself for the higher branches of these sciences by an extensive acquaintance with algebra and geometry. He began, also, the study of anatomy, and to read divinity; and, in order to do so with greater advantage, he applied himself to the dead languages, and was soon able to translate the Greek Testament into Latin. His eldest son, Peter he designed for his own trade, and for several years they were employed in it together; but Peter Dollond having, from the instruction he had received from his father, become fitted for a higher profession than that of weaving, it was determined he should quit the loom, and commence business as an optician. The project was successful; and, in | 1752, John Dollond joined his son, and soon became a proficient in the practical department of optics. In 1753, he made an important improvement in refracting telescopes, by increasing the number of eye-glasses to five, for the purpose of correcting the aberration of light from the geometrical focus. The same year he effected a considerable improvement in Savery's micrometer, an account of which was given in a paper read at the Royal Society in the following year. About this period, attempts were made, by Euler and others, to correct the imperfection in object-glasses, arising from the different refrangibility of light; although Newton had previously declared "refraction could not be produced without colour," and, consequently, "that no improvement could be effected in the refracting telescope." Euler maintained, that in very small angles, refraction might be obtained without colour; and was of opinion, that the different refrangibility of light might be corrected by its passing through mediums varying in their refractive power; having been led to this conclusion by a consideration of the humours of the eye. Dollond, however, perceived that the refractions at the several surfaces of these humours were all made the same way; and, consequently, that the colours produced by the first refraction would be increased at the two subsequent ones, instead of being corrected. He perceived that the correction could only take place when the refractions were effected in contrary directions; and, after trying a number of experiments with lenses compounded of glass and water, it at length occurred to him, that the same thing might be accomplished if two kinds of glass could be procured, possessing different powers of refraction. These he had the good fortune to obtain in the ordinary crown and flint glass; and hence resulted the important discovery of the achromatic telescope. An account of these experiments was given to the Royal Society, and printed in their Transactions, in 1758; and, in the same year, he was presented with the Copley medal. In 1761, he was elected a fellow of that learned body; and also appointed optician to his majesty, but did not long enjoy these honours,-dying of apoplexy on the 30th of November, in the same year. Both astronomy and navigation have been much benefited by Dollond's achromatic telescope, which has been universally accepted by the army and navy, as well as by the public in general. Its name was given by Dr. Bevis. SIR JOHN PRINGLE. SIR JOHN PRINGLE, the son of a baronet, was born at Stichel House, in the county of Roxburgh, Scotland, in 1707. After having completed his academical education at the University of St. Andrew, he removed to Edinburgh, in 1727, for the purpose of studying physic. In the following year, he went to Leyden, where he became a pupil of Boerhaave, and took, in 1730, the degree of M.D. On his return to Scotland, he settled as a physician at Edinburgh, but became less eminent in that capacity than for his scientific attainments. He was, in consequence of these, chosen, in 1734, a joint professor of pneumatics and moral philosophy, in the university, with Mr. Scott, with the reversion of the sole professorship on his decease. He performed the duties of his office till his appointment, in 1742, of physician to the Earl of Stair, commander of the British army, with whom he went to Flanders. During his absence abroad, he was allowed to retain his professorship, but resigned it in 1744, when he was made physician-general to his majesty's forces, and to the Royal Hospital in the Low Countries. In 1745, he was recalled home to attend the forces against the rebels; and, in the same year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. During the years 1747 and 1748, he resumed his post in Flanders; and, on the settlement of peace in the latter year, took up his residence in London. In 1749, he was appointed physician in ordinary to the Duke of Cumberland; and in 1750, published, in a letter to Dr. Mead, Observations on the Gaol or Hospital Fever, which excited considerable interest, on account of the distemper having just broken out in the metropolis. It was in the same year that he began to communicate to the Royal Society his experiments upon septic and antiseptic substances, with remarks relating to their use in the theory of medicine. His papers on the subject were three in number, and procured for him the Copleian prize medal. Many highly interesting facts were ascertained by the experiments, both as relating to chemistry and the improvement of medical theory and practice, and the whole performance excited much attention. He married, in 1752, a daughter of Dr. Oliver, of Bath; and in the same year appeared his Observations on the Diseases of the Army, one of the most popular medical works of the age. It speedily went through numerous editions, and was, for many years, considered a standard work of reference on the subject. In support of his theory in this work, respecting the putridity of the animal fluids, he published, in 1753, An Account of several Persons seized with the Gaol Fever, by working in Newgate, &c. On the breaking out of the war, in 1755, he attended the army for three seasons, but quitted it altogether in 1758, and in the same year was ad |