0568
0568f
The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals
The
WORKS
Of
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, L.L.D.
VOL. 1.
[Illustration: (Engraved by W. & G. Cooke.)]
PRINTED,
for Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, Paternoster Row, London.
THE
COMPLETE
WORKS,
IN
PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND MORALS,
OF THE LATE
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
NOW FIRST COLLECTED AND ARRANGED:
WITH
MEMOIRS OF HIS EARLY LIFE,
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
London:
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD;
AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1806.
ADVERTISEMENT.
_The works of Dr. Franklin have been often partially collected, never
before brought together in one uniform publication._
_The first collection was made by Mr. Peter Collinson in the year
1751. It consisted of letters, communicated by the author to the
editor, on one subject, electricity, and formed a pamphlet only,
of which the price was half-a-crown. It was enlarged in 1752, by a
second communication on the same subject, and in 1754, by a third,
till, in 1766, by the addition of letters and papers on other
philosophical subjects, it amounted to a quarto volume of 500 pages._
_Ten years after, in 1779, another collection was made, by a
different editor, in one volume, printed both in quarto and octavo,
of papers not contained in the preceding collection, under the title
of Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces._
_In 1787, a third collection appeared in a thin octavo volume,
entitled Philosophical and Miscellaneous Papers._
_And lastly, in 1793, a fourth was published, in two volumes,
crown octavo, consisting of Memoirs of Dr. Franklin's Life, and
Essays humourous, moral and literary, chiefly in the Manner of the
Spectator._
_In the present volumes will be found all the different collections
we have enumerated, together with the various papers of the same
author, that have been published in separate pamphlets, or inserted
in foreign collections of his works, or in the Transactions of our
own or of foreign philosophical societies, or in our own or foreign
newspapers and magazines, as far as discoverable by the editor, who
has been assisted in the research by a gentleman in America. Among
these papers some, we conceive, will be new to the English reader on
this side of the Atlantic; particularly a series of essays entitled
The Busy-Body, written, as Dr. Franklin tells us in his Life, when he
was an assiduous imitator of Addison; and a pamphlet, entitled Plain
Truth, with which he is said to have commenced his political career
as a writer. We hoped to have been enabled to add, what would have
been equally new, and still more acceptable, a genuine copy of the
Life of our author, as written by himself; but in this hope we are
disappointed, and we are in consequence obliged to content ourselves
with a translation, which has been already before the public, from
a copy in the French language, coming no farther down than the year
1731; and a continuation of his history from that period, by the late
Dr. Stuber of Philadelphia._
_The character of Dr. Franklin, as a philosopher, a politician,
and a moralist, is too well known to require illustration, and
his writings, from their interesting nature, and the fascinating
simplicity of their style, are too highly esteemed, for any apology
to be necessary for so large a collection of them, unless it should
be deemed necessary by the individual to whom Dr. Franklin in his
will consigned his manuscripts: and to him our apology will consist
in a reference to his own extraordinary conduct._
_In bequeathing his papers, it was no doubt the intention of the
testator, that the world should have the chance of being benefited
by their publication. It was so understood by the person in
question, his grandson, who, accordingly, shortly after the
death of his great relative, hastened to London, the best mart
for literary property, employed an amanuensis for many months in
copying, ransacked our public libraries that nothing might escape,
and at length had so far prepared the works of Dr. Franklin for the
press, that proposals were made by him to several of our principal
booksellers for the sale of them. They were to form three quarto
volumes, and were to contain all the writings, published and
unpublished, of Franklin, with Memoirs of his Life, brought down by
himself to the year 1757, and continued to his death by the legatee.
They were to be published in three different languages, and the
countries corresponding to those languages, France, Germany, and
England, on the same day. The terms asked for the copyright of the
English edition were high, amounting to several thousand pounds,
which occasioned a little demur; but eventually they would no doubt
have been obtained. Nothing more however was heard of the proposals
or the work, in this its fair market. The proprietor, it seems,
had found a bidder of a different description in some emissary of
government, whose object was to withhold the manuscripts from the
world, not to benefit it by their publication; and they thus either
passed into other hands, or the person to whom they were bequeathed
received a remuneration for suppressing them. This at least has been
asserted, by a variety of persons, both in this country and America,
of whom some were at the time intimate with the grandson, and not
wholly unacquainted with the machinations of the ministry; and the
silence, which has been observed for so many years respecting the
publication, gives additional credibility to the report._
_What the manuscripts contained, that should have excited the
jealousy of government, we are unable, as we have never seen them,
positively to affirm; but, from the conspicuous part acted by the
author in the American revolution and the wars connected with it, it
is by no means difficult to guess; and of this we are sure, from his
character, that no disposition of his writings could have been more
contrary to his intentions or wishes._
_We have only to add, that in the present collection, which is
probably all that will ever be published of the works of this
extraordinary man, the papers are methodically arranged, the moral
and philosophical ones according to their subjects, the political
ones, as nearly as may be, according to their dates; that we have
given, in notes, the authorities for ascribing the different pieces
to Franklin; that where no title existed, to indicate the nature of a
letter or paper, we have prefixed a title; and lastly, that we have
compiled an index to the whole, which is placed at the beginning,
instead of, as is usual, at the end of the work, to render the
volumes more equal._
_April 7, 1806._
CONTENTS.
VOL. I.
_Page._
LIFE of Dr. FRANKLIN 1
LETTERS AND PAPERS ON ELECTRICITY.
Introductory Letter. 169
Wonderful effect of points.--Positive and negative
electricity.--Electrical kiss.--Counterfeit spider.--Simple and
commodious electrical machine. 170
Observations on the Leyden bottle, with experiments proving the
different electrical state of its different surfaces. 179
Further experiments confirming the preceding observations.--Leyden
bottle analysed.--Electrical battery.--Magical Picture.--Electrical
wheel or jack.--Electrical feast. 187
Observations and suppositions, towards forming a new hypothesis,
for explaining the several phenomena of thunder-gusts. 203
Introductory letter to some additional papers. 216
Opinions and conjectures, concerning the properties and effects
of the electrical matter, and the means of preserving buildings,
ships, &c. from lightning, arising from experiments and
observations made at Philadelphia, 1749.--Golden fish.--Extraction
of effluvial virtues by electricity impracticable. 217
Additional experiments: proving that the Leyden bottle has no more
electrical fire in it when charged, than before: nor less when
discharged: that in discharging, the fire does not issue from the
wire and the coating at the same time, as some have thought, but
that the coating always receives what is discharged by the wire,
or an equal quantity: the outer surface being always in a negative
state of electricity, when the inner surface is in a positive
state. 245
Accumulation of the electrical fire proved to be in the electrified
glass.--Effect of lightning on the needle of compasses,
explained.--Gunpowder fired by the electric flame. 247
Unlimited nature of the electric force. 250
The terms, electric per se, and non-electric, improper.--New
relation between metals and water.--Effects of air in electrical
experiments.--Experiment for discovering more of the qualities of
the electric fluid. 252
Mistake, that only metals and water were conductors,
rectified.--Supposition of a region of electric fire above our
atmosphere.--Theorem concerning light.--Poke-weed a cure for
cancers. 256
New experiments.--Paradoxes inferred from them.--Difference in
the electricity of a globe of glass charged, and a globe of
sulphur.--Difficulty of ascertaining which is positive and which
negative. 261
Probable cause of the different attractions and repulsions of the
two electrified globes mentioned in the two preceding letters. 264
Reasons for supposing, that the glass globe charges positively,
and the sulphur negatively.--Hint respecting a leather globe for
experiments when travelling. _ibid._
Electrical kite. 267
Hypothesis, of the sea being the grand source of lightning,
retracted.--Positive, and sometimes negative, electricity of the
clouds discovered.--New experiments and conjectures in support of
this discovery.--Observations recommended for ascertaining the
direction of the electric fluid.--Size of rods for conductors to
buildings.--Appearance of a thunder-cloud described. 269
Additional proofs of the positive and negative state of electricity
in the clouds.--New method of ascertaining it. 284
Electrical experiments, with an attempt to account for their
several phenomena, &c. 286
Experiments made in pursuance of those made by Mr. Canton, dated
December 6, 1753; with explanations, by Mr. Benjamin Franklin. 294
Turkey killed by electricity.--Effect of a shock on the operator
in making the experiment. 299
Differences in the qualities of glass.--Account of Domien, an
electrician and traveller.--Conjectures respecting the pores of
glass.--Origin of the author's idea of drawing down lightning.--No
satisfactory hypothesis respecting the manner in which clouds
become electrified.--Six men knocked down at once by an electrical
shock.--Reflections on the spirit of invention. 301
Beccaria's work on electricity.--Sentiments of Franklin on pointed
rods, not fully understood in Europe.--Effect of lightning on the
church of Newbury, in New England.--Remarks on the subject. 309
Notice of another packet of letters. 313
Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Boston, to Benjamin
Franklin, Esq. concerning the crooked direction, and the source of
lightning, and the swiftness of the electric fire. 314
Observations on the subjects of the preceding letter.--Reasons for
supposing the sea to be the grand source of lightning.--Reasons for
doubting this hypothesis.--Improvement in a globe for raising the
electric fire. 320
Effect of lightning on captain Waddel's compass, and the Dutch
church at New York. 324
Proposal of an experiment to measure the time taken up by an
Electric spark, in moving through any given space. 327
Experiments on boiling water, and glass heated by boiling
water.--Doctrine of repulsion in electrised bodies
doubted.--Electricity of the atmosphere at different
heights.--Electrical horse-race.--Electrical thermometer.--In
what cases the electrical fire produces heat.--Wire lengthened by
electricity.--Good effect of a rod on the house of Mr. West, of
Philadelphia. 331
Answer to some of the foregoing subjects.--How long the Leyden
bottle may be kept charged.--Heated glass rendered permeable by the
electric fluid.--Electrical attraction and repulsion.--Reply to
other subjects in the preceding paper.--Numerous ways of kindling
fire.--Explosion of water.--Knobs and points. 343
Accounts from Carolina (mentioned in the foregoing letter) of the
effects of lightning on two of the rods commonly affixed to houses
there, for securing them against lightning. 361
Mr. William Maine's account of the effects of the lightning on his
rod, dated at Indian Land, in South Carolina, Aug. 28, 1760. 362
On the electricity of the tourmalin. 369
New observation relating to electricity in the atmosphere. 373
Flash of lightning that struck St. Bride's steeple. 374
Best method of securing a powder magazine from lightning. 375
Of lightning, and the methods (now used in America) of securing
buildings and persons from its mischievous effects. 377
St. Bride's steeple.--Utility of electrical conductors to
Steeples.--Singular kind of glass tube. 382
Experiments, observations, and facts, tending to support the
opinion of the utility of long pointed rods, for securing
buildings from damage by strokes of lightning. 383
On the utility of electrical conductors. 400
On the effects of electricity in paralytic cases. 401
Electrical experiments on amber. 403
On the electricity of the fogs in Ireland. 405
Mode of ascertaining, whether the power, giving a shock to those
who touch either the Surinam eel, or the torpedo, be electrical. 408
On the analogy between magnetism and electricity. 410
Concerning the mode of rendering meat tender by electricity. 413
Answer to some queries concerning the choice of glass for the
Leyden experiment. 416
Concerning the Leyden bottle. 418
APPENDIX.
No. 1. Account of experiments made in electricity at Marly. 420
A more particular account of the same, &c. 422
Letter of Mr. W. Watson, F. R. S. to the Royal Society, concerning
the electrical experiments in England upon thunder-clouds. 427
No. 2. Remarks on the Abbé Nollet's Letters to Benjamin Franklin,
Esq. of Philadelphia, on electricity. 430
LIST OF THE PLATES
PLATE I. Electrical Experiments facing page 182
PLATE II. Electrical Air Thermometer 336
PLATE III. Cavendish Experiment 348
PLATE IV. Lightning Rod Experiments 388
_ERRATA._
_Page._ _Line._
2 10: for true, read me.
5 5: for was born, read who was born.
20 1: for Tryon, read Tyron's.
_ib._ 7 from the bottom: for put to blush, read put to the blush.
_ib._ 4 from the bottom: for myself, read by myself.
15 4: for collection, read works.
21 9 from the bottom: for or, read nor.
25 4 from the bottom: for pasquenades, read pasquinades.
28 7: dele the.
_ib._ 12: for printer, read a printer.
28 3 from the bottom: for my old favourite work, Bunyan's
Voyages, read my old favourite Bunyan.
40 5: for money, read in money.
44 3: for Bernet, read Burnet.
_ib._ 17: for unabled, read unable.
50 19: for ingenuous, read ingenious.
67 5: dele bridge.
80 3 from the bottom: for into, read into which.
235 21: substitute + for *.
264 2: for course read cause.
LIFE
OF
_DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN._
_LIFE_ OF DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, &c. &c.
MY DEAR SON,
I have amused myself with collecting some little anecdotes of my
family. You may remember the enquiries I made, when you were with
me in England, among such of my relations as were then living; and
the journey I undertook for that purpose. To be acquainted with the
particulars of my parentage and life, many of which are unknown to
you, I flatter myself will afford the same pleasure to you as to me.
I shall relate them upon paper: it will be an agreeable employment
of a week's uninterrupted leisure, which I promise myself during
my present retirement in the country. There are also other motives
which induce me to the undertaking. From the bosom of poverty and
obscurity, in which I drew my first breath, and spent my earliest
years, I have raised myself to a state of opulence and to some degree
of celebrity in the world. A constant good fortune has attended me
through every period of life to my present advanced age; and my
descendants may be desirous of learning what were the means of which
I made use, and which, thanks to the assisting hand of providence,
have proved so eminently successful. They may also, should they ever
be placed in a similar situation, derive some advantage from my
narrative.
When I reflect, as I frequently do, upon the felicity I have enjoyed,
I sometimes say to myself, that, were the offer made me, I would
engage to run again, from beginning to end, the same career of life.
All I would ask, should be the privilege of an author, to correct,
in a second edition, certain errors of the first. I could wish,
likewise if it were in my power, to change some trivial incidents
and events for others more favourable. Were this, however, denied
me, still would I not decline the offer. But since a repetition of
life cannot take place, there is nothing which, in my opinion, so
nearly resembles it, as to call to mind all its circumstances, and,
to render their remembrance more durable, commit them to writing. By
thus employing myself, I shall yield to the inclination, so natural
in old men, to talk of themselves and their exploits, and may freely
follow my bent, without being tiresome to those who, from respect
to my age, might think themselves obliged to listen to me; as they
will be at liberty to read me or not as they please. In fine--and I
may as well avow it, since nobody would believe me were I to deny
it--I shall perhaps, by this employment, gratify my vanity. Scarcely
indeed have I ever read or heard the introductory phrase, "_I may
say without vanity_," but some striking and characteristic instance
of vanity has immediately followed. The generality of men hate
vanity in others, however strongly they may be tinctured with it
themselves: for myself, I pay obeisance to it wherever I meet with
it, persuaded that it is advantageous, as well to the individual whom
it governs, as to those who are within the sphere of its influence.
Of consequence, it would in many cases, not be wholly absurd, that a
man should count his vanity among the other sweets of life, and give
thanks to providence for the blessing.
And here let me with all humility acknowledge, that to divine
providence I am indebted for the felicity I have hitherto enjoyed.
It is that power alone which has furnished me with the means I
have employed, and that has crowned them with success. My faith in
this respect leads me to hope, though I cannot count upon it, that
the divine goodness will still be exercised towards me, either by
prolonging the duration of my happiness to the close of life, or by
giving me fortitude to support any melancholy reverse, which may
happen to me, as to so many others. My future fortune is unknown
but to Him in whose hand is our destiny, and who can make our very
afflictions subservient to our benefit.
One of my uncles, desirous, like myself, of collecting anecdotes
of our family, gave me some notes, from which I have derived many
particulars respecting our ancestors. From these I learn, that
they had lived in the same village (Eaton in Northamptonshire,)
upon a freehold of about thirty acres, for the space at least of
three hundred years. How long they had resided there prior to that
period, my uncle had been unable to discover; probably ever since
the institution of surnames, when they took the appellation of
Franklin, which had formerly been the name of a particular order of
individuals.[1]
This petty estate would not have sufficed for their subsistence, had
they not added the trade of blacksmith, which was perpetuated in the
family down to my uncle's time, the eldest son having been uniformly
brought up to this employment: a custom which both he and my father
observed with respect to their eldest sons.
In the researches I made at Eaton, I found no account of their
births, marriages, and deaths, earlier than the year 1555; the
parish register not extending farther back than that period. This
register informed me, that I was the youngest son of the youngest
branch of the family, counting five generations. My grandfather,
Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at Eaton till he was too old to
continue his trade, when he retired to Banbury in Oxfordshire, where
his son John, who was a dyer, resided, and with whom my father was
apprenticed. He died, and was buried there: we saw his monument in
1758. His eldest son lived in the family house at Eaton, which he
bequeathed, with the land belonging to it, to his only daughter; who,
in concert with her husband, Mr. Fisher of Wellingborough, afterwards
sold it to Mr. Estead, the present proprietor.
My grandfather had four surviving sons, Thomas, John, Benjamin, and
Josias. I shall give you such particulars of them as my memory will
furnish, not having my papers here, in which you will find a more
minute account, if they are not lost during my absence.
Thomas had learned the trade of a blacksmith under his father; but
possessing a good natural understanding, he improved it by study,
at the solicitation of a gentleman of the name of Palmer, who was
at that time the principal inhabitant of the village, and who
encouraged, in like manner, all my uncles to cultivate their minds.
Thomas thus rendered himself competent to the functions of a country
attorney; soon became an essential personage in the affairs of the
village; and was one of the chief movers of every public enterprise,
as well relative to the county as the town of Northampton. A variety
of remarkable incidents were told us of him at Eaton. After enjoying
the esteem and patronage of Lord Halifax, he died, January 6, 1702,
precisely four years before I was born. The recital that was made
us of his life and character, by some aged persons of the village,
struck you, I remember, as extraordinary, from its analogy to what
you knew of myself. "Had he died," said you, "just four years later,
one might have supposed a transmigration of souls."
John, to the best of my belief, was brought up to the trade of a
wool-dyer.
Benjamin served his apprenticeship in London to a silk-dyer. He was
an industrious man: I remember him well; for, while I was a child,
he joined my father at Boston, and lived for some years in the house
with us. A particular affection had always subsisted between my
father and him; and I was his godson. He arrived to a great age. He
left behind him two quarto volumes of poems in manuscript, consisting
of little fugitive pieces addressed to his friends. He had invented
a short-hand, which he taught me, but having never made use of it,
I have now forgotten it. He was a man of piety, and a constant
attendant on the best preachers, whose sermons he took a pleasure in
writing down according, to the expeditory method he had devised. Many
volumes were thus collected by him. He was also extremely fond of
politics, too much so, perhaps, for his situation. I lately found in
London a collection which he had made of all the principal pamphlets
relative to public affairs, from the year 1641 to 1717. Many volumes
are wanting, as appears by the series of numbers; but there still
remain eight in folio, and twenty-four in quarto and octavo. The
collection had fallen into the hands of a second-hand bookseller,
who, knowing me by having sold me some books, brought it to me. My
uncle, it seems, had left it behind him on his departure for America,
about fifty years ago. I found various notes of his writing in the
margins. His grandson, Samuel, is now living at Boston.
Our humble family had early embraced the Reformation. They remained
faithfully attached during the reign of Queen Mary, when they were
in danger of being molested on account of their zeal against popery.
They had an English bible, and, to conceal it the more securely,
they conceived the project of fastening it, open, with pack-threads
across the leaves, on the inside of the lid of the close-stool. When
my great-grandfather wished to read to his family, he reversed the
lid of the close-stool upon his knees, and passed the leaves from one
side to the other, which were held down on each by the pack-thread.
One of the children was stationed at the door, to give notice if
he saw the proctor (an officer of the spiritual court) make his
appearance: in that case, the lid was restored to its place, with the
Bible concealed under it as before. I had this anecdote from my uncle
Benjamin.
The whole family preserved its attachment to the Church of England
till towards the close of the reign of Charles II. when certain
ministers, who had been ejected as nonconformists, having held
conventicles in Northamptonshire, they were joined by Benjamin and
Josias, who adhered to them ever after. The rest of the family
continued in the episcopal church.
My father, Josias, married early in life. He went, with his wife and
three children, to New England, about the year 1682. Conventicles
being at that time prohibited by law, and frequently disturbed,
some considerable persons of his acquaintance determined to go
to America, where they hoped to enjoy the free exercise of their
religion, and my father was prevailed on to accompany them.
My father had also by the same wife, four children born in America,
and ten others by a second wife, making in all seventeen. I remember
to have seen thirteen seated together at his table, who all arrived
to years of maturity, and were married. I was the last of the sons,
and the youngest child, excepting two daughters. I was born at
Boston in New England. My mother, the second wife, was Abiah Folger,
daughter of Peter Folger, one of the first colonists of New England,
of whom Cotton Mather makes honourable mention, in his Ecclesiastical
History of that province, as "_a pious and learned Englishman_," if
I rightly recollect his expressions. I have been told of his having
written a variety of little pieces; but there appears to be only one
in print, which I met with many years ago. It was published in the
year 1675, and is in familiar verse, agreeably to the taste of the
times and the country. The author addresses himself to the governors
for the time being, speaks for liberty of conscience, and in favour
of the anabaptists, quakers, and other sectaries, who had suffered
persecution. To this persecution he attributes the war with the
natives, and other calamities which afflicted the country, regarding
them as the judgments of God in punishment of so odious an offence,
and he exhorts the government to the repeal of laws so contrary to
charity. The poem appeared to be written with a manly freedom and a
pleasing simplicity. I recollect the six concluding lines, though
I have forgotten the order of words of the two first; the sense of
which was, that his censures were dictated by benevolence, and that,
of consequence, he wished to be known as the author; because, said
he, I hate from my very soul dissimulation:
From Sherburn,[2] where I dwell,
I therefore put my name,
Your friend, who means you well,
PETER FOLGER.
My brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. With
respect to myself, I was sent, at the age of eight years, to a
grammar-school. My father destined me for the church, and already
regarded me as the chaplain of the family. The promptitude with which
from my infancy I had learned to read, for I do not remember to have
been ever without this acquirement, and the encouragement of his
friends, who assured him that I should one day certainly become a man
of letters, confirmed him in this design. My uncle Benjamin approved
also of the scheme, and promised to give me all his volumes of
sermons, written, as I have said, in the short-hand of his invention,
if I would take the pains to learn it.
I remained, however, scarcely a year at the grammar-school, although,
in this short interval, I had risen from the middle to the head of my
class, from thence to the class immediately above, and was to pass,
at the end of the year, to the one next in order. But my father,
burdened with a numerous family, found that he was incapable, without
subjecting himself to difficulties, of providing for the expences
of a collegiate education; and considering besides, as I heard
him say to his friends, that persons so educated were often poorly
provided for, he renounced his first intentions, took me from the
grammar-school, and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic,
kept by a Mr. George Brownwell, who was a skilful master, and
succeeded very well in his profession by employing gentle means only,
and such as were calculated to encourage his scholars. Under him I
soon acquired an excellent hand; but I failed in arithmetic, and made
therein no sort of progress.
At ten years of age, I was called home to assist my father in his
occupation, which was that of a soap-boiler and tallow-chandler;
a business to which he had served no apprenticeship, but which he
embraced on his arrival in New England, because he found his own,
that of dyer, in too little request to enable him to maintain his
family, I was accordingly employed in cutting the wicks, filling the
moulds, taking care of the shop, carrying messages, &c.
This business displeased me, and I felt a strong inclination for a
sea life; but my father set his face against it. The vicinity of the
water, however, gave me frequent opportunities, of venturing myself
both upon and within it, and I soon acquired the art of swimming, and
of managing a boat. When embarked with other children, the helm was
commonly deputed to me, particularly on difficult occasions; and, in
every other project, I was almost always the leader of the troop,
whom I sometimes involved in embarrassments. I shall give an instance
of this, which demonstrates an early disposition of mind for public
enterprises, though the one in question was not conducted by justice.
The mill-pond was terminated on one side by a marsh, upon the borders
of which we were accustomed to take our stand, at high water, to
angle for small fish. By dint of walking, we had converted the place
into a perfect quagmire. My proposal was to erect a wharf that
should afford us firm footing; and I pointed out to my companions
a large heap of stones, intended for the building a new house near
the marsh, and which were well adapted for our purpose. Accordingly,
when the workmen retired in the evening, I assembled a number of my
play-fellows, and by labouring diligently, like ants, sometimes four
of us uniting our strength to carry a single stone, we removed them
all, and constructed our little quay. The workmen were surprised the
next morning at not finding their stones; which had been conveyed
to our wharf. Enquiries were made respecting the authors of this
conveyance; we were discovered; complaints were exhibited against us;
and many of us underwent correction on the part of our parents; and
though I strenuously defended the utility of the work, my father at
length convinced me, that nothing which was not strictly honest could
be useful.
It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to you to know what a sort of
man my father was. He had an excellent constitution, was of a middle
size, but well made and strong, and extremely active in whatever he
undertook. He designed with a degree of neatness, and knew a little
of music. His voice was sonorous and agreeable; so that when he sung
a psalm or hymn, with the accompaniment of his violin, as was his
frequent practice in an evening, when the labours of the day were
finished, it was truly delightful to hear him. He was versed also in
mechanics, and could, upon occasion, use the tools of a variety of
trades. But his greatest excellence was a sound understanding and
solid judgment, in matters of prudence, both in public and private
life. In the former, indeed, he never engaged, because his numerous
family, and the mediocrity of his fortune, kept him unremittingly
employed in the duties of his profession. But I well remember,
that the leading men of the place used frequently to come and ask
his advice respecting the affairs of the town, or of the church to
which he belonged, and that they paid much deference to his opinion.
Individuals were also in the habit of consulting him in their private
affairs, and he was often chosen arbiter between contending parties.
He was fond of having at his table, as often as possible,
some friends or well-informed neighbours, capable of rational
conversation, and he was always careful to introduce useful or
ingenious topics of discourse, which might tend to form the minds
of his children. By this means he early attracted our attention
to what was just, prudent, and beneficial in the conduct of life.
He never talked of the meats which appeared upon the table, never
discussed whether they were well or ill dressed, of a good or bad
flavour, high-seasoned or otherwise, preferable or inferior to this
or that dish of a similar kind. Thus accustomed, from my infancy, to
the utmost inattention as to these objects, I have been perfectly
regardless of what kind of food was before me; and I pay so little
attention to it even now, that it would be a hard matter for me
to recollect, a few hours after I had dined, of what my dinner
had consisted. When travelling, I have particularly experienced
the advantage of this habit; for it has often happened to me to
be in company with persons, who, having a more delicate, because
a more exercised taste, have suffered in many cases considerable
inconvenience; while, as to myself, I have had nothing to desire.
My mother was likewise possessed of an excellent constitution. She
suckled all her ten children, and I never heard either her or my
father complain of any other disorder than that of which they died:
my father at the age of eighty-seven, and my mother at eighty-five.
They are buried together at Boston, where, a few years ago, I placed
a marble over their grave, with this inscription:
"Here lie
JOSIAS FRANKLIN and ABIAH his wife: They lived together with reciprocal
affection for fifty-nine years; and without private fortune,
without lucrative employment, by assiduous labour and honest industry,
decently supported a numerous family, and educated with success,
thirteen children, and seven grand children. Let this example, reader,
encourage thee diligently to discharge the duties of thy calling, and to
rely on the support of divine providence,
He was pious and prudent,
She discreet and virtuous.
Their youngest son, from a sentiment of filial duty, consecrates
this stone
to their memory."
I perceive, by my rambling digressions, that I am growing old. But
we do not dress for a private company as for a formal ball. This
deserves, perhaps, the name of negligence.
To return. I thus continued employed in my father's trade for
the space of two years; that is to say, till I arrived at twelve
years of age. About this time my brother John, who had served his
apprenticeship in London, having quitted my father, and being
married and settled in business on his own account at Rhode Island,
I was destined, to all appearance to supply his place, and be
a candle-maker all my life: but my dislike of this occupation
continuing, my father was apprehensive, that, if a more, agreeable
one were not offered me, I might play the truant and escape to
sea; as, to his extreme mortification, my brother Josias had done.
He therefore took me sometimes to see masons, coopers, braziers,
joiners, and other mechanics, employed at their work; in order to
discover the bent of my inclination, and fix it if he could upon
some occupation that might retain me on shore. I have since, in
consequence of these visits, derived no small pleasure from seeing
skilful workmen handle their tools; and it has proved of considerable
benefit to have acquired thereby sufficient knowledge to be able
to make little things for myself, when I have had no mechanic at
hand, and to construct small machines for my experiments, while the
idea I have conceived has been fresh and strongly impressed on my
imagination.
My father at length decided that I should be a cutler, and I was
placed for some days upon trial with my cousin Samuel, son of my
uncle Benjamin, who had learned this trade in London, and had
established himself at Boston. But the premium he required for my
apprenticeship displeasing my father, I was recalled home.
From my earliest years I had been passionately fond of reading, and I
laid out in books all the money I could procure. I was particularly
pleased with accounts of voyages. My first acquisition was Bunyan's
works in small separate volumes. These I afterwards sold in order
to buy an historical collection by R. Burton, which consisted of
small cheap volumes, amounting in all to about forty or fifty. My
father's little library was principally made up of books of practical
and polemical theology. I read the greatest part of them. I have
since often regretted that at a time when I had so great a thirst
for knowledge, more eligible books had not fallen into my hands, as
it was then a point decided that I should not be educated for the
church. There was also among my father's books, Plutarch's Lives,
in which I read continually, and I still regard as advantageously
employed the time devoted to them. I found besides a work of De
Foe's, entitled an Essay on Projects, from which, perhaps, I derived
impressions that have since influenced some of the principal events
of my life.
My inclination for books at last determined my father to make me
a printer, though he had already a son in that profession. My
brother had returned from England in 1717, with a press and types,
in order to establish a printing-house at Boston. This business
pleased me much better than that of my father, though I had still a
predilection for the sea. To prevent the effects which might result
from this inclination, my father was impatient to see me engaged
with my brother. I held back for some time; at length, however, I
suffered myself to be persuaded, and signed my indentures, being then
only twelve years of age. It was agreed that I should serve as an
apprentice to the age of twenty-one, and should receive journeyman's
wages only during the last year.
In a very short time I made great proficiency in this business, and
became very serviceable to my brother. I had now an opportunity of
procuring better books. The acquaintance I necessarily formed with
booksellers' apprentices, enabled me to borrow a volume now and then,
which I never failed to return punctually and without injury. How
often has it happened to me to pass the greater part of the night
in reading by my bed-side, when the book had been lent me in the
evening, and was to be returned the next morning, lest it might be
missed or wanted!
At length, Mr. Matthew Adams, an ingenious tradesman, who had a
handsome collection of books, and who frequented our printing-house,
took notice of me. He invited me to see his library, and had the
goodness to lend me any books I was desirous of reading. I then took
a strange fancy for poetry, and composed several little pieces. My
brother, thinking he might find his account in it, encouraged me, and
engaged me to write two ballads. One, called the Light-house Tragedy,
contained an account of the shipwreck of captain Worthilake and his
two daughters; the other was a sailor's song on the capture of the
noted pirate called _Teach_, or _Blackbeard_. They were wretched
verses in point of style, mere blind-men's ditties. When printed, he
dispatched me about the town to sell them. The first had a prodigious
run, because the event was recent, and had made a great noise.
My vanity was flattered by this success; but my father checked my
exultation, by ridiculing my productions, and telling me that
versifiers were always poor. I thus escaped the misfortune of being
a very wretched poet. But as the faculty of writing prose has been
of great service to me in the course of my life, and principally
contributed to my advancement, I shall relate by what means, situated
as I was, I acquired the small skill I may possess in that way.
There was in the town another young man, a great lover of books,
of the name of John Collins, with whom I was intimately connected.
We frequently engaged in dispute, and were indeed so fond of
argumentation, that nothing was so agreeable to us as a war of words.
This contentious temper, I would observe by the bye, is in danger of
becoming a very bad habit; and frequently renders a man's company
insupportable, as being no otherwise capable of indulgence than by
an indiscriminate contradiction. Independently of the acrimony and
discord it introduces into conversation, it is often productive of
dislike, and even hatred, between persons to whom friendship is
indispensibly necessary. I acquired it by reading, while I lived with
my father, books of religious controversy. I have since remarked,
that men of sense seldom fall into this error: lawyers, fellows of
universities, and persons of every profession educated at Edinburgh,
excepted.
Collins and I fell one day into an argument, relative to the
education of women; namely, whether it was proper to instruct them in
the sciences, and whether they were competent to the study. Collins
supported the negative, and affirmed that the task was beyond their
capacity. I maintained the opposite opinion, a little perhaps for
the pleasure of disputing. He was naturally more eloquent than I;
words flowed copiously from his lips; and frequently I thought
myself vanquished, more by his volubility than by the force of his
arguments. We separated without coming to an agreement upon this
point, and as we were not to see each other again for some time, I
committed my thoughts to paper, made a fair copy, and sent it him.
He answered, and I replied. Three or four letters had been written
by each, when my father chanced to light upon my papers and read
them. Without entering into the merits of the cause, he embraced the
opportunity of speaking to me upon my manner of writing. He observed,
that though I had the advantage of my adversary in correct spelling
and pointing, which I owed to my occupation, I was greatly his
inferior in elegance of expression, in arrangement, and perspicuity.
Of this he convinced me by several examples. I felt the justice of
his remarks, became more attentive to language, and resolved to make
every effort to improve my style.
Amidst these resolves an odd volume of the Spectator fell into my
hands. This was a publication I had never seen. I bought the volume,
and read it again and again. I was enchanted with it, thought the
style excellent, and wished it were in my power to imitate it. With
this view I selected some of the papers, made short summaries of the
sense of each period, and put them for a few days aside. I then,
without looking at the book, endeavoured to restore the essays to
their due form, and to express each thought at length, as it was in
the original, employing the most appropriate words that occurred to
my mind. I afterwards compared my Spectator with the original; I
perceived some faults, which I corrected: but I found that I wanted
a fund of words, if I may so express myself, and a facility of
recollecting and employing them, which I thought I should by that
time have acquired, had I continued to make verses. The continual
need of words of the same meaning, but of different lengths for the
measure, or of different sounds for the rhyme, would have obliged me
to seek for a variety of synonymes, and have rendered me master of
them. From this belief, I took some of the tales of the Spectator and
turned them into verse; and after a time, when I had sufficiently
forgotten them, I again converted them into prose.
Sometimes also I mingled all my summaries together; and a few weeks
after, endeavoured to arrange them in the best order, before I
attempted to form the periods and complete the essays. This I did
with a view of acquiring method in the arrangement of my thoughts.
On comparing afterwards my performance with the original, many
faults were apparent, which I corrected; but I had sometimes the
satisfaction to think, that, in certain particulars of little
importance, I had been fortunate enough to improve the order of
thought or the style; and this encouraged me to hope that I should
succeed, in time, in writing decently in the English language, which
was one of the great objects of my ambition.
The time which I devoted to these exercises, and to reading, was
the evening after my day's labour was finished, the morning before
it began, and Sundays when I could escape attending divine service.
While I lived with my father, he had insisted on my punctual
attendance on public worship, and I still indeed considered it as a
duty, but a duty which I thought I had no time to practise.
When about sixteen years of age, a work of Tyron's fell into my
hands, in which he recommends vegetable diet. I determined to observe
it. My brother being a bachelor, did not keep house, but boarded
with his apprentices in a neighbouring family. My refusing to eat
animal food was found inconvenient, and I was often scolded for my
singularity. I attended to the mode in which Tryon prepared some of
his dishes, particularly how to boil potatoes and rice, and make
hasty puddings. I then said to my brother, that if he would allow
me per week half what he paid for my board, I would undertake to
maintain myself. The offer was instantly embraced, and I soon found
that of what he gave me, I was able to save half. This was a new fund
for the purchase of books; and other advantages resulted to me from
the plan. When my brother and his workmen left the printing-house
to go to dinner, I remained behind; and dispatching my frugal meal,
which frequently consisted of a biscuit only, or a slice of bread and
a bunch of raisins, or a bun from the pastry-cook's, with a glass of
water, I had the rest of the time, till their return, for study; and
my progress therein was proportioned to that clearness of ideas, and
quickness of conception, which are the fruit of temperance in eating
and drinking.
It was about this period, that having one day been put to the blush
for my ignorance in the art of calculation, which I had twice failed
to learn while at school, I took Cocker's Treatise of Arithmetic, and
went through it by myself with the utmost ease. I also read a book of
navigation by Seller and Sturmy, and made myself master of the little
geometry it contains, but I never proceeded far in this science.
Nearly at the same time I read Locke on the Human Understanding, and
the Art of Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal.
While labouring to form and improve my style, I met with an English
Grammar, which I believe was Greenwood's, having at the end of it
two little essays on rhetoric and logic. In the latter I found a
model of disputation, after the manner of Socrates. Shortly after I
procured Xenophon's work, entitled Memorable Things of Socrates, in
which are various examples of the same method. Charmed to a degree of
enthusiasm with this mode of disputing, I adopted it, and renouncing
blunt contradiction, and direct and positive argument, I assumed
the character of an humble questioner. The perusal of Shaftsbury
and Collins had made me a sceptic; and being previously so as to
many doctrines of Christianity, I found Socrates's method to be
both safest for myself, as well as the most embarrassing to those
against whom I employed it. It soon afforded me singular pleasure; I
incessantly practised it; and became very adroit in obtaining, even
from persons of superior understanding, concessions of which they did
not foresee the consequence. Thus I involved them in difficulties
from which they were unable to extricate themselves, and sometimes
obtained victories, which neither my cause nor my arguments merited.
This method I continued to employ for some years; but I afterwards
abandoned it by degrees, retaining only the habit of expressing
myself with modest diffidence, and never making use, when I
advanced any proposition which might be controverted, of the words
_certainly_, _undoubtedly_, or any others that might give the
appearance of being obstinately attached to my opinion. I rather
said, I imagine, I suppose, or it appears to me, that such a thing
is so or so, for such and such reasons; or it is so, if I am not
mistaken. This habit has, I think, been of considerable advantage
to me, when I have had occasion to impress my opinion on the minds
of others, and persuade them to the adoption of the measures I have
suggested. And since the chief ends of conversation are, to inform or
be informed, to please or to persuade, I could wish that intelligent
or well-meaning men would not themselves diminish the power they
possess of being useful, by a positive and presumptuous manner of
expressing themselves, which scarcely ever fails to disgust the
hearer, and is only calculated to excite opposition, and defeat every
purpose for which the faculty of speech has been bestowed on man. In
short, if you wish to inform, a positive and dogmatical manner of
advancing your opinion may provoke contradiction, and prevent your
being heard with attention. On the other hand, if, with a desire of
being informed, and of benefiting by the knowledge of others, you
express yourselves as being strongly attached to your own opinions,
modest and sensible men, who do not love disputation, will leave you
in tranquil possession of your errors. By following such a method,
you can rarely hope to please your auditors, conciliate their
good-will, or work conviction on those whom you may be desirous of
gaining over to your views. Pope judiciously observes,
Men must be taught, as if you taught them not,
And things unknown propos'd--as things forgot.
And in the same poem he afterwards advises us
To speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence.
He might have added to these lines, one that he has coupled
elsewhere, in my opinion, with less propriety. It is this:
For want of modesty is want of sense.
If you ask why I say with _less propriety_, I must give you the two
lines together:
Immodest words admit of _no defence_,
For want of decency is want of sense.
Now want of sense, when a man has the misfortune to be so
circumstanced, is it not a kind of excuse for want of modesty?
And would not the verses have been more accurate if they had been
constructed thus:
Immodest words admit _but this defence_,
That want of decency is want of sense.
But I leave the decision of this to better judges than myself.
In 1720, or 1721, my brother began to print a new public paper. It
was the second that made its appearance in America, and was entitled,
"The New England Courant." The only one that existed before was the
"Boston News Letter." Some of his friends, I remember, would have
dissuaded him from this undertaking, as a thing that was not likely
to succeed; a single newspaper being, in their opinion, sufficient
for all America. At present, however, in 1771, there are no less than
twenty-five. But he carried his project into execution, and I was
employed in distributing the copies to his customers, after having
assisted in composing and working them off.
Among his friends he had a number of literary characters, who,
as an amusement, wrote short essays for the paper, which gave it
reputation and increased the sale. These gentlemen frequently came
to our house. I heard the conversation that passed, and the accounts
they gave of the favourable reception of their writings with the
public. I was tempted to try my hand among them; but, being still a
child as it were, I was fearful that my brother might be unwilling
to print in his paper any performance of which he should know me to
be the author. I therefore contrived to disguise my hand, and having
written an anonymous piece, I placed it at night under the door of
the printing-house, where it was found the next morning. My brother
communicated it to his friends, when they came as usual to see him,
who read it, commented upon it within my hearing, and I had the
exquisite pleasure to find that it met with their approbation, and
that in the various conjectures they made respecting the author, no
one was mentioned who did not enjoy a high reputation in the country
for talents and genius. I now supposed myself fortunate in my judges,
and began to suspect that they were not such excellent writers as I
had hitherto supposed them. Be this as it may, encouraged by this
little adventure, I wrote, and sent to press in the same way, many
other pieces, which were equally approved: keeping the secret till my
slender stock of information and knowledge for such performances was
pretty completely exhausted, when I made myself known.
My brother, upon this discovery, began to entertain a little more
respect for me; but he still regarded himself as my master, and
treated me as an apprentice. He thought himself entitled to the same
services from me, as from any other person. On the contrary, I
conceived that in many instances, he was too rigorous, and that, on
the part of a brother, I had a right to expect greater indulgence.
Our disputes were frequently brought before my father; and either
my brother was generally wrong, or I was the better pleader of the
two, for judgment was commonly given in my favour. But my brother
was passionate, and often had recourse to blows--a circumstance
which I took in very ill part. This severe and tyrannical treatment
contributed, I believe, to imprint on my mind that aversion to
arbitrary power, which during my whole life I have ever preserved. My
apprenticeship became insupportable to me, and I continually sighed
for an opportunity of shortening it, which at length unexpectedly
offered.
An article inserted in our paper, upon some political subject which
I have now forgotten, gave offence to the assembly. My brother was
taken into custody, censured, and ordered into confinement for a
month, because, as I presume, he would not discover the author. I was
also taken up, and examined before the council; but though I gave
them no satisfaction, they contented themselves with reprimanding,
and then dismissed me; considering me probably as bound, in quality
of apprentice, to keep my master's secrets.
The imprisonment of my brother kindled my resentment, notwithstanding
our private quarrels. During its continuance, the management of the
paper was entrusted to me, and I was bold enough to insert some
pasquinades against the governors, which highly pleased my brother,
while others began to look upon me in an unfavourable point of view,
considering me as a young wit inclined to satire and lampoon.
My brother's enlargement was accompanied with an arbitrary order
from the house of the assembly, "That James Franklin should no
longer print the newspaper entitled 'The New England Courant.'"
In this conjuncture, we held a consultation of our friends at the
printing-house, in order to determine what was proper to be done.
Some proposed to evade the order, by changing the title of the paper:
but my brother, foreseeing inconveniences that would result from this
step, thought it better that it should be in future printed in the
name of Benjamin Franklin; and to avoid the censure of the assembly,
who might charge him with still printing the paper himself under
the name of his apprentice, it was resolved that my old indentures
should be given up to me, with a full and entire discharge written
on the back, in order to be produced upon an emergency; but that, to
secure to my brother the benefit of my service, I should sign a new
contract, which should be kept secret during the remainder of the
term. This was a very shallow arrangement. It was, however, carried
into immediate execution, and the paper continued, in consequence,
to make its appearance for some months in my name. At length a new
difference arising between my brother and me, I ventured to take
advantage of my liberty, presuming that he would not dare to produce
the new contract. It was undoubtedly dishonourable to avail myself
of this circumstance, and I reckon this action as one of the first
errors of my life; but I was little capable of estimating it at its
true value, embittered as my mind had been by the recollection of the
blows I had received. Exclusively of his passionate treatment of me,
my brother was by no means a man of an ill temper, and perhaps my
manners had too much impertinence not to afford it a very natural
pretext.
When he knew that it was my determination to quit him, he wished
to prevent my finding employment elsewhere. He went to all the
printing-houses in the town, and prejudiced the masters against
me--who accordingly refused to employ me. The idea then suggested
itself to me of going to New York, the nearest town in which there
was a printing-office. Farther reflection confirmed me in the design
of leaving Boston, where I had already rendered myself an object of
suspicion to the governing party. It was probable, from the arbitrary
proceedings of the assembly in the affair of my brother, that, by
remaining, I should soon have been exposed to difficulties, which I
had the greater reason to apprehend, as, from my indiscreet disputes
upon the subject of religion, I began to be regarded by pious souls
with horror, either as an apostate or an atheist. I came, therefore,
to a resolution: but my father, in this instance siding with my
brother, presumed that if I attempted to depart openly, measures
would be taken to prevent me. My friend Collins undertook to favour
my flight. He agreed for my passage with the captain of a New York
sloop, to whom he represented me as a young man of his acquaintance,
who had an affair with a girl of bad character, whose parents wished
to compel me to marry her, and that of consequence I could neither
make my appearance, nor go off publicly. I sold part of my books
to procure a small sum of money, and went privately on board the
sloop. By favour of a good wind, I found myself in three days at New
York, nearly three hundred miles from my home, at the age only of
seventeen years, without knowing an individual in the place, and
with very little money in my pocket.
The inclination I had felt for a sea-faring life had entirely
subsided, or I should now have been able to gratify it; but having
another trade, and believing myself to be a tolerable workman, I
hesitated not to offer my services to old Mr. William Bradford, who
had been the first printer in Pennsylvania, but had quitted that
province on account of a quarrel with George Keith, the governor.
He could not give me employment himself, having little to do, and
already as many persons as he wanted; but he told me that his son,
a printer at Philadelphia, had lately lost his principal workman,
Aquilla Rose, who was dead, and that if I would go thither, he
believed that he would engage me. Philadelphia was a hundred miles
farther. I hesitated not to embark in a boat in order to repair, by
the shortest cut of the sea, to Amboy, leaving my trunk and effects
to come after me by the usual and more tedious conveyance. In
crossing the bay we met with a squall, which shattered to pieces our
rotten sails, prevented us from entering the Kill, and threw us upon
Long Island.
During the squall, a drunken Dutchman, who like myself was a
passenger in the boat, fell into the sea. At the moment that he was
sinking, I seized him by the fore-top, saved him, and drew him on
board. This immersion sobered him a little, so that he fell asleep,
after having taken from his pocket a volume, which he requested me to
dry. This volume I found to be my old favourite Bunyan, in Dutch, a
beautiful impression on fine paper, with copper-plate engravings--a
dress in which I had never seen it in its original language. I
have since learned that it has been translated into almost all the
languages of Europe, and next to the Bible, I am persuaded, it is
one of the books which has had the greatest spread. Honest John is
the first, that I know of, who has mixed narrative and dialogue
together; a mode of writing very engaging to the reader, who in the
most interesting passages, finds himself admitted as it were into the
company, and present at the conversation. De Foe has imitated it with
success in his Robinson Crusoe, his Moll Flanders, and other works;
as also Richardson in his Pamela, &c.
In approaching the island, we found that we had made a part of the
coast where it was not possible to land, on account of the strong
breakers produced by the rocky shore. We cast anchor and veered the
cable towards the shore. Some men, who stood upon the brink, halloed
to us, while we did the same on our part; but the wind was so high,
and the waves so noisy, that we could neither of us hear each other.
There were some canoes upon the bank, and we called out to them, and
made signs to prevail on them to come and take us up; but either they
did not understand us, or they deemed our request impracticable, and
withdrew. Night came on, and nothing remained for us but to wait
quietly the subsiding of the wind; till when, we determined, that is,
the pilot and I, to sleep if possible. For that purpose we went below
the hatches along with the Dutchman, who was drenched with water. The
sea broke over the boat, and reached us in our retreat, so that we
were presently as completely drenched as he.
We had very little repose during the whole night: but the wind
abating the next day, we succeeded in reaching Amboy before it was
dark, after having passed thirty hours without provisions, and with
no other drink than a bottle of bad rum, the water upon which we
rowed being salt. In the evening I went to bed with a very violent
fever. I had somewhere read that cold water, drank plentifully, was a
remedy in such cases. I followed the prescription, was in a profuse
sweat for the greater part of the night, and the fever left me. The
next day I crossed the river in a ferryboat, and continued my journey
on foot. I had fifty miles to walk, in order to reach Burlington,
where I was told I should find passage-boats that would convey me to
Philadelphia. It rained hard the whole day, so that I was wet to the
skin. Finding myself fatigued about noon, I stopped at a paltry inn,
where I passed the rest of the day and the whole night, beginning
to regret that I had quitted my home. I made besides so wretched
a figure, that I was suspected to be some runaway servant. This I
discovered by the questions that were asked me; and I felt that I
was every moment in danger of being taken up as such. The next day,
however, I continued my journey, and arrived in the evening at an
inn, eight or ten miles from Burlington, that was kept by one Dr.
Brown.
This man entered into conversation with me while I took some
refreshment, and perceiving that I had read a little, he expressed
towards me considerable interest and friendship. Our acquaintance
continued during the remainder of his life. I believe him to have
been what is called an itinerant doctor; for there was no town in
England, or indeed in Europe, of which he could not give a particular
account. He was neither deficient in understanding or literature,
but he was a sad infidel; and, some years after, wickedly undertook
to travesty the Bible, in burlesque verse, as Cotton has travestied
Virgil. He exhibited, by this means, many facts in a very ludicrous
point of view, which would have given umbrage to weak minds, had his
work been published, which it never was.
I spent the night at his house, and reached Burlington the next
morning. On my arrival, I had the mortification to learn that
the ordinary passage-boats had sailed a little before. This was
on a Saturday, and there would be no other boat till the Tuesday
following. I returned to the house of an old woman in the town who
had sold me some gingerbread to eat on my passage, and I asked
her advice. She invited me to take up my abode with her till an
opportunity offered for me to embark. Fatigued with having travelled
so far on foot, I accepted her invitation. When she understood that
I was a printer, she would have persuaded me to stay at Burlington,
and set up my trade; but she was little aware of the capital that
would be necessary for such a purpose! I was treated while at her
house with true hospitality. She gave me with the utmost good-will,
a dinner of beef-steaks, and would accept of nothing in return but a
pint of ale.
Here I imagined myself to be fixed till the Tuesday in the ensuing
week; but walking out in the evening by the river side, I saw a
boat with a number of persons in it approach. It was going to
Philadelphia, and the company took me in. As there was no wind, we
could only make way with our oars. About midnight, not perceiving
the town, some of the company were of opinion that we must have
passed it, and were unwilling to row any farther; the rest not
knowing where we were, it was resolved that we should stop. We
drew towards the shore, entered a creek, and landed near some old
palisades, which served us for fire-wood, it being a cold night in
October. Here we stayed till day, when one of the company found
the place in which we were to be Cooper's creek, a little above
Philadelphia; which in reality we perceived the moment we were out of
the creek. We arrived on Sunday about eight or nine o'clock in the
morning, and landed on Market-street wharf.
I have entered into the particulars of my voyage, and shall in like
manner describe my first entrance into this city, that you may be
able to compare beginnings so little auspicious, with the figure I
have since made.
On my arrival at Philadelphia I was in my working dress, my best
cloaths being to come by sea. I was covered with dirt; my pockets
were filled with shirts and stockings; I was unacquainted with a
single soul in the place, and knew not where to seek for a lodging.
Fatigued with walking, rowing, and having passed the night without
sleep, I was extremely hungry, and all my money consisted of a
Dutch dollar, and about a shilling's worth of coppers, which I gave
to the boatmen for my passage. As I had assisted them in rowing,
they refused it at first; but I insisted on their taking it. A man
is sometimes more generous when he has little, than when he has
much money; probably because, in the first case, he is desirous of
concealing his poverty.
I walked towards the top of the street, looking eagerly on both
sides, till I came to Market-street, where I met a child with a
loaf of bread. Often had I made my dinner on dry bread. I enquired
where he had bought it, and went straight to the baker's shop which
he pointed out to me. I asked for some biscuits, expecting to find
such as we had at Boston; but they made, it seems, none of that sort
at Philadelphia. I then asked for a three-penny loaf; they made no
loaves of that price. Finding myself ignorant of the prices, as well
as of the different kinds of bread, I desired him to let me have
three penny-worth of bread of some kind or other. He gave me three
large rolls. I was surprised at receiving so much: I took them,
however, and having no room in my pockets, I walked on with a roll
under each arm, eating the third. In this manner I went through
Market-street to Fourth-street, and passed the house of Mr. Read, the
father of my future wife. She was standing at the door, observed me,
and thought with reason, that I made a very singular and grotesque
appearance.
I then turned the corner, and went through Chesnut-street, eating my
roll all the way; and having made this round, I found myself again on
Market-street wharf, near the boat in which I arrived. I stepped into
it to take a draught of the river water; and finding myself satisfied
with my first roll, I gave the other two to a woman and her child,
who had come down the river with us in the boat, and was waiting to
continue her journey. Thus refreshed, I regained the street, which
was now full of well-dressed people, all going the same way. I joined
them, and was thus led to a large Quaker's meeting-house near the
market-place. I sat down with the rest, and after looking round
me for some time, hearing nothing said, and being drowsy from my
last night's labour and want of rest, I fell into a sound sleep. In
this state I continued till the assembly dispersed, when one of the
congregation had the goodness to wake me. This was consequently the
first house I entered, or in which I slept, at Philadelphia.
I began again to walk along the street by the river side; and looking
attentively in the face of every one I met, I at length perceived a
young quaker whose countenance pleased me. I accosted him, and begged
him to inform me where a stranger might find a lodging. We were then
near the sign of the three Mariners. They receive travellers here,
said he, but it is not a house that bears a good character; if you
will go with me, I will shew you a better one. He conducted me to
the Crooked-billet, in Water-street. There I ordered something for
dinner, and during my meal a number of curious questions were put
to me; my youth and appearance exciting the suspicion of my being a
runaway. After dinner my drowsiness returned, and I threw myself upon
a bed without taking off my cloaths, and slept till six o'clock in
the evening, when I was called to supper. I afterwards went to bed at
a very early hour, and did not awake till the next morning.
As soon as I got up I put myself in as decent a trim as I could,
and went to the house of Andrew Bradford the printer. I found his
father in the shop, whom I had seen at New York. Having travelled
on horseback, he had arrived at Philadelphia before me. He
introduced me to his son, who received me with civility, and gave
me some breakfast; but told me he had no occasion at present for a
journeyman, having lately procured one. He added, that there was
another printer newly settled in the town, of the name of Keimer,
who might perhaps employ me; and that in case of refusal, I should be
welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give me a little work now
and then, till something better should offer.
The old man offered to introduce me to the new printer. When we were
at his house: "Neighbour," said he, "I bring you a young man in the
printing business; perhaps you may have need of his services."
Keimer asked me some questions, put a composing stick in my hand
to see how I could work, and then said, that at present he had
nothing for me to do, but that he should soon be able to employ me.
At the same time taking old Bradford for an inhabitant of the town
well-disposed towards him, he communicated his project to him, and
the prospect he had of success. Bradford was careful not to discover
that he was the father of the other printer; and from what Keimer
had said, that he hoped shortly to be in possession of the greater
part of the business of the town, led him by artful questions, and by
starting some difficulties, to disclose all his views, what his hopes
were founded upon, and how he intended to proceed. I was present, and
heard it all. I instantly saw that one of the two was a cunning old
fox, and the other a perfect novice. Bradford left me with Keimer,
who was strangely surprised when I informed him who the old man was.
I found Keimer's printing materials to consist of an old damaged
press, and a small fount of worn-out English letters, with which
he himself was at work upon an elegy on Aquila Rose, whom I have
mentioned above, an ingenious young man, and of an excellent
character, highly esteemed in the town, secretary to the assembly,
and a very tolerable poet. Keimer also made verses, but they were
indifferent ones. He could not be said to write in verse, for his
method was to set the lines as they flowed from his muse; and as he
worked without copy, had but one set of letter-cases, and the elegy
would probably occupy all his types, it was impossible for any one
to assist him. I endeavoured to put his press in order, which he had
not yet used, and of which indeed he understood nothing: and having
promised to come and work off his elegy as soon as it should be
ready, I returned to the house of Bradford, who gave me some trifle
to do for the present, for which I had my board and lodging.
In a few days Keimer sent for me to print off his elegy. He had now
procured another set of letter-cases, and had a pamphlet to re-print,
upon which he set me to work.
The two Philadelphia printers appeared destitute of every
qualification necessary in their profession. Bradford had not
been brought up to it, and was very illiterate. Keimer, though
he understood a little of the business, was merely a compositor,
and wholly incapable of working at the press. He had been one of
the French prophets; and knew how to imitate their supernatural
agitations. At the time of our first acquaintance he professed no
particular religion, but a little of all upon occasion. He was
totally ignorant of the world, and a great knave at heart, as I had
afterwards, an opportunity of experiencing.
Keimer could not endure that, working with him, I should lodge at
Bradford's. He had indeed a house, but it was unfurnished; so that
he could not take me in. He procured me a lodging at Mr. Read's, his
landlord, whom I have already mentioned. My trunk and effects being
now arrived, I thought of making, in the eyes of Miss Read, a more
respectable appearance than when chance exhibited me to her view,
eating my roll, and wandering in the streets.
From this period I began to contract acquaintance with such young
people of the town as were fond of reading, and spent my evenings
with them agreeably, while at the same time I gained money by my
industry, and, thanks to my frugality, lived contented. I thus forgot
Boston as much as possible, and wished every one to be ignorant of
the place of my residence, except my friend Collins, to whom I wrote,
and who kept my secret.
An incident however arrived, which sent me home much sooner than
I had proposed. I had a brother-in-law, of the name of Robert
Holmes, master of a trading sloop from Boston to Delaware. Being at
Newcastle, forty miles below Philadelphia, he heard of me, and wrote
to inform me of the chagrin which my sudden departure from Boston
had occasioned my parents, and of the affection which they still
entertained for me, assuring me that, if I would return, every thing
should be adjusted to my satisfaction; and he was very pressing in
his entreaties. I answered his letter, thanked him for his advice,
and explained the reasons which had induced me to quit Boston, with
such force and clearness, that he was convinced I had been less to
blame than he had imagined.
Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was at Newcastle at
the time. Captain Holmes, being by chance in his company when he
received my letter, took occasion to speak of me, and showed it him.
The governor read it, and appeared surprised when he learned my age.
He thought me, he said, a young man of very promising talents, and
that, of consequence, I ought to be encouraged; that there were at
Philadelphia none but very ignorant printers, and that if I were to
set up for myself, he had no doubt of my success; that, for his own
part, he would procure me all the public business, and would render
me every other service in his power. My brother-in-law related all
this to me afterwards at Boston; but I knew nothing of it at the
time; when one day Keimer and I being at work together near the
window, we saw the governor and another gentleman, colonel French, of
Newcastle, handsomely dressed, cross the street, and make directly
for our house. We heard them at the door, and Keimer believing it
to be a visit to himself, went immediately down: but the governor
enquired for me, came up stairs, and, with a condescension and
politeness to which I had not at all been accustomed, paid me many
compliments, desired to be acquainted with me, obligingly reproached
me for not having made myself known to him on my arrival in the town,
and wished me to accompany him to a tavern, where he and colonel
French were going to taste some excellent Madeira wine.
I was, I confess, somewhat surprised, and Keimer appeared
thunderstruck. I went, however, with the governor and the colonel to
a tavern at the corner of Third-street, where, while we were drinking
the Madeira, he proposed to me to establish a printing-house. He set
forth the probabilities of success, and himself, and colonel French
assured me that I should have their protection and influence in
obtaining the printing of the public papers of both governments; and
as I appeared to doubt whether my father would assist me in this
enterprize, Sir William said that he would give me a letter to him,
in which he would represent the advantages of the scheme, in a light
which he had no doubt would determine him. It was thus concluded that
I should return to Boston by the first vessel, with the letter of
recommendation, from the governor to my father. Meanwhile the project
was to be kept secret, and I continued to work for Keimer as before.
The governor sent every now and then to invite me to dine with him. I
considered this as a very great honour; and I was the more sensible
of it, as he conversed with me in the most affable, familiar, and
friendly manner imaginable.
Towards the end of April 1724, a small vessel was ready to sail for
Boston. I took leave of Keimer, upon the pretext of going to see my
parents. The governor gave me a long letter, in which he said many
flattering things of me to my father; and strongly recommended the
project of my settling at Philadelphia, as a thing which could not
fail to make my fortune.
Going down the bay we struck on a flat, and sprung a leak. The
weather was very tempestuous, and we were obliged to pump without
intermission; I took my turn. We arrived, however, safe and sound at
Boston, after about a fortnight's passage.
I had been absent about seven complete months, and my relations,
during that interval, had received no intelligence of me; for my
brother-in-law, Holmes, was not yet returned, and had not written
about me. My unexpected appearance surprized the family; but they
were all delighted at seeing me again, and, except my brother,
welcomed me home. I went to him at the printing-house. I was better
dressed than I had ever been while in his service: I had a complete
suit of clothes, new and neat, a watch in my pocket, and my purse was
furnished with nearly five pounds sterling in money. He gave me no
very civil reception; and having eyed me from head to foot, resumed
his work.
The workmen asked me with eagerness where I had been, what sort of a
country it was, and how I liked it. I spoke in the highest terms of
Philadelphia, the happy life we led there, and expressed my intention
of going back again. One of them asking what sort of money we had,
I displayed before them a handful of silver, which I drew from my
pocket. This was a curiosity to which they were not accustomed, paper
being the current money at Boston. I failed not after this to let
them see my watch; and at last, my brother continuing sullen and
out of humour, I gave them a shilling to drink, and took my leave.
This visit stung my brother to the soul; for when, shortly after, my
mother spoke to him of a reconciliation, and a desire to see us upon
good terms, he told her that I had so insulted him before his men,
that he would never forget or forgive it: in this, however, he was
mistaken.
The governor's letter appeared to excite in my father some surprize;
but he said little. After some days, captain Holmes being returned,
he showed it him, asking him if he knew Keith, and what sort of a
man he was: adding, that, in his opinion, it proved very little
discernment to think of setting up a boy in business, who for three
years to come would not be of an age to be ranked in the class of
men. Holmes said every thing he could in favour of the scheme; but my
father firmly maintained its absurdity, and at last gave a positive
refusal. He wrote, however, a civil letter to Sir William, thanking
him for the protection he had so obligingly offered me, but refusing
to assist me for the present, because he thought me too young to be
entrusted with the conduct of so important an enterprise, and which
would require so considerable a sum of money.
My old comrade Collins, who was a clerk in the post-office, charmed
with the account I gave of my new residence, expressed a desire of
going thither; and while I waited my father's determination, he set
off before me by land for Rhode Island, leaving his books, which
formed a handsome collection in mathematics and natural philosophy,
to be conveyed with mine to New York, where he purposed to wait for
me.
My father, though he could not approve Sir William's proposal, was
yet pleased that I had obtained so advantageous a recommendation as
that of a person of his rank, and that my industry and economy had
enabled me to equip myself so handsomely in so short a period. Seeing
no appearance of accommodating matters between my brother and me, he
consented to my return to Philadelphia, advised me to be civil to
every body, to endeavour to obtain general esteem, and avoid satire
and sarcasm, to which he thought I was too much inclined; adding,
that with perseverance and prudent economy, I might, by the time I
became of age, save enough to establish myself in business; and that
if a small sum should then be wanting, he would undertake to supply
it.
This was all I could obtain from him, except some trifling presents,
in token of friendship from him and my mother. I embarked once more
for New York, furnished at this time with their approbation and
blessing. The sloop having touched at Newport in Rhode Island, I
paid a visit to my brother John, who had for some years been settled
there, and was married. He had always been attached to me, and he
received me with great affection. One of his friends, whose name
was Vernon, having a debt of about thirty-six pounds due to him in
Pennsylvania, begged me to receive it for him, and to keep the money
till I should hear from him: accordingly he gave me an order for that
purpose. This affair occasioned me, in the sequel, much uneasiness.
At Newport we took on board a number of passengers; among whom
were two young women, and a grave and sensible quaker lady with
her servants. I had shown an obliging forwardness in rendering the
quaker some trifling services, which led her, probably, to feel an
interest in my welfare; for when she saw a familiarity take place,
and every day increase, between the two young women and me, she took
me aside and said: "Young man, I am in pain for thee. Thou hast no
parent to watch over thy conduct, and thou seemest to be ignorant of
the world, and the snares to which youth is exposed. Rely upon what
I tell thee: those are women of bad characters; I perceive it in
all their actions. If thou dost not take care, they will lead thee
into danger. They are strangers to thee, and I advise thee, by the
friendly interest I take in thy preservation, to form no connection
with them." As I appeared at first not to think quite so ill of them
as she did, she related many things she had seen and heard, which
had escaped my attention, but which convinced me that she was in the
right. I thanked her for her obliging advice, and promised to follow
it.
When we arrived at New York, they informed me where they lodged,
and invited me to come and see them. I did not however go, and it
was well I did not; for the next day, the captain missing a silver
spoon and some other things which had been taken from the cabin, and
knowing these women to be prostitutes, procured a search-warrant,
found the stolen goods upon them, and had them punished. And thus,
after having been saved from one rock concealed under water, upon
which the vessel struck during our passage, I escaped another of a
still more dangerous nature.
At New York I found my friend Collins, who had arrived some time
before. We had been intimate from our infancy, and had read the same
books together; but he had the advantage of being able to devote
more time to reading and study, and an astonishing disposition for
mathematics, in which he left me far behind him. When at Boston, I
had been accustomed to pass with him almost all my leisure hours. He
was then a sober and industrious lad; his knowledge had gained him a
very general esteem, and he seemed to promise to make an advantageous
figure in society. But, during my absence, he had unfortunately
addicted himself to brandy, and I learned, as well from himself as
from the report of others, that every day since his arrival at New
York he had been intoxicated, and had acted in a very extravagant
manner. He had also played, and lost all his money; so that I was
obliged to pay his expences at the inn, and to maintain him during
the rest of his journey; a burthen that was very inconvenient to me.
The governor of New York, whose name was Burnet, hearing the captain
say, that a young man who was a passenger in his ship had a great
number of books, begged him to bring me to his house. I accordingly
went, and should have taken Collins with me, had he been sober. The
governor treated me with great civility, shewed me his library,
which was a very considerable one, and we talked for some time upon
books and authors. This was the second governor who had honoured me
with his attention, and to a poor boy, as I was then, these little
adventures did not fail to be pleasing.
We arrived at Philadelphia. On the way I received Vernon's money,
without which we should have been unable to have finished our journey.
Collins wished to get employment as a merchant's clerk, but either
his breath or his countenance betrayed his bad habit; for, though he
had recommendations he met with no success, and continued to lodge
and eat with me, and at my expence. Knowing that I had Vernon's
money, he was continually asking me to lend him some of it, promising
to repay me as soon as he should get employment. At last he had drawn
so much of this money, that I was extremely alarmed at what might
become of me, should he fail to make good the deficiency. His habit
of drinking did not at all diminish, and was a frequent source of
discord between us; for when he had drank a little too much, he was
very head-strong.
Being one day in a boat together on the Delaware, with some other
young persons, he refused to take his turn in rowing. You shall row
for me, said he, till we get home.--No, I replied, we will not row
for you.--You shall, said he, or remain upon the water all night. As
you please.--Let us row, said the rest of the company; what signifies
whether he assists or not. But, already angry with him for his
conduct in other respects, I persisted in my refusal. He then swore
that he would make me row, or would throw me out of the boat; and he
made up to me. As soon as he was within my reach, I took him by the
collar, gave him a violent thrust, and threw him head foremost into
the river. I knew that he was a good swimmer, and was therefore under
no apprehensions for his life. Before he could turn himself, we were
able, by a few strokes of our oars, to place ourselves out of his
reach; and whenever he touched the boat, we asked him if he would row
striking his hands at the same time with the oars, to make him let go
his hold. He was nearly suffocated with rage, but obstinately refused
making any promise to row. Perceiving, at length, that his strength
began to be exhausted, we took him into the boat, and conveyed
him home in the evening completely drenched. The utmost coldness
subsisted between us after this adventure. At last the captain of
a West-India ship, who was commissioned to procure a tutor for the
children of a gentleman at Barbadoes, meeting with Collins, offered
him the place. He accepted it, and took his leave of me, promising to
discharge the debt he owed me with the first money he should receive;
but I have heard nothing of him since.
The violation of the trust reposed in me by Vernon, was one of the
first great errors of my life; and it proves that my father was not
mistaken when he supposed me too young to be intrusted with the
management of important affairs. But Sir William, upon reading his
letter, thought him too prudent. There was a difference, he said,
between individuals: years of maturity were not always accompanied
with discretion, neither was youth in every instance devoid of
it. Since your father, added he, will not set you up in business,
I will do it myself. Make out a list of what will be wanted from
England, and I will send for the articles. You shall repay me when
you can. I am determined to have a good printer here, and I am sure
you will succeed. This was said with so much seeming cordiality,
that I suspected not for an instant the sincerity of the offer. I
had hitherto kept the project, with which Sir William had inspired
me, of settling in business, a secret at Philadelphia, and I still
continued to do so. Had my reliance on the governor been known,
some friend better acquainted with his character than myself, would
doubtless have advised me not to trust him; for I afterwards learned
he was universally known to be liberal of promises, which he had no
intention to perform. But having never solicited him, how could I
suppose his offers to be deceitful?--On the contrary, I believed him
to be the best man in the world.
I gave him an inventory of a small printing-office, the expence
of which I had calculated at about a hundred pounds sterling. He
expressed his approbation; but asked, if my presence in England, that
I might choose the characters myself, and see that every article
was good in its kind, would not be an advantage? You will also be
able, said he, to form some acquaintance there, and establish a
correspondence with stationers and booksellers. This I acknowledged
was desirable. That being the case, added he, hold yourself in
readiness to go with the Annis. This was the annual vessel, and the
only one, at that time, which made regular voyages between the ports
of London and Philadelphia. But the Annis was not to sail for some
months. I therefore continued to work with Keimer, unhappy respecting
the sum which Collins had drawn from me, and almost in continual
agony at the thoughts of Vernon, who fortunately made no demand of
his money till several years after.
In the account of my first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia,
I omitted, I believe, a trifling circumstance, which will not,
perhaps, be out of place here. During a calm which stopped us above
Block Island, the crew employed themselves in fishing for cod, of
which they caught a great number. I had hitherto adhered to my
resolution of not eating any thing that had possessed life; and I
considered on this occasion, agreeably to the maxims of my master
Tryon, the capture of every fish as a sort of murder, committed
without provocation, since these animals had neither done, nor were
capable of doing the smallest injury to any one that should justify
the measure. This mode of reasoning I conceived to be unanswerable.
Meanwhile, I had formerly been extremely fond of fish; and when one
of these cod was taken out of the frying-pan, I thought its flavour
delicious. I hesitated some time between principle and inclination,
till at last recollecting, that when the cod had been opened, some
small fish were found in its belly, I said to myself, if you eat one
another, I see no reason why we may not eat you. I accordingly dined
on the cod with no small degree of pleasure, and have since continued
to eat like the rest of mankind, returning only occasionally to
my vegetable plan. How convenient does it prove to be a _rational
animal_, that knows how to find or invent a plausible pretext for
whatever it has an inclination to do!
I continued to live upon good terms with Keimer, who had not the
smallest suspicion of my projected establishment. He still retained
a portion of his former enthusiasm; and, being fond of argument, we
frequently disputed together. I was so much in the habit of using my
Socratic method, and had so frequently puzzled him by my questions,
which appeared at first very distant from the point in debate, yet
nevertheless led to it by degrees, involving him in difficulties and
contradictions from which he was unable to extricate himself, that he
became at last ridiculously cautious, and would scarcely answer the
most plain and familiar question without previously asking me--What
would you infer from that? Hence he formed so high an opinion of my
talents for refutation, that he seriously proposed to me to become
his colleague in the establishment of a new religious sect. He was to
propagate the doctrine by preaching, and I to refute every opponent.
When he explained to me his tenets, I found many absurdities which
I refused to admit, unless he would agree in turn to adopt some of
my opinions. Keimer wore his beard long, because Moses had somewhere
said, "Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard." He likewise
observed the Sabbath; and these were with him two very essential
points. I disliked them both: but I consented to adopt them,
provided he would agree to abstain from animal food. I doubt, said
he, whether my constitution will be able to support it. I assured
him on the contrary he would find himself the better for it. He was
naturally a glutton, and I wished to amuse myself by starving him. He
consented to make trial of this regimen, if I would bear him company;
and in reality we continued it for three months. A woman in the
neighbourhood prepared and brought us our victuals, to whom I gave a
list of forty dishes; in the composition of which there were entered
neither flesh nor fish. This fancy was the more agreeable to me as it
turned to good account; for the whole expence of our living did not
exceed for each eighteen pence a week.
I have since that period observed several Lents with the greatest
strictness, and have suddenly returned again to my ordinary diet,
without experiencing the smallest inconvenience; which has led me to
regard as of no importance the advice commonly given, of introducing
gradually such alterations of regimen.
I continued it cheerfully, but poor Keimer suffered terribly.
Tired of the project, he sighed for the fleshpots of Egypt. At
length he ordered a roast pig, and invited me and two of our female
acquaintance to dine with him; but the pig being ready a little too
soon, he could not resist the temptation, and eat it all up before we
arrived.
During the circumstances I have related, I had paid some attentions
to Miss Read. I entertained for her the utmost esteem and affection;
and I had reason to believe that these sentiments were mutual. But
we were both young, scarcely more than eighteen years of age; and
as I was on the point of undertaking a long voyage, her mother
thought it prudent to prevent matters being carried top far for the
present, judging that, if marriage was our object, there would be
more propriety in it after my return, when, as at least I expected, I
should be established in my business. Perhaps, also, she thought my
expectations were not so well founded as I imagined.
My most intimate acquaintance at this time were Charles Osborne,
Joseph Watson, and James Ralph: young men who were all fond of
reading. The two first were clerks to Mr. Charles Brockdon, one
of the principal attornies in the town, and the other clerk to a
merchant. Watson was an upright, pious, and sensible young man: the
others were somewhat more loose in their principles of religion,
particularly Ralph, whose faith, as well as that of Collins, I had
contributed to shake; each of whom made me suffer a very adequate
punishment. Osborne was sensible, and sincere and affectionate in
his friendships, but too much inclined to the critic in matters of
literature. Ralph was ingenious and shrewd, genteel in his address,
and extremely eloquent. I do not remember to have met with a more
agreeable speaker. They were both enamoured of the muses, and had
already evinced their passion by some small poetical productions.
It was a custom with us to take a charming walk on Sundays, in the
woods that border the Skuylkil. Here we read together, and afterwards
conversed on what we read. Ralph was disposed to give himself up
entirely to poetry. He flattered himself that he should arrive at
great eminence in the art, and even acquire a fortune. The sublimest
poets, he pretended, when they first began to write, committed as
many faults as himself. Osborne endeavoured to dissuade him, by
assuring him that he had no genius for poetry, and advised him to
stick to the trade in which he had been brought up. In the road of
commerce, said he, you will be sure, by diligence and assiduity,
though you have no capital, of so far succeeding as to be employed
as a factor; and may thus, in time, acquire the means of setting
up for yourself. I concurred in these sentiments, but at the same
time expressed my approbation of amusing ourselves sometimes with
poetry, with a view to improve our style. In consequence of this it
was proposed, that, at our next meeting, each of us should bring a
copy of verses of his own composition. Our object in this competition
was to benefit each other by our mutual remarks, criticisms, and
corrections; and as style and expression were all we had in view, we
excluded every idea of invention, by agreeing that our task should be
a version of the eighteenth psalm, in which is described the descent
of the Deity.
The time of our meeting drew near, when Ralph called upon me, and
told me that his performance was ready. I informed him that I had
been idle, and, not much liking the task, had done nothing. He shewed
me his piece, and asked me what I thought of it. I expressed myself
in terms of warm approbation; because it really appeared to have
considerable merit. He then said, Osborne will never acknowledge
the smallest degree of excellence in any production of mine. Envy
alone dictates to him a thousand animadversions. Of you he is not so
jealous: I wish, therefore, you would take the verses, and produce
them as your own. I will pretend not to have had leisure to write
any thing. We shall then see in what manner he will speak of them.
I agreed to this little artifice, and immediately transcribed the
verses to prevent all suspicion.
We met. Watson's performance was the first that was read; it had
some beauties, but many faults. We next read Osborne's, which was
much better. Ralph did it justice, remarking a few imperfections,
and applauding such parts as were excellent. He had himself nothing
to show. It was now my turn. I made some difficulty; seemed as if
I wished to be excused; pretended that I had had no time to make
corrections, &c. No excuse, however, was admissible, and, the piece
must be produced. It was read, and re-read. Watson and Osborne
immediately resigned the palm, and united in applauding it. Ralph
alone made a few remarks, and proposed some alterations; but I
defended my text. Osborne agreed with me, and told Ralph that he was
no more able to criticise than he was able to write.
When Osborne was alone with me, he expressed himself still more
strongly in favour of what he considered as my performance. He
pretended that he had put some restraint upon himself before,
apprehensive of my construing his commendation into flattery. But
who would have supposed, said he, Franklin to be capable of such a
composition? What painting--what energy--what fire! He has surpassed
the original. In his common conversation he appears not to have a
choice of words; he hesitates, and is at a loss--and yet, good God,
how he writes!
At our next meeting Ralph discovered the trick we had played Osborne,
who was rallied without mercy.
By this adventure Ralph was fixed in his determination of becoming a
poet. I left nothing unattempted to divert him from his purpose; but
he persevered, till at last the reading of Pope[3] effected his cure:
he became, however, a very tolerable prose-writer. I shall speak more
of him hereafter; but as I shall probably have no farther occasion
to mention the other two, I ought to observe here that Watson died a
few years after in my arms. He was greatly regretted, for he was the
best of our society. Osborne went to the islands, where he gained
considerable reputation as a barrister, and was getting money; but he
died young. We had seriously engaged, that whoever died first should
return (if possible) and pay a friendly visit to the survivor, to
give him an account of the other world--but he has never fulfilled
his engagement.
The governor appeared to be fond of my company, and frequently
invited me to his house. He always spoke of his intention of
settling me in business, as a point that was decided. I was to take
with me letters of recommendation to a number of his friends, and
particularly a letter of credit, in order to obtain the necessary sum
for the purchase of my press, types, and paper. He appointed various
times for me to come for these letters, which would certainly be
ready, and when I came, always put me off to another day.
These successive delays continued till the vessel, whose departure
had been several times deferred, was on the point of setting sail;
when I again went to Sir William's house, to receive my letters and
take leave of him. I saw his secretary, Dr. Bard, who told me that
the governor was extremely busy writing, but that he would be down at
Newcastle before the vessel, and that the letters would be delivered
to me there.
Ralph, though he was married and had a child, determined to accompany
me in this voyage. His object was supposed to be the establishing a
correspondence with some mercantile houses, in order to sell goods
by commission; but I afterwards learned that, having reason to be
dissatisfied with the parents of his wife, he proposed to himself to
leave her on their hands, and never return to America again.
Having taken leave of my friends, and interchanged promises of
fidelity with Miss Read, I quitted Philadelphia. At Newcastle the
vessel came to anchor. The governor was arrived, and I went to his
lodgings. His secretary received me with great civility, told me on
the part of the governor that he could not see me then, as he was
engaged in affairs of the utmost importance, but that he would send
the letters on board, and that he wished me, with all his heart, a
good voyage, and speedy return. I returned, somewhat astonished, to
the ship, but still without entertaining the slightest suspicion.
Mr. Hamilton, a celebrated barrister of Philadelphia, had taken a
passage to England for himself and his son, and, in conjunction with
Mr. Denham, a quaker, and Messrs. Oniam and Russel, proprietors of a
forge in Maryland, had agreed for the whole cabin, so that Ralph and
I were obliged to take up our lodging with the crew. Being unknown
to every body in the ship, we were looked upon as of the common
order of people: but Mr. Hamilton and his son, (it was James, who
was afterwards governor,) left us at Newcastle, and returned to
Philadelphia, where he was recalled at a very great expence, to plead
the cause of a vessel that had been seized; and just as we were about
to sail, colonel French came on board, and shewed me many civilities.
The passengers upon this paid me more attention, and I was invited,
together with my friend Ralph, to occupy the place in the cabin which
the return of the Mr. Hamiltons had made vacant; an offer which we
very readily accepted.
Having learned that the dispatches of the governor had been brought
on board by colonel French, I asked the captain for the letters that
were to be entrusted to my care. He told me that they were all put
together in the bag, which he could not open at present; but before
we reached England, he would give me an opportunity of taking them
out. I was satisfied with this answer, and we pursued our voyage.
The company in the cabin were all very sociable, and we were
perfectly well off as to provisions, as we had the advantage of the
whole of Mr. Hamilton's, who had laid in a very plentiful stock.
During the passage, Mr. Denham contracted a friendship for me, which
ended only with his life: in other respects the voyage was by no
means an agreeable one, as we had much bad weather.
When we arrived in the river, the captain was as good as his word,
and allowed me to search in the bag for the governor's letters. I
could not find a single one with my name written on it, as committed
to my care; but I selected six or seven, which I judged from the
direction to be those that were intended for me; particularly one to
Mr. Basket the king's printer, and another to a stationer, who was
the first person I called upon. I delivered him the letter as coming
from governor Keith. "I have no acquaintance (said he) with any such
person;" and opening the letter, "Oh, it is from Riddlesden!" he
exclaimed. "I have lately discovered him to be a very arrant knave,
and wish to have nothing to do either with him or his letters." He
instantly put the letter into my hand, turned upon his heel, and left
me, to serve some customers.
I was astonished at finding these letters were not from the governor.
Reflecting, and putting circumstances together, I then began to doubt
his sincerity. I rejoined my friend Denham, and related the whole
affair to him. He let me at once into Keith's character, told me
there was not the least probability of his having written a single
letter; that no one who knew him ever placed any reliance on him, and
laughed at my credulity in supposing that the governor would give me
a letter of credit, when he had no credit for himself. As I showed
some uneasiness respecting what step I should take, he advised me to
try to get employment in the house of some printer. You may there,
said he, improve yourself in business, and you will be able to settle
yourself the more advantageously when you return to America.
We knew already as well as the stationer, attorney Riddlesden to be
a knave. He had nearly ruined the father of Miss Read, by drawing
him in to be his security. We learned from his letter, that he was
secretly carrying on an intrigue, in concert with the governor, to
the prejudice of Mr. Hamilton, who it was supposed would by this
time be in Europe. Denham, who was Hamilton's friend, was of opinion
that he ought to be made acquainted with it; and in reality, the
instant he arrived in England, which was very soon after, I waited on
him, and, as much from good-will to him, as from resentment against
the governor, put the letter into his hands. He thanked me very
sincerely, the information it contained being of consequence to him;
and from that moment bestowed on me his friendship, which afterwards
proved on many occasions serviceable to me.
But what are we to think of a governor who could play so scurvy a
trick, and thus grossly deceive a poor young lad, wholly destitute of
experience? It was a practice with him. Wishing to please every body,
and having little to bestow, he was lavish of promises. He was in
other respects sensible and judicious, a very tolerable writer, and
a good governor for the people; though not so for the proprietaries,
whose instructions he frequently disregarded. Many of our best laws
were his work, and established during his administration.
Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We took a lodging together
at three and sixpence a-week, which was as much as we could afford.
He met with some relations in London, but they were poor, and not
able to assist him. He now, for the first time, informed me of his
intention to remain in England, and that he had no thoughts of ever
returning to Philadelphia. He was totally without money; the little
he had been able to raise having barely sufficed for his passage. I
had still fifteen pistoles remaining; and to me he had from time to
time recourse, while he tried to get employment.
At first, believing himself possessed of talents for the stage,
he thought of turning actor; but Wilkes, to whom he applied,
frankly advised him to renounce the idea, as it was impossible
he should succeed. He next proposed to Roberts, a bookseller in
Paternoster-row, to write a weekly paper in the manner of the
Spectator, upon terms to which Roberts would not listen. Lastly, he
endeavoured to procure employment as a copyist, and applied to the
lawyers and stationers about the Temple; but he could find no vacancy.
As to myself, I immediately got engaged at Palmer's, at that time
a noted printer in Bartholomew-close, with whom I continued nearly
a year. I applied very assiduously to my work; but I expended with
Ralph almost all that I earned. Plays, and other places of amusement
which we frequented together, having exhausted my pistoles, we lived
after this from hand to mouth. He appeared to have entirely forgotten
his wife and child, as I also, by degrees, forgot my engagements
with Miss Read, to whom I never wrote more than one letter, and that
merely to inform her that I was not likely to return soon. This
was another grand error of my life, which I should be desirous of
correcting were I to begin my career again.
I was employed at Palmer's on the second edition of Woolaston's
Religion of Nature. Some of his arguments appearing to me not to
be well-founded, I wrote a small metaphysical treatise, in which
I animadverted on those passages. It was entitled a "Dissertation
on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain." I dedicated it to my
friend Ralph, and printed a small number of copies. Palmer upon this
treated me with more consideration, and regarded me as a young man of
talents; though he seriously took me to task for the principles of my
pamphlet, which he looked upon as abominable. The printing of this
work was another error of my life.
While I lodged in Little Britain I formed acquaintance with a
bookseller of the name of Wilcox, whose shop was next door to me.
Circulating libraries were not then in use. He had an immense
collection of books of all sorts. We agreed that, for a reasonable
retribution, of which I have now forgotten the price, I should have
free access to his library, and take what books I pleased, which I
was to return when I had read them. I considered this agreement as a
very great advantage; and I derived from it as much benefit as was in
my power.
My pamphlet falling into the hands of a surgeon, of the name
of Lyons, author of a book entitled, "Infallibility of Human
Judgment," was the occasion of a considerable intimacy between us.
He expressed great esteem for me, came frequently to see me, in
order to converse upon metaphysical subjects, and introduced me to
Dr. Mandeville, author of the Fable of the Bees, who had instituted
a club at a tavern in Cheapside, of which he was the soul: he was
a facetious and very amusing character. He also introduced me, at
Batson's coffee-house, to Dr. Pemberton, who promised to give me
an opportunity of seeing Sir Isaac Newton, which I very ardently
desired; but he never kept his word.
I had brought some curiosities with me from America; the principal of
which was a purse made of the asbestos, which fire only purifies.
Sir Hans Sloane hearing of it, called upon me, and invited me to his
house in Bloomsbury-square, where, after showing me every thing that
was curious, he prevailed on me to add this piece to his collection;
for which he paid me very handsomely.
There lodged in the same house with us a young woman, a milliner,
who had a shop by the side of the Exchange. Lively and sensible,
and having received an education somewhat above her rank, her
conversation was very agreeable. Ralph read plays to her every
evening. They became intimate. She took another lodging, and he
followed her. They lived for some time together; but Ralph being
without employment, she having a child, and the profits of her
business not sufficing for the maintenance of three, he resolved
to quit London, and try a country school. This was a plan in which
he thought himself likely to succeed; as he wrote a fine hand, and
was versed in arithmetic and accounts. But considering the office
as beneath him, and expecting some day to make a better figure in
the world, when he should be ashamed of its being known that he had
exercised a profession so little honourable, he changed his name,
and did me the honour to assume mine. He wrote to me soon after his
departure, informing me that he was settled at a small village in
Berkshire. In his letter he recommended Mrs. T***, the milliner,
to my care, and requested an answer, directed to Mr. Franklin,
school-master, at N***.
He continued to write to me frequently, sending me large fragments
of an epic poem he was composing, and which he begged of me to
criticise and correct. I did so, but not without endeavouring to
prevail on him to renounce this pursuit. Young had just published one
of his Satires. I copied and sent him a great part of it; in which
the author demonstrates the folly of cultivating the muses, from the
hope, by their instrumentality, of rising in the world. It was all to
no purpose; paper after paper of his poem continued to arrive every
post.
Meanwhile Mrs. T*** having lost, on his account, both her friends
and her business, was frequently in distress. In this dilemma she had
recourse to me; and to extricate her from difficulties, I lent her
all the money I could spare. I felt a little too much fondness for
her. Having at that time no ties of religion, and taking advantage of
her necessitous situation, I attempted liberties, (another error of
my life,) which she repelled with becoming indignation. She informed
Ralph of my conduct; and the affair occasioned a breach between
us. When he returned to London, he gave me to understand that he
considered all the obligations he owed me as annihilated by this
proceeding; whence I concluded that I was never to expect the payment
of what money I had lent him, or advanced on his account. I was the
less afflicted at this, as he was wholly unable to pay me; and as, by
losing his friendship, I was relieved at the same time from a very
heavy burden.
I now began to think of laying by some money. The printing-house of
Watts, near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, being a still more considerable
one than that in which I worked, it was probable I might find it
more advantageous to be employed there. I offered myself, and was
accepted; and in this house I continued during the remainder of my
stay in London.
On my entrance I worked at first as a pressman, conceiving that I had
need of bodily exercise, to which I had been accustomed in America,
where the printers work alternately as compositors and at the press.
I drank nothing but water. The other workmen, to the number of about
fifty, were great drinkers of beer. I carried occasionally a large
form of letters in each hand, up and down stairs, while the rest
employed both hands to carry one. They were surprised to see, by this
and many other examples, that the _American Aquatic_, as they used
to call me, was stronger than those who drank porter. The beer-boy
had sufficient employment during the whole day in serving that house
alone. My fellow pressman drank every day a pint of beer before
breakfast, a pint with bread and cheese for breakfast, one between
breakfast and dinner, one at dinner, one again about six o'clock in
the afternoon, and another after he had finished his day's work. This
custom appeared to me abominable; but he had need, he said, of all
this beer, in order to acquire strength to work.
I endeavoured to convince him that the bodily strength furnished by
the beer, could only be in proportion to the solid part of the barley
dissolved in the water of which the beer was composed; that there was
a larger portion of flour in a penny loaf, and that consequently if
he ate this loaf, and drank a pint of water with it, he would derive
more strength from it than from a pint of beer. This reasoning,
however, did not prevent him from drinking his accustomed quantity
of beer, and paying every Saturday night a score of four or five
shillings a-week for this cursed beverage; an expence from which I
was wholly exempt. Thus do these poor devils continue all their lives
in a state of voluntary wretchedness and poverty.
At the end of a few weeks, Watts having occasion for me above stairs
as a compositor, I quitted the press. The compositors demanded of me
garnish money a-fresh. This I considered as an imposition, having
already paid below. The master was of the same opinion, and desired
me not to comply. I thus remained two or three weeks out of the
fraternity. I was consequently looked upon as excommunicated; and
whenever I was absent, no little trick that malice could suggest
was left unpractised upon me. I found my letters mixed, my pages
transposed, my matter broken, &c. &c. all which was attributed to
the spirit that haunted the chapel,[4] and tormented those who were
not regularly admitted. I was at last obliged to submit to pay,
notwithstanding the protection of the master; convinced of the folly
of not keeping up a good understanding with those among whom we are
destined to live.
After this I lived in the utmost harmony with my fellow-labourers,
and soon acquired considerable influence among them. I proposed
some alterations in the laws of the chapel, which I carried without
opposition. My example prevailed with several of them to renounce
their abominable practice of bread and cheese with beer; and they
procured, like me, from a neighbouring house, a good basin of warm
gruel, in which was a small slice of butter, with toasted bread and
nutmeg. This was a much better breakfast, which did not cost more
than a pint of beer, namely, three halfpence, and at the same time
preserved the head clearer. Those who continued to gorge themselves
with beer, often lost their credit with the publican, from neglecting
to pay their score. They had then recourse to me, to become security
for them; _their light_, as they used to call it, _being out_.
I attended at the pay-table every Saturday evening, to take up
the little sum which I had made myself answerable for; and which
sometimes amounted to nearly thirty shillings a-week.
This circumstance, added to my reputation of being a tolerable good
_gabber_, or, in other words, skilful in the art of burlesque, kept
up my importance in the chapel. I had besides recommended myself to
the esteem of my master by my assiduous application to business,
never observing Saint Monday. My extraordinary quickness in composing
always procured me such work as was most urgent, and which is
commonly best paid; and thus my time passed away in a very pleasant
manner.
My lodging in Little Britain being too far from the printing-house,
I took another in Duke-street, opposite the Roman Catholic chapel.
It was at the back of an Italian warehouse. The house was kept by a
widow, who had a daughter, a servant, and a shop-boy; but the latter
slept out of the house. After sending to the people with whom I
lodged in Little Britain, to enquire into my character, she agreed to
take me in at the same price, three and sixpence a-week; contenting
herself, she said, with so little, because of the security she should
derive, as they were all women, from having a man lodger in the
house.
She was a woman rather advanced in life, the daughter of a clergyman.
She had been educated a Protestant; but her husband, whose memory she
highly revered, had converted her to the Catholic religion. She had
lived in habits of intimacy with persons of distinction; of whom she
knew various anecdotes as far back as the time of Charles II. Being
subject to fits of the gout, which often confined her to her room,
she was sometimes disposed to see company. Hers was so amusing to me,
that I was glad to pass the evening with her as often as she desired
it. Our supper consisted only of half an anchovy a piece, upon a
slice of bread and butter, with half a pint of ale between us. But
the entertainment was in her conversation.
The early hours I kept, and the little trouble I occasioned in the
family, made her loth to part with me; and when I mentioned another
lodging I had found, nearer the printing-house, at two shillings
a week, which fell in with my plan of saving, she persuaded me to
give it up, making herself an abatement of two shillings: and thus
I continued to lodge with her, during the remainder of my abode in
London, at eighteen pence a week.
In a garret of the house there lived, in the most retired manner, a
lady seventy years of age, of whom I received the following account
from my landlady. She was a Roman Catholic. In her early years she
had been sent to the continent, and entered a convent with the
design of becoming a nun; but the climate not agreeing with her
constitution, she was obliged to return to England, where, as there
were no monasteries, she made a vow to lead a monastic life, in
as rigid a manner as circumstances would permit. She accordingly
disposed of all her property to be applied to charitable uses,
reserving to herself only twelve pounds a year; and of this small
pittance she gave a part to the poor, living on water gruel, and
never making use of fire but to boil it. She had lived in this garret
a great many years, without paying rent to the successive Catholic
inhabitants that had kept the house; who indeed considered her abode
with them as a blessing. A priest came every day to confess her. I
have asked her, said my landlady, how, living as she did, she could
find so much employment for a confessor? To which she answered, that
it was impossible to avoid vain thoughts.
I was once permitted to visit her. She was cheerful and polite, and
her conversation agreeable. Her apartment was neat; but the whole
furniture consisted of a mattress, a table, on which were a crucifix
and a book, a chair, which she gave me to sit on, and over the
mantle-piece a picture of St. Veronica displaying her handkerchief,
on which was seen the miraculous impression of the face of Christ,
which she explained to me with great gravity. Her countenance was
pale, but she had never experienced sickness; and I may adduce her as
another proof how little is sufficient to maintain life and health.
At the printing house I contracted an intimacy with a sensible
young man of the name of Wygate, who, as his parents were in good
circumstances, had received a better education than is common among
printers. He was a tolerable Latin scholar, spoke French fluently,
and was fond of reading. I taught him, as well as a friend of his,
to swim, by taking them twice only into the river; after which they
stood in need of no farther assistance. We one day made a party to go
by water to Chelsea, in order to see the College, and Don Soltero's
curiosities. On our return, at the request of the company, whose
curiosity Wygate had excited, I undressed myself, and leaped into
the river. I swam from near Chelsea the whole way to Blackfriars,
exhibiting, during my course, a variety of feats of activity and
address, both upon the surface of the water, as well as under it.
This sight occasioned much astonishment and pleasure to those to
whom it was new. In my youth I took great delight in this exercise.
I knew, and could execute, all the evolutions and positions of
Thevenot; and I added to them some of my own invention, in which I
endeavoured to unite gracefulness and utility. I took a pleasure in
displaying them all on this occasion, and was highly flattered with
the admiration they excited.
Wygate, besides his being desirous of perfecting himself in this art,
was the more attached to me from there being, in other respects, a
conformity in our tastes and studies. He at length proposed to me to
make the tour of Europe with him, maintaining ourselves at the same
time by working at our profession. I was on the point of consenting,
when I mentioned it to my friend Mr. Denham, with whom I was glad
to pass an hour whenever I had leisure. He dissuaded me from the
project, and advised me to think of returning to Philadelphia, which
he was about to do himself. I must relate in this place a trait of
this worthy man's character.
He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but failing, he
compounded with his creditors, and departed for America, where, by
assiduous application as a merchant, he acquired in a few years
a very considerable fortune. Returning to England in the same
vessel with myself, as I have related above, he invited all his
old creditors to a feast. When assembled, he thanked them for the
readiness with which they had received his small composition; and,
while they expected nothing more than a simple entertainment, each
found under his plate, when it came to be removed, a draft upon a
banker for the residue of his debt, with interest.
He told me that it was his intention to carry back with him to
Philadelphia a great quantity of goods, in order to open a store;
and he offered to take me with him in the capacity of clerk, to
keep his books, in which he would instruct me, copy letters, and
superintend the store. He added, that as soon as I had acquired a
knowledge of mercantile transactions, he would improve my situation,
by sending me with a cargo of corn and flour to the American islands,
and by procuring me other lucrative commissions; so that, with good
management and economy, I might in time begin business with advantage
for myself.
I relished these proposals. London began to tire me; the agreeable
hours I had passed at Philadelphia presented themselves to my mind,
and I wished to see them revive. I consequently engaged myself to Mr.
Denham, at a salary of fifty pounds a year. This was, indeed less
than I earned as a compositor, but then I had a much fairer prospect.
I took leave therefore, as I believed for ever, of printing, and gave
myself up entirely to my new occupation, spending all my time either
in going from house to house with Mr. Denham to purchase goods, or
in packing them up, or in expediting the workmen, &c. &c. When every
thing, however, was on board, I had at last a few days leisure.
During this interval, I was one day sent for by a gentleman, whom I
knew only by name. It was Sir William Wyndham. I went to his house.
He had by some means heard of my performances between Chelsea and
Blackfriars, and that I had taught the art of swimming to Wygate and
another young man in the course of a few hours. His two sons were on
the point of setting out on their travels; he was desirous that they
should previously learn to swim, and offered me a very liberal reward
if I would undertake to instruct them. They were not yet arrived
in town, and the stay I should make was uncertain; I could not
therefore accept his proposal. I was led, however, to suppose from
this incident, that if I had wished to remain in London, and open a
swimming school, I should perhaps have gained a great deal of money.
This idea struck me so forcibly that, had the offer been made sooner,
I should have dismissed the thought of returning as yet to America.
Some years after, you and I had a more important business to settle
with one of the sons of Sir William Wyndham, then Lord Egremont. But
let us not anticipate events.
I thus passed about eighteen months in London, working almost without
intermission at my trade, avoiding all expence on my own account,
except going now and then to the play, and purchasing a few books.
But my friend Ralph kept me poor. He owed me about twenty-seven
pounds, which was so much money lost; and when considered as taken
from my little savings, was a very great sum. I had, notwithstanding
this, a regard for him, as he possessed many amiable qualities. But
though I had done nothing for myself in point of fortune, I had
increased my stock of knowledge, either by the many excellent books
I had read, or the conversation of learned and literary persons with
whom I was acquainted.
We sailed from Gravesend the 23d of July, 1726. For the incidents
of my voyage I refer you to my Journal, where you will find all its
circumstances minutely related. We landed at Philadelphia on the 11th
of the following October.
Keith had been deprived of his office of governor, and was succeeded
by Major Gordon. I met him walking in the streets as a private
individual. He appeared a little ashamed at seeing me, but passed on
without saying any thing.
I should have been equally ashamed myself at meeting Miss Read, had
not her family, justly despairing of my return after reading my
letter, advised her to give me up, and marry a potter, of the name
of Rogers; to which she consented: but he never made her happy,
and she soon separated from him, refusing to cohabit with him, or
even bear his name, on account of a report which prevailed, of his
having another wife. His skill in his profession had seduced Miss
Read's parents; but he was as bad a subject as he was excellent as a
workman. He involved himself in debt, and fled, in the year 1727 or
1728, to the West Indies, where he died.
During my absence Keimer had taken a more considerable house, in
which he kept a shop, that was well supplied with paper, and various
other articles. He had procured some new types, and a number of
workmen; among whom, however, there was not one who was good for any
thing; and he appeared not to want business.
Mr. Denham took a warehouse in Water-street, where we exhibited our
commodities. I applied myself closely, studied accounts, and became
in a short time very expert in trade. We lodged and ate together. He
was sincerely attached to me, and acted towards me as if he had been
my father. On my side, I respected and loved him. My situation was
happy; but it was a happiness of no long duration.
Early in February, 1727, when I entered into my twenty-second year,
we were both taken ill. I was attacked with a pleurisy, which had
nearly carried me off; I suffered terribly, and considered it as
all over with me. I felt indeed a sort of disappointment when I
found myself likely to recover, and regretted that I had still to
experience, sooner or later, the same disagreeable scene again.
I have forgotten what was Mr. Denham's disorder; but it was a tedious
one, and he at last sunk under it. He left me a small legacy in his
will, as a testimony of his friendship; and I was once more abandoned
to myself in the wide world, the warehouse being confided to the care
of testamentary executor, who dismissed me.
My brother-in-law, Holmes, who happened to be at Philadelphia,
advised me to return to my former profession; and Keimer offered me
a very considerable salary if I would undertake the management of
his printing-office, that he might devote himself entirely to the
superintendence of his shop. His wife and relations in London had
given me a bad character of him; and I was loth, for the present, to
have any concern with him. I endeavoured to get employment as a clerk
to a merchant; but not readily finding a situation, I was induced to
accept Keimer's proposal.
The following were the persons I found in his printing-house:
Hugh Meredith, a Pennsylvanian, about thirty-five years of age.
He had been brought up to husbandry, was honest, sensible, had
some experience, and was fond of reading; but too much addicted to
drinking.
Stephen Potts, a young rustic, just broke from school, and of
rustic education, with endowments rather above the common order,
and a competent portion of understanding and gaiety; but a little
idle. Keimer had engaged these two at very low wages, which he had
promised to raise every three months a shilling a week, provided
their improvement in the typographic art should merit it. This future
increase of wages was the bait he had made use of to ensnare them.
Meredith was to work at the press, and Potts to bind books, which he
had engaged to teach them, though he understood neither himself.
John Savage, an Irishman, who had been brought up to no trade, and
whose service, for a period of four years, Keimer had purchased of
the captain of a ship. He was also to be a pressman.
George Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time he had in like manner
bought for four years, intending him for a compositor. I shall speak
more of him presently.
Lastly, David Harry, a country lad, who was apprenticed to him.
I soon perceived that Keimer's intention, in engaging me at a price
so much above what he was accustomed to give, was, that I might form
all these raw journeymen and apprentices, who scarcely cost him any
thing, and who, being indentured, would, as soon as they should be
sufficiently instructed, enable him to do without me. I nevertheless
adhered to my agreement. I put the office in order, which was in the
utmost confusion, and brought his people by degrees, to pay attention
to their work, and to execute it in a more masterly style.
It was singular to see an Oxford scholar in the condition of a
purchased servant. He was not more than eighteen years of age,
and the following are the particulars he gave me of himself. Born
at Gloucester, he had been educated at a grammar-school, and had
distinguished himself among the scholars by his superior style of
acting, when they represented dramatic performances. He was a member
of a literary club in the town; and some pieces of his composition,
in prose as well as in verse, had been inserted in the Gloucester
papers. From hence he was sent to Oxford, where he remained about
a year: but he was not contented, and wished above all things to
see London, and become an actor. At length, having received fifteen
guineas to pay his quarter's board, he decamped with the money, from
Oxford, hid his gown in a hedge, and travelled to London. There,
having no friend to direct him, he fell into bad company, soon
squandered his fifteen guineas, could find no way of being introduced
to the actors, became contemptible, pawned his cloaths, and was in
want of bread. As he was walking along the streets, almost famished
with hunger, and not knowing what to do, a recruiting-bill was put
into his hand, which offered an immediate treat and bounty-money to
whoever was disposed to serve in America. He instantly repaired to
the house of rendezvous, inlisted himself, was put on board a ship
and conveyed to America, without ever writing a line to inform his
parents what was become of him. His mental vivacity, and good natural
disposition, made him an excellent companion; but he was indolent,
thoughtless, and to the last degree imprudent.
John, the Irishman, soon ran away. I began to live very agreeably
with the rest. They respected me, and the more so as they found
Keimer incapable of instructing them, and as they learned something
from me every day. We never worked on a Saturday, it being Keimer's
Sabbath, so that I had two days a week for reading.
I increased my acquaintance with persons of information and knowledge
in the town. Keimer himself treated me with great civility, and
apparent esteem; and I had nothing to give me uneasiness but my debt
to Vernon, which I was unable to pay, my savings as yet being very
little. He had the goodness, however, not to ask me for the money.
Our press was frequently in want of the necessary quantity of letter,
and there was no such trade as that of letter-founder in America. I
had seen the practice of this art at the house of James, in London,
but had at the time paid it very little attention; I however,
contrived to fabricate a mould. I made use of such letters as we had
for punches, founded new letters of lead in mattrices of clay, and
thus supplied in a tolerable manner the wants that were most pressing.
I also, upon occasion, engraved various ornaments, made ink, gave an
eye to the shop--in short, I was in every respect the _factotum_. But
useful as I made myself, I perceived that my services became every
day of less importance, in proportion as the other men improved;
and when Keimer paid me my second quarter's wages, he gave me to
understand they were too heavy, and that he thought I ought to make
an abatement. He became by degrees less civil, and assumed more the
tone of master. He frequently found fault, was difficult to please,
and seemed always on the point of coming to an open quarrel with me.
I continued, however, to bear it patiently, conceiving that his ill
humour was partly occasioned by the derangement and embarrassment of
his affairs. At last a slight incident broke our connection. Hearing
a noise in the neighbourhood, I put my head out at the window, to see
what was the matter. Keimer being in the street, observed me, and in
a loud and angry tone bid me to mind my work; adding some reproachful
words, which piqued me the more, as they were uttered in the street;
and the neighbours, whom the same noise attracted to the windows,
were witnesses of the manner in which I was treated. He immediately
came up to the printing-room, where he continued to exclaim against
me. The quarrel became warm on both sides, and he gave me notice to
quit him at the expiration of three months, as had been agreed upon
between us; regretting that he was obliged to give me so long a term.
I told him that his regret was superfluous, as I was ready to quit
him instantly; and I took my hat and came out of the house, begging
Meredith to take care of some things which I left, and bring them to
my lodgings.
Meredith came to me in the evening. We talked for some time upon the
quarrel that had taken place. He had conceived a great veneration
for me, and was sorry I should quit the house, while he remained in
it. He dissuaded me from returning to my native country, as I began
to think of doing. He reminded me that Keimer owed more than he
possessed; that his creditors began to be alarmed; that he kept his
shop in a wretched state, often selling things at prime cost for the
sake of ready money, and continually giving credit without keeping
any accounts; that of consequence he must very soon fail, which would
occasion a vacancy from which I might derive advantage. I objected my
want of money. Upon which he informed me that his father had a very
high opinion of me, and, from a conversation that had passed between
them, he was sure he would advance whatever might be necessary to
establish us, if I was willing to enter into partnership with him.
"My time with Keimer," added he, "will be at an end next spring. In
the mean time we may send to London for our press and types. I know
that I am no workman; but if you agree to the proposal, your skill in
the business will be balanced by the capital I shall furnish, and we
will share the profits equally." His proposal was reasonable, and I
fell in with it. His father, who was then in town, approved of it. He
knew that I had some ascendancy over his son, as I had been able to
prevail on him to abstain for a long time from drinking brandy; and
he hoped that, when more closely connected with him, I should cure
him entirely of this unfortunate habit.
I gave the father a list of what it would be necessary to import
from London. He took it to a merchant, and the order was given. We
agreed to keep the secret till the arrival of the materials, and
I was in the mean time to procure work, if possible, in another
printing-house; but there was no place vacant, and I remained idle.
After some days, Keimer having the expectation of being employed
to print some New Jersey money-bills, that would require types and
engravings which I only could furnish, and fearful that Bradford, by
engaging me, might deprive him of this undertaking, sent me a very
civil message, telling me that old friends ought not to be disunited
on account of a few words, which were the effect only of a momentary
passion, and inviting me to return to him. Meredith persuaded me to
comply with the invitation, particularly as it would afford him more
opportunities of improving himself in the business, by means of my
instructions. I did so; and we lived upon better terms than before
our separation.
He obtained the New Jersey business; and, in order to execute it, I
constructed a copper-plate printing-press! the first that had been
seen in the country. I engraved various ornaments and vignettes for
the bills; and we repaired to Burlington together, where I executed
the whole to the general satisfaction; and he received a sum of money
for this work, which enabled him to keep his head above water for a
considerable time longer.
At Burlington I formed an acquaintance with the principal personages
of the province; many of whom were commissioned by the assembly to
superintend the press, and to see that no more bills were printed
than the law had prescribed. Accordingly they were constantly with
us, each in his turn; and he that came, commonly brought with him
a friend or two to bear him company. My mind was more cultivated
by reading than Keimer's; and it was for this reason, probably,
that they set more value on my conversation. They took me to their
houses, introduced me to their friends, and treated me with the
greatest civility; while Keimer, though master, saw himself a little
neglected. He was, in fact, a strange animal, ignorant of the common
modes of life, apt to oppose with rudeness generally received
opinions, an enthusiast in certain points of religion, disgustingly
unclean in his person, and a little knavish withal.
We remained there nearly three months, and at the expiration of
this period I could include in the list of my friends, Judge Allen,
Samuel Bustil, secretary of the province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph
Cooper, several of the Smiths, all members of the assembly, and Isaac
Decon, inspector-general. The last was a shrewd and subtle old man.
He told me, that, when a boy, his first employment had been that of
carrying clay to the brick-makers; that he did not learn to write
till he was somewhat advanced in life; and that he was afterwards
employed as an underling to a surveyor, who taught him his trade,
and that by industry he had at last acquired a competent fortune.
"I foresee," said he one day to me, "that you will soon supplant
this man," speaking of Keimer, "and get a fortune in the business at
Philadelphia." He was wholly ignorant at the time, of my intention of
establishing myself there, or any where else. These friends were very
serviceable to me in the end, as was I also, upon occasion, to some
of them; and they have continued ever since their esteem for me.
Before I relate the particulars of my entrance into business, it may
be proper to inform you what was at that time the state of my mind
as to moral principles, that you may see the degree of influence they
had upon the subsequent events of my life.
My parents had given me betimes religious impressions; and I received
from my infancy a pious education in the principles of Calvinism.
But scarcely was I arrived at fifteen years of age, when, after
having doubted in turn of different tenets, according as I found
them combated in the different books that I read, I began to doubt
of revelation itself. Some volumes against deism fell into my hands.
They were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's
lecture. It happened that they produced on me an effect precisely
the reverse of what was intended by the writers; for the arguments
of the deists, which were cited in order to be refuted, appeared
to me much more forcible than the refutation itself. In a word, I
soon became a perfect deist. My arguments perverted some other young
persons, particularly Collins and Ralph. But in the sequel, when I
recollected that they had both used me extremely ill, without the
smallest remorse; when I considered the behaviour of Keith, another
free-thinker, and my own conduct towards Vernon and Miss Read, which
at times gave me great uneasiness, I was led to suspect that this
doctrine, though it might be true, was not very useful. I began to
entertain a less favourable opinion of my London pamphlet to which I
had prefixed as a motto, the following lines of Dryden:
Whatever is--is right; though purblind man
Sees but a part of the chain, the nearest link,
His eyes not carrying to the equal beam
That poises all above.
And of which the object was to prove, from the attributes of God,
his goodness, wisdom, and power, that there could be no such thing
as evil in the world; that vice and virtue did not in reality exist,
and were nothing more than vain distinctions. I no longer regarded it
as so blameless a work as I had formerly imagined; and I suspected
that some error must have imperceptibly glided into my argument, by
which all the inferences I had drawn from it had been affected, as
frequently happens in metaphysical reasonings. In a word, I was at
last convinced that truth, probity, and sincerity in transactions
between man and man, were of the utmost importance to the happiness
of life; and I resolved from that moment, and wrote the resolution in
my journal, to practise them as long as I lived.
Revelation, indeed, as such, had no influence on my mind; but I was
of opinion that, though certain actions could not be bad merely
because revelation had prohibited them, or good because it enjoined
them, yet it was probable that those actions were prohibited because
they were bad for us, or enjoined because advantageous in their
nature, all things considered. This persuasion, divine providence,
or some guardian angel, and perhaps a concurrence of favourable
circumstances co-operating, preserved me from all immorality, or
gross and _voluntary_, injustice, to which my want of religion was
calculated to expose me, in the dangerous period of youth, and in
the hazardous situations in which I sometimes found myself, among
strangers, and at a distance from the eye and admonitions of my
father. I may say _voluntary_, because the errors into which I had
fallen, had been in a manner the forced result either of my own
inexperience, or the dishonesty of others. Thus, before I entered
on my new career, I had imbibed solid principles, and a character
of probity. I knew their value; and I made a solemn engagement with
myself never to depart from them.
I had not long returned from Burlington before our printing materials
arrived from London. I settled my accounts with Keimer, and quitted
him, with his own consent, before he had any knowledge of our plan.
We found a house to let near the market. We took it; and to render
the rent less burdensome, (it was then twenty-four pounds a year, but
I have since known it let for seventy,) we admitted Thomas Godfrey, a
glazier, with his family, who eased us of a considerable part of it;
and with him we agreed to board.
We had no sooner unpacked our letters, and put our press in order,
than a person of my acquaintance, George House, brought us a
countryman, whom he had met in the streets enquiring for a printer.
Our money was almost exhausted by the number of things we had
been obliged to procure. The five shillings we received from this
countryman, the first fruits of our earnings, coming so seasonably,
gave me more pleasure than any sum I have since gained; and the
recollection of the gratitude I felt on this occasion to George
House, has rendered me often more disposed, than perhaps I should
otherwise have been, to encourage young beginners in trade.
There are in every country morose beings, who are always
prognosticating ruin. There was one of this stamp at Philadelphia.
He was a man of fortune, declining in years, had an air of wisdom,
and a very grave manner of speaking. His name was Samuel Mickle. I
knew him not; but he stopped one day at my door, and asked me if I
was the young man who had lately opened a new printing-house. Upon
my answering in the affirmative, he said he was very sorry for me,
as it was an expensive undertaking, and the money that had been
laid out upon it would be lost, Philadelphia being a place falling
into decay; its inhabitants having all, or nearly all of them,
been obliged to call together their creditors. That he knew, from
undoubted fact, the circumstances which might lead us to suppose the
contrary, such as new buildings, and the advanced price of rent, to
be deceitful appearances, which, in reality, contributed to hasten
the general ruin; and he gave me so long a detail of misfortunes,
actually existing, or which were soon to take place, that he left me
almost in a state of despair. Had I known this man before I entered
into trade, I should doubtless never have ventured. He continued,
however, to live in this place of decay, and to declaim in the same
style, refusing for many years to buy a house because all was going
to wreck; and in the end I had the satisfaction to see him pay five
times as much for one as it would have cost him had he purchased it
when he first began his lamentations.
I ought to have related, that, during the autumn of the preceding
year, I had united the majority of well-informed persons of my
acquaintance into a club, which we called by the name of the _Junto_,
and the object of which was to improve our understandings. We met
every Friday evening. The regulations I drew up, obliged every member
to propose, in his turn, one or more questions upon some point of
morality, politics, or philosophy, which were to be discussed by
the society; and to read, once in three months, an essay of his
own composition, on whatever subject he pleased. Our debates were
under the direction of a president, and were to be dictated only by
a sincere desire of truth; the pleasure of disputing, and the vanity
of triumph having no share in the business; and in order to prevent
undue warmth, every expression which implied obstinate adherence to
an opinion, and all direct contradiction, were prohibited, under
small pecuniary penalties.
The first members of our club were Joseph Breintnal, whose occupation
was that of a scrivener. He was a middle-aged man, of a good natural
disposition, strongly attached to his friends, a great lover of
poetry, reading every thing that came in his way, and writing
tolerably well, ingenious in many little trifles, and of an agreeable
conversation.
Thomas Godfrey, a skilful, though self-taught mathematician, and
who was afterwards the inventor of what now goes by the name of
Hadley's quadrant; but he had little knowledge out of his own line,
and was insupportable in company, always requiring, like the majority
of mathematicians that had fallen in my way, an unusual precision
in every thing that is said, continually contradicting, or making
trifling distinctions; a sure way of defeating all the ends of
conversation. He very soon left us.
Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, and who became afterwards,
surveyor-general. He was fond of books, and wrote verses.
William Parsons, brought up to the trade of a shoe-maker, but who,
having a taste for reading, had acquired a profound knowledge of
mathematics. He first studied them with a view to astrology, and
was, afterwards, the first to laugh at his folly. He also became
surveyor-general.
William Mawgridge, a joiner, and very excellent mechanic; and in
other respects a man of solid understanding.
Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb, of whom I have already
spoken.
Robert Grace, a young man of fortune; generous, animated, and witty;
fond of epigrams, but more fond of his friends.
And lastly, William Coleman, at that time a merchant's clerk, and
nearly of my own age. He had a cooler and clearer head, a better
heart, and more scrupulous morals, than almost any other person
I have ever met with. He became a very respectable merchant, and
one of our provincial judges. Our friendship subsisted, without
interruption, for more than forty years, till the period of his
death; and the club continued to exist almost as long.
This was the best school of politics and philosophy that then existed
in the province; for our questions, which were read a week previous
to their discussion, induced us to peruse attentively such books
as were written upon the subjects proposed, that we might be able
to speak upon them more pertinently. We thus acquired the habit of
conversing more agreeably; every object being discussed conformably
to our regulations, and in a manner to prevent mutual disgust. To
this circumstance may be attributed the long duration of the club;
which I shall have frequent occasion to mention as I proceed.
I have introduced it here, as being one of the means on which I had
to count for success in my business, every member exerting himself
to procure work for us. Breintnal, among others, obtained for us,
on the part of the Quakers, the printing of forty sheets of their
history; of which the rest was to be done by Keimer. Our execution
of this work was by no means masterly; as the price was very low.
It was in folio, upon _pro patria_ paper, and in the _pica_ letter,
with heavy notes in the smallest type. I composed a sheet a-day, and
Meredith put it to the press. It was frequently eleven o'clock at
night, sometimes later, before I had finished my distribution for the
next day's task; for the little things which our friends occasionally
sent us, kept us back in this work: but I was so determined to
compose a sheet a-day, that one evening, when my form was imposed,
and my day's work, as I thought, at an end, an accident having broken
this form, and deranged two complete folio pages, I immediately
distributed, and composed them anew before I went to bed.
This unwearied industry, which was perceived by our neighbours,
began to acquire us reputation and credit. I learned, among other
things, that our new printing-house being the subject of conversation
at a club of merchants, who met every evening, it was the general
opinion that it would fail; there being already two printing-houses
in the town, Keimer's and Bradford's. But Dr. Bard, whom you and I
had occasion to see, many years after, at his native town of St.
Andrew's, in Scotland, was of a different opinion. "The industry of
this Franklin, (said he,) is superior to any thing of the kind I
ever witnessed. I see him still at work when I return from the club
at night, and he is at it again in the morning before his neighbours
are out of bed." This account struck the rest of the assembly, and
shortly after, one of its members came to our house, and offered to
supply us with articles of stationary; but we wished not as yet to
embarrass ourselves with keeping a shop. It is not for the sake of
applause that I enter so freely into the particulars of my industry,
but that such of my descendants as shall read these memoirs may know
the use of this virtue, by seeing in the recital of my life the
effects it operated in my favour.
George Webb, having found a friend who lent him the necessary sum to
buy out his time of Keimer, came one day to offer himself to us as
a journeyman. We could not employ him immediately; but I foolishly
told him, under the rose, that I intended shortly to publish a
new periodical paper, and that we should then have work for him.
My hopes of success, which I imparted to him, were founded on the
circumstance, that the only paper we had in Philadelphia at that
time, and which Bradford printed, was a paltry thing, miserably
conducted, in no respect amusing, and which yet was profitable. I
consequently supposed that a good work of this kind could not fail
of success. Webb betrayed my secret to Keimer, who, to prevent me,
immediately published the _prospectus_ of a paper that he intended to
institute himself, and in which Webb was to be engaged.
I was exasperated at this proceeding, and, with a view to counteract
them, not being able at present to institute my own paper, I wrote
some humourous pieces in Bradford's, under the title of the Busy
Body[5]; and which was continued for several months by Breintnal.
I hereby fixed the attention of the public upon Bradford's paper;
and the _prospectus_ of Keimer, which we turned into ridicule, was
treated with contempt. He began, notwithstanding, his paper; and
after continuing it for nine months, having at most not more than
ninety subscribers, he offered it me for a mere trifle. I had for
some time been ready for such an engagement; I therefore instantly
took it upon myself, and, in a few years, it proved extremely
profitable to me.
I perceive that I am apt to speak in the first person, though our
partnership still continued. It is, perhaps, because, in fact, the
whole business devolved upon me. Meredith was no compositor, and
but an indifferent pressman; and it was rarely that he abstained
from hard drinking. My friends were sorry to see me connected with
him; but I contrived to derive from it the utmost advantage the case
admitted.
Our first number produced no other effect than any other paper
which had appeared in the province, as to type and printing; but
some remarks, in my peculiar style of writing, upon the dispute
which then prevailed between governor Burnet and the Massachusetts
assembly, struck some persons as above mediocrity, caused the paper
and its editors to be talked of, and in a few weeks, induced them to
become our subscribers. Many others followed their example; and our
subscription continued to increase. This was one of the first good
effects of the pains I had taken to learn to put my ideas on paper. I
derived this farther advantage from it, that the leading men of the
place, seeing in the author of this publication a man so well able
to use his pen, thought it right to patronize and encourage me.
The votes, laws, and other public pieces, were printed by Bradford.
An address of the house of assembly to the governor had been executed
by him in a very coarse and incorrect manner. We reprinted it
with accuracy and neatness, and sent a copy to every member. They
perceived the difference; and it so strengthened the influence of our
friends in the assembly, that we were nominated its printer for the
following year.
Among these friends I ought not to forget one member in particular,
Mr. Hamilton, whom I have mentioned in a former part of my narrative,
and who was now returned from England. He warmly interested
himself for me on this occasion, as he did likewise on many others
afterwards; having continued his kindness to me till his death.
About this period Mr. Vernon reminded me of the debt I owed him, but
without pressing me for payment. I wrote a handsome letter on the
occasion, begging him to wait a little longer, to which he consented;
and as soon as I was able I paid him, principal and interest, with
many expressions of gratitude; so that this error of my life was in a
manner atoned for.
But another trouble now happened to me, which I had not the smallest
reason to expect. Meredith's father, who, according to our agreement,
was to defray the whole expence of our printing materials, had
only paid a hundred pounds. Another hundred was still due, and the
merchant being tired of waiting, commenced a suit against us. We
bailed the action, but with the melancholy prospect, that, if the
money was not forthcoming at the time fixed, the affair would come
to issue, judgment be put in execution, our delightful hopes be
annihilated, and ourselves entirely ruined; as the type and press
must be sold, perhaps, at half their value, to pay the debt.
In this distress, two real friends, whose generous conduct I
have never forgotten, and never shall forget while I retain the
remembrance of any thing, came to me separately, without the
knowledge of each other, and without my having applied to either of
them. Each offered me whatever money might be necessary to take the
business into my own hands, if the thing was practicable, as they
did not like I should continue in partnership with Meredith, who,
they said, was frequently seen drunk in the streets, and gambling
at ale-houses, which very much injured our credit. These friends
were William Coleman and Robert Grace. I told them, that while there
remained any probability that the Merediths would fulfil their part
of the compact, I could not propose a separation, as I conceived
myself to be under obligations to them for what they had done
already, and were still disposed to do, if they had the power; but,
in the end, should they fail in their engagement, and our partnership
be dissolved, I should then think myself at liberty to accept the
kindness of my friends.
Things remained for some time in this state. At last, I said one
day to my partner, "Your father is, perhaps, dissatisfied with your
having a share only in the business, and is unwilling to do for two,
what he would do for you alone. Tell me frankly if that be the case,
and I will resign the whole to you, and do for myself as well as I
can."--"No, (said he,) my father has really been disappointed in his
hopes; he is not able to pay, and I wish to put him to no farther
inconvenience. I see that I am not at all calculated for a printer;
I was educated as a farmer, and it was absurd in me to come here,
at thirty years of age, and bind myself apprentice to a new trade.
Many of my countrymen are going to settle in North Carolina, where
the soil is exceedingly favourable. I am tempted to go with them,
and to resume my former occupation. You will doubtless find friends
who will assist you. If you will take upon yourself the debts of the
partnership, return my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay
my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle,
I will renounce the partnership, and consign over the whole stock to
you."
I accepted this proposal without hesitation. It was committed to
paper, and signed and sealed without delay. I gave him what he
demanded, and he departed soon after for Carolina, from whence he
sent me, in the following year, two long letters, containing the best
accounts that had yet been given of that country, as to climate,
soil, agriculture, &c. for he was well versed in these matters. I
published them in my newspaper, and they were received with great
satisfaction.
As soon as he was gone, I applied to my two friends, and not wishing
to give a disobliging preference to either of them, I accepted
from each, half what he had offered me, and which it was necessary
I should have. I paid the partnership debts, and continued the
business on my own account; taking care to inform the public, by
advertisement, of the partnership being dissolved. This was, I
think, in the year 1729, or thereabout.
Nearly at the same period, the people demanded a new emission of
paper money; the existing and only one that had taken place in the
province, and which amounted to fifteen thousand pounds, being soon
to expire. The wealthy inhabitants, prejudiced against every sort of
paper currency, from the fear of its depreciation, of which there
had been an instance in the province of New England, to the injury
of its holders, strongly opposed the measure. We had discussed this
affair in our Junto, in which I was on the side of the new emission;
convinced that the first small sum, fabricated in 1723, had done
much good in the province, by favouring commerce, industry, and
population, since all the houses were now inhabited, and many others
building; whereas I remembered to have seen, when I first paraded
the streets of Philadelphia eating my roll, the majority of those
in Walnut-street, Second-street, Fourth-street, as well as a great
number in Chesnut and other streets, with papers on them signifying
that they were to be let; which made me think at the time that the
inhabitants of the town were deserting it one after another.
Our debates made me so fully master of the subject, that I wrote
and published an anonymous pamphlet, entitled, "An Enquiry into the
Nature and Necessity of a Paper currency." It was very well received
by the lower and middling class of people; but it displeased the
opulent, as it increased the clamour in favour of the new emission.
Having, however, no writer among them capable of answering it,
their opposition became less violent; and there being in the house
of assembly a majority for the measure, it passed. The friends I
had acquired in the house, persuaded that I had done the country
essential service on this occasion, rewarded me by giving me the
printing of the bills. It was a lucrative employment, and proved a
very seasonable help to me; another advantage which I derived from
having habituated myself to write.
Time and experience so fully demonstrated the utility of paper
currency, that it never after experienced any considerable
opposition; so that it soon amounted to 55,000_l._ and in the year
1739, to 80,000_l._ It has since risen, during the last war, to
350,000_l._, trade, buildings and population, having in the interval
continually increased: but I am now convinced that there are limits
beyond which paper money would be prejudicial.
I soon after obtained, by the influence of my friend Hamilton, the
printing of the Newcastle paper money, another profitable work,
as I then thought it, little things appearing great to persons of
moderate fortune; and they were really great to me, as proving great
encouragements. He also procured me the printing of the laws and
votes of that government, which I retained as long as I continued in
the business.
I now opened a small stationer's shop. I kept bonds and agreements of
all kinds, drawn up in a more accurate form than had yet been seen in
that part of the world; a work in which I was assisted by my friend
Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, pasteboard, books, &c. One
Whitemash, an excellent compositor, whom I had known in London, came
to offer himself, I engaged him: and he continued constantly and
diligently to work with me. I also took an apprentice, the son of
Aquila Rose.
I began to pay, by degrees, the debt I had contracted; and, in order
to insure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not
only to be _really_ industrious and frugal, but also to avoid every
appearance of the contrary. I was plainly dressed, and never seen in
any place of public amusement. I never went a fishing or hunting. A
book, indeed, enticed me sometimes from my work, but it was seldom,
by stealth, and occasioned no scandal; and to show that I did not
think myself above my profession, I conveyed home, sometimes in a
wheelbarrow, the paper I purchased at the warehouses.
I thus obtained the reputation of being an industrious young man, and
very punctual in his payments. The merchants who imported articles
of stationary solicited my custom; others offered to furnish me with
books, and my little trade went on prosperously.
Meanwhile the credit and business of Keimer diminishing every day,
he was at last forced to sell his stock to satisfy his creditors;
and he betook himself to Barbadoes, where he lived for sometime in
a very impoverished state. His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had
instructed while I worked for Keimer, having bought his materials,
succeeded him in the business. I was apprehensive, at first, of
finding in Harry a powerful competitor, as he was allied to an
opulent and respectable family; I therefore proposed a partnership,
which, happily for me, he rejected with disdain. He was extremely
proud, thought himself a fine gentleman, lived extravagantly, and
pursued amusements which suffered him to be scarcely ever at home; of
consequence he became in debt, neglected his business, and business
neglected him. Finding in a short time nothing to do in the country,
he followed Keimer to Barbadoes, carrying his printing materials with
him. There the apprentice employed his old master as a journeyman.
They were continually quarrelling; and Harry still getting in debt,
was obliged at last to sell his press and types, and return to his
old occupation of husbandry in Pennsylvania. The person who purchased
them employed Keimer to manage the business; but he died a few years
after.
I had now at Philadelphia no competitor but Bradford, who, being in
easy circumstances, did not engage in the printing of books, except
now and then as workmen chanced to offer themselves; and was not
anxious to extend his trade. He had, however, one advantage over me,
as he had the direction of the post-office, and was of consequence
supposed to have better opportunities of obtaining news. His paper
was also supposed to be more advantageous to advertising customers;
and in consequence of that supposition, his advertisements were
much more numerous than mine: this was a source of great profit to
him, and disadvantageous to me. It was to no purpose that I really
procured other papers, and distributed my own, by means of the post;
the public took for granted my inability in this respect; and I was
indeed unable to conquer it in any other mode than by bribing the
post-boys, who served me only by stealth, Bradford being so illiberal
as to forbid them. This treatment of his excited my resentment; and
my disgust was so rooted, that, when I afterwards succeeded him in
the post-office, I took care to avoid copying his example.
I had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey, who, with his wife
and children, occupied part of my house, and half of the shop for
his business; at which indeed he worked very little, being always
absorbed by mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey formed a wish of marrying
me to the daughter of one of her relations. She contrived various
opportunities of bringing us together, till she saw that I was
captivated; which was not difficult, the lady in question possessing
great personal merit. The parents encouraged my addresses, by
inviting me continually to supper, and leaving us together, till at
last it was time to come to an explanation. Mrs. Godfrey undertook
to negociate our little treaty. I gave her to understand, that I
expected to receive with the young lady a sum of money that would
enable me at least to discharge the remainder of the debt for my
printing materials. It was then, I believe, not more than a hundred
pounds. She brought me for answer, that they had no such sum at their
disposal. I observed that it might easily be obtained, by a mortgage
on their house. The reply to this was, after a few days interval,
that they did not approve of the match; that they had consulted
Bradford, and found that the business of a printer was not lucrative;
that my letters would soon be worn out, and must be supplied with new
ones; that Keimer and Harry had failed, and that, probably, I should
do so too. Accordingly they forbade me the house, and the young lady
was confined. I know not if they had really changed their minds, or
if it was merely an artifice, supposing our affections to be too
far engaged for us to desist, and that we should contrive to marry
secretly, which would leave them at liberty to give or not as they
pleased. But, suspecting this motive, I never went again to their
house.
Some time after, Mrs. Godfrey informed me that they were very
favourably disposed towards me, and wished me to renew the
acquaintance; but I declared a firm resolution never to have any
thing more to do with the family. The Godfreys expressed some
resentment at this: and as we could no longer agree, they changed
their residence, leaving me in possession of the whole house. I
then resolved to take no more lodgers. This affair having turned
my thoughts to marriage, I looked around me, and made overtures of
alliance in other quarters: but I soon found that the profession of a
printer being generally looked upon as a poor trade, I could expect
no money with a wife, at least, if I wished her to possess any other
charm. Meanwhile, that passion of youth, so difficult to govern, had
often drawn me into intrigues with despicable women who fell in my
way; which were not unaccompanied with expence and inconvenience,
besides the perpetual risk of injuring my health, and catching a
disease which I dreaded above all things. But I was fortunate enough
to escape this danger.
As a neighbour and old acquaintance, I had kept up a friendly
intimacy with the family of Miss Read. Her parents had retained
an affection for me from the time of my lodging in their house. I
was often invited thither; they consulted me about their affairs,
and I had been sometimes serviceable to them. I was touched with
the unhappy situation of their daughter, who was almost always
melancholy, and continually seeking solitude. I regarded my
forgetfulness and inconstancy, during my abode in London, as the
principal cause of her misfortune, though her mother had the candour
to attribute the fault to herself, rather than to me, because after
having prevented our marriage previously to my departure, she had
induced her to marry another in my absence.
Our mutual affection revived; but there existed great obstacles
to our union. Her marriage was considered, indeed, as not being
valid, the man having, it was said, a former wife still living in
England; but of this it was difficult to obtain a proof at so great
a distance; and though a report prevailed of his being dead, yet we
had no certainty of it; and supposing it to be true, he had left
many debts, for the payment of which his successor might be sued. We
ventured, nevertheless, in spite of all these difficulties; and I
married her on the 1st of September, 1730. None of the inconveniences
we had feared happened to us. She proved to me a good and faithful
companion, and contributed essentially to the success of my shop. We
prospered together, and it was our mutual study to render each other
happy. Thus I corrected, as well as I could, this great error of my
youth.
Our club was not at that time established at a tavern. We held our
meetings at the house of Mr. Grace, who appropriated a room to
the purpose. Some member observed one day, that as our books were
frequently quoted in the course of our discussions, it would be
convenient to have them collected in the room in which we assembled,
in order to be consulted upon occasion; and that, by thus forming a
common library of our individual collections, each would have the
advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would
nearly be the same as if he possessed them all himself. The idea
was approved, and we accordingly brought such books as we thought
we could spare, which were placed at the end of the club-room.
They amounted not to so many as we expected; and through we made
considerable use of them, yet some inconveniences resulting, from
want of care, it was agreed, after about a year, to discontinue the
collection; and each took away such books as belonged to him.
It was now that I first started the idea of establishing, by
subscription, a public library, I drew up the proposals, had them
ingrossed in form by Brockden the attorney, and my project succeeded,
as will be seen in the sequel.
[The life of Dr. Franklin, as written by himself, so far as it
has yet been communicated to the world, breaks off in this place.
We understand that it was continued by him somewhat farther,
and we hope that the remainder will, at some future period, be
communicated to the public. We have no hesitation in supposing that
every reader will find himself greatly interested by the frank
simplicity and the philosophical discernment by which these pages
are so eminently characterized. We have therefore thought proper,
in order as much as possible to relieve his regret, to subjoin the
following continuation, by one of the Doctor's intimate friends.
It is extracted from an American periodical publication, and was
written by the late Dr. Stuber,[6] of Philadelphia.]
The promotion of literature had been little attended to in
Pennsylvania. Most of the inhabitants were too much immersed in
business to think of scientific pursuits; and those few, whose
inclinations led them to study, found it difficult to gratify them,
from the want of libraries sufficiently large. In such circumstances,
the establishment of a public library was an important event. This
was first set on foot by Franklin, about the year 1731. Fifty persons
subscribed forty shillings each, and agreed to pay ten shillings
annually. The number increased; and in 1742, the company was
incorporated by the name of "The Library Company of Philadelphia."
Several other companies were formed in this city in imitation of
it. These were all at length united with the Library Company of
Philadelphia, which thus received a considerable accession of books
and property. It now contains about eight thousand volumes on all
subjects, a philosophical apparatus, and a well-chosen collection of
natural and artificial curiosities. For its support the company now
possesses landed property of considerable value. They have lately
built an elegant house in Fifth-street, in the front of which will be
erected a marble statue of their founder, Benjamin Franklin.
This institution was greatly encouraged by the friends of literature
in America and in Great Britain. The Penn family distinguished
themselves by their donations. Amongst the earliest friends of
this institution must be mentioned the late Peter Collinson,
the friend and correspondent of Dr. Franklin. He not only made
considerable presents himself, and obtained others from his friends,
but voluntarily undertook to manage the business of the Company
in London, recommending books, purchasing and shipping them. His
extensive knowledge, and zeal for the promotion of science, enabled
him to execute this important trust with the greatest advantage.
He continued to perform these services for more than thirty years,
and uniformly refused to accept of any compensation. During this
time, he communicated to the directors every information relative to
improvements and discoveries in the arts, agriculture, and philosophy.
The beneficial influence of this institution was soon evident. The
terms of subscription to it were so moderate that it was accessible
to every one. Its advantages were not confined to the opulent. The
citizens in the middle and lower walks of life were equally partakers
of them. Hence a degree of information was extended amongst all
classes of people. The example was soon followed. Libraries were
established in various places, and they are now become very numerous
in the United States, and particularly in Pennsylvania. It is to
be hoped that they will be still more widely extended, and that
information will be every where increased. This will be the best
security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well informed
men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has
given them, cannot be enslaved. It is in the regions of ignorance
that tyranny reigns. It flies before the light of science. Let the
citizens of America, then, encourage institutions calculated to
diffuse knowledge amongst the people; and amongst these, public
libraries are not the least important.
In 1732, Franklin began to publish Poor Richard's Almanack. This
was remarkable for the numerous and valuable concise maxims which
it contained, all tending to exhort to industry and frugality. It
was continued for many years. In the almanack for the last year, all
the maxims were collected in an address to the reader, entitled, The
Way to Wealth. This has been translated into various languages, and
inserted in different publications. It has also been printed on a
large sheet, and may be seen framed in many houses in this city. This
address contains, perhaps, the best practical system of economy that
ever has appeared. It is written in a manner intelligible to every
one, and which cannot fail of convincing every reader of the justice
and propriety of the remarks and advice which it contains. The demand
for this almanack was so great, that ten thousand have been sold in
one year; which must be considered as a very large number, especially
when we reflect, that this country was, at that time, but thinly
peopled. It cannot be doubted that the salutary maxims contained in
these almanacks must have made a favourable impression upon many of
the readers of them.
It was not long before Franklin entered upon his political career.
In the year 1736, he was appointed clerk to the general assembly
of Pennsylvania, and was re-elected by succeeding assemblies for
several years, until he was chosen a representative for the city of
Philadelphia.
Bradford, the printer, mentioned above, was possessed of some
advantages over Franklin, by being post-master, thereby having an
opportunity of circulating his paper more extensively, and thus
rendering it a better vehicle for advertisements, &c. Franklin, in
his turn, enjoyed these advantages, by being appointed post-master
of Philadelphia in 1737. Bradford, while in office, had acted
ungenerously towards Franklin, preventing as much as possible the
circulation of his paper. He had now an opportunity of retaliating;
but his nobleness of soul prevented him from making use of it.
The police of Philadelphia had early appointed watchmen, whose duty
it was to guard the citizens against the midnight robber, and to
give an immediate alarm in case of fire. This duty is, perhaps, one
of the most important that can be committed to any set of men. The
regulations, however, were not sufficiently strict. Franklin saw the
dangers arising from this cause, and suggested an alteration, so as
to oblige the guardians of the night to be more watchful over the
lives and property of the citizens. The propriety of this was
immediately perceived, and a reform was effected.
There is nothing more dangerous to growing cities than fires. Other
causes operate slowly, and almost imperceptibly; but these in a
moment render abortive the labours of ages. On this account there
should be, in all cities, ample provisions to prevent fires from
spreading. Franklin early saw the necessity of these; and, about
the year 1728, formed the first fire company in this city. The
example was soon followed by others; and there are now numerous fire
companies in the city and liberties. To these may be attributed in
a great degree the activity in extinguishing fires, for which the
citizens of Philadelphia are distinguished, and the inconsiderable
damage this city has sustained from this cause. Some time after,
Franklin suggested the plan for an association for insuring houses
from losses by fire, which was adopted; and the association continues
to this day. The advantages experienced from it have been great.
From the first settlement of Pennsylvania, a spirit of dispute
appears to have prevailed among its inhabitants. During the life-time
of William Penn, the constitution had been three times altered. After
this period the history of Pennsylvania is little else than a recital
of the quarrels between the proprietaries, or their governors,
and the assembly. The proprietaries contended for the right of
exempting their land from taxes; to which the assembly would by no
means consent. This subject of dispute interfered in almost every
question, and prevented the most salutary laws from being enacted.
This at times subjected the people to great inconveniences. In the
year 1774, during a war between France and Great Britain, some
French and Indians had made inroads upon the frontier inhabitants
of the province, who were unprovided for such an attack. It became
necessary that the citizens should arm for their defence. Governor
Thomas recommended to the assembly, who were then sitting, to pass
a militia law. To this they would agree only upon condition, that
he should give his assent to certain laws, which appeared to them
calculated to promote the interests of the people. As he thought
these laws would be injurious to the proprietaries, he refused his
assent to them; and the assembly broke up without passing a militia
bill. The situation of the province was at this time truly alarming:
exposed to the continual inroad of an enemy, and destitute of every
means of defence. At this crisis Franklin stepped forth, and proposed
to a meeting of the citizens of Philadelphia, a plan of a voluntary
association for the defence of the province. This was approved
of, and signed by twelve hundred persons immediately. Copies were
circulated without delay through the province; and in a short time
the number of signatures amounted to ten thousand. Franklin was
chosen colonel of the Philadelphia regiment; but he did not think
proper to accept of the honour.
Pursuits of a different nature now occupied the greatest part of
his attention for some years. He engaged in a course of electrical
experiments, with all the ardor 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, Hawkesbec communicated
some important observations and experiments to the world. For
several years electricity 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 a number of experiments, which
added not a little to the science. He made the discovery 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 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_. In 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 the electric fluid, 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 shews 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 January 21, 1748;
Franklin's July 11, 1747: several months prior. Shortly after,
Franklin, from his principles of the 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 shewed clearly, that when
charged, the bottle 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 produce 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 of the glass itself. After a phial was charged, he removed
the coating, and found that upon applying a new coating, the shock
might still be received. In the year 1749, he first suggested his
idea of explaining the phenomena of thunder-gusts, and of the aurora
borealis, upon electrical principles. He points out many particulars
in which lightning and electricity agree; and he adduces many
facts, and reasonings from facts, in support of his positions. In
the same year he conceived the astonishingly bold and grand idea of
ascertaining the truth of his doctrine, by actually drawing down
the lightning, by means of sharp-pointed iron rods, raised into the
region of the clouds. Even in this uncertain state, his passion
to be useful to mankind, displayed itself in a powerful manner.
Admitting the identity of electricity and lightning, and knowing the
power of points in repelling bodies charged with electricity, and in
conducting their fire silently and imperceptibly, he suggested the
idea of securing houses, ships, &c. from being damaged by lightning,
by erecting pointed rods, that 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 present 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 electric matter 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 centry-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, the knuckle, or other
conductor was presented to it. Philadelphia at this time afforded
no opportunity of trying an experiment of this kind. While 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 fastening two cross sticks to a silk
handkerchief, which would not suffer so much from the rain as paper.
To the 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, too generally for the
interest of science, awaits unsuccessful experiments in philosophy.
He placed himself under a shade, to avoid the rain--his kite was
raised--a thunder-cloud passed over it--no sign of electricity
appeared. He almost despaired of success, when, suddenly, he observed
the loose fibres of his string to move towards an erect position. He
now presented his knuckle to the key, and received a strong spark.
How exquisite must his sensations have been at this moment! On this
experiment depended the fate of his theory. If he succeeded, his
name would rank high among those who had improved science; if he
failed, he must inevitably be subjected to the derision of mankind,
or, what is worse, their pity, as a well-meaning man, but a weak,
silly projector. The anxiety with which he looked for the result
of his experiment, may be easily conceived. Doubts and despair
had begun to 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 Frenchman 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 in the Transactions 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 on his friend, M. D'Alibard, to give his
countrymen a more correct translation of the works 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 experiments was given at the seat of the D'Ayen, at
St. Germain, 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 shewed 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, joiner, with whom
D'Alibard had left directions how to proceed, and by M. Raulet, the
prior of Marly-la-ville. An account of this experiment was given to
the Royal Academy of Sciences, by M. D'Alibard, in a Memoir dated May
13th, 1752. On the 18th of May, M. de Lor proved equally successful
with the apparatus erected at his own house. These philosophers soon
excited those of other parts of Europe to repeat the experiment;
amongst whom, none signalised themselves more than Father Beccaria,
of Turin, to whose observations science is much indebted. Even the
cold regions of Russia were penetrated by the ardor for discovery.
Professor Richman bade fair to add much to the stock of knowledge on
this subject, when an unfortunate flash from his conductor, 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 convincing manner. When the truth of it could no longer
be doubted, envy and vanity 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, 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 lightning and electricity 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 thunder-gusts, of suggesting a mode of
determining the truth of it by experiments, and of putting these
experiments in practice, and thus establishing the 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
tract which Franklin had pointed out.
It has been of late asserted, that the honour 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 Nerac; 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; and that the glass globe charged _positively_ or
increased the quantity of electricity on the prime conductor, while
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 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, while the first philosophers in 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 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 inoculation was introduced into Europe and America; and
it is so far from being general at present, that it will, require one
or two centuries to render it so.
In the year 1745, Franklin published an account of his new-invented
Pennsylvania fire-places, in which he minutely and accurately states
the advantages of different kinds of fire-places; and endeavours to
show that the one which he describes is to be preferred to any other.
This contrivance has given rise to the open stoves now in general
use, which, however, differ from it in construction, particularly in
not having an air-box at the back, through which a constant supply of
air, warmed in its passage, is thrown into the room. The advantages
of this are, that as a stream of warm air is continually flowing into
the room, less fuel is necessary to preserve a proper temperature,
and the room may be so tightened as that no air may enter through
cracks--the consequence of which are colds, tooth-aches, &c.
Although philosophy was a principal object of Franklin's pursuit for
several years, he confined himself not to this. In the year 1747, he
became a member of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, as a burgess
for the city of Philadelphia. Warm disputes subsisted at this time
between the assembly and the proprietaries; each contending for
what they conceived to be their just rights. Franklin, a friend to
the rights of man from his infancy, soon distinguished himself as a
steady opponent of the unjust schemes of the proprietaries. He was
soon looked up to as the head of the opposition; and to him have
been attributed many of the spirited replies of the assembly, to the
messages of the governors. His influence in the body was very great.
This arose not from any superior powers of eloquence; he spoke but
seldom, and he never was known to make any thing like an elaborate
harangue. His speeches often consisted of a single sentence, or
of a well-told story, the moral of which was always obviously to
the point. He never attempted the flowery fields of oratory. His
manner was plain and mild. His style in speaking was, like that of
his writings, simple, unadorned, and remarkably concise. With this
plain manner, and his penetrating and solid judgment, he was able to
confound the most eloquent and subtle of his adversaries, to confirm
the opinions of his friends, and to make converts of the unprejudiced
who had opposed him. With a single observation, he has rendered of no
avail an elegant and lengthy discourse, and determined the fate of a
question of importance.
But he was not contented with thus supporting the rights of the
people. He wished to render them permanently secure, which can
only be done by making their value properly known; and this must
depend upon increasing and extending information to every class of
men. We have already seen that he was the founder of the public
library, which contributed greatly towards improving the minds
of the citizens. But this was not sufficient. The schools then
subsisting were in general of little utility. The teachers were men
ill qualified for the important duty which they had undertaken; and,
after all, nothing more could be obtained than the rudiments of a
common English education. Franklin drew up a plan of an academy, to
be erected in the city of Philadelphia, suited to "the state of an
infant country;" but in this, as in all his plans, he confined not
his views to the present time only. He looked forward to the period
when an institution on an enlarged plan would become necessary. With
this view, he considered his academy as "a foundation for posterity
to erect a seminary of learning more extensive, and suitable to
future circumstances." In pursuance of this plan, the constitutions
were drawn up and signed on the 13th of November, 1749. In these,
twenty-four of the most respectable citizens of Philadelphia were
named as trustees. In the choice of these, and in the formation of
his plan, Franklin is said to have consulted chiefly with Thomas
Hopkinson, Esq; the Rev. Richard Peters, then secretary of the
province, Tench Francis, Esq. attorney-general, and Dr. Phineas Bond.
The following article shews a spirit of benevolence worthy of
imitation; and, for the honour of our city, we hope that it continues
to be in force.
"In case of the disability of the _rector_, or any master
(established on the foundation by receiving a certain salary) through
sickness, or any other natural infirmity, whereby he may be reduced
to poverty, the trustees shall have power to contribute to his
support, in proportion to his distress and merit, and the stock in
their hands."
The last clause of the fundamental rules is expressed in language so
tender and benevolent, so truly parental, that it will do everlasting
honour to the hearts and heads of the founders.
"It is hoped and expected that the trustees will make it their
pleasure, and in some degree their business, to visit the academy
often; to encourage and countenance the youth, to countenance and
assist the masters, and, by all means in their power, advance the
usefulness and reputation of the design; that they will look on
the students as, in some measure, their own children, treat them
with familiarity and affection; and when they have behaved well,
gone through their studies, and are to enter the world, they shall
zealously unite, and make all the interest that can be made to
promote and establish them, whether in business, offices, marriages,
or any other thing for their advantage, in preference to all other
persons whatsoever, even of equal merit."
The constitutions being signed and made public, with the names of
the gentlemen proposing themselves as trustees and founders, the
design was so well approved of by the public-spirited citizens of
Philadelphia, that the sum of eight hundred pounds per annum, for
five years, was in the course of a few weeks subscribed for carrying
it into execution; and in the beginning of January following (viz.
1750) three of the schools were opened, namely, the Latin and
Greek schools, the Mathematical school, and the English school.
In pursuance of an article in the original plan, a school for
educating sixty boys and thirty girls (in the charter since called
the Charitable School) was opened; and amidst all the difficulties
with which the trustees have struggled in respect to their funds,
has still been continued full for the space of forty years; so that
allowing three years education for each boy and girl admitted into
it, which is the general rule, at least twelve hundred children
have received in it the chief part of their education, who might
otherwise, in a great measure, have been left without the means of
instruction. And many of those who have been thus educated, are now
to be found among the most useful and reputable citizens of this
state.
The institution, thus successfully begun, continued daily to
flourish, to the great satisfaction of Dr. Franklin; who,
notwithstanding the multiplicity of his other engagements and
pursuits, at that busy stage of his life, was a constant attendant
at the monthly visitations and examinations of the schools, and made
it his particular study, by means of his extensive correspondence
abroad, to advance the reputation of the seminary, and to draw
students and scholars to it from different parts of America and
the West Indies. Through the interposition of his benevolent and
learned friend, Peter Collinson, of London, upon the application
of the trustees, a charter of incorporation, dated July 13, 1753,
was obtained from the honourable proprietors of Pennsylvania,
Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esqrs. accompanied with a liberal
benefaction of five hundred pounds sterling; and Dr. Franklin now
began in good earnest to please himself with the hopes of a speedy
accomplishment of his original design, viz. the establishment of
a perfect institution, upon the plan of the European colleges and
universities; for which his academy was intended as a nursery or
foundation. To elucidate this fact, is a matter of considerable
importance in respect to the memory and character of Dr. Franklin
as a philosopher, and as the friend and patron of learning and
science; for, notwithstanding what is expressly declared by him in
the preamble to the constitutions, viz. that the academy was begun
for "teaching the Latin and Greek languages, with all useful branches
of the arts and sciences, suitable to the state of an infant country,
and laying a foundation for posterity to erect a seminary of learning
more extensive, and suitable to their future circumstances;" yet it
has been suggested of late, as upon Dr. Franklin's authority, that
the Latin and Greek, or the dead languages, are an incumbrance upon
a scheme of liberal education, and that the engrafting or founding a
college, or more extensive seminary, upon his academy, was without
his approbation or agency, and gave him discontent. If the reverse
of this does not already appear from what has been quoted above,
the following letters will put the matter beyond dispute. They were
written by him to a gentleman, who had at that time published the
idea of a college, suited to the circumstances of a young country
(meaning New-York) a copy of which having been sent to Dr. Franklin
for his opinion, gave rise to that correspondence which terminated
about a year afterwards, in erecting the college upon the foundation
of the academy, and establishing that gentleman at the head of both,
where he still continues, after a period of thirty-six years, to
preside with distinguished reputation.
From these letters also, the state of the academy, at that time, will
be, seen.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As a proof that Franklin was anciently the common name of an
order or rank in England, see Judge Fortesque, _De laudibus legum
Angliæ_, written about the year 1412, in which is the following
passage, to shew that good juries might easily be formed in any part
of England:
"Regio etiam ilia, ita respersa refertaque est _posessoribus
terrarum_ et agrorum, quod in ea, villula tam parva reperiri non
poterit, in qua non est _miles_, _armiger_, vel pater-familias,
qualis ibidem _franklin_ vulgariter nuncupatur, magnis ditatus
possessionibus, nec non libere tenentes et alii _valecti_ plurimi,
suis patrimoniis sufficientes, ad faciendum juratam, in forma
prænotata."
"Moreover, the same country is so filled and replenished with landed
menne, that therein so small a thorpe cannot be found wherein
dwelleth not a knight, an esquire, or such a householder as is there
commonly called a _franklin_, enriched with great possessions; and
also other freeholders and many yeomen, able for their livelihoods to
make a jury in form aforementioned."
OLD TRANSLATION.
Chaucer too, calls his country gentleman a _franklin_; and, after
describing his good housekeeping, thus characterizes him:
This worthy franklin bore a purse of silk
Fix'd to his girdle, white as morning milk;
Knight of the shire, first justice at th' assize,
To help the poor, the doubtful to advise.
In all employments, generous, just he prov'd,
Renown'd for courtesy, by all belov'd.
[2] Town in the island of Nantucket.
[3] Probably the Dunciad, where we find him thus immortalized by the
author:
Silence, ye wolves, while Ralph to Cynthia howls,
And makes night hideous--answer him, ye owls!
[4] Printing houses in general are thus denominated by the workmen:
the _spirit_ they call by the name of _Ralph_.
[5] A manuscript note in the file of the American Mercury, preserved
in the Philadelphia library, says, that Franklin wrote the five first
numbers, and part of the eighth.
[6] Dr. Stuber was born in Philadelphia, of German parents. He was
sent, at an early age, to the university, where his genius, diligence
and amiable temper, soon acquired him the particular notice and
favour of those under whose immediate direction he was placed. After
passing through the common course of study, in a much shorter time
than usual, he left the university, at the age of sixteen, with great
reputation. Not long after, he entered on the study of physic; and
the zeal with which he pursued it, and the advances he made, gave
his friends reason to form the most flattering prospects of his
future eminence and usefulness in the profession. As Dr. Stuber's
circumstances were very moderate, he did not think this pursuit well
calculated to improve them. He therefore relinquished it, after he
had obtained a degree in the profession, and qualified himself to
practise with credit and success; and immediately entered on the
study of the law. While in pursuit of the last mentioned object, he
was prevented by a premature death from reaping the fruit of those
talents with which he was endowed, and of a youth spent in the ardent
and successful pursuit of useful and elegant literature.
"_Philad. April 19th, 1753._
"SIR,
"I received your favour of the 11th instant, with your new[7] piece
on _Education_, which I shall carefully peruse, and give you my
sentiments of it, as you desire, by next post.
"I believe the young gentlemen, your pupils, may be entertained and
instructed here, in mathematics and philosophy, to satisfaction. Mr.
Alison[8] (who was educated at Glasgow) has been long accustomed
to teach the latter, and Mr. Grew[9] the former; and I think their
pupils make great progress. Mr. Alison has the care of the Latin and
Greek school, but as he has now three good assistants,[10] he can
very well afford some hours every day for the instruction of those
who are engaged in higher studies. The mathematical school is pretty
well furnished with instruments. The English library is a good one;
and we have belonging to it a middling apparatus for experimental
philosophy, and propose speedily to complete it. The Loganian
library, one of the best collections in America, will shortly be
opened; so that neither books nor instruments will be wanting; and
as we are determined always to give good salaries, we have reason to
believe we may have always an opportunity of choosing good masters;
upon which indeed, the success of the whole depends. We are obliged
to you for your kind offers in this respect, and when you are settled
in England, we may occasionally make use of your friendship and
judgment.--
"If it suits your conveniency to visit Philadelphia before you return
to Europe, I shall be extremely glad to see and converse with you
here, as well as to correspond with you after your settlement in
England; for an acquaintance and communication with men of learning,
virtue, and public spirit, is one of my greatest enjoyments.
"I do not know whether you ever happened to see the first proposals
I made for erecting this academy. I send them inclosed. They had
(however imperfect) the desired success, being followed by a
subscription of four thousand pounds, towards carrying them into
execution. And as we are fond of receiving advice, and are daily
improving by experience, I am in hopes we shall, in a few years, see
a _perfect institution_.
"I am, very respectfully, &c.
"B. FRANKLIN.
"_Mr. W. Smith, Long-Island._"
FOOTNOTES:
[7] A general idea of the college of Mirania.
[8] The Rev. and learned Mr. Francis Alison, afterwards D. D. and
vice-provost of the college.
[9] Mr. Theophilus Grew, afterwards professor of mathematics in the
college.
[10] Those assistants were at that time Mr. Charles Thomson, late
secretary to congress, Mr. Paul Jackson, and Mr. Jacob Duche.
"_Philad. May 3d, 1753._
"SIR,
"Mr. Peters has just now been with me, and we have compared notes on
your new piece. We find nothing in the scheme of education, however
excellent, but what is, in our opinion, very practicable. The
great difficulty will be to find the Aratus[11], and other suitable
persons, to carry it into execution; but such may be had if proper
encouragement be given. We have both received great pleasure in the
perusal of it. For my part, I know not when I have read a piece that
has more affected me--so noble and just are the sentiments, so warm
and animated the language; yet as censure from your friends may be
of more use, as well as more agreeable to you than praise, I ought
to mention, that I wish you had omitted not only the quotation from
the Review[12], which you are now justly dissatisfied with, but those
expressions of resentment against your adversaries, in pages 65 and
79. In such cases, the noblest victory is obtained by neglect, and by
shining on.
"Mr. Allen has been out of town these ten days; but before he went he
directed me to procure him six copies of your piece. Mr. Peters has
taken ten. He proposed to have written to you; but omits it, as he
expects so soon to have the pleasure of seeing you here. He desires
me to present his affectionate compliments to you, and to assure
you that you will be very welcome to him. I shall only say, that
you may depend on my doing all in my power to make your visit to
Philadelphia agreeable to you.
"I am, &c.
"B. FRANKLIN.
"_Mr. Smith._"
FOOTNOTES:
[11] The name given to the principal or head of the ideal college,
the system of education in which hath nevertheless been nearly
realized, or followed as a model, in the college and academy of
Philadelphia, and some other American seminaries, for many years past.
[12] The quotation alluded to (from the London Monthly Review for
1749,) was judged to reflect too severely on the discipline and
government of the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and
was expunged from the following editions of this work.
"_Philad. Nov. 27th, 1753._
"DEAR SIR,
"Having written you fully, _via_ Bristol, I have now little to
add. Matters relating to the academy remain in _statu quo_. The
trustees would be glad to see a rector established there, but they
dread entering into new engagements till they are got out of debt;
and I have not yet got them wholly over to my opinion, that a good
professor, or teacher of the higher branches of learning, would
draw so many scholars as to pay great part, if not the whole of his
salary. Thus, unless the proprietors (of the province) shall think
fit to put the finishing hand to our institution, it must, I fear,
wait some few years longer before it can arrive at that state of
perfection, which to me it seems now capable of; and all the pleasure
I promised myself in seeing you settled among us, vanishes into smoke.
"But good Mr. Collinson writes me word, that no endeavours of his
shall be wanting; and he hopes, with the archbishop's assistance, to
be able to prevail with our proprietors[13]. I pray God grant them
success.
"My son presents his affectionate regards, with, dear Sir,
"Your's, &c.
"B. FRANKLIN.
"P. S. I have not been favoured with a line from you since your
arrival in England."
FOOTNOTE:
[13] Upon the application of archbishop Herring and P. Collinson,
Esq. at Dr. Franklin's request, (aided by the letters of Mr. Allen
and Mr. Peters,) the Hon. Thomas Penn, Esq. subscribed an annual sum,
and afterwards gave at least 5000_l._ to the founding or engrafting the
college upon the academy.
"_Philad. April 18th, 1754._
"DEAR SIR,
"I have had but one letter from you since your arrival in
England, which was but a short one, _via_ Boston, dated October
18th, acquainting me that you had written largely by Captain
Davis.--Davis was lost, and with him your letters, to my great
disappointment.--Mesnard and Gibbon have since arrived here, and I
hear nothing from you. My comfort is, an imagination that you only
omit writing because you are coming, and propose to tell me every
thing _viva voce_. So not knowing whether this letter will reach you,
and hoping either to see or hear from you by the Myrtilla, Captain
Budden's ship, which is daily expected, I only add, that I am, with
great esteem and affection
"Your's, &c.
"B. FRANKLIN.
"_Mr. Smith._"
About a month after the date of this last letter, the gentleman to
whom it was addressed arrived in Philadelphia, and was immediately
placed at the head of the seminary; whereby Dr. Franklin and the
other trustees were enabled to prosecute their plan, for perfecting
the institution, and opening the college upon the large and liberal
foundation on which it now stands; for which purpose they obtained
their additional charter, dated May 27th, 1755.
Thus far we thought it proper to exhibit in one view Dr. Franklin's
services in the foundation and establishment of this seminary. He
soon afterwards embarked for England, in the public service of his
country; and having been generally employed abroad, in the like
service, for the greatest part of the remainder of his life, (as
will appear in our subsequent account of the same) he had but few
opportunities of taking any further active part in the affairs of
the seminary, until his final return in the year 1785, when he found
its charters violated, and his ancient colleagues, the original
founders, deprived of their trust, by an act of the legislature; and
although his own name had been inserted amongst the new trustees,
yet he declined to take his seat among them, or any concern in the
management of their affairs, till the institution was restored by
law to its original owners. He then assembled his old colleagues at
his own house, and being chosen their president, all their future
meetings were, at his request, held there, till within a few months
of his death, when with reluctance, and at their desire, lest he
might be too much injured by his attention to their business, he
suffered them to meet at the college.
Franklin not only gave birth to many useful institutions himself,
but he was also instrumental in promoting those which had originated
with other men. About the year 1752, an eminent physician of this
city, Dr. Bond, considering the deplorable state of the poor when
visited with disease, conceived the idea of establishing an hospital.
Notwithstanding very great exertions on his part, he was able to
interest few people so far in his benevolent plan, as to obtain
subscriptions from them. Unwilling that his scheme should prove
abortive, he sought the aid of Franklin, who readily engaged in
the business, both by using his influence with his friends, and by
stating the advantageous influence of the proposed institution in his
paper. These efforts were attended with success. Considerable sums
were subscribed; but they were still short of what was necessary.
Franklin now made another exertion. He applied to the assembly; and,
after some opposition, obtained leave to bring in a bill, specifying,
that as soon as two thousand pounds were subscribed, the same sum
should be drawn from the treasury by the speaker's warrant, to be
applied to the purposes of the institution. The opposition, as the
sum was granted upon a contingency which they supposed would never
take place, were silent, and the bill passed. The friends of the plan
now redoubled their efforts, to obtain subscriptions to the amount
stated in the bill, and were soon successful. This was the foundation
of the Pennsylvanian Hospital, which, with the Bettering-house, and
Dispensary, bears ample testimony of the humanity of the citizens of
Philadelphia.
Dr. Franklin had conducted himself so well in the office of
post-master, and had shown himself to be so well acquainted with
the business of that department, that it was thought expedient to
raise him to a more dignified station. In 1753 he was appointed
deputy post-master general for the British colonies. The profits
arising from the postage of letters formed no inconsiderable part
of the revenue, which the crown of Great Britain derived from these
colonies. In the hands of Franklin, it is said, that the post-office
in America, yielded annually thrice as much as that of Ireland.
The American colonies were much exposed to depredations on their
frontiers, by the Indians; and more particularly whenever a war took
place between France and England. The colonies, individually, were
either too weak to take efficient measures for their own defence,
or they were unwilling to take upon themselves the whole burden of
erecting forts and maintaining garrisons, whilst their neighbours,
who partook equally with themselves of the advantages, contributed
nothing to the expence. Sometimes also the disputes, which subsisted
between the governors and assemblies, prevented the adoption of means
of defence; as we have seen was the case in Pennsylvania in 1745.
To devise a plan of union between the colonies, to regulate this
and other matters, appeared a desirable object. To accomplish this,
in the year 1754, commissioners from New Hampshire, Massachussets,
Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, met at Albany.
Dr. Franklin attended here, as a commissioner from Pennsylvania,
and produced a plan, which, from the place of meeting, has been
usually termed, "The Albany plan of Union." This proposed, that
application should be made for an act of parliament, to establish
in the colonies a general government, to be administered by a
president-general, appointed by the crown, and by a grand council,
consisting of members, chosen by the representatives of the different
colonies; their number to be in direct proportion to the sums paid
by each colony into the general treasury, with this restriction,
that no colony should have more than seven, nor less than two
representatives. The whole executive authority was committed to
the president-general. The power of legislation was lodged in the
grand council and president-general jointly; his consent being made
necessary to passing a bill into a law. The power vested in the
president and council was, to declare war and peace, and to conclude
treaties with the Indian nations; to regulate trade with, and to make
purchases of vacant lands from them, either in the name of the crown,
or of the union; to settle new colonies, to make laws for governing
these until they should be erected into separate governments; and
to raise troops, build forts, and fit out armed vessels, and to use
other means for the general defence; and, to effect these things, a
power was given to make laws, laying such duties, imposts, or taxes,
as they should find necessary, and as would be least burdensome
to the people. All laws were to be sent to England for the king's
approbation; and unless disapproved of within three years, were to
remain in force. All officers in the land or sea service were to be
nominated by the president-general, and approved of by the general
council; civil officers were to be nominated by the council, and
approved of by the president. Such are the outlines of the plan
proposed, for the consideration of the congress, by Dr. Franklin.
After several days' discussion, it was unanimously agreed to by the
commissioners, a copy transmitted to each assembly, and one to the
king's council. The fate of it was singular. It was disapproved of by
the ministry of Great Britain, because it gave too much power to the
representatives of the people; and it was rejected by every assembly,
as giving to the president-general, the representative of the crown,
an influence greater than appeared to them proper, in a plan of
government intended for freemen. Perhaps this rejection, on both
sides, is the strongest proof that could be adduced of the excellence
of it, as suited to the situation of America and Great Britain at
that time. It appears to have steered exactly in the middle between
the opposite interests of both.
Whether the adoption of this plan would have prevented the separation
of America from Great Britain, is a question which might afford much
room for speculation. It may be said, that, by enabling the colonies
to defend themselves, it would have removed the pretext upon which
the stamp-act, tea-act, and other acts of the British parliament,
were passed; which excited a spirit of opposition, and laid the
foundation for the separation of the two countries. But, on the other
hand, it must be admitted, that the restriction laid by Great Britain
upon our commerce, obliging us to sell our produce to her citizens
only, and to take from them various articles, of which, as our
manufactures were discouraged, we stood in need, at a price greater
than that for which they could have been obtained from other nations,
must inevitably produce dissatisfaction, even though no duties were
imposed by the parliament; a circumstance which might still have
taken place. Besides, as the president-general was to be appointed
by the crown, he must, of necessity, be devoted to its views, and
would, therefore, refuse his assent to any laws, however salutary
to the community, which had the most remote tendency to injure the
interests of his sovereign. Even should they receive his assent, the
approbation of the king was to be necessary; who would indubitably,
in every instance, prefer the advantage of his home dominions to
that of his colonies. Hence would ensue perpetual disagreements
between the council and the president-general, and thus, between
the people of America and the crown of Great Britain:--While the
colonies continued weak, they would be obliged to submit, and as soon
as they acquired strength they would become more urgent in their
demands, until, at length, they would shake off the yoke, and declare
themselves independent.
Whilst the French were in possession of Canada, their trade with
the natives extended very far; even to the back of the British
settlements. They were disposed, from time to time, to establish
posts within the territory, which the English claimed as their own.
Independent of the injury to the fur trade, which was considerable,
the colonies suffered this further inconvenience, that the Indians
were frequently instigated to commit depredations on their frontiers.
In the year 1753, encroachments were made upon the boundaries of
Virginia. Remonstrances had no effect. In the ensuing year, a body
of men were sent out under the command of Mr. Washington, who,
though a very young man, had, by his conduct in the preceding year,
shewn himself worthy of such an important trust. Whilst marching
to take possession of the post at the junction of the Allegany and
Monongahela, he was informed that the French had already erected
a fort there. A detachment of their men marched against him. He
fortified himself as strongly as time and circumstances would
admit. A superiority of numbers soon obliged him to surrender _Fort
Necessity_. He obtained honourable terms for himself and men, and
returned to Virginia. The government of Great Britain now thought
it necessary to interfere. In the year 1755, General Braddock, with
some regiments of regular troops, and provincial levies, was sent
to dispossess the French of the posts upon which they had seized.
After the men were all ready, a difficulty occurred, which had nearly
prevented the expedition. This was the want of waggons. Franklin now
stepped forward, and with the assistance of his son, in a little time
procured a hundred and fifty. Braddock unfortunately fell into an
ambuscade, and perished, with a number of his men. Washington, who
had accompanied him as an aid-de-camp, and had warned him, in vain,
of his danger, now displayed great military talents in effecting a
retreat of the remains of the army, and in forming a junction with
the rear, under colonel Dunbar, upon whom the chief command now
devolved. With some difficulty they brought their little body to a
place of safety; but they found it necessary to destroy their waggons
and baggage, to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. For
the waggons which he had furnished, Franklin had given bonds to a
large amount. The owners declared their intention of obliging him to
make a restitution of their property. Had they put their threats in
execution, ruin must inevitably have been the consequence. Governor
Shirley, finding that he had incurred these debts for the service of
government, made arrangements to have them discharged, and released
Franklin from his disagreeable situation.
The alarm spread through the colonies, after the defeat of Braddock,
was very great. Preparations to arm were every where made. In
Pennsylvania, the prevalence of the Quaker interest prevented the
adoption of any system of defence, which would compel the citizens
to bear arms. Franklin introduced into the assembly a bill for
organizing a militia, by which every man was allowed to take arms or
not, as to him should appear fit. The Quakers, being thus left at
liberty, suffered the bill to pass; for although their principles
would not suffer them to fight, they had no objection to their
neighbours fighting for them. In consequence of this act a very
respectable militia was formed. The sense of impending danger infused
a military spirit in all, whose religious tenets were not opposed to
war. Franklin was appointed colonel of a regiment in Philadelphia,
which consisted of 1200 men.
The north-western frontier being invaded by the enemy, it became
necessary to adopt measures for its defence. Franklin was directed
by the governor to take charge of this. A power of raising men,
and of appointing officers to command them, was vested in him. He
soon levied a body of troops, with which he repaired to the place
at which their presence was necessary. Here he built a fort, and
placed a garrison in such a posture of defence, as would enable them
to withstand the inroads, to which the inhabitants had previously
been exposed. He remained here for some time, in order the more
completely to discharge the trust committed to him. Some business of
importance at length rendered his presence necessary in the assembly,
and he returned to Philadelphia.
The defence of her colonies was a great expence to Great Britain.
The most effectual mode of lessening this was, to put arms into the
hands of the inhabitants, and to teach them their use. But England
wished not that the Americans should become acquainted with their
own strength. She was apprehensive, that, as soon as this period
arrived, they would no longer submit to that monopoly of their trade,
which to them was highly injurious, but extremely advantageous to the
mother-country. In comparison with the profits of this, the expence
of maintaining armies and fleets to defend them was trifling. She
fought to keep them dependent upon her for protection; the best plan
which could be devised for retaining them in peaceable subjection.
The least appearance of a military spirit was therefore to be guarded
against, and, although a war then raged, the act for organizing a
militia was disapproved of by the ministry. The regiments which had
been formed under it were disbanded, and the defence of the province
entrusted to regular troops.
The disputes between the proprietaries and the people continued in
full force, although a war was raging on the frontiers. Not even
the sense of danger was sufficient to reconcile, for ever so short
a time, their jarring interests. The assembly still insisted upon
the justice of taxing the proprietary estates, but the governors
constantly refused their assent to this measure, without which no
bill could pass into a law. Enraged at the obstinacy, and what
they conceived to be unjust proceedings of their opponents, the
assembly at length determined to apply to the mother-country for
relief. A petition was addressed to the king, in council, stating
the inconveniencies under which the inhabitants laboured, from the
attention of the proprietaries to their private interests, to the
neglect of the general welfare of the community, and praying for
redress. Franklin was appointed to present this address, as agent
for the province of Pennsylvania, and departed from America in June,
1757. In conformity to the instructions which he had received from
the legislature, he held a conference with the proprietaries who
then resided in England, and endeavoured to prevail upon them to
give up the long contested point. Finding that they would harken to
no terms of accommodation, he laid his petition before the Council.
During this time governor Denny assented to a law imposing a tax,
in which no discrimination was made in favour of the estates of the
Penn family. They, alarmed at this intelligence, and Franklin's
exertions, used their utmost endeavours to prevent the royal sanction
being given to this law, which they represented as highly iniquitous,
designed to throw the burden of supporting government upon them, and
calculated to produce the most ruinous consequences to them and their
posterity. The cause was amply discussed before the privy Council.
The Penns found here some strenuous advocates; nor were there wanting
some who warmly espoused the side of the people. After some time
spent in debate, a proposal was made, that Franklin should solemnly
engage, that the assessment of the tax should be so made, as that the
proprietary estates should pay no more than a due proportion. This
he agreed to perform; the Penn family withdrew their opposition, and
tranquillity was thus once more restored to the province.
The mode in which this dispute was terminated is a striking proof
of the high opinion entertained of Franklin's integrity and honour,
even by those who considered him as inimical to their views. Nor
was their confidence ill-founded. The assessment was made upon the
strictest principles of equity; and the proprietary estates bore only
a proportionable share of the expences of supporting government.
After the completion of this important business, Franklin remained
at the court of Great Britain, as agent for the province of
Pennsylvania. The extensive knowledge which he possessed of the
situation of the colonies, and the regard which he always manifested
for their interests, occasioned his appointment to the same office by
the colonies of Massachussets, Maryland, and Georgia. His conduct,
in this situation, was such as rendered him still more dear to his
countrymen.
He had now an opportunity of indulging in the society of those
friends, whom his merits had procured him while at a distance. The
regard which they had entertained for him was rather increased by
a personal acquaintance. The opposition which had been made to his
discoveries in philosophy gradually ceased, and the rewards of
literary merit were abundantly conferred upon him. The Royal Society
of London, which had at first refused his performances admission into
its transactions, now thought it an honour to rank him amongst its
fellows. Other societies of Europe were equally ambitious of calling
him a member. The university of St. Andrew's, in Scotland, conferred
upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. Its example was followed by
the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. His correspondence was
sought for by the most eminent philosophers of Europe. His letters
to these abound with true science, delivered in the most simple
unadorned manner.
The province of Canada was at this time in the possession of the
French, who had originally settled it. The trade with the Indians,
for which its situation was very convenient, was exceedingly
lucrative. The French traders here found a market for their
commodities, and received in return large quantities of rich
furs, which they disposed of at a high price in Europe. Whilst
the possession of this country was highly advantageous to France,
it was a grievous inconvenience to the inhabitants of the British
colonies. The Indians were almost generally desirous to cultivate the
friendship of the French, by whom they were abundantly supplied with
arms and ammunition. Whenever a war happened, the Indians were ready
to fall upon the frontiers: and this they frequently did, even when
Great Britain and France were at peace. From these considerations, it
appeared to be the interest of Great Britain to gain the possession
of Canada. But the importance of such an acquisition was not well
understood in England. Franklin about this time published his
Canada pamphlet, in which he, in a forcible manner, pointed out the
advantages which would result from the conquest of this province.
An expedition against it was planned, and the command given to
General Wolfe. His success is well known. At the treaty in 1762,
France ceded Canada to Great Britain, and by her cession of
Louisiana, at the same time, relinquished all her possessions on the
continent of America.
Although Dr. Franklin was now principally occupied with political
pursuits, he found time for philosophical studies. He extended
his researches in electricity, and made a variety of experiments,
particularly on the tourmalin. The singular properties which this
stone possesses of being electrified on one side positively and on
the other negatively, by heat alone, without friction, had been but
lately observed.
Some experiments on the cold produced by evaporation, made by Dr.
Cullen, had been communicated to Dr. Franklin, by Professor Simpson,
of Glasgow. These he repeated, and found, that, by the evaporation
of æther in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, so great a degree
of cold was produced in a summer's day, that water was converted
into ice. This discovery he applied to the solution of a number of
phenomena, particularly a singular fact, which philosophers had
endeavoured in vain to account for, viz. that the temperature of the
human body, when in health, never exceeds 96 degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, though the atmosphere which surrounds it may be heated
to a much greater degree. This he attributed to the increased
perspiration, and consequent evaporation, produced by the heat.
In a letter to Mr. Small, of London, dated in May, 1760, Dr. Franklin
makes a number of observations, tending to show that, in North
America, north-east storms begin in the south-west parts. It appears,
from actual observations, that a north-east storm, which extended a
considerable distance, commenced at Philadelphia near four hours
before it was felt at Boston. He endeavoured to account for this,
by supposing that, from heat, some rarefaction takes place about
the gulph of Mexico, that the air further north rushes in, and is
succeeded by the cooler and denser air still farther north, and that
thus a continual current is at length produced.
The tone produced by rubbing the brim of a drinking-glass with a wet
finger, had been generally known. A Mr. Puckeridge, an Irishman,
by placing on a table a number of glasses of different sizes, and
tuning them by partly filling them with water, endeavoured to form an
instrument capable of playing tunes. He was prevented by an untimely
end, from bringing his invention to any degree of perfection. After
his death some improvements were made upon his plan. The sweetness of
the tones induced Dr. Franklin to make a variety of experiments; and
he at length formed that elegant instrument which he has called the
_Armonica_.
In the summer of 1762, he returned to America. On his passage he
observed the singular effect produced by the agitation of a vessel,
containing oil, floating on water. The surface of the oil remains
smooth and undisturbed, whilst the water is agitated with the utmost
commotion. No satisfactory explanation of this appearance has, we
believe, ever been given.
Dr. Franklin received the thanks of the assembly of Pennsylvania,
"as well for the faithful discharge of his duty to that province in
particular, as for the many and important services done to America in
general, during his residence in Great Britain." A compensation of
5000_l._, Pennsylvania currency, was also decreed him for his services
during six years.
During his absence he had been annually elected member of the
assembly. On his return to Pennsylvania he again took his seat in
this body, and continued a steady defender of the liberties of the
people.
In December 1762, a circumstance which caused great alarm in the
province took place. A number of Indians had resided in the county of
Lancaster, and conducted themselves uniformly as friends to the white
inhabitants. Repeated depredations on the frontiers had exasperated
the inhabitants to such a degree, that they determined on revenge
upon every Indian. A number of persons, to the number of about 120,
principally inhabitants of Donegal and Peckstang or Paxton township,
in the county of York, assembled; and, mounted on horseback,
proceeded to the settlement of these harmless and defenceless
Indians, whose number had now been reduced to about twenty. The
Indians had received intelligence of the attack which was intended
against them, but disbelieved it. Considering the white people as
their friends, they apprehended no danger from them. When the party
arrived at the Indian settlement, they found only some women and
children, and a few old men, the rest being absent at work. They
murdered all whom they found, and amongst others the chief Shaheas,
who had been always distinguished for his friendship to the whites.
This bloody deed excited much indignation in the well-disposed part
of the community.
The remainder of these unfortunate Indians, who by absence, had
escaped the massacre, were conducted to Lancaster, and lodged in
the gaol as a place of security. The governor issued a proclamation
expressing the strongest disapprobation of the action, offering
a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of the deed, and
prohibiting all injuries to the peaceable Indians in future. But,
notwithstanding this, a party of the same men shortly after marched
to Lancaster, broke open the gaol, and inhumanly butchered the
innocent Indians, who had been placed there for security. Another
proclamation was issued, but it had no effect. A detachment marched
down to Philadelphia, for the express purpose of murdering some
friendly Indians, who had been removed to the city for safety. A
number of the citizens armed in their defence. The quakers, whose
principles are opposed to fighting, even in their own defence, were
most active upon this occasion. The rioters came to Germantown. The
governor fled for safety to the house of Dr. Franklin, who, with
some others, advanced to meet the Paxton boys, as they were called,
and had influence enough to prevail upon them to relinquish their
undertaking, and return to their homes.
The disputes between the proprietaries and the assembly, which, for
a time, had subsided, were again revived. The proprietaries were
dissatisfied with the concessions made in favour of the people, and
made great struggles to recover the privilege of exempting their
estates from taxation, which they had been induced to give up.
In 1763, the assembly passed a militia-bill, to which the governor
refused to give his assent, unless the assembly would agree to
certain amendments which he proposed. These consisted in increasing
the fines, and in some cases, substituting death for fines. He wished
too, that the officers should be appointed altogether by himself,
and not be nominated by the people, as the bill had proposed. These
amendments the assembly considered as inconsistent with the spirit of
liberty. They would not adopt them--the governor was obstinate, and
the bill was lost.
These, and various other circumstances, encreased the uneasiness
which subsisted between the proprietaries and the assembly, to such
a degree, that, in 1764, a petition to the king was agreed to by
the house, praying an alteration from a _proprietary_ to a _regal_
government. Great opposition was made to this measure, not only in
the house, but in the public prints. A speech of Mr. Dickenson on
the subject was published, with a preface by Dr. Smith, in which
great pains were taken to show the impropriety and impolicy of this
proceeding. A speech of Mr. Galloway, in reply to Mr. Dickenson,
was published, accompanied with a preface by Dr. Franklin, in
which he ably opposed the principles laid down in the preface to
Mr. Dickenson's speech. This application to the throne produced no
effect. The proprietary government was still continued.
At the election of a new assembly, in the fall of 1764, the friends
of the proprietaries made great exertions to exclude those of the
adverse party; and they obtained a small majority in the city of
Philadelphia. Franklin now lost his seat in the house, which he had
held for fourteen years. On the meeting of the assembly, it appeared
there was still a decided majority of Franklin's friends. He was
immediately appointed provincial agent, to the great chagrin of his
enemies, who made a solemn protest against his appointment, which was
refused admission upon the minutes, as being unprecedented. It was,
however, published in the papers, and produced a spirited reply from
him, just before his departure for England.
The disturbances produced in America by Mr. Grenville's stamp-act,
and the opposition made to it, are well known. Under the marquis
of Rockingham's administration, it appeared expedient to endeavour
to calm the minds of the colonists; and the repeal of the odious
tax was contemplated. Amongst other means of collecting information
on the disposition of the people to submit to it, Dr. Franklin was
called to the bar of the house of commons. The examination which
he underwent was published, and contains a striking account of the
extent and accuracy of his information, and the facility 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. The act, after some opposition, was
repealed, about a year after it was enacted, and before it had ever
been carried into execution.
In the year 1766, he made a visit to Holland and Germany, and
received the greatest marks of attention from men of science. 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 return to England, he was
led to make a number of experiments, all of which tended to confirm
the observation. These, with an explanation of the phenomenon, he
communicated in a letter to his friend, Sir John Pringle, which will
be found among his philosophical pieces.
In the following year he travelled into France, where he met a no
less favorable reception than he had experienced in Germany. He was
introduced to a number of literary characters, and to the king, Louis
XV.
Several letters written by Hutchinson, Oliver, and others, to persons
in eminent stations in Great Britain, came into the hands of Dr.
Franklin. These contained the most violent invectives against the
leading characters of the state of Massachussets, and strenuously
advised the prosecution of vigorous measures, to compel the people
to obedience to the measures of the ministry. These he transmitted
to the legislature, by whom they were published. Attested copies of
them were sent to Great Britain, with an address, praying the king
to discharge from office persons who had rendered themselves so
obnoxious to the people, and who had shown themselves so unfriendly
to their interests. The publication of these letters produced a
duel between Mr. Whately and Mr. Temple, each of whom was suspected
of having been instrumental in procuring them. To prevent any
farther disputes on this subject, Dr. Franklin, in one of the public
papers, declared that he had sent them to America, but would give no
information concerning the manner in which he had obtained them--nor
was this ever discovered.
Shortly after, the petition of the Massachussets assembly was taken
up for examination, before the privy council. Dr. Franklin attended,
as agent for the assembly; and here a torrent of the most violent
and unwarranted abuse was poured upon him by the solicitor-general,
Wedderburne, who was engaged as council for Oliver and Hutchinson.
The petition was declared to be scandalous and vexatious, and the
prayer of it refused.
Although the parliament of Great Britain had repealed the stamp-act,
it was only upon the principle of expediency. They still insisted
upon their right to tax the colonies; and, at the same time that
the stamp-act was repealed, an act was passed, declaring the
right of parliament to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
This language was used even by the most strenuous opposers of the
stamp-act: and, amongst others, by Mr. Pitt. This right was never
recognized by the colonists; but, as they flattered themselves that
it would not be exercised, they were not very active in remonstrating
against it. Had this pretended right been suffered to remain
dormant, the colonists would cheerfully have furnished their quota
of supplies, in the mode to which they had been accustomed; that
is, by acts of their own assemblies, in consequence of requisitions
from the secretary of state. If this practice had been pursued, such
was the disposition of the colonies towards their mother-country,
that, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which they laboured,
from restraints upon their trade, calculated solely for the benefit
of the commercial and manufacturing interests of Great Britain,
a separation of the two countries might have been a far distant
event. The Americans, from their earliest infancy, were taught to
venerate a people from whom they were descended; whose language,
laws, and manners, were the same as their own. They looked up to them
as models of perfection; and, in their prejudiced minds, the most
enlightened nations of Europe were considered as almost barbarians,
in comparison with Englishmen. The name of an Englishman conveyed to
an American the idea of every thing good and great. Such sentiments
instilled into them in early life, what but a repetition of unjust
treatment could have induced them to entertain the most distant
thought of separation! The duties on glass, paper, leather, painters'
colours, tea, &c. the disfranchisement of some of the colonies;
the obstruction to the measures of the legislature in others, by
the king's governors; the contemptuous treatment of their humble
remonstrances, stating their grievances, and praying a redress of
them, and other violent and oppressive measures, at length excited an
ardent spirit of opposition. Instead of endeavouring to allay this
by a more lenient conduct, the ministry seemed resolutely bent upon
reducing the colonies to the most slavish obedience to their decrees.
But this only tended to aggravate. Vain were all the efforts made
use of to prevail upon them to lay aside their designs, to convince
them of the impossibility of carrying them into effect, and of the
mischievous consequences which must ensue from a continuance of the
attempts. They persevered, with a degree of inflexibility scarcely
paralleled.
The advantages which Great Britain derived from her colonies were
so great, that nothing but a degree of infatuation, little short of
madness, could have produced a continuance of measures calculated to
keep up a spirit of uneasiness, which might occasion the slightest
wish for a separation. When we consider the great improvements in the
science of government, the general diffusion of the principles of
liberty amongst the people of Europe, the effects which these have
already produced in France, and the probable consequences which will
result from them elsewhere, all of which are the offspring of the
American revolution, it cannot but appear strange, that events of so
great moment to the happiness of mankind, should have been ultimately
occasioned by the wickedness or ignorance of a British ministry.
Dr. Franklin left nothing untried to prevail upon the ministry to
consent to a change of measures. In private conversations, and in
letters to persons in government, he continually expatiated upon
the impolicy and injustice of their conduct towards America; and
stated, that, notwithstanding the attachment of the colonists to
the mother-country, a repetition of ill treatment must ultimately
alienate their affections. They listened not to his advice. They
blindly persevered in their own schemes, and left to the colonists
no alternative, but opposition, or unconditional submission. The
latter accorded not with the principles of freedom, which they had
been taught to revere. To the former they were compelled, though
reluctantly, to have recourse.
Dr. Franklin, finding all efforts to restore harmony between Great
Britain and her colonies useless, returned to America in the year
1775; just after the commencement of hostilities. The day after his
return he was elected by the legislature of Pennsylvania a delegate
to congress. Not long after his election a committee was appointed,
consisting of Mr. Lynch, Mr. Harrison, and himself, to visit the camp
at Cambridge, and, in conjunction with the commander in chief, to
endeavour to convince the troops, whose term of enlistment was about
to expire, of the necessity of their continuing in the field, and
persevering in the cause of their country.
In the fall of the same year he visited Canada, to endeavour to unite
them in the common cause of liberty; but they could not be prevailed
upon to oppose the measures of the British government. M. Le Roy,
in a letter annexed to Abbé Fauchet's eulogium of Dr. Franklin,
states, that the ill success of this negociation was occasioned, in a
great degree, by religious animosities, which subsisted between the
Canadians and their neighbours, some of whom had at different times
burnt their chapels.
When Lord Howe came to America, in 1776, vested with power to treat
with the colonists, a correspondence took place between him and
Dr. Franklin, on the subject of a reconciliation. Dr. Franklin was
afterwards appointed, together with John Adams, and Edward Rutledge,
to wait upon the commissioners, in order to learn the extent of their
powers. These were found to be only to grant pardons upon submission.
Such terms which could not be accepted; and the object of the
commissioners was not obtained.
The momentous question of independence was shortly after brought
into view, at a time when the fleets and armies, which were sent to
enforce obedience, were truly formidable. With an army, numerous
indeed, but ignorant of discipline, and entirely unskilled in
the art of war, without money, without a fleet, without allies,
and with nothing but the love of liberty to support them, the
colonists determined to separate from a country, from which they had
experienced a repetition of injury and insult. In this question, Dr.
Franklin was decidedly in favour of the measure proposed, and had
great influence in bringing others to his sentiments.
The public mind had been prepared for this event, by Mr. Paine's
celebrated pamphlet, _Common Sense_. There is good reason to
believe that Dr. Franklin had no inconsiderable share, at least, in
furnishing materials for this work.
In the convention which assembled at Philadelphia in 1776, for
the purpose of establishing a new form of government for the
state of Pennsylvania, Dr. Franklin was chosen president. The
late constitution of this state, which was the result of their
deliberations, may be considered as a digest of his principles of
government. The single legislature, and the plural executive, seem to
have been his favourite tenets.
In the latter end of 1776, Dr. Franklin was appointed to assist in
the negociation which had been set on foot by Silas Deane at the
court of France. A conviction of the advantages of a commercial
intercourse with America, and a desire of weakening the British
empire by dismembering it, first induced the French court to listen
to proposals of an alliance. But they shewed rather a reluctance
to the measure, which, by Dr. Franklin's address, and particularly
by the success of the American arms against general Burgoyne, was
at length overcome; and in February, 1778, a treaty of alliance,
offensive and defensive, was concluded; in consequence of which
France became involved in the war with Great Britain.
Perhaps no person could have been found more capable of rendering
essential services to the United States at the court of France, than
Dr. Franklin. He was well known as a philosopher, and his character
was held in the highest estimation. He was received with the greatest
marks of respect by all the literary characters; and this respect was
extended amongst all classes of men. His personal influence was hence
very considerable. To the effects of this were added those of various
performances which he published, tending to establish the credit and
character of the United States. To his exertions in this way, may, in
no small degree, be ascribed the success of the loans negociated in
Holland and France, which greatly contributed to bring the war to a
conclusion.
The repeated ill success of their arms, and more particularly the
capture of Cornwallis and his army, at length convinced the British
nation of the impossibility of reducing the Americans to subjection.
The trading interest particularly became clamorous for peace. The
ministry were unable longer to oppose their wishes. Provisional
articles of peace were agreed to, and signed at Paris on the 30th of
November, 1782, by Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Laurens,
on the part of the United States; and by Mr. Oswald on the part of
Great Britain. These formed the basis of the definitive treaty, which
was concluded the 3d of September, 1783, and signed by Dr. Franklin,
Mr. Adams, and Mr. Jay, on the one part, and by Mr. David Hartly on
the other.
On the third of April, 1783, a treaty of amity and commerce, between
the United States and Sweden, was concluded at Paris, by Dr. Franklin
and the Count Von Krutz.
A similar treaty with Prussia was concluded in 1785, not long before
Dr. Franklin's departure from Europe.
Dr. Franklin did not suffer his political pursuits to engross his
whole attention. Some of his performances made their appearance in
Paris. The object of these was generally the promotion of industry
and economy.
In the year 1784, when animal magnetism made great noise in the
world, particularly at Paris, it was thought a matter of such
importance, that the king appointed commissioners to examine into
the foundation of this pretended science. Dr. Franklin was one of
the number. After a fair and diligent examination, in the course of
which Mesmer repeated a number of experiments, in the presence of
the commissioners, some of which were tried upon themselves, they
determined that it was a mere trick, intended to impose upon the
ignorant and credulous--Mesmer was thus interrupted in his career to
wealth and fame, and a most insolent attempt to impose upon the human
understanding baffled.
The important ends of Dr. Franklin's mission being completed by the
establishment of American independence, and the infirmities of age
and disease coming upon him, he became desirous of returning to
his native country. Upon application to congress to be recalled,
Mr. Jefferson was appointed to succeed him in 1785. Some time in
September of the same year Dr. Franklin arrived in Philadelphia. He
was shortly after chosen member of the supreme executive council for
the city; and soon after was elected president of the same.
When a convention was called to meet in Philadelphia, in 1787, for
the purpose of giving more energy to the government of the union, by
revising and amending the articles of confederation, Dr. Franklin was
appointed a delegate from the State of Pennsylvania. He signed the
constitution which they proposed for the union, and gave it the most
unequivocal marks of his approbation.
A society for political enquiries, of which Dr. Franklin was
president, was established about this period. The meetings were
held at his house. Two or three essays read in this society were
published. It did not long continue.
In the year 1787, two societies were established in Philadelphia,
founded on the principles of the most liberal and refined
humanity--_The Philadelphia Society for alleviating the miseries
of public prisons; and the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the
abolition of slavery, the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in
bondage, and the improvement of the condition of the African race._
Of each of these Dr. Franklin was president. The labours of these
bodies have been crowned with great success; and they continue to
prosecute, with unwearied diligence, the laudable designs for which
they were established.
Dr. Franklin's increasing infirmities prevented his regular
attendance at the council-chamber; and, in 1788, he retired wholly
from public life.
His constitution had been a remarkably good one. He had been little
subject to disease, except an attack of the gout occasionally, until
about the year 1781, when he was first attacked with symptoms of the
calculous complaint, which continued during his life. During the
intervals of pain from this grievous disease, he spent many cheerful
hours, conversing in the most agreeable and instructive manner. His
faculties were entirely unimpaired, even to the hour of his death.
His name, as president of the abolition society, was signed to the
memorial presented to the house of representatives of the United
States, on the 12th of February, 1789, praying them to exert the full
extent of power vested in them by the constitution, in discouraging
the traffic of the human species. This was his last public act. In
the debates to which this memorial gave rise, several attempts were
made to justify the trade. In the Federal Gazette of March 25th,
there appeared an essay, signed Historicus, written by Dr. Franklin,
in which he communicated a speech, said to have been delivered in
the Divan of Algiers, in 1687, in opposition to the prayer of the
petition of a sect called _Erika_, or purists, for the abolition of
piracy and slavery. This pretended African speech was an excellent
parody of one delivered by Mr. Jackson, of Georgia. All the arguments
urged in favour of negro slavery, are applied with equal force to
justify the plundering and enslaving of Europeans. It affords, at
the same time, a demonstration of the futility of the arguments in
defence of the slave trade, and of the strength of mind and ingenuity
of the author, at his advanced period of life. It furnished too, a no
less convincing proof of his power of imitating the style of other
times and nations, than his celebrated parable against persecution.
And as the latter led many persons to search the scriptures with a
view to find, it, so the former caused many persons to search the
book-stores and libraries, for the work from which it was said to be
extracted.
In the beginning of April following, he was attacked with a fever
and complaint of his breast, which terminated his existence. The
following account of his last illness was written by his friend and
physician, Dr. Jones.
"The stone, with which he had been afflicted for several years, had
for the last twelve months confined him chiefly to his bed; and
during the extremely painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take large
doses of laudanum to mitigate his tortures--still, in the intervals
of pain, he not only amused himself with reading and conversing
cheerfully with his family, and a few friends who visited him, but
was often employed in doing business of a public as well as private
nature, with various persons who waited on him for that purpose; and
in every instance displayed, not only that readiness and disposition
of doing good, which was the distinguishing characteristic of his
life, but the fullest and clearest possession of his uncommon mental
abilities; and not unfrequently indulged himself in those _jeux
d'esprit_ and entertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of all
who heard him.
"About sixteen days before his death, he was seized with a feverish
indisposition, without any particular symptoms attending it, till
the third or fourth day, when he complained of a pain in the left
breast, which increased till it became extremely acute, attended
with a cough and laborious breathing. During this state, when the
severity of his pains sometimes drew forth a groan of complaint,
he would observe--that he was afraid he did not hear it as he
ought--acknowledged his grateful sense of the many blessings he had
received from the Supreme Being, who had raised him from small and
low beginnings to such high rank and consideration among men--and
made no doubt but his present afflictions were kindly intended to
wean him from a world, in which he was no longer fit to act the part
assigned him. In this frame of body and mind he continued till five
days before his death, when his pain and difficulty of breathing
entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with
the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthumation, which had formed
itself in his lungs, suddenly burst and discharged a great quantity
of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had sufficient
strength to do it, but, as that failed, the organs of respiration
became gradually oppressed--a calm lethargic state succeeded--and, on
the 17th of April, 1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly
expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and
three months."
It may not be amiss to add to the above account, that Dr. Franklin,
in the year 1735, had a severe pleurisy, which terminated in an
abscess of the left lobe of his lungs, and he was then almost
suffocated with the quantity and suddenness of the discharge. A
second attack of a similar nature happened some years after this,
from which he soon recovered, and did not appear to suffer any
inconvenience in his respiration from these diseases.
The following epitaph on himself, was written by him many years
previous to his death:--
THE BODY
OF
_BENJAMIN FRANKLIN_,
PRINTER.
(LIKE THE COVER OF AN OLD BOOK,
ITS CONTENTS TORN OUT,
AND STRIPT OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING)
LIES HERE FOOD FOR WORMS;
YET THE WORK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST,
FOR IT WILL (AS HE BELIEVED) APPEAR ONCE MORE
IN A NEW
AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION
CORRECTED AND AMENDED
BY
THE AUTHOR.[14]
_EXTRACTS_
FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF
DR. FRANKLIN.
With regard to my books, those I had in France, and those I left in
Philadelphia, being now assembled together here, and a catalogue made
of them, it is my intention to dispose of the same as follows:
My "History of the Academy of Sciences," in sixty or seventy volumes
quarto, I give to the philosophical society of Philadelphia, of which
I have the honour to be president. My collection in folio of "_Les
Arts et les Metiers_," I give to the American philosophical society,
established in New England, of which I am a member. My quarto edition
of the same, "_Arts et Metiers_," I give to the library company
of Philadelphia. Such and so many of my books as I shall mark, in
the said catalogue, with the name of my grandson Benjamin Franklin
Bache, I do hereby give to him: and such and so many of my books,
as I shall mark in the said catalogue with the name of my grandson
William Bache, I do hereby give to him: and such as shall be marked
with the name of Jonathan Williams, I hereby give to my cousin of
that name. The residue and remainder of all my books, manuscripts,
and papers, I do give to my grandson William Temple Franklin. My
share in the library company of Philadelphia I give to my grandson
Benjamin Franklin Bache, confiding that he will permit his brothers
and sisters to share in the use of it.
I was born in Boston, New England, and owe my first instructions in
literature to the free grammar-schools established there. I therefore
give one hundred pounds sterling to my executors, to be by them,
the survivors or survivor of them, paid over to the managers or
directors of the free-schools in my native town of Boston, to be by
them, or the person or persons who shall have the superintendance
and management of the said schools, put out to interest, and so
continued at interest for ever; which interest annually shall be
laid out in silver medals, and given as honorary rewards annually
by the directors of the said free-schools, for the encouragement of
scholarship in the said schools, belonging to the said town, in such
manner as to the discretion of the select men of the said town shall
seem meet.
Out of the salary that may remain due to me, as president of the
state, I give the sum of two thousand pounds to my executors, to be
by them, the survivors or survivor of them, paid over to such person
or persons as the legislature of this state, by an act of assembly,
shall appoint to receive the same, in trust, to be employed for
making the Schuylkil navigable.
During the number of years I was in business as a stationer, printer,
and post-master, a great many small sums became due to me for books,
advertisements, postage of letters, and other matters, which were not
collected, when, in 1757, I was sent by the assembly to England as
their agent--and, by subsequent appointments, continued there till
1775--when, on my return, I was immediately engaged in the affairs of
congress, and sent to France in 1776, where I remained nine years,
not returning till 1785; and the said debts not being demanded in
such a length of time, are become in a manner obsolete, yet are
nevertheless justly due.--These as they are stated in my great
folio ledger, E, I bequeath to the contributors of the Pennsylvania
hospital; hoping that those debtors, and the descendants of such as
are deceased, who now, as I find, make some difficulty of satisfying
such antiquated demands as just debts, may, however, be induced to
pay or give them as charity to that excellent institution. I am
sensible that much must inevitably be lost; but I hope something
considerable may be recovered. It is possible too, that some of the
parties charged may have existing old unsettled accounts against me:
in which case the managers of the said hospital will allow and deduct
the amount, or pay the balance, if they find it against me.
I request my friends, Henry Hill, Esq. John Jay, Esq. Francis
Hopkinson, Esq. and Mr. Edward Duffield, of Bonfield, in Philadelphia
county, to be the executors of this my last will and testament, and I
hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose.
I would have my body buried with as little expence or ceremony as may
be.
PHILADELPHIA,
July 17, 1778.
CODICIL.
I BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, in the foregoing or annexed last will and
testament, having further considered the same, do think proper to
make and publish the following codicil, in addition thereto.
It having long been a fixed and political opinion of mine, that in a
democratical state, there ought to be no offices of profit, for the
reasons I had given in an article of my drawing in our constitution,
it was my intention, when I accepted the office of president, to
devote the appointed salary to some public use; accordingly I had
already, before I made my last will in July last, given large sums of
it to colleges, schools, building of churches, &c.; and in that will
I bequeathed two thousand pounds more to the state, for the purpose
of making the Schuylkil navigable; but understanding since, that such
a sum will do but little, towards accomplishing such a work, and that
project is not likely to be undertaken for many years to come--and
having entertained another idea, which I hope may be more extensively
useful, I do hereby revoke and annul the bequest, and direct that
the certificates I have of what remains due to me of that salary, be
sold towards raising the sum of two thousand pounds sterling, to be
disposed of as I am now about to order.
It has been an opinion, that he who receives an estate from his
ancestors, is under some obligation to transmit the same to
posterity. This obligation lies not on me, who never inherited a
shilling from any ancestor or relation. I shall, however, if it is
not diminished by some accident before my death, leave a considerable
estate among my descendants and relations. The above observation is
made merely as some apology to my family, for my making bequests that
do not appear to have any immediate relation to their advantage.
I was born in Boston, New England, and owe my first instructions in
literature to the free grammar schools established there. I have,
therefore, considered those schools in my will.
But I am also under obligations to the state of Massachussets, for
having, unasked, appointed me formerly their agent, with a handsome
salary, which continued some years; and although I accidentally lost
in their service, by transmitting governor Hutchinson's letters, much
more than the amount of what they gave me, I do not think that ought
in the least to diminish my gratitude. I have considered that, among
artisans, good apprentices are most likely to make good citizens, and
having myself been bred to a manual art, printing, in my native town,
and afterwards assisted to set up my business in Philadelphia by kind
loans of money from two friends there, which was the foundation of
my fortune, and of all the utility in life that may be ascribed to
me--I wish to be useful even after my death, if possible, in forming
and advancing other young men, that may be serviceable to their
country in both these towns.
To this end I devote two thousand pounds sterling, which I give,
one thousand thereof to the inhabitants of the town of Boston, in
Massachussets, and the other thousand to the inhabitants of the
city of Philadelphia, in trust, to and for the uses, intents, and
purposes, herein after mentioned and declared.
The said sum of one thousand pounds sterling, if accepted by the
inhabitants of the town of Boston, shall be managed under the
direction of the select men, united with the ministers of the oldest
episcopalian, congregational, and presbyterian churches in that town,
who are to let out the same at five per cent. per annum, to such
young married artificers, under the age of twenty-five years, as have
served an apprenticeship in the said town, and faithfully fulfilled
the duties required in their indentures, so as to obtain a good moral
character from at least two respectable citizens, who are willing to
become sureties in a bond, with the applicants, for the re-payment of
the money so lent, with interest, according to the terms hereinafter
prescribed; all which bonds are to be taken for Spanish milled
dollars, or the value thereof in current gold coin: and the manager
shall keep a bound book, or books, wherein shall be entered the
names of those who shall apply for, and receive the benefit of this
institution, and of their sureties, together with the sums lent,
the dates, and other necessary and proper records, respecting the
business and concerns of this institution: and as these loans are
intended to assist young married artificers, in setting up their
business, they are to be proportioned by the discretion of the
managers, so as not to exceed sixty pounds sterling to one person,
nor to be less than fifteen pounds.
And if the number of appliers so entitled should be so large as that
the sum will not suffice to afford to each as much as might otherwise
not be improper, the proportion to each shall be diminished, so as
to afford to every one some assistance. These aids may, therefore,
be small at first, but as the capital increases by the accumulated
interest, they will be more ample. And in order to serve as many as
possible in their turn, as well as to make the re-payment of the
principal borrowed more easy, each borrower shall be obliged to pay
with the yearly interest, one tenth part of the principal; which sums
of principal and interest so paid in, shall be again let out to fresh
borrowers. And it is presumed, that there will be always found in
Boston virtuous and benevolent citizens, willing to bestow a part of
their time in doing good to the rising generation, by superintending
and managing this institution gratis; it is hoped that no part of the
money will at any time lie dead, or be diverted to other purposes,
but be continually augmenting by the interest, in which case, there
may in time be more than the occasion in Boston may require; and
then some may be spared to the neighbouring or other towns, in the
said state of Massachusetts, which may desire to have it, such towns
engaging to pay punctually the interest, and the proportion of the
principal annually to the inhabitants of the town of Boston. If
this plan is executed, and succeeds, as projected, for one hundred
years, the sum will then be one hundred and thirty thousand pounds,
of which I would have the managers of the donation to the town of
Boston then lay out, at their discretion, one hundred thousand pounds
in public works, which may be judged of most general utility to the
inhabitants; such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public
buildings, baths, pavements, or whatever may make living in the
town more convenient to its people, and render it more agreeable to
strangers resorting thither for health, or a temporary residence. The
remaining thirty-one thousand pounds I would have continued to be let
out to interest, in the manner above directed, for one hundred years;
as I hope it will have been found that the institution has had a good
effect on the conduct of youth, and been of service to many worthy
characters and useful citizens. At the end of this second term, if
no unfortunate accident has prevented the operation, the sum will
be four millions and sixty-one thousand pounds sterling, of which I
leave one million and sixty-one thousand pounds to the disposition
and management of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, and the
three millions to the disposition of the government of the state--not
presuming to carry my views farther.
All the directions herein given respecting the disposition and
management of the donation to the inhabitants of Boston, I would
have observed respecting that to the inhabitants of Philadelphia;
only, as Philadelphia is incorporated, I request the corporation
of that city to undertake the management, agreeable to the said
directions: and I do hereby vest them with full and ample powers
for that purpose. And having considered that the covering its
ground-plat with buildings and pavements, which carry off most of
the rain, and prevent its soaking into the earth, and renewing and
purifying the springs, whence the water of the wells must gradually
grow worse, and in time be unfit for use, as I find has happened in
all old cities; I recommend, that, at the end of the first hundred
years, if not done before, the corporation of the city employ a part
of the hundred thousand pounds in bringing by pipes the water of
Wissahickon-creek into the town, so as to supply the inhabitants,
which I apprehend may be done without great difficulty, the level
of that creek being much above that of the city, and may be made
higher by a dam. I also recommend making the Schuylkil completely
navigable. At the end of the second hundred years, I would have
the disposition of the four millions and sixty-one thousand pounds
divided between the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia and the
government of Pennsylvania, in the same manner as herein directed
with respect to that of the inhabitants of Boston and the government
of Massachusetts. It is my desire that this institution should
take place, and begin to operate within one year after my decease,
for which purpose due notice should be publicly given, previous
to the expiration of that year, that those for whose benefit this
establishment is intended may make their respective applications:
and I hereby direct my executors, the survivor or survivors of them,
within six months after my decease, to pay over the said sum of two
thousand pounds sterling to such persons as shall be duly appointed
by the select men of Boston, and the corporation of Philadelphia,
to receive and take charge of their respective sums of one thousand
pounds each, for the purposes aforesaid. Considering the accidents
to which all human affairs and projects are subject in such a
length of time, I have, perhaps, too much flattered myself with a
vain fancy, that these dispositions, if carried into execution, will
be continued without interruption, and have the effects proposed:
I hope, however, that if the inhabitants of the two cities should
not think fit to undertake the execution, they will at least accept
the offer of these donations, as a mark of my good will, token of
my gratitude, and testimony of my desire to be useful to them even
after my departure. I wish, indeed, that they may both undertake to
endeavour the execution of my project, because I think, that, though
unforeseen difficulties may arise, expedients will be found to remove
them, and the scheme be found practicable. If one of them accepts the
money with the conditions, and the other refuses, my will then is,
that both sums be given to the inhabitants of the city accepting;
the whole to be applied to the same purposes, and under the same
regulations directed for the separate parts; and, if both refuse, the
money remains of course in the mass of my estate, and it is to be
disposed of therewith, according to my will made the seventeenth day
of July, 1788.
My fine crab-tree walking-stick, with a gold head curiously wrought
in the form of the cap of Liberty, I give to my friend, and the
friend of mankind, General Washington. If it was a sceptre, he has
merited it, and would become it.
FOOTNOTE:
[14] This epitaph first appeared in a Boston news-paper established
and printed by Dr. Franklin. E.
LETTERS AND PAPERS
ON
_ELECTRICITY_.
_It may not be improper to present the reader with the following
extract from the preface to the first edition of Dr. Franklin's
papers on electricity, which, as we have stated in the advertisement,
formed a pamphlet only._
_"The following observations and experiments were not drawn up with a
view to their being made public, but were communicated at different
times, and most of them in letters, written on various topics, as
matters only of private amusement._
_"But some persons, to whom they were read, and who had themselves
been conversant in electrical disquisitions, were of opinion, they
contained so many curious and interesting particulars relative
to this affair, that it would be doing a kind of injustice to
the public, to confine them solely to the limits of a private
acquaintance._
_"The editor was therefore prevailed upon to commit such extracts of
letters and other detached pieces as were in his hands to the press,
without waiting for the ingenious author's permission so to do; and
this was done with the less hesitation, as it was apprehended the
author's engagements in other affairs would scarce afford him leisure
to give the public his reflections and experiments on the subject,
finished with that care and precision, of which the treatise before
us shows he is alike studious and capable."_
_With respect to the general merit and originality of the experiments
and hypothesis of Dr. Franklin, as described and explained in these
letters, the following is the testimony of one of the first natural
philosophers of his age--the late Dr. Priestly, 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 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."_
_LETTERS AND PAPERS_
ON
PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS.
_ELECTRICITY._
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
INTRODUCTORY LETTER.
_Philadelphia, March 28, 1747._
SIR,
Your kind present of an electric tube, with directions for using it,
has put several of us[15] on making electrical experiments, in which
we have observed some particular phenomena that we look upon to be
new. I shall therefore communicate them to you in my next, though
possibly they may not be new to you, as among the numbers daily
employed in those experiments on your side the water, it is probable
some one or other has hit on the same observations. For my own part,
I never was before engaged in any study that so totally engrossed my
attention and my time as this has lately done; for what with making
experiments when I can be alone, and repeating them to my friends and
acquaintance, who, from the novelty of the thing, come continually
in crowds to see them, I have, during some months past, had little
leisure for any thing else.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] i. e. of the _Library-Company_, an institution of the author's,
founded 1730. To which company the present was made[16].
[16] Where notes occur without a signature, in the Philosophical, or
other Papers, they are generally notes of the author.--EDITOR.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Wonderful Effect of Points.--Positive and negative
Electricity.--Electrical Kiss.--Counterfeit Spider.--Simple and
commodious electrical Machine._
_Philadelphia, July 11, 1747._
SIR,
In my last I informed you that, in pursuing our electrical enquiries,
we had observed some particular phenomena, which we looked upon to
be new, and of which I promised to give you some account, though I
apprehended they might not possibly be new to you, as so many hands
are daily employed in electrical experiments on your side the water,
some or other of which would probably hit on the same observations.
The first is the wonderful effect of pointed bodies, both in _drawing
off_ and _throwing off_ the electrical fire. For example,
Place an iron shot of three or four inches diameter on the mouth of
a clean dry glass bottle. By a fine silken thread from the cieling,
right over the mouth of the bottle, suspend a small cork-ball, about
the bigness of a marble; the thread of such a length, as that the
cork-ball may rest against the side of the shot. Electrify the shot,
and the ball will be repelled to the distance of four or five inches,
more or less, according to the quantity of electricity.--When in this
state, if you present to the shot the point of a long, slender, sharp
bodkin, at six or eight inches distance, the repellency is instantly
destroyed, and the cork flies to the shot. A blunt body must be
brought within an inch, and draw a spark to produce the same effect.
To prove that the electrical fire is _drawn off_ by the point, if
you take the blade of the bodkin out of the wooden handle, and fix
it in a stick of sealing-wax, and then present it at the distance
aforesaid, or if you bring it very near, no such effect follows; but
sliding one finger along the wax till you touch the blade, and the
ball flies to the shot immediately.--If you present the point in the
dark, you will see, sometimes at a foot distance and more, a light
gather upon it, like that of a fire-fly, or glow-worm; the less sharp
the point, the nearer you must bring it to observe the light; and at
whatever distance you see the light, you may draw off the electrical
fire, and destroy the repellency.--If a cork-ball so suspended be
repelled by the tube, and a point be presented quick to it, though
at a considerable distance, it is surprising to see how suddenly it
flies back to the tube. Points of wood will do near as well as those
of iron, provided the wood is not dry; for perfectly dry wood will no
more conduct electricity than sealing-wax.
To shew that points will _throw off_[17] as well as _draw off_ the
electrical fire; lay a long sharp needle upon the shot, and you
cannot electrise the shot so as to make it repel the cork-ball.--Or
fix a needle to the end of a suspended gun-barrel, or iron-rod, so as
to point beyond it like a little bayonet[18]; and while it remains
there, the gun-barrel, or rod, cannot by applying the tube to the
other end be electrised so as to give a spark, the fire continually
running out silently at the point. In the dark you may see it make
the same appearance as it does in the case before-mentioned.
The repellency between the cork-ball and the shot is likewise
destroyed. 1. By sifting fine sand on it; this does it gradually.
2. By breathing on it. 3. By making a smoke about it from burning
wood[19]. 4. By candle-light, even though the candle is at a foot
distance: these do it suddenly.--The light of a bright coal from
a wood fire; and the light of a red-hot iron do it likewise; but
not at so great a distance. Smoke from dry rosin dropt on hot iron,
does not destroy the repellency; but is attracted by both shot and
cork-ball, forming proportionable atmospheres round them, making them
look beautifully, somewhat like some of the figures in Burnet's or
Whiston's Theory of the Earth.
_N.B._ This experiment should be made in a closet, where the air is
very still, or it will be apt to fail.
The light of the sun thrown strongly on both cork and shot by
a looking-glass for a long time together, does not impair the
repellency in the least. This difference between fire-light and
sun-light is another thing that seems new and extraordinary to us[20].
We had for some time been of opinion, that the electrical fire was
not created by friction, but collected, being really an element
diffused among, and attracted by other matter, particularly by water
and metals. We had even discovered and demonstrated its afflux to
the electrical sphere, as well as its efflux, by means of little
light windmill-wheels made of stiff paper vanes, fixed obliquely, and
turning freely on fine wire axes.
Also by little wheels of the same matter, but formed like
water-wheels. Of the disposition and application of which wheels,
and the various phenomena resulting, I could, if I had time, fill
you a sheet[21]. The impossibility of electrising one's self (though
standing on wax) by rubbing the tube, and drawing the fire from it;
and the manner of doing it, by passing the tube near a person or
thing standing on the floor, &c. had also occurred to us some months
before Mr. Watson's ingenious _Sequel_ came to hand, and these were
some of the new things I intended to have communicated to you.--But
now I need only mention some particulars not hinted in that piece,
with our reasonings thereupon: though perhaps the latter might well
enough be spared.
1. A person standing on wax, and rubbing the tube, and another person
on wax drawing the fire, they will both of them (provided they do
not stand so as to touch one another) appear to be electrised, to a
person standing on the floor; that is, he will perceive a spark on
approaching each of them with his knuckle.
2. But if the persons on wax touch one another during the exciting of
the tube, neither of them will appear to be electrised.
3. If they touch one another after exciting the tube, and drawing the
fire as aforesaid, there will be a stronger spark between them than
was between either of them and the person on the floor.
4. After such strong spark, neither of them discover any electricity.
These appearances we attempt to account for thus: We suppose, as
aforesaid, that electrical fire is a common element, of which every
one of the three persons abovementioned has his equal share, before
any operation is begun with the tube. _A_, who stands on wax and
rubs the tube, collects the electrical fire from himself into the
glass; and his communication with the common stock being cut off
by the wax, his body is not again immediately supplied. _B_,(who
stands on wax likewise) passing his knuckle along near the tube,
receives the fire which was collected by the glass from _A_; and
his communication with the common stock being likewise cut off, he
retains the additional quantity received.--To _C_, standing on the
floor, both appear to be electrised: for he having only the middle
quantity of electrical fire, receives a spark upon approaching _B_,
who has an over quantity; but gives one to _A_, who has an under
quantity. If _A_ and _B_ approach to touch each other, the spark is
stronger, because the difference between them is greater: After such
touch there is no spark between either of them and _C_, because the
electrical fire in all is reduced to the original equality. If they
touch while electrising, the equality is never destroyed, the fire
only circulating. Hence have arisen some new terms among us; we say
_B_, (and bodies like circumstanced) is electrised _positively_; _A_,
_negatively_. Or rather, _B_ is electrised _plus_; _A_, _minus_. And
we daily in our experiments electrise bodies _plus_ or _minus_, as
we think proper.--To electrise _plus_ or _minus_, no more needs to
be known than this, that the parts of the tube or sphere that are
rubbed, do, in the instant of the friction, attract the electrical
fire, and therefore take it from the thing rubbing: the same parts
immediately, as the friction upon them ceases, are disposed to give
the fire they have received, to any body that has less. Thus you may
circulate it, as Mr. Watson has shewn; you may also accumulate or
subtract it, upon, or from any body, as you connect that body with
the rubber or with the receiver, the communication with the common
stock being cut off. We think that ingenious gentleman was deceived
when he imagined (in his _Sequel_) that the electrical fire came down
the wire from the cieling to the gun-barrel, thence to the sphere,
and so electrised the machine and the man turning the wheel, &c. We
suppose it was _driven off_, and not brought on through that wire;
and that the machine and man, &c. were electrised _minus_; _i. e._
had less electrical fire in them than things in common.
As the vessel is just upon sailing, I cannot give you so large an
account of American electricity as I intended: I shall only mention
a few particulars more.--We find granulated lead better to fill the
phial with, than water, being easily warmed, and keeping warm and
dry in damp air.--We fire spirits with the wire of the phial.--We
light candles, just blown out, by drawing a spark among the smoke
between the wire and snuffers.--We represent lightning, by passing
the wire in the dark, over a china plate that has gilt flowers, or
applying it to gilt frames of looking-glasses, &c.--We electrise a
person twenty or more times running, with a touch of the finger on
the wire, thus: He stands on wax. Give him the electrised bottle in
his hand. Touch the wire with your finger, and then touch his hand
or face; there are sparks every time[22].--We encrease the force of
the electrical kiss vastly, thus: Let _A_ and _B_ stand on wax; or
_A_ on wax, and _B_ on the floor; give one of them the electrised
phial in hand; let the other take hold of the wire; there will be
a small spark; but when their lips approach, they will be struck
and shock'd. The same if another gentleman and lady, _C_ and _D_,
standing also on wax, and joining hands with _A_ and _B_, salute or
shake hands. We suspend by fine silk thread a counterfeit spider,
made of a small piece of burnt cork, with legs of linnen thread, and
a grain or two of lead stuck in him, to give him more weight. Upon
the table, over which he hangs, we stick a wire upright, as high as
the phial and wire, four or five inches from the spider: then we
animate him, by setting the electrified phial at the same distance
on the other side of him; he will immediately fly to the wire of
the phial, bend his legs in touching it, then spring off, and fly
to the wire in the table, thence again to the wire of the phial,
playing with his legs against both, in a very entertaining manner,
appearing perfectly alive to persons unacquainted. He will continue
this motion an hour or more in dry weather.--We electrify, upon wax
in the dark, a book that has a double line of gold round upon the
covers, and then apply a knuckle to the gilding; the fire appears
every where upon the gold like a flash of lightning: not upon the
leather, nor, if you touch the leather instead of the gold. We rub
our tubes with buckskin, and observe always to keep the same side to
the tube, and never to sully the tube by handling; thus they work
readily and easily, without the least fatigue, especially if kept in
tight pasteboard cases, lined with flannel, and sitting close to the
tube[23]. This I mention, because the European papers on electricity
frequently speak of rubbing the tube as a fatiguing exercise. Our
spheres are fixed on iron axes, which pass through them. At one end
of the axis there is a small handle, with which you turn the sphere
like a common grind-stone. This we find very commodious, as the
machine takes up but little room, is portable, and may be enclosed in
a tight box, when not in use. It is true, the sphere does not turn
so swift as when the great wheel is used: but swiftness we think
of little importance, since a few turns will charge the phial, &c.
sufficiently[24].
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] This power of points to _throw off_ the electrical fire, was
first communicated to me by my ingenious friend Mr. Thomas Hopkinson,
since deceased, whose virtue and integrity, in every station of life,
public and private, will ever make his memory dear to those who knew
him, and knew how to value him.
[18] This was Mr. Hopkinson's experiment, made with an expectation
of drawing a more sharp and powerful spark from the point, as from a
kind of focus, and he was surprised to find little or none.
[19] We suppose every particle of sand, moisture, or smoke, being
first attracted and then repelled, carries off with it a portion
of the electrical fire; but that the same still subsists in those
particles, till they communicate it to something else, and that it is
never really destroyed. So when water is thrown on common fire, we do
not imagine the element is thereby destroyed or annihilated, but only
dispersed, each particle of water carrying off in vapour its portion
of the fire, which it had attracted and attached to itself.
[20] This different effect probably did not arise from any difference
in the light, but rather from the particles separated from the
candle, being first attracted and then repelled, carrying off the
electric matter with them; and from the rarefying the air, between
the glowing coal or red-hot iron, and the electrised shot, through
which rarefied air the electric fluid could more readily pass.
[21] These experiments with the wheels, were made and communicated
to me by my worthy and ingenious friend Mr. Philip Syng; but we
afterwards discovered that the motion of those wheels was not owing
to any afflux or efflux of the electric fluid, but to various
circumstances of attraction and repulsion. 1750.
[22] By taking a spark from the wire, the electricity within the
bottle is diminished; the outside of the bottle then draws some from
the person holding it, and leaves him in the negative state. Then
when his hand or face is touched, an equal quantity is restored to
him from the person touching.
[23] Our tubes are made here of green glass, 27 or 30 inches long, as
big as can be grasped.
[24] This simple easily-made machine was a contrivance of Mr. Syng's.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Observations on the Leyden Bottle, with Experiments proving the
different electrical State of its different Surfaces._
_Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1747._
SIR,
The necessary trouble of copying long letters, which, perhaps, when
they come to your hands, may contain nothing new, or worth your
reading, (so quick is the progress made with you in electricity) half
discourages me from writing any more on that subject. Yet I cannot
forbear adding a few observations on M. Muschenbroek's wonderful
bottle.
1. The non-electric contained in the bottle differs, when electrised,
from a non-electric electrised out of the bottle, in this: that the
electrical fire of the latter is accumulated _on its surface_, and
forms an electrical atmosphere round it of considerable extent; but
the electrical fire is crowded _into the substance_ of the former,
the glass confining it[25].
2. At the same time that the wire and the top of the bottle, &c.
is electrised _positively_ or _plus_, the bottom of the bottle is
electrised _negatively_ or _minus_, in exact proportion: _i. e._
whatever quantity of electrical fire is thrown in at the top, an
equal quantity goes out of the bottom[26]. To understand this,
suppose the common quantity of electricity in each part of the
bottle, before the operation begins, is equal to 20; and at every
stroke of the tube, suppose a quantity equal to 1 is thrown in; then,
after the first stroke, the quantity contained in the wire and upper
part of the bottle will be 21, in the bottom 19. After the second,
the upper part will have 22, the lower 18, and so on, till, after 20
strokes, the upper part will have a quantity of electrical fire equal
to 40, the lower part none: and then the operation ends: for no more
can be thrown into the upper part, when no more can be driven out of
the lower part. If you attempt to throw more in, it is spewed back
through the wire, or flies out in loud cracks through the sides of
the bottle.
3. The equilibrium cannot be restored in the bottle by _inward_
communication or contact of the parts; but it must be done by a
communication formed _without_ the bottle, between the top and
bottom, by some non-electric, touching or approaching both at the
same time; in which case it is restored with a violence and quickness
inexpressible; or, touching each alternately, in which case the
equilibrium is restored by degrees.
4. As no more electrical fire can be thrown into the top of the
bottle, when all is driven out of the bottom, so in a bottle not
yet electrised, none can be thrown into the top, when none _can_
get out at the bottom; which happens either when the bottom is too
thick, or when the bottle is placed on an electric _per se_. Again,
when the bottle is electrised, but little of the electrical fire can
be _drawn out_ from the top, by touching the wire, unless an equal
quantity can at the same time _get in_ at the bottom[27]. Thus, place
an electrised bottle on clean glass or dry wax, and you will not,
by touching the wire, get out the fire from the top. Place it on a
non-electric, and touch the wire, you will get it out in a short
time; but soonest when you form a direct communication as above.
So wonderfully are these two states of electricity, the _plus_ and
_minus_, combined and balanced in this miraculous bottle! situated
and related to each other in a manner that I can by no means
comprehend! If it were possible that a bottle should in one part
contain a quantity of air strongly comprest, and in another part a
perfect vacuum, we know the equilibrium would be instantly restored
_within_. But here we have a bottle containing at the same time
a _plenum_ of electrical fire, and a _vacuum_ of the same fire;
and yet the equilibrium cannot be restored between them but by a
communication _without!_ though the _plenum_ presses violently to
expand, and the hungry vacuum seems to attract as violently in order
to be filled.
5. The shock to the nerves (or convulsion rather) is occasioned by
the sudden passing of the fire through the body in its way from the
top to the bottom of the bottle. The fire takes the shortest[28]
course, as Mr. Watson justly observes: But it does not appear from
experiment that in order for a person to be shocked, a communication
with the floor is necessary: for he that holds the bottle with one
hand, and touches the wire with the other, will be shocked as much,
though his shoes be dry, or even standing on wax, as otherwise. And
on the touch of the wire, (or of the gun-barrel, which is the same
thing) the fire does not proceed from the touching finger to the
wire, as is supposed, but from the wire to the finger, and passes
through the body to the other hand, and so into the bottom of the
bottle.
_Experiments confirming the above._
EXPERIMENT I.
Place an electrised phial on wax; a small cork-ball suspended by a
dry silk thread held in your hand, and brought near to the wire,
will first be attracted, and then repelled: when in this state of
repellency, sink your hand, that the ball may be brought towards
the bottom of the bottle; it will be there instantly and strongly
attracted, till it has parted with its fire.
If the bottle had a _positive_ electrical atmosphere, as well as the
wire, an electrified cork would be repelled from one as well as from
the other.
[Illustration: (of the experiments below)
_Plate I._ _Vol. I. page 182._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
EXPERIMENT II.
FIG. 1. From a bent wire (_a_) sticking in the table, let a small
linen thread (_b_) hang down within half an inch of the electrised
phial (_c_). Touch the wire or the phial repeatedly with your finger,
and at every touch you will see the thread instantly attracted by
the bottle. (This is best done by a vinegar cruet, or some such
bellied-bottle). As soon as you draw any fire out from the upper
part, by touching the wire, the lower part of the bottle draws an
equal quantity in by the thread.
EXPERIMENT III.
FIG. 2. Fix a wire in the lead, with which the bottom of the bottle
is armed (_d_) so as that bending upwards, its ring-end may be level
with the top or ring-end of the wire in the cork (_e_) and at three
or four inches distance. Then electrise the bottle, and place it on
wax. If a cork suspended by a silk thread (_f_) hang between these
two wires, it will play incessantly from one to the other, till the
bottle is no longer electrised; that is, it fetches and carries fire
from the top to the bottom[29] of the bottle, till the equilibrium is
restored.
EXPERIMENT IV.
FIG. 3. Place an electrised phial on wax; take a wire (_g_) in
form of a _C_, the ends at such a distance when bent, as that the
upper may touch the wire of the bottle, when the lower touches the
bottom: stick the outer part on a stick of sealing-wax (_h_), which
will serve as a handle; then apply the lower end to the bottom of
the bottle, and gradually bring the upper end near the wire in the
cork. The consequence is, spark follows spark till the equilibrium
is restored. Touch the top first, and on approaching the bottom,
with the other end, you have a constant stream of fire from the wire
entering the bottle. Touch the top and bottom together, and the
equilibrium will instantly be restored, the crooked wire forming the
communication.
EXPERIMENT V.
FIG. 4. Let a ring of thin lead, or paper, surround a bottle (_i_)
even at some distance from or above the bottom. From that ring let a
wire proceed up, till it touch the wire of the cork (_k_). A bottle
so fixt cannot by any means be electrised: the equilibrium is never
destroyed: for while the communication between the upper and lower
parts of the bottle is continued by the outside wire, the fire only
circulates: what is driven out at bottom, is constantly supplied
from the top[30]. Hence a bottle cannot be electrised that is foul
or moist on the outside, if such moisture continue up to the cork or
wire.
EXPERIMENT VI.
Place a man on a cake of wax, and present him the wire of the
electrified phial to touch, you standing on the floor, and holding
it in your hand. As often as he touches it, he will be electrified
_plus_; and any one standing on the floor may draw a spark from him.
The fire in this experiment passes out of the wire into him; and at
the same time out of your hand into the bottom of the bottle.
EXPERIMENT VII.
Give him the electrical phial to hold; and do you touch the wire; as
often as you touch it he will be electrified _minus_, and may draw a
spark from any one standing on the floor. The fire now passes from
the wire to you, and from him into the bottom of the bottle.
EXPERIMENT VIII.
Lay two books on two glasses, back towards back, two or three inches
distant. Set the electrified phial on one, and then touch the wire;
that book will be electrified _minus_; the electrical fire being
drawn out of it by the bottom of the bottle. Take off the bottle, and
holding it in your hand, touch the other with the wire; that book
will be electrified _plus_; the fire passing into it from the wire,
and the bottle at the same time supplied from your hand. A suspended
small cork-ball will play between these books till the equilibrium is
restored.
EXPERIMENT IX.
When a body is electrised _plus_, it will repel a positively
electrified feather or small cork-ball. When _minus_ (or when in the
common state) it will attract them, but stronger when _minus_ than
when in the common state, the difference being greater.
EXPERIMENT X.
Though, as in _Experiment_ VI, a man standing on wax may be
electrised a number of times by repeatedly touching the wire of an
electrised bottle (held in the hand of one standing on the floor)
he receiving the fire from the wire each time: yet holding it in his
own hand, and touching the wire, though he draws a strong spark, and
is violently shocked, no electricity remains in him; the fire only
passing through him, from the upper to the lower part of the bottle.
Observe, before the shock, to let some one on the floor touch him to
restore the equilibrium in his body; for in taking hold of the bottom
of the bottle, he sometimes becomes a little electrised _minus_,
which will continue after the shock, as would also any _plus_
electricity, which he might have given him before the shock. For
restoring the equilibrium in the bottle, does not at all affect the
electricity in the man through whom the fire passes; that electricity
is neither increased nor diminished.
EXPERIMENT XI.
The passing of the electrical fire from the upper to the lower
part[31] of the bottle, to restore the equilibrium, is rendered
strongly visible by the following pretty experiment. Take a book
whose covering is filletted with gold; bend a wire of eight or ten
inches long, in the form of (_m_) Fig. 5; slip it on the end of
the cover of the book, over the gold line, so as that the shoulder
of it may press upon one end of the gold line, the ring up, but
leaning towards the other end of the book. Lay the book on a glass
or wax[32], and on the other end of the gold lines set the bottle
electrised; then bend the springing wire, by pressing it with a
stick of wax till its ring approaches the ring of the bottle wire,
instantly there is a strong spark and stroke, and the whole line
of gold, which completes the communication, between the top and
bottom of the bottle, will appear a vivid flame, like the sharpest
lightning. The closer the contact between the shoulder of the wire,
and the gold at one end of the line, and between the bottom of the
bottle and the gold at the other end, the better the experiment
succeeds. The room should be darkened. If you would have the whole
filletting round the cover appear in fire at once, let the bottle and
wire touch the gold in the diagonally opposite corners.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] See this opinion rectified in § 16 and 17 of the next letter.
The fire in the bottle was found by subsequent experiments not to be
contained in the non-electric, but _in the glass_. 1748.
[26] What is said here, and after, of the _top_ and _bottom_ of the
bottle, is true of the _inside_ and _outside_ surfaces, and should
have been so expressed.
[27] See the preceding note, relating to _top_ and _bottom_.
[28] Other circumstances being equal.
[29] _i. e._ from the inside to the outside.
[30] See the preceding note, relating to _top_ and _bottom_.
[31] _i. e._ From the _inside_ to the _outside_.
[32] Placing the book on glass or wax is not necessary to produce the
appearance; it is only to show that the visible electricity is not
brought up from the common stock in the earth.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Farther Experiments confirming the preceding Observations.--Leyden
Bottle analysed.--Electrical Battery.--Magical Picture.--Electrical
Wheel or Jack.--Electrical Feast._
_Philadelphia, 1748._
SIR,
§ 1. There will be the same explosion and shock if the electrified
phial is held in one hand by the hook, and the coating touched with
the other, as when held by the coating, and touched at the hook.
2. To take the charged phial safely by the hook, and not at the same
time diminish its force, it must first be set down on an electric
_per se_.
3. The phial will be electrified as strongly, if held by the hook,
and the coating applied to the globe or tube; as when held by the
coating, and the hook applied[33].
4. But the _direction_ of the electrical fire being different in the
charging, will also be different in the explosion. The bottle charged
through the hook, will be discharged through the hook; the bottle
charged through the coating, will be discharged through the coating,
and not otherways; for the fire must come out the same way it went in.
5. To prove this, take two bottles that were equally charged through
the hooks, one in each hand: bring their hooks near each other, and
no spark or shock will follow; because each hook is disposed to
give fire, and neither to receive it. Set one of the bottles down
on glass, take it up by the hook, and apply its coating to the hook
of the other; then there will be an explosion and shock, and both
bottles will be discharged.
6. Vary the experiment, by charging two phials equally, one through
the hook, the other through the coating: hold that by the coating
which was charged through the hook; and that by the hook which was
charged through the coating: apply the hook of the first to the
coating of the other, and there will be no shock or spark. Set that
down on glass which you held by the hook, take it up by the coating,
and bring the two hooks together: a spark and shock will follow, and
both phials be discharged.
In this experiment the bottles are totally discharged, or the
equilibrium within them restored. The _abounding_ of fire in one of
the hooks (or rather in the internal surface of one bottle) being
exactly equal to the _wanting_ of the other: and therefore, as each
bottle has in itself the _abounding_ as well as the _wanting_,
the wanting and abounding must be equal in each bottle. See § 8,
9, 10, 11. But if a man holds in his hands two bottles, one fully
electrified, the other not at all, and brings their hooks together,
he has but half a shock, and the bottles will both remain half
electrified, the one being half discharged, and the other half
charged.
7. Place two phials equally charged on a table at five or six inches
distance. Let a cork-ball, suspended by a silk thread, hang between
them. If the phials were both charged through their hooks, the
cork, when it has been attracted and repelled by the one, will not
be attracted, but equally repelled by the other. But if the phials
were charged, the one through the hook, and the other[34] through
the coating, the ball, when it is repelled from one hook, will be as
strongly attracted by the other, and play vigorously between them,
fetching the electric fluid from the one, and delivering it to the
other, till both phials are nearly discharged.
8. When we use the terms of _charging_ and _discharging_ the phial,
it is in compliance with custom, and for want of others more
suitable. Since we are of opinion that there is really no more
electrical fire in the phial after what is called its _charging_,
than before, nor less after its _discharging_; excepting only the
small spark that might be given to, and taken from the non-electric
matter, if separated from the bottle, which spark may not be equal to
a five hundredth part of what is called the explosion.
For if, on the explosion, the electrical fire came out of the bottle
by one part, and did not enter in again by another, then, if a man,
standing on wax, and holding the bottle in one hand, takes the spark
by touching the wire hook with the other, the bottle being thereby
_discharged_, the man would be _charged_; or whatever fire was lost
by one, would be found in the other, since there was no way for its
escape: but the contrary is true.
9. Besides, the phial will not suffer what is called a _charging_,
unless as much fire can go out of it one way, as is thrown in by
another. A phial cannot be charged standing on wax or glass, or
hanging on the prime conductor, unless a communication be formed
between its coating and the floor.
10. But suspend two or more phials on the prime conductor, one
hanging on the tail of the other; and a wire from the last to the
floor, an equal number of turns of the wheel shall charge them all
equally, and every one as much as one alone would have been. What is
driven out at the tail of the first, serving to charge the second;
what is driven out of the second charging the third; and so on. By
this means a great number of bottles might be charged with the same
labour, and equally high, with one alone; were it not that every
bottle receives new fire, and loses its old with some reluctance, or
rather gives some small resistance to the charging, which in a number
of bottles becomes more equal to the charging power, and so repels
the fire back again on the globe, sooner in proportion than a single
bottle would do.
11. When a bottle is charged in the common way, its _inside_ and
_outside_ surfaces stand ready, the one to give fire by the hook,
the other to receive it by the coating; the one is full, and ready
to throw out, the other empty and extremely hungry; yet as the
first will not _give out_, unless the other can at the same instant
_receive in_; so neither will the latter receive in, unless the first
can at the same instant give out. When both can be done at once, it
is done with inconceivable quickness and violence.
12. So a straight spring (though the comparison does not agree in
every particular) when forcibly bent, must, to restore itself,
contract that side which in the bending was extended, and extend that
which was contracted; if either of these two operations be hindered,
the other cannot be done. But the spring is not said to be _charged_
with elasticity when bent, and discharged when unbent; its quantity
of elasticity is always the same.
13. Glass, in like manner, has, within its substance, always the
same quantity of electrical fire, and that a very great quantity in
proportion to the mass of glass, as shall be shewn hereafter.
14. This quantity, proportioned to the glass, it strongly and
obstinately retains, and will have neither more nor less, though it
will suffer a change to be made in its parts and situation; _i. e._
we may take away part of it from one of the sides, provided we throw
an equal quantity into the other.
15. Yet when the situation of the electrical fire is thus altered in
the glass; when some has been taken from one side, and some added to
the other, it will not be at rest or in its natural state, till it
is restored to its original equality. And this restitution cannot
be made through the substance of the glass, but must be done by a
non-electric communication formed without, from surface to surface.
16. Thus, the whole force of the bottle, and power of giving a
shock, is in the GLASS ITSELF; the non-electrics in contact with the
two surfaces, serving only to _give_ and _receive_ to and from the
several parts of the glass; that is, to give on one side, and take
away from the other.
17. This was discovered here in the following manner: Purposing to
analyse the electrified bottle, in order to find wherein its strength
lay, we placed it on glass, and drew out the cork and wire which
for that purpose had been loosely put in. Then taking the bottle
in one hand, and bringing a finger of the other near its mouth, a
strong spark came from the water, and the shock was as violent as
if the wire had remained in it, which shewed that the force did not
lie in the wire. Then to find if it resided in the water, being
crowded into and condensed in it, as confined by the glass, which
had been our former opinion, we electrified the bottle again, and
placing it on glass, drew out the wire and cork as before; then
taking up the bottle, we decanted all its water into an empty bottle,
which likewise stood on glass; and taking up that other bottle, we
expected, if the force resided in the water, to find a shock from
it; but there was none. We judged then that it must either be lost
in decanting, or remain in the first bottle. The latter we found to
be true; for that bottle on trial gave the shock, though filled up
as it stood with fresh unelectrified water from a tea-pot.--To find,
then, whether glass had this property merely as glass, or whether
the form contributed any thing to it; we took a pane of sash-glass,
and laying it on the hand, placed a plate of lead on its upper
surface; then electrified that plate, and bringing a finger to it,
there was a spark and shock. We then took two plates of lead of equal
dimensions, but less than the glass by two inches every way, and
electrified the glass between them, by electrifying the uppermost
lead; then separated the glass from the lead, in doing which, what
little fire might be in the lead was taken out, and the glass being
touched in the electrified parts with a finger, afforded only very
small pricking sparks, but a great number of them might be taken from
different places. Then dextrously placing it again between the leaden
plates, and compleating a circle between the two surfaces, a violent
shock ensued.--Which demonstrated the power to reside in glass as
glass, and that the non-electrics in contact served only, like the
armature of a loadstone, to unite the force of the several parts, and
bring them at once to any point desired: it being the property of a
non-electric, that the whole body instantly receives or gives what
electrical fire is given to or taken from any one of its parts.
18. Upon this we made what we called an _electrical-battery_,
consisting of eleven panes of large sash-glass, armed with thin
leaden plates, pasted on each side, placed vertically, and supported
at two inches distance on silk cords, with thick hooks of leaden
wire, one from each side, standing upright, distant from each other,
and convenient communications of wire and chain, from the giving
side of one pane, to the receiving side of the other; that so the
whole might be charged together, and with the same labour as one
single pane; and another contrivance to bring the giving sides,
after charging, in contact with one long wire, and the receivers
with another, which two long wires would give the force of all the
plates of glass at once through the body of any animal forming the
circle with them. The plates may also be discharged separately, or
any number together that is required. But this machine is not much
used, as not perfectly answering our intention with regard to the
ease of charging, for the reason given, _Sec. 10._ We made also of
large glass panes, magical pictures, and self-moving animated wheels,
presently to be described.
19. I perceive by the ingenious Mr. Watson's last book, lately
received, that Dr. Bevis had used, before we had, panes of glass to
give a shock[35]; though, till that book came to hand, I thought to
have communicated it to you as a novelty. The excuse for mentioning
it here is, that we tried the experiment differently, drew different
consequences from it (for Mr. Watson still seems to think the fire
_accumulated on the non-electric_ that is in contact with the glass,
p. 72) and, as far as we hitherto know, have carried it farther.
20. The magical picture[36] is made thus. Having a large metzotinto
with a frame and glass, suppose of the KING (God preserve him) take
out the print, and cut a pannel out of it near two inches distant
from the frame all round. If the cut is through the picture it is not
the worse. With thin paste, or gum-water, fix the border that is cut
off on the inside the glass, pressing it smooth and close; then fill
up the vacancy by gilding the glass well with leaf-gold, or brass.
Gild likewise the inner edge of the back of the frame all round,
except the top part, and form a communication between that gilding
and the gilding behind the glass: then put in the board, and that
side is finished. Turn up the glass, and gild the fore side exactly
over the back gilding, and when it is dry, cover it, by pasting on
the pannel of the picture that hath been cut out, observing to bring
the correspondent parts of the border and picture together, by which
the picture will appear of a piece, as at first, only part is behind
the glass, and part before. Hold the picture horizontally by the
top, and place a little moveable gilt crown on the king's head. If
now the picture be moderately electrified, and another person take
hold of the frame with one hand, so that his fingers touch its inside
gilding, and with the other hand endeavour to take off the crown, he
will receive a terrible blow, and fail in the attempt. If the picture
were highly charged, the consequence might perhaps be as fatal[37] as
that of high treason, for when the spark is taken through a quire of
paper laid on the picture by means of a wire communication, it makes
a fair hole through every sheet, that is, through forty-eight leaves,
though a quire of paper is thought good armour against the push of
a sword, or even against a pistol bullet, and the crack is exceeding
loud. The operator, who holds the picture by the upper end, where
the inside of the frame is not gilt, to prevent its falling, feels
nothing of the shock, and may touch the face of the picture without
danger, which he pretends is a test of his loyalty.--If a ring of
persons take the shock among them, the experiment is called, _The
Conspirators_.
21. On the principle, in _Sec. 7_, that hooks of bottles, differently
charged, will attract and repel differently, is made an electrical
wheel, that turns with considerable strength. A small upright shaft
of wood passes at right angles through a thin round board, of about
twelve inches diameter, and turns on a sharp point of iron, fixed
in the lower end, while a strong wire in the upper end, passing
through a small hole in a thin brass plate, keeps the shaft truly
vertical. About thirty _radii_ of equal length, made of sash-glass,
cut in narrow strips, issue horizontally from the circumference of
the board, the ends most distant from the centre, being about four
inches apart. On the end of every one, a brass thimble is fixed. If
now the wire of a bottle electrified in the common way, be brought
near the circumference of this wheel, it will attract the nearest
thimble, and so put the wheel in motion; that thimble, in passing
by, receives a spark and thereby being electrified is repelled, and
so driven forwards; while a second being attracted, approaches the
wire, receives a spark, and is driven after the first, and so on till
the wheel has gone once round, when the thimbles before electrified
approaching the wire, instead of being attracted as they were at
first, are repelled, and the motion presently ceases.--But if
another bottle, which had been charged through the coating, be placed
near the same wheel, its wire will attract the thimble repelled by
the first, and thereby double the force that carries the wheel round;
and not only taking out the fire that had been communicated to the
thimbles by the first bottle, but even robbing them of their natural
quantity, instead of being repelled when they come again towards the
first bottle, they are more strongly attracted, so that the wheel
mends its pace, till it goes with great rapidity twelve or fifteen
rounds in a minute, and with such strength, as that the weight of one
hundred Spanish dollars with which we once loaded it, did not seem in
the least to retard its motion.--This is called an electrical jack;
and if a large fowl were spitted on the upright shaft, it would be
carried round before a fire with a motion fit for roasting.
22. But this wheel, like those driven by wind, water, or weights,
moves by a foreign force, to wit, that of the bottles. The
self-moving wheel, though constructed on the same principles, appears
more surprising. It is made of a thin round plate of window-glass,
seventeen inches diameter, well gilt on both sides, all but two
inches next the edge. Two small hemispheres of wood are then fixed
with cement to the middle of the upper and under sides, centrally
opposite, and in each of them a thick strong wire eight or ten
inches long, which together make the axis of the wheel. It turns
horizontally on a point at the lower end of its axis, which rests on
a bit of brass cemented within a glass salt-cellar. The upper end
of its axis passes through a hole in a thin brass plate cemented to
a long strong piece of glass, which keeps it six or eight inches
distant from any non-electric, and has a small ball of wax or metal
on its top, to keep in the fire. In a circle on the table which
supports the wheel, are fixed twelve small pillars of glass, at
about four inches distance, with a thimble on the top of each. On
the edge of the wheel is a small leaden bullet, communicating by
a wire with the gilding of the _upper_ surface of the wheel; and
about six inches from it is another bullet, communicating in like
manner with the _under_ surface. When the wheel is to be charged
by the upper surface, a communication must be made from the under
surface to the table. When it is well charged it begins to move; the
bullet nearest to a pillar moves towards the thimble on that pillar,
and passing by electrifies it, and then pushes itself from it; the
succeeding bullet, which communicates with the other surface of the
glass, more strongly attracts that thimble, on account of its being
before electrified by the other bullet; and thus the wheel encreases
its motion till it comes to such a height as that the resistance of
the air regulates it. It will go half an hour, and make one minute
with another twenty turns in a minute, which is six hundred turns
in the whole; the bullet of the upper surface giving in each turn
twelve sparks to the thimbles, which makes seven thousand two hundred
sparks: and the bullet of the under surface receiving as many from
the thimbles; those bullets moving in the time near two thousand five
hundred feet.--The thimbles are well fixed, and in so exact a circle,
that the bullets may pass within a very small distance of each of
them.--If instead of two bullets you put eight, four communicating
with the upper surface, and four with the under surface, placed
alternately, which eight, at about six inches distance, completes the
circumference, the force and swiftness will be greatly increased, the
wheel making fifty turns in a minute; but then it will not continue
moving so long.--These wheels may be applied, perhaps, to the ringing
of chimes,[38] and moving of light-made orreries.
23. A small wire bent circularly, with a loop at each end; let one
end rest against the under surface of the wheel, and bring the other
end near the upper surface, it will give a terrible crack, and the
force will be discharged.
24. Every spark in that manner drawn from the surface of the wheel,
makes a round hole in the gilding, tearing off a part of it in coming
out; which shews that the fire is not accumulated on the gilding, but
is in the glass itself.
25. The gilding being varnished over with turpentine varnish, the
varnish, though dry and hard, is burnt by the spark drawn through
it, and gives a strong smell and visible smoke. And when the spark
is drawn thro' paper, all round the hole made by it, the paper will
be blacked by the smoke, which sometimes penetrates several of the
leaves. Part of the gilding torn off is also found forcibly driven
into the hole made in the paper by the stroke.
26. It is amazing to observe in how small a portion of glass a
great electrical force may lie. A thin glass bubble, about an inch
diameter, weighing only six grains, being half filled with water,
partly gilt on the outside, and furnished with a wire hook, gives,
when electrified, as great a shock as a man can well bear. As the
glass is thickest near the orifice, I suppose the lower half, which
being gilt was electrified and gave the shock, did not exceed two
grains; for it appeared, when broken, much thinner than the upper
half.--If one of these thin bottles be electrified by the coating,
and the spark taken out through the gilding, it will break the glass
inwards, at the same time that it breaks the gilding outwards.
27. And allowing (for the reasons before given, § 8, 9, 10,) that
there is no more electrical fire in a bottle after charging, than
before, how great must be the quantity in this small portion of
glass! It seems as if it were of its very substance and essence.
Perhaps if that due quantity of electrical fire so obstinately
retained by glass, could be separated from it, it would no longer
be glass; it might lose its transparency, or its brittleness, or
its elasticity.--Experiments may possibly be invented hereafter, to
discover this.
27. We were surprised at the account given in Mr. Watson's book, of a
shock communicated through a great space of dry ground, and suspect
there must be some metalline quality in the gravel of that ground;
having found that simple dry earth, rammed in a glass tube, open at
both ends, and a wire hook inserted in the earth at each end, the
earth and wires making part of a circuit, would not conduct the least
perceptible shock, and indeed when one wire was electrified the other
hardly shewed any signs of its being in connection with it[39]. Even
a thoroughly wet packthread sometimes fails of conducting a shock,
though it otherwise conducts electricity very well. A dry cake of
ice, or an icicle held between two in a circle, likewise prevents the
shock, which one would not expect, as water conducts it so perfectly
well.--Gilding on a new book, though at first it conducts the shock
extremely well, yet fails after ten or a dozen experiments, though it
appears otherwise in all respects the same, which we cannot account
for[40].
28. There is one experiment more which surprises us, and is not
hitherto satisfactorily accounted for; it is this: Place an iron
shot on a glass stand, and let a ball of damp cork, suspended by a
silk thread, hang in contact with the shot. Take a bottle in each
hand, one that is electrified through the hook, the other through
the coating: Apply the giving wire to the shot, which will electrify
it _positively_, and the cork shall be repelled: then apply the
requiring wire, which will take out the spark given by the other;
when the cork will return to the shot: Apply the same again, and take
out another spark, so will the shot be electrified _negatively_,
and the cork in that case shall be repelled equally as before. Then
apply the giving wire to the shot, and give the spark it wanted, so
will the cork return: Give it another, which will be an addition to
its natural quantity, so will the cork be repelled again: And so
may the experiment be repeated as long as there is any charge in
the bottles. Which shews that bodies, having less than the common
quantity of electricity, repel each other, as well as those that have
more.
Chagrined a little that we have been hitherto able to produce nothing
in this way of use to mankind; and the hot weather coming on, when
electrical experiments are not so agreeable, it is proposed to put
an end to them for this season, somewhat humorously, in a party of
pleasure, on the banks of _Skuylkil_[41]. Spirits, at the same time,
are to be fired by a spark sent from side to side through the river,
without any other conductor than the water; an experiment which we
some time since performed, to the amazement of many[42].
A turkey is to be killed for our dinner by the _electrical shock_,
and roasted by the _electrical jack_, before a fire kindled by
the _electrified bottle_: when the healths of all the famous
electricians in England, Holland, France, and Germany are to be drank
in _electrified bumpers_[43], under the discharge of guns from the
_electrical battery_.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] This was a discovery of the very ingenious Mr. Kinnersley, and
by him communicated to me.
[34] To charge a bottle commodiously through the coating, place it on
a glass stand; form a communication from the prime conductor to the
coating, and another from the hook to the wall or floor. When it is
charged, remove the latter communication before you take hold of the
bottle, otherwise great part of the fire will escape by it.
[35] I have since heard that Mr. Smeaton was the first who made use
of panes of glass for that purpose.
[36] Contrived by Mr. Kinnersley.
[37] We have since found it fatal to small animals, though not to
large ones. The biggest we have yet killed is a hen. 1750.
[38] This was afterwards done with success by Mr. Kinnersley.
[39] Probably the ground is never so dry.
[40] We afterwards found that it failed after one stroke with a large
bottle; and the continuity of the gold appearing broken, and many of
its parts dissipated, the electricity could not pass the remaining
parts without leaping from part to part through the air, which always
resists the motion of this fluid, and was probably the cause of the
gold's not conducting so well as before; the number of interruptions
in the line of gold, making, when added together, a space larger,
perhaps, than the striking distance.
[41] The river that washes one side of Philadelphia, as the Delaware
does the other; both are ornamented with the summer habitations of
the citizens, and the agreeable mansions of the principal people of
this colony.
[42] As the possibility of this experiment has not been easily
conceived, I shall here describe it.--Two iron rods, about three
feet long, were planted just within the margin of the river, on the
opposite sides. A thick piece of wire, with a small round knob at
its end, was fixed on the top of one of the rods, bending downwards,
so as to deliver commodiously the spark upon the surface of the
spirit. A small wire fastened by one end to the handle of the spoon,
containing the spirit, was carried a-cross the river, and supported
in the air by the rope commonly used to hold by, in drawing the
ferry-boats over. The other end of this wire was tied round the
coating of the bottle; which being charged, the spark was delivered
from the hook to the top of the rod standing in the water on that
side. At the same instant the rod on the other side delivered a spark
into the spoon, and fired the spirit; the electric fire returning to
the coating of the bottle, through the handle of the spoon and the
supported wire connected with them.
That the electric fire thus actually passes through the water, has
since been satisfactorily demonstrated to many by an experiment of
Mr. Kinnersley's, performed in a trough of water about ten feet long.
The hand being placed under water in the direction of the spark
(which always takes the strait or shortest course, if sufficient, and
other circumstances are equal) is struck and penetrated by it as it
passes.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Observations and Suppositions, towards forming a new Hypothesis,
for explaining the several Phenomena of Thunder-Gusts._[44]
SIR,
Non-electric bodies, that have electric fire thrown into them, will
retain it till other electrics, that have less, approach; and then it
is communicated by a snap, and becomes equally divided.
2. Electrical fire loves water, is strongly attracted by it, and they
can subsist together.
3. Air is an electric _per se_, and when dry will not conduct the
electrical fire; it will neither receive it, nor give it to other
bodies: otherwise no body surrounded by air, could be electrified
positively and negatively: for should it be attempted positively, the
air would immediately take away the overplus; or negatively, the air
would supply what was wanting.
4. Water being electrified, the vapours arising from it will be
equally electrified; and floating in the air, in the form of clouds,
or otherwise, will retain that quantity of electrical fire, till they
meet with other clouds or bodies not so much electrified, and then
will communicate as before-mentioned.
5. Every particle of matter electrified is repelled by every other
particle equally electrified. Thus the stream of a fountain,
naturally dense and continual, when electrified, will separate and
spread in the form of a brush, every drop endeavouring to recede from
every other drop. But on taking out the electrical fire they close
again.
6. Water being strongly electrified (as well as when heated by common
fire) rises in vapours more copiously; the attraction of cohesion
among its particles being greatly weakened, by the opposite power of
repulsion introduced with the electrical fire; and when any particle
is by any means disengaged, it is immediately repelled, and so flies
into the air.
7. Particles happening to be situated as _A_ and _B_, (FIG. VI.
_representing the profile of a vessel of water_) are more easily
disengaged than _C_ and _D_, as each is held by contact with three
only, whereas _C_ and _D_ are each in contact with nine. When the
surface of the water has the least motion, particles are continually
pushed into the situation represented by _A_ and _B_.
8. Friction between a non-electric and an electric _per se_ will
produce electrical fire; not by _creating_, but _collecting_ it:
for it is equally diffused in our walls, floors, earth, and the
whole mass of common matter. Thus the whirling glass globe, during
its friction against the cushion, draws fire from the cushion, the
cushion is supplied from the frame of the machine, that from the
floor on which it stands. Cut off the communication by thick glass or
wax, placed under the cushion, and no fire can be _produced_, because
it cannot be _collected_.
9. The ocean is a compound of water, a non-electric, and salt an
electric _per se_.
10. When there is a friction among the parts near its surface, the
electrical fire is collected from the parts below. It is then plainly
visible in the night; it appears in the stern and in the wake of
every sailing vessel; every dash of an oar shews it, and every surf
and spray: in storms the whole sea seems on fire.--The detached
particles of water then repelled from the electrified surface,
continually carry off the fire as it is collected; they rise and form
clouds, and those clouds are highly electrified, and retain the fire
till they have an opportunity of communicating it.
11. The particles of water, rising in vapours, attach themselves to
particles of air.
12. The particles of air are said to be hard, round, separate and
distant from each other; every particle strongly repelling every
other particle, whereby they recede from each other, as far as common
gravity will permit.
13. The space between any three particles, equally repelling each
other, will be an equilateral triangle.
14. In air compressed, these triangles are smaller; in rarified air
they are larger.
15. Common fire, joined with air, increases the repulsion, enlarges
the triangles, and thereby makes the air specifically lighter. Such
air, among denser air, will rise.
16. Common fire, as well as electrical fire, gives repulsion to the
particles of water, and destroys their attraction of cohesion; hence
common fire, as well as electrical fire, assists in raising vapours.
17. Particles of water, having no fire in them, mutually attract each
other. Three particles of water then, being attached to the three
particles of a triangle of air, would, by their mutual attraction
operating against the air's repulsion, shorten the sides and lessen
the triangle, whereby that portion of air made denser, would sink to
the earth with its water, and not rise to the formation of a cloud.
18. But if every particle of water attaching itself to air brings
with it a particle of common fire, the repulsion of the air being
assisted and strengthened by the fire, more than obstructed by the
mutual attraction of the particles of water, the triangle dilates,
and that portion of air, becoming rarer and specifically lighter,
rises.
19. If the particles of water bring electrical fire when they attach
themselves to air, the repulsion between the particles of water
electrified, joins with the natural repulsion of the air, to force
its particles to a greater distance, whereby the triangles are
dilated, and the air rises, carrying up with it the water.
20. If the particles of water bring with them portions of _both
sorts_ of fire, the repulsion of the particles of air is still more
strengthened and increased, and the triangles farther enlarged.
21. One particle of air may be surrounded by twelve particles of
water of equal size with itself, all in contact with it; and by more
added to those.
22. Particles of air, thus loaded, would be drawn nearer together by
the mutual attraction of the particles of water, did not the fire,
common or electrical, assist their repulsion.
23. If air, thus loaded, be compressed by adverse winds, or by being
driven against mountains, &c. or condensed by taking away the fire
that assisted it in expanding; the triangles contract, the air with
its water will descend as a dew; or, if the water surrounding one
particle of air comes in contact with the water surrounding another,
they coalesce and form a drop, and we have rain.
24. The sun supplies (or seems to supply) common fire to vapours,
whether raised from earth or sea.
25. Those vapours, which have both common and electrical fire in
them, are better supported than those which have only common fire in
them; for when vapours rise into the coldest region above the earth,
the cold will not diminish the electrical fire, if it doth the common.
26. Hence clouds, formed by vapours, raised from fresh waters within
land, from growing vegetables, moist earth, &c. more speedily and
easily deposite their water, having but little electrical fire to
repel and keep the particles separate. So that the greatest part of
the water raised from the land, is let fall on the land again; and
winds blowing from the land to the sea are dry; there being little
use for rain on the sea, and to rob the land of its moisture, in
order to rain on the sea, would not appear reasonable.
27. But clouds, formed by vapours raised from the sea, having both
fires, and particularly a great quantity of the electrical, support
their water strongly, raise it high, and being moved by winds, may
bring it over the middle of the broadest continent from the middle of
the widest ocean.
28. How these ocean clouds, so strongly supporting their water, are
made to deposite it on the land where it is wanted, is next to be
considered.
29. If they are driven by winds against mountains, those mountains
being less electrified attract them, and on contact take away their
electrical fire (and being cold, the common fire also;) hence the
particles close towards the mountains and towards each other. If the
air was not much loaded, it only falls in dews on the mountain tops
and sides, forms springs, and descends to the vales in rivulets,
which, united, make larger streams and rivers. If much loaded,
the electrical fire is at once taken from the whole cloud; and,
in leaving it, flashes brightly and cracks loudly; the particles
instantly coalescing for want of that fire, and falling in a heavy
shower.
30. When a ridge of mountains thus dams the clouds, and draws the
electrical fire from the cloud first approaching it; that which next
follows, when it comes near the first cloud, now deprived of its
fire, flashes into it, and begins to deposite its own water; the
first cloud again flashing into the mountains; the third approaching
cloud, and all succeeding ones, acting in the same manner as far back
as they extend, which may be over many hundred miles of country.
31. Hence the continual storms of rain, thunder, and lightning on
the east side of the Andes, which running north and south, and being
vastly high, intercept all the clouds brought against them from the
Atlantic ocean by the trade winds, and oblige them to deposite their
waters, by which the vast rivers Amazons, La Plata, and Oroonoko
are formed, which return the water into the same sea, after having
fertilized a country of very great extent.
32. If a country be plain, having no mountains to intercept the
electrified clouds, yet it is not without means to make them deposite
their water. For if an electrified cloud, coming from the sea,
meets in the air a cloud raised from the land, and therefore not
electrified; the first will flash its fire into the latter, and
thereby both clouds shall be made suddenly to deposite water.
33. The electrified particles of the first cloud close when they lose
their fire; the particles of the other clouds close in receiving
it: in both, they have thereby an opportunity of coalescing into
drops.--The concussion, or jerk given to the air, contributes also to
shake down the water, not only from those two clouds, but from others
near them. Hence the sudden fall of rain immediately after flashes of
lightning.
34. To shew this by an easy experiment: Take two round pieces of
pasteboard two inches diameter; from the centre and circumference of
each of them suspend by fine silk threads eighteen inches long, seven
small balls of wood, or seven peas equal in goodness: so will the
balls appending to each pasteboard, form equal equilateral triangles,
one ball being in the centre, and six at equal distances from that,
and from each other; and thus they represent particles of air.
Dip both sets in water, and some adhering to each ball, they will
represent air loaded. Dexterously electrify one set, and its ball
will repel each other to a greater distance, enlarging the triangles.
Could the water supported by seven balls come into contact, it would
form a drop or drops so heavy as to break the cohesion it had with
the balls, and so fall. Let the two sets then represent two clouds,
the one a sea cloud electrified, the other a land cloud. Bring them
within the sphere of attraction, and they will draw towards each
other, and you will see the separated balls close thus; the first
electrified ball that comes near an unelectrified ball by attraction
joins it, and gives it fire; instantly they separate, and each flies
to another ball of its own party, one to give, the other to receive
fire; and so it proceeds through both sets, but so quick as to be in
a manner instantaneous. In the cohesion they shake off and drop their
water, which represents rain.
35. Thus when sea and land clouds would pass at too great a distance
for the flash, they are attracted towards each other till within that
distance; for the sphere of electrical attraction is far beyond the
distance of flashing.
36. When a great number of clouds from the sea meet a number of
clouds raised from the land, the electrical flashes appear to strike
in different parts; and as the clouds are jostled and mixed by the
winds, or brought near by the electrical attraction, they continue
to give and receive flash after flash, till the electrical fire is
equally diffused.
37. When the gun-barrel, (in electrical experiments) has but little
electrical fire in it, you must approach it very near with your
knuckle before you can draw a spark. Give it more fire, and it will
give a spark at a greater distance. Two gun-barrels united, and as
highly electrified, will give a spark at a still greater distance.
But if two gun-barrels electrified will strike at two inches
distance, and make a loud snap, to what a great distance may 10,000
acres of electrified cloud strike and give its fire, and how loud
must be that crack?
38. It is a common thing to see clouds at different heights passing
different ways, which shews different currents of air one under the
other. As the air between the tropics is rarefied by the sun, it
rises, the denser northern and southern air pressing into its place.
The air so rarefied and forced up, passes northward and southward,
and must descend in the polar regions, if it has no opportunity
before, that the circulation may be carried on.
39. As currents of air, with the clouds therein, pass different ways,
it is easy to conceive how the clouds, passing over each other,
may attract each other, and so come near enough for the electrical
stroke. And also how electrical clouds may be carried within land
very far from the sea, before they have an opportunity to strike.
40. When the air, with its vapours raised from the ocean between
the tropics, comes to descend in the polar regions, and to be in
contact with the vapours arising there, the electrical fire they
brought begins to be communicated, and is seen in clear nights,
being first visible where it is first in motion, that is, where
the contact begins, or in the most northern part; from thence the
streams of light seem to shoot southerly, even up to the zenith of
northern countries. But though the light seems to shoot from the
north southerly, the progress of the fire is really from the south
northerly, its motion beginning in the north, being the reason that
it is there seen first.
For the electrical fire is never visible but when in motion, and
leaping from body to body, or from particle to particle through the
air. When it passes through dense bodies it is unseen. When a wire
makes part of the circle, in the explosion of the electrical phial,
the fire, though in great quantity, passes in the wire invisibly; but
in passing along a chain, it becomes visible as it leaps from link to
link. In passing along leaf gilding it is visible: for the leaf-gold
is full of pores; hold a leaf to the light and it appears like a
net, and the fire is seen in its leaping over the vacancies.--And as
when a long canal filled with still water is opened at one end, in
order to be discharged, the motion of the water begins first near
the opened end, and proceeds towards the close end, though the water
itself moves from the close towards the opened end: so the electrical
fire discharged into the polar regions, perhaps from a thousand
leagues length of vaporised air, appears first where it is first
in motion, _i. e._ in the most northern part, and the appearance
proceeds southward, though the fire really moves northward. This is
supposed to account for the _aurora borealis_.
41. When there is great heat on the land, in a particular region
(the sun having shone on it perhaps several days, while the
surrounding countries have been screened by clouds) the lower air is
rarefied and rises, the cooler denser air above descends; the clouds
in that air meet from all sides, and join over the heated place; and
if some are electrified, others not, lightning and thunder succeed,
and showers fall. Hence thunder-gusts after heats, and cool air after
gusts; the water and the clouds that bring it, coming from a higher
and therefore a cooler region.
42. An electrical spark, drawn from an irregular body at some
distance is scarcely ever strait, but shows crooked and waving in the
air. So do the flashes of lightning; the clouds being very irregular
bodies.
43. As electrified clouds pass over a country, high hills and high
trees, lofty towers, spires, masts of ships, chimneys, &c. as so many
prominencies and points, draw the electrical fire, and the whole
cloud discharges there.
44. Dangerous, therefore, is it to take shelter under a tree, during
a thunder-gust. It has been fatal to many, both men and beasts.
45. It is safer to be in the open field for another reason. When the
cloaths are wet, if a flash in its way to the ground should strike
your head, it may run in the water over the surface of your body;
whereas, if your cloaths were dry, it would go through the body,
because the blood and other humours, containing so much water, are
more ready conductors.
Hence a wet rat cannot be killed by the exploding electrical bottle,
when a dry rat may[45].
46. Common fire is in all bodies, more or less, as well as electrical
fire. Perhaps they may be different modifications of the same
element; or they may be different elements. The latter is by some
suspected.
47. If they are different things, yet they may and do subsist
together in the same body.
48. When electrical fire strikes through a body, it acts upon the
common fire contained in it, and puts that fire in motion; and if
there be a sufficient quantity of each kind of fire, the body will be
inflamed.
49. When the quantity of common fire in the body is small, the
quantity of the electrical fire (or the electrical stroke) should be
greater: if the quantity of common fire be great, less electrical
fire suffices to produce the effect.
50. Thus spirits must be heated before we can fire them by the
electrical spark.[46] If they are much heated, a small spark will do;
if not, the spark must be greater.
51. Till lately we could only fire warm vapours; but now we can burn
hard dry rosin. And when we can procure greater electrical sparks,
we may be able to fire not only unwarmed spirits, as lightning does,
but even wood, by giving sufficient agitation to the common fire
contained in it, as friction we know will do.
52. Sulphureous and inflammable vapours, arising from the earth,
are easily kindled by lightning. Besides what arise from the earth,
such vapours are sent out by stacks of moist hay, corn, or other
vegetables, which heat and reek. Wood, rotting in old trees or
buildings, does the same. Such are therefore easily and often fired.
53. Metals are often melted by lightning, though perhaps not from
heat in the lightning, nor altogether from agitated fire in the
metals.--For as whatever body can insinuate itself between the
particles of metal, and overcome the attraction by which they cohere
(as sundry menstrua can) will make the solid become a fluid, as
well as fire, yet without heating it: so the electrical fire, or
lightning, creating a violent repulsion between the particles of the
metal it passes through, the metal is fused.
54. If you would, by a violent fire, melt off the end of a nail,
which is half driven into a door, the heat given the whole nail,
before a part would melt, must burn the board it sticks in; and the
melted part would burn the floor it dropped on. But if a sword can
be melted in the scabbard, and money in a man's pocket by lightning,
without burning either, it must be a cold fusion[47].
55. Lightning rends some bodies. The electrical spark will strike a
hole through a quire of strong paper.
56. If the source of lightning, assigned in this paper, be the true
one, there should be little thunder heard at sea far from land. And
accordingly some old sea-captains, of whom enquiry has been made, do
affirm, that the fact agrees perfectly with the hypothesis; for that
in crossing the great ocean, they seldom meet with thunder till they
come into soundings; and that the islands far from the continent have
very little of it. And a curious observer, who lived thirteen years
at Bermudas, says, there was less thunder there in that whole time
than he has sometimes heard in a month at Carolina.
FOOTNOTES:
[43] An _electrified bumper_ is a small thin glass tumbler, nearly
filled with wine, and electrified as the bottle. This when brought to
the lips gives a shock, if the party be close shaved, and does not
breath on the liquor.--April 29, 1749.
[44] Thunder-gusts are sudden storms of thunder and lightning, which
are frequently of short duration, but sometimes produce mischievous
effects.
[45] This was tried with a bottle, containing about a quart. It is
since thought that one of the large glass jars, mentioned in these
papers, might have killed him, though wet.
[46] We have since fired spirits without heating them, when the
weather is warm. A little, poured into the palm of the hand, will be
warmed sufficiently by the hand, if the spirit be well rectified.
Ether takes fire most readily.
[47] These facts, though related in several accounts, are now
doubted; since it has been observed that the parts of a bell-wire
which fell on the floor, being broken and partly melted by lightning,
did actually burn into the boards. (See Philosophical Transactions,
Vol. LI. part I.) And Mr. Kinnersley has found that a fine iron wire,
melted by Electricity, has had the same effect.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Introductory Letter to some additional Papers._
_Philadelphia, July 29, 1750._
SIR,
As you first put us on electrical experiments, by sending to our
Library Company a tube, with directions how to use it; and as our
honorable Proprietary enabled us to carry those experiments to a
greater height, by his generous present of a complete electrical
apparatus; it is fit that both should know, from time to time, what
progress we make. It was in this view I wrote and sent you my former
papers on this subject, desiring, that as I had not the honour of a
direct correspondence with that bountiful benefactor to our library,
they might be communicated to him through your hands. In the same
view I write and send you this additional paper. If it happens to
bring you nothing new, (which may well be, considering the number of
ingenious men in Europe, continually engaged in the same researches)
at least it will shew, that the instruments put into our hands are
not neglected; and that if no valuable discoveries are made by us,
whatever the cause may be, it is not want of industry and application.
I am, Sir,
Your much obliged humble Servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Opinions and Conjectures, concerning the Properties and
Effects of the electrical Matter, and the Means of preserving
Buildings, Ships, &c. from Lightning, arising from Experiments and
Observations made at Philadelphia, 1749.--Golden Fish.--Extraction
of effluvial Virtues by Electricity impracticable._
§ 1. The electrical matter consists of particles extremely subtile
since it can permeate common matter, even the densest metals, with
such ease and freedom as not to receive any perceptible resistance.
2. If any one should doubt whether the electrical matter passes
through the substance of bodies, or only over and along their
surfaces, a shock from an electrified large glass jar, taken through
his own body, will probably convince him.
3. Electrical matter differs from common matter in this, that the
parts of the latter mutually attract, those of the former mutually
repel each other. Hence the appearing divergency in a stream of
electrified effluvia.
4. But though the particles of electrical matter do repel each other,
they are strongly attracted by all other matter[48].
5. From these three things, the extreme subtilty of the electrical
matter, the mutual repulsion of its parts, and the strong attraction
between them and other matter, arise this effect, that, when a
quantity of electrical matter is applied to a mass of common matter,
of any bigness or length, within our observation (which hath not
already got its quantity) it is immediately and equally diffused
through the whole.
6. Thus, common matter is a kind of spunge to the electrical fluid.
And as a spunge would receive no water, if the parts of water were
not smaller than the pores of the spunge; and even then but slowly,
if there were not a mutual attraction between those parts and the
parts of the spunge; and would still imbibe it faster, if the
mutual attraction among the parts of the water did not impede, some
force being required to separate them; and fastest, if, instead of
attraction, there were a mutual repulsion among those parts, which
would act in conjunction with the attraction of the spunge: so is the
case between the electrical and common matter.
7. But in common matter there is (generally) as much of the
electrical as it will contain within its substance. If more is
added, it lies without upon the surface, and forms what we call an
electrical atmosphere; and then the body is said to be electrified.
8. It is supposed, that all kinds of common matter do not attract and
retain the electrical, with equal strength and force, for reasons
to be given hereafter. And that those called electrics _per se_, as
glass, &c. attract and retain it strongest, and contain the greatest
quantity.
9. We know that the electrical fluid is _in_ common matter, because
we can pump it _out_ by the globe or tube. We know that common
matter has near as much as it can contain, because, when we add a
little more to any portion of it, the additional quantity does not
enter, but forms an electrical atmosphere. And we know that common
matter has not (generally) more than it can contain, otherwise all
loose portions of it would repel each other, as they constantly do
when they have electric atmospheres.
10. The beneficial uses of this electric fluid in the creation we are
not yet well acquainted with, though doubtless such there are, and
those very considerable; but we may see some pernicious consequences
that would attend a much greater proportion of it. For, had this
globe we live on, as much of it in proportion as we can give to a
globe of iron, wood, or the like, the particles of dust and other
light matters that get loose from it, would, by virtue of their
separate electrical atmospheres, not only repel each other, but be
repelled from the earth, and not easily be brought to unite with it
again; whence our air would continually be more and more clogged with
foreign matter, and grow unfit for respiration. This affords another
occasion of adoring that wisdom which has made all things by weight
and measure!
11. If a piece of common matter be supposed entirely free from
electrical matter, and a single particle of the latter be brought
nigh, it will be attracted, and enter the body, and take place in the
centre, or where the attraction is every way equal. If more particles
enter, they take their places where the balance is equal between the
attraction of the common matter, and their own mutual repulsion. It
is supposed they form triangles, whose sides shorten as their number
encreases; till the common matter has drawn in so many, that its
whole power of compressing those triangles by attraction, is equal to
their whole power of expanding themselves by repulsion; and then will
such piece of matter receive no more.
12. When part of this natural proportion of electrical fluid is
taken out of a piece of common matter, the triangles formed by the
remainder, are supposed to widen by the mutual repulsion of the
parts, until they occupy the whole piece.
13. When the quantity of electrical fluid, taken from a piece of
common matter, is restored again, it enters, the expanded triangles,
being again compressed till there is room for the whole.
14. To explain this: take two apples, or two balls of wood or other
matter, each having its own natural quantity of the electrical fluid.
Suspend them by silk lines from the cieling. Apply the wire of a
well-charged vial, held in your hand, to one of them (A) _Fig. 7_,
and it will receive from the wire a quantity of the electrical fluid;
but will not imbibe it, being already full. The fluid therefore will
flow round its surface, and form an electrical atmosphere. Bring A
into contact with B, and half the electrical fluid is communicated,
so that each has now an electrical atmosphere, and therefore they
repel each other. Take away these atmospheres, by touching the balls,
and leave them in their natural state: then, having fixed a stick of
sealing-wax to the middle of the vial to hold it by, apply the wire
to A, at the same time the coating touches B. Thus will a quantity
of the electrical fluid be drawn out of B, and thrown on A. So that
A will have a redundance of this fluid, which forms an atmosphere
round, and B an exactly equal deficiency. Now, bring these balls
again into contact, and the electrical atmosphere will not be divided
between A and B, into two smaller atmospheres as before; for B will
drink up the whole atmosphere of A, and both will be found again in
their natural state.
15. The form of the electrical atmosphere is that of the body it
surrounds. This shape may be rendered visible in a still air, by
raising a smoke from dry rosin dropt into a hot tea-spoon under the
electrified body, which will be attracted, and spread itself equally
on all sides, covering and concealing the body[49]. And this form it
takes, because it is attracted by all parts of the surface of the
body, though it cannot enter the substance already replete. Without
this attraction, it would not remain round the body, but dissipate in
the air.
16. The atmosphere of electrical particles surrounding an electrified
sphere, is not more disposed to leave it, or more easily drawn off
from any one part of the sphere than another, because it is equally
attracted by every part. But that is not the case with bodies of any
other figure. From a cube it is more easily drawn at the corners
than at the plane sides, and so from the angles of a body of any
other form, and still most easily from the angle that is most acute.
Thus, if a body shaped as A, B, C, D, E, in Fig. 8. be electrified,
or have an electrical atmosphere communicated to it, and we consider
every side as a base on which the particles rest, and by which they
are attracted, one may see, by imagining a line from A to F, and
another from E to G, that the portion of the atmosphere included
in F, A, E, G, has the line A, E, for its basis. So the portion of
atmosphere included in H, A, B, I, has the line A B for its basis.
And likewise the portion included in K, B, C, L, has B, C, to rest
on; and so on the other side of the figure. Now if you would draw
off this atmosphere with any blunt smooth body, and approach the
middle of the side A, B, you must come very near, before the force
of your attracter exceeds the force or power with which that side
holds its atmosphere. But there is a small portion between I, B, K,
that has less of the surface to rest on, and to be attracted by,
than the neighbouring portions, while at the same time there is a
mutual repulsion between its particles, and the particles of those
portions, therefore here you can get it with more ease, or at a
greater distance. Between F, A, H, there is a larger portion that has
yet a less surface to rest on, and to attract it; here, therefore,
you can get it away still more easily. But easiest of all between
L, C, M, where the quantity is largest, and the surface to attract
and keep it back the least. When you have drawn away one of these
angular portions of the fluid, another succeeds in its place, from
the nature of fluidity, and the mutual repulsion before-mentioned;
and so the atmosphere continues flowing off at such angle, like a
stream, till no more is remaining. The extremities of the portions
of atmosphere over these angular parts, are likewise at a greater
distance from the electrified body, as may be seen by the inspection
of the above figure; the point of the atmosphere of the angle C,
being much farther from C, than any other part of the atmosphere
over the lines C, B, or B, A: and, besides the distance arising
from the nature of the figure, where the attraction is less, the
particles will naturally expand to a greater distance by their mutual
repulsion. On these accounts we suppose electrified bodies discharge
their atmospheres upon unelectrified bodies more easily, and at a
greater distance from their angles and points than from their smooth
sides.--Those points will also discharge into the air, when the
body has too great an electrical atmosphere, without bringing any
non-electric near, to receive what is thrown off: For the air, though
an electric _per se_, yet has always more or less water and other
non-electric matters mixed with it: and these attract and receive
what is so discharged.
17. But points have a property, by which they _draw on_ as well as
_throw off_ the electrical fluid, at greater distances than blunt
bodies can. That is, as the pointed part of an electrified body will
discharge the atmosphere of that body, or communicate it farthest to
another body, so the point of an unelectrified body will draw off
the electrical atmosphere from an electrified body, farther than a
blunter part of the same unelectrified body will do. Thus, a pin
held by the head, and the point presented to an electrified body,
will draw off its atmosphere at a foot distance; where, if the head
were presented instead of the point, no such effect would follow. To
understand this, we may consider, that if a person standing on the
floor would draw off the electrical atmosphere from an electrified
body, an iron crow and a blunt knitting-needle held alternately in
his hand, and presented for that purpose, do not draw with different
forces in proportion to their different masses. For the man, and
what he holds in his hand, be it large or small, are connected with
the common mass of unelectrified matter; and the force with which
he draws is the same in both cases, it consisting in the different
proportion of electricity in the electrified body, and that common
mass. But the force with which the electrified body retains its
atmosphere by attracting it, is proportioned to the surface over
which the particles are placed; _i. e._ four square inches of that
surface retain their atmosphere with four times the force that one
square inch retains its atmosphere. And as in plucking the hairs from
the horse's tail, a degree of strength not sufficient to pull away a
handful at once, could yet easily strip it hair by hair; so a blunt
body presented cannot draw off a number of particles at once, but a
pointed one, with no greater force, takes them away easily, particle
by particle.
18. These explanations of the power and operation of points, when
they first occurred to me, and while they first floated in my mind,
appeared perfectly satisfactory; but now I have written them, and
considered them more closely, I must own I have some doubts about
them; yet, as I have at present nothing better to offer in their
stead, I do not cross them out: for, even a bad solution read, and
its faults discovered, has often given rise to a good one, in the
mind of an ingenious reader.
19. Nor is it of much importance to us to know the manner in
which nature executes her laws; it is enough if we know the laws
themselves. It is of real use to know that china left in the air
unsupported will fall and break; but _how_ it comes to fall and _why_
it breaks are matters of speculation. It is a pleasure indeed to
know them, but we can preserve our china without it.
20. Thus in the present case, to know this power of points may
possibly be of some use to mankind, though we should never be able
to explain it. The following experiments, as well as those in my
first paper, show this power. I have a large prime conductor, made
of several thin sheets of clothier's pasteboard, formed into a tube,
near ten feet long and a foot diameter. It is covered with Dutch
embossed-paper, almost totally gilt. This large metallic surface
supports a much greater electrical atmosphere than a rod of iron of
50 times the weight would do. It is suspended by silk lines, and
when charged will strike, at near two inches distance, a pretty hard
stroke, so as to make ones knuckle ach. Let a person standing on the
floor present the point of a needle at 12 or more inches distance
from it, and while the needle is so presented, the conductor cannot
be charged, the point drawing off the fire as fast as it is thrown
on by the electrical globe. Let it be charged, and then present the
point at the same distance, and it will suddenly be discharged. In
the dark you may see the light on the point, when the experiment is
made. And if the person holding the point stands upon wax, he will
be electrified by receiving the fire at that distance. Attempt to
draw off the electricity with a blunt body, as a bolt of iron round
at the end, and smooth (a silversmith's iron punch, inch thick, is
what I use) and you must bring it within the distance of three inches
before you can do it, and then it is done with a stroke and crack. As
the pasteboard tube hangs loose on silk lines, when you approach it
with the punch-iron, it likewise will move towards the punch, being
attracted while it is charged; but if, at the same instant, a point
be presented as before, it retires again, for the point discharges
it. Take a pair of large brass scales, of two or more feet beam, the
cords of the scales being silk. Suspend the beam by a pack-thread
from the cieling, so that the bottom of the scales may be about a
foot from the floor: the scales will move round in a circle by the
untwisting of the pack-thread. Set the iron punch on the end upon
the floor, in such a place as that the scales may pass over it in
making their circle: then electrify one scale, by applying the wire
of a charged phial to it. As they move round, you see that scale
draw nigher to the floor, and dip more when it comes over the punch;
and if that be placed at a proper distance, the scale will snap and
discharge its fire into it. But if a needle be stuck on the end of
the punch, its point upwards, the scale, instead of drawing nigh to
the punch, and snapping, discharges its fire silently through the
point, and rises higher from the punch. Nay, even if the needle be
placed upon the floor near the punch, its point upwards, the end of
the punch, though so much higher than the needle, will not attract
the scale and receive its fire, for the needle will get it and convey
it away, before it comes nigh enough for the punch to act. And this
is constantly observable in these experiments, that the greater
quantity of electricity on the pasteboard-tube, the farther it
strikes or discharges its fire, and the point likewise will draw it
off at a still greater distance.
Now if the fire of electricity and that of lightning be the same,
as I have endeavoured to shew at large, in a former paper, this
pasteboard tube and these scales may represent electrified clouds.
If a tube of only ten feet long will strike and discharge its fire
on the punch at two or three inches distance, an electrified cloud
of perhaps 10,000 acres may strike and discharge on the earth at a
proportionably greater distance. The horizontal motion of the scales
over the floor, may represent the motion of the clouds over the
earth; and the erect iron punch, a hill or high building; and then
we see how electrified clouds passing over hills or high buildings
at too great a height to strike, may be attracted lower till within
their striking distance. And lastly, if a needle fixed on the punch
with its point upright, or even on the floor below the punch, will
draw the fire from the scale silently at a much greater than the
striking distance, and so prevent its descending towards the punch;
or if in its course it would have come nigh enough to strike, yet
being first deprived of its fire it cannot, and the punch is thereby
secured from the stroke; I say, if these things are so, may not the
knowledge of this power of points be of use to mankind, in preserving
houses, churches, ships, &c. from the stroke of lightning, by
directing us to fix on the highest parts of those edifices, upright
rods of iron made sharp as a needle, and gilt to prevent rusting, and
from the foot of those rods a wire down the outside of the building
into the ground, or down round one of the shrouds of a ship, and down
her side till it reaches the water? Would not these pointed rods
probably draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it
came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most
sudden and terrible mischief?
21. To determine the question, whether the clouds that contain
lightning are electrified or not, I would propose an experiment to
be tried where it may be done conveniently. On the top of some high
tower or steeple, place a kind of centry-box (as in FIG. 9) big
enough to contain a man and an electrical stand. From the middle of
the stand let an iron rod rise and pass bending out of the door, and
then upright 20 or 30 feet, pointed very sharp at the end. If the
electrical stand be kept clean and dry, a man standing on it, when
such clouds are passing low, might be electrified and afford sparks,
the rod drawing fire to him from a cloud. If any danger to the man
should be apprehended (though I think there would be none) let him
stand on the floor of his box, and now and then bring near to the rod
the loop of a wire that has one end fastened to the leads, he holding
it by a wax handle; so the sparks, if the rod is electrified, will
strike from the rod to the wire, and not affect him.
22. Before I leave this subject of lightning, I may mention some
other similarities between the effects of that, and those of
electricity. Lightning has often been known to strike people blind.
A pigeon that we struck dead to appearance by the electrical shock,
recovering life, drooped about the yard several days, eat nothing,
though crumbs were thrown to it, but declined and died. We did not
think of its being deprived of sight; but afterwards a pullet, struck
dead in like manner, being recovered by repeatedly blowing into its
lungs, when set down on the floor, ran headlong against the wall, and
on examination appeared perfectly blind. Hence we concluded that the
pigeon also had been absolutely blinded by the shock. The biggest
animal we have yet killed, or tried to kill, with the electrical
stroke, was a well-grown pullet.
23. Reading in the ingenious Dr. Miles's account of the thunder-storm
at Stretham, the effect of the lightning in stripping off all the
paint that had covered a gilt moulding of a pannel of wainscot,
without hurting the rest of the paint, I had a mind to lay a coat of
paint over the filletting of gold on the cover of a book, and try
the effect of a strong electrical flash sent through that gold from
a charged sheet of glass. But having no paint at hand, I pasted a
narrow strip of paper over it; and when dry, sent the flash through
the gilding, by which the paper was torn off from end to end, with
such force, that it was broke in several places, and in others
brought away part of the grain of the Turky-leather in which it was
bound; and convinced me, that had it been painted, the paint would
have been stript off in the same manner with that on the wainscot at
Stretham.
24. Lightning melts metals, and I hinted in my paper on that subject,
that I suspected it to be a cold fusion; I do not mean a fusion by
force of cold, but a fusion without heat[50]. We have also melted
gold, silver, and copper, in small quantities, by the electrical
flash. The manner is this: Take leaf-gold, leaf-silver, or leaf-gilt
copper, commonly called leaf-brass, or Dutch gold; cut off from the
leaf long narrow strips, the breadth of a straw. Place one of these
strips between two strips of smooth glass that are about the width of
your finger. If one strip of gold, the length of the leaf, be not
long enough for the glass, add another to the end of it, so that you
may have a little part hanging out loose at each end of the glass.
Bind the pieces of glass together from end to end with strong silk
thread; then place it so as to be part of an electrical circuit, (the
ends of gold hanging out being of use to join with the other parts of
the circuit) and send the flash through it, from a large electrified
jar or sheet of glass. Then if your strips of glass remain whole,
you will see that the gold is missing in several places, and instead
of it a metallic stain on both the glasses; the stains on the upper
and under glass exactly similar in the minutest stroke, as may be
seen by holding them to the light; the metal appeared to have been
not only melted, but even vitrified, or otherwise so driven into
the pores of the glass, as to be protected by it from the action of
the strongest _aqua fortis_, or _aqua regia_. I send you enclosed
two little pieces of glass with these metallic stains upon them,
which cannot be removed without taking part of the glass with them.
Sometimes the stain spreads a little wider than the breadth of the
leaf, and looks brighter at the edge, as by inspecting closely you
may observe in these. Sometimes the glass breaks to pieces; once the
upper glass broke into a thousand pieces, looking like coarse salt.
The pieces I send you were stained with Dutch gold. True gold makes
a darker stain, somewhat reddish; silver, a greenish stain. We once
took two pieces of thick looking-glass, as broad as a Gunter's scale,
and six inches long; and placing leaf-gold between them, put them
between two smoothly-plained pieces of wood, and fixed them tight
in a book-binder's small press; yet though they were so closely
confined, the force of the electrical shock shivered the glass into
many pieces. The gold was melted, and stained into the glass, as
usual. The circumstances of the breaking of the glass differ much
in making the experiment, and sometimes it does not break at all:
but this is constant, that the stains in the upper and under pieces
are exact counterparts of each other. And though I have taken up the
pieces of glass between my fingers immediately after this melting, I
never could perceive the least warmth in them.
25. In one of my former papers, I mentioned, that gilding on a
book, though at first it communicated the shock perfectly well, yet
failed after a few experiments, which we could not account for. We
have since found that one strong shock breaks the continuity of
the gold in the filletting, and makes it look rather like dust of
gold, abundance of its parts being broken and driven off; and it
will seldom conduct above one strong shock. Perhaps this may be
the reason: When there is not a perfect continuity in the circuit,
the fire must leap over the vacancies: there is a certain distance
which it is able to leap over according to its strength; if a number
of small vacancies, though each be very minute, taken together
exceed that distance, it cannot leap over them, and so the shock is
prevented.
26. From the before-mentioned law of electricity, that points as
they are more or less acute, draw on and throw off the electrical
fluid with more or less power, and at greater or less distances, and
in larger or smaller quantities in the same time, we may see how
to account for the situation of the leaf of gold suspended between
two plates, the upper one continually electrified, the under one
in a person's hand standing on the floor. When the upper plate is
electrified, the leaf is attracted, and raised towards it, and
would fly to that plate, were it not for its own points. The corner
that happens to be uppermost when the leaf is rising, being a sharp
point, from the extreme thinness of the gold, draws and receives
at a distance a sufficient quantity of the electric fluid to give
itself an electric atmosphere, by which its progress to the upper
plate is stopped, and it begins to be repelled from that plate, and
would be driven back to the under plate, but that its lowest corner
is likewise a point, and throws off or discharges the overplus of
the leaf's atmosphere, as fast as the upper corner draws it on.
Were these two points perfectly equal in acuteness, the leaf would
take place exactly in the middle space, for its weight is a trifle
compared to the power acting on it: but it is generally nearest
the unelectrified plate, because, when the leaf is offered to the
electrified plate, at a distance, the sharpest point is commonly
first affected and raised towards it; so _that_ point, from its
greater acuteness, receiving the fluid faster than its opposite can
discharge it at equal distances, it retires from the electrified
plate, and draws nearer to the unelectrified plate, till it comes to
a distance where the discharge can be exactly equal to the receipt,
the latter being lessened, and the former encreased; and there it
remains as long as the globe continues to supply fresh electrical
matter. This will appear plain, when the difference of acuteness in
the corners is made very great. Cut a piece of Dutch gold, (which
is fittest for these experiments on account of its great strength)
into the form of FIG. 10, the upper corner a right angle, the two
next obtuse angles, and the lowest a very acute one; and bring this
on your plate under the electrified plate, in such a manner as
that the right-angled part may be first raised (which is done by
covering the acute part with the hollow of your hand) and you will
see this leaf take place much nearer to the upper than the under
plate; because without being nearer, it cannot receive so fast at
its right-angled point, as it can discharge at its acute one. Turn
this leaf with the acute part uppermost, and then it takes place
nearest the unelectrified plate; because, otherwise, it receives
faster at its acute point, than it can discharge at its right-angled
one. Thus the difference of distance is always proportioned to the
difference of acuteness. Take care in cutting your leaf, to leave no
little ragged particles on the edges, which sometimes form points
where you would not have them. You may make this figure so acute
below, and blunt above, as to need no under plate, it discharging
fast enough into the air. When it is made narrower, as the figure
between the pricked lines, we call it the _golden fish_, from its
manner of acting. For if you take it by the tail, and hold it at a
foot or greater horizontal distance from the prime conductor, it
will, when let go, fly to it with a brisk but wavering motion, like
that of an eel through the water; it will then take place under the
prime conductor, at perhaps a quarter or half an inch distance, and
keep a continual shaking of its tail like a fish, so that it seems
animated. Turn its tail towards the prime conductor, and then it
flies to your finger, and seems to nibble it. And if you hold a plate
under it at six or eight inches distance, and cease turning the globe
when the electrical atmosphere of the conductor grows small, it will
descend to the plate and swim back again several times with the same
fish-like motion, greatly to the entertainment of spectators. By a
little practice in blunting or sharpening the heads or tails of these
figures, you may make them take place as desired, nearer or farther
from the electrified plate.
27. It is said in Section 8, of this paper, that all kinds of common
matter are supposed not to attract the electrical fluid with equal
strength; and that those called electrics _per se_, as glass, &c.
attract and retain it strongest, and contain the greatest quantity.
This latter position may seem a paradox to some, being contrary to
the hitherto received opinion; and therefore I shall now endeavour to
explain it.
28. In order to this, let it first be considered, _that we cannot
by any means we are yet acquainted with, force the electrical fluid
through glass_. I know it is commonly thought that it easily pervades
glass; and the experiment of a feather suspended by a thread, in
a bottle hermetically sealed, yet moved by bringing a rubbed tube
near the outside of the bottle, is alleged to prove it. But, if the
electrical fluid so easily pervades glass, how does the phial become
_charged_ (as we term it) when we hold it in our hands? Would not the
fire, thrown in by the wire, pass through to our hands, and so escape
into the floor? Would not the bottle in that case be left just as we
found it, uncharged, as we know a metal bottle so attempted to be
charged would be? Indeed, if there be the least crack, the minutest
solution of continuity in the glass, though it remains so tight that
nothing else we know of will pass, yet the extremely subtile electric
fluid flies through such a crack with the greatest freedom, and such
a bottle we know can never be charged: what then makes the difference
between such a bottle and one that is sound, but this, that the fluid
can pass through the one, and not through the other[51]?
29. It is true, there is an experiment that at first sight would
be apt to satisfy a slight observer, that the fire, thrown into
the bottle by the wire, does really pass through the glass. It is
this: place the bottle on a glass stand, under the prime conductor,
suspend a bullet by a chain from the prime conductor, till it comes
within a quarter of an inch right over the wire of the bottle; place
your knuckle on the glass stand, at just the same distance from
the coating of the bottle, as the bullet is from its wire. Now let
the globe be turned, and you see a spark strike from the bullet to
the wire of the bottle, and the same instant you see and feel an
exactly equal spark striking from the coating on your knuckle, and
so on, spark for spark. This looks as if the whole received by the
bottle was again discharged from it. And yet the bottle by this
means is charged[52]! And therefore the fire that thus leaves the
bottle, though the same in quantity, cannot be the very same fire
that entered at the wire, for if it were, the bottle would remain
uncharged.
30. If the fire that so leaves the bottle be not the same that is
thrown in through the wire, it must be fire that subsisted in the
bottle (that is, in the glass of the bottle) before the operation
began.
31. If so, there must be a great quantity in glass, because a great
quantity is thus discharged, even from very thin glass.
32. That this electrical fluid or fire is strongly attracted by
glass, we know from the quickness and violence with which it is
resumed by the part that had been deprived of it, when there is an
opportunity. And by this, that we cannot from a mass of glass, draw a
quantity of electric fire, or electrify the whole mass _minus_, as we
can a mass of metal. We cannot lessen or increase its whole quantity,
for the quantity it has it holds; and it has as much as it can hold.
Its pores are filled with it as full as the mutual repellency of the
particles will admit; and what is already in, refuses, or strongly
repels, any additional quantity. Nor have we any way of moving the
electrical fluid in glass, but one; that is, by covering part of the
two surfaces of thin glass with non-electrics, and then throwing an
additional quantity of this fluid on one surface, which spreading in
the non-electric, and being bound by it to that surface, acts by its
repelling force on the particles of the electrical fluid contained
in the other surface, and drives them out of the glass into the
non-electric on that side from whence they are discharged, and then
those added on the charged side can enter. But when this is done,
there is no more in the glass, nor less than before, just as much
having left it on one side as it received on the other.
33. I feel a want of terms here, and doubt much whether I shall be
able to make this part intelligible. By the word _surface_, in this
case, I do not mean mere length and breadth without thickness; but
when I speak of the upper or under surface of a piece of glass, the
outer or inner surface of the phial, I mean length, breadth, and
half the thickness, and beg the favour of being so understood. Now
I suppose, that glass in its first principles, and in the furnace,
has no more of this electrical fluid than other common matter: that
when it is blown, as it cools, and the particles of common fire leave
it, its pores become a vacuum: that the component parts of glass are
extremely small and fine, I guess from its never showing a rough
face when it breaks, but always a polish; and from the smallness of
its particles I suppose the pores between them must be exceedingly
small, which is the reason that aqua-fortis, nor any other menstruum
we have, can enter to separate them and dissolve the substance; nor
is any fluid we know of, fine enough to enter, except common fire,
and the electric fluid. Now the departing fire, leaving a vacuum, as
aforesaid, between these pores, which air nor water are fine enough
to enter and fill, the electric fluid (which is every where ready
in what we call the non-electrics, and in the non-electric mixtures
that are in the air) is attracted in; yet does not become fixed with
the substance of the glass, but subsists there as water in a porous
stone, retained only by the attraction of the fixed parts, itself
still loose and a fluid. But I suppose farther, that in the cooling
of the glass, its texture becomes closest in the middle, and forms
a kind of partition, in which the pores are so narrow, that the
particles of the electrical fluid, which enter both surfaces at the
same time, cannot go through, or pass and repass from one surface to
the other, and so mix together; yet, though the particles of electric
fluid, imbibed by each surface, cannot themselves pass through to
those of the other, their repellency can, and by this means they
act on one another. The particles of the electric fluid have a
mutual repellency, but by the power of attraction in the glass they
are condensed or forced nearer to each other. When the glass has
received, and, by its attraction, forced closer together so much of
this electric fluid, as that the power of attracting and condensing
in the one, is equal to the power of expansion in the other, it can
imbibe no more, and that remains its constant whole quantity; but
each surface would receive more, if the repellency of what is in
the opposite surface did not resist its entrance. The quantities of
this fluid in each surface being equal, their repelling action on
each other is equal; and therefore those of one surface cannot drive
out those of the other; but, if a greater quantity is forced into
one surface than the glass would naturally draw in, this increases
the repelling power on that side, and overpowering the attraction
on the other, drives out part of the fluid that had been imbibed by
that surface, if there be any non-electric ready to receive it: such
there is in all cases where glass is electrified to give a shock.
The surface that has been thus emptied, by having its electrical
fluid driven out, resumes again an equal quantity with violence, as
soon as the glass has an opportunity to discharge that over quantity
more than it could retain by attraction in its other surface, by the
additional repellency of which the vacuum had been occasioned. For
experiments favouring (if I may not say confirming) this hypothesis,
I must, to avoid repetition, beg leave to refer you back to what is
said of the electrical phial in my former papers.
34. Let us now see how it will account for several other
appearances.--Glass, a body extremely elastic, (and perhaps its
elasticity may be owing in some degree to the subsisting of so great
a quantity of this repelling fluid in its pores) must, when rubbed,
have its rubbed surface somewhat stretched, or its solid parts
drawn a little farther asunder, so that the vacancies in which the
electrical fluid resides, become larger, affording room for more of
that fluid, which is immediately attracted into it from the cushion
or hand rubbing, they being supplied from the common stock. But the
instant the parts of the glass so opened and filled, have passed the
friction, they close again, and force the additional quantity out
upon the surface, where it must rest till that part comes round to
the cushion again, unless some non-electric (as the prime conductor,
first presents to receive it[53]). But if the inside of the globe
be lined with a non-electric, the additional repellency of the
electrical fluid, thus collected by friction on the rubbed part
of the globe's outer surface, drives an equal quantity out of the
inner surface into that non-electric lining, which receiving it, and
carrying it away from the rubbed part into the common mass, through
the axis of the globe, and frame of the machine, the new collected
electrical fluid can enter and remain in the outer surface, and none
of it (or a very little) will be received by the prime conductor. As
this charged part of the globe comes round to the cushion again,
the outer surface delivers its overplus fire into the cushion, the
opposite inner surface receiving at the same time an equal quantity
from the floor. Every electrician knows that a globe wet within
will afford little or no fire, but the reason has not before been
attempted to be given, that I know of.
34. So if a tube lined with a non-electric be rubbed[54], little or
no fire is obtained from it; what is collected from the hand, in the
downward rubbing stroke, entering the pores of the glass, and driving
an equal quantity out of the inner surface into the non-electric
lining: and the hand in passing up to take a second stroke, takes out
again what had been thrown into the outer surface, and then the inner
surface receives back again what it had given to the non-electric
lining. Thus the particles of electrical fluid belonging to the
inside surface go in and out of their pores every stroke given to the
tube. Put a wire into the tube, the inward end in contact with the
non-electric lining, so it will represent the Leyden bottle. Let a
second person touch the wire while you rub, and the fire driven out
of the inward surface when you give the stroke, will pass through him
into the common mass, and return through him when the inner surface
resumes its quantity, and therefore this new kind of Leyden bottle
cannot be so charged. But thus it may: after every stroke, before
you pass your hand up to make another, let a second person apply his
finger to the wire, take the spark, and then withdraw his finger;
and so on till he has drawn a number of sparks; thus will the inner
surface be exhausted, and the outer surface charged; then wrap a
sheet of gilt paper close round the outer surface, and grasping it
in your hand you may receive a shock by applying the finger of the
other hand to the wire: for now the vacant pores in the inner surface
resume their quantity, and the overcharged pores in the outer surface
discharge that overplus; the equilibrium being restored through your
body, which could not be restored through the glass[55]. If the tube
be exhausted of air, a non-electric lining, in contact with the
wire, is not necessary; for _in vacuo_ the electrical fire will fly
freely from the inner surface, without a non-electric conductor: but
air resists in motion; for being itself an electric _per se_, it
does not attract it, having already its quantity. So the air never
draws off an electric atmosphere from any body, but in proportion to
the non-electrics mixed with it: it rather keeps such an atmosphere
confined, which, from the mutual repulsion of its particles, tends to
dissipation, and would immediately dissipate _in vacuo_.--And thus
the experiment of the feather inclosed in a glass vessel hermetically
sealed, but moving on the approach of the rubbed tube, is explained.
When an additional quantity of the electrical fluid is applied to
the side of the vessel by the atmosphere of the tube, a quantity
is repelled and driven out of the inner surface of that side into
the vessel, and there affects the feather, returning again into its
pores, when the tube with its atmosphere is withdrawn; not that the
particles of that atmosphere did themselves pass through the glass to
the feather. And every other appearance I have yet seen, in which
glass and electricity are concerned, are, I think, explained with
equal ease by the same hypothesis. Yet, perhaps, it may not be a true
one, and I shall be obliged to him that affords me a better.
35. Thus I take the difference between non-electrics, and glass, an
electric _per se_, to consist in these two particulars. 1st, That a
non-electric easily suffers a change in the quantity of the electric
fluid it contains. You may lessen its whole quantity, by drawing
out a part, which the whole body will again resume; but of glass
you can only lessen the quantity contained in one of its surfaces;
and not that, but by supplying an equal quantity at the same time
to the other surface: so that the whole glass may always have the
same quantity in the two surfaces, their two different quantities
being added together. And this can only be done in glass that is
thin; beyond a certain thickness we have yet no power that can make
this change. And, 2dly, that the electric fire freely removes from
place to place, in and through the substance of a non-electric, but
not so through the substance of glass. If you offer a quantity to
one end of a long rod of metal, it receives it, and when it enters,
every particle that was before in the rod pushes its neighbour quite
to the farther end, where the overplus is discharged; and this
instantaneously where the rod is part of the circle in the experiment
of the shock. But glass, from the smallness of its pores, or stronger
attraction of what it contains, refuses to admit so free a motion:
a glass rod will not conduct a shock, nor will the thinnest glass
suffer any particle entering one of its surfaces to pass through to
the other.
36. Hence we see the impossibility of success in the experiments
proposed, to draw out the effluvial virtues of a non-electric, as
cinnamon, for instance, and mixing them with the electric fluid, to
convey them with that into the body, by including it in the globe,
and then applying friction, &c. For though the effluvia of cinnamon,
and the electric fluid should mix within the globe, they would never
come out together through the pores of the glass, and so go to the
prime conductor; for the electric fluid itself cannot come through;
and the prime conductor is always supplied from the cushion, and that
from the floor. And besides, when the globe is filled with cinnamon,
or other non-electric, no electric fluid can be obtained from its
outer surface, for the reason before-mentioned. I have tried another
way, which I thought more likely to obtain a mixture of the electric
and other effluvia together, if such a mixture had been possible. I
placed a glass plate under my cushion, to cut off the communication
between the cushion and floor; then brought a small chain from the
cushion into a glass of oil of turpentine, and carried another chain
from the oil of turpentine to the floor, taking care that the chain
from the cushion to the glass, touched no part of the frame of the
machine. Another chain was fixed to the prime conductor, and held in
the hand of a person to be electrified. The ends of the two chains
in the glass were near an inch distant from each other, the oil of
turpentine between. Now the globe being turned could draw no fire
from the floor through the machine, the communication that way being
cut off by the thick glass plate under the cushion: it must then
draw it through the chains whose ends were dipped in the oil of
turpentine. And as the oil of turpentine, being an electric _per
se_, would not conduct, what came up from the floor was obliged to
jump from the end of one chain to the end of the other, through the
substance of that oil, which we could see in large sparks, and so
it had a fair opportunity of seizing some of the finest particles
of the oil in its passage, and carrying them off with it: but no
such effect followed, nor could I perceive the least difference in
the smell of the electric effluvia thus collected, from what it has
when collected otherwise, nor does it otherwise affect the body
of a person electrised. I likewise put into a phial, instead of
water, a strong purgative liquid, and then charged the phial, and
took repeated shocks from it, in which case every particle of the
electrical fluid must, before it went through my body, have first
gone through the liquid when the phial is charging, and returned
through it when discharging, yet no other effect followed than if
it had been charged with water. I have also smelt the electric fire
when drawn through gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, wood, and the
human body, and could perceive no difference: the odour is always the
same, where the spark does not burn what it strikes; and therefore I
imagine it does not take that smell from any quality of the bodies
it passes through. And indeed, as that smell so readily leaves the
electric matter, and adheres to the knuckle receiving the sparks, and
to other things; I suspect that it never was connected with it, but
arises instantaneously from something in the air acted upon by it.
For if it was fine enough to come with the electric fluid through the
body of one person, why should it stop on the skin of another?
But I shall never have done, if I tell you all my conjectures,
thoughts, and imaginations on the nature and operations of this
electric fluid, and relate the variety of little experiments we
have tried. I have already made this paper too long, for which I
must crave pardon, not having now time to abridge it. I shall only
add, that as it has been observed here that spirits will fire by
the electric spark in the summer time, without heating them, when
Fahrenheit's thermometer is above 70; so when colder, if the operator
puts a small flat bottle of spirits in his bosom, or a close pocket,
with the spoon, some little time before he uses them, the heat of his
body will communicate warmth more than sufficient for the purpose.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIMENTS:
_Proving that the Leyden Bottle has no more electrical Fire in
it when charged, than before: nor less when discharged: that, in
discharging, the Fire does not issue from the Wire and the Coating
at the same Time, as some have thought, but that the Coating always
receives what is discharged by the Wire, or an equal Quantity; the
outer Surface being always in a negative State of Electricity, when
the inner Surface is in a positive State._
Place a thick plate of glass under the rubbing cushion, to cut off
the communication of electrical fire from the floor to the cushion;
then if there be no fine points or hairy threads sticking out from
the cushion, or from the parts of the machine opposite to the
cushion, (of which you must be careful) you can get but a few sparks
from the prime conductor, which are all the cushion will part with.
Hang a phial then on the prime conductor, and it will not charge
though you hold it by the coating.--But,
Form a communication by a chain from the coating to the cushion, and
the phial will charge.
For the globe then draws the electric fire out of the outside surface
of the phial and forces it through the prime conductor and wire of
the phial into the inside surface.
Thus the bottle is charged with its own fire, no other being to be
had while the glass plate is under the cushion.
Hang two cork balls by flaxen threads to the prime conductor; then
touch the coating of the bottle, and they will be electrified and
recede from each other.
For just as much fire as you give the coating, so much is discharged
through the wire upon the prime conductor, whence the cork balls
receive an electrical atmosphere.--But,
Take a wire bent in the form of a C, with a stick of wax fixed to
the outside of the curve, to hold it by; and apply one end of this
wire to the coating, and the other at the same time to the prime
conductor, the phial will be discharged; and if the balls are not
electrified before the discharge, neither will they appear to be so
after the discharge, for they will not repel each other.
If the phial really exploded at both ends, and discharged fire from
both coating and wire, the balls would be _more_ electrified, and
recede _farther_; for none of the fire can escape, the wax handle
preventing.
But if the fire with which the inside surface is surcharged be
so much precisely as is wanted by the outside surface, it will
pass round through the wire fixed to the wax handle, restore the
equilibrium in the glass, and make no alteration in the state of the
prime conductor.
Accordingly we find, that if the prime conductor be electrified,
and the cork balls in a state of repellency before the bottle is
discharged, they continue so afterwards. If not, they are not
electrified by that discharge.
FOOTNOTES:
[48] See the ingenious Essays on Electricity, in the Transactions, by
Mr. Ellicot.
[49] See page 173.
[50] See note in page 214.
[51] See the first sixteen Sections of the former paper, called
_Farther Experiments_, &c.
[52] See Sect. 10, of _Farther Experiments_, &c.
[53] In the dark the electric fluid may be seen on the cushion in two
semi-circles or half-moons, one on the fore-part, the other on the
back part of the cushion, just where the globe and cushion separate.
In the fore crescent the fire is passing out of the cushion into the
glass; in the other it is leaving the glass, and returning into the
back part of the cushion. When the prime conductor is applied to take
it off the glass, the back crescent disappears.
[54] Gilt paper, with the gilt face next the glass, does well
[55] See _Further Experiments_, Sect. 15.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Accumulation of the electrical Fire proved to be in the
electrified Glass.--Effect of Lightning on the Needle of Compasses,
explained.--Gunpowder fired by the electric Flame._
_Philadelphia, July 27, 1750._
SIR,
Mr. Watson, I believe, wrote his Observations on my last paper
in haste, without having first well considered the experiments
related §. 17[56], which still appear to me decisive in the
question,--_Whether the accumulation of the electrical fire be in the
electrified glass, or in the non-electric matter connected with the
glass?_ and to demonstrate that it is really in the glass.
As to the experiment that ingenious gentleman mentions, and which he
thinks conclusive on the other side, I persuade myself he will change
his opinion of it, when he considers, that as one person applying
the wire of the charged bottle to warm spirits, in a spoon held by
another person, both standing on the floor, will fire the spirits,
and yet such firing will not determine whether the accumulation
was in the glass or the non-electric; so the placing another person
between them, standing on wax, with a bason in his hand, into which
the water from the phial is poured, _while he at the instant of
pouring_ presents a finger of his other hand to the spirits, does not
at all alter the case; the stream from the phial, the side of the
bason, with the arms and body of the person on the wax, being all
together but as one long wire, reaching from the internal surface of
the phial to the spirits.
_June 29, 1751._ In Capt. Waddell's account of the effects of
lightning on his ship, I could not but take notice of the large
comazants (as he calls them) that settled on the spintles at the
top-mast heads, and burnt like very large torches (before the
stroke.) According to my opinion, the electrical fire was then
drawing off, as by points, from the cloud; the largeness of the flame
betokening the great quantity of electricity in the cloud: and had
there been a good wire communication from the spintle heads to the
sea, that could have conducted more freely than tarred ropes, or
masts of turpentine wood, I imagine there would either have been no
stroke, or, if a stroke, the wire would have conducted it all into
the sea without damage to the ship.
His compasses lost the virtue of the load-stone, or the poles were
reversed; the north point turning to the south.--By electricity we
have (_here_ at _Philadelphia_) frequently given polarity to needles,
and reversed it at pleasure. Mr. Wilson, at London, tried it on too
large masses, and with too small force.
A shock from four large glass jars, sent through a fine
sewing-needle, gives it polarity, and it will traverse when laid
on water.--If the needle, when struck, lies east and west, the end
entered by the electric blast points north.--If it lies north and
south, the end that lay towards the north will continue to point
north when placed on water, whether the fire entered at that end, or
at the contrary end.
The polarity given is strongest when the needle is struck lying north
and south, weakest when lying east and west; perhaps if the force was
still greater, the south end, entered by the fire (when the needle
lies north and south) might become the north, otherwise it puzzles us
to account for the inverting of compasses by lightning; since their
needles must always be found in that situation, and by our little
experiments, whether the blast entered the north and went out at the
south end of the needle, or the contrary, still the end that lay to
the north should continue to point north.
In these experiments the ends of the needles are sometimes finely
blued like a watch-spring by the electric flame.--This colour given
by the flash from two jars only, will wipe off, but four jars fix
it, and frequently melt the needles. I send you some that have had
their heads and points melted off by our mimic lightning; and a pin
that had its point melted off, and some part of its head and neck
run. Sometimes the surface on the body of the needle is also run,
and appears blistered when examined by a magnifying glass: the jars
I make use off hold seven or eight gallons, and are coated and lined
with tin foil; each of them takes a thousand turns[57] of a globe
nine inches diameter to charge it.
I send you two specimens of tin-foil melted between glass, by the
force of two jars only.
I have not heard that any of your European electricians have ever
been able to fire gun-powder by the electric flame. We do it here
in this manner:--A small cartridge is filled with dry powder, hard
rammed, so as to bruise some of the grains; two pointed wires are
then thrust in, one at each end, the points approaching each other in
the middle of the cartridge till within the distance of half an inch;
then, the cartridge being placed in the circuit, when the four jars
are discharged, the electric flame leaping from the point of one wire
to the point of the other, within the cartridge amongst the powder,
_fires it_, and the explosion of the powder is at the same instant
with the crack of the discharge.
Your's, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[56] See the paper entitled, _Farther Experiments, &c._
[57] The cushion being afterwards covered with a long flap of
buckskin, which might cling to the globe; and care being taken to
keep that flap of a due temperature, between too dry and too moist,
we found so much more of the electric fluid was obtained, as that 150
turns were sufficient. 1753.
TO C. C[58]. ESQ. AT NEW-YORK, COMMUNICATED TO MR. COLLINSON.
_Unlimited Nature of the electric Force._
_Philadelphia, 1751._
SIR,
I inclose you answers, such as my present hurry of business will
permit me to make, to the principal queries contained in your's of
the 28th instant, and beg leave to refer you to the latter piece
in the printed collection of my papers, for farther explanation
of the difference between what is called _electrics per se_, and
_non-electrics_. When you have had time to read and consider these
papers, I will endeavour to make any new experiments you shall
propose, that you think may afford farther light or satisfaction to
either of us; and shall be much obliged to you for such remarks,
objections, &c. as may occur to you.--I forget whether I wrote to you
that I have melted brass pins and steel needles, inverted the poles
of the magnetic needle, given a magnetism and polarity to needles
that had none, and fired dry gunpowder by the electric spark. I have
five bottles that contain eight or nine gallons each, two of which
charged are sufficient for those purposes: but I can charge and
discharge them altogether. There are no bounds (but what expence and
labour give) to the force man may raise and use in the electrical
way: for bottle may be added to bottle _in infinitum_, and all united
and discharged together as one, the force and effect proportioned to
their number and size. The greatest known effects of common lightning
may, I think, without much difficulty, be exceeded in this way, which
a few years since could not have been believed, and even now may
seem to many a little extravagant to suppose.--So we are got beyond
the skill of Rabelais's devils of two years old, who, he humourously
says, had only learnt to thunder and lighten a little round the head
of a cabbage.
I am, with sincere respect,
Your most obliged humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
QUERIES AND ANSWERS REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING LETTER.
_The Terms, electric per se, and non-electric, improper.--New
Relation between Metals and Water.--Effects of Air in electrical
Experiments.--Experiment for discovering more of the Qualities of
the electric Fluid._
_Query_, Wherein consists the difference between an _electric_ and a
_non-electric_ body?
_Answer._ The terms electric _per se_, and non-electric, were first
used to distinguish bodies, on a mistaken supposition that those
called electrics _per se_, alone contained electric matter in their
substance, which was capable of being excited by friction, and of
being produced or drawn from them, and communicated to those called
non-electrics, supposed to be destitute of it: for the glass, &c.
being rubbed, discovered signs of having it, by snapping to the
finger, attracting, repelling, &c. and could communicate those signs
to metals and water.--Afterwards it was found, that rubbing of
glass would not produce the electric matter, unless a communication
was preserved between the rubber and the floor; and subsequent
experiments proved that the electric matter was really drawn from
those bodies that at first were thought to have none in them. Then
it was doubted whether glass, and other bodies called _electrics per
se_, had really any electric matter in them, since they apparently
afforded none but what they first extracted from those which had
been called non-electrics. But some of my experiments show, that
glass contains it in great quantity, and I now suspect it to be
pretty equally diffused in all the matter of this terraqueous globe.
If so, the terms _electric per se_, and _non-electric_, should be
laid aside as improper: and (the only difference being this, that
some bodies will conduct electric matter, and others will not) the
terms _conductor_ and _non-conductor_ may supply their place. If
any portion of electric matter is applied to a piece of conducting
matter, it penetrates and flows through it, or spreads equally on
its surface; if applied to a piece of non-conducting matter, it will
do neither. Perfect conductors of electric matter are only metals
and water. Other bodies conducting only as they contain a mixture
of those; without more or less of which they will not conduct at
all[59]. This (by the way) shews a new relation between metals and
water heretofore unknown.
To illustrate this by a comparison, which, however, can only give
a faint resemblance. Electric matter passes through conductors as
water passes through a porous stone, or spreads on their surfaces as
water spreads on a wet stone; but when applied to non-conductors, it
is like water dropt on a greasy stone, it neither penetrates, passes
through, nor spreads on the surface, but remains in drops where it
falls. See farther on this head, in my last printed piece, entitled,
_Opinions and Conjectures, &c._ 1749.
_Query_, What are the effects of air in electrical experiments?
_Answer._ All I have hitherto observed are these. Moist air receives
and conducts the electrical matter in proportion to its moisture,
quite dry air not at all: air is therefore to be classed with the
non-conductors.
Dry air assists in confining the electrical atmosphere to the body
it surrounds, and prevents its dissipating: for in vacuo it quits
easily, and points operate stronger, _i. e._ they throw off or
attract the electrical matter more freely, and at greater distances;
so that air intervening obstructs its passage from body to body
in some degree. A clean electrical phial and wire, containing air
instead of water, will not be charged nor give a shock, any more
than if it was filled with powder of glass; but exhausted of air, it
operates as well as if filled with water. Yet an electric atmosphere
and air do not seem to exclude each other, for we breathe freely
in such an atmosphere, and dry air will blow through it without
displacing or driving it away. I question whether the strongest dry
north-wester[60] would dissipate it. I once electrified a large
cork-ball at the end of a silk thread three feet long, the other end
of which I held in my fingers, and whirl'd it round, like a sling one
hundred times, in the air, with the swiftest motion I could possibly
give it, yet it retained its electric atmosphere, though it must have
passed through eight hundred yards of air, allowing my arm in giving
the motion to add a foot to the semi-diameter of the circle.--By
quite dry air, I mean the dryest we have: for perhaps we never have
any perfectly free from moisture. An electrical atmosphere raised
round a thick wire, inserted in a phial of air, drives out none of
the air, nor on withdrawing that atmosphere will any air rush in, as
I have found by a curious experiment[61] accurately made, whence we
concluded that the air's elasticity was not affected thereby.
AN EXPERIMENT TOWARDS DISCOVERING MORE OF THE QUALITIES OF THE
ELECTRIC FLUID.
From the prime conductor, hang a bullet by a wire hook; under the
bullet, at half an inch distance, place a bright piece of silver
to receive the sparks; then let the wheel be turned, and in a few
minutes, (if the repeated sparks continually strike in the same spot)
the silver will receive a blue stain, nearly the colour of a watch
spring.
A bright piece of iron will also be spotted, but not with that
colour; it rather seems corroded.
On gold, brass, or tin, I have not perceived it makes any impression.
But the spots on the silver or iron will be the same, whether the
bullet be lead, brass, gold, or silver.
On a silver bullet there will also appear a small spot, as well as on
the plate below it.
FOOTNOTES:
[58] Cadwallader Colden, who was afterwards lieutenant-governor of
New-York. _Editor._
[59] This proposition is since found to be too general; Mr. Wilson
having discovered that melted wax and rosin will also conduct.
[60] A cold dry wind of North America.
[61] The experiment here mentioned was thus made. An empty phial
was stopped with a cork. Through the cork passed a thick wire,
as usual in the Leyden experiment, which wire almost reached the
bottom. Through another part of the cork passed one leg of a small
glass syphon, the other leg on the outside came down almost to the
bottom of the phial. This phial was first held a short time in the
hand, which, warming, and of course rarefying the air within, drove
a small part of it out through the syphon. Then a little red ink
in a tea-spoon was applied to the opening of the outer leg of the
syphon; so that as the air within cooled, a little of the ink might
rise in that leg. When the air within the bottle came to be of the
same temperature of that without, the drop of red ink would rest in
a certain part of the leg. But the warmth of a finger applied to the
phial would cause that drop to descend, as the least outward coolness
applied would make it ascend. When it had found its situation, and
was at rest, the wire was electrified by a communication from the
prime conductor. This was supposed to give an electric atmosphere to
the wire within the bottle, which might likewise rarefy the included
air, and of course depress the drop of ink in the syphon. But no such
effect followed.
TO C. C[62]. ESQ. AT NEW YORK.
_Mistake, that only Metals and Water were Conductors,
rectified.--Supposition of a Region of electric Fire above our
Atmosphere.--Theorem concerning Light.--Poke-Weed a Cure for
Cancers._
Read at the Royal Society, Nov. 11, 1756.
_Philadelphia, April 23, 1752._
SIR,
In considering your favour of the 16th past, I recollected my
having wrote you answers to some queries concerning the difference
between electrics _per se_, and non-electrics, and the effects of
air in electrical experiments, which, I apprehend, you may not have
received. The date I have forgotten.
We have been used to call those bodies electrics _per se_, which
would not conduct the electric fluid: We once imagined that only
such bodies contained that fluid; afterwards that they had none of
it, and only educed it from other bodies: but further experiments
shewed our mistake. It is to be found in all matter we know of; and
the distinctions of electrics _per se_, and non-electrics, should now
be dropt as improper, and that of _conductors_ and _non-conductors_
assumed in its place, as I mentioned in those answers.
I do not remember any experiment by which it appeared that high
rectified spirit will not conduct; perhaps you have made such. This
I know, that wax, rosin, brimstone, and even glass, commonly reputed
electrics _per se_, will, when in a fluid state, conduct pretty
well. Glass will do it when only red hot. So that my former position,
that only metals and water were conductors, and other bodies more or
less such, as they partook of metal or moisture, was too general.
Your conception of the electric fluid, that it is incomparably more
subtle than air, is undoubtedly just. It pervades dense matter
with the greatest ease; but it does not seem to mix or incorporate
willingly with mere air, as it does with other matter. It will not
quit common matter to join with air. Air obstructs, in some degree,
its motion. An electric atmosphere cannot be communicated at so
great a distance, through intervening air, by far, as through a
vacuum.--Who knows then, but there may be, as the ancients thought,
a region of this fire above our atmosphere, prevented by our air,
and its own too great distance for attraction, from joining our
earth? Perhaps where the atmosphere is rarest, this fluid may be
densest, and nearer the earth where the atmosphere grows denser,
this fluid may be rarer; yet some of it be low enough to attach
itself to our highest clouds, and thence they becoming electrified,
may be attracted by, and descend towards the earth, and discharge
their watry contents, together with that etherial fire. Perhaps the
_auroræ boreales_ are currents of this fluid in its own region, above
our atmosphere, becoming from their motion visible. There is no end
to conjectures. As yet we are but novices in this branch of natural
knowledge.
You mention several differences of salts in electrical experiments.
Were they all equally dry? Salt is apt to acquire moisture from a
moist air, and some sorts more than others. When perfectly dried by
lying before a fire, or on a stove, none that I have tried will
conduct any better than so much glass.
New flannel, if dry and warm, will draw the electric fluid from
non-electrics, as well as that which has been worn.
I wish you had the convenience of trying the experiments you seem to
have such expectations from, upon various kinds of spirits, salts,
earth, &c. Frequently, in a variety of experiments, though we miss
what we expected to find, yet something valuable turns out, something
surprising, and instructing, though unthought of.
I thank you for communicating the illustration of the theorem
concerning light. It is very curious. But I must own I am much in
the _dark_ about _light_. I am not satisfied with the doctrine that
supposes particles of matter called light, continually driven off
from the sun's surface, with a swiftness so prodigious! Must not
the smallest particle conceivable have, with such a motion, a force
exceeding that of a twenty-four pounder, discharged from a cannon?
Must not the Sun diminish exceedingly by such a waste of matter; and
the planets, instead of drawing nearer to him, as some have feared,
recede to greater distances through the lessened attraction. Yet
these particles, with this amazing motion, will not drive before
them, or remove, the least and lightest dust they meet with: And the
Sun, for aught we know, continues of his antient dimensions, and his
attendants move in their antient orbits.
May not all the phenomena of light be more conveniently solved, by
supposing universal space filled with a subtle elastic fluid, which,
when at rest, is not visible, but whose vibrations affect that fine
sense in the eye, as those of air do the grosser organs of the ear?
We do not, in the case of sound, imagine that any sonorous particles
are thrown off from a bell, for instance, and fly in strait lines to
the ear; why must we believe that luminous particles leave the sun
and proceed to the eye? Some diamonds, if rubbed, shine in the dark,
without losing any part of their matter. I can make an electrical
spark as big as the flame of a candle, much brighter, and, therefore,
visible further; yet this is without fuel; and, I am persuaded,
no part of the electric fluid flies off in such case to distant
places, but all goes directly, and is to be found in the place to
which I destine it. May not different degrees of the vibration of
the above-mentioned universal medium, occasion the appearances of
different colours? I think the electric fluid is always the same; yet
I find that weaker and stronger sparks differ in apparent colour,
some white, blue, purple, red; the strongest, white; weak ones red.
Thus different degrees of vibration given to the air produce the
seven, different sounds in music, analagous to the seven colours, yet
the medium, air, is the same.
If the Sun is not wasted by expence of light, I can easily conceive
that he shall otherwise always retain the same quantity of matter;
though we should suppose him made of sulphur constantly flaming. The
action of fire only _separates_ the particles of matter, it does not
_annihilate_ them. Water, by heat raised in vapour, returns to the
earth in rain; and if we could collect all the particles of burning
matter that go off in smoak, perhaps they might, with the ashes,
weigh as much as the body before it was fired: and if we could put
them into the same position with regard to each other, the mass would
be the same as before, and might be burnt over again. The chymists
have analysed sulphur, and find it composed, in certain proportions,
of oil, salt, and earth; and having, by the analysis, discovered
those proportions, they can, of those ingredients, make sulphur.
So we have only to suppose, that the parts of the Sun's sulphur,
separated by fire, rise into his atmosphere, and there being freed
from the immediate action of the fire, they collect into cloudy
masses, and growing, by degrees, too heavy to be longer supported,
they descend to the Sun, and are burnt over again. Hence the spots
appearing on his face, which are observed to diminish daily in size,
their consuming edges being of particular brightness.
It is well we are not, as poor Galileo was, subject to the
inquisition for _philosophical heresy_. My whispers against the
orthodox doctrine, in private letters, would be dangerous; but your
writing and printing would be highly criminal. As it is, you must
expect some censure, but one heretic will surely excuse another.
I am heartily glad to hear more instances of the success of the
poke-weed, in the cure of that horrible evil to the human body, a
cancer. You will deserve highly of mankind for the communication. But
I find in Boston they are at a loss to know the right plant, some
asserting it is what they call _Mechoachan_, others other things.
In one of their late papers it is publicly requested that a perfect
description may be given of the plant, its places of growth, &c. I
have mislaid the paper, or would send it to you. I thought you had
described it pretty fully[63].
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[62] Cadwallader Colden. See note, page 250. _Editor._
[63] As the poke-weed, though out of place, is introduced here, we
shall translate and insert two extracts of letters from Dr. Franklin
to M. Dubourg, the French translator of his works, on the same
subject.
"LONDON, MARCH 27, 1773.
"I apprehend that our poke-weed is what the botanists term
_phytolacca_. This plant bears berries as large as peas; the skin is
black, but it contains a crimson juice. It is this juice, thickened
by evaporation in the sun, which was employed. It caused great pain,
but some persons were said to have been cured. I am not quite certain
of the facts; all that I know is, that Dr. Colden had a good opinion
of the remedy."
"LONDON, APRIL 23, 1773.
"You will see by the annexed paper by Dr. Solander, that this herb,
poke-weed, in which has been found a specific remedy for cancers, is
the most common species of phytolacca. (Phytolacca decandra L.)"
_Editor._
MR. E. KINNERSLEY, AT BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT
PHILADELPHIA.
_New Experiments.--Paradoxes inferred from them.--Difference
in the Electricity of a Globe of Glass charged, and a Globe of
Sulphur.--Difficulty of ascertaining which is positive and which
negative._
_Feb. 3, 1752._
SIR,
I have the following experiments to communicate: I held in one hand a
wire, which was fastened at the other end to the handle of a pump, in
order to try whether the stroke from the prime conductor, through my
arms, would be any greater than when conveyed only to the surface of
the earth, but could discover no difference.
I placed the needle of a compass on the point of a long pin, and
holding it in the atmosphere of the prime conductor, at the distance
of about three inches, found it to whirl round like the flyers of a
jack, with great rapidity.
I suspended with silk a cork ball, about the bigness of a pea, and
presented to it rubbed amber, sealing-wax, and sulphur, by each of
which it was strongly repelled; then I tried rubbed glass and china,
and found that each of these would attract it, until it became
electrified again, and then it would be repelled as at first; and
while thus repelled by the rubbed glass or china, either of the
others when rubbed would attract it. Then I electrified the ball,
with the wire of a charged phial, and presented to it rubbed glass
(the stopper of a decanter) and a china tea-cup, by which it was as
strongly repelled as by the wire; but when I presented either of the
other rubbed electrics, it would be strongly attracted, and when I
electrified it by either of these, till it became repelled, it would
be attracted by the wire of the phial, but be repelled by its coating.
These experiments surprised me very much, and have induced me to
infer the following paradoxes.
1. If a glass globe be placed at one end of a prime-conductor, and
a sulphur one at the other end, both being equally in good order,
and in equal motion, not a spark of fire can be obtained from the
conductor; but one globe will draw out, as fast as the other gives in.
2. If a phial be suspended on the conductor, with a chain from its
coating to the table, and only one of the globes be made use of at
a time, 20 turns of the wheel, for instance, will charge it; after
which, so many tarns of the other wheel will discharge it; and as
many more will charge it again.
3. The globes being both in motion, each having a separate conductor,
with a phial suspended on one of them, and the chain of it fastened
to the other, the phial will become charged; one globe charging
positively, the other negatively.
4. The phial being thus charged, hang it in like manner on the other
conductor; set both wheels a going again, and the same number of
turns that charged it before, will now discharge it; and the same
number repeated, will charge it again.
5. When each globe communicates with the same prime conductor, having
a chain hanging from it to the table, one of them, when in motion
(but which I cannot say) will draw fire up through the cushion, and
discharge it through the chain; the other will draw it up through the
chain, and discharge it through the cushion.
I should be glad if you would send to my house for my sulphur globe,
and the cushion belonging to it, and make the trial; but must caution
you not to use chalk on the cushion, some fine powdered sulphur will
do better. If, as I expect, you should find the globes to charge the
prime conductor differently, I hope you will be able to discover some
method of determining which it is that charges positively.
I am, &c.
E. KINNERSLEY.
TO MR. E. KINNERSLEY, AT BOSTON.
_Probable Cause of the Different Attractions and Repulsions of the
two electrified Globes mentioned in the two preceding Letters._
_Philadelphia, March 2, 1752._
SIR,
I thank you for the experiments communicated. I sent immediately for
your brimstone globe, in order to make the trials you desired, but
found it wanted centres, which I have not time now to supply; but the
first leisure I will get it fitted for use, try the experiments, and
acquaint you with the result.
In the mean time I suspect, that the different attractions and
repulsions you observed, proceeded rather from the greater or smaller
quantities of the fire you obtained from different bodies, than from
its being of a different _kind_, or having a different _direction_.
In haste,
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MR. E. KINNERSLEY, AT BOSTON.
_Reasons for supposing, that the glass Globe charges positively,
and the Sulphur negatively.--Hint respecting a leather Globe for
Experiments when travelling._
_Philadelphia, March 16, 1752._
SIR,
Having brought your brimstone globe to work, I tried one of the
experiments you proposed, and was agreeably surprised to find, that
the glass globe being at one end of the conductor, and the sulphur
globe at the other end, both globes in motion, no spark could be
obtained from the conductor, unless when one globe turned slower, or
was not in so good order as the other; and then the spark was only
in proportion to the difference, so that turning equally, or turning
that slowest which worked best, would again bring the conductor to
afford no spark.
I found also, that the wire of a phial charged by the glass globe,
attracted a cork ball that had touched the wire of a phial charged
by the brimstone globe, and _vice versa_, so that the cork continued
to play between the two phials, just as when one phial was charged
through the wire, the other through the coating, by the glass globe
alone. And two phials charged, the one by the brimstone globe, the
other by the glass globe, would be both discharged by bringing their
wires together, and shock the person holding the phials.
From these experiments one may be certain that your 2d, 3d, and 4th
proposed experiments, would succeed exactly as you suppose, though I
have not tried them, wanting time. I imagine it is the glass globe
that charges positively, and the sulphur negatively, for these
reasons: 1. Though the sulphur globe seems to work equally well
with the glass one, yet it can never occasion so large and distant
a spark between my knuckle and the conductor, when the sulphur
one is working, as when the glass one is used; which, I suppose,
is occasioned by this, that bodies of a certain bigness cannot so
easily part with a quantity of electrical fluid they have and hold
attracted _within_ their substance, as they can receive an additional
quantity _upon_ their surface by way of atmosphere. Therefore so
much cannot be drawn _out_ of the conductor, as can be thrown _on_
it. 2. I observe that the stream or brush of fire, appearing at the
end of a wire, connected with the conductor, is long, large, and
much diverging, when the glass globe is used, and makes a snapping
(or rattling) noise: but when the sulphur one is used, it is short,
small, and makes a hissing noise; and just the reverse of both
happens, when you hold the same wire in your hand, and the globes
are worked alternately: the brush is large, long, diverging, and
snapping (or rattling) when the sulphur globe is turned; short,
small, and hissing, when the glass globe is turned.--When the brush
is long, large, and much diverging, the body to which it joins seems
to me to be throwing the fire out; and when the contrary appears, it
seems to be drinking in. 3. I observe, that when I hold my knuckle
before the sulphur globe, while turning, the stream of fire between
my knuckle and the globe seems to spread on its surface, as if it
flowed from the finger; on the glass globe it is otherwise. 4. The
cool wind (or what was called so) that we used to feel as coming from
an electrified point, is, I think, more sensible when the glass globe
is used, than when the sulphur one.--But these are hasty thoughts. As
to your fifth paradox, it must likewise be true, if the globes are
alternately worked; but if worked together, the fire will neither
come up nor go down by the chain, because one globe will drink it as
fast as the other produces it.
I should be glad to know, whether the effects would be contrary if
the glass globe is solid, and the sulphur globe is hollow; but I have
no means at present of trying.
In your journeys, your glass globes meet with accidents, and sulphur
ones are heavy and inconvenient.--_Query._ Would not a thin plane of
brimstone, cast on a board, serve on occasion as a cushion, while a
globe of leather stuffed (properly mounted) might receive the fire
from the sulphur, and charge the conductor positively? Such a globe
would be in no danger of breaking[64]. I think I can conceive how it
may be done; but have not time to add more than that I am,
Yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[64] The discoveries of the late ingenious Mr. Symmer, on the
positive and negative electricity produced by the mutual friction of
white and black silk, &c. afford hints for farther improvements to be
made with this view.
[In Mr. Collinson's edition, several papers followed here, by
the Abbé Mazeas, and others, upon the subject of Dr. Franklin's
experiments, which, that the letters of our author might not be too
much interrupted, we have thought proper to transfer to an Appendix.
A subsequent paper by Mr. David Colden, entitled Remarks on the Abbé
Nollet's Letters to Benjamin Franklin, esq. on Electricity, will be
found transferred in the same manner.]
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Electrical Kite._
_Philadelphia, Oct. 19, 1752._
SIR,
As frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe of the
success of the Philadelphia experiment for drawing the electric
fire from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high
buildings, &c. it may be agreeable to the curious to be informed that
the same experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia, though made in a
different and more easy manner, which is as follows:
Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as
to reach to the four corners of a large thin silk handkerchief when
extended; tie the corners of the handkerchief to the extremities
of the cross, so you have the body of a kite; which being properly
accommodated with a tail, loop, and string, will rise in the air,
like those made of paper; but this being of silk is fitter to bear
the wet and wind of a thunder-gust without tearing. To the top of
the upright stick of the cross is to be fixed a very sharp pointed
wire, rising a foot or more above the wood. To the end of the twine,
next the hand, is to be tied a silk ribbon, and where the silk and
twine join, a key may be fastened. This kite is to be raised when a
thunder-gust appears to be coming on, and the person who holds the
string must stand within a door or window, or under some cover, so
that the silk ribbon may not be wet; and care must be taken that the
twine does not touch the frame of the door or window. As soon as
any of the thunder clouds come over the kite, the pointed wire will
draw the electric fire from them, and the kite, with all the twine,
will be electrified, and the loose filaments of the twine will stand
out every way, and be attracted by an approaching finger. And when
the rain has wetted the kite and twine, so that it can conduct the
electric fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from
the key on the approach of your knuckle. At this key the phial may
be charged; and from electric fire thus obtained, spirits may be
kindled, and all the other electric experiments be performed, which
are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube, and
thereby the sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning
completely demonstrated.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Hypothesis, of the Sea being the grand Source of Lightning,
retracted. Positive, and sometimes negative, Electricity of the
Clouds discovered.--New Experiments and Conjectures in Support of
this Discovery.--Observations recommended for ascertaining the
Direction of the electric Fluid.--Size of Rods for Conductors to
Buildings.--Appearance of a Thunder-Cloud described._
_Philadelphia, September, 1753._
SIR,
In my former paper on this subject, written first in 1747, enlarged
and sent to England in 1749, I considered the sea as the grand source
of lightning, imagining its luminous appearance to be owing to
electric fire, produced by friction between the particles of water
and those of salt. Living far from the sea, I had then no opportunity
of making experiments on the sea-water, and so embraced this opinion
too hastily.
For in 1750, and 1751, being occasionally on the sea-coast, I found,
by experiments, that sea-water in a bottle, though at first it would
by agitation appear luminous, yet in a few hours it lost that virtue:
_hence and from this_, that I could not by agitating a solution of
sea-salt in water produce any light, I first began to doubt of my
former hypothesis, and to suspect that the luminous appearance in
sea-water must be owing to some other principles.
I then considered whether it were not possible, that the particles
of air, being electrics _per se_, might, in hard gales of wind,
by their friction against trees, hills, buildings, &c. as so many
minute electric globes, rubbing against non-electric cushions, draw
the electric fire from the earth, and that the rising vapours might
receive that fire from the air, and by such means the clouds become
electrified.
If this were so, I imagined that by forcing a constant violent stream
of air against my prime conductor, by bellows, I should electrify it
_negatively_; the rubbing particles of air, drawing from it part of
its natural quantity of the electric fluid. I accordingly made the
experiment, but it did not succeed.
In September 1752, I erected an iron rod to draw the lightning
down into my house, in order to make some experiments on it, with
two bells to give notice when the rod should be electrified: a
contrivance obvious to every electrician.
I found the bells rang sometimes when there was no lightning or
thunder, but only a dark cloud over the rod; that sometimes after
a flash of lightning they would suddenly stop; and at other times,
when they had not rang before, they would, after a flash, suddenly
begin to ring; that the electricity was sometimes very faint, so
that when a small spark was obtained, another could not be got for
some time after; at other times the sparks would follow extremely
quick, and once I had a continual stream from bell to bell, the size
of a crow-quill: even during the same gust there were considerable
variations.
In the winter following I conceived an experiment, to try whether the
clouds were electrified _positively_ or _negatively_; but my pointed
rod, with its apparatus, becoming out of order, I did not refit it
till towards the spring, when I expected the warm weather would bring
on more frequent thunder-clouds.
The experiment was this: To take two phials; charge one of them with
lightning from the iron rod, and give the other an equal charge by
the electric glass globe, through the prime conductor: when charged,
to place them on a table within three or four inches of each other,
a small cork ball being suspended by a fine silk thread from the
cieling, so as it might play between the wires. If both bottles then
were electrified _positively_, the ball being attracted and repelled
by one, must be also repelled by the other. If the one _positively_,
and the other _negatively_; then the ball would be attracted and
repelled alternately by each, and continue to play between them as
long as any considerable charge remained.
Being very intent on making this experiment, it was no small
mortification to me, that I happened to be abroad during two of the
greatest thunder-storms we had early in the spring, and though I had
given orders in my family, that if the bells rang when I was from
home, they should catch some of the lightning for me in electrical
phials, and they did so, yet it was mostly dissipated before my
return, and in some of the other gusts, the quantity of lightning
I was able to obtain was so small, and the charge so weak, that I
could not satisfy myself: yet I sometimes saw what heightened my
suspicions, and inflamed my curiosity.
At last, on the 12th of April, 1753, there being a smart gust of some
continuance, I charged one phial pretty well with lightning, and the
other equally, as near as I could judge, with electricity from my
glass globe; and, having placed them properly, I beheld, with great
surprize and pleasure, the cork ball play briskly between them; and
was convinced that one bottle was electrised _negatively_.
I repeated this experiment several times during the gust, and in
eight succeeding gusts, always with the same success; and being
of opinion (for reasons I formerly gave in my letter to Mr.
Kinnersley, since printed in London) that the glass globe electrises
_positively_, I concluded that the clouds are _always_ electrised
_negatively_, or have always in them less than their natural quantity
of the electric fluid.
Yet notwithstanding so many experiments, it seems I concluded too
soon; for at last, June the 6th, in a gust which continued from five
o'clock, P. M. to seven, I met with one cloud that was electrised
positively, though several that passed over my rod before, during the
same gust, were in the negative state. This was thus discovered:
I had another concurring experiment, which I often repeated, to prove
the negative state of the clouds, viz. while the bells were ringing,
I took the phial charged from the glass globe, and applied its wire
to the erected rod, considering, that if the clouds were electrised
_positively_, the rod which received its electricity from them must
be so too; and then the additional _positive_ electricity of the
phial would make the bells ring faster:--But, if the clouds were in a
_negative_ state, they must exhaust the electric fluid from my rod,
and bring that into the same negative state with themselves, and then
the wire of a positively charged phial, supplying the rod with what
it wanted (which it was obliged otherwise to draw from the earth by
means of the pendulous brass ball playing between the two bells) the
ringing would cease till the bottle was discharged.
In this manner I quite discharged into the rod several phials that
were charged from the glass globe, the electric fluid streaming from
the wire to the rod, till the wire would receive no spark from the
finger; and, during this supply to the rod from the phial, the bells
stopped ringing; but by continuing the application of the phial wire
to the rod, I exhausted the natural quantity from the inside surface
of the same phials, or, as I call it, charged them _negatively_.
At length, while I was charging a phial by my glass globe, to repeat
this experiment, my bells, of themselves, stopped ringing, and, after
some pause, began to ring again.--But now, when I approached the
wire of the charged phial to the rod, instead of the usual stream
that I expected from the wire to the rod, there was no spark; not
even when I brought the wire and the rod to touch; yet the bells
continued ringing vigorously, which proved to me, that the rod was
then _positively_ electrified, as well as the wire of the phial, and
equally so; and, consequently, that the particular cloud then over
the rod was in the same positive state. This was near the end of the
gust.
But this was a single experiment, which, however, destroys my first
too general conclusion, and reduces me to this: _That the clouds of
a thunder-gust are most commonly in a negative state of electricity,
but sometimes in a positive state._
The latter I believe is rare; for though I soon after the last
experiment set out on a journey to Boston, and was from home most
part of the summer, which prevented my making farther trials and
observations; yet Mr. Kinnersley returning from the Islands just as I
left home, pursued the experiments during my absence, and informs me
that he always found the clouds in the _negative_ state.
So 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_.
Those who are versed in electric experiments, will easily conceive,
that the effects and appearances must be nearly the same in either
case; the same explosion, and the same flash between one cloud and
another, and between the clouds and mountains, &c. the same rending
of trees, walls, &c. which the electric fluid meets with in its
passage, and the same fatal shock to animal bodies; and that pointed
rods fixed on buildings, or masts of ships, and communicating with
the earth or sea, must be of the same service in restoring the
equilibrium silently between the earth and clouds, or in conducting a
flash or stroke, if one should be, so as to save harmless the house
or vessel: for points have equal power to throw off, as to draw on
the electric fire, and, rods will conduct up as well as down.
But though the light gained from these experiments makes no
alteration in the practice, it makes a considerable one in the
theory. And now we as much need an hypothesis to explain by what
means the clouds become negatively, as before to shew how they
became positively electrified.
I cannot forbear venturing some few conjectures on this occasion:
they are what occur to me at present, and though future discoveries
should prove them not wholly right, yet they may in the mean time be
of some use, by stirring up the curious to make more experiments, and
occasion more exact disquisitions.
I conceive then, that this globe of earth and water, with its plants,
animals, and buildings, have diffused throughout their substance, a
quantity of the electric fluid, just as much as they can contain,
which I call the _natural quantity_.
That this natural quantity is not the same in all kinds of common
matter under the same dimensions, nor in the same kind of common
matter in all circumstances; but a solid foot, for instance, of one
kind of common matter, may contain more of the electric fluid than a
solid foot of some other kind of common matter; and a pound weight of
the same kind of common matter may, when in a rarer state, contain
more of the electric fluid than when in a denser state.
For the electric fluid, being attracted by any portion of common
matter, the parts of that fluid, (which have among themselves a
mutual repulsion) are brought so near to each other by the attraction
of the common matter that absorbs them, as that their repulsion is
equal to the condensing power of attraction in common matter; and
then such portion of common matter will absorb no more.
Bodies of different kinds having thus attracted and absorbed what I
call their _natural quantity, i. e._ just as much of the electric
fluid as is suited to their circumstances of density, rarity, and
power of attracting, do not then show any signs of electricity among
each other.
And if more electric fluid be added to one of these bodies, it does
not enter, but spreads on the surface, forming an atmosphere; and
then such body shews signs of electricity.
I have in a former paper compared common matter to a spunge, and the
electric fluid to water: I beg leave once more to make use of the
same comparison, to illustrate farther my meaning in this particular.
When a spunge is somewhat condensed by being squeezed between the
fingers, it will not receive and retain so much water as when in its
more loose and open state.
If _more_ squeezed and condensed, some of the water will come out of
its inner parts, and flow on the surface.
If the pressure of the fingers be entirely removed, the spunge will
not only resume what was lately forced out, but attract an additional
quantity.
As the spunge in its rarer state will _naturally_ attract and absorb
_more_ water, and in its denser state will _naturally_ attract and
absorb _less_ water; we may call the quantity it attacks and absorbs
in either state, its _natural quantity_, the state being considered.
Now what the spunge is to water, the same is water to the electric
fluid.
When a portion of water is in its common dense state, it can hold no
more electric fluid than it has: if any be added, it spreads on the
surface.
When the same portion of water is rarefied into vapour, and forms
a cloud, it is then capable of receiving and absorbing a much
greater quantity; there is room for each particle to have an electric
atmosphere.
Thus water, in its rarefied state, or in the form of a cloud, will
be in a negative state of electricity; it will have less than its
_natural quantity_; that is, less than it is naturally capable of
attracting and absorbing in that state.
Such a cloud, then, coming so near the earth as to be within the
striking distance, will receive from the earth a flash of the
electric fluid; which flash, to supply a great extent of cloud, must
sometimes contain a very great quantity of that fluid.
Or such a cloud, passing over woods of tall trees, may from the
points and sharp edges of their moist top leaves, receive silently
some supply.
A cloud being by any means supplied from the earth, may strike into
other clouds that have not been supplied, or not so much supplied;
and those to others, till an equilibrium is produced among all the
clouds that are within striking distance of each other.
The cloud thus supplied, having parted with much of what it first
received, may require and receive a fresh supply from the earth,
or from some other cloud, which by the wind is brought into such a
situation as to receive it more readily from the earth.
Hence repeated and continual strokes and flashes till the clouds have
all got nearly their natural quantity as clouds, or till they have
descended in showers, and are united again with this terraqueous
globe, their original.
Thus, thunder-clouds are generally in a negative state of electricity
compared with the earth, agreeable to most of our experiments; yet
as by one experiment we found a cloud electrised positively, I
conjecture that, in that case, such cloud, after having received
what was, in its rare state, only its _natural quantity_, became
compressed by the driving winds, or some other means, so that part
of what it had absorbed was forced out, and formed an electric
atmosphere around it in its denser state. Hence it was capable of
communicating positive electricity to my rod.
To show that a body in different circumstances of dilatation and
contraction is capable of receiving and retaining more or less of
the electric fluid on its surface, I would relate the following
experiment: I placed a clean wine glass on the floor, and on it a
small silver can. In the can I put about three yards of brass chain;
to one end of which I fastened a silk thread, which went right up to
the cieling, where it passed over a pulley, and came down again to
my hand, that I might at pleasure draw the chain up out of the can,
extending it till within a foot of the cieling, and let it gradually
sink into the can again.--From the cieling, by another thread of
fine raw silk, I suspended a small light lock of cotton, so as that
when it hung perpendicularly, it came in contact with the side of
the can.--Then approaching the wire of a charged phial to the can,
I gave it a spark, which flowed round in an electric atmosphere;
and the lock of cotton was repelled from the side of the can to the
distance of about nine or ten inches. The can would not then receive
another spark from the wire of the phial; but as I gradually drew
up the chain, the atmosphere of the can diminished by flowing over
the rising chain, and the lock of cotton accordingly drew nearer and
nearer to the can; and then, if I again brought the phial wire near
the can, it would receive another spark, and the cotton fly off
again to its first distance; and thus, as the chain was drawn higher,
the can would receive more sparks; because the can and extended chain
were capable of supporting a greater atmosphere than the can with
the chain gathered up into its belly.--And that the atmosphere round
the can was diminished by raising the chain, and increased again by
lowering it, is not only agreeable to reason, since the atmosphere
of the chain, must be drawn from that of the can, when it rose, and
returned to it again when it fell; but was also evident to the eye,
the lock of cotton always approaching the can when the chain was
drawn up, and receding when it was let down again.
Thus we see that increase of surface makes a body capable of
receiving a greater electric atmosphere: but this experiment does
not, I own, fully demonstrate my new hypothesis; for the brass and
silver still continue in their solid state, and are not rarefied into
vapour, as the water is in clouds. Perhaps some future experiments on
vapourized water may set this matter in a clearer light.
One seemingly material objection arises to the new hypothesis, and it
is this: If water, in its rarefied state, as a cloud, requires, and
will absorb more of the electric fluid than when in its dense state
as water, why does it not acquire from the earth all it wants at the
instant of its leaving the surface, while it is yet near, and but
just rising in vapour? To this difficulty I own I cannot at present
give a solution satisfactory to myself: I thought, however, that I
ought to state it in its full force, as I have done, and submit the
whole to examination.
And I would beg leave to recommend it to the curious in this branch
of natural philosophy, to repeat with care and accurate observation
the experiments I have reported in this and former papers relating to
_positive_ and _negative_ electricity, with such other relative ones
as shall occur to them, that it may be certainly known whether the
electricity communicated by a glass globe, be _really positive_. And
also I would request all who may have an opportunity of observing the
recent effects of lightning on buildings, trees, &c. that they would
consider them particularly with a view to discover the direction. But
in these examinations, this one thing is always to be understood,
viz. that a stream of the electric fluid passing through wood,
brick, metal, &c. while such fluid passes in _small quantity_, the
mutually repulsive power of its parts is confined and overcome by the
cohesion of the parts of the body it passes through, so as to prevent
an explosion; but when the fluid comes in a quantity too great to
be confined by such cohesion, it explodes, and rends or fuses the
body that endeavoured to confine it. If it be wood, brick, stone,
or the like, the splinters will fly off on that side where there is
least resistance. And thus, when a hole is struck through pasteboard
by the electrified jar, if the surfaces of the pasteboard are not
confined or compressed, there will be a bur raised all round the hole
on both sides the pasteboard; but if one side be confined, so that
the bur cannot be raised on that side, it will be all raised on the
other, which way soever the fluid was directed. For the bur round the
outside of the hole, is the effect of the explosion every way from
the centre of the stream, and not an effect of the direction.
In every stroke of lightning, I am of opinion that the stream of the
electric fluid, moving to restore the equilibrium between the cloud
and the earth, does always previously find its passage, and mark out,
as I may say, its own course, taking in its way all the conductors
it can find, such as metals, damp walls, moist wood, &c. and will go
considerably out of a direct course, for the sake of the assistance
of good conductors; and that, in this course, it is actually moving,
though silently and imperceptibly, before the explosion, in and among
the conductors; which explosion happens only when the conductors
cannot discharge it as fast as they receive it, by reason of their
being incomplete, dis-united, too small, or not of the best materials
for conducting. Metalline rods, therefore, of sufficient thickness,
and extending from the highest part of an edifice to the ground,
being of the best materials and complete conductors, will, I think,
secure the building from damage, either by restoring the equilibrium
so fast as to prevent a stroke, or by conducting it in the substance
of the rod as far as the rod goes, so that there shall be no
explosion but what is above its point, between that and the clouds.
If it be asked, what thickness of a metalline rod may be supposed
sufficient? In answer, I would remark, that five large glass jars,
such as I have described in my former papers, discharge a very great
quantity of electricity, which nevertheless will be all conducted
round the corner of a book, by the fine filleting of gold on the
cover, it following the gold the farthest way about, rather than
take the shorter course through the cover, that not being so good
a conductor. Now in this line of gold, the metal is so extremely
thin as to be little more than the colour of gold, and on an octavo
book is not in the whole an inch square, and therefore not the
thirty-sixth part of a grain, according to M. Reaumur; yet it is
sufficient to conduct the charge of five large jars, and how many
more I know not. Now, I suppose a wire of a quarter of an inch
diameter to contain about five thousand times as much metal as there
is in that gold line, and if so, it will conduct the charge of
twenty-five thousand such glass jars, which is a quantity, I imagine,
far beyond what was ever contained in any one stroke of natural
lightning. But a rod of half an inch diameter would conduct four
times as much as one of a quarter.
And with regard to conducting, though a certain thickness of metal
be required to conduct a great quantity of electricity, and, at the
same time, keep its own substance firm and unseparated; and a less
quantity, as a very small wire for instance, will be destroyed by
the explosion; yet such small wire will have answered the end of
conducting that stroke, though it become incapable of conducting
another. And considering the extreme rapidity with which the electric
fluid moves without exploding, when it has a free passage, or
compleat metal communication, I should think a vast quantity would
be conducted in a short time, either to or from a cloud, to restore
its equilibrium with the earth, by means of a very small wire; and
therefore thick rods should seem not so necessary.--However, as
the quantity of lightning discharged in one stroke, cannot well be
measured, and, in different strokes, is certainly very various, in
some much greater than others; and as iron (the best metal for the
purpose, being least apt to fuse) is cheap, it may be well enough
to provide a larger canal to guide that impetuous blast than we
imagine necessary: for, though one middling wire may be sufficient,
two or three can do no harm. And time, with careful observations
well compared, will at length point out the proper size to greater
certainty.
Pointed rods erected on edifices may likewise often prevent a stroke,
in the following manner: An eye so situated as to view horizontally
the under side of a thunder-cloud, will see it very ragged, with a
number of separate fragments, or petty clouds, one under another,
the lowest sometimes not far from the earth. These, as so many
stepping-stones, assist in conducting a stroke between the cloud
and a building. To represent these by an experiment, take two or
three locks of fine loose cotton, connect one of them with the prime
conductor by a fine thread of two inches (which may be spun out of
the same lock by the fingers) another to that, and the third to the
second, by like threads.--Turn the globe and you will see these locks
extend themselves towards the table (as the lower small clouds do
towards the earth) being attracted by it: but on presenting a sharp
point erect under the lowest, it will shrink up to the second, the
second to the first, and all together to the prime conductor, where
they will continue as long as the point continues under them. May
not, in like manner, the small electrised clouds, whose equilibrium
with the earth is soon restored by the point, rise up to the main
body, and by that means occasion so large a vacancy, as that the
grand cloud cannot strike in that place?
These thoughts, my dear friend, are many of them crude and hasty;
and if I were merely ambitious of acquiring some reputation
in philosophy, I ought to keep them by me, till corrected and
improved by time, and farther experience. But since even short
hints and imperfect experiments in any new branch of science,
being communicated, have oftentimes a good effect, in exciting the
attention of the ingenious to the subject, and so become the occasion
of more exact disquisition, and more compleat discoveries, you are
at liberty to communicate this paper to whom you please; it being of
more importance that knowledge should increase, than that your friend
should be thought an accurate philosopher.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Additional Proofs of the positive and negative State of
Electricity in the Clouds.--New Method of ascertaining it._
_Philadelphia, April 18, 1754._
SIR,
Since September last, having been abroad on two long journeys, and
otherwise much engaged, I have made but few observations on the
_positive_ and _negative_ state of electricity in the clouds. But Mr.
Kinnersley kept his rod and bells in good order, and has made many.
Once this winter the bells rang a long time, during a fall of snow,
though no thunder was heard, or lightning seen. Sometimes the flashes
and cracks of the electric matter between bell and bell were so
large and loud as to be heard all over the house: but by all his
observations, the clouds were constantly in a negative state, till
about six weeks ago, when he found them once to change in a few
minutes from the negative to the positive. About a fortnight after
that, he made another observation of the same kind; and last Monday
afternoon, the wind blowing hard at S. E. and veering round to N. E.
with many thick driving clouds, there were five or six successive
changes from negative to positive, and from positive to negative,
the bells stopping a minute or two between every change. Besides
the methods mentioned in my paper of September last, of discovering
the electrical state of the clouds, the following may be used. When
your bells are ringing, pass a rubbed tube by the edge of the bell,
connected with your pointed rod: if the cloud is then in a negative
state, the ringing will stop; if in a positive state, it will
continue, and perhaps be quicker. Or, suspend a very small cork-ball
by a fine silk thread, so that it may hang close to the edge of the
rod-bell: then whenever the bell is electrified, whether positively
or negatively, the little ball will be repelled, and continue at some
distance from the bell. Have ready a round-headed glass stopper of a
decanter, rub it on your side till it is electrified, then present
it to the cork-ball. If the electricity in the ball is positive, it
will be repelled from the glass stopper as well as from the bell. If
negative, it will fly to the stopper.
B. FRANKLIN.
ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS,
_With an attempt to account for their several phænomena. Together
with some observations on thunder-clouds, in further confirmation
of Mr. Franklin's observations on the positive and negative
electrical state of the clouds, by John Canton, M. A. and F. R. S._
_Dec. 6, 1753._
EXPERIMENT I.
From the cieling, or any convenient part of a room, let two
cork-balls, each about the bigness of a small pea, be suspended by
linen threads of eight or nine inches in length, so as to be in
contact with each other. Bring the excited glass tube under the
balls, and they will be separated by it, when held at the distance
of three or four feet; let it be brought nearer, and they will stand
farther apart; entirely withdraw it, and they will immediately come
together. This experiment may be made with very small brass balls
hung by silver wire; and will succeed as well with sealing-wax made
electrical, as with glass.
EXPERIMENT II.
If two cork-balls be suspended by dry silk threads, the excited tube
must be brought within eighteen inches before they will repel each
other; which they will continue to do, for some time, after the tube
is taken away.
As the balls in the first experiment are not insulated, they cannot
properly be said to be electrified: but when they hang within the
atmosphere of the excited tube, they may attract and condense the
electrical fluid round about them, and be separated by the repulsion
of its particles. It is conjectured also, that the balls at this
time contain less than their common share of the electrical fluid,
on account of the repelling power of that which surrounds them;
though some, perhaps, is continually entering and passing through
the threads. And if that be the case, the reason is plain why the
balls hung by silk, in the second experiment, must be in a much more
dense part of the atmosphere of the tube, before they will repel each
other. At the approach of an excited stick of wax to the balls, in
the first experiment, the electrical fire is supposed to come through
the threads into the balls, and be condensed there, in its passage
towards the wax; for, according to Mr. Franklin, excited glass
_emits_ the electrical fluid, but excited wax _receives_ it.
EXPERIMENT III.
Let a tin tube, of four or five feet in length, and about two inches
in diameter, be insulated by silk; and from one end of it let the
cork-balls be suspended by linen threads. Electrify it, by bringing
the excited glass tube near the other end, so as that the balls
may stand an inch and an half, or two inches, apart: then, at the
approach of the excited tube, they will, by degrees, lose their
repelling power, and come into contact; and as the tube is brought
still nearer, they will separate again to as great a distance as
before: in the return of the tube they will approach each other
till they touch, and then repel as at first. If the tin tube be
electrified by wax, or the wire of a charged phial, the balls will be
affected in the same manner at the approach of excited wax, or the
wire of the phial.
EXPERIMENT IV.
Electrify the cork-balls as in the last experiment by glass, and
at the approach of an excited stick of wax their repulsion will be
increased. The effect will be the same, if the excited glass be
brought towards them, when they have been electrified by wax.
The bringing the excited glass to the end, or edge of the tin-tube,
in the third experiment, is supposed to electrify it positively, or
to add to the electrical fire it before contained; and therefore
some will be running off through the balls, and they will repel each
other. But at the approach of excited glass, which likewise _emits_
the electrical fluid, the discharge of it from the balls will be
diminished; or part will be driven back, by a force acting in a
contrary direction: and they will come nearer together. If the tube
be held at such a distance from the balls, that the excess of the
density of the fluid round about them, above the common quantity in
air, be equal to the excess of the density of that within them, above
the common quantity contained in cork; their repulsion will be quite
destroyed. But if the tube be brought nearer; the fluid without being
more dense than that within the balls, it will be attracted by them,
and they will recede from each other again.
When the apparatus has lost part of its natural share of this fluid,
by the approach of excited wax to one end of it, or is electrified
negatively; the electrical fire is attracted and imbibed by the balls
to supply the deficiency; and that more plentifully at the approach
of excited glass; or a body positively electrified, than before;
whence the distance between the balls will be increased, as the
fluid surrounding them is augmented. And in general, whether by the
approach or recess of any body; if the difference between the density
of the internal and external fluid be increased, or diminished; the
repulsion of the balls will be increased, or diminished, accordingly.
EXPERIMENT V.
When the insulated tin tube is not electrified, bring the excited
glass tube towards the middle of it, so as to be nearly at right
angles with it, and the balls at the end will repel each other;
and the more so, as the excited tube is brought nearer. When it
has been held a few seconds, at the distance of about six inches,
withdraw it, and the balls will approach each other till they touch;
and then separating again, as the tube is moved farther off, will
continue to repel when it is taken quite away. And this repulsion
between the balls will be increased by the approach of excited
glass, but diminished by excited wax; just as if the apparatus had
been electrified by wax, after the manner described in the third
experiment.
EXPERIMENT VI.
Insulate two tin tubes, distinguished by A and B, so as to be in
a line with each other, and about half an inch apart; and at the
remote end of each, let a pair of cork balls be suspended. Towards
the middle of A, bring the excited glass tube, and holding it a short
time, at the distance of a few inches, each pair of balls will be
observed to separate: withdraw the tube, and the balls of A will
come together, and then repel each other again; but those of B will
hardly be affected. By the approach of the excited glass tube, held
under the balls of A, their repulsion will be increased: but if the
tube be brought, in the same manner, towards the balls of B, their
repulsion will be diminished.
In the fifth experiment, the common stock of electrical matter in the
tin tube, is supposed to be attenuated about the middle, and to be
condensed at the ends, by the repelling power of the atmosphere of
the excited glass tube, when held near it. And perhaps the tin tube
may lose some of its natural quantity of the electrical fluid, before
it receives any from the glass; as that fluid will more readily run
off from the ends and edges of it, than enter at the middle: and
accordingly, when the glass tube is withdrawn, and the fluid is again
equally diffused through the apparatus, it is found to be electrified
negatively: for excited glass brought under the balls will increase
their repulsion.
In the sixth experiment, part of the fluid driven out of one tin tube
enters the other; which is found to be electrified positively, by the
decreasing of the repulsion of its balls, at the approach of excited
glass.
EXPERIMENT VII.
Let the tin tube, with a pair of balls at one end, be placed three
feet at least from any part of the room, and the air rendered very
dry by means of a fire: electrify the apparatus to a considerable
degree; then touch the tin tube with a finger, or any other
conductor, and the balls will, notwithstanding, continue to repel
each other; though not at so great a distance as before.
The air surrounding the apparatus to the distance of two or three
feet, is supposed to contain more or less of the electrical fire,
than its common share, as the tin tube is electrified positively,
or negatively; and when very dry, may not part with its overplus,
or have its deficiency supplied so suddenly, as the tin; but may
continue to be electrified, after that has been touched for a
considerable time.
EXPERIMENT VIII.
Having made the Torricellian vacuum about five feet long, after the
manner described in the _Philosophical Transactions_, vol. xlvii. p.
370, if the excited tube be brought within a small distance of it,
a light will be seen through more than half its length; which soon
vanishes, if the tube be not brought nearer; but will appear again,
as that is moved farther off. This may be repeated several times,
without exciting the tube afresh.
This experiment may be considered as a kind of ocular demonstration
of the truth of Mr. Franklin's hypothesis; that when the electrical
fluid is condensed on one side of thin glass, it will be repelled
from the other, if it meets with no resistance. According to which,
at the approach of the excited tube, the fire is supposed to be
repelled from the inside of the glass surrounding the vacuum, and to
be carried off through the columns of mercury; but, as the tube is
withdrawn, the fire is supposed to return.
EXPERIMENT IX.
Let an excited stick of wax, of two feet and an half in length, and
about an inch in diameter, be held near its middle. Excite the glass
tube, and draw it over one half of it; then, turning it a little
about its axis, let the tube be excited again, and drawn over the
same half; and let this operation be repeated several times: then
will that half destroy the repelling power of balls electrified by
glass, and the other half will increase it.
By this experiment it appears, that wax also may be electrified
positively and negatively. And it is probable, that all bodies
whatsoever may have the quantity they contain of the electrical
fluid, increased, or diminished. The clouds, I have observed, by a
great number of experiments, to be some in a positive, and others
in a negative state of electricity. For the cork balls, electrified
by them, will sometimes close at the approach of excited glass; and
at other times be separated to a greater distance. And this change
I have known to happen five or six times in less than half an hour;
the balls coming together each time and remaining in contact a few
seconds, before they repel each other again. It may likewise easily
be discovered, by a charged phial, whether the electrical fire be
drawn out of the apparatus by a negative cloud, or forced into it
by a positive one: and by which soever it be electrified, should
that cloud either part with its overplus, or have its deficiency
supplied suddenly, the apparatus will lose its electricity: which
is frequently observed to be the case, immediately after a flash of
lightning. Yet when the air is very dry, the apparatus will continue
to be electrised for ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, after
the clouds have passed the zenith; and sometimes till they appear
more than half-way towards the horizon. Rain, especially when the
drops are large, generally brings down the electrical fire: and
hail, in summer, I believe never fails. When the apparatus was last
electrified, it was by the fall of thawing snow, which happened so
lately, as on the 12th of November; that being the twenty-sixth
day, and sixty-first time it has been electrified, since it was
first set up; which was about the middle of May. And as Fahrenheit's
thermometer was but seven degrees above freezing, it is supposed the
winter will not entirely put a stop to observations of this sort.
At London, no more than two thunder-storms have happened during the
whole summer; and the apparatus was sometimes so strongly electrified
in one of them, that the bells, which have been frequently rung by
the clouds, so loud as to be heard in every room of the house (the
doors being open) were silenced by the almost constant stream of
dense electrical fire, between each bell and the brass ball, which
would not suffer it to strike.
I shall conclude this paper, already too long, with the following
queries:
1. May not air, suddenly rarefied, give electrical fire to, and air
suddenly condensed, receive electrical fire from, clouds and vapours
passing through it?
2. Is not the _aurora borealis_, the flashing of electrical fire from
positive, towards negative clouds at a great distance, through the
upper part of the atmosphere, where the resistance is least?
EXPERIMENTS
_Made in Pursuance of those made by Mr. Canton, dated December 6,
1753; with Explanations, by Mr. Benjamin Franklin._
Read at the Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755.
_Philadelphia, March 14, 1755._
PRINCIPLES.
I. Electric atmospheres, that flow round non-electric bodies, being
brought near each other, do not readily mix and unite into one
atmosphere, but remain separate, and repel each other.
This is plainly seen in suspended cork balls, and other bodies
electrified.
II. An electric atmosphere not only repels another electric
atmosphere, but will also repel the electric matter contained in the
substance of a body approaching it; and without joining or mixing
with it, force it to other parts of the body that contained it.
This is shewn by some of the following experiments.
III. Bodies electrified negatively, or deprived of their natural
quantity of electricity, repel each other, (or at least appear to do
so, by a mutual receding) as well as those electrified positively, or
which have electric atmospheres.
This is shewn by applying the negatively charged wire of a phial to
two cork balls, suspended by silk threads, and many other experiments.
PREPARATION.
Fix a tassel of fifteen or twenty threads, three inches long, at one
end of a tin prime conductor (mine is about five feet long, and four
inches diameter) supported by silk lines.
Let the threads be a little damp, but not wet.
EXPERIMENT I.
_Pass an excited glass tube near the other end of the prime
conductor, so as to give it some sparks, and the threads will
diverge._
Because each thread, as well as the prime conductor, has acquired an
electric atmosphere, which repels and is repelled by the atmospheres
of the other threads: if those several atmospheres would readily mix,
the threads might unite, and hang in the middle of one atmosphere,
common to them all.
_Rub the tube afresh, and approach the prime conductor therewith,
crossways, near that end, but not nigh enough to give sparks; and
the threads will diverge a little more._
Because the atmosphere of the prime conductor is pressed by the
atmosphere of the excited tube, and driven towards the end where the
threads are, by which each thread acquires more atmosphere.
_Withdraw the tube, and they will close as much._
They close as much, and no more; because the atmosphere of the glass
tube not having mixed with the atmosphere of the prime conductor, is
withdrawn intire, having made no addition to, or diminution from it.
_Bring the excited tube under the tuft of threads, and they will
close a little._
They close, because the atmosphere of the glass tube repels their
atmospheres, and drives part of them back on the prime conductor.
_Withdraw it, and they will diverge as much._
For the portion of atmosphere which they had lost, returns to them
again.
EXPERIMENT II.
_Excite the glass tube, and approach the prime conductor with
it, holding it across, near the end opposite to that on which
the threads hang, at the distance of five or six inches. Keep it
there a few seconds, and the threads of the tassels will diverge.
Withdraw it, and they will close._
They diverge, because they have received electric atmospheres
from the electric matter before contained in the substance of the
prime conductor; but which is now repelled and driven away, by the
atmosphere of the glass tube, from the parts of the prime conductor
opposite and nearest to that atmosphere, and forced out upon the
surface of the prime conductor at its other end, and upon the threads
hanging thereto. Were it any part of the atmosphere of the glass
tube that flowed over and along the prime conductor to the threads,
and gave them atmospheres (as is the case when a spark is given to
the prime conductor from the glass tube) such part of the tube's
atmosphere would have remained, and the threads continue to diverge;
but they close on withdrawing the tube, because the tube takes with
it _all its own atmosphere_, and the electric matter, which had
been driven out of the substance of the prime conductor, and formed
atmospheres round the threads, is thereby permitted to return to its
place.
_Take a spark from the prime conductor near the threads, when they
are diverged as before, and they will close._
For by so doing you take away their atmospheres, composed of the
electric matter driven out of the substance of the prime conductor,
as aforesaid, by the repellency of the atmosphere of the glass tube.
By taking this spark you rob the prime conductor of part of its
natural quantity of the electric matter; which part so taken is not
supplied by the glass tube, for when that is afterwards withdrawn, it
takes with it its whole atmosphere, and leaves the prime conductor
electrised negatively, as appears by the next operation.
_Then withdraw the tube, and they will open again._
For now the electric matter in the prime conductor, returning to its
equilibrium, or equal diffusion, in all parts of its substance, and
the prime conductor having lost some of its natural quantity, the
threads connected with it lose part of theirs, and so are electrised
negatively, and therefore repel each other, by _Pr. III._
_Approach the prime conductor with the tube near the same place as
at first, and they will close again._
Because the part of their natural quantity of electric fluid, which
they had lost, is now restored to them again, by the repulsion of the
glass tube forcing that fluid to them from other parts of the prime
conductor; so they are now again in their natural state.
_Withdraw it, and they will open again._
For what had been restored to them, is now taken from them again,
flowing back into the prime conductor, and leaving them once more
electrised negatively.
_Bring the excited tube under the threads, and they will diverge
more._
Because more of their natural quantity is driven from them into the
prime conductor, and thereby their negative electricity increased.
EXPERIMENT III.
_The prime conductor not being electrified, bring the excited tube
under the tassel, and the threads will diverge._
Part of their natural quantity is thereby driven out of them into the
prime conductor, and they become negatively electrised, and therefore
repel each other.
_Keeping the tube in the same place with one hand, attempt to touch
the threads with the finger of the other hand, and they will recede
from the finger._
Because the finger being plunged into the atmosphere of the glass
tube, as well as the threads, part of its natural quantity is
driven back through the hand and body, by that atmosphere, and the
finger becomes, as well as the threads, negatively electrised,
and so repels, and is repelled by them. To confirm this, hold a
slender light lock of cotton, two or three inches long, near a
prime conductor, that is electrified by a glass globe, or tube. You
will see the cotton stretch itself out towards the prime conductor.
Attempt to touch it with the finger of the other hand, and it will be
repelled by the finger. Approach it with a positively charged wire of
a bottle, and it will fly to the wire. Bring it near a negatively
charged wire of a bottle, it will recede from that wire in the same
manner that it did from the finger; which demonstrates the finger to
be negatively electrised, as well as the lock of cotton so situated.
_Turkey killed by Electricity_.--_Effect of a Shock on the Operator
in making the Experiment._
As Mr. Franklin, in a former letter to Mr. Collinson, mentioned his
intending to try the power of a very strong electrical shock upon a
turkey, that gentleman accordingly has been so very obliging as to
send an account of it, which is to the following purpose.
He made first several experiments on fowls, and found, that two
large thin glass jars gilt, holding each about six gallons, were
sufficient, when fully charged, to kill common hens outright; but
the turkeys, though thrown into violent convulsions, and then lying
as dead for some minutes, would recover in less than a quarter of
an hour. However, having added three other such to the former two,
though not fully charged, he killed a turkey of about ten pounds
weight, and believes that they would have killed a much larger. He
conceited, as himself says, that the birds killed in this manner eat
uncommonly tender.
In making these experiments, he found, that a man could, without
great detriment, bear a much greater shock than he had imagined: for
he inadvertently received the stroke of two of these jars through his
arms and body, when they were very near fully charged. It seemed
to him an universal blow throughout the body from head to foot, and
was followed by a violent quick trembling in the trunk, which went
off gradually, in a few seconds. It was some minutes before he could
recollect his thoughts, so as to know what was the matter; for he
did not see the flash, though his eye was on the spot of the prime
conductor, from whence it struck the back of his hand; nor did he
hear the crack, though the by-standers said it was a loud one; nor
did he particularly feel the stroke on his hand, though he afterwards
found it had raised a swelling there, of the bigness of half a
pistol-bullet. His arms and the back of the neck felt somewhat numbed
the remainder of the evening, and his breast was sore for a week
after as if it had been bruised. From this experiment may be seen the
danger, even under the greatest caution, to the operator, when making
these experiments with large jars; for it is not to be doubted, but
several of these fully charged would as certainly, by increasing
them, in proportion to the size, kill a man, as they before did a
turkey.
_N. B._ The original of this letter, which was read at the Royal
Society, has been mislaid.
TO DR. L----[65], AT CHARLES TOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA.
_Differences in the Qualities of Glass.--Account of Domien, an
Electrician and Traveller.--Conjectures respecting the Pores of
Glass.--Origin of the Author's Idea of drawing down Lightning.--No
satisfactory Hypothesis respecting the Manner in which Clouds
become electrified.--Six Men knocked down at once by an electrical
Shock.--Reflections on the Spirit of Invention._
_Philadelphia, March 18, 1755._
SIR,
I send you enclosed a paper containing some new experiments I have
made, in pursuance of those by Mr. Canton that are printed with my
last letters. I hope these, with my explanation of them, will afford
you some entertainment[66].
In answer to your several enquiries. The tubes and globes we use
here, are chiefly made here. The glass has a greenish cast, but is
clear and hard, and, I think, better for electrical experiments than
the white glass of London, which is not so hard. There are certainly
great differences in glass. A white globe I had made here some years
since, would never, by any means, be excited. Two of my friends tried
it, as well as myself, without success. At length, putting it on an
electric stand, a chain from the prime conductor being in contact
with it, I found it had the properties of a non-electric; for I could
draw sparks from any part of it, though it was very clean and dry.
All I know of Domien, is, that by his own account he was a native of
Transylvania, of Tartar descent, but a priest of the Greek church:
he spoke and wrote Latin very readily and correctly. He set out
from his own country with an intention of going round the world, as
much as possible by land. He travelled through Germany, France, and
Holland, to England. Resided some time at Oxford. From England he
came to Maryland; thence went to New England; returned by land to
Philadelphia; and from hence travelled through Maryland, Virginia,
and North Carolina to you. He thought it might be of service to him
in his travels to know something of electricity. I taught him the
use of the tube; how to charge the Leyden phial, and some other
experiments. He wrote to me from Charles-Town, that he had lived
eight hundred miles upon electricity, it had been meat, drink, and
cloathing to him. His last letter to me was, I think, from Jamaica,
desiring me to send the tubes you mention, to meet him at the
Havannah, from whence he expected to get a passage to La Vera Cruz;
designed travelling over land through Mexico to Acapulco; thence to
get a passage to Manilla, and so through China, India, Persia, and
Turkey, home to his own country; proposing to support himself chiefly
by electricity. A strange project! But he was, as you observe, a very
singular character. I was sorry the tubes did not get to the Havannah
in time for him. If they are still in being, please to send for them,
and accept of them. What became of him afterwards I have never heard.
He promised to write to me as often as he could on his journey, and
as soon as he should get home after finishing his tour. It is now
seven years since he was here. If he is still in New Spain, as
you imagine from that loose report, I suppose it must be that they
confine him there, and prevent his writing: but I think it more
likely that he may be dead.
The questions you ask about the pores of glass, I cannot answer
otherwise, than that I know nothing of their nature; and
suppositions, however ingenious, are often mere mistakes. My
hypothesis, that they were smaller near the middle of the glass, too
small to admit the passage of electricity, which could pass through
the surface till it came near the middle, was certainly wrong: For
soon after I had written that letter, I did, in order to _confirm_
the hypothesis (which indeed I ought to have done before I wrote it)
make an experiment. I ground away five-sixths of the thickness of the
glass, from the side of one of my phials, expecting that the supposed
denser part being so removed, the electric fluid might come through
the remainder of the glass, which I had imagined more open; but I
found myself mistaken. The bottle charged as well after the grinding
as before. I am now, as much as ever, at a loss to know how or where
the quantity of electric fluid, on the positive side of the glass, is
disposed of.
As to the difference of conductors, there is not only this, that some
will conduct electricity in small quantities, and yet do not conduct
it fast enough to produce the shock; but even among those that will
conduct a shock, there are some that do it better than others. Mr.
Kinnersley has found, by a very good experiment, that when the charge
of a bottle hath an opportunity of passing two ways, _i. e._ straight
through a trough of water ten feet long, and six inches square; or
round about through twenty feet of wire, it passes through the wire,
and not through the water, though that is the shortest course; the
wire being the better conductor. When the wire is taken away, it
passes through the water, as may be felt by a hand plunged in the
water; but it cannot be felt in the water when the wire is used at
the same time. Thus, though a small phial containing water will give
a smart shock, one containing the same quantity of mercury will give
one much stronger, the mercury being the better conductor; while one
containing oil, only, will scarce give any shock at all.
Your question, how I came first to think of proposing the experiment
of drawing down the lightning, in order to ascertain its sameness
with the electric fluid, I cannot answer better than by giving you an
extract from the minutes I used to keep of the experiments I made,
with memorandums of such as I purposed to make, the reasons for
making them, and the observations that arose upon them, from which
minutes my letters were afterwards drawn. By this extract you will
see that the thought was not so much "an out-of-the-way one," but
that it might have occurred to an electrician.
"Nov. 7, 1749. Electrical fluid agrees with lightning in these
particulars: 1. Giving light. 2. Colour of the light. 3. Crooked
direction. 4. Swift motion. 5. Being conducted by metals. 6. Crack or
noise in exploding. 7. Subsisting in water or ice. 8. Rending bodies
it passes through. 9. Destroying animals. 10. Melting metals. 11.
Firing inflammable substances. 12. Sulphureous smell.--The electric
fluid is attracted by points.--We do not know whether this property
is in lightning.--But since they agree in all the particulars
wherein we can already compare them, is it not probable they agree
likewise in this?--Let the experiment be made."
I wish I could give you any satisfaction in the article of clouds. I
am still at a loss about the manner in which they become charged with
electricity; no hypothesis I have yet formed perfectly satisfying me.
Some time since, I heated very hot a brass plate, two feet square,
and placed it on an electric stand. From the plate a wire extended
horizontally four or five feet, and, at the end of it, hung, by linen
threads, a pair of cork balls. I then repeatedly sprinkled water over
the plate, that it might be raised from it in vapour, hoping that if
the vapour either carried off the electricity of the plate, or left
behind it that of the water (one of which I supposed it must do, if,
like the clouds, it became electrised itself, either positively or
negatively) I should perceive and determine it by the separation of
the balls, and by finding whether they were positive or negative; but
no alteration was made at all, nor could I perceive that the steam
was itself electrised, though I have still some suspicion that the
steam was not fully examined, and I think the experiment should be
repeated. Whether the first state of electrised clouds is positive or
negative, if I could find the cause of that, I should be at no loss
about the other, for either is easily deduced from the other, as one
state is easily produced by the other. A strongly positive cloud may
drive out of a neighbouring cloud much of its natural quantity of the
electric fluid, and, passing by it, leave it in a negative state. In
the same way, a strongly negative cloud may occasion a neighbouring
cloud to draw into itself from others, an additional quantity, and,
passing by it, leave it in a positive state. How these effects may
be produced, you will easily conceive, on perusing and considering
the experiments in the enclosed paper: and from them too it appears
probable, that every change from positive to negative, and from
negative to positive, that, during a thunder-gust, we see in the
cork-balls annexed to the apparatus, is not owing to the presence
of clouds in the same state, but often to the absence of positive
or negative clouds, that, having just passed, leave the rod in the
opposite state.
The knocking down of the six men was performed with two of my large
jars not fully charged. I laid one end of my discharging rod upon the
head of the first; he laid his hand on the head of the second; the
second his hand on the head of the third, and so to the last, who
held, in his hand, the chain that was connected with the outside of
the jars. When they were thus placed, I applied the other end of my
rod to the prime conductor, and they all dropped together. When they
got up, they all declared they had not felt any stroke, and wondered
how they came to fall; nor did any of them either hear the crack, or
see the light of it. You suppose it a dangerous experiment; but I
had once suffered the same myself, receiving, by accident, an equal
stroke through my head, that struck me down, without hurting me: and
I had seen a young woman that was about to be electrified through the
feet (for some indisposition) receive a greater charge through the
head, by inadvertently stooping forward to look at the placing of her
feet, till her forehead (as she was very tall) came too near my prime
conductor: she dropped, but instantly got up again, complaining of
nothing. A person so struck, sinks down doubled, or folded together
as it were, the joints losing their strength and stiffness at once,
so that he drops on the spot where he stood, instantly, and there is
no previous staggering, nor does he ever fall lengthwise. Too great
charge might, indeed, kill a man, but I have not yet seen any hurt
done by it. It would certainly, as you observe, be the easiest of all
deaths.
The experiment you have heard so imperfect an account of, is merely
this: I electrified a silver pint can, on an electric stand, and then
lowered into it a cork ball, of about an inch diameter, hanging by a
silk string, till the cork touched the bottom of the can. The cork
was not attracted to the inside of the can as it would have been
to the outside, and though it touched the bottom, yet, when drawn
out, it was not found to be electrified by that touch, as it would
have been by touching the outside. The fact is singular. You require
the reason; I do not know it. Perhaps you may discover it, and then
you will be so good as to communicate it to me[67]. I find a frank
acknowledgment of one's ignorance is not only the easiest way to get
rid of a difficulty, but the likeliest way to obtain information,
and therefore I practise it: I think it an honest policy. Those who
affect to be thought to know every thing, and so undertake to explain
every thing, often remain long ignorant of many things that others
could and would instruct them in, if they appeared less conceited.
The treatment your friend has met with is so common, that no man
who knows what the world is, and ever has been, should expect to
escape it. There are every where a number of people, who, being
totally destitute of any inventive faculty themselves, do not readily
conceive that others may possess it: they think of inventions as of
miracles; there might be such formerly, but they are ceased. With
these, every one who offers a new invention is deemed a pretender: he
had it from some other country, or from some book: a man of _their
own acquaintance_; one who has no more sense than themselves, could
not possibly, in their opinion, have been the inventor of any thing.
They are confirmed, too, in these sentiments, by frequent instances
of pretensions to invention, which vanity is daily producing. That
vanity too, though an incitement to invention, is, at the same time,
the pest of inventors. Jealousy and envy deny the merit or the
novelty of your invention; but vanity, when the novelty and merit
are established, claims it for its own. The smaller your invention
is, the more mortification you receive in having the credit of it
disputed with you by a rival, whom the jealousy and envy of others
are ready to support against you, at least so far as to make the
point doubtful. It is not in itself of importance enough for a
dispute; no one would think your proofs and reasons worth their
attention: and yet, if you do not dispute the point, and demonstrate
your right, you not only lose the credit of being in that instance
_ingenious_, but you suffer the disgrace of not being _ingenuous_;
not only of being a plagiary, but of being a plagiary for trifles.
Had the invention been greater it would have disgraced you less;
for men have not so contemptible an idea of him that robs for gold
on the highway, as of him that can pick pockets for half-pence
and farthings. Thus, through envy, jealousy, and the vanity of
competitors for fame, the origin of many of the most extraordinary
inventions, though produced within but a few centuries past, is
involved in doubt and uncertainty. We scarce know to whom we are
indebted for the _compass_, and for _spectacles_, nor have even
_paper_ and _printing_, that record every thing else, been able to
preserve with certainty the name and reputation of their inventors.
One would not, therefore, of all faculties, or qualities of the
mind, wish, for a friend, or a child, that he should have that of
invention. For his attempts to benefit mankind in that way, however
well imagined, if they do not succeed, expose him, though very
unjustly, to general ridicule and contempt; and, if they do succeed,
to envy, robbery, and abuse.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[65] Dr. Lining.--EDITOR.
[66] See page 286, for the paper here mentioned.
[67] Mr. F. has since thought, that, possibly, the mutual repulsion
of the inner opposite sides of the electrised can may prevent the
accumulating an electric atmosphere upon them, and occasion it to
stand chiefly on the outside. But recommends it to the farther
examination of the curious.
TO MONS. DALIBARD, AT PARIS, INCLOSED IN A LETTER TO MR. PETER
COLLINSON, F. R. S.
_Beccaria's Work on Electricity.--Sentiments of Franklin on pointed
Rods, not fully understood in Europe.--Effect of Lightning on the
Church of Newbury, in New England.--Remarks on the Subject._
Read at the Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755.
_Philadelphia, June 29, 1755._
SIR,
You desire my opinion of Pere Beccaria's Italian book[68]. I have
read it with much pleasure, and think it one of the best pieces on
the subject that I have seen in any language. Yet as to the article
of water-spouts, I am not at present of his sentiments; though I must
own with you, that he has handled it very ingeniously. Mr. Collinson
has my opinion of whirlwinds and water-spouts at large, written some
time since. I know not whether they will be published; if not, I
will get them transcribed for your perusal[69]. It does not appear
to me that Pere Beccaria doubts of the _absolute impermeability
of glass_ in the sense I meant it; for the instances he gives of
holes made through glass by the electric stroke are such as we have
all experienced, and only show that the electric fluid could not
pass without making a hole. In the same manner we say, glass is
impermeable to water, and yet a stream from a fire-engine will force
through the strongest panes of a window. As to the effect of points
in drawing the electric matter from clouds, and thereby securing
buildings, &c. which, you say, he seems to doubt, I must own I think
he only speaks modestly and judiciously. I find I have been but
partly understood in that matter. I have mentioned it in several of
my letters, and except once, always in the _alternative, viz_. that
pointed rods erected on buildings, and communicating with the moist
earth, would either _prevent_ a stroke, _or_, if not prevented, would
_conduct_ it, so as that the building should suffer no damage. Yet
whenever my opinion is examined in Europe, nothing is considered but
the probability of those rods _preventing_ a stroke or explosion,
which is only a _part_ of the use I proposed for them; and the
other part, their conducting a stroke, which they may happen not to
prevent, seems to be totally forgotten, though of equal importance
and advantage.
I thank you for communicating M. de Buffon's relation of the effect
of lightning at Dijon, on the 7th of June last. In return, give me
leave to relate an instance I lately saw of the same kind. Being in
the town of Newbury in New England, in November last, I was shewn
the effect of lightning on their church, which had been struck a
few months before. The steeple was a square tower of wood, reaching
seventy feet up from the ground to the place where the bell hung,
over which rose a taper spire, of wood likewise, reaching seventy
feet higher, to the vane of the weather-cock. Near the bell was fixed
an iron hammer to strike the hours; and from the tail of the hammer
a wire went down through a small gimlet-hole in the floor that the
bell stood upon, and through a second floor in like manner; then
horizontally under and near the plaistered cieling of that second
floor, till it came near a plaistered wall; then down by the side of
that wall to a clock, which stood about twenty feet below the bell.
The wire was not bigger than a common knitting-needle. The spire was
split all to pieces by the lightning, and the parts flung in all
directions over the square in which the church stood, so that nothing
remained above the bell.
The lightning passed between the hammer and the clock in the
above-mentioned wire, without hurting either of the floors, or
having any effect upon them (except making the gimlet-holes, through
which the wire passed, a little bigger,) and without hurting the
plaistered wall, or any part of the building, so far as the aforesaid
wire and the pendulum wire of the clock extended; which latter
wire was about the thickness of a goose-quill. From the end of the
pendulum, down quite to the ground, the building was exceedingly
rent and damaged, and some stones in the foundation-wall torn out,
and thrown to the distance of twenty or thirty feet. No part of the
afore-mentioned long small wire, between the clock and the hammer,
could be found, except about two inches that hung to the tail of
the hammer, and about as much that was fastened to the clock; the
rest being exploded, and its particles dissipated in smoke and air,
as gunpowder is by common fire, and had only left a black smutty
track on the plaistering, three or four inches broad, darkest in
the middle, and fainter toward the edges, all along the cieling,
under which it passed, and down the wall. These were the effects and
appearances; on which I would only make the few following remarks,
viz.
1. That lightning, in its passage through a building, will leave wood
to pass as far as it can in metal, and not enter the wood again till
the conductor of metal ceases.
And the same I have observed in other instances, as to walls of brick
or stone.
2. The quantity of lightning that passed through this steeple must
have been very great, by its effects on the lofty spire above the
bell, and on the square tower all below the end of the clock pendulum.
3. Great as this quantity was, it was conducted by a small wire and
a clock pendulum, without the least damage to the building so far as
they extended.
4. The pendulum rod being of a sufficient thickness, conducted the
lightning without damage to itself; but the small wire was utterly
destroyed.
5. Though the small wire was itself destroyed, yet it had conducted
the lightning with safety to the building.
6. And from the whole it seems probable, that if even such a small
wire had been extended from the spindle of the vane to the earth,
before the storm, no damage would have been done to the steeple by
that stroke of lightning, though the wire itself had been destroyed.
FOOTNOTES:
[68] This work is written conformable to Mr. Franklin's theory, upon
artificial and natural electricity, which compose the two parts
of it. It was printed in Italian, at Turin, in 4to. 1753; between
the two parts is a letter to the Abbé Nollet, in defence of Mr.
Franklin's system. _J. Bevis._
[69] These papers will be found in Vol II. _Editor._
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. F. R. S. LONDON.
_Notice of another Packet of Letters._
_Philadelphia, Nov. 23, 1753_.
DEAR FRIEND.
In my last, via Virginia, I promised to send you per next ship, a
small philosophical packet: but now having got the materials (old
letters and rough drafts) before me, I fear you will find it a great
one. Nevertheless, as I am like to have a few days leisure before
this ship sails, which I may not have again in a long time, I shall
transcribe the whole, and send it; for you will be under no necessity
of reading it all at once, but may take it a little at a time, now
and then of a winter evening. When you happen to have nothing else to
do (if that ever happens) it may afford you some amusement[70].
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[70] These letters and papers are a philosophical correspondence
between Mr. Franklin and some of his American Friends[71]. Mr.
Collinson communicated them to the Royal Society, where they were
read at different meetings during the year 1756. But Mr. Franklin
having particularly requested that they might not be printed, none
of them were inserted in the transactions. Mr. F. had at that time
an intention of revising them, and pursuing some of the enquiries
farther; but finding that he is not like to have sufficient leisure,
he has at length been induced, imperfect as they are, to permit their
publication, as some of the hints they contain may possibly be useful
to others in their philosophical researches. Note in Mr. Collinson's
edition.
[71] As some of these papers are upon subjects not immediately
connected with electricity, we have taken such papers from the order
in which they were placed by Mr. Collinson, and transferred them to
other parts of the work. _Editor._
_Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in Boston[72], to Benjamin
Franklin, Esq. concerning the crooked Direction, and the Source of
Lightning, and the Swiftness of the electric Fire._
_Boston, Dec. 21, 1751._
SIR,
The experiments Mr. K. has exhibited here, have been greatly pleasing
to all sorts of people that have seen them; and I hope, by the time
he returns to Philadelphia, his tour this way will turn to good
account. His experiments are very curious, and I think prove most
effectually your doctrine of electricity; that it is a real element,
annexed to, and diffused among all bodies we are acquainted with;
that it differs in nothing from lightning, the effects of both being
similar, and their properties, so far as they are known, the same, &c.
The remarkable effect of lightning on iron, lately discovered, in
giving it the magnetic virtue, and the same effect produced on
small needles by the electrical fire, is a further and convincing
proof that they are both the same element; but, which is very
unaccountable, Mr. K. tells me, it is necessary to produce this
effect, that the direction of the needle and the electric fire should
be north and south; from either to the other, and that just so far
as they deviate therefrom, the magnetic power in the needle is less,
till their direction being at right angles with the north and south,
the effect entirely ceases. We made at Faneuil Hall, where Mr.
K----'s apparatus is, several experiments to give some small needles
the magnetic virtue; previously examining, by putting them in water,
on which they will be supported, whether or not they had any of that
virtue; and I think we found all of them to have some small degree of
it, their points turning to the north: we had nothing to do then but
to invert the poles, which accordingly was done, by sending through
them the charge of two large glass jars; the eye of the needle
turning to the north, as the point before had done; that end of the
needle which the fire is thrown upon, Mr. K. tells me always points
to the north.
The electrical fire passing through air has the same crooked
direction as lightning[73]. This appearance I endeavour to account
for thus: Air is an electric _per se_, therefore there must be a
mutual repulsion betwixt air and the electrical fire. A column
or cylinder of air, having the diameter of its base equal to the
diameter of the electrical spark, intervenes that part of the body
which the spark is taken from, and of the body it aims at. The spark
acts upon this column, and is acted upon by it, more strongly than
any other neighbouring portion of air.
The column, being thus acted upon, becomes more dense, and, being
more dense, repels the spark more strongly; its repellency being in
proportion to its density: Having acquired, by being condensed, a
degree of repellency greater than its natural, it turns the spark out
of its strait course; the neighbouring air, which must be less dense,
and therefore has a smaller degree of repellency, giving it a more
ready passage.
The spark, having taken a new direction, must now act on, or most
strongly repel the column of air which lies in that direction, and
consequently must condense that column in the same manner as the
former, when the spark must again change its course, which course
will be thus repeatedly changed, till the spark reaches the body that
attracted it.
To this account one objection occurs; that as air is very fluid and
elastic, and so endeavours to diffuse itself equally, the supposed
accumulated air within the column aforesaid, would be immediately
diffused among the contiguous air, and circulate to fill the space
it was driven from; and consequently that the said column, on the
greater density of which the phenomenon is supposed to depend, would
not repel the spark more strongly than the neighbouring air.
This might be an objection, if the electrical fire was as sluggish
and inactive as air. Air takes a sensible time to diffuse
itself equally, as is manifest from winds which often blow for
a considerable time together from the same point, and with a
velocity even in the greatest storms, not exceeding, as it is
said, sixty miles an hour: but the electric fire seems propagated
instantaneously, taking up no perceptible time in going very great
distances. It must then be an inconceivably short time in its
progress from an electrified to an unelectrified body, which, in the
present case, can be but a few inches apart: but this small portion
of time is not sufficient for the elasticity of the air to exert
itself, and therefore the column aforesaid must be in a denser state
than its neighbouring air.
About the velocity of the electric fire more is said below, which
perhaps may more fully obviate this objection. But let us have
recourse to experiments. Experiments will obviate all objections,
or confound the hypothesis. The electric spark, if the foregoing be
true, will pass through a vacuum in a right line. To try this, let a
wire be fixed perpendicularly on the plate of an air pump, having a
leaden ball on its upper end; let another wire, passing through the
top of a receiver, have on each end a leaden ball; let the leaden
balls within the receiver, when put on the air pump, be within two
or three inches of each other: the receiver being exhausted, the
spark given from a charged phial to the upper wire will pass through
rarefied air, nearly approaching to a vacuum, to the lower wire, and
I suppose in a right line, or nearly so; the small portion of air
remaining in the receiver, which cannot be entirely exhausted, may
possibly cause it to deviate a little, but perhaps not sensibly,
from a right line. The spark also might be made to pass through air
greatly condensed, which perhaps would give a still more crooked
direction. I have not had opportunity to make any experiments of this
sort, not knowing of an air-pump nearer than Cambridge, but you can
easily make them. If these experiments answer, I think the crooked
direction of lightning will be also accounted for.
With respect to your letters on electricity, * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *. Your hypothesis in particular for explaining the phenomena
of lightning is very ingenious. That some clouds are highly charged
with electrical fire, and that their communicating it to those that
have less, to mountains and other eminencies, makes it visible and
audible, when it is denominated lightning and thunder, is highly
probable: but that the sea, which you suppose the grand source of
it, can collect it, I think admits of a doubt: for though the sea be
composed of salt and water, an electric _per se_ and non-electric,
and though the friction of electrics _per se_ and non-electrics,
will collect that fire, yet it is only under certain circumstances,
which water will not admit. For it seems necessary, that the
electrics _per se_ and non-electrics rubbing one another, should
be of such substances as will not adhere to, or incorporate with
each other. Thus a glass or sulphur sphere turned in water, and so
a friction between them, will not collect any fire; nor, I suppose,
would a sphere of salt revolving in water; the water adhering to,
or incorporating with those electrics _per se_. But granting that
the friction between salt and water would collect the electrical
fire, that fire, being so extremely subtle and active, would be
immediately communicated, either to those lower parts of the sea
from which it was drawn, and so only perform quick revolutions; or
be communicated to the adjacent islands or continent, and so be
diffused instantaneously through the general mass of the earth. I say
instantaneously, for the greatest distances we can conceive within
the limits of our globe, even that of the two most opposite points,
it will take no sensible time in passing through: and therefore
it seems a little difficult to conceive how there can be any
accumulation of the electrical fire upon the surface of the sea or
how the vapours arising from the sea should have a greater share of
that fire than other vapours.
That the progress of the electrical fire is so amazingly swift, seems
evident from an experiment you yourself (not out of choice) made,
when two or three large glass jars were discharged through your body.
You neither heard the crack, was sensible of the stroke, nor, which
is more extraordinary, saw the light; which gave you just reason to
conclude, that it was swifter than sound, than animal sensation, and
even light itself. Now light (as astronomers have demonstrated) is
about six minutes passing from the sun to the earth; a distance, they
say, of more than eighty millions of miles. The greatest rectilinear
distance within the compass of the earth is about eight thousand
miles, equal to its diameter. Supposing then, that the velocity of
the electric fire be the same as that of light, it will go through a
space equal to the earth's diameter in about 2/60 of one second of a
minute. It seems inconceivable then, that it should be accumulated
upon the sea, in its present state, which, as it is a non-electric,
must give the fire an instantaneous passage to the neighbouring
shores, and they convey it to the general mass of the earth. But such
accumulation seems still more inconceivable when the electrical fire
has but a few feet depth of water to penetrate, to return to the
place from whence it is supposed to be collected.
Your thoughts upon these remarks I shall receive with a great deal of
pleasure. I take notice that in the printed copies of your letters
several things are wanting which are in the manuscript you sent me. I
understand by your son, that you had writ, or was writing, a paper
on the effect of the electrical fire on loadstones, needles, &c.
which I would ask the favour of a copy of, as well as of any other
papers on electricity, written since I had the manuscript, for which
I repeat my obligations to you.
I am, &c.
J. B.
FOOTNOTES:
[72] Mr. Badouin. _Editor._
[73] This is most easily observed in large strong sparks taken at
some inches distance.
TO J. B. AT BOSTON.
_Observations on the Subjects of the preceding Letter.--Reasons for
supposing the Sea to be the grand source of Lightning.--Reasons for
doubting this hypothesis.--Improvement in a Globe for raising the
Electric Fire._
Read at the Royal Society, May 27, 1756.
_Philadelphia, Jan. 24, 1752._
SIR,
I am glad to learn, by your favour of the 21st past, that Mr.
Kinnersley's lectures have been acceptable to the gentlemen of
Boston, and are like to prove serviceable to himself.
I thank you for the countenance and encouragement you have so kindly
afforded my fellow-citizen.
I send you enclosed an extract of a letter containing the substance
of what I observed concerning the communication of magnetism to
needles by electricity. The minutes I took at the time of the
experiments are mislaid. I am very little acquainted with the nature
of magnetism. Dr. Gawin Knight, inventor of the steel magnets, has
wrote largely on that subject, but I have not yet had leisure to
peruse his writings with the attention necessary to become master of
his doctrine.
Your explication of the crooked direction of lightning appears to
me both ingenious and solid. When we can account as satisfactorily
for the electrification of clouds, I think that branch of natural
philosophy will be nearly complete.
The air, undoubtedly, obstructs the motion of the electric fluid. Dry
air prevents the dissipation of an electric atmosphere, the denser
the more, as in cold weather. I question whether such an atmosphere
can be retained by a body _in vacuo_. A common electrical phial
requires a non-electric communication from the wire to every part of
the charged glass; otherwise, being dry and clean, and filled with
air only, it charges slowly, and discharges gradually, by sparks,
without a shock: but, exhausted of air, the communication is so open
and free between the inserted wire and surface of the glass, that it
charges as readily, and shocks as smartly as if filled with water:
and I doubt not, but that in the experiment you propose, the sparks
would not only be near strait _in vacuo_, but strike at a greater
distance than in the open air, though perhaps there would not be a
loud explosion. As soon as I have a little leisure, I will make the
experiment, and send you the result.
My supposition, that the sea might possibly be the grand source
of lightning, arose from the common observation of its luminous
appearance in the night, on the least motion; an appearance never
observed in fresh water. Then I knew that the electric fluid may be
pumped up out of the earth, by the friction of a glass globe, on
a non-electric cushion; and that, notwithstanding the surprising
activity and swiftness of that fluid, and the non-electric
communication between all parts of the cushion and the earth, yet
quantities would be snatched up by the revolving surface of the
globe, thrown on the prime conductor, and dissipated in air. How
this was done, and why that subtle active spirit did not immediately
return again from the globe, into some part or other of the cushion,
and so into the earth, was difficult to conceive; but whether from
its being opposed by a current setting upwards to the cushion, or
from whatever other cause, that it did not so return was an evident
fact. Then I considered the separate particles of water as so many
hard spherules, capable of touching the salt only in points, and
imagined a particle of salt could therefore no more be wet by a
particle of water, than a globe by a cushion; that there might
therefore be such a friction between these originally constituent
particles of salt and water, as in a sea of globes and cushions; that
each particle of water on the surface might obtain from the common
mass, some particles of the universally diffused, much finer, and
more subtle electric fluid, and forming to itself an atmosphere of
those particles, be repelled from the then generally electrified
surface of the sea, and fly away with them into the air. I thought
too, that possibly the great mixture of particles electric _per se_,
in the ocean water, might, in some degree, impede the swift motion
and dissipation of the electric fluid, through it to the shores,
&c.--But having since found, that salt in the water of an electric
phial does not lessen the shock; and having endeavoured in vain to
produce that luminous appearance from a mixture of salt and water
agitated; and observed, that even the sea-water will not produce it
after some hours standing in a bottle; I suspect it to proceed from
some principle yet unknown to us (which I would gladly make some
experiments to discover, if I lived near the sea) and I grow more
doubtful of my former supposition, and more ready to allow weight to
that objection (drawn from the activity of the electric fluid, and
the readiness of water to conduct) which you have indeed stated with
great strength and clearness.
In the mean time, before we part with this hypothesis, let us think
what to substitute in its place. I have sometimes queried whether the
friction of the air, an electric _per se_, in violent winds, among
trees, and against the surface of the earth, might not pump up, as so
many glass globes, quantities of the electric fluid, which the rising
vapours might receive from the air, and retain in the clouds they
form? on which I should be glad to have your sentiments. An ingenious
friend of mine supposes the land-clouds more likely to be electrified
than the sea-clouds. I send his letter for your perusal, which please
to return me.
I have wrote nothing lately on electricity, nor observed any thing
new that is material, my time being much taken up with other affairs.
Yesterday I discharged four jars through a fine wire, tied up between
two strips of glass: the wire was in part melted, and the rest broke
into small pieces, from half an inch long, to half a quarter of an
inch. My globe raises the electric fire with greater ease, in much
greater quantities, by the means of a wire extended from the cushion,
to the iron pin of a pump handle behind my house, which communicates
by the pump spear with the water in the well.
By this post I send to ****, who is curious in that way, some
meteorological observations and conjectures, and desire him to
communicate them to you, as they may afford you some amusement, and
I know you will look over them with a candid eye. By throwing our
occasional thoughts on paper, we more readily discover the defects
of our opinions, or we digest them better and find new arguments to
support them. This I sometimes practise: but such pieces are fit only
to be seen by friends.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FROM J. B. ESQ. OF BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_Effect of Lightning on Captain Waddel's Compass, and the Dutch
Church at New York._
Read at the Royal Society, June 3, 1756.
_Boston, March 2, 1752._
SIR,
I have received your favour of the 24th of January past, inclosing
an extract from your letter to Mr. Collinson, and ****'s letter to
yourself, which I have read with a great deal of pleasure, and am
much obliged to you for. Your extract confirms a correction Mr.
Kinnersley made a few days ago, of a mistake I was under respecting
the polarity given to needles by the electrical fire, "that the end
which receives the fire always points north;" and, "that the needle
being situated east and west, will not have a polar direction." You
find, however, the polarity strongest when the needle is shocked
lying north and south; weakest when lying east and west; which makes
it probable that the communicated magnetism is less, as the needle
varies from a north and south situation. As to the needle of Captain
Waddel's compass, if its polarity was reversed by the lightning,
the effect of lightning and electricity, in regard of that, seems
dissimilar; for a magnetic needle in a north and south situation (as
the compass needle was) instead of having its power reversed, or even
diminished, would have it confirmed or increased by the electric
fire. But perhaps the lightning communicated to some nails in the
binnacle (where the compass is placed) the magnetic virtue, which
might disturb the compass.
This I have heard was the case; if so, the seeming dissimilarity
vanishes: but this remarkable circumstance (if it took place) I
should think would not be omitted in Captain Waddel's account.
I am very much pleased that the explication I sent you, of the
crooked direction of lightning, meets with your approbation.
As to your supposition about the source of lightning, the luminous
appearance of the sea in the night, and the similitude between the
friction of the particles of salt and water, as you considered them
in their original separate state, and the friction of the globe and
cushion, very naturally led you to the ocean, as the grand source of
lightning: but the activity of lightning, or the electric element,
and the fitness of water to conduct it, together with the experiments
you mention of salt and water, seem to make against it, and to
prepare the way for some other hypothesis. Accordingly you propose
a new one, which is very curious, and not so liable, I think, to
objections as the former. But there is not as yet, I believe, a
sufficient variety of experiments to establish any theory, though
this seems the most hopeful of any I have heard of.
The effect which the discharge of your four glass jars had upon a
fine wire, tied between two strips of glass, puts me in mind of a
very similar one of lightning, that I observed at New-York, October,
1750, a few days after I left Philadelphia. In company with a number
of gentlemen, I went to take a view of the city from the Dutch
church steeple, in which is a clock about twenty or twenty-five feet
below the bell. From the clock went a wire through two floors, to
the clock-hammer near the bell, the holes in the floor for the wire
being perhaps about a quarter of an inch diameter. We were told, that
in the spring of 1750, the lightning struck the clock hammer, and
descended along the wire to the clock, melting in its way several
spots of the wire, from three to nine inches long, through one-third
of its substance, till coming within a few feet of the lower end, it
melted the wire quite through, in several places, so that it fell
down in several pieces; which spots and pieces we saw. When it got to
the end of the wire, it flew off to the hinge of a door, shattered
the door, and dissipated. In its passage through the holes of the
floors it did not do the least damage, which evidences that wire is a
good conductor of lightning (as it is of electricity) provided it be
substantial enough, and might, in this case, had it been continued to
the earth, have conducted it without damaging the building.[74]
Your information about your globe's raising the electric fire in
greater quantities, by means of a wire extended from the cushion to
the earth, will enable me, I hope, to remedy a great inconvenience
I have been under, to collect the fire with the electrifying glass
I use, which is fixed in a very dry room, three stories from the
ground. When you send your meteorological observations to ****, I
hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing them.
I am, &c.
J. B.
FOOTNOTE:
[74] The wire mentioned in this account was re-placed by a small
brass chain. In the summer of 1763, the lightning again struck that
steeple, and from the clock-hammer near the bell, it pursued the
chain as it had before done the wire, went off to the same hinge,
and again shattered the same door. In its passage through the same
holes of the same floors, it did no damage to the floors, nor to the
building during the whole extent of the chain. But the chain itself
was destroyed, being partly scattered about in fragments of two or
three links melted and stuck together, and partly blown up or reduced
to smoke, and dissipated. [See an account of the same effect of
lightning on a wire at Newbury, p. 311.] The steeple, when repaired,
was guarded by an iron conductor, or rod, extending from the foot of
the vane-spindle down the outside of the building, into the earth.
The newspapers have mentioned, that in 1765, the lightning fell a
third time on the same steeple, and was safely conducted by the rod;
but the particulars are not come to hand.
_Proposal of an Experiment to measure the Time taken up by an
Electric Spark, in moving through any given Space. By J. A.[75]
Esq. of New-York._
Read at the Royal Society, Dec 26, 1756.
If I remember right, the Royal Society made one experiment to
discover the velocity of the electric fire, by a wire of about four
miles in length, supported by silk, and by turning it forwards and
backwards in a field, so that the beginning and end of the wire were
at only the distance of two people, the one holding the Leyden bottle
and the beginning of the wire, and the other holding the end of the
wire and touching the ring of the bottle; but by this experiment no
discovery was made, except that the velocity was extremely quick.
As water is a conductor as well as metals, it is to be considered
whether the velocity of the electric fire might not be discovered by
means of water; whether a river, or lake, or sea, may not be made
part of the circuit through which the electric fire passes? instead
of the circuit all of wire, as in the above experiment.
Whether in a river, lake, or sea, the electric fire will not
dissipate and not return to the bottle? or, will it proceed in strait
lines through the water the shortest courses possible back to the
bottle?
If the last, then suppose one brook that falls into Delaware doth
head very near to a brook that falls into Schuylkil, and let a wire
be stretched and supported as before, from the head of the one brook
to the head of the other, and let the one end communicate with the
water, and let one person stand in the other brook, holding the
Leyden bottle, and let another person hold that end of the wire not
in the water, and touch the ring of the bottle.--If the electric fire
will go as in the last question, then will it go down the one brook
to Delaware or Schuylkill, and down one of them to their meeting,
and up the other and the other brook; the time of its doing this
may possibly be observable, and the further upwards the brooks are
chosen, the more observable it would be.
Should this be not observable, then suppose the two brooks falling
into Sasquehana and Delaware, and proceeding as before, the electric
fire may, by that means, make a circuit round the North Cape of
Virginia, and go many hundreds of miles, and in doing that, it would
seem it must take some observable time.
If still no observable time is found in that experiment, then
suppose the brooks falling the one into the Ohio, and the other into
Sasquehana, or Potomack, in that the electric fire would have a
circuit of some thousands of miles to go down Ohio to Mississippi,
to the Bay of Mexico, round Florida, and round the South Cape of
Virginia; which, I think, would give some observable time, and
discover exactly the velocity.
But if the electric fire dissipates, or weakens in the water, as I
fear it does, these experiments will not answer.
_Answer to the foregoing_.
Read at the Royal Society, Dec. 25, 1756.
Suppose a tube of any length open at both ends, and containing a
moveable wire of just the same length, that fills its bore. If I
attempt to introduce the end of another wire into the same tube, it
must be done by pushing forward the wire it already contains; and the
instant I press and move one end of that wire, the other end is also
moved; and in introducing one inch of the same wire, I extrude, at
the same time, an inch of the first, from the other end of the tube.
If the tube be filled with water, and I inject an additional inch of
water at one end, I force out an equal quantity at the other, in the
very same instant.
And the water forced out at one end of the tube is not the very same
water that was forced in at the other end at the same time, it was
only in motion at the same time.
The long wire, made use of in the experiment to discover the velocity
of the electric fluid, is itself filled with what we call its natural
quantity of that fluid, before the hook of the Leyden bottle is
applied to one end of it.
The outside of the bottle being at the time of such application
in contact with the other end of the wire, the whole quantity of
electric fluid contained in the wire is, probably, put in motion at
once.
For at the instant the hook, connected with the inside of the bottle,
_gives out_; the coating, or outside of the bottle, _draws in_ a
portion of that fluid.
If such long wire contains precisely the quantity that the outside
of the bottle demands, the whole will move out of the wire to the
outside of the bottle, and the over quantity which the inside of the
bottle contained, being exactly equal, will flow into the wire, and
remain there, in the place of the quantity the wire had just parted
with to the outside of the bottle.
But if the wire be so long as that one-tenth (suppose) of its natural
quantity is sufficient to supply what the outside of the bottle
demands, in such case the outside will only receive what is contained
in one-tenth of the wire's length, from the end next to it; though
the whole will move so as to make room at the other end for an equal
quantity issuing, at the same time, from the inside of the bottle.
So that this experiment only shews the extreme facility with which
the electric fluid moves in metal; it can never determine the
velocity.
And, therefore, the proposed experiment (though well imagined, and
very ingenious) of sending the spark round through a vast length of
space, by the waters of Susquehannah, or Potowmack, and Ohio, would
not afford the satisfaction desired, though we could be sure that the
motion of the electric fluid would be in that tract, and not under
ground in the wet earth by the shortest way.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[75] James Alexander. _Editor._
FROM MR. KINNERSLEY TO B. FRANKLIN, ESQ.
_Experiments on boiling Water, and Glass heated by boiling
Water.--Doctrine of Repulsion in electrised Bodies
doubted.--Electricity of the Atmosphere at different
Heights.--Electrical Horse-race.--Electrical Thermometer.--In
what Cases the electrical Fire produces Heat.--Wire lengthened by
Electricity.--Good Effect of a Rod on the House of Mr. West, of
Philadelphia._
_Philadelphia, March 12, 1761._
SIR,
Having lately made the following experiments, I very chearfully
communicate them, in hopes of giving you some degree of pleasure,
and exciting you to further explore your favorite, but not quite
exhausted subject, _electricity_.
I placed myself on an electric stand, and, being well electrised,
threw my hat to an unelectrised person, at a considerable distance,
on another stand, and found that the hat carried some of the
electricity with it; for, upon going immediately to the person who
received it, and holding a flaxen thread near him, I perceived he was
electrised sufficiently to attract the thread.
I then suspended, by silk, a broad plate of metal, and electrised
some boiling water under it at about four feet distance, expecting
that the vapour, which ascended plentifully to the plate, would,
upon the principle of the foregoing experiment, carry up some of the
electricity with it; but was at length fully convinced, by several
repeated trials, that it left all its share thereof behind. This I
know not how to account for; but does it not seem to corroborate your
hypothesis, That the vapours of which the clouds are formed, leave
their share of electricity behind, in the common stock, and ascend in
the negative state?
I put boiling water into a coated Florence flask, and found that
the heat so enlarged the pores of the glass, that it could not
be charged. The electricity passed through as readily, to all
appearance, as through metal; the charge of a three-pint bottle
went freely through, without injuring the flask in the least. When
it became almost cold, I could charge it as usual. Would not this
experiment convince the Abbé Nollet of his egregious mistake? For
while the electricity went fairly through the glass, as he contends
it always does, the glass could not be charged at all.
I took a slender piece of cedar, about eighteen inches long, fixed
a brass cap in the middle, thrust a pin horizontally and at right
angles, through each end (the points in contrary directions) and hung
it, nicely balanced, like the needle of a compass, on a pin, about
six inches long, fixed in the centre of an electric stand. Then,
electrising the stand, I had the pleasure of seeing what I expected;
the wooden needle turned round, carrying the pins with their heads
foremost. I then electrised the stand negatively, expecting the
needle to turn the contrary way, but was extremely disappointed, for
it went still the same way as before. When the stand was electrised
positively, I suppose that the natural quantity of electricity in
the air being increased on one side, by what issued from the points,
the needle was attracted by the lesser quantity on the other side.
When electrised negatively, I suppose that the natural quantity of
electricity in the air was diminished near the points; in consequence
whereof, the equilibrium being destroyed, the needle was attracted by
the greater quantity on the opposite side.
The doctrine of repulsion, in electrised bodies, I begin to be
somewhat doubtful of. I think all the phenomena on which it is
founded, may be well enough accounted for without it. Will not cork
balls, electrised negatively, separate as far as when electrised
positively? And may not their separation in both cases be accounted
for upon the same principle, namely, the mutual attraction of the
natural quantity in the air, and that which is denser or rarer in the
cork balls? it being one of the established laws of this fluid, that
quantities of different densities shall mutually attract each other,
in order to restore the equilibrium.
I can see no reason to conclude that the air has not its share of
the common stock of electricity, as well as glass, and perhaps, all
other electrics _per se_. For though the air will admit bodies to
be electrised in it either positively or negatively, and will not
readily carry off the redundancy in the one case, or supply the
deficiency in the other, yet let a person in the negative state,
out of doors in the dark, when the air is dry, hold, with his arm
extended, a long sharp needle, pointing upwards, and he will soon
be convinced that electricity may be drawn out of the air; not
very plentifully, for, being a bad conductor, it seems loth to part
with it, but yet some will evidently be collected. The air near the
person's body, having less than its natural quantity, will have
none to spare; but, his arm being extended, as above, some will be
collected from the remoter air, and will appear luminous, as it
converges to the point of the needle.
Let a person electrised negatively present the point of a needle,
horizontally, to a cork ball, suspended by silk, and the ball will be
attracted towards the point, till it has parted with so much of its
natural quantity of electricity as to be in the negative state in the
same degree with the person who holds the needle; then it will recede
from the point, being, as I suppose, attracted the contrary way by
the electricity of greater density in the air behind it. But, as this
opinion seems to deviate from electrical orthodoxy, I should be glad
to see these phenomena better accounted for by your superior and more
penetrating genius.
Whether the electricity in the air, in clear dry weather, be of the
same density at the height of two or three hundred yards, as near
the surface of the earth, may be satisfactorily determined by your
old experiment of the kite. The twine should have throughout a very
small wire in it, and the ends of the wire, where the several lengths
are united, ought to be tied down with a waxed thread, to prevent
their acting in the manner of points. I have tried the experiment
twice, when the air was as dry as we ever have it, and so clear that
not a cloud could be seen, and found the twine each time in a small
degree electrised positively. The kite had three metalline points
fixed to it: one on the top, and one on each side. That the twine
was electrised, appeared by the separating of two small cork balls,
suspended on the twine by fine flaxen threads, just above where the
silk was tied to it, and sheltered from the wind. That the twine
was electrised positively, was proved, by applying to it the wire
of a charged bottle, which caused the balls to separate further,
without first coming nearer together. This experiment showed, that
the electricity in the air, at those times, was denser above than
below. But that cannot be always the case; for you know we have
frequently found the thunder-clouds in the negative state, attracting
electricity from the earth; which state, it is probable, they are
always in when first formed, and till they have received a sufficient
supply. How they come afterwards, towards the latter end of the
gust, to be in the positive state, which is sometimes the case, is a
subject for further enquiry.
After the above experiments with the wooden needle, I formed a cross,
of two pieces of wood, of equal length, intersecting each other at
right angles in the middle, hung it horizontally upon a central
pin, and set a light horse with his rider, upon each extremity;
whereupon, the whole being nicely balanced, and each courser urged on
by an electrised point of a pair of spurs, I was entertained with an
electrical horse-race.
I have contrived an electrical air thermometer, and made several
experiments with it, that have afforded me much satisfaction and
pleasure. It is extremely sensible of any alteration in the state
of the included air, and fully determines that controverted point,
Whether there be any heat in the electric fire? By the enclosed
draught, and the following description, you will readily apprehend
the construction of it. (See Plate II.)
A B is a glass tube, about eleven inches long, and one inch diameter
in the bore. It has a brass ferrule cemented on each end, with a top
and bottom part, C and D, to be screwed on, air-tight, and taken off
at pleasure. In the centre of the bottom part D, is a male screw,
which goes into a brass nut, in the mahogany pedestal E. The wires
F and G are for the electric fire to pass through, darting from one
to the other. The wire G extends through the pedestal to H, and may
be raised and lowered by means of a male screw on it. The wire F may
be taken out, and the hook I be screwed into its place. K is a glass
tube, with a small bore, open at both ends, cemented in the brass
tube L which screws into the top part C. The lower end of the tube
K is immersed in water, coloured with cochineal, at the bottom of
the tube A B. (I used, at first, coloured spirits of wine, but in
one experiment I made, it took fire.) On the top of the tube K is
cemented, for ornament, a brass ferrule, with a head screwed on it,
which has a small air-hole through its side, at _a_. The wire _b_,
is a small round spring, that embraces the tube K, so as to stay
wherever it is placed. The weight M is to keep strait whatever may be
suspended in the tube A B, on the hook I. Air must be blown through
the tube K, into the tube A B, till enough is intruded to raise, by
its elastic force, a column of the coloured water in the tube K, up
to _c_, or thereabouts; and then, the gage-wire _b_, being slipt down
to the top of the column, the thermometer is ready for use.
[Illustration: (of the experiment below)
_Plate II._ _Vol. I. page 336._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
I set the thermometer on an electric stand, with the chain N fixed
to the prime conductor, and kept it well electrised a considerable
time; but this produced no sensible effect; which shews, that the
electric fire, when in a state of rest, has no more heat than the
air, and other matter wherein it resides.
When the wires F and G are in contact, a large charge of electricity
sent through them, even that of my case of five and thirty bottles,
containing above thirty square feet of coated glass, will produce no
rarefaction of the air included in the tube A B; which shows that the
wires are not heated by the fire's passing through them.
When the wires are about two inches apart, the charge of a three
pint bottle, darting from one to the other, rarefies the air very
evidently; which shows, I think, that the electric fire must produce
heat in itself, as well as in the air, by its rapid motion.
The charge of one of my glass jars (which will contain about five
gallons and a half, wine measure) darting from wire to wire, will,
by the disturbance it gives the air, repelling it in all directions,
raise the column in the tube K, up to _d_, or thereabouts; and
the charge of the above-mentioned case of bottles will raise it
to the top of the tube. Upon the air's coalescing, the column, by
its gravity, instantly subsides, till it is in equilibrio with the
rarefied air; it then gradually descends as the air cools, and
settles where it stood before. By carefully observing at what height
above the gage-wire _b_, the descending column first stops, the
degree of rarefaction is discovered, which, in great explosions, is
very considerable.
I hung in the thermometer, successively, a strip of wet writing
paper, a wet flaxen and woollen thread, a blade of green grass, a
filament of green wood, a fine silver thread, a very small brass
wire, and a strip of gilt paper; and found that the charge of the
above-mentioned glass jar, passing through each of these, especially
the last, produced heat enough to rarefy the air very perceptibly.
I then suspended, out of the thermometer, a piece of small
harpsichord wire, about twenty-four inches long, with a pound
weight at the lower end, and sent the charge of the case of five
and thirty bottles through it, whereby I discovered a new method of
wire-drawing. The wire was red hot the whole length, well annealed,
and above an inch longer than before. A second charge melted it;
it parted near the middle, and measured, when the ends were put
together, four inches longer than at first. This experiment, I
remember, you proposed to me before you left Philadelphia; but I
never tried it till now. That I might have no doubt of the wire's
being _hot_ as well as red, I repeated the experiment on another
piece of the same wire, encompassed with a goose-quill, filled with
loose grains of gun-powder; which took fire as readily as if it had
been touched with a red hot poker. Also tinder, tied to another piece
of the wire, kindled by it. I tried a wire about three times as big,
but could produce no such effects with that.
Hence it appears that the electric fire, though it has no sensible
heat when in a state of rest, will, by its violent motion, and the
resistance it meets with, produce heat in other bodies when passing
through them, provided they be small enough. A large quantity will
pass through a large wire, without producing any sensible heat;
when the same quantity passing through a very small one, being
there confined to a narrower passage, the particles crowding closer
together, and meeting with greater resistance, will make it red hot,
and even melt it.
Hence lightning does not melt metal by a cold fusion, as we formerly
supposed; but, when it passes through the blade of a sword, if the
quantity be not very great, it may heat the point so as to melt it,
while the broadest and thickest part may not be sensibly warmer than
before.
And when trees or houses are set on fire by the dreadful quantity
which a cloud, or the earth, sometimes discharges, must not the heat,
by which the wood is first kindled, be generated by the lightning's
violent motion, through the resisting combustible matter?
If lightning, by its rapid motion, produces heat in _itself_; as
well as in other bodies (and that it does I think is evident from
some of the foregoing experiments made with the thermometer) then
its sometimes singeing the hair of animals killed by it, may easily
be accounted for. And the reason of its not always doing so, may,
perhaps, be this: The quantity, though sufficient to kill a large
animal, may sometimes not be great enough, or not have met with
resistance enough, to become, by its motion, burning hot.
We find that dwelling-houses, struck with lightning, are seldom set
on fire by it; but when it passes through barns, with hay or straw in
them, or store-houses, containing large quantities of hemp, or such
like matter, they seldom, if ever, escape a conflagration; which may,
perhaps, be owing to such combustibles being apt to kindle with a
less degree of heat than is necessary to kindle wood.
We had four houses in this city, and a vessel at one of the wharfs,
struck and damaged by lightning last summer. One of the houses was
struck twice in the same storm. But I have the pleasure to inform
you, that your method of preventing such terrible disasters, has, by
a fact which had like to have escaped our knowledge, given a very
convincing proof of its great utility; and is now in higher repute
with us than ever.
Hearing, a few days ago, that Mr. William West, merchant in this
city, suspected that the lightning in one of the thunder-storms last
summer had passed through the iron conductor, which he had provided
for the security of his house; I waited on him, to enquire what
ground he might have for such suspicion. Mr. West informed me, that
his family and neighbours were all stunned with a very terrible
explosion, and that the flash and crack were seen and heard at the
same instant. Whence he concluded, that the lightning must have been
very near, and, as no house in the neighbourhood had suffered by it,
that it must have passed through his conductor. Mr. White, his clerk,
told me that he was sitting, at the time, by a window, about two
feet distant from the conductor, leaning against the brick wall with
which it was in contact; and that he felt a smart sensation, like an
electric shock, in that part of his body which touched the wall. Mr.
West further informed me, that a person of undoubted veracity assured
him, that, being in the door of an opposite house, on the other side
of Water-street (which you know is but narrow) he saw the lightning
diffused over the pavement, which was then very wet with rain, to
the distance of two or three yards from the foot of the conductor;
and that another person of very good credit told him, that he being
a few doors off on the other side of the street, saw the lightning
above, darting in such direction that it appeared to him to be
directly over that pointed rod.
Upon receiving this information, and being desirous of further
satisfaction, there being no traces of the lightning to be discovered
in the conductor, as far as we could examine it below, I proposed to
Mr. West our going to the top of the house, to examine the pointed
rod, assuring him, that if the lightning had passed through it, the
point must have been melted; and, to our great satisfaction, we found
it so. This iron rod extended in height about nine feet and a half
above a stack of chimneys to which it was fixed (though I suppose
three or four feet would have been sufficient.) It was somewhat more
than half an inch diameter in the thickest part, and tapering to the
upper end. The conductor, from the lower end of it to the earth,
consisted of square iron nail-rods, not much above a quarter of an
inch thick, connected together by interlinking joints. It extended
down the cedar roof to the eaves, and from thence down the wall of
the house, four story and a half, to the pavement in Water-street,
being fastened to the wall, in several places, by small iron hooks.
The lower end was fixed to a ring, in the top of an iron stake that
was drove about four or five feet into the ground.
The above-mentioned iron rod had a hole in the top of it, about two
inches deep, wherein was inserted a brass wire, about two lines
thick, and, when first put there, about ten inches long, terminating
in a very acute point; but now its whole length was no more than
seven inches and a half, and the top very blunt. Some of the metal
appears to be missing, the slenderest part of the wire being, as I
suspect, consumed into smoke. But some of it, where the wire was a
little thicker, being only melted by the lightning, sunk down, while
in a fluid state, and formed a rough irregular cap, lower on one side
than the other, round the upper end of what remained, and became
intimately united therewith.
This was all the damage that Mr. West sustained by a terrible stroke
of lightning;--a most convincing proof of the great utility of this
method of preventing its dreadful effects. Surely it will now be
thought as expedient to provide conductors for the lightning, as for
the rain.
Mr. West was so good as to make me a present of the melted wire,
which I keep as a great curiosity, and long for the pleasure of
shewing it to you. In the mean time, I beg your acceptance of the
best representation I can give of it, which you will find by the side
of the thermometer, drawn in its full dimensions as it now appears.
The dotted lines above are intended to shew the form of the wire
before the lightning melted it.
And now, Sir, I most heartily congratulate you on the pleasure you
must have in finding your great and well-grounded expectations so far
fulfilled. May this method of security from the destructive violence
of one of the most awful powers of nature, meet with such further
success, as to induce every good and grateful heart to bless God for
the important discovery! May the benefit thereof be diffused over the
whole globe! May it extend to the latest posterity of mankind, and
make the name of FRANKLIN, like that of NEWTON, _immortal_.
I am, Sir, with sincere respect,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
EBEN. KINNERSLEY.
TO MR. KINNERSLEY.
_Answer to some of the foregoing Subjects.--How long the Leyden
Bottle may be kept charged.--Heated Glass rendered permeable by the
electric Fluid.--Electrical Attraction and Repulsion.--Reply to
other Subjects in the preceding Paper.--Numerous Ways of kindling
Fire.--Explosion of Water.--Knobs and Points._
_London, Feb. 20, 1762._
SIR,
I received your ingenious letter of the 12th of March last, and thank
you cordially for the account you give me of the new experiments you
have lately made in electricity.--It is a subject that still affords
me pleasure, though of late I have not much attended to it.
Your second experiment, in which you attempted, without success, to
communicate positive electricity by vapour ascending from electrised
water, reminds me of one I formerly made, to try if negative
electricity might be produced by evaporation only. I placed a large
heated brass plate, containing four or five square feet on an
electric stand; a rod of metal, about four feet long, with a bullet
at its end, extended from the plate horizontally. A light lock of
cotton, suspended a fine thread from the cieling, hung opposite to,
and within an inch of the bullet. I then sprinkled the heated plate
with water, which arose fast from it in vapour. If vapour should be
disposed to carry off the electrical, as it does the common fire from
bodies, I expected the plate would, by losing some of its natural
quantity, become negatively electrised. But I could not perceive, by
any motion in the cotton, that it was at all affected: nor by any
separation of small cork-balls suspended from the plate, could it be
observed that the plate was in any manner electrified.
Mr. Canton here has also found, that two tea-cups, set on electric
stands, and filled, one with boiling, the other with cold water,
and equally electrified, continued equally so, notwithstanding the
plentiful evaporation from the hot water. Your experiment and his
agreeing, show another remarkable difference between electric and
common fire. For the latter quits most readily the body that contains
it, where water, or any other fluid, is evaporating from the surface
of that body, and escapes with the vapour. Hence the method, long in
use in the east, of cooling liquors, by wrapping the bottles round
with a wet cloth, and exposing them to the wind. Dr. Cullen, of
Edinburgh, has given some experiments of cooling by evaporation; and
I was present at one made by Dr. Hadley, then professor of chemistry
at Cambridge, when, by repeatedly wetting the ball of a thermometer
with spirit, and quickening the evaporation by the blast of a
bellows, the mercury fell from 65, the state of warmth in the common
air, to 7, which is 22 degrees below freezing; and, accordingly,
from some water mixed with the spirit, or from the breath of the
assistants, or both, ice gathered in small spicula round the ball,
to the thickness of near a quarter of an inch. To such a degree did
the mercury lose the fire it before contained, which, as I imagine,
took the opportunity of escaping, in company with the evaporating
particles of the spirit, by adhering to those particles.
Your experiment of the Florence flask, and boiling water, is very
curious. I have repeated it, and found it to succeed as you describe
it, in two flasks out of three. The third would not charge when
filled with either hot or cold water. I repeated it, because I
remembered I had once attempted to make an electric bottle of a
Florence flask, filled with cold water, but could not charge it at
all; which I then imputed to some imperceptible cracks in the small,
extremely thin bubbles, of which that glass is full, and I concluded
none of that kind would do. But you have shown me my mistake.--Mr.
Wilson had formerly acquainted us, that red hot glass would conduct
electricity; but that so small a degree of heat, as that communicated
by boiling water, would so open the pores of extremely thin glass, as
to suffer the electric fluid freely to pass, was not before known.
Some experiments similar to yours, have, however, been made here,
before the receipt of your letter, of which I shall now give you an
account.
I formerly had an opinion that a Leyden bottle, charged and then
sealed hermetically, might retain its electricity for ever; but
having afterwards some suspicion that possibly that subtle fluid
might, by slow imperceptible degrees, soak through the glass, and in
time escape, I requested some of my friends, who had conveniences for
doing it, to make trial, whether, after some months, the charge of a
bottle so sealed would be sensibly diminished. Being at Birmingham,
in September, 1760, Mr. Bolton of that place opened a bottle that
had been charged, and its long tube neck hermetically sealed in
the January preceding. On breaking off the end of the neck, and
introducing a wire into it, we found it possessed of a considerable
quantity of electricity, which was discharged by a snap and spark.
This bottle had lain near seven months on a shelf, in a closet, in
contact with bodies that would undoubtedly have carried off all its
electricity, if it could have come readily through the glass. Yet
as the quantity manifested by the discharge was not apparently so
great as might have been expected from a bottle of that size well
charged, some doubt remained whether part had escaped while the neck
was sealing, or had since, by degrees, soaked through the glass. But
an experiment of Mr. Canton's, in which such a bottle was kept under
water a week, without having its electricity in the least impaired,
seems to show, that when the glass is cold, though extremely thin,
the electric fluid is well retained by it. As that ingenious and
accurate experimenter made a discovery, like yours, of the effect
of heat in rendering thin glass permeable by that fluid, it is but
doing him justice to give you his account of it, in his own words,
extracted from his letter to me, in which he communicated it, dated
Oct. 31, 1760, _viz_.
"Having procured some thin glass balls, of about an inch and a
half in diameter, with stems, or tubes, of eight or nine inches in
length, I electrified them, some positively on the inside, and others
negatively, after the manner of charging the Leyden bottle, and
sealed them hermetically. Soon after I applied the naked balls to my
electrometer, and could not discover the least sign of their being
electrical, but holding them, before the fire, at the distance of
six or eight inches, they became strongly electrical in a very short
time, and more so when they were cooling. These balls will, every
time they are heated, give the electrical fluid to, or take it from
other bodies, according to the _plus_ or _minus_ state of it within
them. Heating them frequently, I find will sensibly diminish their
power; but keeping one of them under water a week did not appear
in the least degree to impair it. That which I kept under water,
was charged on the 22d of September last, was several times heated
before it was kept in water, and has been heated frequently since,
and yet it still retains its virtue to a very considerable degree.
The breaking two of my balls accidentally gave me an opportunity of
measuring their thickness, which I found to be between seven and
eight parts in a thousand of an inch.
A down feather, in a thin glass ball, hermetically sealed, will not
be affected by the application of an excited tube, or the wire of a
charged phial, unless the ball be considerably heated; and if a glass
pane be heated till it begins to grow soft, and in that state be held
between the wire of a charged phial, and the discharging wire, the
course of the electrical fluid will not be through the glass, but on
the surface, round by the edge of it."
By this last experiment of Mr. Canton's, it appears, that though by
a moderate heat, thin glass becomes, in some degree, a conductor of
electricity, yet, when of the thickness of a common pane, it is not,
though in a state near melting, so good a conductor as to pass the
shock of a discharged bottle. There are other conductors which suffer
the electric fluid to pass through them gradually, and yet will not
conduct a shock. For instance, a quire of paper will conduct through
its whole length, so as to electrify a person, who, standing on wax,
presents the paper to an electrified prime conductor; but it will
not conduct a shock even through its thickness only; hence the shock
either fails, or passes by rending a hole in the paper. Thus a sieve
will pass water gradually, but a stream from a fire engine would
either be stopped by it, or tear a hole through it.
It should seem, that to make glass permeable to the electric fluid,
the heat should be proportioned to the thickness. You found the heat
of boiling water, which is but 210, sufficient to render the extreme
thin glass in a Florence flask permeable even to a shock.--Lord
Charles Cavendish, by a very ingenious experiment, has found the heat
of 400 requisite to render thicker glass permeable to the common
current.
"A glass tube, (See _Plate_ III.) of which the part C B was solid,
had wire thrust in each end, reaching to B and C.
"A small wire was tied on at D, reaching to the floor, in order to
carry off any electricity that might run along upon the tube.
"The bent part was placed in an iron pot, filled with iron filings;
a thermometer was also put into the filings; a lamp was placed under
the pot; and the whole was supported upon glass.
"The wire A being electrified by a machine, before the heat was
applied, the corks at E separated, at first upon the principle of the
Leyden phial.
"But after the part C B of the tube was heated to 600, the corks
continued to separate, though you discharged the electricity by
touching the wire at E, the electrical machine continuing in motion.
"Upon letting the whole cool, the effect remained till the
thermometer was sunk to 400."
[Illustration: (of the experiment above)
_Plate III._ _Vol. I. page 348._
]
It were to be wished, that this noble philosopher would communicate
more of his experiments to the world, as he makes many, and with
great accuracy.
You know I have always looked upon and mentioned the equal repulsion
in cases of positive and of negative electricity, as a phenomenon
difficult to be explained. I have sometimes, too, been inclined,
with you, to resolve all into attraction; but besides that
attraction seems in itself as unintelligible as repulsion, there are
some appearances of repulsion that I cannot so easily explain by
attraction; this for one instance. When the pair of cork balls are
suspended by flaxen threads, from the end of the prime conductor,
if you bring a rubbed glass tube near the conductor, but without
touching it, you see the balls separate, as being electrified
positively; and yet you have communicated no electricity to the
conductor, for, if you had, it would have remained there, after
withdrawing the tube; but the closing of the balls immediately
thereupon, shows that the conductor has no more left in it than its
natural quantity. Then again approaching the conductor with the
rubbed tube, if, while the balls are separated, you touch with a
finger that end of the conductor to which they hang, they will come
together again, as being, with that part of the conductor, brought
to the same state with your finger, _i. e._ the natural state. But
the other end of the conductor, near which the tube is held, is not
in that state, but in the negative state, as appears on removing the
tube; for then part of the natural quantity left at the end near
the balls, leaving that end to supply what is wanting at the other,
the whole conductor is found to be equally in the negative state.
Does not this indicate that the electricity of the rubbed tube had
repelled the electric fluid, which was diffused in the conductor
while in its natural state, and forced it to quit the end to which
the tube was brought near, accumulating itself on the end to which
the balls were suspended? I own I find it difficult to account for
its quitting that end, on the approach of the rubbed tube, but on the
supposition of repulsion; for, while the conductor was in the same
state with the air, _i. e._ the natural state, it does not seem to
me easy to suppose, that an attraction should suddenly take place
between the air and the natural quantity of the electric fluid in the
conductor, so as to draw it to, and accumulate it on the end opposite
to that approached by the tube; since bodies, possessing only their
natural quantity of that fluid, are not usually seen to attract each
other, or to affect mutually the quantities of electricity each
contains.
There are likewise appearances of repulsion in other parts of nature.
Not to mention the violent force with which the particles of water,
heated to a certain degree, separate from each other, or those of
gunpowder, when touched with the smallest spark of fire, there is
the seeming repulsion between the same poles of the magnet, a body
containing a subtle moveable fluid in many respects analagous to the
electric fluid. If two magnets are so suspended by strings, as that
their poles of the same denomination are opposite to each other, they
will separate, and continue so; or if you lay a magnetic steel bar
on a smooth table, and approach it with another parallel to it, the
poles of both in the same position, the first will recede from the
second, so as to avoid the contact, and may thus be pushed (or at
least appear to be pushed) off the table. Can this be ascribed to the
attraction of any surrounding body or matter drawing them asunder,
or drawing the one away from the other? If not, and repulsion exists
in nature, and in magnetism, why may it not exist in electricity? We
should not, indeed, multiply causes in philosophy without necessity;
and the greater simplicity of your hypothesis would recommend it to
me, if I could see that all appearances would be solved by it. But
I find, or think I find, the two causes more convenient than one of
them alone. Thus I might solve the circular motion of your horizontal
stick, supported on a pivot, with two pins at their ends, pointing
contrary ways, and moving in the same direction when electrified,
whether positively or negatively: when positively, the air opposite
to the points being electrised positively, repels the points; when
negatively, the air opposite the points being also, by their means,
electrised negatively, attraction takes place between the electricity
in the air behind the heads of the pins, and the negative pins, and
so they are, in this case, drawn in the same direction that in the
other they were driven.--You see I am willing to meet you half way,
a complaisance I have not met with in our brother Nollet, or any
other hypothesis-maker, and therefore may value myself a little upon
it, especially as they say I have some ability in defending even the
wrong side of a question, when I think fit to take it in hand.
What you give as an established law of the electric fluid, "That
quantities of different densities mutually attract each other, in
order to restore the equilibrium," is, I think, not well founded,
or else not well expressed. Two large cork balls, suspended by
silk strings, and both well and equally electrified, separate to a
great distance. By bringing into contact with one of them another
ball of the same size, suspended likewise by silk, you will take
from it half its electricity. It will then, indeed, hang at a less
distance from the other, but the full and the half quantities will
not appear to attract each other, that is, the balls will not come
together. Indeed, I do not know any proof we have, that one quantity
of electric fluid is attracted by another quantity of that fluid,
whatever difference there may be in their densities. And, supposing
in nature, a mutual attraction between two parcels of any kind
of matter, it would be strange if this attraction should subsist
strongly while those parcels were unequal, and cease when more matter
of the same kind was added to the smallest parcel, so as to make it
equal to the biggest. By all the laws of attraction in matter, that
we are acquainted with, the attraction is stronger in proportion to
the increase of the masses, and never in proportion to the difference
of the masses. I should rather think the law would be, "That the
electric fluid is attracted strongly by all other matter that we
know of, while the parts of that fluid mutually repel each other."
Hence its being equally diffused (except in particular circumstances)
throughout all other matter. But this you jokingly call "electrical
orthodoxy." It is so with some at present, but not with all; and,
perhaps, it may not always be orthodoxy with any body. Opinions are
continually varying, where we cannot have mathematical evidence of
the nature of things; and they must vary. Nor is that variation
without its use, since it occasions a more thorough discussion,
whereby error is often dissipated, true knowledge is encreased, and
its principles become better understood and more firmly established.
Air should have, as you observe, "its share of the common stock of
electricity, as well as glass, and, perhaps, all other electrics
_per se_." But I suppose, that, like them, it does not easily part
with what it has, or receive more, unless when mixed with some
non-electric, as moisture for instance, of which there is some in our
driest air. This, however, is only a supposition; and your experiment
of restoring electricity to a negatively electrised person, by
extending his arm upwards into the air, with a needle between his
fingers, on the point of which light may be seen in the night, is,
indeed, a curious one. In this town the air is generally moister than
with us, and here I have seen Mr. Canton electrify the air in one
room positively, and in another, which communicated by a door, he has
electrised the air negatively. The difference was easily discovered
by his cork balls, as he passed out of one room into another.--Pere
Beccaria, too, has a pretty experiment, which shows that air may
be electrised. Suspending a pair of small light balls, by flaxen
threads, to the end of his prime conductor, he turns his globe some
time, electrising positively, the balls diverging and continuing
separate all the time. Then he presents the point of a needle to
his conductor, which gradually drawing off the electric fluid, the
balls approach each other, and touch, before all is drawn from the
conductor; opening again as more is drawn off, and separating nearly
as wide as at first, when the conductor is reduced to the natural
state. By this it appears, that when the balls came together, the air
surrounding the balls was just as much electrised as the conductor
at that time; and more than the conductor, when that was reduced to
its natural state. For the balls, though in the natural state, will
diverge, when the air that surrounds them is electrised _plus_ or
_minus_, as well as when that is in its natural state and they are
electrised _plus_ or _minus_ themselves. I foresee that you will
apply this experiment to the support of your hypothesis, and I think
you may make a good deal of it.
It was a curious enquiry of yours, Whether the electricity of the
air, in clear dry weather, be of the same density at the height of
two or three hundred yards, as near the surface of the earth; and
I am glad you made the experiment. Upon reflection, it should seem
probable, that whether the general state of the atmosphere at any
time be positive or negative, that part of it which is next the earth
will be nearer the natural state, by having given to the earth in one
case, or having received from it in the other. In electrising the
air of a room, that which is nearest the walls, or floor, is least
altered. There is only one small ambiguity in the experiment, which
may be cleared by more trials; it arises from the supposition that
bodies may be electrised positively by the friction of air blowing
strongly on them, as it does on the kite and its string. If at some
times the electricity appears to be negative, as that friction is the
same, the effect must be from a negative state of the upper air.
I am much pleased with your electrical thermometer, and the
experiments you have made with it. I formerly satisfied myself by an
experiment with my phial and syphon, that the elasticity of the air
was not increased by the mere existence of an electric atmosphere
within the phial; but I did not know, till you now inform me, that
heat may be given to it by an electric explosion. The continuance
of its rarefaction, for some time after the discharge of your glass
jar and of your case of bottles, seem to make this clear. The
other experiments on wet paper, wet thread, green grass, and green
wood, are not so satisfactory; as possibly the reducing part of
the moisture to vapour, by the electric fluid passing through it,
might occasion some expansion which would be gradually reduced by
the condensation of such vapour. The fine silver thread, the very
small brass wire, and the strip of gilt paper, are also subject to a
similar objection, as even metals, in such circumstances, are often
partly reduced to smoke, particularly the gilding on paper.
But your subsequent beautiful experiment on the wire, which you made
hot by the electric explosion, and in that state fired gunpowder
with it, puts it out of all question, that heat is produced by our
artificial electricity, and that the melting of metals in that way,
is not by what I formerly called a cold fusion. A late instance here,
of the melting a bell-wire, in a house struck by lightning, and parts
of the wire burning holes in the floor on which they fell, has proved
the same with regard to the electricity of nature. I was too easily
led into that error by accounts given, even in philosophical books,
and from remote ages downwards, of melting money in purses, swords
in scabbards, &c. without burning the inflammable matters that were
so near those melted metals. But men are, in general, such careless
observers, that a philosopher cannot be too much on his guard in
crediting their relations of things extraordinary, and should never
build an hypothesis on any thing but clear facts and experiments, or
it will be in danger of soon falling, as this does, like a house of
cards.
How many ways there are of kindling fire, or producing heat in
bodies! By the sun's rays, by collision, by friction, by hammering,
by putrefaction, by fermentation, by mixtures of fluids, by mixtures
of solids with fluids, and by electricity. And yet the fire when
produced, though in different bodies it may differ in circumstances,
as in colour, vehemence, &c. yet in the same bodies is generally the
same. Does not this seem to indicate that the fire existed in the
body, though in a quiescent state, before it was by any of these
means excited, disengaged, and brought forth to action and to view?
May it not constitute a part, and even a principal part, of the
solid substance of bodies? If this should be the case, kindling fire
in a body would be nothing more than developing this inflammable
principle, and setting it at liberty to act in separating the parts
of that body, which then exhibits the appearances of scorching,
melting, burning, &c. When a man lights an hundred candles from the
flame of one, without diminishing that flame, can it be properly
said to have _communicated_ all that fire? When a single spark from
a flint, applied to a magazine of gunpowder, is immediately attended
with this consequence, that the whole is in flame, exploding with
immense violence, could all this fire exist first in the spark? We
cannot conceive it. And thus we seem led to this supposition, that
there is fire enough in all bodies to singe, melt, or burn them,
whenever it is, by any means, set at liberty, so that it may exert
itself upon them, or be disengaged from them. This liberty seems to
be afforded it by the passage of electricity through them, which
we know can and does, of itself, separate the parts even of water;
and perhaps the immediate appearances of fire are only the effects
of such separations? If so, there would be no need of supposing that
the electric fluid _heats itself_ by the swiftness of its motion, or
heats bodies by the resistance it meets with in passing through them.
They would only be heated in proportion as such separation could be
more easily made. Thus a melting heat cannot be given to a large wire
in the flame of a candle, though it may to a small one; and this not
because the large wire resists _less_ that action of the flame which
tends to separate its parts, but because it resists it _more_ than
the smaller wire; or because the force being divided among more parts
acts weaker on each.
This reminds me, however, of a little experiment I have frequently
made, that shows, at one operation, the different effects of the same
quantity of electric fluid passing through different quantities of
metal. A strip of tinfoil, three inches long, a quarter of an inch
wide at one end, and tapering all the way to a sharp point at the
other, fixed between two pieces of glass, and having the electricity
of a large glass jar sent through it, will not be discomposed in the
broadest part; towards the middle will appear melted in spots; where
narrower, it will be quite melted; and about half an inch of it next
the point will be reduced to smoke.
You were not mistaken in supposing that your account of the effect of
the pointed rod, in securing Mr. West's house from damage by a stroke
of lightning, would give me great pleasure. I thank you for it most
heartily, and for the pains you have taken in giving me so complete a
description of its situation, form, and substance, with the draft of
the melted point. There is one circumstance, viz. that the lightning
was seen to diffuse itself from the foot of the rod over the wet
pavement, which seems, I think, to indicate, that the earth under
the pavement was very dry, and that the rod should have been sunk
deeper, till it came to earth moister, and therefore apter to receive
and dissipate the electric fluid. And although, in this instance,
a conductor formed of nail rods, not much above a quarter of an
inch thick, served well to convey the lightning, yet some accounts
I have seen from Carolina, give reason to think, that larger may
be sometimes necessary, at least for the security of the conductor
itself, which, when too small, may be destroyed in executing its
office, though it does, at the same time, preserve the house. Indeed,
in the construction of an instrument so new, and of which we could
have so little experience, it is rather lucky that we should at first
be so near the truth as we seem to be, and commit so few errors.
There is another reason for sinking deeper the lower end of the
rod, and also for turning it outwards under ground to some distance
from the foundation; it is this, that water dripping from the eaves
falls near the foundation, and sometimes soaks down there in greater
quantities, so as to come near the end of the rod, though the ground
about it be drier. In such case, this water may be exploded, that is,
blown into vapour, whereby a force is generated, that may damage the
foundation. Water reduced to vapour, is said to occupy 14,000 times
its former space. I have sent a charge through a small glass tube,
that has borne it well while empty, but when filled first with water,
was shattered to pieces and driven all about the room:--Finding no
part of the water on the table, I suspected it to have been reduced
to vapour; and was confirmed in that suspicion afterwards, when I
had filled a like piece of tube with ink, and laid it on a sheet of
clean paper, whereon, after the explosion, I could find neither any
moisture nor any sully from the ink. This experiment of the explosion
of water, which I believe was first made by that most ingenious
electrician, father Beccaria, may account for what we sometimes
see in a tree struck by lightning, when part of it is reduced to
fine splinters like a broom; the sap vessels being so many tubes
containing a watry fluid, which, when reduced to vapour, rends every
tube lengthways. And perhaps it is this rarefaction of the fluids in
animal bodies killed by lightning or electricity, that, by separating
its fibres, renders the flesh so tender, and apt so much sooner to
putrify. I think too, that much of the damage done by lightning to
stone and brick-walls may sometimes be owing to the explosion of
water, found, during showers, running or lodging in the joints or
small cavities or cracks that happen to be in the walls.
Here are some electricians that recommend knobs instead of points
on the upper end of the rods, from a supposition that the points
invite the stroke. It is true that points draw electricity at greater
distances in the gradual silent way; but knobs will draw at the
greatest distance a stroke. There is an experiment that will settle
this. Take a crooked wire of the thickness of a quill, and of such a
length as that one end of it being applied to the lower part of a
charged bottle, the upper may be brought near the ball on the top of
the wire that is in the bottle. Let one end of this wire be furnished
with a knob, and the other may be gradually tapered to a fine point.
When the point is presented to discharge the bottle, it must be
brought much nearer before it will receive the stroke, than the
knob requires to be. Points besides tend to repel the fragments of
an electrised cloud, knobs draw them nearer. An experiment, which I
believe I have shewn you, of cotton fleece hanging from an electrised
body, shows this clearly when a point or a knob is presented under it.
You seem to think highly of the importance of this discovery, as
do many others on our side of the water. Here it is very little
regarded; so little, that though it is now seven or eight years
since it was made public, I have not heard of a single house as
yet attempted to be secured by it. It is true the mischiefs done
by lightning are not so frequent here as with us, and those who
calculate chances may perhaps find that not one death (or the
destruction of one house) in a hundred thousand happens from
that cause, and that therefore it is scarce worth while to be at
any expence to guard against it.--But in all countries there are
particular situations of buildings more exposed than others to
such accidents, and there are minds so strongly impressed with the
apprehension of them, as to be very unhappy every time a little
thunder is within their hearing;--it may therefore be well to render
this little piece of new knowledge as general and as well understood
as possible, since to make us _safe_ is not all its advantage, it is
some to make us _easy_. And as the stroke it secures us from might
have chanced perhaps but once in our lives, while it may relieve us
a hundred times from those painful apprehensions, the latter may
possibly on the whole contribute more to the happiness of mankind
than the former.
Your kind wishes and congratulations are very obliging. I return them
cordially;--being, with great regard and esteem,
My dear Sir,
Your affectionate friend,
And most obedient humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Accounts from Carolina (mentioned in the foregoing Letter) of the
Effects of Lightning on two of the Rods commonly affixed to Houses
there, for securing them against Lightning_.
_Charlestown, Nov. 1, 1760._
"----It is some years since Mr. Raven's rod was struck by lightning.
I hear an account of it was published at the time, but I cannot find
it. According to the best information I can now get, he had fixed to
the outside of his chimney a large iron rod, several feet in length,
reaching above the chimney; and to the top of this rod the points
were fixed. From the lower end of this rod, a small brass wire was
continued down to the top of another iron rod driven into the earth.
On the ground-floor in the chimney stood a gun, leaning against the
back-wall, nearly opposite to where the brass wire came down on the
outside. The lightning fell upon the points, did no damage to the
rod they were fixed to; but the brass wire, all down till it came
opposite to the top of the gun-barrel, was destroyed[76]. There
the lightning made a hole through the wall or back of the chimney,
to get to the gun-barrel[77], down which it seems to have passed,
as, although it did not hurt the barrel, it damaged the butt of
the stock, and blew up some bricks of the hearth. The brass wire
below the hole in the wall remained good. No other damage, as I can
learn, was done to the house. I am told the same house had formerly
been struck by lightning, and much damaged, before these rods were
invented."----
FOOTNOTES:
[76] A proof that it was not of sufficient substance to conduct with
safety to itself (though with safety _so far_ to the wall) so large a
quantity of the electric fluid.
[77] A more substantial conductor.
_Mr. William Maine's Account of the Effects of the Lightning on his
Rod, dated at Indian Land, in South Carolina, Aug. 28, 1760._
----"I had a set of electrical points, consisting of three prongs, of
large brass wire tipt with silver, and perfectly sharp, each about
seven inches long; these were rivetted at equal distances into an
iron nut about three quarters of an inch square, and opened at top
equally to the distance of six or seven inches from point to point,
in a regular triangle. This nut was screwed very tight on the top
of an iron rod of above half an inch diameter, or the thickness of
a common curtain-rod, composed of several joints, annexed by hooks
turned at the ends of each joint, and the whole fixed to the chimney
of my house by iron staples. The points were elevated (_a_) six or
seven inches above the top of the chimney; and the lower joint sunk
three feet in the earth, in a perpendicular direction.
Thus stood the points on Tuesday last about five in the evening, when
the lightning broke with a violent explosion on the chimney, cut
the rod square off just under the nut, and I am persuaded, melted
the points, nut, and top of the rod, entirely up; as after the most
diligent search, nothing of either was found (_b_), and the top
of the remaining rod was cased over with a congealed solder. The
lightning ran down the rod, starting almost all the staples (_c_),
and unhooking the joints without affecting the rod (_d_), except on
the inside of each hook where the joints were coupled, the surface of
which was melted (_e_), and left as cased over with solder.--No part
of the chimney was damaged (_f_), only at the foundation (_g_), where
it was shattered almost quite round, and several bricks were torn
out (_h_). Considerable cavities were made in the earth quite round
the foundation, but most within eight or nine inches of the rod. It
also shattered the bottom weather-board (_i_) at one corner of the
house, and made a large hole in the earth by the corner post. On the
other side of the chimney, it ploughed up several furrows in the
earth, some yards in length. It ran down the inside of the chimney
(_k_), carrying only soot with it; and filled the whole house with
its flash (_l_), smoke, and dust. It tore up the hearth in several
places (_m_), and broke some pieces of china in the beaufet (_n_). A
copper tea-kettle standing in the chimney was beat together, as if
some great weight had fallen upon it (_o_); and three holes, each
about half an inch diameter, melted through the bottom (_p_). What
seems to me the most surprising is, that the hearth under the kettle
was not hurt, yet the bottom of the kettle was drove inward, as if
the lightning proceeded from under it upwards (_q_), and the cover
was thrown to the middle of the floor (_r_). The fire dogs, an iron
logger-head, an Indian pot, an earthen cup, and a cat, were all in
the chimney at the time unhurt, though a great part of the hearth was
torn up (_s_). My wife's sister, two children, and a negro wench,
were all who happened to be in the house at the time: the first,
and one child, sat within five feet of the chimney; and were so
stunned, that they never saw the lightning nor heard the explosion;
the wench, with the other child in her arms, sitting at a greater
distance, was sensible of both; though every one was so stunned that
they did not recover for some time; however it pleased God that no
farther mischief ensued. The kitchen, at 90 feet distance, was full
of negroes, who were all sensible of the shock; and some of them tell
me, that they felt the rod about a minute after, when it was so hot
that they could not bear it in hand."
REMARKS BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
The foregoing very sensible and distinct account may afford a good
deal of instruction relating to the nature and effects of lightning,
and to the construction and use of this instrument for averting the
mischiefs of it. Like other new instruments, this appears to have
been at first in some respects imperfect; and we find that we are, in
this as in others, to expect improvement from experience chiefly: but
there seems to be nothing in the account, that should discourage us
in the use of it; since at the same time that its imperfections are
discovered, the means of removing them are pretty easily to be learnt
from the circumstances of the account itself; and its utility upon
the whole is manifest.
One intention of the pointed rod, is, to _prevent_ a stroke of
lightning. (_See pages_ 283, 310.) But to have a better chance of
obtaining this end, the points should not be too near to the top
of the chimney or highest part of the building to which they are
affixed, but should be extended five or six feet above it; otherwise
their operation in silently drawing off the fire (from such fragments
of cloud as float in the air between the great body of cloud and
the earth) will be prevented. For the experiment with the lock of
cotton hanging below the electrified prime conductor shows, that a
finger under it, being a blunt body, extends the cotton, drawing its
lower part downwards; when a needle, with its point presented to the
cotton, makes it fly up again to the prime conductor; and that this
effect is strongest when as much of the needle as possible appears
above the end of the finger; grows weaker as the needle is shortened
between the finger and thumb; and is reduced to nothing when only a
short part below the point appears above the finger. Now it seems
the points of Mr. Maine's rod were elevated only (_a_) _six or seven
inches above the top of the chimney_; which, considering the bulk of
the chimney and the house, was too small an elevation. For the great
body of matter near them would hinder their being easily brought into
a negative state by the repulsive power of the electrised cloud,
in which negative state it is that they attract most strongly and
copiously the electric fluid from other bodies, and convey it into
the earth.
(_b_) _Nothing of the points, &c. could be found._ This is a common
effect. (_See page_ 312.) Where the quantity of the electric fluid
passing is too great for the conductor through which it passes, the
metal is either melted, or reduced to smoke and dissipated; but where
the conductor is sufficiently large, the fluid passes in it without
hurting it. Thus these three wires were destroyed, while the rod to
which they were fixed, being of greater substance, remained unhurt;
its end only, to which they were joined, being a little melted, some
of the melted part of the lower ends of those wires uniting with it,
and appearing on it like solder.
(_c_)(_d_)(_e_) As the several parts of the rod were connected only
by the ends being bent round into hooks, the contact between hook and
hook was much smaller than the rod; therefore the current through
the metal being confined in those narrow passages, melted part of
the metal, as appeared on examining the inside of each hook. Where
metal is melted by lightning, some part of it is generally exploded;
and these explosions in the joints appear to have been the cause of
unhooking them; and, by that violent action, of starting also most of
the staples. We learn from hence, that a rod in one continued piece
is preferable to one composed of links or parts hooked together.
(_f_) _No part of the chimney was damaged_: because the lightning
passed in the rod. And this instance agrees with others in showing,
that the second and principal intention of the rods is obtainable,
viz. that of _conducting_ the lightning. In all the instances yet
known of the lightning's falling on any house guarded by rods, it
has pitched down upon the point of the rod, and has not fallen
upon any other part of the house. Had the lightning fallen on this
chimney, unfurnished with a rod, it would probably have rent it
from top to bottom, as we see, by the effects of the lightning on
the points and rod, that its quantity was very great; and we know
that many chimneys have been so demolished. But _no part of this
was damaged, only_ (_f_)(_g_)(_h_) _at the foundation, where it was
shattered and several bricks torn out_. Here we learn the principal
defect in fixing this rod. The lower joint being sunk but three feet
into the earth, did not it seems go low enough to come at water,
or a large body of earth so moist as to receive readily from its
end the quantity it conducted. The electric fluid therefore, thus
accumulated near the lower end of the rod, quitted it at the surface
of the earth, dividing in search of other passages. Part of it tore
up the surface in furrows, and made holes in it: part entered the
bricks of the foundation, which being near the earth are generally
moist, and, in exploding that moisture, shattered them. (_See page_
358.) Part went through or under the foundation, and got under the
hearth, blowing up great part of the bricks (_m_)(_s_), and producing
the other effects (_o_)(_p_)(_q_)(_r_). The iron dogs, loggerhead
and iron pot were not hurt, being of sufficient substance, and they
probably protected the cat. The copper tea-kettle being thin suffered
some damage. Perhaps, though found on a sound part of the hearth,
it might at the time of the stroke have stood on the part blown up,
which will account both for the bruising and melting.
That _it ran down the inside of the chimney_ (_k_) I apprehend
must be a mistake. Had it done so, I imagine it would have brought
something more than soot with it; it would probably have ripped off
the pargetting, and brought down fragments of plaster and bricks. The
shake, from the explosion on the rod, was sufficient to shake down a
good deal of loose soot. Lightning does not usually enter houses by
the doors, windows, or chimneys, as open passages, in the manner that
air enters them: its nature is, to be attracted by substances, that
are conductors of electricity; it penetrates and passes _in_ them,
and, if they are not good conductors as are neither wood, brick,
stone nor plaster, it is apt to rend them in its passage. It would
not easily pass through the air from a cloud to a building, were it
not for the aid afforded it in its passage by intervening fragments
of clouds below the main body, or by the falling rain.
It is said that _the house was filled with its flash_ (_l_).
Expressions like this are common in accounts of the effects of
lightning, from which we are apt to understand that the lightning
filled the house. Our language indeed seems to want a word to express
the _light_ of lightning as distinct from the lightning itself. When
a tree on a hill is struck by it, the lightning of that stroke exists
only in a narrow vein between the cloud and tree, but its light fills
a vast space many miles round; and people at the greatest distance
from it are apt to say, "The lightning came into our rooms through
our windows." As it is in itself extremely bright, it cannot, when
so near as to strike a house, fail illuminating highly every room
in it through the windows; and this I suppose to have been the case
at Mr. Maine's; and that, except in and near the hearth, from the
causes above-mentioned, it was not in any other part of the house;
_the flash_ meaning no more than _the light_ of the lightning.--It is
for want of considering this difference, that people suppose there
is a kind of lightning not attended with thunder. In fact there is
probably a loud explosion accompanying every flash of lightning,
and at the same instant;--but as sound travels slower than light,
we often hear the sound some seconds of time after having seen the
light; and as sound does not travel so far as light, we sometimes see
the light at a distance too great to hear the sound.
(_n_) The _breaking some pieces of china in the beaufet_, may
nevertheless seem to indicate that the lightning was there: but as
there is no mention of its having hurt any part of the beaufet, or of
the walls of the house, I should rather ascribe that effect to the
concussion of the air, or shake of the house by the explosion.
Thus, to me it appears, that the house and its inhabitants were saved
by the rod, though the rod itself was unjointed by the stroke; and
that, if it had been made of one piece, and sunk deeper in the earth,
or had entered the earth at a greater distance from the foundation,
the mentioned small damages (except the melting of the points) would
not have happened.
TO DR. H[78]. AT LONDON.
_On the Electricity of the Tourmalin._
_Craven-street, June 7, 1759._
SIR,
I now return the smallest of your two tourmalins, with hearty thanks
for your kind present of the other, which, though I value highly for
its rare and wonderful properties, I shall ever esteem it more for
the friendship I am honoured with by the giver.
I hear that the negative electricity of one side of the tourmalin,
when heated, is absolutely denied (and all that has been related of
it ascribed to prejudice in favour of a system) by some ingenious
gentlemen abroad, who profess to have made the experiments on the
stone with care and exactness. The experiments have succeeded
differently with me; yet I would not call the accuracy of those
gentlemen in question. Possibly the tourmalins they have tried were
not properly cut; so that the positive and negative powers were
obliquely placed, or in some manner whereby their effects were
confused, or the negative parts more easily supplied by the positive.
Perhaps the lapidaries who have hitherto cut these stones, had no
regard to the situation of the two powers, but chose to make the
faces of the stone where they could obtain the greatest breadth,
or some other advantage in the form. If any of these stones, in
their natural state, can be procured here, I think it would be
right to endeavour finding, before they are cut, the two sides that
contain the opposite powers, and make the faces there. Possibly, in
that case, the effects might be stronger, and more distinct; for
though both these stones that I have examined have evidently the
two properties, yet, without the full heat given by boiling water,
they are somewhat confused; the virtue seems strongest towards one
end of the face; and in the middle, or near the other end, scarce
discernible; and the negative, I think, always weaker than the
positive.
I have had the large one new cut, so as to make both sides alike,
and find the change of form has made no change of power, but the
properties of each side remain the same as I found them before. It
is now set in a ring in such a manner as to turn on an axis, that I
may conveniently, in making experiments, come at both side of the
stone. The little rim of gold it is set in, has made no alteration in
its effects. The warmth of my finger, when I wear it, is sufficient
to give it some degree of electricity, so that it is always ready to
attract light bodies.
The following experiments have satisfied me that M. Æpinus's account
of the positive and negative states of the opposite sides of the
heated tourmalin is well founded.
I heated the large stone in boiling water.
As soon as it was dry, I brought it near a very small cork ball, that
was suspended by a silk thread.
The ball was attracted by one face of the stone, which I call A, and
then repelled.
The ball in that state was also repelled by the positively charged
wire of a phial, and attracted by the other side of the stone, B.
The stone being a-fresh heated, and the side B brought near the ball,
it was first attracted, and presently after repelled by that side.
In this second state it was repelled by the negatively charged wire
of a phial.
Therefore, if the principles now generally received, relating to
positive and negative electricity, are true, the side A of the large
stone, when the stone is heated in water, is in a positive state of
electricity; and the side B, in a negative state.
The same experiments being made with the small stone stuck by one
edge on the end of a small glass tube, with sealing-wax, the same
effects are produced. The flat side of the small stone gives the
signs of positive electricity; the high side gives the signs of
negative electricity.
Again:
I suspended the small stone by a silk thread.
I heated it as it hung, in boiling water.
I heated the large one in boiling water.
Then I brought the large stone near to the suspended small one.
Which immediately turned its flat side to the side B of the large
stone, and would cling to it.
I turned the ring, so as to present the side A of the large stone, to
the flat side of the small one.
The flat side was repelled, and the small stone, turning quick,
applied its high side to the side A of the large one.
This was precisely what ought to happen, on the supposition that the
flat side of the small stone, when heated in water, is positive, and
the high side negative; the side A of the large stone positive, and
the side B negative.
The effect was apparently the same as would have been produced, if
one magnet had been suspended by a thread, and the different poles of
another brought alternately near it.
I find that the face A, of the large stone, being coated with
leaf-gold (attached by the white of an egg, which will bear dipping
in hot water) becomes quicker and stronger in its effect on the cork
ball, repelling it the instant it comes in contact; which I suppose
to be occasioned by the united force of different parts of the face,
collected and acting together through the metal.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[78] Dr. Heberden. _Editor._
FROM PROFESSOR WINTHROP, TO B. FRANKLIN.
_New Observation relating to Electricity in the Atmosphere._
_Cambridge, N. E. Sept. 29, 1762._
SIR,
There is an observation relating to electricity in the atmosphere,
which seemed new to me, though perhaps it will not to you: however,
I will venture to mention it. I have some points on the top of
my house, and the wire where it passes within-side the house is
furnished with bells, according to your method, to give notice of
the passage of the electric fluid. In summer, these bells, generally
ring at the approach of a thunder-cloud; but cease soon after it
begins to rain. In winter, they sometimes though not very often, ring
while it is snowing; but never, that I remember, when it rains. But
what was unexpected to me was, that, though the bells had not rung
while it was snowing, yet, the next day, after it had done snowing,
and the weather was cleared up, while the snow was driven about by
a high wind at W. or N. W. the bells rung for several hours (though
with little intermissions) as briskly as ever I knew them, and I drew
considerable sparks from the wire. This phenomenon I never observed
but twice; viz. on the 31st of January, 1760, and the 3d of March,
1762.
I am, Sir, &c.
FROM MR. A. S[79]. TO B. F.
_Flash of Lightning that struck St. Bride's Steeple._
I have just recollected that in one of our great storms of lightning,
I saw an appearance, which I never observed before, nor ever heard
described. I am persuaded that I saw _the_ flash which struck St.
Bride's steeple. Sitting at my window, and looking to the north, I
saw what appeared to me a solid strait rod of fire, moving at a very
sharp angle with the horizon. It appeared to my eye as about two
inches diameter, and had nothing of the zig-zag lightning motion.
I instantly told a person sitting with me, that some place must be
struck at that instant. I was so much surprized at the vivid distinct
appearance of the fire, that I did not hear the clap of thunder,
which stunned every one besides. Considering how low it moved, I
could not have thought it had gone so far, having St. Martin's, the
New Church, and St. Clements's steeples in its way. It struck the
steeple a good way from the top, and the first impression it made in
the side is in the same direction I saw it move in. It was succeeded
by two flashes, almost united, moving in a pointed direction.
There were two distinct houses struck in Essex-street. I should have
thought the rod would have fallen in Covent-Garden, it was so low.
Perhaps the appearance is frequent, though never before seen by
Your's,
A. S.
FOOTNOTE:
[79] Mr. Alexander Small. _Editor._
TO MR. P. F[80]. NEWPORT.
_Best Method of securing a Powder Magazine from Lightning._
----You may acquaint the gentleman that desired you to enquire
my opinion of the best method of securing a powder magazine from
lightning, that I think they cannot do better than to erect a mast
not far from it, which may reach fifteen or twenty feet above the top
of it, with a thick iron rod in one piece fastened to it, pointed at
the highest end, and reaching down through the earth till it comes
to water. Iron is a cheap metal; but if it were dearer, as this is
a public thing the expence is insignificant; therefore I would have
the rod at least an inch thick, to allow for its gradually wasting by
rust; it will last as long as the mast, and may be renewed with it.
The sharp point for five or six inches should be gilt.
But there is another circumstance of importance to the strength,
goodness, and usefulness of the powder, which does not seem to have
been enough attended to: I mean the keeping it perfectly dry. For
want of a method of doing this, much is spoiled in damp magazines,
and much so damaged as to become of little value.--If, instead of
barrels it were kept in cases of bottles well corked; or in large tin
canisters, with small covers shutting close by means of oiled paper
between, or covering the joining on the canister; or if in barrels,
then the barrels lined with thin sheet lead; no moisture in either of
these methods could possibly enter the powder, since glass and metals
are both impervious to water.
By the latter of these means you see tea is brought dry and crisp
from China to Europe, and thence to America, though it comes all the
way by sea in the damp hold of a ship. And by this method, grain,
meal, &c. if well dried before it is put up, may be kept for ages
sound and good.
There is another thing very proper to line small barrels with; it
is what they call tin-foil, or leaf-tin, being tin milled between
rollers till it becomes as thin as paper, and more pliant, at the
same time that its texture is extremely close. It may be applied
to the wood with common paste, made with boiling-water thickened
with flour; and, so laid on; will lie very close and stick well:
but I should prefer a hard sticky varnish for that purpose, made of
linseed oil much boiled. The heads might be lined separately, the tin
wrapping a little round their edges. The barrel, while the lining is
laid on, should have the end hoops slack, so that the staves standing
at a little distance from each other, may admit the head into its
groove. The tin-foil should be plyed into the groove. Then, one head
being put in, and that end hooped tight, the barrel would be fit to
receive the powder, and when the other head is put in and the hoops
drove up, the powder would be safe from moisture even if the barrel
were kept under water. This tin-foil is but about eighteen pence
sterling a pound, and is so extremely thin, that I imagine a pound of
it would line three or four powder-barrels.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[80] Peter Franklin. _Editor._
_Of Lightning, and the Methods (now used in America) of securing
Buildings and Persons from its mischievous Effects._
Experiments made in electricity first gave philosophers a suspicion,
that the matter of lightning was the same with the electric matter.
Experiments afterwards made on lightning obtained from the clouds by
pointed rods, received into bottles, and subjected to every trial,
have since proved this suspicion to be perfectly well founded;
and that whatever properties we find in electricity, are also the
properties of lightning.
This matter of lightning, or of electricity, is an extreme subtile
fluid, penetrating other bodies, and subsisting in them, equally
diffused.
When by any operation of art or nature, there happens to be a greater
proportion of this fluid in one body than in another, the body
which has most will communicate to that which has least, till the
proportion becomes equal; provided the distance between them be not
too great; or, if it is too great, till there be proper conductors to
convey it from one to the other.
If the communication be through the air without any conductor, a
bright light is seen between the bodies, and a sound is heard. In
our small experiments, we call this light and sound the electric
spark and snap; but in the great operations of nature, the light is
what we call _lightning_, and the sound (produced at the same time,
though generally arriving later at our ears than the light does to
our eyes) is, with its echoes, called _thunder_.
If the communication of this fluid is by a conductor, it may be
without either light or sound, the subtle fluid passing in the
substance of the conductor.
If the conductor be good and of sufficient bigness, the fluid passes
through it without hurting it. If otherwise, it is damaged or
destroyed.
All metals, and water, are good conductors.--Other bodies may become
conductors by having some quantity of water in them, as wood, and
other materials used in building, but not having much water in them,
they are not good conductors, and therefore are often damaged in the
operation.
Glass, wax, silk, wool, hair, feathers, and even wood, perfectly dry
are non-conductors: that is, they resist instead of facilitating the
passage of this subtle fluid.
When this fluid has an opportunity of passing through two conductors,
one good, and sufficient, as of metal, the other not so good, it
passes in the best, and will follow it in any direction.
The distance at which a body charged with this fluid will discharge
itself suddenly, striking through the air into another body that is
not charged, or not so highly charged, is different according to
the quantity of the fluid, the dimensions and form of the bodies
themselves, and the state of the air between them.--This distance,
whatever it happens to be between any two bodies, is called their
_striking distance_, as, till they come within that distance of each
other, no stroke will be made.
The clouds have often more of this fluid in proportion than the
earth; in which case, as soon as they come near enough (that is,
within the striking distance) or meet with a conductor, the fluid
quits them and strikes into the earth. A cloud fully charged with
this fluid, if so high as to be beyond the striking distance from the
earth, passes quietly without making noise or giving light; unless it
meets with other clouds that have less.
Tall trees, and lofty buildings, as the towers and spires of
churches, become sometimes conductors between the clouds and the
earth; but not being good ones, that is, not conveying the fluid
freely, they are often damaged.
Buildings that have their roofs covered with lead, or other metal,
and spouts of metal continued from the roof into the ground to carry
off the water, are never hurt by lightning, as, whenever it falls on
such a building, it passes in the metals and not in the walls.
When other buildings happen to be within the striking distance from
such clouds, the fluid passes in the walls whether of wood, brick or
stone, quitting the walls only when it can find better conductors
near them, as metal rods, bolts, and hinges of windows or doors,
gilding on wainscot, or frames of pictures, the silvering on the
backs of looking-glasses, the wires for bells, and the bodies of
animals, as containing watery fluids. And in passing through the
house it follows the direction of these conductors, taking as many
in its way as can assist it in its passage, whether in a strait, or
crooked line leaping from one to the other, if not far distant from
each other, only rending the wall in the spaces where these partial
good conductors are too distant from each other.
An iron rod being placed on the outside of a building, from the
highest part continued down into the moist earth, in any direction
strait or crooked, following the form of the roof or other parts of
the building, will receive the lightning at its upper end, attracting
it so as to prevent its striking any other part; and, affording it a
good conveyance into the earth, will prevent its damaging any part of
the building.
A small quantity of metal is found able to conduct a great quantity
of this fluid. A wire no bigger than a goose-quill has been known
to conduct (with safety to the building as far as the wire was
continued) a quantity of lightning that did prodigious damage both
above and below it; and probably larger rods are not necessary,
though it is common in America, to make them of half an inch, some of
three quarters, or an inch diameter.
The rod may be fastened to the wall, chimney, &c. with staples of
iron.--The lightning will not leave the rod (a good conductor) to
pass into the wall (a bad conductor) through those staples.--It would
rather, if any were in the wall, pass out of it into the rod to get
more readily by that conductor into the earth.
If the building be very large and extensive, two or more rods may be
placed at different parts, for greater security.
Small ragged parts of clouds, suspended in the air between the
great body of clouds and the earth (like leaf gold in electrical
experiments) often serve as partial conductors for the lightning,
which proceeds from one of them to another, and by their help comes
within the striking distance to the earth or a building. It therefore
strikes through those conductors a building that would otherwise be
out of the striking distance.
Long sharp points communicating with the earth, and presented to
such parts of clouds, drawing silently from them the fluid they are
charged with, they are then attracted to the cloud, and may leave the
distance so great as to be beyond the reach of striking.
It is therefore that we elevate the upper end of the rod six or eight
feet above the highest part of the building, tapering it gradually to
a fine sharp point, which is gilt to prevent its rusting.
Thus the pointed rod either prevents a stroke from the cloud, or,
if a stroke is made, conducts it to the earth with safety to the
building.
The lower end of the rod should enter the earth so deep as to come
at the moist part, perhaps two or three feet; and if bent when under
the surface so as to go in a horizontal line six or eight feet from
the wall, and then bent again downwards three or four feet, it will
prevent damage to any of the stones of the foundation.
A person apprehensive of danger from lightning, happening during the
time of thunder to be in a house not so secured, will do well to
avoid sitting near the chimney, near a looking glass, or any gilt
pictures or wainscot; the safest place is in the middle of the room
(so it be not under a metal lustre suspended by a chain) sitting in
one chair and laying the feet up in another. It is still safer to
bring two or three mattrasses or beds into the middle of the room,
and, folding them up double, place the chair upon them; for they not
being so good conductors as the walls, the lightning will not chuse
an interrupted course through the air of the room and the bedding,
when it can go through a continued better conductor, the wall. But
where it can be had, a hammock or swinging bed, suspended by silk
cords equally distant from the walls on every side, and from the
cieling and floor above and below, affords the safest situation a
person can have in any room whatever; and what indeed may be deemed
quite free from danger of any stroke by lightning.
B. FRANKLIN.
_Paris, Sept. 1767._
FROM J. W.[81] ESQ. PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AT CAMBRIDGE, IN
NEW ENGLAND, JAN. 6, 1768.
_St. Bride's Steeple.--Utility of Electrical Conductors to
Steeples.--Singular kind of Glass tube._
"**** I have read in the Philosophical Transactions the account of the
effects of lightning on St. Bride's steeple. It is amazing to me,
that after the full demonstration you had given, of the identity of
lightning and of electricity, and the power of metalline conductors,
they should ever think of repairing that steeple without such
conductors. How astonishing is the force of prejudice even in an age
of so much knowledge and free enquiry!"
ANSWER TO THE ABOVE.
**** It is perhaps not so extraordinary that unlearned men, such as
commonly compose our church vestries, should not yet be acquainted
with, and sensible of the benefits of metal conductors in averting
the stroke of lightning, and preserving our houses from its violent
effects, or that they should be still prejudiced against the use
of such conductors, when we see how long even philosophers, men
of extensive science and great ingenuity, can hold out against
the evidence of new knowledge, that does not square with their
preconceptions; and how long men can retain a practice that is
conformable to their prejudices, and expect a benefit from such
practice, though constant experience shows its inutility. A late
piece of the Abbé Nollet, printed last year in the memoirs of the
French Academy of Sciences, affords strong instances of this: for
though the very relations he gives of the effects of lightning in
several churches and other buildings show clearly, that it was
conducted from one part to another by wires, gildings, and other
pieces of metal that were _within_, or connected with the building,
yet in the same paper he objects to the providing metalline
conductors _without_ the building, as useless or dangerous.[82] He
cautions people not to ring the church bells during a thunder-storm,
lest the lightning, in its way to the earth, should be conducted down
to them by the bell ropes,[83] which are but bad conductors; and yet
is against fixing metal rods on the outside of the steeple, which
are known to be much better conductors, and which it would certainly
chuse to pass in, rather than in dry hemp. And though for a thousand
years past bells have been solemnly consecrated by the Romish
church[84], in expectation that the sound of such blessed bells would
drive away those storms, and secure our buildings from the stroke
of lightning; and during so long a period, it has not been found by
experience, that places within the reach of such blessed sound, are
safer than others where it is never heard; but that on the contrary,
the lightning seems to strike steeples of choice, and that at the
very time the bells are ringing[85]; yet still they continue to bless
the new bells, and jangle the old ones whenever it thunders.--One
would think it was now time to try some other trick;--and ours is
recommended (whatever this able philosopher may have been told to the
contrary) by more than twelve years experience, wherein, among the
great number of houses furnished with iron rods in North America, not
one so guarded has been materially hurt with lightning, and several
have been evidently preserved by their means; while a number of
houses, churches, barns, ships, &c. in different places, unprovided
with rods, have been struck and greatly damaged, demolished or burnt.
Probably the vestries of our English churches are not generally well
acquainted with these facts; otherwise, since as good protestants
they have no faith in the blessing of bells, they would be less
excusable in not providing this other security for their respective
churches, and for the good people that may happen to be assembled
in them during a tempest, especially as those buildings, from their
greater height, are more exposed to the stroke of lightning than our
common dwellings.
I have nothing new in the philosophical way to communicate to you,
except what follows. When I was last year in Germany, I met with a
singular kind of glass, being a tube about eight inches long, half an
inch in diameter, with a hollow ball of near an inch diameter at one
end, and one of an inch and half at the other, hermetically sealed,
and half filled with water.--If one end is held in the hand, and
the other a little elevated above the level, a constant succession
of large bubbles proceeds from the end in the hand to the other
end, making an appearance that puzzled me much, till I found that
the space not filled with water was also free from air, and either
filled with a subtle invisible vapour continually rising from the
water, and extremely rarefiable by the least heat at one end, and
condensable again by the least coolness at the other; or it is the
very fluid of fire itself, which parting from the hand pervades the
glass, and by its expansive force depresses the water till it can
pass between it and the glass, and escape to the other end, where it
gets through the glass again into the air. I am rather inclined to
the first opinion, but doubtful between the two. An ingenious artist
here, Mr. Nairne, mathematical instrument-maker, has made a number
of them from mine, and improved them, for his are much more sensible
than those I brought from Germany.--I bored a very small hole through
the wainscot in the seat of my window, through which a little cold
air constantly entered, while the air in the room was kept warmer
by fires daily made in it, being winter time. I placed one of his
glasses, with the elevated end against this hole; and the bubbles
from the other end, which was in a warmer situation, were continually
passing day and night, to the no small surprise of even philosophical
spectators. Each bubble discharged is larger than that from which
it proceeds, and yet that is not diminished; and by adding itself
to the bubble at the other end, that bubble is not increased, which
seems very paradoxical.--When the balls at each end are made large,
and the connecting tube very small and bent at right angles, so that
the balls, instead of being at the ends, are brought on the side of
the tube, and the tube is held so as that the balls are above it,
the water will be depressed in that which is held in the hand, and
rise in the other as a jet or fountain; when it is all in the other,
it begins to boil, as it were, by the vapour passing up through it;
and the instant it begins to boil, a sudden coldness is felt in the
ball held; a curious experiment, this, first observed and shown me by
Mr. Nairne. There is something in it similar to the old observation,
I think mentioned by Aristotle, that the bottom of a boiling pot is
not warm; and perhaps it may help to explain that fact;--if indeed it
be a fact.--When the water stands at an equal height in both these
balls, and all at rest; if you wet one of the balls by means of a
feather dipt in spirit, though that spirit is of the same temperament
as to heat and cold with the water in the glasses, yet the cold
occasioned by the evaporation of the spirit from the wetted ball will
so condense the vapour over the water contained in that ball, as that
the water of the other ball will be pressed up into it, followed by a
succession of bubbles, till the spirit is all dried away. Perhaps the
observations on these little instruments may suggest and be applied
to some beneficial uses. It has been thought, that water reduced to
vapour by heat was rarefied only fourteen thousand times, and on
this principle our engines for raising water by fire are said to be
constructed: but if the vapour so much rarefied from water is capable
of being itself still farther rarefied to a boundless degree by the
application of heat to the vessels or parts of vessels containing
the vapour (as at first it is applied to those containing the water)
perhaps a much greater power may be obtained, with little additional
expence. Possibly too, the power of easily moving water from one
end to the other of a moveable beam (suspended in the middle like a
scale-beam) by a small degree of heat, may be applied advantageously
to some other mechanical purposes.****
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[81] John Winthrop. _Editor._
[82] Notre curiosité pourroit peut-être s'applandir des recherches
qu'elle nous a fait faire sur la nature du tonnerre, & sur la
mécanisme de ses principaux effets, mais ce n'est point ce qu'il y a
de plus important; il vaudroit bien mieux que nous puissions tronver
quelque moyen de nous en garantir: on y a pensé; on s'est même
flatté d'avoir fait cette grande découverte; mais malheureusement
douze années d'épreuves & un peu de réflexion, nous apprennent
qu'il ne faut pas compter sur les promesses qu'on nous a faites. Je
l'ai dit, il y a long temps, and avec regret, toutes ces pointes de
fer qu'on dresse en l'air, soit comme _électroscopes_, soit comme
préservatifs,----sont plus propre à nous attirer le feu du tonnerre
qu'à nous en préserver;----& je persiste â dire que le projet
d'épuiser une nuée orageuse du feu dont elle est chargée, n'est pas
celui d'un physicien,----. _Memoire sur les Effets du Tonnerre._
[83] Les cloches, en vertu de leur bénédiction, doivent écarter les
orages & nous preserver des coups de foudre; mais l'église permet
à la prudence humaine le choix des momens où il convient d'user de
ce préservatif. Je ne sais si le son, considéré physiquement, est
capable ou non de faire crever une nuée, & de causer l'épanchement
de son feu vers les objets terrestres, mais il est certain & prouvé
par l'expérience, que la tonnerre peut tomber sur un clocher, soit
que l'on y sonne ou que l'on n'y sonne point; & si cela arrive dans
le premier cas, les sonneurs sont en grand danger, parcequ'ils
tiennent des cordes par lesquelles la commotion de la foudre peut se
communiquer jusq'à eux: il est donc plus sage de laisser les cloches
en repos quand l'orage est arrivé au-dessus de l'église. Ibid.
[84] Suivant le rituel de Paris, lorsqu'on benit des cloches, on
recite les oraisons suivantes:
_Benedic, Domine ... quotiescumque sonuerit, procul recedat virtus
insidiantium, umbra phantasmatis, incursio turbinum, percussio
fulminum, læsio tonitruum, calamitas tempestatum, omnisque spiritus
procellarum, &c._
_Deus, qui per beatum Moïsen, &c. ... procul pellentur insidiæ
inimici, fragor grandinum, procella turbinum, impetus tempestatum,
temperentur infesta tonitrua. &c._
_Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, &c. ... ut ante sonitum ejus effugentur
ignita jacula inimici, percussio fulminum, impetus lapidum, læsio
tempestatum, &c._
[85] En 1718. M. Deslandes fit savoir à l'Academie Royale des
sciences, que la nuit du 14 ou 15 d'Avril de la mème année, le
tonnerre étoit tombé sur vingtquatre églises, dequis Landernau
jusqu'à Saint-Pol-de-Léon en Bretagne; que ces églises étoient
précisément celles où l'on sonnoit, & que la foudre avoit épargné
celles ou l'on ne sonnoit pas: que dans celle de Gouisnon, qui fut
entièrement ruinée, le tonnerre tua deux personnes de quatre qui
sonnoient, &c. _Hist. du l'Ac. R. des Sci. 1719._
_Experiments, Observations, and Facts, tending to support the
Opinion of the Utility of long pointed Rods, for securing Buildings
from Damage by Strokes of Lightning._
Read at the Committee appointed to consider the erecting Conductors
to secure the Magazines at Purfleet, Aug. 27, 1772.
EXPERIMENT I.
The prime conductor of an electric machine, A. B. (_See Plate_
IV.) being supported about 10 inches and a half above the table by
a wax-stand, and under it erected a _pointed wire_ 7 inches and a
half high, and one-fifth of an inch thick, and tapering to a sharp
point, and communicating with the table; when the _point_ (being
uppermost) is _covered_ by the end of a finger, the conductor may be
full charged, and the electrometer c[86], will rise to the height
indicating a full charge: but the moment the point is _uncovered_,
the ball of the electrometer drops, showing the prime conductor
to be instantly discharged and nearly emptied of its electricity.
Turn the wire its _blunt_ end upwards (which represents an unpointed
bar) and no such effect follows, the electrometer remaining at its
usual height when the prime conductor is charged.
[Illustration: (of these experiments)
_Plate IV._ _Vol. I. page 388._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
OBSERVATION.
_What_ quantity of lightning, a high pointed rod well communicating
with the earth may be expected to discharge from the clouds silently
in a short time, is yet unknown; but I have reason from a particular
fact to think it may at some times be very great. In Philadelphia I
had such a rod fixed to the top of my chimney, and extending about
nine feet above it. From the foot of this rod, a wire (the thickness
of a goose-quill) came through a covered glass tube in the roof, and
down through the well of the stair-case; the lower end connected
with the iron spear of a pump. On the stair-case opposite to my
chamber-door, the wire was divided; the ends separated about six
inches, a little bell on each end; [and] between the bells a little
brass ball suspended by a silk thread, to play between and strike
the bells when clouds passed with electricity in them. After having
frequently drawn sparks and charged bottles from the bell of the
upper wire, I was one night waked by loud cracks on the stair-case.
Starting up and opening the door, I perceived that the brass ball,
instead of vibrating as usual between the bells, was repelled and
kept at a distance from both; while the fire passed sometimes in very
large quick cracks from bell to bell; and sometimes in a continued
dense white stream, seemingly as large as my finger, whereby the
whole stair-case was enlightened as with sunshine, so that one
might see to pick up a pin[87]. And from the apparent quantity
thus discharged, I cannot but conceive that a _number_[88] of such
conductors must considerably lessen that of any approaching cloud,
before it comes so near as to deliver its contents in a general
stroke:--An effect not to be expected from bars _unpointed_; if the
above experiment with the blunt end of the wire is deemed pertinent
to the case.
EXPERIMENT II.
The pointed wire under the prime conductor continuing of the same
height, _pinch_ it between the thumb and finger near the top, so as
_just to conceal_ the point; then turning the globe, the electrometer
will rise and mark the full charge. Slip the fingers down so as to
discover about half an inch of the wire, then another half inch, and
then another; at every one of these motions _discovering more and
more_ of the pointed wire; you will see the electrometer fall quick
and proportionably, stopping when you stop. If you slip down the
_whole distance_ at once, the ball falls instantly down to the stem.
OBSERVATION.
From this experiment it seems that a greater effect in drawing off
the lightning from the clouds may be expected from _long_ pointed
rods, than from _short_ ones; I mean from such as show the greatest
length, _above the building_ they are fixed on.
EXPERIMENT III.
Instead of pinching the point between the thumb and finger, as in
the last experiment, keep the thumb and finger each at _near an inch
distance_ from it, but at the _same height_, the point between them.
In this situation, though the point is fairly exposed to the prime
conductor, it has little or no effect; the electrometer rises to
the height of a full charge.--But the moment the fingers are _taken
away_, the ball falls quick to the stem.
OBSERVATION.
To explain this, it is supposed, that one reason of the sudden effect
produced by a long naked pointed wire is, that (by the repulsive
power of the positive charge in the prime conductor) the natural
quantity of electricity contained in the pointed wire is driven down
into the earth, and the point of the wire made strongly _negative_;
whence it attracts the electricity of the prime conductor more
strongly than bodies in their natural state would do; the _small
quantity of common matter_ in the point, not being able by its
attractive force to retain its _natural quantity of the electric
fluid_, against the force of that repulsion.--But the finger and
thumb being substantial and blunt bodies, though as near the prime
conductor, hold up better their _own_ natural quantity against the
force of that repulsion; and so, continuing nearly in the natural
state, they jointly operate on the electric fluid in the point,
opposing its descent, and _aiding the point_ to retain it; contrary
to the repelling power of the prime conductor, which would drive it
down.--And this may also serve to explain the different powers of the
point in the preceding experiment, on the slipping down the finger
and thumb to different distances.
Hence is collected, that a pointed rod erected _between two tall
chimnies_, and very little higher (an instance of which I have seen)
cannot have so good an effect, as if it had been erected on one of
the chimneys, its whole length above it.
EXPERIMENT IV.
If, _instead_ of a long pointed wire, a _large solid body_ (to
represent a building without a point) be brought under and as near
the prime conductor, when charged; the ball of the electrometer will
_fall_ a little; and on taking away the large body, will _rise again_.
OBSERVATION.
Its _rising again_ shows that the prime conductor lost little or
none of its electric charge, as it had done through the point: the
_falling_ of the ball while the large body was under the conductor
therefore shows, that a quantity of its atmosphere was drawn from the
end where the electrometer is placed to the part immediately over the
large body, and there accumulated _ready_ to strike into it with its
whole undiminished force, as soon as within the striking distance;
and, were the prime conductor moveable like a _cloud_, it would
approach the body by attraction till within that distance. The swift
motion of clouds, as driven by the winds, probably prevents this
happening so often as otherwise it might do: for, though parts of
the cloud may stoop towards a building as they pass, in consequence
of such attraction, yet they are carried forward beyond the striking
distance before they could by their descending come within it.
EXPERIMENT V.
Attach a small light _lock of cotton_ to the underside of the
prime conductor, so that it may hang down towards the pointed wire
mentioned in the first experiment. _Cover_ the point with your
finger, and the globe being turned, the cotton will extend itself,
stretching down towards the finger, as at _a_; but on _uncovering_
the point, it instantly flies up to the prime conductor, as at _b_,
and continues there as long as the point is uncovered. The moment
you cover it again, the cotton flies down again, extending itself
towards the finger; and the same happens in degree, if (instead of
the finger) you use, uncovered, the _blunt_ end of the wire uppermost.
OBSERVATION.
To explain this, it is supposed that the cotton, by its connection
with the prime conductor, receives from it a quantity of its
electricity; which occasions its being attracted by the _finger_
that remains still in nearly its natural state. But when a _point_
is opposed to the cotton, its electricity is thereby taken from it,
faster than it can at a distance be supplied with a fresh quantity
from the conductor. Therefore being reduced _nearer_ to the natural
state, it is attracted _up_ to the electrified prime conductor;
_rather than down_, as before, to the finger.
Supposing farther that the prime conductor represents a cloud
charged with the electric fluid; the cotton, a ragged fragment of
cloud (of which the underside of great thunder-clouds are seen to
have many) the finger, a chimney or highest part of a building.--We
then may conceive that when such a cloud passes over a _building_,
some one of its ragged under-hanging fragments may be drawn down
by the chimney or other high part of the edifice; creating thereby
a _more easy communication_ between it and the great cloud.--But a
_long pointed rod_ being presented to this fragment, may occasion
its receding, like the cotton, up to the great cloud; and thereby
_increase_, instead _of lessening_ the distance, so as often to make
it greater than the striking distance. Turning the _blunt end of a
wire_ uppermost (which represents the unpointed bar) it appears that
the same good effect is not from that to be expected. A long pointed
rod it is therefore imagined, may _prevent_ some strokes; as well as
_conduct_ others that fall upon it, when a great body of cloud comes
on so heavily that the above repelling operation on fragments cannot
take place.
EXPERIMENT VI.
Opposite the side of the prime conductor place _separately_, isolated
by wax stems, Mr. Canton's two boxes with pith balls suspended by
fine linen threads. On each box, lay a wire six inches long and
one-fifth of an inch thick, tapering to a sharp point; but so laid,
as that four inches of the _pointed_ end of _one_ wire, and an equal
length of the _blunt_ end of the _other_, may project beyond the ends
of the boxes; and both at eighteen inches distance from the prime
conductor. Then charging the prime conductor by a turn or two of the
globe, the balls of each pair will separate; those of the box, whence
the point projects most, _considerably_; the others _less_. Touch the
prime conductor, and those of the box with the _blunt_ point will
_collapse_, and join. Those connected with the _point_ will at the
same time approach each other, _till_ within about an inch, and there
_remain_.
OBSERVATION.
This seems a proof, that though the small sharpened part of the wire
must have had a _less natural_ quantity in it before the operation,
than the thick blunt part; yet a greater quantity was _driven down
from it_ to the balls. Thence it is again inferred, that the pointed
rod is rendered _more negative_: and farther, that if a _stroke must
fall_ from the cloud over a building, furnished with such a rod,
it is more likely to be drawn to that pointed rod, than to a blunt
one; as being more strongly negative, and of course its attraction
stronger. And it seems more eligible, that the lightning should fall
on the point of the conductor (provided to convey it into the earth)
than on any other part of the building, _thence_ to proceed to such
conductor. Which end is also more likely to be obtained by the length
and loftiness of the rod; as protecting more extensively the building
under it.
It has been _objected_, that erecting pointed rods upon _edifices_,
is to _invite_ and draw the lightning into _them_; and therefore
dangerous. Were such rods to be erected on buildings, _without
continuing the communication_ quite down into the moist earth, this
objection might then have weight; but when such compleat conductors
are made, the lightning is invited not into the building, but into
the _earth_, the situation it aims at, and which it always seizes
every help to obtain, even from broken partial metalline conductors.
It has also been suggested, that from such electric experiments
_nothing certain can be concluded as to the great operations of
nature_; since it is often seen, that experiments, which have
succeeded in small, in large have failed. It is true that in
mechanics this has sometimes happened. But when it is considered
that we owe our first knowledge of the nature and operations of
lightning, to observations on such small experiments; and that on
carefully comparing the most accurate accounts of former facts, and
the exactest relations of those that have occurred since, the effects
have surprizingly agreed with the theory; it is humbly conceived that
in natural philosophy, in this branch of it at least, the suggestion
has not so much weight; and that the farther new experiments now
adduced in recommendation of _long_ sharp-pointed rods, may have some
claim to credit and consideration.
It has been urged too, that though points may have considerable
effects on a _small_ prime conductor at _small distances_; yet on
_great_ clouds and at _great distances_, nothing is to be expected
from them. To this it is answered, that in those _small_ experiments
it is evident the points act at a greater than the _striking_
distance; and in the large way, their service is _only expected_
where there is _such_ nearness of the cloud, as to _endanger a
stroke_; and there, it cannot be doubted the points must have some
effect. And if the quantity discharged by a single pointed rod may
be so considerable as I have shown it; the quantity discharged by a
number will be proportionably greater.
But this part of the theory does not depend alone on _small_
experiments. Since the practice of erecting pointed rods in America
(now near twenty years) five of them have been struck by lightning,
viz. Mr. Raven's and Mr. Maine's in South Carolina; Mr. Tucker's in
Virginia; Mr. West's and Mr. Moulder's in Philadelphia. Possibly
there may have been more that have not come to my knowledge. But in
every one of these, the lightning did _not_ fall upon the _body of
the house_, but precisely on the several _points_ of the rods; and,
though the conductors were sometimes _not sufficiently large and
complete_, was conveyed into the earth, without any material damage
to the buildings. Facts then _in great_, as far as we have them
authenticated, justify the opinion that is drawn from the experiments
_in small_ as above related.
It has also been objected, that unless we knew the quantity that
might _possibly_ be discharged at one stroke from the clouds,
we cannot be sure we have provided _sufficient_ conductors; and
therefore cannot depend on their conveying away _all_ that may fall
on their points. Indeed we have nothing to form a judgment by in
this but past facts; and we know of no instance where a _compleat_
conductor to the moist earth _has_ been insufficient, if half an
inch diameter. It is probable that many strokes of lightning have
been conveyed through the common leaden pipes affixed to houses to
carry down the water from the roof to the ground: and there is no
account of such pipes being melted and destroyed, as must sometimes
have happened if they had been insufficient. We can then only judge
of the dimensions proper for a conductor of lightning, as we do of
those proper for a _conductor of rain_, by past observation. And as
we think a pipe of three inches bore sufficient to carry off the
rain that falls on a square of 20 feet, because we never saw such a
pipe glutted by any shower; so we may judge a conductor of an inch
diameter, more than sufficient for any stroke of lightning that will
fall on its point. It is true that if another deluge should happen
wherein the windows of heaven are to be opened, such pipes may be
unequal to the falling quantity; and if God for our sins should
think fit to rain fire upon us, as upon some cities of old, it is
not expected that our conductors of whatever size, should secure our
houses against a miracle. Probably as water drawn up into the air
and there forming clouds, is disposed to fall again in _rain_ by
its natural gravity, as soon as a number of particles sufficient to
make a drop can get together; so when the clouds are (by whatever
means) over or under-charged [with the _electric fluid_] to a degree
sufficient to attract them towards the earth, the equilibrium is
restored, before the difference becomes great beyond that degree.
Mr. Lane's _electrometer_, for limiting precisely the quantity of
a shock that is to be administered in a medical view, may serve to
make this more easily intelligible. The discharging knob does by a
screw approach the conductor to the distance intended, but there
remains fixed. Whatever power there may be in the glass globe to
collect the fulminating fluid, and whatever capacity of receiving and
accumulating it there may be in the bottle or glass jar; yet neither
the accumulation or the discharge ever exceeds the destined quantity.
Thus, were the _clouds_ always at a certain fixed distance from the
earth, all discharges would be made when the quantity accumulated
was equal to the distance: But there is a circumstance which by
occasionally lessening the distance, lessens the discharge; to wit,
the moveableness of the clouds, and their being drawn nearer to the
earth by attraction when electrified; so that discharges are thereby
rendered more frequent and of course less violent. Hence whatever the
quantity may be in nature, and whatever the power in the clouds of
collecting it; yet an accumulation and force beyond what mankind has
hitherto been acquainted with is scarce to be expected[89].
B. F.
_Aug. 27, 1772._
FOOTNOTES:
[86] Mr. Henley's.
[87] Mr. de Romas saw still greater quantities of lightning brought
down by the wire of his kite. He had "explosions from it, the noise
of which greatly resembled that of thunder, and were heard (from
without) into the heart of the city, notwithstanding the various
noises there. The fire seen at the instant of the explosion had the
shape of a spindle eight inches long and five lines in diameter.
Yet from the time of the explosion to the end of the experiment, no
lightning was seen above, nor any thunder heard. At another time the
streams of fire issuing from it were observed to be an inch thick and
ten feet long."--_See Dr. Priestley's History of Electricity_, pages
134-6, _first edition_.
[88] Twelve were proposed on and near the magazines at Purfleet.
[89] It may be fit to mention here, that the immediate occasion of
the dispute concerning the preference between pointed and blunt
conductors of lightning, arose as follows:--A powder-mill having
blown up at Brescia, in consequence of its being struck with
lightning, the English board of ordnance applied to their painter,
Mr. Wilson, then of some note as an electrician, for a method to
prevent the like accident to their magazines at Purfleet. Mr. Wilson
having advised a blunt conductor, and it being understood that Dr.
Franklin's opinion, formed upon the spot, was for a pointed one; the
matter was referred in 1772, to the Royal Society, and by them as
usual, to a committee, who, after consultation, prescribed a method
conformable to Dr. Franklin's theory. But a harmless stroke of
lightning, having under particular circumstances, fallen upon one of
the buildings and its apparatus in May 1777; the subject came again
into violent agitation, and was again referred to the society, and
by the society again referred to a new committee, which committee
confirmed the decision of the first committee. B. V.[90]
[90] Wherever this signature occurs, the note is taken from a volume
of Dr. Franklin's writings, entitled Political, Miscellaneous, and
Philosophical Pieces, printed for Johnson, 1779. The editor of
that volume, though a young man at the time, had already evinced
extraordinary talents, and was the friend and correspondent of our
author. As he has chosen to withhold his name, we conceive ourselves
not entitled to disclose it: but we shall take the freedom of an
acquaintance to use the notes occasionally, deeming them in many
instances valuable historical records. _Editor._
TO PROFESSOR LANDRIANI, OF ITALY.
_On the Utility of Electrical Conductors._
_Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 1787._
SIR,
I have received the excellent work, _Upon the Utility of electrical
Conductors_, which you had the goodness to send me. I read it with
great pleasure, and beg you to accept my sincere thanks for it.
Upon my return to this country, I found the number of conductors much
increased, many proofs of their efficacy in preserving buildings from
lightning having demonstrated their utility. Among other instances,
my own house was one day attacked by lightning, which occasioned the
neighbours to run in to give assistance, in case of its being on
fire. But no damage was done, and my family was only found a good
deal frightened with the violence of the explosion.
Last year, my house being enlarged, the conductor was obliged to be
taken down. I found, upon examination, that the pointed termination
of copper, which was originally nine inches long, and about one third
of an inch in diameter in its thickest part, had been almost entirely
melted; and that its connection with the rod of iron below was very
slight. Thus, in the course of time, this invention has proved of use
to the author of it, and has added this personal advantage to the
pleasure he before received, from having been useful to others.
Mr. Rittenhouse, our astronomer, has informed me, that having
observed with his excellent telescope, many conductors that are
within the field of his view, he has remarked in various instances,
that the points were melted in like manner. There is no example of
a house, provided with a perfect conductor, which has suffered any
considerable damage; and even those which are without them have
suffered little, since conductors have come common in this city.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO JOHN PRINGLE, M. D. AND F. R. S.
_On the Effects of Electricity in paralytic Cases._
_Craven-street, Dec. 21, 1757._
SIR,
In compliance with your request, I send you the following account
of what I can at present recollect relating to the effects of
electricity in paralytic cases, which have fallen under my
observation.
Some years since, when the news-papers made mention of great cures
performed in Italy and Germany, by means of electricity, a number of
paralytics were brought to me from different parts of Pensylvania,
and the neighbouring provinces, to be electrised, which I did for
them at their request. My method was, to place the patient first in a
chair, on an electric stool, and draw a number of large strong sparks
from all parts of the affected limb or side. Then I fully charged
two six-gallon glass jars, each of which had about three square feet
of surface coated; and I sent the united shock of these through
the affected limb or limbs, repeating the stroke commonly three
times each day. The first thing observed, was an immediate greater
sensible warmth in the lame limbs that had received the stroke than
in the others; and the next morning the patients usually related,
that they had in the night felt a pricking sensation in the flesh of
the paralytic limbs; and would sometimes show a number of small red
spots, which they supposed were occasioned by those prickings. The
limbs, too, were found more capable of voluntary motion, and seemed
to receive strength. A man, for instance, who could not the first day
lift the lame hand from off his knee, would the next day raise it
four or five inches, the third day higher; and on the fifth day was
able, but with a feeble languid motion, to take off his hat. These
appearances gave great spirits to the patients, and made them hope
a perfect cure; but I do not remember that I ever saw any amendment
after the fifth day; which the patients perceiving, and finding
the shocks pretty severe, they became discouraged, went home, and
in a short time relapsed; so that I never knew any advantage from
electricity in palsies that was permanent. And how far the apparent
temporary advantage might arise from the exercise in the patients
journey, and coming daily to my house, or from the spirits given by
the hope of success, enabling them to exert more strength in moving
their limbs, I will not pretend to say.
Perhaps some permanent advantage might have been obtained, if the
electric shocks had been accompanied with proper medicine and
regimen, under the direction a skilful physician. It may be, too,
that a few great strokes, as given in my method, may not be so proper
as many small ones; since by the account from Scotland of a case, in
which two hundred shocks from a phial were given daily, it seems,
that a perfect cure has been made. As to any uncommon strength
supposed to be in the machine used in that case, I imagine it could
have no share in the effect produced; since the strength of the shock
from charged glass, is in proportion to the quantity of surface of
the glass coated; so that my shocks from those large jars, must have
been much greater than any that could be received from a phial held
in the hand.
I am, with great respect, Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Electrical Experiments on Amber._
_Saturday, July 3, 1762._
To try, at the request of a friend, whether amber finely powdered
might be melted and run together again by means of the electric
fluid, I took a piece of small glass tube, about two inches and a
half long, the bore about one-twelfth of an inch diameter, the glass
itself about the same thickness; I introduced into this tube some
powder of amber, and with two pieces of wire nearly fitting the
bore, one inserted at one end, the other at the other, I rammed the
powder hard between them in the middle of the tube, where it stuck
fast, and was in length about half an inch. Then leaving the wires in
the tube, I made them part of the electric circuit, and discharged
through them three rows of my case of bottles. The event was, that
the glass was broke into very small pieces and those dispersed with
violence in all directions. As I did not expect this, I had not, as
in other experiments, laid thick paper over the glass to save my
eyes, so several of the pieces struck my face smartly, and one of
them cut my lip a little so as to make it bleed. I could find no
part of the amber; but the table where the tube lay was stained very
black in spots, such as might be made by a thick smoke forced on it
by a blast, and the air was filled with a strong smell, somewhat
like that from burnt gunpowder. Whence I imagined, that the amber
was burnt, and had exploded as gunpowder would have done in the same
circumstances.
That I might better see the effect on the amber, I made the next
experiment in a tube formed of a card rolled up and bound strongly
with packthread. Its bore was about one-eighth of an inch diameter.
I rammed powder of amber into this as I had done in the other, and
as the quantity of amber was greater, I increased the quantity of
electric fluid, by discharging through it at once five rows of my
bottles. On opening the tube, I found that some of the powder had
exploded, an impression was made on the tube, though it was not hurt,
and most of the powder remaining was turned black, which I suppose
might be by the smoke forced through it from the burned part: some of
it was hard; but as it powdered again when pressed by the fingers, I
suppose that hardness not to arise from melting any parts in it, but
merely from my ramming the powder when I charged the tube.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THOMAS RONAYNE, ESQ. AT CORKE[91].
_On the Electricity of the Fogs in Ireland._
_London, April 20, 1766._
SIR,
I have received your very obliging and very ingenious letter by
Captain Kearney. Your observations upon the electricity of fogs and
the air in Ireland, and upon different circumstances of storms,
appear to me very curious, and I thank you for them. There is not,
in my opinion, any part of the earth whatever which is, or can be,
naturally in a state of negative electricity: and though different
circumstances may occasion an inequality in the distribution of
the fluid, the equilibrium is immediately restored by means of its
extreme subtilty, and of the excellent conductors with which the
humid earth is amply provided. I am of opinion, however, that when
a cloud, well charged positively, passes near the earth, it repels
and forces down into the earth that natural portion of electricity,
which exists near its surface, and in buildings, trees, &c. so as
actually to reduce them to a negative state before it strikes them.
I am of opinion too, that the negative state in which you have
frequently found the balls, which are suspended from your apparatus,
is not always occasioned by clouds in a negative state; but more
commonly by clouds positively electrified, which have passed over
them, and which in their passage have repelled and driven off a part
of the electrical matter, which naturally existed in the apparatus;
so that what remained after the passing of the clouds, diffusing
itself uniformly through the apparatus, the whole became reduced to a
negative state.
If you have read my experiments made in continuation of those of Mr.
Canton, you will readily understand this; but you may easily make
a few experiments, which will clearly demonstrate it. Let a common
glass be warmed before the fire that it may continue very dry for
some time; set it upon a table, and place upon it the small box made
use of by Mr. Canton, so that the balls may hang a little beyond
the edge of the table. Rub another glass, which has previously been
warmed in a similar manner, with a piece of black silk or a silk
handkerchief, in order to electrify it. Hold then the glass above
the little box, at about the distance of three or four inches from
that part, which is most distant from the balls; and you will see
the balls separate from each other; being positively electrified
by the natural portion of electricity, which was in the box, and
which is driven to the further part of it by the repulsive power of
the atmosphere in the excited glass. Touch the box near the little
balls (the excited glass continuing in the same state) and the balls
will again unite; the quantity of electricity which had been driven
to this part being drawn off by your finger. Withdraw then both
your finger and the glass at the same instant, and the quantity of
electricity which remained in the box, uniformly diffusing itself,
the balls will again be separated; being now in a negative state.
While things are in this situation, begin once more to excite your
glass, and hold it above the box, but not too near, and you will
find, that when brought within a certain distance, the balls will
at first approach each other, being then in a natural state. In
proportion as the glass is brought nearer, they, will again separate,
being positive. When the glass is moved beyond them, and at some
little farther distance, they will unite again, being in a natural
state. When it is entirely removed, they will separate again,
being then made negative. The excited glass in this experiment may
represent a cloud positively charged, which you see is capable of
producing in this manner all the different changes in the apparatus,
without the least necessity for supposing any negative cloud.
I am nevertheless fully convinced, that these are negative clouds;
because they sometimes absorb, through the medium of the apparatus,
the positive electricity of a large jar, the hundredth part of
which the apparatus itself would have not been able to receive or
contain at once. In fact, it is not difficult to conceive, that a
large cloud, highly charged positively, may reduce smaller clouds to
a negative state, when it passes above or near them, by forcing a
part of their natural portion of the fluid either to their inferior
surfaces, whence it may strike into the earth, or to the opposite
side, whence it may strike into the adjacent clouds; so that when
the large cloud has passed off to a distance, the small clouds
shall remain in a negative state, exactly like the apparatus; the
former (like the latter) being frequently insulated bodies, having
communication neither with the earth nor with other clouds. Upon the
same principle it may easily be conceived, in what manner a large
negative cloud may render others positive.
The experiment which you mention, of filing your glass, is analogous
to one which I made in 1751, or 1752. I had supposed in my preceding
letters, that the pores of glass were smaller in the interior parts
than near the surface, and that on this account they prevented the
passage of the electrical fluid. To prove whether this was actually
the case or not, I ground one of my phials in a part where it was
extremely thin, grinding it considerably beyond the middle, and very
near to the opposite superficies, as I found, upon breaking it after
the experiment. It was charged nevertheless after being ground,
equally well as before, which convinced me, that my hypothesis on
this subject was erroneous. It is difficult to conceive where the
immense superfluous quantity of electricity on the charged side of a
glass is deposited.
I send you my paper concerning meteors, which was lately published
here in the Philosophical Transactions, immediately after a paper by
Mr. Hamilton on the same subject.
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[91] This letter is translated from the French edition of Dr.
Franklin's works, as are also all that follow, to the Appendix, the
one to Miss Stephenson excepted. _Editor._
_Mode of ascertaining, whether the Power, giving a Shock to those
who touch either the Surinam Eel, or the Torpedo, be electrical._
1. Touch the fish with a stick of dry sealing-wax, or a glass rod,
and observe if the shock be communicated by means of those bodies.
Touch the same fish with an iron, or other metalline rod.
If the shock be communicated by the latter body, and not by the
others, it is probably not the mechanical effect, as has been
supposed, of some muscular action in the fish, but of a subtile
fluid, in this respect analogous at least to the electric fluid.
2. Observe farther, whether the shock can be conveyed without the
metal being actually in contact with the fish, and if it can,
whether, in the space between, any light appear, and a slight noise
or crackling be heard.
If so, these also are properties common to the electric fluid.
3. Lastly, touch the fish with the wire of a small Leyden bottle, and
if the shock can be received across, observe whether the wire will
attract and repel light bodies, and you feel a shock, while holding
the bottle in one hand, and touching the wire with the other.
If so, the fluid, capable of producing such effects seems to have all
the known properties of the electric fluid.
ADDITION, _12th August, 1772,_
_In Consequence of the Experiments and Discoveries made in France
by Mr. Walsh, and communicated by him to Dr. Franklin._
Let several persons, standing on the floor, hold hands, and let one
of them touch the fish, so as to receive a shock. If the shock be
felt by all, place the fish flat on a plate of metal, and let one of
the persons holding hands touch this plate, while the person farthest
from the plate touches the upper part of the fish with a metal rod:
then observe, if the force of the shock be the same as to all the
persons forming the circle, or is stronger than before.
Repeat this experiment with this difference: let two or three of the
persons forming the circle, instead of holding by the hand, hold each
an uncharged electrical bottle, so that the little balls at the end
of the wires may touch, and observe, after the shock, if these wires
will attract and repel light bodies, and if a ball of cork, suspended
by a long silk string between the wires, a little distance from the
bottles, will be alternately attracted and repelled by them.
TO M. DUBOURG.
_On the Analogy between Magnetism and Electricity._
_London, March 10, 1773._
SIR,
As to the magnetism, which seems produced by electricity, my real
opinion is, that these two powers of nature have no affinity with
each other, and that the apparent production of magnetism is purely
accidental. The matter may be explained thus:
1st, The earth is a great magnet.
2dly, There is a subtile fluid, called the magnetic fluid, which
exists in all ferruginous bodies, equally attracted by all their
parts, and equally diffused through their whole substance; at least
where the equilibrium is not disturbed by a power superior to the
attraction of the iron.
3dly, This natural quantity of the magnetic fluid, which is contained
in a given piece of iron, may be put in motion so as to be more
rarefied in one part and more condensed in another; but it cannot
be withdrawn by any force that we are yet made acquainted with, so
as to leave the whole in a negative state, at least relatively to
its natural quantity; neither can it be introduced so as to put the
iron into a positive state, or render it _plus_. In this respect,
therefore magnetism differs from electricity.
4thly, A piece of soft iron allows the magnetic fluid which it
contains to be put in motion by a moderate force, so that being
placed in a line with the magnetic pole of the earth, it immediately
acquires the properties of a magnet; its magnetic fluid being drawn
or forced from one extremity to the other; and this effect continues
as long as it remains in the same position, one of its extremities
becoming positively magnetised, and the other negatively. This
temporary magnetism ceases as soon as the iron is turned east and
west, the fluid immediately diffusing itself equally through the
whole iron, as in its natural state.
5thly, The magnetic fluid in hard iron, or steel, is put in motion
with more difficulty, requiring a force greater than the earth to
excite it; and when once it has been forced from one extremity of the
steel to the other, it is not easy for it to return; and thus a bar
of steel is converted into a permanent magnet.
6thly, A great heat, by expanding the substance of this steel, and
increasing the distance between its particles, affords a passage
to the electric fluid, which is thus again restored to its proper
equilibrium; the bar appearing no longer to possess magnetic virtue.
7thly, A bar of steel which is not magnetic, being placed in the same
position, relatively to the pole of the earth, which the magnetic
needle assumes, and in this position being heated and suddenly
cooled, becomes a permanent magnet. The reason is, that while the bar
was hot, the magnetic fluid which it naturally contained was easily
forced from one extremity to the other by the magnetic virtue of the
earth; and that the hardness and condensation, produced by the sudden
cooling of the bar, retained it in this state without permitting it
to resume its original situation.
8thly, The violent vibrations of the particles of a steel bar, when
forcibly struck in the same position, separate the particles in such
a manner during their vibration, that they permit a portion of the
magnetic fluid to pass, influenced by the natural magnetism of the
earth; and it is afterwards so forcibly retained by the re-approach
of the particles when the vibration ceases, that the bar becomes a
permanent magnet.
9thly, An electric shock passing through a needle in a like position,
and dilating it for an instant, renders it, for the same reason, a
permanent magnet; that is, not by imparting magnetism to it, but by
allowing its proper magnetic fluid to put itself in motion.
10thly, Thus, there is not in reality more magnetism in a given
piece of steel after it is become magnetic, than existed in it
before. The natural quantity is only displaced or repelled. Hence it
follows, that a strong apparatus of magnets may charge millions of
bars of steel, without communicating to them any part of its proper
magnetism; only putting in motion the magnetism which already existed
in these bars.
I am chiefly indebted to that excellent philosopher of Petersburgh,
Mr. Æpinus, for this hypothesis, which appears to me equally
ingenious and solid. I say, _chiefly_, because, as it is many years
since I read his book, which I have left in America, it may happen,
that I may have added to or altered it in some respect; and if I have
misrepresented any thing, the error ought to be charged to my account.
If this hypothesis appears admissible, it will serve as an answer to
the greater part of your questions. I have only one remark to add,
which is, that however great the force is of magnetism employed, you
can only convert a given portion of steel into a magnet of a force
proportioned to its capacity of retaining its magnetic fluid in the
new position in which it is placed, without letting it return. Now
this power is different in different kinds of steel, but limited in
all kinds whatever.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MESSRS. DUBOURG AND D'ALIBARD[92].
_Concerning the Mode of rendering Meat tender by Electricity._
MY DEAR FRIENDS,
My answer to your questions concerning the mode of rendering meat
tender by electricity, can only be founded upon conjecture; for I
have not experiments enough to warrant the facts. All that I can
say at present is, that I think electricity might be employed for
this purpose, and I shall state what follows as the observations or
reasons, which make me presume so.
It has been observed, that lightning, by rarefying and reducing
into vapour the moisture contained in solid wood, in an oak, for
instance, has forcibly separated its fibres, and broken it into small
splinters; that by penetrating intimately the hardest metals, as
iron, it has separated the parts in an instant, so as to convert a
perfect solid into a state of fluidity: it is not then improbable,
that the same subtile matter, passing through the bodies of animals
with rapidity, should possess sufficient force to produce an effect
nearly similar.
The flesh of animals, fresh killed in the usual manner, is firm,
hard, and not in a very eatable state, because the particles adhere
too forcibly to each other. At a certain period, the cohesion is
weakened and in its progress towards putrefaction, which tends to
produce a total separation, the flesh becomes what we call tender, or
is in that state most proper to be used as our food.
It has frequently been remarked, that animals killed by lightning
putrify immediately. This cannot be invariably the case, since a
quantity of lightning sufficient to kill, may not be sufficient to
tear and divide the fibres and particles of flesh, and reduce them to
that tender state, which is the prelude to putrefaction. Hence it is,
that some animals killed in this manner will keep longer than others.
But the putrefaction sometimes proceeds with surprising celerity.
A respectable person assured me, that he once knew a remarkable
instance of this: A whole flock of sheep in Scotland, being closely
assembled under a tree, were killed by a flash of lightning; and
it being rather late in the evening, the proprietor, desirous of
saving something, sent persons early the next morning to flay them;
but the putrefaction was such, and the stench so abominable, that
they had not the courage to execute their orders, and the bodies
were accordingly buried in their skins. It is not unreasonable to
presume, that between the period of their death and that of their
putrefaction, a time intervened in which the flesh might be only
tender, and only sufficiently so to be served at table. Add to this,
that persons, who have eaten of fowls killed by our feeble imitation
of lightning (electricity) and dressed immediately, have asserted,
that the flesh was remarkably tender.
The little utility of this practice has perhaps prevented its being
much adopted. For though it sometimes happens, that a company
unexpectedly arriving at a country-house, or an unusual conflux of
travellers to an inn, may render it necessary, to kill a number
of animals for immediate use; yet as travellers have commonly a
good appetite, little attention has been paid to the trifling
inconvenience of having their meat a little tough. As this kind of
death is nevertheless more sudden, and consequently less severe, than
any other, if this should operate as a motive with compassionate
persons to employ it for animals sacrificed for their use, they may
conduct the process thus:
Having prepared a battery of six large glass jars (each from 20 to
24 pints) as for the Leyden experiment, and having established a
communication, as usual, from the interior surface of each with the
prime conductor, and having given them a full charge (which with a
good machine may be executed in a few minutes, and may be estimated
by an electrometer) a chain which communicates with the exterior of
the jars must be wrapped round the thighs of the fowl; after which
the operator, holding it by the wings, turned back and made to touch
behind, must raise it so high that the head may receive the first
shock from the prime conductor. The animal dies instantly. Let the
head be immediately cut off to make it bleed, when it may be plucked
and dressed immediately. This quantity of electricity is supposed
sufficient for a turkey of ten pounds weight, and perhaps for a
lamb. Experience alone will inform us of the requisite proportions
for animals of different forms and ages. Probably not less will be
required to render a small bird, which is very old, tender, than for
a larger one, which is young. It is easy to furnish the requisite
quantity of electricity, by employing a greater or less number of
jars. As six jars, however, discharged at once, are capable of giving
a very violent shock, the operator must be very circumspect, lest he
should happen to make the experiment on his own flesh, instead of
that of the fowl.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[92] This letter has no date, but the one to which it is an answer is
dated May 1, 1773. _Editor._
TO M. DUBOURG.
_In Answer to some Queries concerning the Choice of Glass for the
Leyden Experiment._
_London, June 1, 1773._
SIR,
I wish, with you, that some chemist (who should, if possible, be at
the same time an electrician) would, in pursuance of the excellent
hints contained in your letter, undertake to work upon glass with
the view you have recommended. By means of a perfect knowledge of
this substance, with respect to its electrical qualities, we might
proceed with more certainty, as well in making our own experiments,
as in repeating those, which have been made by others in different
countries, which I believe have frequently been attended with
different success on account of differences in the glass employed,
thence occasioning frequent misunderstandings and contrariety of
opinions.
There is another circumstance much to be desired with respect to
glass, and that is, that it should not be subject to break when
highly charged in the Leyden experiment. I have known eight jars
broken out of twenty, and at another time, twelve out of thirty-five.
A similar loss would greatly discourage electricians desirous of
accumulating a great power for certain experiments.--We have never
been able hitherto to account for the cause of such misfortunes. The
first idea which occurs is, that the positive electricity, being
accumulated on one side of the glass, rushes violently through it, in
order to supply the deficiency on the other side and to restore the
equilibrium. This however I cannot conceive to be the true reason,
when I consider, that a great number of jars being united, so as to
be charged and discharged at the same time, the breaking of a single
jar will discharge the whole; for, if the accident proceeded from the
weakness of the glass, it is not probable, that eight of them should
be precisely of the same degree of weakness, as to break every one
at the same instant, it being more likely, that the weakest should
break first, and, by breaking, secure the rest; and again, when it is
necessary to produce a certain effect, by means of the whole charge
passing through a determined circle (as, for instance, to melt a
small wire) if the charge, instead of passing in this circle, rushed
through the sides of the jars, the intended effect would not be
produced; which, however, is contrary to fact. For these reasons, I
suspect, that there is, in the substance of the glass, either some
little globules of air, or some portions of unvitrified sand or salt,
into which a quantity of the electric fluid may be forced during the
charge, and there retained till the general discharge: and that the
force being suddenly withdrawn, the elasticity of the fluid acts upon
the glass in which it is inclosed, not being able to escape hastily
without breaking the glass. I offer this only as a conjecture, which
I leave to others to examine.
The globe which I had that could not be excited, though it was from
the same glass-house which furnished the other excellent globes
in my possession, was not of the same frit. The glass which was
usually manufactured there, was rather of the green kind, and chiefly
intended for drinking-glasses and bottles; but the proprietors being
desirous of attempting a trial of white glass, the globe in question
was of this frit. The glass not being of a perfect white, the
proprietors were dissatisfied with it, and abandoned their project.
I suspected that too great a quantity of salt was admitted into the
composition; but I am no judge of these matters.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MISS STEPHENSON.
_Concerning the Leyden Bottle._
_London, March 22, 1762._
I must retract the charge of idleness in your studies, when I find
you have gone through the doubly difficult task of reading so big a
book, on an abstruse subject, and in a foreign language.
In answer to your question concerning the Leyden phial.--The hand
that holds the bottle receives and conducts away the electric fluid
that is driven out of the outside by the repulsive power of that
which is forced into the inside of the bottle. As long as that power
remains in the same situation, it must prevent the return of what it
had expelled; though the hand would readily supply the quantity if it
could be received.
Your affectionate friend,
B. FRANKLIN.
APPENDIX.
No. 1[93].
_The early_ LETTERS _of Dr. Franklin on Electricity having been
translated into French, and printed at Paris; the Abbé Mazeas, in a
Letter to Dr. Stephen Hales, dated St. Germain, May 20, 1752, gives
the following Account (printed in the Philosophical Transactions)
of the Experiment made at Marly, in Pursuance of that proposed by
Mr. Franklin, Pages 227, 228._
SIR,
The Philadelphian experiments, that Mr. Collinson, a member of
the Royal Society, was so kind as to communicate to the public,
having been universally admired in France, the king desired to see
them performed. Wherefore the Duke D'Ayen offered his majesty his
country-house at St. Germain, where M. de Lor, master of experimental
philosophy, should put those of Philadelphia in execution. His
majesty saw them with great satisfaction, and greatly applauded
Messieurs Franklin and Collinson. These applauses of his majesty
having excited in Messieurs de Buffon, D'Alibard, and de Lor, a
desire of verifying the conjectures of Mr. Franklin, upon the
analogy of thunder and electricity, they prepared themselves for
making the experiment.
M. D'Alibard chose for this purpose, a garden situated at Marly,
where he placed upon an electrical body a pointed bar of iron, of
forty feet high. On the 10th of May, twenty minutes past two in
the afternoon, a stormy cloud having passed over the place where
the bar stood, those that were appointed to observe it, drew near,
and attracted from it sparks of fire, perceiving the same kind of
commotions as in the common electrical experiments.
M. de Lor, sensible of the good success of this experiment, resolved
to repeat it at his house in the Estrapade, at Paris. He raised a
bar of iron ninety-nine feet high, placed upon a cake of resin, two
feet square, and three inches thick. On the 18th of May, between four
and five in the afternoon, a stormy cloud having passed over the
bar, where it remained half an hour, he drew sparks from the bar,
like those from the gun barrel, when, in the electrical experiments,
the globe is only rubbed by the cushion, and they produced the same
noise, the same fire, and the same crackling. They drew the strongest
sparks at the distance of nine lines, while the rain, mingled with
a little hail, fell from the cloud, without either thunder or
lightning; this cloud being, according to all appearance, only the
consequence of a storm, which happened elsewhere.
I am, with a profound respect,
Your most humble and obedient servant,
G. MAZEAS.
FOOTNOTE:
[93] See the paragraph between brackets, page 267.
_A more particular Account of the Circumstances and Success of
this extraordinary Experiment was laid before the Royal Academy
of Sciences at Paris, three Days afterwards, in a Memorial by M.
D'Alibard, viz._
EXTRAIT D'UN MEMOIRE
DE M. D'ALIBARD,
_Lû à l'Académie Royale des Sciences, le 13 Mai, 1752._
"En suivant la route que M. Franklin nous a tracée, j'ai obtenu une
satisfaction complette. Voici les préparatifs, le procédé & le succès.
"1º. J'ai fait faire à Marly-la-ville, située à six lieues de Paris
au milieu d'une belle plaine dont le sol est fort élevé, une verge de
fer ronde, d'environ un pouce de diametre, longue de 40 pieds, & fort
pointue par son extrémité supérieure; pour lui ménager une pointe
plus fine, je l'ai fait armer d'acier trempé & ensuite brunir, au
défaut de dorure, pour la préserver de la rouille; outre cela, cette
verge de fer est courbée vers son extrémité inférieure en deux coudes
à angles aigus quoiqu'arrondis; le premier coude est éloigné de deux
pieds du bout inférieur, & le second est en sens contraire à trois
pieds du premier.
"2º. J'ai fait planter dans un jardin trois grosses perches de 28
à 29 pieds, disposées en triangle, & éloignées les unes des autres
d'environ huit pieds; deux de ces perches sont contre un mur, &
la troisieme est au-dedans du jardin. Pour les affermir toutes
ensemble, l'on à cloué sur chacune des entretoises à vingt pieds de
hauteur; & comme le grand vent agitoit encore cette espéce d'édifice,
l'on a attaché au haut de chaque perche de longs cordages, qui tenant
lieu d'aubans, répondent par le bas à de bons piquets fortement
enfoncés en terre à plus de 20 pieds des perches.
"3º. J'ai fait construire entres les deux perches voisines du mur, &
adosser contre ce mur une petite guerite de bois capable de contenir
un homme & une table.
"4º. J'ai fait placer au milieu de la guérite une petite table
d'environ un demi-pied de hauteur; & sur cette table j'ai fait
dresser & affermir un tabouret electrique. Ce tabouret n'est autre
chose qu'une petite planche quarrée, portée sur trois bouteilles à
vin; il n'est fait de cette matiere que pour suppléer au defaut d'un
gâteau de résine qui me manquoit.
"5º. Tout étant ainsi préparé, j'ai fait elever perpendiculairement
la verge de fer au milieu des trois perches, & je l'ai affermie en
l'attachant à chacune des perches avec de forts cordons de soie par
deux endroits seulement. Les premiers liens sont au haut des perches,
environ trois pouces au-dessous de leurs extrémités supérieures; les
seconds vers la moitié de leur hauteur. Le bout inférieur de la verge
de fer est solidement appuyé sur le milieu du tabouret electrique, où
j'ai fait creuser un trou propre à le recevoir.
"6º. Comme il étoit important de garantir de la pluie te tabouret
& les cordons de soie, parce qu'ils laisseroient passer la matiére
électrique s'ils etoient mouillés, j'ai pris les précautions
necessaires pour en empêcher. C'est dans cette vue que j'ai mis mon
tabouret sous la guérite, & que j'avois fait courber ma verge de fer
à angles aigus; afin que l'eau qui pourroit couler le long de cette
verge, ne pût arriver jusques sur le tabouret. C'est aussi dans le
même dessein que j'ai fait clouer sur le haut & au milieu de mes
perches, à trois pouces au-dessus des cordons de soie, des especes de
boîtes formées de trois petites planches d'environ 15 pouces de long,
qui couvrent par-dessus & par les côtes une pareille longueur des
cordons de soie, sans leur toucher.
"Il s'agissoit de faire, dans le tems de l'orage, deux observations
sur cette verge de fer ainsi disposée; l'une étoit de remarquer à sa
pointe une aigrette lumineuse, semblable à celle que l'on apperçoit
à la pointe d'une aiguille, quand on l'oppose assez près d'un corps
actuellement électrisé; l'autre étoit de tirer de la verge de fer des
étincelles, comme on en tire du canon de fusil dans les expériences
électriques; & afin de se garantir des piqûres de ces étincelles,
j'avois attaché le tenon d'un fil d'archal au cordon d'une longue
fiole pour lui servir de manche....
"Le Mercredi 10 Mai 1752, entre deux & trois heures après midi,
le nommé Coiffier, ancien dragon, que j'avois chargé de faire les
observations en mon absence, ayant entendu un coup de tonnerre
assez fort, vole aussitôt à la machine, prend la fiole avec le fil
d'archal, présente le tenon du fil à la verge, en voit sortir une
petite étincelle brillante, & en entend le pétillement; il tire une
seconde étincelle plus fort que la premiere & avec plus de bruit! il
appelle ses voisins, & envoie chercher M. le Prieur. Celui-ci accourt
de toutes ses forces; les paroissiens voyant la précipitation de
leur curé, s'imaginent que le pauvre Coiffier a été tué du tonnerre;
l'allarme se répand dans le village: la grêle qui survient n'empêche
point le troupeau du suivre son pasteur. Cet honnête ecclésiastique
arrive près de la machine, & voyant qu'il n'y avoit point de danger,
met lui-même la main â l'oeuvre & tire de fortes étincelles. La
nuée d'orage & de grêle ne fut pas plus d'un quart-d'heure à passer
au zénith de notre machine, & l'on n'entendit que ce seul coup
de tonnerre. Sitôt que le nuage fut passé, & qu'on ne tira plus
d'étincelles de la verge de fer, M. le Prieur de Marly fit partir le
sieur Coiffier lui-même, pour m'apporter la lettre suivante, qu'il
m'ecrivit à la hâte."
_Je vous annonce, Monsieur, ce que veus attendez: l'expérience est
complette. Aujourd'hui à deux heures 20 minutes après midi, le
tonnerre a grondé directement sur Marly; le coup a été assez fort.
L'envie de vous obliger, & la curiosité m'ont tiré de mon fauteüil,
où j'êtois occupé à lire: je suis allé chez Coiffier, qui déja
m'avoit dépêché un enfant que j'ai rencontré en chemin, pour me prier
de veenir; j'ai doublé le pas à travers un torrent de grêle. Arrivé
à l'endroit où est placée la tringle coudée, j'ai présenté le fil
d'archal, en evançant successivement vers la tringle, à un pouce &
demi, ou environ; il est sorti de la tringle une petite colonne de
fer bleuâtre sentant le soufre, qui venoit frapper avec une extrême
vivacité le tenon du fil d'archal, & occasionnoit un bruit semblable
à celui qu'on feroit en frappant sur la tringle avec une clef. J'ai
répeté l'expérience au moins six fois dans l'espace d'environ quatre
minutes, en présence de plusieurs personnes, & chaque expérience
que j'ai faite a duré l'espace d'un pater & d'un_ ave. _J'ai voulu
continuer; l'action du feu s'est ralentie peu à peu; j'ai approché
plus près, & n'ai plus tiré que quelques étincelles, & enfin rien
n'ai paru._
_Le coup de tonnerre qui a occasionné cet événement, n'a été suivi
d'aucun autre; tout s'est terminé par une abondance de grêle. J'étois
si occupé dans le moment de l'expérience de ce que voyois, qu'ayant
été frappé au bras un peu au-dessus du coude, je ne puis dire si
c'est en touchant au fil d'archal ou à la tringle: je ne me suis pas
plaint du mal que m'avoit fait le coup dans le moment que je l'ai
reçu; mais comme la douleur continuoit, de retour chez moi, j'ai
découvert mon bras en présence de Coiffier, & nous avons apperçu une
meurtrissure tournante autour du brass, semblable à celle que feroit
un coup de fil d'archal, si j'en avois été frappé à nud. En revenant
de chez Coiffier, j'ai recontré M. le Vicaire, M. de Milly, et le
Maître d'école, à qui j'ai rapporté ce qui venoit d'arriver; ils se
sont plaints tous les trois qu'ils sentoient une odeur de soufre qui
les frappait davantage à mesure qu'ils s'approichient de moi: j'ai
porté chez moi la même odeur, & mes domestiques s'en sont apperçus
sans que je leur aye rien dit._
_Voilà, Monsieur, un récit fait à la hâte, mais naif & vrai que
j'atteste, & vous pouvez assurer que je suis prêt à rendre témoignage
de cet événement dans toutes les occasions. Coiffier a été le premier
qui a fait l'expérience & l'a répétée, plusieurs fois; ce n'est
qu'à l'occasion de ce qu'il a vu qu'il m'a envoyé prier de venir.
S'il étoit besoin d'autres témoins que de lui & de moi, vous les
trouveriez. Coiffier presse pour partir._
_Je suis avec une respectueuse considération, Monsieur, votre, &c.
signé_ RAULET, _Prieur de Marly. 10 Mai, 1752._
"On voit, par le détail de cette lettre, que le fait est assez bien
constaté pour ne laisser aucun doute à ce sujet. Le porteur m'a
assuré de vive voix qu'il avoit tiré pendant près d'un quart-d'heure
avant que M. le Prieur arrivât, en présence de cinq ou six
personnes, des étincelles plus fortes & plus bruyantes que celles
dont il est parlé dans la lettre. Ces premieres personnes arrivant
successivement, n'osient approcher qu'à 10 ou 12 pas de la machine; &
à cette distance, malgré le plein soleil, ils voyoient les étincelles
& entendoient le bruit....
"Il résulte de toutes les expériences & observations que j'ai
rapportées dans ce mémoire, & surtout de la dernière expérience faite
à Marly-la-ville, que la matiere du tonnerre est incontestablement la
même que celle de l'électricité. L'idée qu'en a eu M. Franklin cesse
d'être une conjecture: la voilà devenue une réalité, & j'ose croire
que plus on approfondira tout ce qu'il a publié sur l'électricité,
plus on reconnoîtra combien la physique lui est redevable pour cette
partie."
_Letter of Mr. W. Watson, F. R. S. to the Royal Society, concerning
the electrical Experiments in England upon Thunder-Clouds._
Read Dec. 1752. Trans. Vol. XLVII.
GENTLEMEN,
After the communications, which we have received from several of our
correspondents in different parts of the continent, acquainting us
with the success of their experiments last summer, in endeavouring to
extract the electricity from the atmosphere during a thunder-storm,
in consequence of Mr. Franklin's hypothesis, it may be thought
extraordinary, that no accounts have been yet laid before you, of our
success here from the same experiments. That no want of attention,
therefore, may be attributed to those here, who have been hitherto
conversant in these enquiries, I thought proper to apprise you, that,
though several members of the Royal Society, as well as myself, did,
upon the first advices from France, prepare and set up the necessary
apparatus for this purpose, we were defeated in our expectations,
from the uncommon coolness and dampness of the air here, during the
whole summer. We had only at London one thunder-storm; viz. on July
20; and then the thunder was accompanied with rain; so that, by
wetting the apparatus, the electricity was dissipated too soon to be
perceived upon touching those parts of the apparatus, which served
to conduct it. This, I say, in general prevented our verifying Mr.
Franklin's hypothesis: but our worthy brother, Mr. Canton, was more
fortunate. I take the liberty, therefore, of laying before you an
extract of a letter, which I received from that gentleman, dated from
Spital-square, July 21, 1752.
"I had yesterday, about five in the afternoon, an opportunity of
trying Mr. Franklin's experiment of extracting the electrical fire
from the clouds; and succeeded, by means of a tin tube, between three
and four feet in length, fixed to the top of a glass one, of about
eighteen inches. To the upper end of the tin tube, which was not
so high as a stack of chimnies on the same house, I fastened three
needles with some wire; and to the lower end was soldered a tin cover
to keep the rain from the glass tube, which was set upright in a
block of wood. I attended this apparatus as soon after the thunder
began as possible, but did not find it in the least electrified,
till between the third and fourth clap; when, applying my knuckle
to the edge of the cover, I felt and heard an electrical spark; and
approaching it a second time, I received the spark at the distance of
about half an inch, and saw it distinctly. This I repeated four or
five times in the space of a minute, but the sparks grew weaker and
weaker; and in less than two minutes the tin tube did not appear to
be electrified at all. The rain continued during the thunder, but was
considerably abated at the time of making the experiment." Thus far
Mr. Canton.
Mr. Wilson likewise of the Society, to whom we are much obliged for
the trouble he has taken in these pursuits, had an opportunity of
verifying Mr. Franklin's hypothesis. He informed me, by a letter from
near Chelmsford, in Essex, dated August 12, 1752, that, on that day
about noon, he perceived several electrical snaps, during, or rather
at the end of a thunder-storm, from no other apparatus than an iron
curtain rod, one end of which he put into the neck of a glass phial,
and held this phial in his hand. To the other end of the iron he
fastened three needles with some silk. This phial, supporting the
rod, he held in one hand, and drew snaps from the rod with a finger
of his other. This experiment was not made upon any eminence, but in
the garden of a gentleman, at whose house he then was.
Dr. Bevis observed, at Mr. Cave's, at St. John's Gate, nearly the
same phenomena as Mr. Canton, of which an account has been already
laid before the public.
Trifling as the effects here mentioned are, when compared with those
which we have received from Paris and Berlin, they are the only ones,
that the last summer here has produced; and as they were made by
persons worthy of credit, they tend to establish the authenticity of
those transmitted from our correspondents.
I flatter myself, that this short account of these matters will not
be disagreeable to you; and am,
With the most profound respect,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
W. WATSON.
No. 2.
_Remarks on the Abbé Nollet's Letters to Benjamin Franklin, Esq. of
Philadelphia, on Electricity: by Mr. David Colden, of New York._
_Coldenham, in New York, Dec. 4, 1753._
SIR,
In considering the Abbé Nollet's Letters to Mr. Franklin, I am
obliged to pass by all the experiments which are made with, or in,
bottles hermetically sealed, or exhausted of air; because, not being
able to repeat the experiments, I could not second any thing which
occurs to me thereon, by experimental proof. Wherefore, the first
point wherein I can dare to give my opinion, is in the Abbé's 4th
letter, p. 66, where he undertakes to prove, that the electric matter
passes from one surface to another through the entire thickness
of the glass: he takes Mr. Franklin's experiment of the magical
picture, and writes thus of it. "When you electrise a pane of glass
coated on both sides with metal, it is evident that whatever is
placed on the side opposite to that which receives the electricity
from the conductor, receives also an evident electrical virtue."
Which Mr. Franklin says, is that equal quantity of electric matter,
driven out of this side, by what is received from the conductor on
the other side; and which will continue to give an electrical virtue
to any thing in contact with it, till it is entirely discharged of
its electrical fire. To which the Abbé thus objects; "Tell me (says
he), I pray you, how much time is necessary for this pretended
discharge? I can assure you, that after having maintained the
electrisation for hours, this surface, which ought, as it seems to
me, to be entirely discharged of its electrical matter, considering
either the vast number of sparks that were drawn from it, or the time
that this matter had been exposed to the action of the expulsive
cause; this surface, I say, appeared rather better electrised
thereby, and more proper to produce all the effects of an actual
electric body." _P._ 68.
The Abbé does not tell us what those effects were, all the effects
I could never observe, and those that are to be observed can easily
be accounted for, by supposing that side to be entirely destitute
of electric matter. The most sensible effect of a body charged with
electricity is, that when you present your finger to it, a spark will
issue from it to your finger: now when a phial, prepared for the
Leyden experiment, is hung to the gun-barrel or prime-conductor, and
you turn the globe in order to charge it; as soon as the electric
matter is excited, you can observe a spark to issue from the external
surface of the phial to your finger, which, Mr. Franklin says, is
the natural electric matter of the glass driven out by that received
by the inner surface from the conductor. If it be only drawn out by
sparks, a vast number of them may be drawn; but if you take hold of
the external surface with your hand, the phial will soon receive all
the electric matter it is capable of, and the outside will then be
entirely destitute of its electric matter, and no spark can be drawn
from it by the finger: here then is a want of that effect which all
bodies, charged with electricity, have. Some of the effects of an
electric body, which I suppose the Abbé has observed in the exterior
surface of a charged phial, are that all light bodies are attracted
by it. This is an effect which I have constantly observed, but do not
think that it proceeds from an attractive quality in the exterior
surface of the phial, but in those light bodies themselves, which
seem to be attracted by the phial. It is a constant observation,
that when one body has a greater charge of electric matter in it
than another (that is in proportion to the quantity they will hold)
this body will attract that which has less: now, I suppose, and it
is a part of Mr. Franklin's system, that all those light bodies
which appear to be attracted, have more electric matter in them than
the external surface of the phial has, wherefore they endeavour to
attract the phial to them, which is too heavy to be moved by the
small degree of force they exert, and yet being greater than their
own weight, moves them to the phial. The following experiment will
help the imagination in conceiving this. Suspend a cork ball, or a
feather, by a silk thread, and electrise it; then bring this ball
nigh to any fixed body, and it will appear to be attracted by that
body, for it will fly to it: now, by the consent of electricians, the
attractive cause is in the ball itself, and not in the fixed body to
which it flies: this is a similar case with the apparent attraction
of light bodies, to the external surface of a charged phial.
The Abbé says, _p._ 69, "that he can electrise a hundred men,
standing on wax, if they hold hands, and if one of them touch one
of these surfaces (the exterior) with the end of his finger:" this
I know he can, while the phial is charging, but after the phial is
charged I am as certain he cannot: that is, hang a phial, prepared
for the Leyden experiment, to the conductor, and let a man, standing
on the floor, touch the coating with his finger, while the globe is
turned, till the electric matter spews out of the hook of the phial,
or some part of the conductor, which I take to be the certainest sign
that the phial has received all the electric matter it can: after
this appears, let the man, who before stood on the floor, step on a
cake of wax, where he may stand for hours, and the globe all that
time turned; and yet have no appearance of being electrised. After
the electric matter was spewed out as above from the hook of the
phial prepared for the Leyden experiment, I hung another phial, in
like manner prepared, to a hook fixed in the coating of the first,
and held this other phial in my hand; now if there was any electric
matter transmitted through the glass of the first phial, the second
one would certainly receive and collect it; but having kept the
phials in this situation for a considerable time, during which the
globe was continually turned, I could not perceive that the second
phial was in the least charged, for when I touched the hook with
my finger, as in the Leyden experiment, I did not feel the least
commotion, nor perceive any spark to issue from the hook.
I likewise made the following experiment: having charged two phials
(prepared for the Leyden experiment) through their hooks; two persons
took each one of these phials in their hand; one held his phial by
the coating, the other by the hook, which he could do by removing
the communication from the bottom before he took hold of the hook.
These persons placed themselves one on each side of me, while I stood
on a cake of wax, and took hold of the hook of that phial which was
held by its coating (upon which a spark issued, but the phial was not
discharged, as I stood on wax) keeping hold of the hook, I touched
the coating of the phial that was held by its hook with my other
hand, upon which there was a large spark to be seen between my finger
and the coating, and both phials were instantly discharged. If the
Abbé's opinion be right, that the exterior surface, communicating
with the coating, is charged, as well as the interior, communicating
with the hook; how can I, who stand on wax, discharge both these
phials, when it is well known I could not discharge one of them
singly? Nay, suppose I have drawn the electric matter from both of
them, what becomes of it? For I appear to have no additional quantity
in me when the experiment is over, and I have not stirred off the
wax: wherefore this experiment fully convinces me, that the exterior
surface is not charged; and not only so, but that it wants as much
electric matter as the inner has of excess: for by this supposition,
which is a part of Mr. Franklin's system, the above experiment is
easily accounted for, as follows:
When I stand on wax, my body is not capable of receiving all the
electric matter from the hook of one phial, which it is ready to
give; neither can it give as much to the coating of the other phial
as it is ready to take, when one is only applied to me: but when both
are applied, the coating takes from me what the hook gives: thus I
receive the fire from the first phial at B, the exterior surface of
which is supplied from the hand at A: I give the fire to the second
phial at C, whose interior surface is discharged by the hand at D.
This discharge at D may be made evident by receiving that fire into
the hook of a third phial, which is done thus: In place of taking
the hook of the second phial in your hand, run the wire of a third
phial, prepared as for the Leyden experiment, through it, and hold
this third phial in your hand, the second one hanging to it, by
the ends of the hooks run through each other: when the experiment
is performed, this third phial receives the fire at D, and will be
charged.
[Illustration: (of the experiment above)]
When this experiment is considered, I think, it must fully prove
that the exterior surface of a charged phial wants electric matter,
while the inner surface has an excess of it. One thing more worthy
of notice in this experiment is, that I feel no commotion or shock in
my arms, though so great a quantity of electric matter passes them
instantaneously: I only feel a pricking in the ends of my fingers.
This makes me think the Abbé has mistook, when he says, that there
is no difference between the shock felt in performing the Leyden
experiment, and the pricking felt on drawing simple sparks, except
that of greater to less. In the last experiment, as much electric
matter went through my arms, as would have given me a very sensible
shock, had there been an immediate communication, by my arms, from
the hook to the coating of the same phial; because when it was taken
into a third phial, and that phial discharged singly through my arms,
it gave me a sensible shock. If these experiments prove that the
electric matter does not pass through the entire thickness of the
glass, it is a necessary consequence that it must always come out
where it entered.
The next thing I meet with is in the Abbé's fifth letter, _p._
88, where he differs from Mr. Franklin, who thinks that the whole
power of giving a shock is in the glass itself, and not in the
non-electrics in contact with it. The experiments which Mr. Franklin
gave to prove this opinion, in his _Observations on the Leyden
Bottle_, p. 179, convinced me that he was in the right; and what the
Abbé has asserted, in contradiction thereto, has not made me think
otherwise. The Abbé, perceiving, as I suppose, that the experiments,
as Mr. Franklin had performed them, must prove his assertion, alters
them without giving any reason for it, and makes them in a manner
that proves nothing. Why will he have the phial, into which the,
water is to be decanted from a charged phial, held in a man's hand?
If the power of giving a shock is in the water contained in the
phial, it should remain there though decanted into another phial,
since no non-electric body touched it to take that power off. The
phial being placed on wax is no objection, for it cannot take the
power from the water, if it had any, but it is a necessary means to
try the fact; whereas, that phial's being charged when held in a
man's hand, only proves that water will conduct the electric matter.
The Abbé owns, _p._ 94, that he had heard this remarked, but says,
Why is not a conductor of electricity an electric subject? This is
not the question; Mr. Franklin never said that water was not an
electric subject; he said, that the power of giving a shock was in
the glass, and not in the water; and this, his experiments fully
prove; so fully, that it may appear impertinent to offer any more:
yet as I do not know that the following has been taken notice of by
any body before, my inserting of it in this place may be excused.
It is this: Hang a phial, prepared for the Leyden experiment, to
the conductor, by its hook, and charge it, which done, remove the
communication from the bottom of the phial. Now the conductor shews
evident signs of being electrised; for if a thread be tied round it,
and its ends left about two inches long, they will extend themselves
out like a pair of horns; but if you touch the conductor, a spark
will issue from it, and the threads will fall, nor does the conductor
shew the least sign of being electrised after this is done. I think
that by this touch, I have taken out all the charge of electric
matter that was in the conductor, the hook of the phial, and water
or filings of iron contained in it; which is no more than we see all
non-electric bodies will receive: yet the glass of the phial retains
its power of giving a shock, as any one will find that pleases to
try. This experiment fully evidences, that the water in the phial
contains no more electric matter than it would do in an open bason,
and has not any of that great quantity which produces the shock, and
is only retained by the glass. If after the spark is drawn from the
conductor, you touch the coating of the phial (which all this while
is supposed to hang in the air, free from any non-electric body)
the threads on the conductor will instantly start up, and shew that
the conductor is electrised. It receives this electrisation from
the inner surface of the phial, which, when the outer surface can
receive what it wants from the hand applied to it, will give as much
as the bodies in contact with it can receive, or if they be large
enough, all that it has of excess. It is diverting to see how the
threads will rise and fall by touching the coating and conductor of
the phial alternately. May it not be that the difference between
the charged side of the glass, and the outer or emptied side, being
lessened by touching the hook or the conductor; the outer side can
receive from the hand which touched it, and by its receiving, the
inner side cannot retain so much; and for that reason so much as it
cannot contain electrises the water, or filings and conductor: for
it seems to be a rule, that the one side must be emptied in the same
proportion that the other is filled: though this from experiment
appears evident, yet it is still a mystery not to be accounted for.
I am in many places of the Abbé's book surprised to find that
experiments have succeeded so differently at Paris, from what they
did with Mr. Franklin, and as I have always observed them to do. The
Abbé, in making experiments to find the difference between the two
surfaces of a charged glass, will not have the phial placed on wax:
for, says he, don't you know that being placed on a body originally
electric, it quickly loses its virtue? I cannot imagine what should
have made the Abbé think so; it certainly is contradictory to the
notions commonly received of electrics _per se_; and by experiment I
find it entirely otherwise: for having several times left a charged
phial, for that purpose, standing on wax for hours, I found it to
retain as much of its charge as another that stood at the same time
on a table. I left one standing on wax from ten o'clock at night
till eight the next morning, when I found it to retain a sufficient
quantity of its charge, to give me a sensible commotion in my arms,
though the room in which the phial stood had been swept in that time,
which must have raised much dust to facilitate the discharge of the
phial.
I find that a cork-ball suspended between two bottles, the one fully
and the other but little charged, will not play between them, but is
driven into a situation that makes a triangle with the hooks of the
phials: though the Abbé has asserted the contrary of this, p. 101,
in order to account for the playing of a cork-ball between the wire
thrust into the phial, and one that rises up from its coating. The
phial which is least charged must have more electric matter given to
it, in proportion to its bulk, than the cork-ball receives from the
hook of the full phial.
The Abbé says, p. 103, "That a piece of metal leaf hung to a silk
thread and electrised, will be repelled by the bottom of a charged
phial held by its hook in the air:" this I find constantly otherwise,
it is with me always first attracted and then repelled: it is
necessary in charging the leaf to be careful, that it does not fly
off to some non-electric body, and so discharge itself when you think
it is charged; it is difficult to keep it from flying to your own
wrist, or to some part of your body.
The Abbé, p. 108, says, "that it is not impossible, as Mr. Franklin
says it is, to charge a phial while there is a communication formed
between its coating and its hook." I have always found it impossible
to charge such a phial so as to give a shock: indeed, if it hang on
the conductor without a communication from it, you may draw a spark
from it as you may from any body that hangs there, but this is very
different from being charged in such a manner as to give a shock. The
Abbé, in order to account for the little quantity of electric matter
that is to be found in the phial, says, "that it rather follows the
metal than the glass, and that it is spewed out into the air from
the coating of the phial." I wonder how it comes not to do so too,
when it sifts through the glass, and charges the exterior surface,
according to the Abbé's system!
The Abbé's objections against Mr. Franklin's two last experiments, I
think, have little weight in them: he seems, indeed, much at a loss
what to say, wherefore he taxes Mr. Franklin with having concealed a
material part of the experiment; a thing too mean for any gentleman
to be charged with, who has not shown as great a partiality in
relating experiments, as the Abbé has done.
END OF VOLUME THE FIRST.
J. CUNDEE, PRINTER,
IVY-LANE.
INDEX.
A.
_Accent_, or emphasis, wrong placing of, a fault in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Accidents_ at sea, how to guard against, ii. 172.
_Adams_, Mr. Matthew, offers the use of his library to Franklin, i. 16.
_Addison_, Franklin an assiduous imitator of, in his youth, i. 13.
_Advice_ to youth in reading, ii. 378.
to emigrants to America, iii. 398.
to a crafty statesman, 430.
to a young tradesman, 463.
to a young married man, 477.
to players at chess, 490.
_Æpinus_, his hypothesis of magnetism, i. 412.
_Agriculture_ takes place of manufactures till a country is fully settled,
iii. 107.
the great business of America, 393.
_Air_, some of the properties of, ii. 226.
its properties with respect to electricity, i. 204.
properties of its particles, 205. ii. 1.
its currents over the globe, i. 207.
resists the electric fluid and confines it to bodies, 241.
its effects in electrical experiments, 253.
its elasticity not affected by electricity, 254.
its friction against trees, 270, 323.
has its share of electricity, 333.
its electricity denser above than below, 335.
in rooms, electrified positively and negatively, 353.
attracts water, ii. 1.
when saturated with water precipitates it, 2.
dissolves water, and, when dry, oil, 4.
why suffocating, when impregnated with oil or grease, _ibid._
supports water, 5, 46, 49.
why less heated in the higher regions than near the earth's surface,
6.
how it creates hurricanes, _ibid._
winds, 8.
whirlwinds, 10.
effects of heat upon, 50.
its effects on the barometer, 92.
condensed, supposed to form the centre of the earth, 119, 127.
noxious, corrected by vegetation, 129.
observations on the free use of, 213.
rare, no bad conductor of sound, 337.
fresh, beneficial effects of, in bed-rooms, iii. 495.
_Air-thermometer_, electrical, experiments with, i. 336.
_Albany_ plan of union, short account of, i. 127.
its singular fate, 129.
papers relating to, iii. 3.
motives on which formed, 4.
rejects partial unions, 6.
its president and grand council, 9.
election of members, 12.
place of first meeting, 13.
new election, _ibid._
proportion of members after three years, 15.
meetings of the grand council and call, 16.
allowance to members, 17.
power of president and his duty, 18.
treaties of peace and war, _ibid._
Indian trade and purchases, 19.
new settlements, 21.
military establishments, 23.
laws and taxes, 24, 26.
issuing of money, 25.
appointment of officers, 27.
rejected in England, 29.
_Almanack._ _See Poor Richard._
_Alphabet_, a new one proposed, ii. 357.
examples of writing in it, 360.
correspondence on its merits, 361.
_Amber_, electrical experiments on, i. 403.
_America_, North, air of, drier than that of England and France, ii. 140.
why marriages are more frequent there than in Europe, 385.
why labour will long continue dear there, _ibid._
argument against the union of the colonies of, under one government,
401.
state of toleration there, 457.
reflections on the scheme of imposing taxes on, without its consent,
iii. 30.
thoughts on the representation of, in the British parliament, 37.
interest of Great Britain with regard to, 39.
forts in the back settlements of, no security against France, 99.
wars carried on there against the French, not merely in the cause of
the colonies, 105.
preference of the colonies of, to the West Indian colonies, 113.
great navigable rivers of, favourable to inland trade, 118.
what commodities the inland parts of, are fitted to produce, 119.
the productions of, do not interfere with those of Britain, 123.
union of the colonies of, in a revolt against Britain, impossible but
from grievous oppression, 132.
reasons given for restraining paper-bills of credit there, 144.
intended scheme of a bank there, described, 155.
attempts of Franklin for conciliation of Britain with, 286.
feeling of, as to Britain, in May 1775, 346.
conciliation of Britain with, hopeless, 355.
account of the first campaign of the British forces against, 357.
application of, to foreign courts, for aid in its independence, 360.
credit of, with that of Britain, in 1777, compared, 372.
true description of the interest and policy of, 391.
information to those emigrating thither, 398.
terms on which land may be obtained for new settlements there, 409.
_Americans_, their prejudices for whatever is English, i. 144.
_Anchor_, a swimming one proposed, ii. 181, 185.
_Ancients_, their experimental learning too often slighted, ii. 146.
_Anecdote_ of Franklin's early spirit of enterprise, i. 11.
of a Swedish clergyman among the Indians, iii. 386.
of an Indian who went to church, 389.
_Animal_ food, Franklin's abstinence from, i. 20.
return to, 47.
humorous instance of abstinence from, 49.
heat, whence it arises, ii. 79, 125.
magnetism, detected and exposed, i. 150.
_Animalcules_, supposed to cause the luminous appearance of sea-water,
ii. 89.
_Animals_, how to kill them by electricity, i. 415.
_Antifederalists_ of America, comparison of, to the ancient Jews,
iii. 410.
_Apprentices_ easier placed out in America than in Europe, iii. 407.
indentures of, how made in America, 408.
_Argumentation_, bad effects of, as a habit, i. 17.
best method of, 22.
_Armies_, best means of supporting them, ii. 400.
_Armonica_, musical instrument so called, described, ii. 330.
manner of playing on it, 334.
_Asbestos_, specimen of, sold by Franklin to Sir Hans Sloane, i. 60.
letter relating to it, iii. 513.
_Astrology_, letter to the Busy-body on, iii. 448.
_Atmosphere_ sometimes denser above than below, ii. 6.
electrical, its properties, i. 294.
_Aurora borealis_ explained, i. 212.
conjectures respecting, 257, ii. 69.
query concerning, i. 293.
B.
_Badoin_, Mr. letters from, i. 314, 324.
_Ballads_, two, written by Franklin in his youth, i. 16.
_Balls_ of fire in the air, remark concerning, ii. 337.
_Barometer_, how acted on by air, ii. 92.
_Barrels_ for gunpowder, new sort proposed, i. 376.
_Bass_, unnecessary in some tunes, ii. 343.
_Bathing_ relieves thirst, ii. 104.
observations on, 211.
_Battery_, electrical, its construction, i. 193.
_Baxter_, Mr. observations on his enquiry into the nature of the soul,
ii. 110.
_Beccaria_, character of his book on electricity, i. 310.
_Beer_, not conducive to bodily strength, i. 62.
_Bells_, form in consecrating them at Paris, i. 384.
_Belly-ache_, dry, lead a cause of, ii. 220.
_Bermuda_, little thunder there, i. 216.
_Bermudian_ sloops, advantages of their construction, ii. 173.
_Bernoulli_, Mr. his plan for moving boats, ii. 179.
_Bevis_, Dr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Bible_, anecdote of its concealment in the reign of Mary, i. 7.
travestied by Dr. Brown, 31.
_Bills_ of mortality, reasonings, formed on those for capital cities,
not applicable to the country, ii. 383.
_Birth_, noble, no qualification in America, iii. 400.
_Bishops_, none in America, and why, ii. 456, 458.
_Black clothes_ heat more and dry sooner than white, ii. 108.
not fit for hot climates, 109.
_Blacksmith_, trade of, hereditary in Franklin's family, i. 4.
_Blindness_ occasioned both by lightning and electricity, i. 228.
_Boats_, difference of their sailing in shoal and deep water, ii. 160.
management of, best understood by savages, 176.
how rowed by the Chinese, 177.
methods of moving them by machinery, _ibid._
improvement of Mr. Bernoulli's plan for moving them, 179.
proposal for a new mode of moving them, _ibid._
double, advantage of, 173, 174.
one built by Sir W. Petty, _ibid._
_Bodies_, electrified negatively, repel each other, ii. 294.
effect of blunt, compared with pointed ones, i. 172, 223.
_Body_, human, specifically lighter than water, ii. 208.
political and human, compared, iii. 115.
_Boerhaave_, his opinion of the propagation of heat, ii. 58.
of steam from fermenting liquors, 59.
_Boiling_ water, experiments with, i. 332, 344, 345.
pot, bottom of, why cold, 387.
_Bolton_, Mr. experiment by, i. 346.
_Books_ read by Franklin in his youth, i. 15, 18, 20, 21.
_Boston_, the birth-place of Franklin, i. 8.
why quitted by him in his youth, 27,
its inhabitants decrease, ii. 210.
preface to proceedings of the town meeting of, iii. 317.
_Boyle's_ lectures, effect of, on Franklin, i. 79.
_Braddock_, general, defeat of, i. 131.
_Bradford_, printer at Philadelphia, i. 34, 102.
_Brass_, hot, yields unwholesome steams, ii. 249
_Brientnal_, Joseph, a member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Brimstone_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Bristol waters_, an alledged fact concerning, ii. 95.
_Britain_, incapacity of, to supply the colonies with manufactures,
ii. 386.
_British empire_, an union of several states, iii. 310.
_Brown_, Dr. acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 30.
travestied the bible, 31.
_Bubbles_ on the surface of water, hypothesis respecting, ii. 48.
_Buchan_, earl of, letter to, on the price of land for new settlements
in America, iii. 409.
_Buildings_, what kind safest from lightning, i. 379.
_Bullion_, causes of its variation in price, iii. 153.
_Bunyan's_ Voyages, a book early read by Franklin, i. 15, 28.
_Bur_, cause of, round a hole struck through pasteboard, i. 280.
_Burnet_, governor, his attention to Franklin in his youth, i. 44.
_Busy-body_, essays under the title of, i. 86. iii. 422.
C.
_Cabinet-work_, veneered in England, shrinks and flies in America,
ii. 140.
_Cables_, why apt to part when weighing anchor in a swell, ii. 167.
this defect of, remedied, 168.
_Cabot_, Sebastian, his commission from Henry VII., iii. 348.
_Calvinism_, Franklin educated in the principles of, i. 79.
_Campaign_ in America, account of the first, iii. 357.
_Canals_, observations on their depth, ii. 159.
_Canada_, importance of, to England, i. 136.
visited by Franklin, 147.
its extent, iii. 20.
pamphlet on the importance of, 89.
easily peopled without draining Britain, 139.
_Cancers_, specific for, i. 260, 261.
_Candles_ lighted by electricity, i. 176.
distance at which the flame of, may be seen, ii. 90.
_Cann_, silver, a singular experiment on, i. 307.
_Canoes_ of the American Indians, their advantages, ii. 176.
_Canton_, Mr. John, experiments by, i. 286, 346.
draws electricity from the clouds, 428.
_Capitals_, their use in printing, ii. 352.
_Caribbees_, possession of, only a temporary benefit, iii. 142.
_Carolina_, South, see _Lightning_.
_Cavendish_, lord Charles, his electrical experiments, i. 348.
_Cayenne_ would be a great acquisition to Britain, iii. 140.
_Centre_ of the earth, hypothesis concerning, ii. 119, 127.
_Cessions_ from an enemy, on what grounds may be demanded, iii. 93.
_Chapel_, nickname for a printing house, i. 63.
_Character_, remarks on the delineation of, iii. 445.
_Charcoal-fires_, hurtful, ii. 235.
_Charging_ and discharging, in electricity, explained, i. 190.
a number of bottles at once, how done, _ibid._
_Charters_ of the colonies could not be altered by parliament, iii. 332.
_Chess_, morals of, iii. 488.
not an idle amusement, _ibid._
teaches various virtues, 489.
advice to those who play, 490.
too intense an application to, injurious, 500.
_Chimnies_, different kinds of, enumerated, ii. 228.
inconvenience of the old-fashioned ones, 229.
defect of more modern ones, 230.
have not long been in use in England, 277.
Staffordshire, described, 285.
have a draft of air up and down, 289.
may be used for keeping provisions in summer, 290.
may be of use to miners, 291.
funnels to, what the best, 292, 295.
method of contracting them, 317.
smoky. See _Smoky_.
_China_, provision made there against famine, ii. 407.
_Chinese_ wisely divide the holds of their vessels by partitions, ii. 171.
how they row their boats, 177.
their method of warming ground floors, 292.
improvement in this method suggested, 293.
their method of making large paper, 349.
_Circle_, magical, account of, ii. 327, 328.
_Cities_, spring water gradually deteriorates in, i. 163.
do not supply themselves with inhabitants, ii. 384.
_Clark_, Dr. of Boston, quoted, on the instigation of the American
Indians against the English, iii. 95, 100, 102.
_Clothes_, wet, may preserve from lightning, i. 213.
will relieve thirst, ii. 104.
do not give colds, _ibid._
imbibe heat according to their colour, 108.
white, most suitable for hot climates, _ibid._
_Clothing_ does not give, but preserves, warmth, ii. 81.
_Clouds_, at land and at sea, difference between, i. 207.
formed at sea, how brought to rain on land, 208.
driven against mountains, form springs and rivers, 209.
passing different ways, accounted for, 211.
electrical, attracted by trees, spires, &c. 213.
manner in which they become electrised, 257, 305.
are electrised sometimes negatively and sometimes positively, 274,
277, 284, 292.
electricity drawn from them, at Marly, 420.
by Mr. Cauton, 428.
by Dr. Bevis, 429,
by Mr. Wilson, _ibid._
how supported in air, ii. 5.
how formed, 7.
whether winds are generated or can be confined in them, 57.
have little more solidity than fogs, _ibid._
_Club_, called the Junto, instituted by Franklin, i. 82.
rules of, ii. 366, 369.
questions discussed in, 369.
_Coal_, sea, letter on the nature of, ii. 128.
_Cold_, why seemingly greater in metals than in wood, ii. 56, 77.
sensation of, how produced, 57.
only the absence of heat, 81.
produced by chemical mixtures, _ibid._
evaporation. See _Evaporation_.
_Colden_, Mr. his remarks on Abbé Nollet's letters, i. 430.
meteorological observations, ii. 51.
observations on water-spouts, 53.
_Colds_, causes of, ii. 214, 230.
_Coleman_, William, a member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Colica pictorum_, caused by lead, ii. 219.
_Collins_, John, an early friend of Franklin's, i. 17, 27, 41, 43, 44.
_Collinson_, Mr. some account of, iii. 514.
_Colonial_ governments in America of three kinds, iii. 50.
_Colonies_, the settlement of, does not diminish national numbers,
ii. 391.
their prosperity beneficial to the mother country, iii. 113.
are intitled to distinct governments, 303.
American, preferable to the West Indies, _ibid._
not dangerous to Britain, 132.
aids to government, how given by, 225, 226.
originally governed by the crown, independent of Parliament,
291.
not settled at the expence of Britain, 348.
_Colonists_ in America, double their number in 25 years, iii. 113.
from Britain, their rights, 299.
_Colours._ See _Clothes_.
_Comazants_, or corposants, are electrical appearances, i. 248.
_Commerce_, influence of, on the manners of a people, ii. 400.
is best encouraged by being left free, 415.
should not be prohibited in time of war, 417.
by inland carriage, how supported, iii. 116.
_Common-sense_, by Paine, Franklin supposed to have contributed to,
i. 148.
_Compass_, instances of its losing its virtue by lightning, i. 248.
how to remedy the want of, at sea, ii. 191.
_Conductors_ of lightning, very common in America, i. 113.
first suggestion of the utility of, 227.
construction of, 358.
particulars relating to, 377.
of electricity, difference in the action of, 200, 303.
which the most perfect, 253, 256.
and non-conductors, other terms substituted for, _ibid._
of common fire, their properties and differences, ii. 76, 77.
experiments on, ii. 77.
_Congress_, Franklin appointed a delegate to, i. 146.
proposed overture from, in 1775, iii. 347.
_Consecration_ of bells in France, form of, i. 384.
_Conspirators_, electrical, meaning of the term, i. 196.
_Controversy_, benefit of, iii. 92.
_Conversation_, advantage of useful topics of, at dinner, i. 12.
_Cook_, captain, circular letter concerning, iii. 515.
copy of the voyages of, presented to Franklin, by the Admiralty, 517.
Cookery, at sea, generally bad, ii. 194.
_Copper_, manner of covering houses with, ii. 318, 320, 322.
_Copper_ plate printing-press, the first in America, constructed by
Franklin, i. 77.
_Corn_, ill policy of laying restraints on the exportation of, ii. 413,
418.
_Countries_, distant and unprovided, a plan for benefiting, ii. 403.
_Creation_, conjectures as to, ii. 118.
_Credit_, that of America and Britain in 1777, compared, iii. 372.
depends on payment of loans, 373.
industry and frugality, 374.
public spirit, 375.
income and security, 376.
prospects of future ability, _ibid._
prudence, 377.
character for honesty, 378.
is money to a tradesman, 464.
_Criminal_ laws, reflections on, ii. 439.
_Crooked_ direction of lightning explained, i. 316.
_Cutler_, circumstance that prevented Franklin's being apprenticed to
one, i. 14.
_Currents_ at sea, often not perceivable, ii. 185.
_Cyder_, the best quencher of thirst, ii. 195.
D.
_Dalrymple_, Mr. scheme of a voyage under his command to benefit remote
regions, ii. 403.
_Damp_ air, why more chilling than dry air that is colder, ii. 56, 77.
_Dampier_, account of a water-spout by, ii. 33.
references to his voyage, on the subject of water-spouts, 58.
_Dampness_ on walls, cause of, ii. 50.
_Day-light_, proposal to use it instead of candle-light, iii. 470.
_Deacon_, Isaac, from an underling to a surveyor, becomes inspector-
general of America, i. 78.
prognosticates the future eminence in life of Franklin, _ib._
_Death_ of Franklin, i. 153.
letter from Dr. Price on, iii. 541.
of relatives, reflections on, 507.
_Deism_, effects on Franklin of books written against, i. 79.
_Deluge_, accounted for, ii. 127.
_Denham_, a quaker, a friend of Franklin's, i. 54.
extraordinary trait of honesty of, to his creditors, 67.
Franklin's engagement with, as a clerk, 68, 70.
_Denmark_, the people of, not subject to colds, ii. 244.
_Denny_, governor, remarks on his official conduct in Pensylvania,
iii. 170.
_Desaquiliers_, his experiment on the vapour of hot iron, ii. 249.
_Dew_, how produced, i. 207.
_Dialogue_, between Franklin and the gout, iii. 499.
_Dickenson_, Mr. his remarks on the views of England in framing laws
over the colonies, iii. 234.
remarks on his conduct, 192.
on his protest, 202.
_Discontented_ dispositions satirized, iii. 485.
_Discontents_ in America before 1768, causes of, iii. 225.
_Dissentions_ between England and America, letter on, iii. 310.
_Dissertation_, early one of Franklin's, that he repented having written,
i. 58.
_Disputation_, modesty in, recommended, i. 21. ii. 317.
_Disputes_ between Franklin and his brother, to whom he was apprenticed,
i. 24.
_Domien_, a traveller, short account of, i. 302.
_Drawling_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Dreams_, art of procuring pleasant ones, iii. 493.
_Dumas_, Monsieur, letter to, on the aid wanted by America in her struggle
for independence, iii. 360.
_Duna_ river, not to be confounded with the Dwina, iii. 119, note.
_Dust_, how raised and carried up into the air, ii. 3.
_Duties_, moral, the knowledge of, more important than the knowledge of
nature, ii. 95.
_Dutch_ iron stove, advantages and defects of, ii. 233.
E.
_Early_ impressions, lasting effect of, on the mind, iii. 478.
_Earth_ will dissolve in air, ii. 2.
dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 206.
the, sometimes strikes lightning into the clouds, 274.
grows no hotter under the summer sun, why, ii. 86.
different strata of, 116.
theory of, 117.
_Earthquakes_, general good arising from, ii. 116.
how occasioned, 120, 128.
_Eaton_, in Northamptonshire, residence of Franklin's family, i. 3.
_Ebb_ and flood, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Economical_ project, iii. 469.
_Edinburgh_, an ordinance there against the purchase of prize-goods,
ii. 447.
_Education_ of women, controversy respecting, i. 17.
_Eel_, electrical, of Surinam, i. 408, 409.
_Effluvia_ of drugs, &c. will not pass through glass, i. 243.
_Electrical_ air-thermometer described, i. 336, _et seq._
atmosphere, how produced, 221.
how drawn off, 222.
atmospheres repel each other, 294.
repel electric matter in other bodies, _ib._
battery, its construction, 193.
clouds, experiment regarding, 229.
death, the easiest, 307.
experiments, Franklin's eager pursuit of, 104.
made in France, 109.
various, 182, 229, 254, 255, 261, 271, 278, 286, 294, 307, 327,
337, 348, 371, 434.
fire, not created by friction, but collected, 173.
passes through water, 202.
loves water and subsists in it, 203.
diffused through all matter, 205
visible on the surface of the sea, _ibid._
its properties and uses, 214, _et seq._
produces common fire, 214, 238, 356.
has the same crooked direction as lightning, 315.
fluid, its beneficial uses, 219.
is strongly attracted by glass, 236.
manner of its acting through glass hermetically sealed, 241.
a certain quantity of, in all kinds of matter, 275.
nature of its explosion, 280.
chooses the best conductor, 281, 378.
force, may be unboundedly increased, 251.
horse-race, 334.
jack for roasting, 197.
kiss, its force increased, 177.
kite, described, 268.
machine; simple and portable one, described, 178.
matter, its properties, 217, 294.
party of pleasure, 202.
phial, or Leyden bottle, its phenomena explained, 179.
shock, observations on, 182.
effects of a strong one on the human body, 297, 306.
spark, perforates a quire of paper, 195.
wheel, its construction, 196.
self-moving one, 198.
_Electricity_, summary of its progress, i. 104.
positive and negative, discovered, 106.
distinguished, 175.
in a tourmalin, 370.
does not affect the elasticity of the air, 254.
its similarity to lightning, 288.
its effects on paralysis, 401.
of fogs in Ireland, 405.
supposed affinity between, and magnetism, 410.
_Electrics per se_ and non-electrics, difference between, i. 242, 258.
_Electrified_ bumpers described, i. 203.
_Electrisation_, what constitutes the state of, i. 218.
various appearances of, 175.
variety of, 176.
_Electrising_ one's self, manner of, i. 174.
_Elocution_, how best taught, ii. 374.
_Embassador_ from the United States to France, Franklin appointed to the
office of, i. 148.
_Emblematical_ design illustrative of the American troubles, iii. 371.
_Emigrants_ to America, advice to, iii. 398.
_Empire_, rules for reducing a great one, iii. 334.
_England_, Franklin's first arrival in, i. 55.
second arrival in, as agent for the province of Pensylvania, 134.
third arrival in, as agent for the same province, 141.
its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
decrease of population in, doubtful, 296.
_English_, effect of the ancient manners of, ii. 399.
language, innovations in, 351.
_Enterprises_, public, Franklin's early disposition for, i. 10.
_Ephemera_, an emblem of human life, iii. 508.
_Epitaph_ on Franklin's parents, i. 13.
on himself, 155.
_Episcopalians_, conduct of the American legislature towards, ii. 455.
_Errors_ of Franklin's early life, i. 45, 58, 61, 80, 97.
_Ether_, what, ii. 59.
_Evaporation_, cold produced by, i. 344, ii. 76, 83, 85.
of rivers, effects of, 106.
_Examination_ of Franklin before the house of commons, i. 142, iii. 245.
before the privy council, 328.
further particulars of, 551.
_Exchange_, rate of, between Philadelphia and Britain, iii. 252.
_Exercise_, should precede meals, iii. 493.
_Experiments_, to show the electrical effect of points, i. 171, 172.
to prove the electrical state of the Leyden phial, 182.
of firing spirits by a spark sent through a river, 202.
to show how thunder-storms produce rain, 209.
on the clouds, proposed, 228.
on drugs electrified, 243.
on the elasticity of the air, 254.
on the electric fluid, 255.
by Mr. Kennersley, 261.
on the electricity of the clouds, 271.
for increasing electricity, 278.
by Mr. Canton, 286.
in pursuance of those of Mr. Canton, 294.
on a silver cann, 307.
on the velocity of the electric fluid, 327, 329, 330.
for producing cold by evaporation, 344.
on the different effects of electricity, 357.
by lord Charles Cavendish, 348.
on the tourmalin, 371.
to show the utility of long pointed rods to houses, 389.
on amber, 403 _et seq._
on the Leyden phial, 434.
on different coloured cloths, ii. 108, 109.
on the sailing of boats, 160.
_Exportation_ of gold and silver, observations on, ii. 416.
_Exports_ to North America and the West Indies, iii. 127, 128.
to Pensylvania, 129, 250.
from ditto, 250.
_Eye_, retains the images of luminous objects, ii. 340.
F.
_Facts_, should be ascertained before we attempt to account for them,
ii. 96.
_Family_ of Franklin, account of, i. 5. _et seq._
_Famine_, how provided against in China, ii. 407.
_Fanning_, how it cools, ii. 87.
_Farmers_, remonstrance in behalf of, ii. 420.
_Federal_ constitution, speech on, iii. 416.
_Felons_, transportation of, to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants, iii. 235.
_Fermenting_ liquors, their steam deleterious, ii. 59.
Fire, not destroyed by water, but dispersed, i. 172.
makes air specifically lighter, 206.
exists in all bodies, 214.
common and electrical, exist together, _ibid._
a region of, above our atmosphere, 257, ii. 124.
many ways of kindling it, i. 356.
exists in a solid or quiescent state in substances, _ibid._ ii. 80,
122.
recovers its fluidity by combustion, _ibid._
is a fluid permeating all bodies, 76.
conductors of, are also best conductors of the electric fluid, _ibid._
difference between, and electrical conductors, 77.
how diffused through substances, 78.
how generated in animated bodies, 79.
theory of, 122.
a fixed and permanent quantity of, in the universe, 123.
its properties, 227.
electrical, see _Electrical_.
_Fire-companies_, numerous at Philadelphia, i. 103.
_Fire-places_, Pensylvanian, account of, ii. 225.
large and open, inconvenient, 228.
hollow backed, by Gauger, 232.
Staffordshire, 285.
an ingenious one for serving two rooms, 296.
_Fires_, at sea, how often produced, ii. 174.
great and bright, damage the eyes and skin, 230.
_Fisheries_, value of those of Newfoundland, iii. 452.
_Flame_, preserves bodies from being consumed while surrounding them,
ii. 310, 311.
_Flaxseed_, amount of the exportation of from America to Ireland,
iii. 270.
_Flesh_, of animals, made tender by lightning and by electricity, i. 359,
414.
_Flies_, drowned in America, brought to life in England, ii. 223.
_Flood_ and ebb, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Florence_ flask, when filled with boiling water, not chargeable with
electricity, i. 332, 345.
_Fog_, great, in 1783, ii. 68.
conjectures as to its cause, _ibid._
_Fogs_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
electricity of, in Ireland, i. 405.
_Folger_, family-name of Franklin's mother, i. 8.
_Foreigners_, the importation of, not necessary to fill up occasional
vacancies in population, ii. 390.
_Forts_ in the back settlements, not approved of, iii. 99.
_Foster_, judge, notes on his argument for the impress of seamen, ii. 437.
_Foundering_ at sea, accidents that occasion it, ii. 169, 170.
_Fountain_, when electrified, its stream separates, i. 206.
_Fowls_, improperly treated at sea, ii. 193.
_Fragments_, political, ii. 411.
_France_, its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
effects of its military manners, 399.
_Franklin_, derivation of the name, i. 4.
genealogy of the family of, 5.
_Franks_, the improper use of, reprobated, ii. 435.
_Freezing_ to death in summer, possibility of, ii. 84.
_French_ language, its general use, ii. 353.
_Frontiers_, in America, the attack of, the common cause of the state,
iii. 109.
_Frugality_, advantages of, ii. 397.
observance of, in America, iii. 374
_Fruit-walls_, blacking them recommended, ii. 110.
_Fuel_, scarce in Philadelphia, ii. 225.
_Fulling-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Fusion_, cold, of metals, supposed, i. 215.
proves a mistake, 339.
error respecting it acknowledged, 355.
G.
_Galloway_, Mr, preface to his speech, iii. 163.
_Garnish-money_, practice among printers of demanding it, i. 63.
_Gauger_, M. his invention for fire-places, ii. 232.
_Genealogy_ of the Franklin family, i. 5.
_German_ stoves, advantages and disadvantages of, ii. 234.
_Germany_, why the several states of, encourage foreign manufactures in
preference to those of each other, iii. 118. note.
_Gilding_, its properties as a conductor, i. 201.
the effects of lightning and of electricity on, 229.
fails as a conductor after a few shocks, 231.
_Glass_, has always the same quantity of electrical fire, i. 191.
possesses the whole power of giving a shock, 192, 247.
in panes, when first used in an electrical experiment, 193, 194.
great force in small portions of, 199.
impermeable to the electric fluid, 234, 310.
strongly attracts the electric fluid, 236.
cannot be electrified negatively, _ibid._
its opposite surfaces, how affected, _ibid._
its component parts and pores extremely fine, 237.
manner of its operation in producing electricity, _ibid._
its elasticity, to what owing, 239.
thick, resists a change of the quantity of electricity of its
different sides, 242.
rod of, will not conduct a shock, _ibid._
when fluid, or red hot, will conduct electricity, 256.
difference in its qualities, 301.
error as to its pores, 302.
will admit the electric fluid, when moderately heated, 345, 347.
when cold retains the electric fluid, 346.
experiments on warm and cold, 348.
singular tube and ball of, 386.
_Glasses_, musical, described, ii. 330, _et seq._
_God_, saying in America respecting, iii. 401.
_Godfrey_, Thomas, a lodger with Franklin, i. 81.
a member of the Junto, 83.
inventor of Hadley's quadrant, _ibid._
wishes Franklin to marry a relation of his, 95.
_Gold_ and silver, remarks on exportation of, ii. 416.
_Golden_ fish, an electrical device, i. 233.
_Government_, free, only destroyed by corruption of manners, ii. 397.
_Gout_, dialogue with that disease, iii. 499.
_Grace_, Robert, member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Gratitude_ of America, letter on, iii. 239.
_Greasing_ the bottoms of ships, gives them more swiftness, ii. 180.
_Greece_, causes of its superiority over Persia, ii. 397.
_Greek_ empire, the destruction of, dispersed manufacturers over Europe,
iii. 122.
_Green_ and red, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Greenlanders_, their boats best for rowing, ii. 176.
_Guadaloupe_, its value to Britain over-rated, iii. 139.
_Gulph-stream_, observations on, ii. 186.
whalers frequent its edges, _ibid._
long unknown to any but the American fishermen, _ibid._
how generated, 187.
its properties, _ibid._
tornadoes and water-spouts attending it, accounted for, 188.
how to avoid it, 197.
Nantucket whalers best acquainted with it, 198.
thermometrical observations on, 199.
journal of a voyage across, _ibid._
_Gunpowder_, fired by electricity, i. 250.
magazines of, how to secure them from lightning, 375.
proposal for keeping it dry, 376.
H.
_Habits_, effects of, on population, ii. 393. 394.
_Hadley's_ quadrant, by whom invented, i. 83, 95.
_Hail_, brings down electrical fire, i. 292.
how formed, ii. 66.
_Hamilton_, Mr. a friend of Franklin's, i. 54, 88.
_Handel_, criticism on one of his compositions, ii. 345.
_Harmony_, in music, what, ii. 339.
_Harp_, effect of, on the ancient Scotch tunes, ii. 340.
_Harry_, David, companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 93.
_Hats_, summer, should be white, ii. 109.
the manufacture of, in New England, in 1760, iii. 131.
_Health_ of seamen, Captain Cook's method of preserving it recommended,
ii. 190.
_Heat_, produced by electricity and by lightning, i. 338, 339.
better conducted by some substances than others, ii. 56, 58.
how propagated, 58.
the pain it occasions, how produced, 78.
in animals, how generated, 79, 125.
in fermentation, the same as that of the human body, 80.
great, at Philadelphia, in 1750, 85.
general theory of, 122.
_Herrings_, shoals of, perceived by the smoothness of the sea, ii. 150.
_Hints_ to those that would be rich, iii. 466.
_Holmes_, Robert, brother-in-law to Franklin, i. 37, 71.
_Honesty_, often a very partial principle of conduct, ii. 430.
_Honours_, all descending ones absurd, iii. 550.
_Hopkins_, governor, his report of the number of inhabitants in Rhode
Island, iii. 129.
_Horse-race_, electrical, i. 335.
_Hospital_, one founded by the exertions of Franklin, i. 126.
_Hospitals_, foundling, state of in England and France, iii. 544*, 548*.
_Hospitality_, a virtue of barbarians, iii. 391.
_Houses_, remarks on covering them with copper, ii. 318, 320.
many in Russia covered with iron plates, 319.
their construction in Paris renders them little liable to fires, 321.
_Howe_, lord, letter from, to Franklin, iii. 365.
Franklin's answer to, 367.
_Hudson's_ river, winds there, ii. 52, 59.
_Hunters_, require much land to subsist on, ii. 384.
_Hurricanes_, how produced, ii. 7.
why cold in hot climates, _ibid._
_Hutchinson_, governor, cause of the application for his removal,
iii. 323.
account of the letters of, 331, 551.
_Hygrometer_, best substances for forming one, ii. 136.
mahogany recommended for forming one, 141.
I. J.
_Jackson_, Mr. remarks on population by, ii. 392.
_Jamaica_, its vacant lands not easily made sugar lands, iii. 140.
_Javelle_, his machinery for moving boats, ii. 177.
_Ice_ will not conduct an electric shock, i. 201.
_Ice-islands_, dangerous to shipping, ii. 176.
_Idleness_, the heaviest tax on mankind, ii. 411, iii. 454.
encouraged by charity, ii. 422.
reflections on, iii. 428.
_Jefferson_, Mr. letter from, on the character of Franklin, iii. 545.
_Jesuits_, hostility of the Indians in America excited by, iii. 95.
_Ignorance_, a frank acknowledgment of, commendable, i. 308.
_Imports_ into Pensylvania from Britain before 1766, iii. 250.
_Impress_ of seamen, notes on Judge Foster's argument in favour of,
ii. 437.
_Inarticulation_ in modern singing, censured, ii. 348.
_Increase_ of mankind, observations on, ii. 383, and _seq._
what prevented by, 386, 387.
how promoted, 388, 389.
further observations on, 393.
_Indemnification_, just ground for requiring cessions from an enemy,
iii. 93.
_Independence_, soon acquired in America, iii. 402.
_Indian trade_ and affairs, remarks on a plan for the future management
of, iii. 216.
spirituous liquors the great encouragement of, 219.
the debts from, must be left to honour, 220.
not an American but a British interest, 275.
_Indians_, of North America, a number of, murdered, i. 139.
often excited by the French against the English, iii. 95.
list of fighting men in the different nations of, 221.
difference of their warfare from that of Europeans, 100.
remarks concerning, 383.
their mode of life, 384.
public councils, 385.
politeness in conversation, 386.
rules in visiting, 388.
_Industry_, effects of Franklin's, i. 85.
the cause of plenty, ii. 396.
essential to the welfare of a people, 411.
relaxed by cheapness of provisions, 415.
a greater portion of, in every nation, than of idleness, 396, 429,
iii. 396.
its prevalence in America, iii. 373.
_Inflammability_ of the surface of rivers, ii. 130.
_Inland_ commerce, instances of, iii. 120.
_Innovations_ in language and printing, ii. 351.
_Inoculation_, letter on the deaths occasioned by, ii. 215.
success of, in Philadelphia, 216, 217.
_Insects_, utility of the study of, ii. 93.
_Interrogation_, the mark of, how to be placed, ii. 356.
_Invention_, the faculty of, its inconveniences, i. 308.
_Inventions_, new, generally scouted, _ibid._
_Journal_ of a voyage, crossing the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202, _et seq._
_Iron_ contained in the globe, renders it a great magnet, ii. 119.
query whether it existed at the creation, 126.
hot, gives no bad smell, 247.
yields no bad vapours, 248.
rods, erected for experiments on the clouds, i. 270.
conduct more lightning in proportion to their thickness, 282.
_Islands_ far from a continent have little thunder, i. 216.
_Italic_ types, use of, in printing, ii. 355.
_Judges_, mode of their appointment in America, in 1768, iii. 23.
_Junto._ See _Club_.
K.
_Keimer_, a connection of Franklin's, some account of, i. 35, 70, 93.
_Keith_, sir William, Franklin patronized by, i. 39.
deceived by, 54.
character of, 57.
_Kinnersley_, Mr. electrical experiments by, i. 261, _et seq._, 331.
_Kiss_, electrical, i. 177.
_Kite_ used to draw electricity from the clouds, i. 108.
electrical, described, i. 268.
_Knobs_, not so proper as points, for conducting lightning, i. 359.
L.
_Labour_, why it will long continue dear in America, ii. 385.
its advantages, 427, 428.
_Land_, terms on which it may be obtained in America, by settlers,
iii. 409.
_Landing_ in a surf, supposed practicable, how, ii. 154.
tried without success, 155.
_Language_, remarks on innovations in, ii. 351, _et seq._
_Laughers_, satyrized, iii. 425.
_Law_, the old courts of, in the colonies, as ample in their powers, as
those in England, iii. 304.
_Law-expenses_, no discouragement to law-suits, iii. 270.
_Law-stamps_, a tax on the poor, iii. 269.
_Lead_, effects of, on the human constitution, ii. 219.
_Leaks_ in ships, why water enters by them most rapidly at first, ii. 109.
means to prevent their being fatal, 170.
_Leather_ globe, proposed, instead of glass, for electrical experiments,
i. 267.
_Left_ hand, a petition from, iii. 483.
_Leg_, handsome and deformed, humourous anecdote of, iii. 437.
_Legal_ tender of paper-money, its advantages, iii. 150.
further remarks on, 151.
_Lending_ money, new mode of, iii. 463.
_Letter-founding_ effected by Franklin in America, i. 74.
_Leutmann_, J. G. extract from his vulcanus famulans, ii. 298.
_Leyden_ bottle, its phenomena explained, i. 179.
analysed, 192.
experiment to prove its qualities, 245.
when sealed hermetically, retains long its electricity, 345.
_Liberty_ of the press, observations on, ii. 463.
abused, 465.
of the cudgel, should be allowed in return, 467.
_Libraries_, public, the first in America set on foot by Franklin, i. 99.
are now numerous in America, 100.
advantages of, to liberty, 101.
_Life_ and death, observations on the doctrines of, ii. 222.
_Light_, difference between that from the sun and that from a fire in
electrical experiments, i. 173.
difficulties in the doctrines of, i. 253.
queries concerning, _ibid._
visibility of its infinitely small particles computed, ii. 90.
new theory of, 122.
_Lighthouse-tragedy_, an early poem of Franklin's, i. 16.
_Lightning_, represented by electricity, i. 176.
drawn from the clouds, by a kite, 268.
by an iron rod, _ibid._
reasons for proposing the experiment on, 304.
its effects at Newbury, 310.
will leave other substances, to pass through metals, 312.
communicates magnetism to iron, 314.
objections to the hypothesis of its being collected from the sea,
318, 323.
effects of, on a wire at New York, 326.
on Mr. West's pointed rod, 340, _et seq._
how it shivers trees, 359.
effects of, on conductors in Carolina, 361, 362, 364.
does not enter through openings, 368.
should be distinguished from its light, 369.
an explosion always accompanies it, _ibid._
observations on its effects on St. Bride's church, 374, 382.
how to preserve buildings from, 377.
personal danger from, how best avoided, 381.
brought down by a pointed rod, in a large quantity, 389.
how to prevent a stroke of, at sea, ii. 175.
_Linnæus_, instance of public benefit arising from his knowledge
of insects, ii. 94.
_London_, atmosphere of, moister than that of the country, ii. 139.
_Loyalty_ of America before the troubles, iii. 237.
_Luxury_, beneficial when not too common, ii. 389.
definition of, 395, 425.
extinguishes families, 395.
not to be extirpated by laws, 401.
further observations on, 425.
_Lying-to_, the only mode yet used for stopping a vessel at sea, ii. 181.
M.
_Maddeson_, Mr. death of, lamented, iii. 544*.
_Magazine_ of powder, how to secure it from lightning, i. 375.
_Magical_ circle of circles, ii. 327.
picture, i. 195.
square of squares, ii. 324.
_Magnetism_, animal, detected and exposed, i. 150.
given by electricity, 248, 314.
and electricity, affinity between, 410.
supposed to exist in all space, ii. 119, 126.
conjectures as to its effects on the globe, 120.
enquiry how it first came to exist, 126.
_Mahogany_, expands and shrinks, according to climate, ii. 138.
recommended for an hygrometer, 141.
_Mandeville_, Franklin's acquaintance with, i. 39.
_Manners_, effects of, on population, ii. 393, _et seq._
letter to the Busy-body on the want of, iii. 432.
_Manufactures_, produce greater proportionate returns than raw materials,
ii. 410.
founded in the want of land for the poor, iii. 107.
are with difficulty transplanted from one country to another, 121.
hardly ever lost but by foreign conquest, 122.
probability of their establishment in America, 260.
want no encouragement from the government, if a country be ripe for
them, 405.
_Maritime_ observations, ii. 162.
_Marly_, experiments made at, for drawing lightning from the clouds,
i. 421.
_Marriage_ of Franklin, i. 97.
_Marriages_, where the greatest number take place, ii. 383.
why frequent and early in America, 385. iii. 113, 403.
early, letter on, iii. 475.
_Maryland_, account of a whirlwind there, ii. 61.
of paper bills formerly issued there, iii. 155.
its conduct in a French war, previous to the American troubles,
defended, 262.
_Massachusets_ bay, petition of the inhabitants of, to the king, iii. 325.
_Matter_, enquiry into the supposed vis inertiæ of, ii. 110.
man can neither create nor annihilate it, 123.
_Mawgridge_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 84.
_Maxims_, prudential, from poor Richard's almanack, iii. 453.
_Mazeas_, abbe, letter from, i. 420.
_Meal_, grain, &c. manner of preserving them good for ages, i. 376.
ii. 190.
_Mechanics_, advantages of an early attention to, i. 14.
_Mediocrity_, prevalence of, in America, iii. 399.
_Melody_ in music, what, ii. 340.
_Men_, six, struck down by an electric shock, i. 306.
_Mercer_, Dr. letter from, on a water-spout, ii. 34.
_Merchants_ and shopkeepers in America, iii. 394.
_Meredith_, Hugh, companion of Franklin, short account of, i. 72, 76, 89.
_Metalline_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 281.
either prevent or conduct a stroke, 310.
_Metals_, melted by electricity and by lightning, i. 215, 229.
when melted by electricity, stain glass, 232.
polished, spotted by electrical sparks, 253.
feel colder than wood, why, ii. 56.
_Meteorological_ observations, ii. 1, 45, 66.
_Methusalem_ slept always in the open air, iii. 495.
_Mickle_, Samuel, a prognosticator of evil, i. 81.
_Military_ manners, effects of, ii. 398, 399.
power of the king, remarks on, iii. 307.
_Militia_ bill, Franklin the author of one, i. 132.
particular one, rejected by the governor of Pensylvania, 100.
iii. 157.
_Mines_, method of changing air in them, ii. 291.
of rock salt, conjectures as to their formation, 92.
_Mists_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
_Modesty_ in disputation recommended, ii. 317.
_Money_, how to make it plenty, iii. 467.
new mode of lending, 468.
_Moral_ principles, state of Franklin's mind respecting, on his entering
into business, i. 79.
_Morals_ of chess, iii. 488.
_Motion_, the communication and effects of, ii. 7, 8.
of vessels at sea, how to be stopped, 181.
_Mountains_, use of, in producing rain and rivers, i. 208.
why the summits of, are cold, ii. 6.
conjecture how they became so high, 91.
_Music_, harmony and melody of the old Scotish, ii. 338.
modern, defects of, 343.
_Musical_ glasses described, ii. 330.
N.
_Nantucket_ whalers best acquainted with the gulph-stream, ii. 198.
_National_ wealth, data for reasoning on, ii. 408.
three ways of acquiring, 410.
_Navigation_, difference of, in shoal and deep water, ii. 158.
observations on, 195, 196.
from Newfoundland to New York, 197.
inland, in America, iii. 118.
_Needle_ of a compass, its polarity reversed by lightning, i. 248, 325.
of wood, circular motion of, by electricity, 332, 351.
_Needles_, magnetised by electricity, i. 148.
and pins, melted by electricity, 249.
_Negatively_ electrised bodies repel each other, i. 294.
_Negroes_ bear heat better, and cold worse, than whites, ii. 86.
_Newbury_, effects of a stroke of lightning there, i. 310.
_New-England_, former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper money,
iii. 145.
circumstances which rendered the restriction of paper money there not
injurious, 148.
abolition of paper currency there, 263.
_Newfoundland_ fisheries, more valuable than the mines of Peru, iii. 452.
_Newspaper_, one sufficient for all America, in 1721, i. 23.
instance of one set up by Franklin at Philadelphia, 86.
_New-York_, effects of lightning there, i. 326.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, iii. 146.
sentiments of the colonists on the act for abolishing the legislature
of, 232.
obtained in exchange for Surinam, 349.
_Nollet_, Abbé, Franklin's theory of electricity opposed by, i. 113.
remarks on his letters, 430.
_Non-conductors_ of electricity, i. 378.
_Non-electric_, its property in receiving or giving electrical fire,
i. 193.
_North-east_ storms in America, account of, ii. 68.
_Nurses_, office at Paris for examining the health of, iii. 549*.
O.
_Oak_ best for flooring and stair-cases, ii. 321.
_Ohio_, distance of its fort from the sea, iii. 119, note.
_Oil_, effect of heat on, ii. 4.
evaporates only in dry air, _ibid._
renders air unfit to take up water, _ibid._
curious instance of its effects on water in a lamp, 142.
stilling of waves by means of, 144, 145, 148, 150, 151, 154.
_Old_ man's wish, song so called quoted, iii. 546*.
_Onslow_, Arthur, dedication of a work to, by Franklin, iii. 59.
_Opinions_, vulgar ones too much slighted, ii. 146.
regard to established ones, thought wisdom in a government, iii. 226.
_Orthography_, a new mode of, ii. 359.
_Osborne_, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53
_Oversetting_ at sea, how it occurs, ii. 172.
how to be prevented, _ibid._, 173.
_Outriggers_ to boats, advantages of, ii. 173.
P.
_Packthread_, though wet, not a good conductor, i. 200.
_Paine's_ Common Sense, Franklin supposed to have contributed to, i. 148.
_Paper_, how to make large sheets, in the Chinese way, ii. 349.
a poem, iii. 522.
_Paper-credit_, cannot be circumscribed by law, ii. 418.
_Paper-money_, pamphlet written by Franklin on, i. 91.
American, remarks and facts relative to, iii. 144.
advantages of, over gold and silver, iii. 152.
_Papers_ on philosophical subjects, i. 169, _et seq._ ii. 1, _et seq._
on general politics, ii. 383, _et seq._
on American subjects, before the revolution, iii. 3, _et seq._
during the revolution, iii. 225, _et seq._
subsequent to the revolution, iii. 383, _et seq._
on moral subjects, iii. 421, _et seq._
_Parable_ against persecution, ii. 450.
_Paradoxes_ inferred from some experiments, i. 262.
_Paralysis_, effects of electricity on, i. 401.
_Parliament_ of England, opinions in America, in 1766, concerning,
iii. 254.
_Parsons_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Parties_, their use in republics, iii. 396.
_Party_ of pleasure, electrical, i. 202.
_Passages_ to and from America, how to be shortened, ii. 138.
why shorter from, than to, America, 189.
_Passengers_ by sea, instructions to, ii. 192.
_Patriotism_, spirit of, catching, iii. 90.
_Peace_, the victorious party may insist on adequate securities in the
terms of, iii. 96.
_Penn_, governor, remarks on his administration, iii. 183.
sold his legislative right in Pensylvania, but did not complete the
bargain, 189.
_Pensylvania_, Franklin appointed clerk to the general assembly of,
i. 102.
forms a plan of association for the defence of, 104.
becomes a member of the general assembly of, 114.
aggrievances of, iii. 50.
infraction of its charter, 52.
review of the constitution of, 59.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, 146.
rate of exchange there, 154.
letter on the militia bill of, 157.
settled by English and Germans, 162.
English and German, its provincial languages, _ib._
pecuniary bargains between the governors and assembly of, 165.
taxes there, 246, 251.
number of its inhabitants, 249.
proportion of quakers, and of Germans, _ibid._
exports and imports, 250.
assembly of, in 1766, how composed, 252.
_Pensylvanian_ fire-places, account of, ii. 223.
particularly described, 235.
effects of, 239.
manner of using them, 241.
advantages of, 243.
objections to, answered, 247.
directions to bricklayers respecting, 251.
_Peopling_ of countries, observations on, ii. 383, _et seq._
_Perkins_, Dr. letter from, on water-spouts, ii. 11.
on shooting stars, 36.
_Persecution_, parable against, ii. 450.
of dissenters, letter on, 452.
of quakers in New England, 454.
_Perspirable_ matter, pernicious, if retained, ii. 50.
_Perspiration_, necessary to be kept up, in hot climates, ii. 86.
difference of, in persons when naked and clothed, 214.
_Petition_ from the colonists of Massachusets bay, iii. 325.
of the left hand, 483.
_Petty_, sir William, a double vessel built by, ii. 174.
_Philadelphia_, Franklin's first arrival at, i. 32.
account of a seminary there, instituted by Franklin, 116 to 127.
state of the public bank at, iii. 551*.
_Phytolacca_, or poke weed, a specific for cancers, i. 261.
_Picture_, magical, described, i. 195.
_Plain_ truth, Franklin's first political pamphlet, iii. 524.
_Plan_ for benefiting distant countries, ii. 403.
for settling two western colonies, iii. 41.
for the management of Indian affairs, remarks on, 216.
for improving the condition of the free blacks, 519.
_Planking_ of ships, improvement in, ii. 189.
_Pleurisy_, Franklin attacked by, i. 71, 154.
_Plus_ and minus electricity, in the Leyden bottle, i. 181.
in other bodies, 185.
_Pointed_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 283, 381.
experiments and observations on, 388.
objections to, answered, 395, 396.
_Points_, their effects, i. 170.
property of, explained, 223.
experiment showing the effect of, on the clouds, 283.
mistake respecting, 310.
_Poke-weed_, a cure for cancers, i. 260, 261.
_Polarity_ given to needles by electricity, i. 248.
_Poles_ of the earth, if changed, would produce a deluge, ii. 127.
_Political_ fragments, ii. 411.
_Polypus_, a nation compared to, ii. 391.
_Poor_, remarks on the management of, ii. 418.
the better provided for, the more idle, 422.
_Poor_ Richard, maxims of, iii. 453.
_Pope_, criticism on two of his lines, i. 23.
_Population_, observations on, ii. 383.
causes which diminish it, 386.
occasional vacancies in, soon filled by natural generation, 390.
rate of its increase in America, 385. iii. 113, 250, 254.
why it increases faster there, than in England, iii. 255.
_Positions_ concerning national wealth, ii. 408.
_Positiveness_, impropriety of, ii. 318.
_Postage_, not a tax, but payment for a service, iii. 265.
state of, in America, in 1766, 279.
_Post-master_, and deputy post-master general, Franklin appointed to the
offices of, i. 102, 127.
_Potts_, Stephen, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84.
_Poultry_, not good at sea, ii. 193.
_Powder-magazines_, how secured from lightning, i. 375.
_Power_ to move a heavy body, how to be augmented, ii. 191.
_Pownall_, governor, memorial of, to the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 41.
letter from, on an equal communication of rights to America, 243.
constitution of the colonies by, 299.
_Preface_ to Mr. Galloway's speech, iii. 163.
to proceedings of the inhabitants of Boston, 317.
_Presbyterianism_, established religion in New England, ii. 454.
_Press_, account of the court of, ii. 463.
liberty of, abused, 465.
_Pressing_ of seamen, animadversions on, ii. 437.
_Price_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's death, iii. 541.
_Priestley_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's character, iii. 547.
_Printers_ at Philadelphia before Franklin, i. 36.
_Printing_, Franklin apprenticed to the business of, i. 15.
works at it as a journeymen in England, 58, 62.
in America, 35, 71.
enters on the business of, as master, 78.
observations on fashions in, ii. 355.
_Prison_, society for relieving the misery of, i. 151.
not known among the Indians of America, iii. 220.
_Privateering_, reprobated, ii. 436.
further observations on, 446.
article to prevent it, recommended in national treaties, 448.
inserted in a treaty between America and Prussia, 449.
_Proas_, of the pacific ocean, safety of, ii. 173.
flying, superior to any of our sailing boats, 176.
_Produce_ of the inland parts of America, iii. 119.
_Products_ of America, do not interfere with those of Britain, iii. 124.
_Prose-writing_, method of acquiring excellence in, i. 18.
_Protest_ against Franklin's appointment as colonial agent, remarks on,
iii. 203.
_Provisions_, cheapness of, encourages idleness, ii. 415.
_Prussian_ edict, assuming claims over Britain, iii. 311.
_Public_ services and functions of Franklin, i. 125.
spirit, manifest in England, iii. 91.
different opinion respecting it expressed, 375.
_Punctuality_ of America in the payment of public debts, iii. 373.
_Puckridge_, Mr. inventor of musical glasses, i. 136.
Q.
_Quaker-lady_, good advice of one to Franklin in his youth, i. 42.
_Quakers_, persecution of, in New England, ii. 454.
proportion of, in Pensylvania, iii. 249.
_Quebec_, remarks on the enlargement of the province of, iii. 20, note.
_Queries_ concerning light, i. 258.
proposed at the Junto club, ii. 366.
from Mr. Strahan, on the American disputes, iii. 287.
_Questions_ discussed by the Junto club, ii. 369.
R.
_Rain_, how produced, i. 207.
generally brings down electricity, 292.
why never salt, ii. 32.
different quantities of, falling at different heights, 133.
_Ralph_, James, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53, 54, 57, 60.
_Rarefaction_ of the air, why greater in the upper regions, ii. 6.
_Read_, maiden name of Franklin's wife, i. 33, 37, 49, 54, 59, 70, 96.
_Reading_, Franklin's early passion for, i. 15, 16.
how best taught, ii. 372.
advice to youth respecting, 378.
_Recluse_, a Roman Catholic one, in London, i. 65.
_Red_ and green, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Regimen_, sudden alterations of, not prejudicial, i. 49.
_Religious_ sect, new one, intended establishment of, i. 48.
_Repellency_, electrical, how destroyed, i. 172.
_Representation_, American, in the British parliament, thoughts on,
iii. 37, 243.
_Repulsion_, electrical, the doctrine of, doubted, i. 333.
considerations in support of, 349.
_Revelation_, doubted by Franklin in his youth, i. 79.
_Rhode-Island_, purchased for a pair of spectacles, iii. 21.
its population at three periods, iii. 129.
_Rich_, hints to those that would be, iii. 466.
_Ridicule_, delight of the prince of Condé in, iii. 424.
_Rivers_, from the Andes, how formed, i. 209.
motion of the tides in, explained, ii. 96, 102.
do not run into the sea, 105.
evaporate before they reach the sea, 106.
inflammability of the surface of, 130.
_Rods_, utility of long pointed ones, to secure buildings from lightning,
i. 388.
See farther. _Iron._ _Lightning._ _Metalline._
_Rome_, causes of its decline enquired into, ii. 398.
political government of its provinces, iii. 136.
_Rooms_, warm, advantages of, ii. 249.
do not give colds, ibid.
_Roots_, edible, might be dried and preserved for sea-store, ii. 190.
_Rosin_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Rousseau_, his opinion of tunes in parts, ii. 342.
_Rowing_ of boats, Chinese method of, ii. 177.
_Rowley_, Dr. Franklin's obligations to, iii. 555*.
S.
_Sailing_, observations on, ii. 163.
_Sails_, proposed improvements in, ii. 164, 166.
_Saint_ Bride's church, stroke of lightning on, i. 374.
_Salt_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 258.
rock, conjectures as to its origin, ii. 91.
_Saltness_ of the sea-water considered, _ib._
_Savage_, John, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72.
_Savages_ of North America, remarks on, iii. 383, _et seq._
_School_, sketch of one, for Philadelphia, ii. 370.
_Scotch_ tunes, harmony of, and melody, ii. 338.
_Screaming_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Scull_, Nicholas, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Sea_, electrical qualities of its component parts, i. 205.
opinion, that it is the source of lightning, considered, 269, 321,
322.
supposed cause of its luminous appearance, ii. 88.
from what cause, salt, 91.
has formerly covered the mountains, _ib._
_Sea-coal_, has a vegetable origin, ii. 128.
prejudices against the use of, at Paris, 278.
_Sea-water_, soon loses its luminous quality, i. 269.
considerations on the distillation of, ii. 103.
how to quench thirst with, 104.
thermometrical observation on, 199, _et seq._
_Security_, a just ground to demand cessions from an enemy, iii. 93.
_Separation_ of the colonies from Britain, probability of, in 1775,
iii. 356.
_Servants_ in England, the most barren parts of the people, ii. 395.
_Settlements_, new, in America, letter concerning, iii. 409.
_Settlers_ of British colonies, their rights, iii. 299.
_Sheep_, a whole flock killed by lightning, i. 415.
_Ships_, abandoned at sea, often saved, ii. 169.
may be nicely balanced, 170.
accidents to, at sea, how guarded against, 172.
_Shirley_, governor, letters to, on the taxation of the colonies, iii. 30.
on American representation in the British parliament, 37.
_Shooting-stars_, letter on, ii. 36.
_Shop-keepers_ in America, iii. 394.
_Sides_ of vessels, the best construction of, ii. 172.
_Silver_ cann, experiment with, i. 307.
vessels, not so easily handled as glass, when filled with hot liquors,
ii. 57.
_Slavery_, society for the abolition of, i. 151.
address to the public on the abolition of, iii. 517.
_Slaves_, not profitable labourers, ii. 386.
diminish population, ii. 387.
_Slave-trade_, sentiment of a French moralist respecting, ii. 195.
parody on the arguments in favour of, 450.
_Sliding-plates_ for smoky chimnies described, ii. 287.
_Slitting-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Small_, Mr. Alexander, letter from, i. 374.
_Smell_ of electricity, how produced, i. 244.
_Smoke_, principle by which it ascends, ii. 257.
stove that consumes it, 296.
the burning of, useful in hot-houses, 316.
_Smoky_ chimnies, observation on the causes and cure of, ii. 256.
remedy for, if by want of air, 261, 262.
if by too large openings in the room, 266, 268.
if by too short a funnel, 269.
if by overpowering each other, 270, 271.
if by being overtopped, 271, 272.
if by improper situation of a door, 273.
if by smoke drawn down their funnels, 274, 275.
if by strong winds, 275, 276.
difficult sometimes to discover the cause of, 282.
_Smuggling_, reflections on, ii. 430.
encouragement of, not honest, 432.
_Snow_, singular instance of its giving electricity, i. 373.
_Soap-boiler_, part of Franklin's early life devoted to the business of,
i. 10, 14.
_Societies_, of which Franklin was president, i. 151.
learned, of which he was a member, 135.
_Socrates_, his mode of disputation, i. 21.
_Songs_, ancient, give more pleasure than modern, ii. 342.
modern, composed of all the defects of speech, 344.
_Soul_, argument against the annihilation of, iii. 548*.
_Sound_, best mediums for conveying, ii. 335.
observations on, 336.
queries concerning, 337.
_Sounds_ just past, we have a perfect idea of their pitch, ii. 340.
_Soup-dishes_ at sea, how to be made more convenient, ii. 195.
_Spain_, what has thinned its population, ii. 390.
_Specific_ weight, what, ii. 226.
_Spectacles_, double, advantages of, iii. 544*, 551*.
_Speech_, at Algiers, on slavery and piracy, ii. 450.
of Mr. Galloway, preface to, iii. 163.
last of Franklin, on the federal constitution, 416.
_Spelling_, a new mode of, recommended, ii. 359.
_Spheres_, electric, commodious ones, i. 178.
_Spider_, artificial, described, i. 177.
_Spirits_, fired without heating, i. 214, 245.
linen wetted with, cooling in inflammations, ii. 87.
should always be taken to sea in bottles, 175.
_Spots_ in the sun, how formed, i. 260.
_Squares_, magical square of, ii. 324.
_Staffordshire_ chimney, description of, ii. 285.
_Stamp-act_ in America stigmatized, iii. 228.
letter on the repeal of, iii. 239.
examination of Franklin on, 245.
_Stars._ See _Shooting_.
_State_, internal, of America, iii. 291.
_Storms_, causes of, ii. 65.
_Stove_, Dutch, its advantages and defects, ii. 233.
German, ditto, 234.
to draw downwards, by J. G. Leutmann, 298.
for burning pit-coal and consuming its smoke, 301, 304, 308.
_Strata_ of the earth, letter on, ii. 116.
_Strahan_, Mr. queries by, on American politics, iii. 287.
answer to the queries, 290.
letter to, disclaiming his friendship, iii. 354.
_Stuber_, Dr. continuator of Franklin's life, i. 98.
_Studies_ of trifles, should be moderate, ii. 95.
_Stuttering_, one of the affected beauties of modern tunes, ii. 245.
_Sugar_, cruelties exercised in producing it, ii. 196.
_Sulphur_ globe, its electricity different from that of the glass globe,
i. 265.
_Sun_, supplies vapour with fire, i. 207.
why not wasted by expense of light, 259.
effect of its rays on different coloured clothes, ii. 108.
light of, proposed to be used instead of candlelight, iii. 470, 473.
discovered to give light as soon as it rises, 471.
_Surfaces_ of glass, different state of its opposite ones, when
electrised, i. 191, 238.
_Swimming_, skill of Franklin in, i. 66.
art of, how to be acquired, ii. 206
how a person unacquainted with it may avoid sinking, 208.
a delightful and wholesome exercise, ii. 209, 211.
advantage of, to soldiers, 210.
inventions to improve it, _ibid._ 212.
medical effects of, _ibid._
T.
_Tariffs_, not easily settled in Indian trade, iii. 218.
_Tautology_, an affected beauty of modern songs, ii. 345.
_Taxation_, American, letters to governor Shirley on, iii. 30.
American, Dr. Franklin's examination on, iii. 246, 256.
internal and external, distinguished, 259.
on importation of goods and consumption, difference between, 266.
_Tea-act_, the duty on, in America, how considered there, iii. 261, 317,
319.
characterized by Mr. Burke, 319, _note_.
_Teach_, or Blackbeard, name of a ballad written by Franklin in his youth,
i. 16.
_Thanks_ of the assembly of Pensylvania to Franklin, iii. 214.
_Thanksgiving-days_ appointed in New England instead of fasts, iii. 392.
_Theory_ of the earth, ii. 117.
of light and heat, 122.
_Thermometer_, not cooled by blowing on, when dry, ii. 87.
electrical, described, and experiments with, ii. 336.
_Thermometrical_ observations on the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
on the warmth of sea-water, 200.
_Thirst_, may be relieved by sea-water, how, ii. 105.
_Thunder_ and lightning, how caused, i. 209.
seldom heard far from land, 216.
comparatively little at Bermuda, _ibid._
defined, 378.
_Thunder-gusts_, what, i. 203.
hypothesis to explain them, 203, _et seq._
_Tides_ in rivers, motion of, explained, ii. 96, 102.
_Time_, occasional fragments of, how to be collected, ii. 412.
is money to a tradesman, iii. 463.
_Toads_ live long without nourishment, ii. 223.
_Toleration_ in Old and New England compared, ii. 457.
_Torpedo_, how to determine its electricity, i. 408, 409.
_Tourmalin_, its singular electrical properties, i. 370.
experiments on it, 371, 372.
_Trade_, pleasure attending the first earnings in, i. 81.
should be under no restrictions, ii. 415.
exchanges in, may be advantageous to each party, 418.
inland carriage no obstruction, to, iii. 116.
great rivers in America, favourable to, 118.
bills of credit, in lieu of money, the best medium of, 156.
will find and make its own rates, 219.
_Tradesman_, advice to a young one, iii. 463.
_Transportation_ of felons to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants there, iii. 235.
_Treaty_ between America and Prussia, humane article of, ii. 449.
_Treasures_, hidden, search after, ridiculed, iii. 450.
_Trees_, dangerous to be under, in thunder-storms, i. 213.
the shivering of, by lightning, explained, 359.
why cool in the sun, ii. 87.
_Tubes_ of glass, electrical, manner of rubbing, i. 178.
lined with a non-electric, experiment with, 240.
exhausted, electric fire moves freely in, 241.
_Tunes_, ancient Scotch, why give general pleasure, ii. 338.
composed to the wire-harp, 341.
in parts, Rousseau's opinion of, 342.
modern, absurdities of, 344, _et seq._
_Turkey_ killed by electricity, i. 299.
_Turks_, ceremony observed by, in visiting, iii. 436.
V. U.
_Vacuum_, Torricellian, experiment with, i. 291.
electrical experiment in, 317.
_Vapour_, electrical experiment on, i. 343.
_Vapours_ from moist hay, &c. easily fired by lightning, i. 215.
cause of their rising considered, ii. 46, 49.
_Vanity_, observation on, i. 2.
_Varnish_, dry, burnt by electric sparks, i. 199.
_Vattel's_ Law of Nations, greatly consulted by the American congress,
iii. 360.
_Vegetable_ diet, observed by Franklin, i. 20.
abandoned by Franklin, why, 47.
_Vegetation_, effects of, on noxious air, ii. 129.
_Velocity_ of the electric fire, i. 319.
_Virtue_ in private life exemplified, iii. 427.
_Vernon_, Mr. reposes a trust in Franklin, which he violates, i. 44.
_Vis_ inertiæ of matter, observations on, ii. 110.
_Visits_, unseasonable and importunate, letter on, iii. 432.
_Unintelligibleness_, a fault of modern singing, ii. 345.
_Union_, Albany plan of. See _Albany_.
_Union_ of America with Britain, letter on, iii. 239.
_United_ states of America, nature of the congress of, iii. 550*.
_Voyage_, from Boston to New York, i. 27.
from New York to Philadelphia, 28.
from Newfoundland to New York, remarks on, ii. 197.
crossing the gulph stream, journal of, 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202.
to benefit distant countries, proposed, 403.
_Vulgar_ opinions, too much slighted, ii. 146.
W.
_Waggons_, number of, supplied by Franklin, on a military emergency,
i. 131.
_War_, civil, whether it strengthens a country considered, ii. 399.
observations on, 435.
laws of, gradually humanized, _ib._
humane article respecting, in a treaty between Prussia and America,
ii. 449.
French, of 1757, its origin, iii. 274.
_Warm_ rooms do not make people tender, or give colds, ii. 249.
_Washington_, early military talents of, i. 130.
Franklin's bequest to, 164.
_Water_, a perfect conductor of electricity, i. 201.
strongly electrified, rises in vapour, 204.
particles of, in rising, are attached to particles of air, 205.
and air, attract each other, 206.
exploded like gunpowder, by electricity, 358.
expansion of, when reduced to vapour, _ib._
saturated with salt, precipitates the overplus, ii. 2.
will dissolve in air, _ib._
expands when boiling, _ib._
how supported in air, 45.
bubbles on the surface of, hypothesis respecting, 48.
agitated, does not produce heat, 49, 96.
supposed originally all salt, 91.
fresh, produce of distillation only, _ib._
curious effects of oil on, 142.
_Water-casks_, how to dispose of, in leaky vessels, ii. 170.
_Water-spouts_, observations on, ii. 11.
whether they descend or ascend, 14, 23, 38.
various appearances of, 16.
winds blow from all points towards them, 21.
are whirlwinds at sea, _ib._
effect of one on the coast of Guinea, 33.
account of one at Antigua, 34.
various instances of, 38.
Mr. Colden's observations on, 53.
_Watson_, Mr. William, letter by, on thunder-clouds, i. 427.
_Waves_, stilled by oil, ii. 144, 145, 148.
greasy water, 146.
_Wax_, when fluid will conduct electricity, i. 256.
may be electrised positively and negatively, 291.
_Wealth_, way to, iii. 453.
national, positions to be examined concerning, ii. 408.
but three ways of acquiring it, 410.
_Webb_, George, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84, 86.
_Wedderburn_, Mr. remarks on his treatment of Franklin before the privy
council, iii. 330, 332, notes; 550.
_West_, Mr. his conductor struck by lightning, i. 340.
_Western_ colonies, plan for settling them, iii. 41.
_Whatley_, Mr. four letters to, iii. 543*.
_Wheels_, electrical, described, i. 196.
_Whirlwinds_, how formed, ii. 10.
observations on, 20.
a remarkable one at Rome, 24.
account of one in Maryland, 61.
_Whistle_, a story, iii. 480.
_White_, fittest colour for clothes in hot climates, ii. 109.
_Will_, extracts from Franklin's, i. 155.
_Wilson_, Mr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Wind_ generated by fermentation, ii. 59.
_Winds_ explained, ii. 8, 9, 48.
the explanation objected to, 50, 51.
observations on, by Mr. Colden, 52.
whether confined to, or generated in, clouds, 57.
raise the surface of the sea above its level, 188.
effect of, on sound, 337.
_Winters_, hard, causes of, ii. 68.
_Winthrop_, professor, letters from, i. 373, 382.
_Wire_ conducts a great stroke of lightning, though destroyed itself,
i. 282.
_Wolfe_, general, i. 136.
_Women_ of Paris, singular saying respecting, as mothers, iii. 548*.
_Wood_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 172.
why does not feel so cold as metals, ii. 56.
_Woods_, not unhealthy to inhabit, ii. 130.
_Woollen_, why warmer than linen, ii. 57, 81.
_Words_, to modern songs, only a pretence for singing, ii. 348.
_Wygate_, an acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 66.
_Wyndham_, sir William, applies to Franklin to teach his sons swimming,
i. 69.
COMPLETE WORKS--BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 2 ***
The
WORKS
Of
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, L.L.D.
VOL. 2.
[Illustration: (W & G Cooke Sculptor.)]
PRINTED,
for Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, Paternoster Row, London.
THE
COMPLETE
WORKS,
IN
PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND MORALS,
OF THE LATE
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
NOW FIRST COLLECTED AND ARRANGED:
WITH
MEMOIRS OF HIS EARLY LIFE,
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
London:
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD;
AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1806.
J. CUNDEE, PRINTER
LONDON
CONTENTS.
VOL. II.
LETTERS AND PAPERS ON PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS.
Physical and meteorological observations, conjectures and
suppositions 1
On water-spouts 11
The same subject continued 13
Water-spouts and whirlwinds compared 19
Description of a water-spout at Antigua 34
Shooting stars 36
Water-spouts and whirlwinds 37
Observations on the meteorological paper; by a gentleman in
Connecticut 45
Observations in answer to the foregoing, by B. Franklin 49
Observations on the meteorological paper; sent by a gentleman in
New York to B. Franklin 51
Answer to the foregoing observations, by B. Franklin 55
Gentleman of New York in reply 58
Account of a whirlwind at Maryland 61
On the north east storms in North America 63
Meteorological imaginations and conjectures 66
Suppositions and conjectures towards forming an hypothesis, for
the explanation of the aurora borealis 69
On cold produced by evaporation 75
On the same subject 83
Concerning the light in sea-water 88
On the saltness of sea-water 91
On the effect of air on the barometer, and the benefits derived
from the study of insects 92
On the Bristol waters, and the tide in rivers 95
On the same subject 102
Salt-water rendered fresh by distillation.--Method of relieving
thirst by sea-water 103
Tendency of rivers to the sea.--Effect of the sun's rays on cloth
of different colours 105
On the vis inertiæ of matter 110
On the different strata of the earth 116
On the theory of the earth 117
New and curious theory of light and heat 122
Queries and conjectures relating to magnetism and the theory of
the earth 125
On the nature of sea coal 125
Effect of vegetation on noxious air 129
On the inflammability of the surface of certain rivers in America 130
On the different quantities of rain which fall at different
heights over the same ground 133
Slowly sensible hygrometer proposed, for certain purposes 135
Curious instance of the effect of oil on water 142
Letters on the stilling of waves by means of oil 144
Extract of a letter from Mr. Tengnagel to Count Bentinck, dated at
Batavia, the 5th of January, 1770 154
On the difference of navigation in shoal and deep water 158
Sundry maritime observations 162
Remarks upon the navigation from Newfoundland to New-York, in
order to avoid the Gulph Stream on one hand, and on the other
the shoals that lie to the southward of Nantucket and of St.
George's Banks 197
Observations of the warmth of the sea-water, &c. by Fahrenheit's
Thermometer, in crossing the Gulph Stream; with other remarks
made on board the Pensylvania packet, Capt. Osborne, bound
from London to Philadelphia, in April and May, 1775 199
Observations of the warmth of the sea-water, &c. by Fahrenheit's
thermometer; with other remarks made on board the Reprisal,
Capt. Wycks, bound from Philadelphia to France, in October
and November, 1776 200
A journal of a voyage from the Channel between France and England
towards America 202
On the art of swimming 206
On the same subject, in answer to some enquiries of M. Dubourg 210
On the free use of air 213
On the causes of colds 214
Dr. Stark, and Dr. Letsom 215
Number of deaths in Philadelphia by inoculation ibid
Answer to the preceding 217
On the effects of lead upon the human constitution 219
Observations on the prevailing doctrines of life and death 222
An account of the new-invented Pensylvanian fire-places 225
On the causes and cure of smoky chimneys 256
Description of a new stove for burning of pitcoal, and consuming
all its smoke 296
Method of contracting chimneys.--Modesty in disputation 317
Covering houses with copper 318
On the same subject 320
Paper referred to in the preceding letter 322
Magical square of squares 324
Magical circle 328
New musical instrument composed of glasses 330
Best mediums for conveying sound 335
On the harmony and melody of the old Scotch tunes 338
On the defects of modern music 343
Description of the process to be observed in making large sheets
of paper in the Chinese manner, with one smooth surface 349
On modern innovations in the English language and in printing 351
A scheme for a new alphabet and reformed mode of spelling; with
remarks and examples concerning the same; and an enquiry into
its uses, in a correspondence between Miss S---- and Dr. Franklin,
written in the characters of the alphabet 357
Rules for a club formerly established in Philadelphia 366
Questions discussed by the Junto forming the preceding club 369
Sketch of an English school; for the consideration of the trustees
of the Philadelphia Academy 370
Advice to youth in reading 378
PAPERS ON SUBJECTS OF GENERAL POLITICS.
Observations concerning the increase of mankind, peopling of
countries, &c 383
Remarks on some of the foregoing observations, showing particularly
the effect which manners have on population 392
Plan by Messieurs Franklin and Dalrymple, for benefiting distant
unprovided countries 403
Concerning the provision made in China against famine 407
Positions to be examined, concerning national wealth 408
Political fragments, supposed either to be written by Dr. Franklin,
or to contain sentiments nearly allied to his own 411
On the price of corn, and management of the poor 418
On luxury, idleness, and industry 424
On smuggling, and its various species 430
Observations on war 435
Notes copied from Dr. Franklin's writing in pencil in the margin of
Judge Foster's celebrated argument in favour of the impressing
of seamen 437
On the criminal laws, and the practice of privateering 441
A parable against persecution, in imitation of scripture language 450
A letter concerning persecution in former ages, the maintenance of
the clergy, American bishops, and the state of toleration in Old
England and New England compared 452
On the slave trade 459
Account of the highest court of judicature in Pensylvania, viz.
The court of the press 463
LIST OF THE PLATES
PLATE V. Water-Spouts facing page 16
PLATE VI. Maritime Observations 163
PLATE VII. A Chart of the Gulph Stream 197
PLATE VIII. Pensylvania Fire-Place 235
PLATE VIII*. Profile of the Pensylvania Chimnie 238
PLATE IX. Remedies for Smoky Chimnies 269
PLATE X. Stove for Burning Pit-Coal 297
PLATE XI. A Magic Square of Squares 327
PLATE XII. A Magic Circle of Circles 328
_ERRATA._
_Page._ _Line._
117 penult. for preceding day, read the preceding day.
254 17: for the annexed cut, read Plate VIII.
276 11: for Plate I, read Plate IX.
293 23: for Fig. 13, read Fig. 10.
318 9: for descent, read decent.
326 5: for Plate XI, read Plate V. Fig. 3.
LETTERS AND PAPERS
ON
_PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS._
_LETTERS AND PAPERS_
ON
PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS.
_Physical and Meteorological Observations, Conjectures and
Suppositions._
Read at the Royal Society, June 3, 1756.
The particles of air are kept at a distance from each other by their
mutual repulsion.
Every three particles, mutually and equally repelling each other,
must form an equilateral triangle.
All the particles of air gravitate towards the earth, which
gravitation compresses them, and shortens the sides of the triangles,
otherwise their mutual repellency would force them to greater
distances from each other.
Whatever particles of other matter (not endued with that repellency)
are supported in air, must adhere to the particles of air, and be
supported by them; for in the vacancies there is nothing they can
rest on.
Air and water mutually attract each other. Hence water will dissolve
in air, as salt in water.
The specific gravity of matter is not altered by dividing the
matter, though the superficies be increased. Sixteen leaden bullets,
of an ounce each, weigh as much in water as one of a pound, whose
superficies is less.
Therefore the supporting of salt in water is not owing to its
superficies being increased.
A lump of salt, though laid at rest at the bottom of a vessel of
water, will dissolve therein, and its parts move every way, till
equally diffused in the water; therefore there is a mutual attraction
between water and salt. Every particle of water assumes as many of
salt as can adhere to it; when more is added, it precipitates, and
will not remain suspended.
Water, in the same manner, will dissolve in air, every particle of
air assuming one or more particles of water. When too much is added,
it precipitates in rain.
But there not being the same contiguity between the particles of air
as of water, the solution of water in air is not carried on without a
motion of the air, so as to cause a fresh accession of dry particles.
Part of a fluid, having more of what it dissolves, will communicate
to other parts that have less. Thus very salt water, coming in
contact with fresh, communicates its saltness till all is equal, and
the sooner if there is a little motion of the water.
Even earth will dissolve, or mix with air. A stroke of a horse's hoof
on the ground, in a hot dusty road, will raise a cloud of dust, that
shall, if there be a light breeze, expand every way, till, perhaps,
near as big as a common house. It is not by mechanical motion
communicated to the particles of dust by the hoof, that they fly so
far, nor by the wind, that they spread so wide: but the air near
the ground, more heated by the hot dust struck into it, is rarefied
and rises, and in rising mixes with the cooler air, and communicates
of its dust to it, and it is at length so diffused as to become
invisible. Quantities of dust are thus carried up in dry seasons:
showers wash it from the air, and bring it down again. For water
attracting it stronger, it quits the air, and adheres to the water.
Air, suffering continual changes in the degrees of its heat, from
various causes and circumstances, and, consequently, changes in its
specific gravity, must therefore be in continual motion.
A small quantity of fire mixed with water (or degree of heat therein)
so weakens the cohesion of its particles, that those on the surface
easily quit it, and adhere to the particles of air.
A greater degree of heat is required to break the cohesion between
water and air.
Air moderately heated will support a greater quantity of water
invisibly than cold air; for its particles being by heat repelled
to a greater distance from each other, thereby more easily keep
the particles of water that are annexed to them from running into
cohesions that would obstruct, refract, or reflect the light.
Hence when we breathe in warm air, though the same quantity of
moisture may be taken up from the lungs, as when we breathe in cold
air, yet that moisture is not so visible.
Water being extremely heated, _i.e._ to the degree of boiling, its
particles in quitting it so repel each other, as to take up vastly
more space than before, and by that repellency support themselves,
expelling the air from the space they occupy. That degree of
heat being lessened, they again mutually attract, and having no
air-particles mixed to adhere to, by which they might be supported
and kept at a distance, they instantly fall, coalesce, and become
water again.
The water commonly diffused in our atmosphere never receives such
a degree of heat from the sun, or other cause, as water has when
boiling; it is not, therefore, supported by such heat, but by
adhering to air.
Water being dissolved in, and adhering to air, that air will not
readily take up oil, because of the mutual repellency between water
and oil.
Hence cold oils evaporate but slowly, the air having generally a
quantity of dissolved water.
Oil being heated extremely, the air that approaches its surface will
be also heated extremely; the water then quitting it, it will attract
and carry off oil, which can now adhere to it. Hence the quick
evaporation of oil heated to a great degree.
Oil being dissolved in air, the particles to which it adheres will
not take up water.
Hence the suffocating nature of air impregnated with burnt grease, as
from snuffs of candles and the like. A certain quantity of moisture
should be every moment discharged and taken away from the lungs; air
that has been frequently breathed, is already overloaded, and, for
that reason, can take no more, so will not answer the end. Greasy
air refuses to touch it. In both cases suffocation for want of the
discharge.
Air will attract and support many other substances.
A particle of air loaded with adhering water, or any other matter, is
heavier than before and would descend.
The atmosphere supposed at rest, a loaded descending particle must
act with a force on the particles it passes between, or meets with,
sufficient to overcome, in some degree, their mutual repellency, and
push them nearer to each other.
[Illustration: (of air particles interacting)
A
O O O
F B C G
O O O O
O O O
D
O O O O
E
]
Thus, supposing the particles A B C D, and the other near them, to
be at the distance caused by their mutual repellency (confined by
their common gravity) if A would descend to E, it must pass between B
and C; when it comes between B and C, it will be nearer to them than
before, and must either have pushed them nearer to F and G, contrary
to their mutual repellency, or pass through by a force exceeding
its repellency with them. It then approaches D, and, to move it out
of the way, must act on it with a force sufficient to overcome its
repellency with the two next lower particles, by which it is kept in
its present situation.
Every particle of air, therefore, will bear any load inferior to the
force of these repulsions.
Hence the support of fogs, mists, clouds.
Very warm air, clear, though supporting a very great quantity of
moisture, will grow turbid and cloudy on the mixture of a colder air,
as foggy turbid air will grow clear by warming.
Thus the sun shining on a morning fog, dissipates it; clouds are seen
to waste in a sun-shiny day.
But cold condenses and renders visible the vapour; a tankard or
decanter filled with cold water will condense the moisture of warm
clear air on its outside, where it becomes visible as dew, coalesces
into drops, descends in little streams.
The sun heats the air of our atmosphere most near the surface of
the earth; for there, besides the direct rays, there are many
reflections. Moreover, the earth itself being heated, communicates of
its heat to the neighbouring air.
The higher regions, having only the direct rays of the sun passing
through them, are comparatively very cold. Hence the cold air on the
tops of mountains, and snow on some of them all the year, even in the
torrid zone. Hence hail in summer.
If the atmosphere were, all of it (both above and below) always of
the same temper as to cold or heat, then the upper air would always
be _rarer_ than the lower, because the pressure on it is less;
consequently lighter, and therefore would keep its place.
But the upper air may be more condensed by cold, than the lower air
by pressure; the lower more expanded by heat, than the upper for want
of pressure. In such case the upper air will become the heavier, the
lower the lighter.
The lower region of air being heated and expanded heaves up, and
supports for some time the colder heavier air above, and will
continue to support it while the equilibrium is kept. Thus water
is supported in an inverted open glass, while the equilibrium is
maintained by the equal pressure upwards of the air below; but the
equilibrium by any means breaking, the water descends on the heavier
side, and the air rises into its place.
The lifted heavy cold air over a heated country, becoming by any
means unequally supported, or unequal in its weight, the heaviest
part descends first, and the rest follows impetuously. Hence gusts
after heats, and hurricanes in hot climates. Hence the air of gusts
and hurricanes cold, though in hot climes and seasons; it coming from
above.
The cold air descending from above, as it penetrates our warm region
full of watry particles, condenses them, renders them visible,
forms a cloud thick and dark, overcasting sometimes, at once, large
and extensive; sometimes, when seen at a distance, small at first,
gradually increasing; the cold edge, or surface of the cloud,
condensing the vapours next it, which form smaller clouds that join
it, increase its bulk, it descends with the wind and its acquired
weight, draws nearer the earth, grows denser with continual additions
of water, and discharges heavy showers.
Small black clouds thus appearing in a clear sky, in hot climates,
portend storms, and warn seamen to hand their sails.
The earth, turning on its axis in about twenty-four hours, the
equatorial parts must move about fifteen miles in each minute; in
northern and southern latitudes this motion is gradually less to the
poles, and there nothing.
If there was a general calm over the face of the globe, it must be by
the air's moving in every part as fast as the earth or sea it covers.
He that sails, or rides, has insensibly the same degree of motion as
the ship or coach with which he is connected. If the ship strikes
the shore, or the coach stops suddenly, the motion continuing in the
man, he is thrown forward. If a man were to jump from the land into
a swift sailing ship, he would be thrown backward (or towards the
stern) not having at first the motion of the ship.
He that travels by sea or land, towards the equinoctial, gradually
acquires motion; from it, loses.
But if a man were taken up from latitude 40 (where suppose the
earth's surface to move twelve miles per minute) and immediately set
down at the equinoctial, without changing the motion he had, his
heels would be struck up, he would fall westward. If taken up from
the equinoctial, and set down in latitude 40, he would fall eastward.
The air under the equator, and between the tropics, being constantly
heated and rarefied by the sun, rises. Its place is supplied by air
from northern and southern latitudes, which coming from parts where
the earth and air had less motion, and not suddenly acquiring the
quicker motion of the equatorial earth, appears an east wind blowing
westward; the earth moving from west to east, and slipping under the
air[1].
Thus, when we ride in a calm, it seems a wind against us: if we ride
with the wind, and faster, even that will seem a small wind against
us.
The air rarefied between the tropics, and rising, must flow in the
higher region north and south. Before it rose, it had acquired the
greatest motion the earth's rotation could give it. It retains some
degree of this motion, and descending in higher latitudes, where the
earth's motion is less, will appear a westerly wind, yet tending
towards the equatorial parts, to supply the vacancy occasioned by
the air of the lower regions flowing thitherwards.
Hence our general cold winds are about north west, our summer cold
gusts the same.
The air in sultry weather, though not cloudy, has a kind of haziness
in it, which makes objects at a distance appear dull and indistinct.
This haziness is occasioned by the great quantity of moisture equally
diffused in that air. When, by the cold wind blowing down among it,
it is condensed into clouds, and falls in rain, the air becomes purer
and clearer. Hence, after gusts, distant objects appear distinct,
their figures sharply terminated.
Extreme cold winds congeal the surface of the earth, by carrying off
its fire. Warm winds afterwards blowing over that frozen surface will
be chilled by it. Could that frozen surface be turned under, and
a warmer turned up from beneath it, those warm winds would not be
chilled so much.
The surface of the earth is also sometimes much heated by the sun:
and such heated surface not being changed heats the air that moves
over it.
Seas, lakes, and great bodies of water, agitated by the winds,
continually change surfaces; the cold surface in winter is turned
under by the rolling of the waves, and a warmer turned up; in summer,
the warm is turned under, and colder turned up. Hence the more equal
temper of sea-water, and the air over it. Hence, in winter, winds
from the sea seem warm, winds from the land cold. In summer the
contrary.
Therefore the lakes north-west of us[2], as they are
not so much frozen, nor so apt to freeze as the earth, rather
moderate than increase the coldness of our winter winds.
The air over the sea being warmer, and therefore lighter in winter
than the air over the frozen land, may be another cause of our
general N. W. winds, which blow off to sea at right angles from our
North-American coast. The warm light sea air rising, the heavy cold
land air pressing into its place.
Heavy fluids descending, frequently form eddies, or whirlpools, as
is seen in a funnel, where the water acquires a circular motion,
receding every way from a centre, and leaving a vacancy in the
middle, greatest above, and lessening downwards, like a speaking
trumpet, its big end upwards.
Air descending, or ascending, may form the same kind of eddies,
or whirlings, the parts of air acquiring a circular motion, and
receding from the middle of the circle by a centrifugal force, and
leaving there a vacancy; if descending, greatest above, and lessening
downwards; if ascending, greatest below, and lessening upwards; like
a speaking trumpet, standing its big end on the ground.
When the air descends with violence in some places, it may rise with
equal violence in others, and form both kinds of whirlwinds.
The air in its whirling motion receding every way from the centre or
axis of the trumpet leaves there a vacuum, which cannot be filled
through the sides, the whirling air, as an arch, preventing; it must
then press in at the open ends.
The greatest pressure inwards must be at the lower end, the greatest
weight of the surrounding atmosphere being there. The air entering
rises within, and carries up dust, leaves, and even heavier bodies
that happen in its way, as the eddy, or whirl, passes over land.
If it passes over water, the weight of the surrounding atmosphere
forces up the water into the vacuity, part of which, by degrees,
joins with the whirling air, and adding weight, and receiving
accelerated motion, recedes still farther from the centre or axis of
the trump, as the pressure lessens; and at last, as the trump widens,
is broken into small particles, and so united with air as to be
supported by it, and become black clouds at the top of the trump.
Thus these eddies may be whirlwinds at land, water-spouts at sea. A
body of water so raised, may be suddenly let fall, when the motion,
&c. has not strength to support it, or the whirling arch is broken so
as to admit the air: falling in the sea, it is harmless, unless ships
happen under it; but if in the progressive motion of the whirl it has
moved from the sea, over the land, and then breaks, sudden, violent,
and mischievous torrents are the consequences.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See a paper on this subject, by the late ingenious Mr. Hadley,
in the Philosophical Transactions, wherein this hypothesis for
explaining the trade-winds first appeared.
[2] In Pensylvania.
DOCTOR ----[3] OF BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_On Water-Spouts._
Read at the Royal Society, June 3, 1756.
_Boston, October 16, 1752_.
SIR,
I find by a word or two in your last[4], that you are willing to
be found fault with; which authorises me to let you know what I
am at a loss about in your papers, which is only in the article
of the water-spout. I am in doubt, whether water in bulk, or even
broken into drops, ever ascends into the region of the clouds _per
vorticem_; i. e. whether there be, in reality, what I call a direct
water-spout. I make no doubt of direct and inverted whirl-winds; your
description of them, and the reason of the thing, are sufficient.
I am sensible too, that they are very strong, and often move
considerable weights. But I have not met with any historical accounts
that seem exact enough to remove my scruples concerning the ascent
abovesaid.
Descending spouts (as I take them to be) are many times seen, as I
take it, in the calms, between the sea and land trade-winds on the
coast of Africa. These contrary winds, or diverging, I can conceive
may occasion them, as it were by suction, making a breach in a large
cloud. But I imagine they have, at the same time, a tendency to
hinder any direct or rising spout, by carrying off the lower part of
the atmosphere as fast as it begins to rarefy; and yet spouts are
frequent here, which strengthens my opinion, that all of them descend.
But however this be, I cannot conceive a force producible by the
rarefication and condensation of our atmosphere, in the circumstances
of our globe, capable of carrying water, in large portions, into the
region of the clouds. Supposing it to be raised, it would be too
heavy to continue the ascent beyond a considerable height, unless
parted into small drops; and even then, by its centrifugal force,
from the manner of conveyance, it would be flung out of the circle,
and fall scattered, like rain.
But I need not expatiate on these matters to you. I have mentioned
my objections, and, as truth is my pursuit, shall be glad to be
informed. I have seen few accounts of these whirl or eddy winds, and
as little of the spouts; and these, especially, lame and poor things
to obtain any certainty by. If you know any thing determinate that
has been observed, I shall hope to hear from you; as also of any
mistake in my thoughts. I have nothing to object to any other part
of your suppositions: and as to that of the trade-winds, I believe
nobody can.
I am, &c.
_P. S._. The figures in the _Philosophical Transactions_ show, by
several circumstances, that they all descended, though the relators
seemed to think they took up water.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Dr. Perkins. _Editor._
[4] A Letter on Inoculation, which is transferred to a subsequent
part of this volume, that the papers on meteorological subjects may
not be interrupted. _Editor._
DR. PERKINS OF BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_The same Subject continued._
Read at the Royal Society, June 24, 1756.
_Boston, October 23, 1752._
SIR,
In the inclosed, you have all I have to say of that matter[5]. It
proved longer than I expected, so that I was forced to add a cover to
it. I confess it looks like a dispute; but that is quite contrary to
my intentions.
The sincerity of friendship and esteem were my motives; nor do I
doubt your scrupling the goodness of the intention. However, I must
confess I cannot tell exactly how far I was acted by hopes of better
information, in discovering the whole foundation of my opinion,
which, indeed, is but an opinion, as I am very much at a loss about
the validity of the reasons. I have not been able to differ from you
in sentiment concerning any thing else in your _Suppositions_. In the
present case I lie open to conviction, and shall be the gainer when
informed. If I am right, you will know that, without my adding any
more. Too much said on a merely speculative matter, is but a robbery
committed on practical knowledge. Perhaps I am too much pleased with
these dry notions: however, by this you will see that I think it
unreasonable to give you more trouble about them, than your leisure
and inclination may prompt you to.
I am, &c.
Since my last I considered, that, as I had begun with the reasons of
my dissatisfaction about the ascent of water in spouts, you would not
be unwilling to hear the whole I have to say, and then you will know
what I rely upon.
What occasioned my thinking all spouts descend, is, that I found some
did certainly do so. A difficulty appeared concerning the ascent of
so heavy a body as water, by any force I was apprised of, as probably
sufficient. And, above all, a view of Mr. Stuart's portraits of
spouts, in the _Philosophical Transactions_.
Some observations on these last will include the chief part of my
difficulties. Mr. Stuart has given us the figures of a number
observed by him in the Mediterranean: all with some particulars which
make for my opinion, if well drawn.
The great spattering, which relators mention in the water where the
spout descends, and which appears in all his draughts, I conceive to
be occasioned by drops descending very thick and large into the place.
On the place of this spattering, arises the appearance of a bush,
into the centre of which the spout comes down. This bush I take to
be formed by a spray, made by the force of these drops, which being
uncommonly large, and descending with unusual force by a stream of
wind descending from the cloud with them, increases the height of
the spray: which wind being repulsed by the surface of the waters
rebounds and spreads; by the first raising the spray higher than it
otherwise would go; and by the last making the top of the bush appear
to bend outwards (_i. e._) the cloud of spray is forced off from the
trunk of the spout, and falls backward.
The bush does the same where there is no appearance of a spout
reaching it; and is depressed in the middle, where the spout is
expected. This, I imagine, to be from numerous drops of the spout
falling into it, together with the wind I mentioned, by their
descent, which beat back the rising spray in the centre.
This circumstance, of the bush bending outwards at the top, seems not
to agree with what I call a direct whirlwind, but consistent with the
reversed; for a direct one would sweep the bush inwards; if, in that
case, any thing of a bush would appear.
The pillar of water, as they call it, from its likeness, I suppose
to be only the end of the spout immersed in the bush, a little
blackened by the additional cloud, and, perhaps, appears to the eye
beyond its real bigness, by a refraction in the bush, and which
refraction may be the cause of the appearance of separation, betwixt
the part in the bush, and that above it. The part in the bush is
cylindrical, as it is above (_i. e._) the bigness the same from the
top of the bush to the water. Instead of this shape, in case of a
whirlwind, it must have been pyramidical.
Another thing remarkable, is, the curve in some of them: this is
easy to conceive, in case of descending parcels of drops through
various winds, at least till the cloud condenses so fast as to come
down, as it were, _uno rivo_. But it is harder to me to conceive it
in the ascent of water, that it should be conveyed along, secure of
not leaking or often dropping through the under side, in the prone
part: and, should the water be conveyed so swiftly, and with such
force, up into the cloud, as to prevent this, it would, by a natural
disposition to move on in a present direction, presently straiten the
curve, raising the shoulder very swiftly, till lost in the cloud.
Over every one of Stuart's figures, I see a cloud: I suppose his
clouds were first, and then the spout; I do not know whether it be so
with all spouts, but suppose it is. Now, if whirlwinds carried up the
water, I should expect them in fair weather, but not under a cloud;
as is observable of whirlwinds; they come in fair weather, not under
the shade of a cloud, nor in the night; since shade cools the air:
but, on the contrary, violent winds often descend from the clouds;
strong gusts which occupy small spaces; and from the higher regions,
extensive hurricanes, &c.
Another thing is the appearance of the spout _coming from_ the cloud.
This I cannot account for on the notion of a direct spout, but in the
real descending one, it is easy. I take it, that the cloud begins
first of all to pour out drops at that particular spot, or _foramen_;
and, when that current of drops increases, so as to force down wind
and vapour, the spout becomes so far as that goes opaque. I take it,
that no clouds drop spouts, but such as make very fast, and happen
to condense in a particular spot, which perhaps is coldest, and
gives a determination downwards, so as to make a passage through the
subjacent atmosphere.
If spouts ascend, it is to carry up the warm rarefied air below, to
let down all and any that is colder above; and, if so, they must
carry it through the cloud they go into (for that is cold and dense,
I imagine) perhaps far into the higher region, making a wonderful
appearance at a convenient distance to observe it, by the swift rise
of a body of vapour, above the region of the clouds. But as this has
never been observed in any age, if it be supposeable that is all.
I cannot learn by mariners, that any wind blows towards a spout more
than any other way; but it blows towards a whirlwind, for a large
distance round.
I suppose there has been no instance of the water of a spout being
salt, when coming across any vessel at sea. I suppose too, that there
have been no salt rains; these would make the case clear.
I suppose it is from some unhappy effects of these dangerous
creatures of nature, that sailors have an universal dread on them of
breaking in their decks, should they come across them. I imagine
spouts, in cold seasons, as Gordon's in the Downs, prove the descent.
_Query._ Whether there is not always more or less cloud, first, where
a spout appears?
Whether they are not, generally, on the borders of trade-winds; and
whether this is for, or against me?
Whether there be any credible account of a whirlwind's carrying up
all the water in a pool, or small pond: as when shoal, and the banks
low, a strong gust might be supposed to blow it all out?
Whether a violent tornado, of a small extent, and other sudden
and strong gusts, be not winds from above, descending nearly
perpendicular; and, whether many that are called whirlwinds at sea,
are any other than these; and so might be called air-spouts, if they
were objects of sight?
I overlooked, in its proper place, Stuart's No. 11, which is curious
for its inequalities, and, in particular, the approach to breaking,
which, if it would not be too tedious, I would have observed a little
upon, in my own way, as, I think, this would argue against the
ascent, &c. but I must pass it, not only for the reason mentioned,
but want of room besides.
As to Mr. Stuart's ocular demonstration of the ascent in his great
perpendicular spout, the only one it appears in, I say, as to this,
what I have written supposes him mistaken, which, yet, I am far from
asserting.
The force of an airy vortex, having less influence on the solid drops
of water, than on the interspersed cloudy vapours, makes the last
whirl round swifter, though it descend slower: and this might easily
deceive, without great care, the most unprejudiced person.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] Water-Spouts.
TO DOCTOR ----[6], OF BOSTON.
_Water-Spouts and Whirlwinds compared._
Read at the Royal Society, June 24, 1756.
_Philadelphia, Feb. 4, 1753._
SIR,
I ought to have written to you, long since, in answer to yours of
October 16, concerning the water-spout; but business partly, and
partly a desire of procuring further information, by enquiry among my
seafaring acquaintance, induced me to postpone writing, from time to
time, till I am now almost ashamed to resume the subject, not knowing
but you may have forgot what has been said upon it.
Nothing certainly, can be more improving to a searcher into nature,
than objections judiciously made to his opinion, taken up, perhaps,
too hastily: for such objections oblige him to re-study the
point, consider every circumstance carefully, compare facts, make
experiments, weigh arguments, and be slow in drawing conclusions.
And hence a sure advantage results; for he either confirms a truth,
before too slightly supported; or discovers an error, and receives
instruction from the objector.
In this view I consider the objections and remarks you sent me, and
thank you for them sincerely: but, how much soever my inclinations
lead me to philosophical enquiries, I am so engaged in business,
public and private, that those more pleasing pursuits are frequently
interrupted, and the chain of thought, necessary to be closely
continued in such disquisitions, is so broken and disjointed, that it
is with difficulty I satisfy myself in any of them: and I am now not
much nearer a conclusion, in this matter of the spout, than when I
first read your letter.
Yet, hoping we may, in time, sift out the truth between us, I will
send you my present thoughts, with some observations on your reasons
on the accounts in the _Transactions_, and on other relations I have
met with. Perhaps, while I am writing, some new light may strike me,
for I shall now be obliged to consider the subject with a little more
attention.
I agree with you, that, by means of a vacuum in a whirlwind, water
cannot be supposed to rise in large masses to the region of the
clouds; for the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere could not
force it up in a continued body, or column, to a much greater height,
than thirty feet. But, if there really is a vacuum in the centre, or
near the axis of whirlwinds, then, I think, water may rise in such
vacuum to that height, or to a less height, as the vacuum may be less
perfect.
I had not read Stuart's account, in the _Transactions_, for many
years, before the receipt of your letter, and had quite forgot it;
but now, on viewing his draughts, and considering his descriptions, I
think they seem to favour _my hypothesis_; for he describes and draws
columns of water, of various heights, terminating abruptly at the
top, exactly as water would do, when forced up by the pressure of the
atmosphere into an exhausted tube.
I must, however, no longer call it _my hypothesis_, since I find
Stuart had the same thought, though somewhat obscurely expressed,
where he says, "he imagines this phenomenon may be solved by suction
(improperly so called) or rather pulsion, as in the application of a
cupping glass to the flesh, the air being first voided by the kindled
flax." In my paper, I supposed a whirlwind and a spout to be the
same thing, and to proceed from the same cause; the only difference
between them being, that the one passes over land, the other over
water, I find, also, in the _Transactions_, that M. de la Pryme was
of the same opinion; for he there describes two spouts, as he calls
them, which were seen at different times, at Hatfield, in Yorkshire,
whose appearances in the air were the same with those of the spouts
at sea, and effects the same with those of real whirlwinds.
Whirlwinds have generally a progressive, as well as a circular
motion; so had what is called the spout, at Topsham--(_See the
account of it in the Transactions_) which also appears, by its
effects described, to have been a real whirlwind. Water-spouts have,
also, a progressive motion; this is sometimes greater, and sometimes
less; in some violent, in others barely perceivable. The whirlwind at
Warrington continued long in Acrement-Close.
Whirlwinds generally arise after calms and great heats: the same
is observed of water-spouts, which are, therefore, most frequent
in the warm latitudes. The spout that happened in cold weather, in
the Downs, described by Mr. Gordon in the _Transactions_, was, for
that reason, thought extraordinary; but he remarks withal, that the
weather, though cold when the spout appeared, was soon after much
colder; as we find it, commonly, less warm after a whirlwind.
You agree, that the wind blows every way towards a whirlwind,
from a large space round. An intelligent whaleman of Nantucket,
informed me that three of their vessels, which were out in search
of whales, happening to be becalmed, lay in sight of each other,
at about a league distance, if I remember right, nearly forming a
triangle: after some time, a water-spout appeared near the middle
of the triangle, when a brisk breeze of wind sprung up, and every
vessel made sail; and then it appeared to them all, by the setting
of the sails, and the course each vessel stood, that the spout was
to the leeward of every one of them; and they all declared it to
have been so, when they happened afterwards in company, and came to
confer about it. So that in this particular likewise, whirlwinds and
water-spouts agree.
But, if that which appears a water-spout at sea, does sometimes,
in its progressive motion, meet with and pass over land, and there
produce all the phenomena and effects of a whirlwind, it should
thence seem still more evident, that a whirlwind and a spout are the
same. I send you, herewith, a letter from an ingenious physician of
my acquaintance, which gives one instance of this, that fell within
his observation.
A fluid, moving from all points horizontally, towards a centre, must,
at that centre, either ascend or descend. Water being in a tub, if a
hole be opened in the middle of the bottom, will flow from all sides
to the centre, and there descend in a whirl. But, air flowing on and
near the surface of land or water, from all sides, towards a centre,
must, at that centre ascend; the land or water hindering its descent.
If these concentring currents of air be in the upper region, they
may, indeed, descend in the spout or whirlwind; but then, when the
united current reached the earth or water, it would spread, and,
probably, blow every way from the centre. There may be whirlwinds
of both kinds, but from the commonly observed effects, I suspect
the rising one to be the most common: when the upper air descends,
it is, perhaps, in a greater body, extending wider, as in our
thunder-gusts, and without much whirling; and, when air descends in a
spout, or whirlwind, I should rather expect it would press the roof
of a house _inwards_, or force _in_ the tiles, shingles, or thatch,
force a boat down into the water, or a piece of timber into the
earth, than that it would lift them up, and carry them away.
It has so happened, that I have not met with any accounts of spouts,
that certainly descended; I suspect they are not frequent. Please to
communicate those you mention. The apparent dropping of a pipe from
the clouds towards the earth or sea, I will endeavour to explain
hereafter.
The augmentation of the cloud, which, as I am informed, is generally,
if not always the case, during a spout, seems to shew an ascent,
rather than a descent of the matter of which such cloud is composed;
for a descending spout, one would expect, should diminish a cloud.
I own, however, that cold air descending, may, by condensing the
vapours in a lower region, form and increase clouds; which, I think,
is generally the case in our common thunder-gusts, and, therefore, do
not lay great stress on this argument.
Whirlwinds and spouts, are not always, though most commonly, in
the day time. The terrible whirlwind which damaged a great part of
Rome, June 11, 1749, happened in the night of that day. The same was
supposed to have been first a spout, for it is said to be beyond
doubt, that it gathered in the neighbouring sea, as it could be
tracked from Ostia to Rome. I find this in Pere Boschovich's account
of it, as abridged in the Monthly Review for December 1750. In that
account, the whirlwind is said to have appeared as a very black,
long, and lofty cloud, discoverable, notwithstanding the darkness of
the night, by its continually lightning or emitting flashes on all
sides, pushing along with a surprising swiftness, and within three
or four feet of the ground. Its general effects on houses, were
stripping off the roofs, blowing away chimneys, breaking doors and
windows, _forcing up the floors, and unpaving the rooms_ (some of
these effects seem to agree well with a supposed vacuum in the centre
of the whirlwind) and the very rafters of the houses were broken and
dispersed, and even hurled against houses at a considerable distance,
&c.
It seems, by an expression of Pere Boschovich's, as if the wind blew
from all sides towards the whirlwind; for, having carefully observed
its effects, he concludes of all whirlwinds, "that their motion is
circular, and their action attractive."
He observes, on a number of histories of whirlwinds, &c. "that a
common effect of them is, to carry up into the air, tiles, stones,
and animals themselves, which happen to be in their course, and all
kinds of bodies unexceptionably, throwing them to a considerable
distance, with great impetuosity."
Such effects seem to shew a rising current of air.
I will endeavour to explain my conceptions of this matter by figures,
representing a plan and an elevation of a spout or whirlwind.
I would only first beg to be allowed two or three positions,
mentioned in my former paper.
1. That the lower region of air is often more heated, and so more
rarefied, than the upper; consequently, specifically lighter. The
coldness of the upper region is manifested by the hail which
sometimes falls from it in a hot day.
2. That heated air may be very moist, and yet the moisture so equally
diffus'd and rarefied, as not to be visible, till colder air mixes
with it, when it condenses, and becomes visible. Thus our breath,
invisible in summer, becomes visible in winter.
Now let us suppose a tract of land, or sea, of perhaps sixty miles
square, unscreened by clouds, and unfanned by winds, during great
part of a summer's day, or, it may be, for several days successively,
till it is violently heated, together with the lower region of air
in contact with it, so that the said lower air becomes specifically
lighter than the superincumbent higher region of the atmosphere, in
which the clouds commonly float: let us suppose, also, that the air
surrounding this tract has not been so much heated during those days,
and, therefore, remains heavier. The consequence of this should be,
as I conceive, that the heated lighter air, being pressed on all
sides, must ascend, and the heavier descend; and, as this rising
cannot be in all parts, or the whole area of the tract at once,
for that would leave too extensive a vacuum, the rising will begin
precisely in that column that happens to be the lightest, or most
rarefied; and the warm air will flow horizontally from all points to
this column, where the several currents meeting, and joining to rise,
a whirl is naturally formed, in the same manner as a whirl is formed
in the tub of water, by the descending fluid flowing from all sides
of the tub, to the hole in the centre.
And, as the several currents arrive at this central rising column,
with a considerable degree of horizontal motion, they cannot suddenly
change it to a vertical motion; therefore as they gradually, in
approaching the whirl, decline from right to curve or circular lines,
so, having joined the whirl, they _ascend_ by a spiral motion, in the
same manner as the water _descends_ spirally through the hole in the
tub before-mentioned.
Lastly, as the lower air, and nearest the surface, is most rarefied
by the heat of the sun, that air is most acted on by the pressure
of the surrounding cold and heavy air, which is to take its place;
consequently, its motion towards the whirl is swiftest, and so the
force of the lower part of the whirl, or trump, strongest, and the
centrifugal force of its particles greatest; and hence the vacuum
round the axis of the whirl should be greatest near the earth or
sea, and be gradually diminished as it approaches the region of the
clouds, till it ends in a point, as at P in Fig. II. Plate V. forming
a long and sharp cone.
In Fig. I. which is a plan or ground-plat of a whirlwind, the circle
V. represents the central vacuum.
Between _a a a a_ and _b b b b_ I suppose a body of air, condensed
strongly by the pressure of the currents moving towards it, from all
sides without, and by its centrifugal force from within, moving round
with prodigious swiftness, (having, as it were, the momenta of all
the currents -----> -----> -----> -----> united in itself) and with a
power equal to its swiftness and density.
[Illustration: (Water Spouts)
_Plate V._ _Vol. II. page 26._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
It is this whirling body of air between _a a a a_ and _b b b b_ that
rises spirally; by its force it tears buildings to pieces, twists
up great trees by the roots, &c. and, by its spiral motion, raises
the fragments so high, till the pressure of the surrounding and
approaching currents diminishing, can no longer confine them to the
circle, or their own centrifugal force encreasing, grows too strong
for such pressure, when they fly off in tangent lines, as stones out
of a sling, and fall on all sides, and at great distances.
If it happens at sea, the water under and between _a a a a_ and _b
b b b_ will be violently agitated and driven about, and parts of it
raised with the spiral current, and thrown about so as to form a
bush-like appearance.
This circle is of various diameters, sometimes very large.
If the vacuum passes over water, the water may rise in it in a body,
or column, to near the height of thirty-two feet.
If it passes over houses, it may burst their windows or walls
outwards, pluck off the roofs, and pluck up the floors, by the sudden
rarefaction of the air contained within such buildings; the outward
pressure of the atmosphere being suddenly taken off: so the stopped
bottle of air bursts under the exhausted receiver of the air-pump.
FIG. II. is to represent the elevation of a water-spout, wherein I
suppose P P P to be the cone, at first a vacuum, till W W, the rising
column of water, has filled so much of it. S S S S, the spiral whirl
of air, surrounding the vacuum, and continued higher in a close
column after the vacuum ends in the point P, till it reaches the cool
region of the air. B B, the bush described by Stuart, surrounding the
foot of the column of water.
Now, I suppose this whirl of air will, at first, be as invisible as
the air itself, though reaching, in reality, from the water, to the
region of cool air, in which our low summer thunder-clouds commonly
float; but presently it will become visible at its extremities. _At
its lower end_, by the agitation of the water, under the whirling
part of the circle, between P and S forming Stuart's bush, and by
the swelling and rising of the water, in the beginning vacuum, which
is, at first, a small, low, broad cone, whose top gradually rises
and sharpens, as the force of the whirl encreases. _At its upper
end_ it becomes visible, by the warm air brought up to the cooler
region, where its moisture begins to be condensed into thick vapour,
by the cold, and is seen first at A, the highest part, which being
now cooled, condenses what rises next at B, which condenses that at
C, and that condenses what is rising at D, the cold operating by
the contact of the vapours faster in a right line downwards, than
the vapours themselves can climb in a spiral line upwards; they
climb, however, and as by continual addition they grow denser, and,
consequently, their centrifugal force greater, and being risen above
the concentrating currents that compose the whirl, fly off, spread,
and form a cloud.
It seems easy to conceive, how, by this successive condensation from
above, the spout appears to drop or descend from the cloud, though
the materials of which it is composed are all the while ascending.
The condensation of the moisture, contained in so great a quantity
of warm air as may be supposed to rise in a short time in this
prodigiously rapid whirl, is, perhaps, sufficient to form a great
extent of cloud, though the spout should be over land, as those at
Hatfield; and if the land happens not to be very dusty, perhaps the
lower part of the spout will scarce become visible at all; though
the upper, or what is commonly called the descending part, be very
distinctly seen.
The same may happen at sea, in case the whirl is not violent enough
to make a high vacuum, and raise the column, &c. In such case, the
upper part A B C D only will be visible, and the bush, perhaps, below.
But if the whirl be strong, and there be much dust on the land, and
the column W W be raised from the water, then the lower part becomes
visible, and sometimes even united to the upper part. For the dust
may be carried up in the spiral whirl, till it reach the region where
the vapour is condensed, and rise with that even to the clouds: and
the friction of the whirling air, on the sides of the column W W, may
detach great quantities of its water, break it into drops, and carry
them up in the spiral whirl mixed with the air; the heavier drops
may, indeed, fly off, and fall, in a shower, round the spout; but
much of it will be broken into vapour, yet visible; and thus, in both
cases, by dust at land, and, by water at sea, the whole tube may be
darkened and rendered visible.
As the whirl weakens, the tube may (in appearance) separate in the
middle; the column of water subsiding, and the superior condensed
part drawing up to the cloud. Yet still the tube, or whirl of air,
may remain entire, the middle only becoming invisible, as not
containing visible matter.
Dr. Stuart says, "It was observable of all the spouts he saw, but
more perceptible of the great one; that; towards the end, it began to
appear like a hollow canal, only black in the borders, but white in
the middle; and though at first it was altogether black and opaque,
yet, now, one could very distinctly perceive the sea-water to fly up
along the middle of this canal, as smoak up a chimney."
And Dr. Mather, describing a whirlwind, says, "a thick dark small
cloud arose, with a pillar of light in it, of about eight or ten feet
diameter, and passed along the ground in a tract not wider than a
street, horribly tearing up trees by the roots, blowing them up in
the air like feathers, and throwing up stones of great weight to a
considerable height in the air, &c."
[Illustration: (cross-section of a whirlwind)]
These accounts, the one of water-spouts, the other of a whirlwind,
seem, in this particular, to agree; what one gentleman describes as
a tube, black in the borders, and white in the middle, the other
calls a black cloud, with a pillar of light in it; the latter
expression has only a little more of the _marvellous_, but the thing
is the same; and it seems not very difficult to understand. When
Dr. Stuart's spouts were full charged, that is, when the whirling
pipe of air was filled between _a a a a_ and _b b b b_, Fig. I.,
with quantities of drops, and vapour torn off from the column W W,
Fig. II., the whole was rendered so dark, as that it could not be
seen thro', nor the spiral ascending motion discovered; but when
the quantity ascending lessened, the pipe became more transparent,
and the ascending motion visible. For, by inspection of the figure
in the opposite page, representing a section of our spout, with the
vacuum in the middle, it is plain that if we look at such a hollow
pipe in the direction of the arrows, and suppose opaque particles
to be equally mixed in the space between the two circular lines,
both the part between the arrows _a_ and _b_, and that between the
arrows _c_ and _d_, will appear much darker than that between _b_
and _c_, as there must be many more of those opaque particles in
the line of vision across the sides, than across the middle. It is
thus that a hair in a microscope evidently appears to be a pipe, the
sides shewing darker than the middle. Dr. Mather's whirl was probably
filled with dust, the sides were very dark, but the vacuum within
rendering the middle more transparent, he calls it a pillar of light.
It was in this more transparent part, between _b_ and _c_, that
Stuart could see the spiral motion of the vapours, whose lines on
the nearest and farthest side of the transparent part crossing each
other, represented smoak ascending in a chimney; for the quantity
being still too great in the line of sight through the sides of
the tube, the motion could not be discovered there, and so they
represented the solid sides of the chimney.
When the vapours reach in the pipe from the clouds near to the earth,
it is no wonder now to those who understand electricity, that flashes
of lightning should descend by the spout, as in that of Rome.
But you object, if water may be thus carried into the clouds, why
have we not salt rains? The objection is strong and reasonable, and
I know not whether I can answer it to your satisfaction. I never
heard but of one salt rain, and that was where a spout passed pretty
near a ship, so I suppose it to be only the drops thrown off from the
spout, by the centrifugal force (as the birds were at Hatfield) when
they had been carried so high as to be above, or to be too strongly
centrifugal for, the pressure of the concurring winds surrounding it:
and, indeed, I believe there can be no other kind of salt rain; for
it has pleased the goodness of God so to order it, that the particles
of air will not attract the particles of salt, though they strongly
attract water.
Hence, though all metals, even gold, may be united with air, and
rendered volatile, salt remains fixt in the fire, and no heat can
force it up to any considerable height, or oblige the air to hold
it. Hence, when salt rises, as it will a little way, into air with
water, there is instantly a separation made; the particles of water
adhere to the air, and the particles of salt fall down again, as if
repelled and forced off from the water by some power in the air;
or, as some metals, dissolved in a proper menstruum, will quit the
solvent when other matter approaches, and adhere to that, so the
water quits the salt, and embraces the air; but air will not embrace
the salt, and quit the water, otherwise our rains would indeed be
salt, and every tree and plant on the face of the earth be destroyed,
with all the animals that depend on them for subsistence.----He who
hath proportioned and given proper qualities to all things, was not
unmindful of this. Let us adore HIM with praise and thanksgiving! By
some accounts of seamen, it seems the column of water W W, sometimes
falls suddenly; and if it be, as some say, fifteen or twenty yards
diameter, it must fall with great force, and they may well fear for
their ships. By one account, in the _Transactions_, of a spout that
fell at Colne in Lancashire, one would think the column is sometimes
lifted off from the water, and carried over land, and there let fall
in a body; but this, I suppose, happens rarely.
Stuart describes his spouts as appearing no bigger than a mast, and
sometimes less; but they were seen at a league and a half distance.
I think I formerly read in Dampier, or some other voyager, that a
spout, in its progressive motion, went over a ship becalmed, on the
coast of Guinea, and first threw her down on one side, carrying away
her foremast, then suddenly whipped her up, and threw her down on the
other side, carrying away her mizen-mast, and the whole was over in
an instant. I suppose the first mischief was done by the fore-side of
the whirl, the latter by the hinder-side, their motion being contrary.
I suppose a whirlwind, or spout, may be stationary, when the
concurring winds are equal; but if unequal, the whirl acquires a
progressive motion, in the direction of the strongest pressure.
When the wind that gives the progressive motion becomes stronger
below than above, or above than below, the spout will be bent, and,
the cause ceasing, straiten again.
Your queries, towards the end of your paper, appear judicious,
and worth considering. At present I am not furnished with facts
sufficient to make any pertinent answer to them; and this paper has
already a sufficient quantity of conjecture.
Your manner of accommodating the accounts to your hypothesis of
descending spouts, is, I own, ingenious, and perhaps that hypothesis
may be true. I will consider it farther, but, as yet, I am not
satisfied with it, though hereafter I may be.
Here you have my method of accounting for the principal phenomena,
which I submit to your candid examination.
And as I now seem to have almost written a book, instead of a letter,
you will think it high time I should conclude; which I beg leave to
do, with assuring you, that
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[6] Perkins. _Editor._
DOCTOR M----[7], TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_Description of a Water-Spout at Antigua._
Read at the Royal Society, June 24, 1756.
_New-Brunswick, November 11, 1752._
SIR,
I am favoured with your letter of the 2d instant, and shall, with
pleasure, comply with your request, in describing (as well as my
memory serves me) the water-spout I saw at Antigua; and shall think
this, or any other service I can do, well repaid, if it contributes
to your satisfaction in so curious a disquisition.
I had often seen water-spouts at a distance, and heard many strange
stories of them, but never knew any thing satisfactory of their
nature or cause, until that which I saw at Antigua; which convinced
me that a water-spout is a whirlwind, which becomes visible in all
its dimensions by the water it carries up with it.
There appeared, not far from the mouth of the harbour of St. John's,
two or three water-spouts, one of which took its course up the
harbour. Its progressive motion was slow and unequal, not in a strait
line, but, as it were, by jerks or starts. When just by the wharf, I
stood about one hundred yards from it. There appeared in the water a
circle of about twenty yards diameter, which, to me, had a dreadful,
though pleasing appearance. The water in this circle was violently
agitated, being whisked about, and carried up into the air with great
rapidity and noise, and reflected a lustre, as if the sun shined
bright on that spot, which was more conspicuous, as there appeared
a dark circle around it. When it made the shore, it carried up with
the same violence shingles, staves[8], large pieces of the roofs of
houses, &c. and one small wooden house it lifted entire from the
foundation on which it stood, and carried it to the distance of
fourteen feet, where it settled without breaking or oversetting;
and, what is remarkable, though the whirlwind moved from west to
east, the house moved from east to west. Two or three negroes and a
white woman, were killed by the fall of timber, which it carried up
into the air and dropped again. After passing through the town, I
believe it was soon dissipated; for, except tearing a large limb from
a tree, and part of the cover of a sugar-work near the town, I do
not remember any farther damage done by it. I conclude, wishing you
success in your enquiry,
And am, &c.
W. M.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Dr. Mercer. _Editor._
[8] I suppose shingles, staves, timber, and other lumber, might be
lying in quantities on the wharf, for sale, as brought from the
northern colonies. B. F.
DOCTOR ----[9], OF BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_Shooting Stars._
Read at the Royal Society, July 8, 1756.
_Boston, May 14, 1753._
SIR,
I received your letter of April last, and thank you for it. Several
things in it make me at a loss which side the truth lies on, and
determine me to wait for farther evidence.
As to shooting-stars, as they are called, I know very little, and
hardly know what to say. I imagine them to be passes of electric
fire from place to place in the atmosphere, perhaps occasioned by
accidental pressures of a non-electric circumambient fluid, and
so by propulsion, or allicited by the circumstance of a distant
quantity _minus_ electrified, which it shoots to supply, and becomes
apparent by its contracted passage through a non-electric medium.
Electric fire in our globe is always in action, sometimes ascending,
descending, or passing from region to region. I suppose it avoids too
dry air, and therefore we never see these shoots ascend. It always
has freedom enough to pass down unobserved, but, I imagine, not
always so, to pass to distant climes and meridians less stored with
it.
The shoots are sometimes all one way, which, in the last case, they
should be.
Possibly there may be collections of particles in our atmosphere,
which gradually form, by attraction, either similar ones _per se_,
or dissimilar particles, by the intervention of others. But then,
whether they shoot or explode of themselves, or by the approach of
some suitable foreign collection, accidentally brought near by the
usual commotions and interchanges of our atmosphere, especially when
the higher and lower regions intermix, before change of winds and
weather, I leave.
I believe I have now said enough of what I know nothing about. If it
should serve for your amusement, or any way oblige you, it is all
I aim at, and shall, at your desire, be always ready to say what I
think, as I am sure of your candour.
I am, &c.
FOOTNOTE:
[9] Dr. Perkins. _Editor._
_A subsequent Paper from the same._
_Water-Spouts and Whirlwinds._
Read at the Royal Society, July 8, 1756.
Spouts have been generally believed ascents of water from below, to
the region of the clouds, and whirlwinds the means of conveyance.
The world has been very well satisfied with these opinions, and
prejudiced with respect to any observations about them. Men of
learning and capacity have had many opportunities in passing
those regions where these phenomena were most frequent, but seem
industriously to have declined any notice of them, unless to escape
danger, as a matter of mere impertinence in a case so clear and
certain as their nature and manner of operation are taken to be.
Hence it has been very difficult to get any tolerable accounts of
them. None but those they fell near can inform us any thing to be
depended on; three or four such instances follow, where the vessels
were so near, that their crews could not avoid knowing something
remarkable with respect to the matters in question.
Capt. John Wakefield, junior, passing the Straits of Gibraltar, had
one fall by the side of his ship; it came down of a sudden, as they
think, and all agree the descent was certain.
Captain Langstaff, on a voyage to the West Indies, had one come
across the stern of his vessel, and passed away from him. The water
came down in such quantity that the present Captain Melling, who was
then a common sailor at helm, says it almost drowned him, running
into his mouth, nose, ears, &c. and adds, that it tasted perfectly
fresh.
One passed by the side of Captain Howland's ship, so near that it
appeared pretty plain that the water descended from first to last.
Mr. Robert Spring was so near one in the Straits of Malacca, that he
could perceive it to be a small very thick rain.
All these assure me, that there was no wind drawing towards them, nor
have I found any others that have observed such a wind.
It seems plain, by these few instances, that whirlwinds do not always
attend spouts; and that the water really descends in some of them.
But the following consideration, in confirmation of this opinion,
may, perhaps, render it probable that all the spouts are descents.
It seems unlikely that there should be two sorts of spouts, one
ascending and the other descending.
It has not yet been proved that any one spout ever ascended. A
specious appearance is all that can be produced in favour of this;
and those who have been most positive about it, were at more than a
league's distance when they observed, as Stuart and others, if I am
not mistaken. However, I believe it impossible to be certain whether
water ascends or descends at half the distance.
It may not be amiss to consider the places where they happen most.
These are such as are liable to calms from departing winds on both
sides, as on the borders of the equinoctial trade, calms on the
coast of Guinea, in the Straits of Malacca, &c. places where the
under region of the atmosphere is drawn off horizontally. I think
they do not come where the calms are without departing winds; and
I take the reason to be, that such places, and places where winds
blow towards one another, are liable to whirlwinds, or other ascents
of the lower region, which I suppose contrary to spouts. But the
former are liable to descents, which I take to be necessary to their
production. Agreeable to this, it seems reasonable to believe, that
any Mediterranean sea should be more subject to spouts than others.
The sea usually so called is so. The Straits of Malacca is. Some
large gulphs may probably be so, in suitable latitudes; so the Red
Sea, &c. and all for this reason, that the heated lands on each side
draw off the under region of the air, and make the upper descend,
whence sudden and wonderful condensations may take place, and make
these descents.
It seems to me, that the manner of their appearance and procedure,
favour the notion of a descent.
More or less of a cloud, as I am informed, always appears over the
place first; then a spattering on the surface of the water below; and
when this is advanced to a considerable degree, the spout emerges
from the cloud, and descends, and that, if the causes are sufficient,
down to the places of spattering, with a roaring in proportion to the
quantity of the discharge; then it abates, or stops, sometimes more
gradually, sometimes more suddenly.
I must observe a few things on these particulars, to shew how I think
they agree with my hypothesis.
The preceding cloud over the place shews condensation, and,
consequently, tendency downwards, which therefore must naturally
prevent any ascent. Besides that, so far as I can learn, a whirlwind
never comes under a cloud, but in a clear sky.
The spattering may be easily conceived to be caused by a stream of
drops, falling with great force on the place, imagining the spout
to begin so, when a sudden and great condensation happens in a
contracted space, as the Ox-Eye on the coast of Guinea.
The spout appearing to descend from the cloud seems to be, by the
stream of nearly contiguous drops bringing the air into consent,
so as to carry down a quantity of the vapour of the cloud; and the
pointed appearance it makes may be from the descending course being
swiftest in the middle, or centre of the spout: this naturally
drawing the outer parts inward, and the centre to a point; and
that will appear foremost that moves swiftest. The phenomenon of
retiring and advancing, I think may be accounted for, by supposing
the progressive motion to exceed or not equal the consumption of
the vapour by condensation. Or more plainly thus: the descending
vapour which forms the apparent spout, if it be slow in its progress
downwards, is condensed as fast as it advances, and so appears at a
stand; when it is condensed faster than it advances, it appears to
retire; and _vice versa_.
Its duration, and manner of ending, are as the causes, and may vary
by several accidents.
The cloud itself may be so circumstanced as to stop it; as when,
extending wide, it weighs down at a distance round about, while a
small circle at the spout being exonerated by the discharge ascends
and shuts up the passage. A new determination of wind may, perhaps,
stop it too. Places liable to these appearances are very liable to
frequent and sudden alterations of it.
Such accidents as a clap of thunder, firing cannon, &c. may stop
them, and the reason may be, that any shock of this kind may occasion
the particles that are near cohering, immediately to do so; and then
the whole, thus condensed, falls at once (which is what I suppose
is vulgarly called the breaking of the spout) and in the interval,
between this period and that of the next set of particles being ready
to unite, the spout shuts up. So that if this reasoning is just,
these phenomena agree with my hypothesis.
The usual temper of the air, at the time of their appearance, if I
have a right information, is for me to; it being then pretty cool for
the season and climate; and this is worth remark, because cool air
is weighty, and will not ascend; besides, when the air grows cool,
it shews that the upper region descends, and conveys this temper
down; and when the tempers are equal, no whirlwind can take place.
But spouts have been known, when the lower region has been really
cold. Gordon's spout in the Downs is an instance of this--(_Vide_
_Philosophical Transactions_)--where the upper region was probably
not at all cooler, if so cold as the lower: it was a cold day in the
month of March, hail followed, but not snow, and it is observable,
that not so much as hail follows or accompanies them in moderate
seasons or climes, when and where they are most frequent. However,
it is not improbable, that just about the place of descent may be
cooler than the neighbouring parts, and so favour the wonderful
celerity of condensation. But, after all, should we allow the under
region to be ever so much the hottest, and a whirlwind to take place
in it: suppose then the sea-water to ascend, it would certainly cool
the spout, and then, query, whether it would not very much, if not
wholly, obstruct its progress.
It commonly rains when spouts disappear, if it did not before, which
it frequently does not, by the best accounts I have had; but the
cloud encreases much faster after they disappear, and it soon rains.
The first shews the spout to be a contracted rain, instead of the
diffused one that follows; and the latter that the cloud was not
formed by ascending water, for then it would have ceased growing when
the spout vanished.
However, it seems that spouts have sometimes appeared after it began
to rain; but this is one way a proof of my hypothesis, viz. as
whirlwinds do not come under a cloud.
I forgot to mention, that the increase of cloud, while the spout
subsists, is no argument of an ascent of water, by the spout. Since
thunder-clouds sometimes encrease greatly while it rains very hard.
Divers effects of spouts seem not so well accounted for any other way
as by descent.
The bush round the feet of them seems to be a great spray of water
made by the violence of descent, like that in great falls of water
from high precipices.
The great roar, like some vast inland falls, is so different from the
roar of whirlwinds, by all acounts, as to be no ways compatible.
The throwing things from it with great force, instead of carrying
them up into the air, is another difference.
There seems some probability that the sailors traditionary belief,
that spouts may break in their decks, and so destroy vessels, might
originate from some facts of that sort in former times. This danger
is apparent on my hypothesis, but it seems not so on the other:
and my reason for it is, that the whole column of a spout from the
sea to the clouds, cannot, in a natural way, even upon the largest
supposition, support more than about three feet water, and from truly
supposeable causes, not above one foot, as may appear more plainly
by and by. Supposing now the largest of these quantities to rise, it
must be disseminated into drops, from the surface of the sea to the
region of the clouds, or higher; for this reason it is quite unlikely
to be collected into masses, or a body, upon its falling; but would
descend in progression according to the several degrees of altitude
the different portions had arrived at when it received this new
determination.
Now that there cannot more rise upon the common hypothesis than
I have mentioned, may appear probable, if we attend to the only
efficient cause in supposed ascending spouts, viz. whirlwinds.
We know that the rarefaction of the lower, and the condensation of
the upper region of air, are the only natural causes of whirlwinds.
Let us then suppose the former as hot as their greatest summer heat
in England, and the latter as cold as the extent of their winter.
These extremes have been found there to alter the weight of the air
one-tenth, which is equal to a little more than three feet water.
Were this case possible, and a whirlwind take place in it, it might
act with a force equal to the mentioned difference. But as this is
the whole strength, so much water could not rise; therefore to allow
it due motion upwards, we must abate, at least, one-fourth part,
perhaps more, to give it such a swift ascension as some think usual.
But here several difficulties occur, at least they are so to me. As,
whether this quantity would render the spout opaque? since it is
plain that in drops it could not do so. How, or by what means it may
be reduced small enough? or, if the water be not reduced into vapour,
what will suspend it in the region of the clouds when exonerated
there? And, if vapourized while ascending, how can it be dangerous by
what they call the breaking? For it is difficult to conceive how a
condensative power should instantaneously take place of a rarefying
and disseminating one.
The sudden fall of the spout, or rather, the sudden ceasing of it, I
accounted for, in my way, before. But it seems necessary to mention
something I then forgot. Should it be said to do so (_i. e._) to
fall, because all the lower rarefied air is ascended, whence the
whirlwind must cease, and its burden drop; I cannot agree to this,
unless the air be observed on a sudden to have grown much colder,
which I cannot learn has been the case. Or should it be supposed that
the spout was, on a sudden, obstructed at the top, and this the cause
of the fall, however plausible this might appear, yet no more water
would fall than what was at the same time contained in the column,
which is often, by many and satisfactory accounts to me, again far
from being the case.
We are, I think, sufficiently assured, that not only tons, but scores
or hundreds of tons descend in one spout. Scores of tons more than
can be contained in the trunk of it, should we suppose water to
ascend.
But, after all, it does not appear that the above-mentioned different
degrees of heat and cold concur in any region where spouts usually
happen, nor, indeed, in any other.
_Observations on the Meteorological Paper; by a Gentleman in
Connecticut._
Read at the Royal Society, Nov. 4, 1756.
"Air and water mutually attract each other, (saith Mr. F.) hence
water will dissolve in air, as salt in water." I think that he hath
demonstrated, that the supporting of salt in water is not owing to
its superficies being increased, because "the specific gravity of
salt is not altered by dividing of it, any more than that of lead,
sixteen bullets of which, of an ounce each, weigh as much in water
as one of a pound." But yet, when this came to be applied to the
supporting of water in air, I found an objection rising in my mind.
In the first place, I have always been loth to seek for any new
hypothesis, or particular law of nature, to account for any thing
that may be accounted for from the known, general, and universal law
of nature; it being an argument of the infinite wisdom of the author
of the world, to effect so many things by one general law. Now I
had thought that the rising and support of water in air, might be
accounted for from the general law of gravitation, by only supposing
the spaces occupied by the same quantity of water increased.
And, with respect to the lead, I queried thus in my own mind; whether
if the superficies of a bullet of lead should be increased four or
five fold by an internal vacuity, it would weigh the same in water
as before. I mean, if a pound of lead should be formed into a hollow
globe, empty within, whose superficies should be four or five times
as big as that of the same lead when a solid lump, it would weigh as
much in water as before. I supposed it would not. If this concavity
was filled with water, perhaps it might; if with air, it would weigh
at least as much less, as this difference between the weight of that
included air, and that of water.
Now although this would do nothing to account for the dissolution
of salt in water, the smallest lumps of salt being no more hollow
spheres, or any thing of the like nature than the greatest; yet,
perhaps, it might account for water's rising and being supported in
air. For you know that such hollow globules, or bubbles, abound upon
the surface of the water, which even by the breath of our mouths, we
can cause to quit the water, and rise in the air.
These bubbles I used to suppose to be coats of water, containing
within them air rarefied and expanded with fire, and that, therefore,
the more friction and dashing there is upon the surface of the
waters, and the more heat and fire, the more they abound.
And I used to think, that although water be specifically heavier than
air, yet such a bubble, filled only with fire and very rarefied air,
may be lighter than a quantity of common air, of the same cubical
dimensions, and, therefore, ascend; for the rarefied air inclosed,
may more fall short of the same bulk of common air, in weight, than
the watery coat exceeds a like bulk of common air in gravity.
This was the objection in my mind, though, I must confess, I know
not how to account for the watery coat's encompassing the air, as
above-mentioned, without allowing the attraction between air and
water, which the gentleman supposes; so that I do not know but
that this objection, examined by that sagacious genius, will be an
additional confirmation of the hypothesis.
The gentleman observes, "that a certain quantity of moisture should
be every moment discharged and taken away from the lungs; and
hence accounts for the suffocating nature of snuffs of candles, as
impregnating the air with grease, between which and water there is
a natural repellency; and of air that hath been frequently breathed
in, which is overloaded with water, and, for that reason, can take
no more air. Perhaps the same observation will account for the
suffocating nature of damps in wells."
But then if the air can support and take off but such a proportion of
water, and it is necessary that water be so taken off from the lungs,
I queried with myself how it is we can breathe in an air full of
vapours, so full as that they continually precipitated. Do not we see
the air overloaded, and casting forth water plentifully when there is
no suffocation?
The gentleman again observes, "That the air under the equator, and
between the tropics, being constantly heated and rarefied by the
sun, rises; its place is supplied by air from northern and southern
latitudes, which, coming from parts where the air and earth had
less motion, and not suddenly acquiring the quicker motion of the
equatorial earth, appears an east wind blowing westward; the earth
moving from west to east, and slipping under the air."
In reading this, two objections occurred to my mind:
First, that it is said, the trade-wind doth not blow in the forenoon,
but only in the afternoon.
Secondly, that either the motion of the northern and southern air
towards the equator is so slow, as to acquire almost the same motion
as the equatorial air when it arrives there, so that there will be no
sensible difference; or else the motion of the northern and southern
air towards the equator, is quicker, and must be sensible; and then
the trade-wind must appear either as a south-east or north-east wind:
south of the equator, a south-east wind; north of the equator, a
north-east. For the apparent wind must be compounded of this motion
from north to south, or _vice versa_; and of the difference between
its motion from west to east, and that of the equatorial air.
_Observations in Answer to the foregoing, by B. Franklin._
Read at the Royal Society, Nov. 4, 1756.
1st. The supposing a mutual attraction between the particles of water
and air is not introducing a new law of nature; such attractions
taking place in many other known instances.
2dly. Water is specifically 850 times heavier than air. To render a
bubble of water, then, specifically lighter than air, it seems to me
that it must take up more than 850 times the space it did before it
formed the bubble; and within the bubble should be either a vacuum
or air rarefied more than 850 times. If a vacuum, would not the
bubble be immediately crushed by the weight of the atmosphere? And no
heat, we know of, will rarefy air any thing near so much; much less
the common heat of the sun, or that of friction by the dashing on
the surface of the water. Besides, water agitated ever so violently
produces no heat, as has been found by accurate experiments.
3dly. A hollow sphere of lead has a firmness and consistency in it,
that a hollow sphere or bubble of fluid unfrozen water cannot be
supposed to have. The lead may support the pressure of the water it
is immersed in, but the bubble could not support the pressure of the
air, if empty within.
4thly. Was ever a visible bubble seen to rise in air? I have made
many, when a boy, with soap-suds and a tobacco-pipe; but they all
descended when loose from the pipe, though slowly, the air impeding
their motion. They may, indeed, be forced up by a wind from below,
but do not rise of themselves, though filled with warm breath.
5thly. The objection relating to our breathing moist air seems
weighty, and must be farther considered. The air that has been
breathed has, doubtless, acquired an addition of the perspirable
matter which nature intends to free the body from, and which would be
pernicious if retained and returned into the blood; such air then may
become unfit for respiration, as well for that reason, as on account
of its moisture. Yet I should be glad to learn, by some accurate
experiment, whether a draft of air, two or three times inspired,
and expired, perhaps in a bladder, has, or has not, acquired more
moisture than our common air in the dampest weather. As to the
precipitation of water in the air we breathe, perhaps it is not
always a mark of that air's being overloaded. In the region of the
clouds, indeed, the air must be overloaded if it lets fall its water
in drops, which we call rain; but those drops may fall through a
drier air near the earth; and accordingly we find that the hygroscope
sometimes shews a less degree of moisture, during a shower, than
at other times when it does not rain at all. The dewy dampness,
that settles on the insides of our walls and wainscots, seems more
certainly to denote an air overloaded with moisture; and yet this is
no sure sign: for, after a long continued cold season, if the air
grows suddenly warm, the walls, &c. continuing longer their coldness,
will, for some time, condense the moisture of such air, till they
grow equally warm, and then they condense no more, though the air is
not become drier. And, on the other hand, after a warm season, if the
air grows cold, though moister than before, the dew is not so apt to
gather on the walls. A tankard of cold water will, in a hot and dry
summer's day, collect a dew on its outside; a tankard of hot water
will collect none in the moistest weather.
6thly. It is, I think, a mistake that the trade-winds blow only in
the afternoon. They blow all day and all night, and all the year
round, except in some particular places. The southerly sea-breezes
on your coasts, indeed, blow chiefly in the afternoon. In the very
long run from the west side of America to Guam, among the Philippine
Islands, ships seldom have occasion to hand their sails, so equal
and steady is the gale, and yet they make it in about 60 days, which
could not be if the wind blew only in the afternoon.
7thly. That really is, which the gentleman justly supposes ought to
be on my hypothesis. In sailing southward, when you first enter the
trade-wind, you find it north-east, or thereabouts, and it gradually
grows more east as you approach the line. The same observation is
made of its changing from south-east to east gradually, as you come
from the southern latitudes to the equator.
_Observations on the Meteorological Paper; sent by a Gentleman[10]
in New-York to B. Franklin._
Read at the Royal Society, Nov. 4, 1756.
That power by which the air expands itself, you attribute to a mutual
repelling power in the particles which compose the air, by which
they are separated from each other with some degree of force: now
this force, on this supposition, must not only act when the particles
are in mutual contact, but likewise when they are at some distance
from each other. How can two bodies, whether they be great or small,
act at any distance, whether that distance be small or great, without
something intermediate on which they act? For if any body act on
another, at any distance from it, however small that distance be,
without some medium to continue the action, it must act where it is
not, which to me seems absurd.
It seems to me, for the same reason, equally absurd to give a mutual
attractive power between any other particles supposed to be at a
distance from each other, without any thing intermediate to continue
their mutual action. I can neither attract nor repel any thing at a
distance, without something between my hand and that thing, like a
string, or a stick; nor can I conceive any mutual action without some
middle thing, when the action is continued to some distance.
The encrease of the surface of any body lessens its weight, both in
air, and water, or any other fluid, as appears by the slow descent of
leaf-gold in the air.
The observation of the different density of the upper and lower
air, from heat and cold, is good, and I do not remember it is taken
notice of by others; the consequences also are well drawn; but as to
winds, they seem principally to arise from some other cause. Winds
generally blow from some large tracts of land, and from mountains.
Where I live, on the north side of the mountains, we frequently have
a strong southerly wind, when they have as strong a northerly wind,
or calm, on the other side of these mountains. The continual passing
of vessels on Hudson's River, through these mountains, give frequent
opportunities of observing this.
In the spring of the year the sea-wind (by a piercing cold) is always
more uneasy to me, accustomed to winds which pass over a tract of
land, than the north-west wind.
You have received the common notion of water-spouts, which, from my
own ocular observation, I am persuaded is a false conception. In a
voyage to the West-Indies, I had an opportunity of observing many
water-spouts. One of them passed nearer than thirty or forty yards to
the vessel I was in, which I viewed with a good deal of attention;
and though it be now forty years since I saw it, it made so strong
an impression on me, that I very distinctly remember it. These
water-spouts were in the calm latitudes, that is, between the trade
and the variable winds, in the month of July. That spout which passed
so near us was an inverted cone, with the _tip_ or _apex_ towards
the sea, and reached within about eight feet of the surface of the
sea, its basis in a large black cloud. We were entirely becalmed. It
passed slowly by the vessel. I could plainly observe, that a violent
stream of wind issued from the spout, which made a hollow of about
six feet diameter in the surface of the water, and raised the water
in a circular uneven ring round the hollow, in the same manner that a
strong blast from a pair of bellows would do when the pipe is placed
perpendicular to the surface of the water; and we plainly heard the
same hissing noise which such a blast of wind must produce on the
water. I am very sure there was nothing like the sucking of water
from the sea into the spout, unless the spray, which was raised in a
ring to a small height, could be mistaken for a raising of water. I
could plainly distinguish a distance of about eight feet between the
sea and the tip of the cone, in which nothing interrupted the sight,
which must have been, had the water been raised from the sea.
In the same voyage I saw several other spouts at a greater distance,
but none of them whose tip of the cone came so near the surface of
the water. In some of them the axis of the cone was considerably
inclined from the perpendicular, but in none of them was there the
least appearance of sucking up of water. Others of them were bent
or arched. I believe that a stream of wind issued from all of them,
and it is from this stream of wind that vessels are often overset,
or founder at sea suddenly. I have heard of vessels being overset
when it was perfectly calm, the instant before the stream of wind
struck them, and immediately after they were overset; which could not
otherwise be but by such a stream of wind from a cloud.
That wind is generated in clouds will not admit of a dispute. Now if
such wind be generated within the body of the cloud, and issue in
one particular place, while it finds no passage in the other parts
of the cloud, I think it may not be difficult to account for all the
appearances in water-spouts; and from hence the reason of breaking
those spouts, by firing a cannon-ball through them, as thereby a
horizontal vent is given to the wind. When the wind is spent, which
dilated the cloud, or the fermentation ceases, which generates the
air and wind, the clouds may descend in a prodigious fall of water
or rain. A remarkable intestine motion, like a violent fermentation,
is very observable in the cloud from whence the spout issues. No
salt-water, I am persuaded, was ever observed to fall from the
clouds, which must certainly have happened if sea-water had been
raised by a spout.
FOOTNOTE:
[10] Mr. Cadwallader Colden. _Editor._
_Answer to the foregoing Observations, by B. Franklin._
Read at the Royal Society, NOV. 4, 1756.
I agree with you, that it seems absurd to suppose that a body can act
where it is not. I have no idea of bodies at a distance attracting or
repelling one another without the assistance of some medium, though
I know not what that medium is, or how it operates. When I speak of
attraction or repulsion, I make use of those words for want of others
more proper, and intend only to express _effects_ which I see, and
not _causes_ of which I am ignorant. When I press a blown bladder
between my knees, and find I cannot bring its sides together, but my
knees feel a springy matter, pushing them back to a greater distance,
or repelling them, I conclude that the air it contains is the cause.
And when I operate on the air, and find I cannot by pressure force
its particles into contact, but they still spring back against the
pressure, I conceive there must be some medium between its particles
that prevents their closing, though I cannot tell what it is. And
if I were acquainted with that medium, and found its particles to
approach and recede from each other, according to the pressure they
suffered, I should imagine there must be some finer medium between
them, by which these operations were performed.
I allow that increase of the surface of a body may occasion it
to descend slower in air, water, or any other fluid; but do not
conceive, therefore, that it lessens its weight. Where the increased
surface is so disposed as that in its falling a greater quantity
of the fluid it sinks in must be moved out of its way, a greater
time is required for such removal. Four square feet of sheet-lead
sinking in water _broadways_, cannot descend near so fast as it
would _edgeways_, yet its weight in the hydrostatic balance would,
I imagine, be the same, whether suspended by the middle or by the
corner.
I make no doubt but that ridges of high mountains do often interrupt,
stop, reverberate, or turn the winds that blow against them,
according to the different degrees of strength of the winds, and
angles of incidence. I suppose, too, that the cold upper parts of
mountains may condense the warmer air that comes near them, and so by
making it specifically heavier, cause it to descend on one or both
sides of the ridge into the warmer valleys, which will seem a wind
blowing from the mountain.
Damp winds, though not colder by the thermometer, give a more
uneasy sensation of cold than dry ones; because (to speak like an
electrician) they _conduct_ better; that is, are better fitted to
convey away the heat from our bodies. The body cannot feel _without_
itself; our sensation of cold is not in the air _without_ the body,
but in those parts of the body which have been deprived of their
heat by the air. My desk, and its lock, are, I suppose, of the same
temperament when they have been long exposed to the same air; but
now if I lay my hand on the wood, it does not seem so cold to me as
the lock; because (as I imagine) wood is not so good a conductor,
to receive and convey away the heat from my skin, and the adjacent
flesh, as metal is. Take a piece of wood, of the size and shape of
a dollar, between the thumb and finger of one hand, and a dollar,
in like manner, with the other hand; place the edges of both, at
the same time, in the flame of a candle; and though the edge of the
wooden piece takes flame, and the metal piece does not, yet you will
be obliged to drop the latter before the former, it conducting the
heat more suddenly to your fingers. Thus we can, without pain, handle
glass and china cups filled with hot liquors, as tea, &c. but not
silver ones. A silver tea-pot must have a wooden handle. Perhaps it
is for the same reason that woollen garments keep the body warmer
than linen ones equally thick; woollen keeping the natural heat in,
or, in other words, not conducting it out to air.
In regard to water-spouts, having, in a long letter to a gentleman
of the same sentiment with you as to their direction, said all
that I have to say in support of my opinion; I need not repeat the
arguments therein contained, as I intend to send you a copy of it by
some other opportunity, for your perusal. I imagine you will find all
the appearances you saw, accounted for by my hypothesis. I thank you
for communicating the account of them. At present I would only say,
that the opinion of winds being generated in clouds by fermentation,
is new to me, and I am unacquainted with the facts on which it is
founded. I likewise find it difficult to conceive of winds confined
in the body of clouds, which I imagine have little more solidity than
the fogs on the earth's surface. The objection from the freshness
of rain-water is a strong one, but I think I have answered it in the
letter above-mentioned, to which I must beg leave, at present, to
refer you.
[In Mr. Collinson's edition, there followed here, several extracts,
on water-spouts, from Dampier's Voyages, which, as Dampier's book is
by no means scarce, and is consequently accessible to the reader, we
have omitted, and shall content ourselves with giving the references.
The extracts are three. The first is from Vol. I. p. 451. The second
and third from Vol. III. p. 182 and 223.]
_Gentleman of New York in Reply._
Read at the Royal Society, December 6, 1756.
_April 2, 1754._
Any knowledge I have of the winds, and other changes which happen in
the atmosphere, is so very defective, that it does not deserve the
name; neither have I received any satisfaction from the attempts of
others on this subject. It deserves then your thoughts, as a subject
in which you may distinguish yourself, and be useful.
Your notion of some things conducting heat or cold better than others
pleases me, and I wish you may pursue the scent. If I remember right,
Dr. Boerhaave, in his chymistry, thinks that heat is propagated
by the vibration of a subtle elastic fluid, dispersed through the
atmosphere and through all bodies. Sir Isaac Newton says, there
are many phenomena to prove the existence of such a fluid; and
this opinion has my assent to it. I shall only observe that it is
essentially different from that which I call ether; for ether,
properly speaking, is neither a fluid nor elastic; its power consists
in re-acting any action communicated to it, with the same force it
receives the action.
I long to see your explication of water-spouts, but I must tell you
before-hand, that it will not be easy for you to convince me that the
principal phenomena were not occasioned by a stream of wind issuing
with great force, my eyes and ears both concurring to give me this
sentiment, I could have no more evidence than to feel the effects,
which I had no inclination to do.
It surprises me a little, that wind, generated by fermentation, is
new to you, since it may be every day observed in fermenting liquor.
You know with what force fermenting liquors will burst the vessels
which contain them, if the generated wind have not vent; and with
what force it issues on giving it a small vent, or by drawing the
cork of a bottle. Dr. Boerhaave says, that the steam issuing from
fermenting liquors received through a very small vent-hole, into the
nose, will kill as suddenly and certainly as lightning. That air is
generated by fermentation, I think you will find fully proved in Dr.
Hales's Analysis of the Air, in his Vegetable Statics. If you have
not read the book, you have a new pleasure to come.
The solution you give to the objection I made from the contrary winds
blowing from the opposite sides of the mountains, from their being
eddies, does not please me, because the extent of these winds is by
far too large to be occasioned by any eddy. It is forty miles from
New York to our mountains, through which Hudson's River passes. The
river runs twelve miles in the mountains, and from the north side of
the mountains it is about ninety miles to Albany. I have myself been
on board a vessel more than once, when we have had a strong northerly
wind against us, all the way from New York, for two or three days.
We have met vessels from Albany, who assured us, that, on the other
side of the mountains, they had, at the same time, a strong continued
southerly wind against them; and this frequently happens.
I have frequently seen, both on the river, in places where there
could be no eddy-weeds, and on the open sea, two vessels sailing with
contrary winds, within half a mile of each other; but this happens
only in easy winds, and generally calm in other places near these
winds.
You have, no doubt, frequently observed a single cloud pass, from
which a violent gust of wind issues, but of no great extent. I have
observed such a gust make a lane through the woods, of some miles
in length, by laying the trees flat to the ground, and not above
eight or ten chains in breadth. Though the violence of the wind be
in the same direction in which the cloud moves and precedes it, yet
wind issues from all sides of it; so that supposing the cloud moves
south-easterly, those on the north-east side of it feel a south-west
wind, and others on the south-west side, a north-east. And where the
cloud passes over, we frequently have a south-east wind from the
hinder part of it, but none violent, except the wind in the direction
in which the cloud moves. To shew what it is which prevents the wind
from issuing out equally on all sides, is not an easy problem to me,
and I shall not attempt to solve it; but when you shall show what
it is which restrains the electrical fluid from spreading itself
into the air surrounding it, when it rushes with great violence
through the air along, or in the conductor, for a great extent in
length, then I may hope to explain the other problem, and remove the
difficulty we have in conceiving it.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. LONDON.
_Account of a Whirlwind at Maryland._
_Philadelphia, Aug. 25, 1755._
DEAR SIR,
As you have my former papers on whirlwinds, &c. I now send you an
account of one which I had lately an opportunity of seeing and
examining myself.
Being in Maryland, riding with Colonel Tasker, and some other
gentlemen, to his country seat, where I and my son were entertained
by that amiable and worthy man with great hospitality and kindness,
we saw, in the vale below us, a small whirlwind beginning in the
road, and shewing itself by the dust it raised and contained. It
appeared in the form of a sugar-loaf, spinning on its point, moving
up the hill towards us, and enlarging as it came forward. When it
passed by us, its smaller part near the ground appeared no bigger
than a common barrel, but widening upwards, it seemed, at forty or
fifty feet high, to be twenty or thirty feet in diameter. The rest of
the company stood looking after it, but my curiosity being stronger,
I followed it, riding close by its side, and observed its licking
up, in its progress, all the dust that was under its smaller part.
As it is a common opinion that a shot, fired through a water-spout,
will break it, I tried to break this little whirlwind, by striking my
whip frequently through it, but without any effect. Soon after, it
quitted the road and took into the woods, growing every moment larger
and stronger, raising, instead of dust, the old dry leaves with which
the ground was thick covered, and making a great noise with them
and the branches of the trees, bending some tall trees round in a
circle swiftly and very surprisingly, though the progressive motion
of the whirl was not so swift but that a man on foot might have kept
pace with it, but the circular motion was amazingly rapid. By the
leaves it was now filled with, I could plainly perceive that the
current of air they were driven by moved upwards in a spiral line;
and when I saw the passing whirl continue entire, after leaving the
trunks and bodies of large trees which it had enveloped, I no longer
wondered that my whip had no effect on it in its smaller state. I
accompanied it about three quarters of a mile, till some limbs of
dead trees, broken off by the whirl, flying about, and falling near
me, made me more apprehensive of danger; and then I stopped, looking
at the top of it as it went on, which was visible, by means of the
leaves contained in it, for a very great height above the trees.
Many of the leaves, as they got loose from the upper and widest
part, were scattered in the wind; but so great was their height in
the air, that they appeared no bigger than flies. My son, who was,
by this time, come up with me, followed the whirlwind till it left
the woods, and crossed an old tobacco-field, where, finding neither
dust nor leaves to take up, it gradually became invisible below as
it went away over that field. The course of the general wind then
blowing was along with us as we travelled, and the progressive motion
of the whirlwind was in a direction nearly opposite, though it did
not keep a strait line, nor was its progressive motion uniform, it
making little sallies on either hand as it went, proceeding sometimes
faster, and sometimes slower, and seeming sometimes for a few seconds
almost stationary, then starting forwards pretty fast again. When
we rejoined the company, they were admiring the vast height of the
leaves now brought by the common wind, over our heads. These leaves
accompanied us as we travelled, some falling now and then round about
us, and some not reaching the ground till we had gone near three
miles from the place where we first saw the whirlwind begin. Upon my
asking Colonel Tasker if such whirlwinds were common in Maryland,
he answered pleasantly, No, not at all common, but we got this on
purpose to treat Mr. Franklin. And a very high treat it was to,
Dear Sir,
Your affectionate friend and humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MR. ALEXANDER SMALL, LONDON.
_On the North-East Storms in North America._
_May 12, 1760._
DEAR SIR,
Agreeable to your request, I send you my reasons for thinking that
our north-east storms in North America begin first, in point of
time, in the south-west parts: that is to say, the air in Georgia,
the farthest of our colonies to the south-west, begins to move
south-westerly before the air of Carolina, which is the next colony
north-eastward; the air of Carolina has the same motion before the
air of Virginia, which lies still more north-eastward; and so on
north-easterly through Pensylvania, New-York, New-England, &c. quite
to Newfoundland.
These north-east storms are generally very violent, continue
sometimes two or three days, and often do considerable damage in the
harbours along the coast. They are attended with thick clouds and
rain.
What first gave me this idea, was the following circumstance. About
twenty years ago, a few more or less, I cannot from my memory be
certain, we were to have an eclipse of the moon at Philadelphia, on
a Friday evening, about nine o'clock. I intended to observe it, but
was prevented by a north-east storm, which came on about seven, with
thick clouds as usual, that quite obscured the whole hemisphere. Yet
when the post brought us the Boston news-paper, giving an account of
the effects of the same storm in those parts, I found the beginning
of the eclipse had been well observed there, though Boston lies N. E.
of Philadelphia about four hundred miles. This puzzled me, because
the storm began with us so soon as to prevent any observation, and
being a north-east storm, I imagined it must have begun rather sooner
in places farther to the north-east-ward than it did at Philadelphia.
I therefore mentioned it in a letter to my brother, who lived at
Boston; and he informed me the storm did not begin with them till
near eleven o'clock, so that they had a good observation of the
eclipse: and upon comparing all the other accounts I received from
the several colonies, of the time of beginning of the same storm, and
since that of other storms of the same kind, I found the beginning to
be always later the farther north-eastward. I have not my notes with
me here in England, and cannot, from memory, say the proportion of
time to distance, but I think it is about an hour to every hundred
miles.
From thence I formed an idea of the cause of these storms, which I
would explain by a familiar instance or two.--Suppose a long canal
of water stopped at the end by a gate. The water is quite at rest
till the gate is open, then it begins to move out through the gate;
the water next the gate is first in motion, and moves towards the
gate; the water next to that first water moves next, and so on
successively, till the water at the head of the canal is in motion,
which is last of all. In this case all the water moves indeed towards
the gate, but the successive times of beginning motion are the
contrary way, viz. from the gate backwards to the head of the canal.
Again, suppose the air in a chamber at rest, no current through the
room till you make a fire in the chimney. Immediately the air in the
chimney being rarefied by the fire rises; the air next the chimney
flows in to supply its place, moving towards the chimney; and, in
consequence, the rest of the air successively, quite back to the
door. Thus to produce our north-east storms, I suppose some great
heat and rarefaction of the air in or about the Gulph of Mexico; the
air thence rising has its place supplied by the next more northern,
cooler, and therefore denser and heavier, air; that, being in motion,
is followed by the next more northern air, &c. &c. in a successive
current, to which current our coast and inland ridge of mountains
give the direction of north-east, as they lie N. E. and S. W.
This I offer only as an hypothesis to account for this particular
fact; and perhaps, on farther examination, a better and truer may be
found. I do not suppose all storms generated in the same manner. Our
north-west thunder-gusts in America, I know are not; but of them I
have written my opinion fully in a paper which you have seen.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
_Meteorological Imaginations and Conjectures_[11].
There seems to be a region higher in the air over all countries,
where it is always winter, where frost exists continually, since in
the midst of summer, on the surface of the earth, ice falls often
from above in the form of hail.
Hailstones, of the great weight we sometimes find them, did not
probably acquire their magnitude before they began to descend. The
air, being eight hundred times rarer than water, is unable to support
it but in the shape of vapour, a state in which its particles are
separated. As soon as they are condensed by the cold of the upper
region, so as to form a drop, that drop begins to fall. If it freezes
into a grain of ice, that ice descends. In descending, both the
drop of water and the grain of ice are augmented by particles of
the vapour they pass through in falling, and which they condense by
coldness, and attach to themselves.
It is possible that, in summer, much of what is rain, when it arrives
at the surface of the earth, might have been snow when it began its
descent; but being thawed, in passing through the warm air near the
surface, it is changed from snow into rain.
How immensely cold must be the original particle of hail, which
forms the centre of the future hailstone, since it is capable of
communicating sufficient cold, if I may so speak, to freeze all the
mass of vapour condensed round it, and form a lump of perhaps six or
eight ounces in weight!
When, in summer time, the sun is high, and continues long every day
above the horizon, his rays strike the earth more directly, and with
longer continuance, than in the winter; hence the surface is more
heated, and to a greater depth, by the effect of those rays.
When rain falls on the heated earth, and soaks down into it, it
carries down with it a great part of the heat, which by that means
descends still deeper.
The mass of earth, to the depth perhaps of thirty feet, being thus
heated to a certain degree, continues to retain its heat for some
time. Thus the first snows that fall in the beginning of winter,
seldom lie long on the surface, but are soon melted, and soon
absorbed. After which, the winds, that blow over the country on which
the snows had fallen, are not rendered so cold as they would have
been, by those snows, if they had remained, and thus the approach of
the severity of winter is retarded; and the extreme degree of its
cold is not always at the time we might expect it, viz. when the sun
is at its greatest distance, and the day shortest, but some time
after that period, according to the English proverb, which says, "as
the day lengthens, the cold strengthens;" the causes of refrigeration
continuing to operate, while the sun returns too slowly, and his
force continues too weak to counteract them.
During several of the summer months of the year 1783, when the
effects of the sun's rays to heat the earth in these northern regions
should have been the greatest, there existed a constant fog over all
Europe, and great part of North America. This fog was of a permanent
nature: it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to have little
effect towards dissipating it, as they easily do a moist fog, arising
from water. They were indeed rendered so faint in passing through
it, that when collected in the focus of a burning glass, they would
scarce kindle brown paper. Of course, their summer effect in heating
the earth was exceedingly diminished.
Hence the surface was early frozen.
Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted, and received continual
additions.
Hence perhaps the winter of 1783-4, was more severe than any that had
happened for many years.
The cause of this universal fog is not yet ascertained. Whether
it was adventitious to this earth, and merely a smoke proceeding
from the consumption by fire of some of those great burning balls
or globes which we happen to meet with in our rapid course round
the sun, and which are sometimes seen to kindle and be destroyed
in passing our atmosphere, and whose smoke might be attracted and
retained by our earth; or whether it was the vast quantity of smoke,
long continuing to issue during the summer from Hecla, in Iceland,
and that other volcano which arose out of the sea near that island,
which smoke might be spread by various winds, over the northern part
of the world, is yet uncertain.
It seems however worth the enquiry, whether other hard winters,
recorded in history, were preceded by similar permanent and widely
extended summer fogs. Because, if found to be so, men might from such
fogs conjecture the probability of a succeeding hard winter, and of
the damage to be expected by the breaking up of frozen rivers in the
spring; and take such measures as are possible and practicable, to
secure themselves and effects from the mischiefs that attended the
last.
_Passy, May 1784._
FOOTNOTE:
[11] This paper is taken from the Memoirs of the Literary and
Philosophical Society of Manchester, Vol. II. page 373. It was
communicated by Dr. Percival, and read December 22, 1784. _Editor._
_Suppositions and Conjectures towards forming an Hypothesis, for
the Explanation of the Aurora Borealis_[12].
1. Air heated by any means, becomes rarefied, and specifically
lighter than other air in the same situation not heated.
2. Air being made thus lighter rises, and the neighbouring cooler
heavier air takes its place.
3. If in the middle of a room you heat the air by a stove, or pot
of burning coals near the floor, the heated air will rise to the
ceiling, spread over the cooler air till it comes to the cold walls;
there, being condensed and made heavier, it descends to supply the
place of that cool air, which had moved towards the stove or fire, in
order to supply the place of the heated air, which had ascended from
the space around the stove or fire.
4. Thus there will be a continual circulation of air in the room;
which may be rendered visible by making a little smoke, for that
smoke will rise and circulate with the air.
5. A similar operation is performed by nature on the air of this
globe. Our atmosphere is of a certain height, perhaps at a medium [___]
miles: above that height it is so rare as to be almost a vacuum. The
air heated between the tropics is continually rising; its place is
supplied by northerly and southerly winds, which come from the cooler
regions.
6. The light heated air, floating above the cooler and denser, must
spread northward and southward; and descend near the two poles, to
supply the place of the cool air, which had moved towards the equator.
7. Thus a circulation of air is kept up in our atmosphere, as in the
room above-mentioned.
8. That heavier and lighter air may move in currents of different and
even opposite direction, appears sometimes by the clouds that happen
to be in those currents, as plainly as by the smoke in the experiment
above-mentioned. Also in opening a _door_ between two chambers, one
of which has been warmed, by holding a candle near the top, near the
bottom, and near the middle, you will find a strong current of warm
air passing out of the warmed room above, and another of cool air
entering below; while in the middle there is little or no motion.
9. The great quantity of vapour rising between the tropics forms
clouds, which contain much electricity.
Some of them fall in rain, before they come to the polar regions.
10. If the rain be received in an isolated vessel, the vessel will be
electrified; for every drop brings down some electricity with it.
11. The same is done by snow or hail.
12. The electricity so descending, in temperate climates, is received
and imbibed by the earth.
13. If the clouds are not sufficiently discharged by this gradual
operation, they sometimes discharge themselves suddenly by striking
into the earth, where the earth is fit to receive their electricity.
14. The earth in temperate and warm climates is generally fit to
receive it, being a good conductor.
15. A certain quantity of heat will make some bodies good conductors,
that will not otherwise conduct.
16. Thus wax rendered fluid, and glass softened by heat, will both of
them conduct.
17. And water, though naturally a good conductor, will not conduct
well, when frozen into ice by a common degree of cold; not at all,
where the cold is extreme.
18. Snow falling upon frozen ground has been found to retain its
electricity; and to communicate it to an isolated body, when after
falling, it has been driven about by the wind.
19. The humidity, contained in all the equatorial clouds that reach
the polar regions, must there be condensed and fall in snow.
20. The great cake of ice that eternally covers those regions may be
too hard frozen to permit the electricity, descending with that snow,
to enter the earth.
21. It may therefore be _accumulated upon that ice_.
22. The atmosphere being heavier in the polar regions than in the
equatorial, will there be lower; as well from that cause, as from the
smaller effect of the centrifugal force: consequently the distance
of the vacuum above the atmosphere will be less at the poles, than
elsewhere; and probably much less than the distance (upon the surface
of the globe) extending from the pole to those latitudes in which
the earth is so thawed as to receive and imbibe electricity; (the
frost continuing to lat. 80, which is ten degrees, or six hundred
miles from the pole; while the height of the atmosphere there of such
density as to obstruct the motion of the electric fluid, can scarce
be esteemed above [___] miles).
23. The _vacuum_ above is a good conductor.
24. May not then the great quantity of electricity, brought into the
polar regions by the clouds, which are condensed there, and fall in
snow, which electricity would enter the, earth, but cannot penetrate
the ice; may it not, I say, (_as a bottle overcharged_) break through
that low atmosphere, and run along in the vacuum over the air towards
the equator; diverging as the degrees of longitude enlarge; strongly
visible where densest, and becoming less visible as it more diverges;
till it finds a passage to the earth in more temperate climates, or
is mingled with their upper air?
25. If such an operation of nature were really performed, would it
not give all the appearances of an aurora borealis?
26. And would not the auroras become more frequent _after the
approach of winter_: not only because more visible in longer nights;
but also because in summer the long presence of the sun may soften
the surface of the great ice cake, and render it a conductor, by
which the accumulation of electricity in the polar regions will be
prevented?
27. The _atmosphere of the polar regions_ being made more dense by
the extreme cold, and all the moisture in that air being frozen; may
not any great light arising therein, and passing, through it, render
its density in some degree visible, during the night time, to those
who live in the rarer air of more southern latitudes; and would it
not in that case, although in itself a complete and full circle,
extending perhaps ten degrees from the pole, appear to spectators so
placed (who could see only a part of it) _in the form of a segment_;
its chord resting on the horizon, and its arch elevated more or less
above it as seen from latitudes more or less distant; _darkish in
colour_, but yet _sufficiently transparent_ to permit some stars to
be seen through it.
28. The _rays_ of electric matter issuing out of a body, diverge by
mutually repelling each other, unless there be some conducting body
near, to receive them: and if that conducting body be at a greater
distance, they will _first diverge_, and then _converge_ in order
to enter it. May not this account for some of the varieties of
figure seen at times in the _motions_ of the luminous matter of the
auroras: since it is possible, that in passing over the atmosphere,
from the north in all directions or meridians, towards the equator,
the rays of that matter may find, in many places, portions of cloudy
region, or moist atmosphere under them, which (being in the natural
or negative state) may be fit to receive them, and towards which
they may therefore converge: and when one of those receiving bodies
is more than saturated, they may _again_ diverge from it, towards
other surrounding masses of such humid atmosphere, and thus form the
_crowns_, as they are called, and other figures mentioned in the
histories of this meteor?
29. If it be true that the clouds which go to the polar regions, and
carry thither the vapours of the equatorial and temperate regions,
[have their] vapours condensed by the extreme cold of the polar
regions, and fall in snow or hail; the winds which come from those
regions ought to be generally dry, unless they gain some humidity
by sweeping the ocean in their way. And if I mistake not, the winds
between the north east and the north west, are for the most part dry,
when they have continued for some time.
[In the Philosophical Transactions for 1774, p. 122, is a letter from
Mr. I. S. Winn to Dr. Franklin, stating, that since he had first made
the observation concerning the south or south west winds succeeding
an aurora, he had found it invariably obtaining in twenty-three
instances; and he adds in a note a fresh confirming instance. In
reply, Dr. Franklin makes the following conjecture.]
The _Auroræ Boreales_, though visible almost every night of clear
weather in the more northern regions and very high in the atmosphere,
can scarce be visible in England, but when the atmosphere is pretty
clear of clouds for the whole space between us and those regions;
and therefore are seldom visible here. This extensive clearness may
have been produced by a long continuance of northerly winds. When
the winds have long continued in one quarter, the return is often
violent. Allowing the fact so repeatedly observed by Mr. Winn,
perhaps this may account for the violence of the southerly winds,
that soon follow the appearance of the aurora on our coasts.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] If I mistake not, this paper was read to the Royal Academy of
Sciences, at Paris, at the meeting held immediately after Easter,
1779. B. V[13].
[13] For an explanation of the signature B. V. see the note in page
399 of Vol. I. _Editor._
TO DR. L.[14] AT CHARLES-TOWN, SOUTH-CAROLINA.
_On Cold produced by Evaporation._
_New-York, April_ 14, 1757.
SIR,
It is a long time since I had the pleasure of a line from you; and,
indeed, the troubles of our country, with the hurry of business
I have been engaged in on that account, have made me so bad a
correspondent, that I ought not to expect punctuality in others.
But being about to embark for England, I could not quit the continent
without paying my respects to you, and, at the same time, taking
leave to introduce to your acquaintance a gentleman of learning and
merit, colonel Henry Bouquet, who does me the favour to present you
this letter, and with whom I am sure you will be much pleased.
Professor Simpson, of Glasgow, lately communicated to me some
curious experiments of a physician of his acquaintance, by which it
appeared, that an extraordinary degree of cold, even to freezing,
might be produced by evaporation. I have not had leisure to repeat
and examine more than the first and easiest of them, _viz._--Wet the
ball of a thermometer by a feather dipt in spirit of wine, which
has been kept in the same room, and has, of course, the same degree
of heat or cold. The mercury sinks presently three or four degrees,
and the quicker, if, during the evaporation, you blow on the ball
with bellows; a second wetting and blowing, when the mercury is
down, carries it yet lower. I think I did not get it lower than five
or six degrees from where it naturally stood, which was, at that
time, sixty. But it is said, that a vessel of water being placed in
another somewhat larger, containing spirit, in such a manner that
the vessel of water is surrounded with the spirit, and both placed
under the receiver of an air-pump; on exhausting the air, the spirit,
evaporating, leaves such a degree of cold as to freeze the water,
though the thermometer, in the open air, stands many degrees above
the freezing point.
I know not how this phenomenon is to be accounted for, but it gives
me occasion to mention some loose notions relating to heat and cold,
which I have for some time entertained, but not yet reduced into any
form. Allowing common fire, as well as electrical, to be a fluid
capable of permeating other bodies, and seeking an equilibrium, I
imagine some bodies are better fitted by nature to be conductors of
that fluid than others; and that, generally, those which are the best
conductors of the electrical fluid, are also the best conductors of
this; and _e contra_.
Thus a body which is a good conductor of fire readily receives
it into its substance, and conducts it through the whole to all
the parts, as metals and water do; and if two bodies, both good
conductors, one heated, the other in its common state, are brought
into contact with each other, the body which has most fire readily
communicates of it to that which had least, and that which had least
readily receives it, till an equilibrium is produced. Thus, if you
take a dollar between your fingers with one hand, and a piece of
wood, of the same dimensions, with the other, and bring both at the
same time to the flame of a candle, you will find yourself obliged
to drop the dollar before you drop the wood, because it conducts the
heat of the candle sooner to your flesh. Thus, if a silver tea-pot
had a handle of the same metal, it would conduct the heat from the
water to the hand, and become too hot to be used; we therefore give
to a metal tea-pot a handle of wood, which is not so good a conductor
as metal. But a china or stone tea-pot being in some degree of the
nature of glass, which is not a good conductor of heat, may have a
handle of the same stuff. Thus, also, a damp moist air shall make a
man more sensible of cold, or chill him more, than a dry air that is
colder, because a moist air is fitter to receive and conduct away
the heat of his body. This fluid, entering bodies in great quantity,
first expands them, by separating their parts a little, afterwards,
by farther separating their parts, it renders solids fluid, and at
length dissipates their parts in air. Take this fluid from melted
lead, or from water, the parts cohere again, the first grows solid,
the latter becomes ice: and this is sooner done by the means of good
conductors.
[Illustration: (of wooden former for molten lead)]
Thus, if you take, as I have done, a square bar of lead, four inches
long, and one inch thick, together with three pieces of wood planed
to the same dimensions, and lay them, as in the margin, on a smooth
board, fixt so as not to be easily separated or moved, and pour
into the cavity they form, as much melted lead as will fill it,
you will see the melted lead chill, and become firm, on the side
next the leaden bar, some time before it chills on the other three
sides in contact with the wooden bars, though before the lead was
poured in, they might all be supposed to have the same degree of
heat or coldness, as they had been exposed in the same room to the
same air. You will likewise observe, that the leaden bar, as it has
cooled the melted lead more than the wooden bars have done, so it is
itself more heated by the melted lead. There is a certain quantity
of this fluid called fire, in every living human body, which fluid,
being in due proportion, keeps the parts of the flesh and blood at
such a just distance from each other, as that the flesh and nerves
are supple, and the blood fit for circulation. If part of this due
proportion of fire be conducted away, by means of a contact with
other bodies, as air, water, or metals, the parts of our skin and
flesh that come into such contact first draw more near together
than is agreeable, and give that sensation which we call cold; and
if too much be conveyed away, the body stiffens, the blood ceases
to flow, and death ensues. On the other hand, if too much of this
fluid be communicated to the flesh, the parts are separated too far,
and pain ensues, as when they are separated by a pin or lancet. The
sensation that the separation by fire occasions, we call heat, or
burning. My desk on which I now write, and the lock of my desk, are
both exposed to the same temperature of the air, and have therefore
the same degree of heat or cold; yet if I lay my hand successively
on the wood and on the metal, the latter feels much the coldest, not
that it is really so, but being a better conductor, it more readily
than the wood takes away and draws into itself the fire that was in
my skin. Accordingly if I lay one hand, part on the lock, and part
on the wood, and after it had lain so some time, I feel both parts
with my other hand, I find the part that has been in contact with
the lock, very sensibly colder to the touch, than the part that lay
on the wood. How a living animal obtains its quantity of this fluid
called fire, is a curious question. I have shown, that some bodies
(as metals) have a power of attracting it stronger than others; and
I have sometimes suspected, that a living body had some power of
attracting out of the air, or other bodies, the heat it wanted. Thus
metals hammered, or repeatedly bent, grow hot in the bent or hammered
part. But when I consider that air, in contact with the body, cools
it; that the surrounding air is rather heated by its contact with
the body; that every breath of cooler air drawn in, carries off part
of the body's heat when it passes out again; that therefore there
must be in the body a fund for producing it, or otherwise the animal
would soon grow cold; I have been rather inclined to think, that the
fluid _fire_, as well as the fluid _air_, is attracted by plants in
their growth, and becomes consolidated with the other materials of
which they are formed, and makes a great part of their substance:
that when they come to be digested, and to suffer in the vessels a
kind of fermentation, part of the fire, as well as part of the air,
recovers its fluid active state again, and diffuses itself in the
body digesting and separating it: that the fire so reproduced, by
digestion and separation continually leaving the body, its place is
supplied by fresh quantities, arising from the continual separation.
That whatever quickens the motion of the fluids in an animal quickens
the separation, and reproduces more of the fire; as exercise. That
all the fire emitted by wood, and other combustibles, when burning,
existed in them before, in a solid state, being only discovered when
separating. That some fossils, as sulphur, sea-coal, &c. contain a
great deal of solid fire; and that, in short, what escapes and is
dissipated in the burning of bodies, besides water and earth, is
generally the air and fire that before made parts of the solid. Thus
I imagine that animal heat arises by or from a kind of fermentation
in the juices of the body, in the same manner as heat arises in the
liquors preparing for distillation, wherein there is a separation
of the spirituous, from the watry and earthy parts. And it is
remarkable, that the liquor in a distiller's vat, when in its highest
and best state of fermentation, as I have been informed, has the same
degree of heat with the human body; that is, about 94 or 96.
Thus, as by a constant supply of fuel in a chimney, you keep a warm
room, so, by a constant supply of food in the stomach, you keep a
warm body; only where little exercise is used, the heat may possibly
be conducted away too fast; in which case such materials are to be
used for cloathing and bedding, against the effects of an immediate
contact of the air, as are, in themselves, bad conductors of heat,
and, consequently, prevent its being communicated through their
substance to the air. Hence what is called _warmth_ in wool, and
its preference on that account, to linen; wool not being so good a
conductor: and hence all the natural coverings of animals, to keep
them warm, are such as retain and confine the natural heat in the
body, by being bad conductors, such as wool, hair, feathers, and the
silk by which the silk-worm, in its tender embrio state, is first
cloathed. Cloathing, thus considered, does not make a man warm by
_giving_ warmth, but by _preventing_ the too quick dissipation of the
heat produced in his body, and so occasioning an accumulation.
There is another curious question I will just venture to touch
upon, viz. Whence arises the sudden extraordinary degree of cold,
perceptible on mixing some chemical liquors, and even on mixing salt
and snow, where the composition appears colder than the coldest of
the ingredients? I have never seen the chemical mixtures made, but
salt and snow I have often mixed myself, and am fully satisfied
that the composition feels much colder to the touch, and lowers the
mercury in the thermometer more than either ingredient would do
separately. I suppose, with others, that cold is nothing more than
the absence of heat or fire. Now if the quantity of fire before
contained or diffused in the snow and salt was expelled in the
uniting of the two matters, it must be driven away either through
the air or the vessel containing them. If it is driven off thro' the
air, it must warm the air, and a thermometer held over the mixture,
without touching it, would discover the heat, by the rising of the
mercury, as it must, and always does in warm air.
This, indeed, I have not tried, but I should guess it would rather
be driven off through the vessel, especially if the vessel be metal,
as being a better conductor than air; and so one should find the
bason warmer after such mixture. But, on the contrary, the vessel
grows cold, and even water, in which the vessel is sometimes placed
for the experiment, freezes into hard ice on the bason. Now I know
not how to account for this, otherwise than by supposing, that the
composition is a better conductor of fire than the ingredients
separately, and, like the lock compared with the wood, has a stronger
power of attracting fire, and does accordingly attract it suddenly
from the fingers, or a thermometer put into it, from the bason that
contains it, and from the water in contact with the outside of the
bason; so that the fingers have the sensation of extreme cold, by
being deprived of much of their natural fire; the thermometer sinks,
by having part of its fire drawn out of the mercury; the bason grows
colder to the touch, as, by having its fire drawn into the mixture,
it is become more capable of drawing and receiving it from the hand;
and through the bason, the water loses its fire that kept it fluid;
so it becomes ice. One would expect, that from all this attracted
acquisition of fire to the composition, it should become warmer; and,
in fact, the snow and salt dissolve at the same time into water,
without freezing.
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[14] Dr. Lining. _Editor_.
TO THE SAME ON THE SAME SUBJECT.
_London, June 17, 1758._
DEAR SIR,
In a former letter I mentioned the experiment for cooling bodies by
evaporation, and that I had, by repeatedly wetting the thermometer
with common spirits, brought the mercury down five or six degrees.
Being lately at Cambridge, and mentioning this in conversation with
Dr. Hadley, professor of chemistry there, he proposed repeating the
experiments with ether, instead of common spirits, as the ether is
much quicker in evaporation. We accordingly went to his chamber,
where he had both ether and a thermometer. By dipping first the
ball of the thermometer into the ether, it appeared that the ether
was precisely of the same temperament with the thermometer, which
stood then at 65; for it made no alteration in the height of the
little column of mercury. But when the thermometer was taken out
of the ether, and the ether, with which the ball was wet, began to
evaporate, the mercury sunk several degrees. The wetting was then
repeated by a feather that had been dipped into the ether, when
the mercury sunk still lower. We continued this operation, one of
us wetting the ball, and another of the company blowing on it with
the bellows, to quicken the evaporation, the mercury sinking all
the time, till it came down to 7, which is 25 degrees below the
freezing point, when we left off. Soon after it passed the freezing
point, a thin coat of ice began to cover the ball. Whether this was
water collected and condensed by the coldness of the ball, from the
moisture in the air, or from our breath; or whether the feather,
when dipped into the ether, might not sometimes go through it, and
bring up some of the water that was under it, I am not certain;
perhaps all might contribute. The ice continued increasing till we
ended the experiment, when it appeared near a quarter of an inch
thick all over the ball, with a number of small spicula, pointing
outwards. From this experiment one may see the possibility of
freezing a man to death on a warm summer's day, if he were to stand
in a passage through which the wind blew briskly, and to be wet
frequently with ether, a spirit that is more inflammable than brandy,
or common spirits of wine.
It is but within these few years, that the European philosophers seem
to have known this power in nature, of cooling bodies by evaporation.
But in the east they have long been acquainted with it. A friend
tells me, there is a passage in Bernier's Travels through Indostan,
written near one hundred years ago, that mentions it as a practice
(in travelling over dry deserts in that hot climate) to carry water
in flasks wrapt in wet woollen cloths, and hung on the shady side of
the camel, or carriage, but in the free air; whereby, as the cloths
gradually grow drier, the water contained in the flasks is made cool.
They have likewise a kind of earthen pots, unglazed, which let the
water gradually and slowly ooze through their pores, so as to keep
the outside a little wet, notwithstanding the continual evaporation,
which gives great coldness to the vessel, and the water contained
in it. Even our common sailors seem to have had some notion of this
property; for I remember, that being at sea, when I was a youth,
I observed one of the sailors, during a calm in the night, often
wetting his finger in his mouth, and then holding it up in the air,
to discover, as he said, if the air had any motion, and from which
side it came; and this he expected to do, by finding one side of his
finger grow suddenly cold, and from that side he should look for the
next wind; which I then laughed at as a fancy.
May not several phenomena, hitherto unconsidered, or unaccounted for,
be explained by this property? During the hot Sunday at Philadelphia,
in June 1750, when the thermometer was up at 100 in the shade, I
sat in my chamber without exercise, only reading or writing, with
no other cloaths on than a shirt, and a pair of long linen drawers,
the windows all open, and a brisk wind blowing through the house,
the sweat ran off the backs of my hands, and my shirt was often
so wet, as to induce me to call for dry ones to put on; in this
situation, one might have expected, that the natural heat of the body
96, added to the heat of the air 100, should jointly have created
or produced a much greater degree of heat in the body; but the fact
was, that my body never grew so hot as the air that surrounded it,
or the inanimate bodies immersed in the same air. For I remember
well, that the desk, when I laid my arm upon it; a chair, when I sat
down in it; and a dry shirt out of the drawer, when I put it on,
all felt exceeding warm to me, as if they had been warmed before a
fire. And I suppose a dead body would have acquired the temperature
of the air, though a living one, by continual sweating, and by the
evaporation of that sweat, was kept cold. May not this be a reason
why our reapers in Pensylvania, working in the open field, in the
clear hot sun-shine common in our harvest-time[15], find themselves
well able to go through that labour, without being much incommoded
by the heat, while they continue to sweat, and while they supply
matter for keeping up that sweat, by drinking frequently of a thin
evaporable liquor, water mixed with rum; but if the sweat stops,
they drop, and sometimes die suddenly, if a sweating is not again
brought on by drinking that liquor, or, as some rather chuse in that
case, a kind of hot punch, made with water, mixed with honey, and a
considerable proportion of vinegar? May there not be in negroes a
quicker evaporation of the perspirable matter from their skins and
lungs, which, by cooling them more, enables them to bear the sun's
heat better than whites do? (if that is a fact, as it is said to be;
for the alledged necessity of having negroes rather than whites, to
work in the West-India fields, is founded upon it) though the colour
of their skins would otherwise make them more sensible of the sun's
heat, since black cloth heats much sooner, and more, in the sun,
than white cloth. I am persuaded, from several instances happening
within my knowledge, that they do not bear cold weather so well as
the whites; they will perish when exposed to a less degree of it,
and are more apt to have their limbs frostbitten; and may not this
be from the same cause? Would not the earth grow much hotter under
the summer-sun, if a constant evaporation from its surface, greater
as the sun shines stronger, did not, by tending to cool it; balance,
in some degree, the warmer effects of the sun's rays? Is it not
owing to the constant evaporation from the surface of every leaf,
that trees, though shone on by the sun, are always, even the leaves
themselves, cool to our sense? at least much cooler than they would
otherwise be? May it not be owing to this, that fanning ourselves
when warm, does really cool us, though the air is itself warm that we
drive with the fan upon our faces; for the atmosphere round, and next
to our bodies, having imbibed as much of the perspired vapour as it
can well contain, receives no more, and the evaporation is therefore
checked and retarded, till we drive away that atmosphere, and bring
drier air in its place, that will receive the vapour, and thereby
facilitate and increase the evaporation? Certain it is, that mere
blowing of air on a dry body does not cool it, as any one may satisfy
himself, by blowing with a bellows on the dry ball of a thermometer;
the mercury will not fall; if it moves at all, it rather rises, as
being warmed by the friction of the air on its surface? To these
queries of imagination, I will only add one practical observation;
that wherever it is thought proper to give ease, in cases of painful
inflammation in the flesh (as from burnings, or the like) by cooling
the part; linen cloths, wet with spirit, and applied to the part
inflamed, will produce the coolness required, better than if wet with
water, and will continue it longer. For water, though cold when first
applied, will soon acquire warmth from the flesh, as it does not
evaporate fast enough; but the cloths wet with spirit, will continue
cold as long as any spirit is left to keep up the evaporation, the
parts warmed escaping as soon as they are warmed, and carrying off
the heat with them.
I am, Sir, &c.
B FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[15] Pensylvania is in about lat. 40, and the sun, of course, about
12 degrees higher, and therefore much hotter than in England. Their
harvest is about the end of June, or beginning of July, when the sun
is nearly at the highest.
J. B.[16] ESQ. IN BOSTON, TO B. FRANKLIN.
_Concerning the Light in Sea-Water._
Read at the Royal Society, December 6, 1756.
_November_ 12, 1753.
**** When I was at the eastward, I had an opportunity of observing
the luminous appearance of the sea when disturbed: at the head and
stern of the vessel, when under way, it appeared very bright. The
best opportunity I had to observe it was in a boat, in company with
several gentlemen going from Portsmouth, about three miles, to our
vessel lying at the mouth of Piscataqua River. Soon after we set
off (it being in the evening) we observed a luminous appearance,
where the oars dashed the water. Sometimes it was very bright, and
afterwards, as we rowed along, gradually lessened, till almost
imperceptible, and then re-illumined. This we took notice of several
times in the passage. When I got on board the vessel, I ordered a
pail to be dipped up, full of sea-water, in which, on the water's
being moved, a sparkling light appeared. I took a linen cloth,
and strained some of the water through it, and there was a like
appearance on the cloth, which soon went off; but on rubbing the
cloth with my finger, it was renewed. I then carried the cloth to the
light, but could not perceive any thing upon it which should cause
that appearance.
Several gentlemen were of opinion, that the separated particles
of putrid, animal, and other bodies, floating on the surface of
the sea, might cause that appearance; for putrid fish, &c. they
said, will cause it: and the sea-animals which have died, and
other bodies putrified therein since the creation, might afford
a sufficient quantity of these particles to cover a considerable
portion of the surface of the sea; which particles being differently
dispersed, might account for the different degrees of light in
the appearance above-mentioned. But this account seems liable to
this obvious objection, that as putrid fish, &c. make a luminous
appearance without being moved or disturbed, it might be expected
that the supposed putrid particles on the surface of the sea, should
always appear luminous, where there is not a greater light; and,
consequently, that the whole surface of the sea, covered with those
particles, should always, in dark nights, appear luminous, without
being disturbed. But this is not fact.
Among the rest, I threw out my conjecture, that the said appearance
might be caused by a great number of little animals, floating on the
surface of the sea, which, on being disturbed, might, by expanding
their finns, or otherwise moving themselves, expose such a part
of their bodies as exhibits a luminous appearance, somewhat in
the manner of a glow-worm, or fire-fly: that these animals may be
more numerous in some places than others; and, therefore, that the
appearance above-mentioned being fainter and stronger in different
places, might be owing to that: that certain circumstances of
weather, &c. might invite them to the surface, on which, in a calm,
they might sport themselves and glow; or in storms, being forced up,
make the same appearance.
There is no difficulty in conceiving that the sea may be stocked with
animalcula for this purpose, as we find all nature crowded with
life. But it seems difficult to conceive that such small portions
of matter, even if they were wholly luminous, should affect our
sight; much more so, when it is supposed that only a part of them is
luminous. But, if we consider some other appearances, we may find
the same difficulty to conceive of them; and yet we know they take
place. For instance, the flame of a candle, which, it is said, may
be seen four miles round. The light which fills this circle of eight
miles diameter, was contained, when it first left the candle, within
a circle of half an inch diameter. If the density of light, in these
circumstances, be as those circles to each other, that is, as the
squares of their diameters, the candle-light, when come to the eye,
will be 1027709337600 times rarer than when it quitted the half inch
circle. Now the aperture of the eye, through which the light passes,
does not exceed one-tenth of an inch diameter, and the portion of
the lesser circle, which corresponds to this small portion of the
greater circle, must be proportionably, that is, 1027709337600 times
less than one-tenth of an inch; and yet this infinitely small point
(if you will allow the expression) affords light enough to make it
visible four miles; or, rather, affords light sufficient to affect
the sight at that distance.
The smallness of the animalcula is no objection then to this
conjecture; for supposing them to be ten thousand times less than the
_minimum visibile_, they may, notwithstanding, emit light enough to
affect the eyes, and so to cause the luminous appearance aforesaid.
This conjecture I send you for want of something better ****.
FOOTNOTE:
[16] I. Badoin. _Editor._
TO MR. P. F.[17] IN NEWPORT.
_On the Saltness of Sea-Water._
_London, May 7, 1760._
SIR,
**** It has, indeed, as you observe, been the opinion of some very
great naturalists, that the sea is salt only from the dissolution
of mineral or rock-salt, which its waters happened to meet with.
But this opinion takes it for granted that all water was originally
fresh, of which we can have no proof. I own I am inclined to a
different opinion, and rather think all the water on this globe was
originally salt, and that the fresh water we find in springs and
rivers, is the produce of distillation. The sun raises the vapours
from the sea, which form clouds, and fall in rain upon the land, and
springs and rivers are formed of that rain. As to the rock-salt found
in mines, I conceive, that instead of communicating its saltness to
the sea, it is itself drawn from the sea, and that of course the sea
is now fresher than it was originally. This is only another effect of
nature's distillery, and might be performed various ways.
It is evident from the quantities of sea-shells, and the bones and
teeth of fishes found in high lands, that the sea has formerly
covered them. Then, either the sea has been higher than it now is,
and has fallen away from those high lands, or they have been lower
than they are, and were lifted up out of the water to their present
height, by some internal mighty force, such as we still feel some
remains of, when whole continents are moved by earthquakes. In
either case it may be supposed that large hollows or valleys among
hills, might be left filled with sea-water, which evaporating, and
the fluid part drying away in a course of years, would leave the salt
covering the bottom; and that salt coming afterwards to be covered
with earth, from the neighbouring hills, could only be found by
digging through that earth. Or, as we know from their effects, that
there are deep fiery caverns under the earth, and even under the
sea, if at any time the sea leaks into any of them, the fluid parts
of the water must evaporate from that heat, and pass off through
some volcano, while the salt remains, and by degrees, and continual
acretion, becomes a great mass. Thus the cavern may at length be
filled, and the volcano connected with it cease burning, as many
it is said have done; and future miners, penetrating such cavern,
find what we call a salt-mine. This is a fancy I had on visiting
the salt-mines at Northwich, with my son. I send you a piece of the
rock-salt which he brought up with him out of the mine. ****
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[17] Peter Franklin. _Editor._
TO MISS STEPHENSON.
_On the Effect of Air on the Barometer, and the Benefits derived
from the Study of Insects._
_Craven Street, June 11, 1760._
'Tis a very sensible question you ask, how the air can affect the
barometer, when its opening appears covered with wood? If indeed it
was so closely covered as to admit of no communication of the outward
air to the surface of the mercury, the change of weight in the air
could not possibly affect it. But the least crevice is sufficient
for the purpose; a pinhole will do the business. And if you could
look behind the frame to which your barometer is fixed, you would
certainly find some small opening.
There are indeed some barometers in which the body of mercury at the
lower end is contained in a close leather bag, and so the air cannot
come into immediate contact with the mercury; yet the same effect is
produced. For the leather being flexible, when the bag is pressed by
any additional weight of air it contracts, and the mercury is forced
up into the tube; when the air becomes lighter, and its pressure
less, the weight of the mercury prevails, and it descends again into
the bag.
Your observation on what you have lately read concerning insects is
very just and solid. Superficial minds are apt to despise those who
make that part of the creation their study, as mere triflers; but
certainly the world has been much obliged to them. Under the care
and management of man, the labours of the little silkworm afford
employment and subsistence to thousands of families, and become an
immense article of commerce. The bee, too, yields us its delicious
honey, and its wax useful to a multitude of purposes. Another insect,
it is said, produces the cochineal, from whence we have our rich
scarlet dye. The usefulness of the cantharides or Spanish flies, in
medicine, is known to all, and thousands owe their lives to that
knowledge. By human industry and observation, other properties of
other insects may possibly be hereafter discovered, and of equal
utility. A thorough acquaintance with the nature of these little
creatures may also enable mankind to prevent the increase of such
as are noxious, or secure us against the mischiefs they occasion.
These things doubtless your books make mention of: I can only add
a particular late instance which I had from a Swedish gentleman of
good credit. In the green timber, intended for ship-building at the
king's yards in that country, a kind of worms were found, which every
year became more numerous and more pernicious, so that the ships were
greatly damaged before they came into use. The king sent Linnæus, the
great naturalist, from Stockholm, to enquire into the affair, and see
if the mischief was capable of any remedy. He found, on examination,
that the worm was produced from a small egg, deposited in the little
roughnesses on the surface of the wood, by a particular kind of fly
or beetle; from whence the worm, as soon as it was hatched, began
to eat into the substance of the wood, and after some time came out
again a fly of the parent kind, and so the species increased. The
season in which the fly laid its eggs, Linnæus knew to be about a
fortnight (I think) in the month of May, and at no other time in the
year. He therefore advised, that some days before that season, all
the green timber should be thrown into the water, and kept under
water till the season was over. Which being done by the king's order,
the flies missing their usual nests, could not increase; and the
species was either destroyed or went elsewhere; and the wood was
effectually preserved, for after the first year, it became too dry
and hard for their purpose.
There is, however, a prudent moderation to be used in studies of
this kind. The knowledge of nature may be ornamental, and it may
be useful, but if to attain an eminence in that, we neglect the
knowledge and practice of essential duties, we deserve reprehension.
For there is no rank in natural knowledge of equal dignity and
importance with that of being a good parent, a good child, a good
husband, or wife, a good neighbour or friend, a good subject or
citizen, that is, in short, a good christian. Nicholas Gimcrack,
therefore, who neglected the care of his family, to pursue
butterflies, was a just object of ridicule, and we must give him up
as fair game to the satyrist.
Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever
Yours affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THE SAME.
_On the Bristol Waters, and the Tide in Rivers._
_London, Sept. 13, 1760._
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I have your agreeable letter from Bristol, which I take this first
leisure hour to answer, having for some time been much engaged in
business.
Your first question, _What is the reason the water at this place,
though cold at the spring, becomes warm by pumping?_ It will be
most prudent in me to forbear attempting to answer, till, by a more
circumstantial account, you assure me of the fact. I own I should
expect that operation to warm, not so much the water pumped, as the
person pumping.--The rubbing of dry solids together has been long
observed to produce heat; but the like effect has never yet, that
I have heard, been produced by the mere agitation of fluids, or
friction of fluids with solids. Water in a bottle shook for hours
by a mill-hopper, it is said, discovered no sensible addition of
heat. The production of animal heat by exercise is therefore to be
accounted for in another manner, which I may hereafter endeavour to
make you acquainted with.
This prudence of not attempting to give reasons before one is sure of
facts, I learnt from one of your sex, who, as Selden tells us, being
in company with some gentlemen that were viewing, and considering
something which they called a Chinese shoe, and disputing earnestly
about the manner of wearing it, and how it could possibly be put on;
put in her word, and said modestly, _Gentlemen, are you sure it is a
shoe?--Should not that be settled first?_
But I shall now endeavour to explain what I said to you about the
tide in rivers, and to that end shall make a figure, which though
not very like a river, may serve to convey my meaning.--Suppose a
canal one hundred and forty miles long, communicating at one end with
the sea, and filled therefore with sea water. I chuse a canal at
first, rather than a river, to throw out of consideration the effects
produced by the streams of fresh water from the land, the inequality
in breadth, and the crookedness of courses.
[Illustration: (showing tidal wave effects)]
Let A, C, be the head of the canal; C, D, the bottom of it; D, F,
the open mouth of it next the sea. Let the strait pricked line, B,
G, represent low water mark the whole length of the canal, A, F,
high water mark:--Now if a person standing at E, and observing at
the time of high water there, that the canal is quite full at that
place up to the line E, should conclude that the canal is equally
full to the same height from end to end, and therefore there was as
much more water come into the canal since it was down at low water
mark, as would be included in the oblong space A, B, G, F, he would
be greatly mistaken. For the tide is _a wave_, and the top of the
wave, which makes high water, as well as every other lower part, is
progressive; and it is high water successively, but not at the same
time, in all the several points between G, F, and A, B.--And in such
a length as I have mentioned it is low water at F, G, and also at A,
B, at or near the same time with its being high water at E; so that
the surface of the water in the canal, during that situation, is
properly represented by the curve pricked line B, E, G. And on the
other hand, when it is low water at E, H, it is high water both at F,
G, and at A, B, at or near the same time: and the surface would then
be described by the inverted curve line, A, H, F.
In this view of the case, you will easily see, that there must be
very little more water in the canal at what we call high water, than
there is at low water, those terms not relating to the whole canal at
the same time, but successively to its parts. And if you suppose the
canal six times as long, the case would not vary as to the quantity
of water at different times of the tide; there would only be six
waves in the canal at the same time, instead of one, and the hollows
in the water would be equal to the hills.
That this is not mere theory, but conformable to fact, we know by
our long rivers in America. The Delaware, on which Philadelphia
stands, is in this particular similar to the canal I have supposed
of one wave: for when it is high water at the Capes or mouth of the
river, it is also high water at Philadelphia, which stands about one
hundred and forty miles from the sea; and there is at the same time
a low water in the middle between the two high waters; where, when
it comes to be high water, it is at the same time low water at the
Capes and at Philadelphia. And the longer rivers have some a wave
and half, some two, three, or four waves, according to their length.
In the shorter rivers of this island, one may see the same thing in
part: for instance, it is high water at Gravesend an hour before it
is high water at London Bridge; and twenty miles below Gravesend an
hour before it is high water at Gravesend. Therefore at the time of
high water at Gravesend the top of the wave is there, and the water
is then not so high by some feet where the top of the wave was an
hour before, or where it will be an hour after, as it is just then at
Gravesend.
Now we are not to suppose, that because the swell or top of the
wave runs at the rate of twenty miles an hour, that therefore the
current, or water itself of which the wave is composed, runs at that
rate. Far from it. To conceive this motion of a wave, make a small
experiment or two. Fasten one end of a cord in a window near the top
of a house, and let the other end come down to the ground; take this
end in your hand, and you may, by a sudden motion, occasion a wave in
the cord that will run quite up to the window; but though the wave
is progressive from your hand to the window, the parts of the rope do
not proceed with the wave, but remain where they were, except only
that kind of motion that produces the wave. So if you throw a stone
into a pond of water when the surface is still and smooth, you will
see a circular wave proceed from the stone as its centre, quite to
the sides of the pond; but the water does not proceed with the wave,
it only rises and falls to form it in the different parts of its
course; and the waves that follow the first, all make use of the same
water with their predecessors.
But a wave in water is not indeed in all circumstances exactly like
that in a cord; for water being a fluid, and gravitating to the
earth, it naturally runs from a higher place to a lower; therefore
the parts of the wave in water do actually run a little both ways
from its top towards its lower sides, which the parts of the wave
in the cord cannot do. Thus, when it is high and standing water at
Gravesend, the water twenty miles below has been running ebb, or
towards the sea for an hour, or ever since it was high water there;
but the water at London Bridge will run flood, or from the sea yet
another hour, till it is high water, or the top of the wave arrives
at that bridge, and then it will have run ebb an hour at Gravesend,
&c. &c. Now this motion of the water, occasioned only by its gravity,
or tendency to run from a higher place to a lower, is by no means so
swift as the motion of the wave. It scarce exceeds perhaps two miles
in an hour.
If it went as the wave does twenty miles an hour, no ships could
ride at anchor in such a stream, nor boats row against it.
In common speech, indeed, this current of the water both ways from
the top of the wave is called _the tide_; thus we say, _the tide runs
strong_, _the tide runs at the rate of one, two, or three miles an
hour, &c._ and when we are at a part of the river behind the top of
the wave, and find the water lower than high-water mark, and running
towards the sea, we say, _the tide runs ebb_; and when we are before
the top of the wave, and find the water higher than low-water mark,
and running from the sea, we say, _the tide runs flood_; but these
expressions are only locally proper; for a tide, strictly speaking,
is _one whole wave_, including all its parts higher and lower, and
these waves succeed one another about twice in twenty-four hours.
This motion of the water, occasioned by its gravity, will explain to
you why the water near the mouths of rivers may be salter at high
water than at low. Some of the salt-water, as the tide wave enters
the river, runs from its top and fore side, and mixes with the fresh,
and also pushes it back up the river.
Supposing that the water commonly runs during the flood at the rate
of two miles in an hour, and that the flood runs five hours, you see
that it can bring at most into our canal only a quantity of water
equal to the space included in the breadth of the canal, ten miles
of its length, and the depth between low and high-water mark; which
is but a fourteenth part of what would be necessary to fill all the
space between low and high-water mark, for one hundred and forty
miles, the whole length of the canal.
And indeed such a quantity of water as would fill that whole space,
to run in and out every tide, must create so outrageous a current, as
would do infinite damage to the shores, shipping, &c. and make the
navigation of a river almost impracticable.
I have made this letter longer than I intended, and therefore
reserve for another what I have further to say on the subject of
tides and rivers. I shall now only add, that I have not been exact
in the numbers, because I would avoid perplexing you with minute
calculations, my design at present being chiefly to give you distinct
and clear ideas of the first principles.
After writing six folio pages of philosophy to a young girl, is it
necessary to finish such a letter with a compliment?--Is not such
a letter of itself a compliment?--Does it not say, she has a mind
thirsty after knowledge, and capable of receiving it; and that the
most agreeable things one can write to her are those that tend to
the improvement of her understanding?--It does indeed say all this,
but then it is still no compliment; it is no more than plain honest
truth, which is not the character of a compliment. So if I would
finish my letter in the _mode_, I should yet add some thing that
means nothing, and is _merely_ civil and polite. But being naturally
aukward at every circumstance of ceremony, I shall not attempt it.
I had rather conclude abruptly with what pleases me more than any
compliment can please you, that I am allowed to subscribe myself
Your affectionate friend,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THE SAME.
_On the same Subject._
_Craven-street, Monday, March 30, 1761._
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Supposing the fact, that the water of the well at Bristol is warmer
after sometime pumping, I think your manner of accounting for that
increased warmth very ingenious and probable. It did not occur to me,
and therefore I doubted of the fact.
You are, I think quite right in your opinion, that the rising of the
tides in rivers is not owing to the immediate influence of the moon
on the rivers. It is rather a subsequent effect of the influence
of the moon on the sea, and does not make its appearance in some
rivers till the moon has long passed by. I have not expressed myself
clearly if you have understood me to mean otherwise. You know I
have mentioned it as a fact, that there are in some rivers several
tides all existing at the same time; that is, two, three, or more,
high-waters, and as many low-waters, in different parts of the same
river, which cannot possibly be all effects of the moon's immediate
action on that river; but they may be subsequent effects of her
action on the sea.
In the enclosed paper you will find my sentiments on several points
relating to the air, and the evaporation of water. It is Mr.
Collinson's copy, who took it from one I sent through his hands to a
correspondent in France some years since; I have, as he desired me,
corrected the mistakes he made in transcribing, and must return it to
him; but if you think it worth while, you may take a copy of it: I
would have saved you any trouble of that kind, but had not time.
Some day in the next or the following week, I purpose to have the
pleasure of seeing you at Wanstead: I shall accompany your good mamma
thither, and stay till the next morning, if it may be done without
incommoding your family too much.--We may then discourse any points
in that paper that do not seem clear to you; and taking a walk to
lord Tilney's ponds, make a few experiments there to explain the
nature of the tides more fully. In the mean time, believe me to be,
with the highest esteem and regard, your sincerely affectionate
friend,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THE SAME.
_Salt-Water rendered fresh by Distillation.--Method of relieving
Thirst by Sea-Water._
_Craven-street, August 10, 1761._
We are to set out this week for Holland, where we may possibly spend
a month, but purpose to be at home again before the coronation. I
could not go without taking leave of you by a line at least, when I
am so many letters in your debt.
In yours of May 19, which I have before me, you speak of the ease
with which salt water may be made fresh by distillation, supposing it
to be, as I had said, that in evaporation the air would take up water
but not the salt that was mixed with it. It is true that distilled
sea water will not be salt, but there are other disagreeable
qualities that rise with the water in distillation; which indeed
several besides Dr. Hales have endeavoured by some means to prevent;
but as yet their methods have not been brought much into use.
I have a singular opinion on this subject, which I will venture to
communicate to you, though I doubt you will rank it among my whims.
It is certain that the skin has _imbibing_ as well as _discharging_
pores; witness the effects of a blistering plaister, &c. I have read
that a man, hired by a physician to stand by way of experiment in
the open air naked during a moist night, weighed near three pounds
heavier in the morning. I have often observed myself, that however
thirsty I may have been before going into the water to swim, I am
never long so in the water. These imbibing pores, however, are very
fine, perhaps fine enough in filtering to separate salt from water;
for though I have soaked (by swimming, when a boy) several hours in
the day for several days successively in salt-water, I never found
my blood and juices salted by that means, so as to make me thirsty
or feel a salt taste in my mouth: and it is remarkable, that the
flesh of sea fish, though bred in salt-water, is not salt.--Hence I
imagine, that if people at sea, distressed by thirst when their fresh
water is unfortunately spent, would make bathing-tubs of their empty
water-casks, and, filling them with sea-water, sit in them an hour or
two each day, they might be greatly relieved. Perhaps keeping their
clothes constantly wet might have an almost equal effect; and this
without danger of catching cold. Men do not catch cold by wet cloaths
at sea. Damp, but not wet linen may possibly give colds; but no one
catches cold by bathing, and no clothes can be wetter than water
itself. Why damp clothes should then occasion colds, is a curious
question, the discussion of which I reserve for a future letter, or
some future conversation.
Adieu, my little philosopher. Present my respectful compliments to
the good ladies your aunts, and to miss Pitt; and believe me ever
Your affectionate friend,
And humble Servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THE SAME.
_Tendency of Rivers to the Sea.--Effect of the Sun's Rays on Cloths
of different Colours._
_Sept. 20, 1761._
MY DEAR FRIEND,
It is, as you observed in our late conversation, a very general
opinion, that _all rivers run into the sea_, or deposite their
waters there. 'Tis a kind of audacity to call such general opinions
in question, and may subject one to censure. But we must hazard
something in what we think the cause of truth: and if we propose our
objections modestly, we shall, though mistaken, deserve a censure
less severe, than when we are both mistaken and insolent.
That some rivers run into the sea is beyond a doubt: such, for
instance, are the Amazons, and I think the Oronoko and the
Mississippi. The proof is, that their waters are fresh quite to the
sea, and out to some distance from the land. Our question is, whether
the fresh waters of those rivers whose beds are filled with salt
water to a considerable distance up from the sea (as the Thames,
the Delaware, and the rivers that communicate with Chesapeak-bay in
Virginia) do ever arrive at the sea? And as I suspect they do not, I
am now to acquaint you with my reasons; or, if they are not allowed
to be reasons, my conceptions at least, of this matter.
The common supply of rivers is from springs, which draw their origin
from rain that has soaked into the earth. The union of a number of
springs forms a river. The waters as they run, exposed to the sun,
air, and wind, are continually evaporating. Hence in travelling one
may often see where a river runs, by a long blueish mist over it,
though we are at such a distance as not to see the river itself. The
quantity of this evaporation is greater or less, in proportion to
the surface exposed by the same quantity of water to those causes of
evaporation. While the river runs in a narrow confined channel in the
upper hilly country, only a small surface is exposed; a greater as
the river widens. Now if a river ends in a lake, as some do, whereby
its waters are spread so wide as that the evaporation is equal to
the sum of all its springs, that lake will never overflow:--And if
instead of ending in a lake, it was drawn into greater length as a
river, so as to expose a surface equal in the whole to that lake, the
evaporation would be equal, and such river would end as a canal; when
the ignorant might suppose, as they actually do in such cases, that
the river loses itself by running under ground, whereas in truth it
has run up into the air.
Now, many rivers that are open to the sea widen much before they
arrive at it, not merely by the additional waters they receive,
but by having their course stopped by the opposing flood-tide; by
being turned back twice in twenty-four hours, and by finding broader
beds in the low flat countries to dilate themselves in; hence the
evaporation of the fresh water is proportionably increased; so that
in some rivers it may equal the springs of supply. In such cases,
the salt water comes up the river, and meets the fresh in that part
where, if there were a wall or bank of earth across from side to
side, the river would form a lake, fuller indeed at some times than
at others, according to the seasons, but whose evaporation would, one
time with another, be equal to its supply.
When the communication between the two kinds of water is open, this
supposed wall of separation may be conceived as a moveable one, which
is not only pushed some miles higher up the river by every flood tide
from the sea, and carried down again as far by every tide of ebb,
but which has even this space of vibration removed nearer to the sea
in wet seasons, when the springs and brooks in the upper country are
augmented by the falling rains, so as to swell the river, and farther
from the sea in dry seasons.
Within a few miles above and below this moveable line of separation,
the different waters mix a little, partly by their motion to and fro,
and partly from the greater specific gravity of the salt water, which
inclines it to run under the fresh, while the fresh water, being
lighter, runs over the salt.
Cast your eye on the map of North America, and observe the bay of
Chesapeak in Virginia, mentioned above; you will see, communicating
with it by their mouths, the great rivers Sasquehanah, Potowmack,
Rappahanock, York, and James, besides a number of smaller streams,
each as big as the Thames. It has been proposed by philosophical
writers, that to compute how much water any river discharges into the
sea in a given time, we should measure its depth and swiftness at any
part above the tide; as, for the Thames, at Kingston or Windsor. But
can one imagine, that if all the water of those vast rivers went to
the sea, it would not first have pushed the salt water out of that
narrow-mouthed bay, and filled it with fresh?--The Sasquehanah alone
would seem to be sufficient for this, if it were not for the loss by
evaporation. And yet that bay is salt quite up to Annapolis.
As to our other subject, the different degrees of heat imbibed from
the sun's rays by cloths of different colours, since I cannot find
the notes of my experiment to send you, I must give it as well as I
can from memory.
But first let me mention an experiment you may easily make yourself.
Walk but a quarter of an hour in your garden when the sun shines,
with a part of your dress white, and a part black; then apply your
hand to them alternately, and you will find a very great difference
in their warmth. The black will be quite hot to the touch, the white
still cool.
Another. Try to fire the paper with a burning glass. If it is white,
you will not easily burn it;--but if you bring the focus to a black
spot, or upon letters, written or printed, the paper will immediately
be on fire under the letters.
Thus fullers and dyers find black cloths, of equal thickness with
white ones, and hung out equally wet, dry in the sun much sooner
than the white, being more readily heated by the sun's rays. It is
the same before a fire; the heat of which sooner penetrates black
stockings than white ones, and so is apt sooner to burn a man's
shins. Also beer much sooner warms in a black mug set before the
fire, than in a white one, or in a bright silver tankard.
My experiment was this. I took a number of little square pieces of
broad cloth from a taylor's pattern-card, of various colours. There
were black, deep blue, lighter blue, green, purple, red, yellow,
white, and other colours, or shades of colours. I laid them all out
upon the snow in a bright sun-shiny morning. In a few hours (I cannot
now be exact as to the time) the black, being warmed most by the sun,
was sunk so low as to be below the stroke of the sun's rays; the dark
blue almost as low, the lighter blue not quite so much as the dark,
the other colours less as they were lighter; and the quite white
remained on the surface of the snow, not having entered it at all.
What signifies philosophy that does not apply to some use?---May we
not learn from hence, that black clothes are not so fit to wear in a
hot sunny climate or season, as white ones; because in such clothes
the body is more heated by the sun when we walk abroad, and are at
the same time heated by the exercise, which double heat is apt to
bring on putrid dangerous fevers? That soldiers and seamen, who must
march and labour in the sun, should in the East or West Indies have
an uniform of white? That summer hats, for men or women, should be
white, as repelling that heat which gives head-achs to many, and to
some the fatal stroke that the French call the _coup de soleil?_ That
the ladies summer hats, however, should be lined with black, as not
reverberating on their faces those rays which are reflected upwards
from the earth or water? That the putting a white cap of paper or
linen _within_ the crown of a black hat, as some do, will not keep
out the heat, though it would if placed _without_. That fruit-walls
being blacked may receive so much heat from the sun in the day-time,
as to continue warm in some degree through the night, and thereby
preserve the fruit from frosts, or forward its growth?--with sundry
other particulars of less or greater importance, that will occur from
time to time to attentive minds?--I am,
Yours affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MR. HOPKINSON.
_On the Vis Inertiæ of Matter._
_Philadelphia, 1748._
SIR,
According to my promise, I send you _in writing_ my observations on
your book[18]: you will be the better able to consider them; which
I desire you to do at your leisure, and to set me right where I am
wrong.
I stumble at the threshold of the building, and therefore have not
read farther. The author's _vis inertiæ essential to matter_, upon
which the whole work is founded, I have not been able to comprehend.
And I do not think he demonstrates at all clearly (at least to me he
does not) that there is really _such a property in matter_.
He says, No. 2. "Let a given body or mass of matter be called
_a_, and let any given celerity be called c. That _celerity_
doubled, tripled, &c. or halved, thirded, &c. will be 2 _c_, 3 _c_,
&c. or ½ _c_, ⅓ _c_, &c. respectively: also the _body_ doubled,
tripled, or halved, thirded, will be 2 _a_, 3 _a_, or ½ _a_, ⅓ _a_,
respectively." Thus far is clear.--But he adds, "Now to move the body
_a_ with the celerity _c_, requires a certain force to be impressed
upon it; and to move it with a celerity as 2 _c_, requires _twice
that force_ to be impressed upon it, &c." Here I suspect some mistake
creeps in by the author's not distinguishing between a great force
applied at once, or a small one continually applied, to a mass of
matter, in order to move it. I think it is generally allowed by
the philosophers, and, for aught we know, is certainly true, that
there is no mass of matter, how great soever, but may be moved by
any force how small soever (taking friction out of the question)
and this small force continued, will in time bring the mass to move
with any velocity whatsoever.--Our author himself seems to allow
this towards the end of the same No. 2. when he is subdividing his
celerities and forces: for as in continuing the division to eternity
by his method of ½ _c_, ⅓ _c_, ¼ _c_, ⅕ _c_, &c. you can never come
to a fraction of velocity that is equal to 0 _c_, or no celerity at
all; so dividing the force in the same manner, you can never come
to a fraction of force that will not produce an equal fraction of
celerity.--Where then is the mighty vis inertiæ, and what is its
strength; when the greatest assignable mass of matter will give way
to, or be moved by the _least_ assignable force? Suppose two globes,
equal to the sun and to one another, exactly equipoised in Jove's
balance; suppose no friction in the centre of motion, in the beam or
elsewhere: if a musketo then were to light on one of them, would he
not give motion to them both, causing one to descend and the other
to rise? If it is objected, that the force of gravity helps one globe
to descend, I answer, the same force opposes the other's rising: here
is an equality that leaves the whole motion to be produced by the
musketo, without whom those globes would not be moved at all.--What
then does vis inertiæ do in this case? and what other effect could
we expect _if there were no such thing_? Surely if it were any thing
more than a phantom, there might be enough of it in such _vast_
bodies to annihilate, by its opposition to motion, so trifling a
force?
Our author would have reasoned more clearly, I think, if, as he has
used the letter _a_ for a certain quantity of matter, and _c_ for a
certain quantity of celerity, he had employed one letter more, and
put _f_ perhaps, for a certain quantity of force. This let us suppose
to be done; and then as it is a maxim that the force of bodies in
motion is equal to the quantity of matter multiplied by the celerity,
(or _f_ = _c_ X _a_); and as the force received by and subsisting in
matter, when it is put in motion, can never exceed the force given;
so if, _f_ moves _a_ with _c_, there must needs be required 2 _f_ to
move _a_ with 2 _c_; for _a_ moving with 2 _c_ would have a force
equal to 2 _f_, which it could not receive from 1 _f_; and this, not
because there is such a thing as vis inertiæ, for the case would be
the same _if that had no existence_; but because nothing _can_ give
more than it has, if 1 _f_ can to 1 _a_ give 1 _c_, which is the
same thing as giving it 1 _f_; (i. e. if force applied to matter at
rest, can put it in motion, and give it _equal_ force) where then is
vis inertiæ? If it existed at all in matter, should we not find the
quantity of its resistance subtracted from the force given?
In No. 4. our author goes on and says, "the body _a_ requires a
certain force to be impressed on it to be moved with a celerity as
_c_, or such a force is necessary; and therefore makes a certain
resistance, &c. A body as 2 _a_ requires _twice_ that force to be
moved with the _same celerity_, or it makes twice that resistance;
and so on."--This I think is not true; but that the body 2 _a_ moved
by the force 1 _f_ (though the eye may judge otherwise of it) does
really move with the same celerity as it did when impelled by the
same force; for 2 _a_ is compounded of 1 _a_ + 1 _a_: and if each of
the 1 _a_'s or each part of the compound were made to move with 1 _c_
(as they might be by 2 _f_) then the whole would move with 2 _c_, and
not with 1 _c_, as our author supposes. But 1 _f_ applied to 2 _a_,
makes each _a_ move with ½ _c_; and so the whole moves with 1 _c_;
exactly the same as 1 _a_ was made to do by 1 _f_ before. What is
equal celerity but a _measuring the same space by moving bodies in
the same time_?--Now if 1 _a_ impelled by 1 _f_ measures 100 yards
in a minute; and in 2 _a_ impelled by 1 _f_, each _a_ measures 50
yards in a minute, which added make 100; are not the celerities as
the forces equal? and since force and celerity in the same quantity
of matter are always in _proportion_ to each other, why should we,
when the quantity of matter is doubled, allow the force to continue
unimpaired, and yet suppose one half of the celerity to be lost?--I
wonder the more at our author's mistake in this point, since in the
same number I find him observing: "We may easily conceive that a body
as 3 _a_, 4 _a_, &c. would make 3 or 4 bodies equal to once _a_, each
of which would require once the first force to be moved with the
celerity _c_." If then in 3 _a_, each _a_ requires once the first
force _f_ to be moved with the celerity _c_, would not each move
with the force _f_ and celerity _c_; and consequently the whole be 3
_a_ moving with 3 _f_ and 3 _c?_ After so distinct an observation,
how could he miss of the consequence, and imagine that 1 _c_ and 3
_c_ were the same? Thus as our author's abatement of celerity in the
case of 2 _a_ moved by 1 _f_ is imaginary, so must be his additional
resistance.--And here again, I am at a loss to discover any effect of
the vis inertiæ.
In No. 6, he tells us, "that all this is likewise certain when taken
the contrary way, viz. _from motion to rest_; for the body _a_ moving
with a certain velocity, as _c_, requires a certain degree of force
or resistance to stop that motion, &c. &c." that is, in other words,
equal force is necessary to destroy force. It may be so. But how
does that discover a vis inertiæ? would not the effect be the same
_if there were no such thing_? A force 1 _f_ strikes a body 1 _a_,
and moves it with the celerity 1 _c_, i. e. with the force 1 _f_: It
requires, even according to our author, only an opposing 1 _f_ to
stop it. But ought it not (if there were a vis inertiæ) to have not
only the force 1 _f_, but an additional force equal to the force of
vis inertiæ, that _obstinate power by which a body endeavours with_
all its might _to continue in its present state, whether of motion
or rest_? I say, ought there not to be an opposing force equal to
the sum of these?--The truth however is, that there is no body, how
large soever, moving with any velocity, how great soever, but may be
stopped by any opposing force, how small soever, continually applied.
At least all our modern philosophers agree to tell us so.
Let me turn the thing in what light I please, I cannot discover the
vis inertiæ, nor any effect of it. It is allowed by all, that a body
1 _a_ moving with a velocity 1 _c_, and a force 1 _f_ _striking
another_ body 1 _a_ at rest, they will afterwards _move on together_,
each with ½ _c_ and ½ _f_; which, as I said before, is equal in the
whole to 1 _c_ and 1 _f_. If vis inertiæ, as in this case, neither
abates the force nor the velocity of bodies, what does it, or how
does it discover itself?
I imagine I may venture to conclude my observations on this piece,
almost in the words of the author; that if the doctrines of the
immateriality of the soul and the existence of God and of divine
providence are demonstrable from no plainer principles, the _deist_
[i.e. _theist_] has a desperate cause in hand. I oppose _my theist_
to his atheist, because I think they are diametrically opposite;
and not near of kin, as Mr. Whitfield seems to suppose; where (in
his journal) he tells us, "_M. B. was a deist, I had almost said an
atheist_;" that is, _chalk_, I had almost said _charcoal_.
The din of the market[19] increases upon me; and that, with frequent
interruptions, has, I find, made me say some things twice over; and,
I suppose, forget some others I intended to say. It has, however, one
good effect, as it obliges me to come to the relief of your patience
with
Your humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[18] Baxter's Inquiry into the Nature of the Human Soul. B. V.
[19] Philadelphia market, in which Dr. Franklin lived. B. V.
TO JOHN PRINGLE, M. D. AND F. R. S.
_On the different Strata of the Earth._
_Craven-Street, Jan. 6, 1758._
SIR,
I return you Mr. Mitchell's paper on the strata of the earth[20] with
thanks. The reading of it, and perusal of the draft that accompanies
it, have reconciled me to those convulsions which all naturalists
agree this globe has suffered. Had the different strata of clay,
gravel, marble, coals, lime-stone, sand, minerals, &c. continued to
lie level, one under the other, as they may be supposed to have done
before those convulsions, we should have had the use only of a few
of the uppermost of the strata, the others lying too deep and too
difficult to be come at; but the shell of the earth being broke,
and the fragments thrown into this oblique position, the disjointed
ends of a great number of strata of different kinds are brought up
to day, and a great variety of useful materials put into our power,
which would otherwise have remained eternally concealed from us. So
that what has been usually looked upon as a _ruin_ suffered by this
part of the universe, was, in reality, only a preparation, or means
of rendering the earth more fit for use, more capable of being to
mankind a convenient and comfortable habitation.
I am, Sir, with great esteem, yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[20] See this paper afterwards printed in the _Philosophical
Transactions_.
TO THE ABBE SOULAVIE.
Occasioned by his sending me some notes he had taken of what I had
said to him in conversation on the Theory of the Earth. I wrote
it to set him right in some points wherein he had mistaken my
meaning.[21]
_Passy, September 22, 1782._
SIR,
I return the papers with some corrections. I did not find coal mines
under the calcareous rock in Derbyshire. I only remarked, that at
the lowest part of that rocky mountain which was in sight, there
were oyster shells mixed in the stone; and part of the high county
of Derby being probably as much above the level of the sea, as the
coal mines of Whitehaven were below it, seemed a proof, that there
had been a great _bouleversement_ in the surface of that island, some
part of it having been depressed under the sea, and other parts,
which had been under it, being raised above it. Such changes in the
superficial parts of the globe, seemed to me unlikely to happen,
if the earth were solid to the centre. I therefore imagined, that
the internal parts might be a fluid more dense, and of greater
specific gravity than any of the solids we are acquainted with, which
therefore might swim in or upon that fluid. Thus the surface of the
globe would be a shell, capable of being broken and disordered by
the violent movements of the fluid on which it rested. And as air
has been compressed by art so as to be twice as dense as water, in
which case, if such air and water could be contained in a strong
glass vessel, the air would be seen to take the lowest place, and
the water to float above and upon it; and as we know not yet the
degree of density to which air may be compressed, and M. Amontons
calculated, that its density increasing as it approached the centre,
in the same proportion as above the surface, it would at the depth of
[___] leagues, be heavier than gold, possibly the dense fluid occupying
the internal parts of the globe might be air compressed. And as the
force of expansion in dense air when heated is in proportion to its
density, this central air might afford another agent to move the
surface, as well as be of use in keeping alive the subterraneous
fires; though, as you observe, the sudden rarefaction of water coming
into contact without those fires, may also be an agent sufficiently
strong for that purpose, when acting between the incumbent earth and
the fluid on which it rests.
If one might indulge imagination in supposing how such a globe
was formed, I should conceive, that all the elements in separate
particles being originally mixed in confusion, and occupying a great
space, they would (as soon as the almighty fiat ordained gravity,
or the mutual attraction of certain parts, and the mutual repulsion
of others, to exist) all move to their common centre: that the air
being a fluid whose parts repel each other, though drawn to the
common centre by their gravity, would be densest towards the centre,
and rarer as more remote; consequently all matters lighter than the
central parts of that air, and immersed in it, would recede from
the centre, and rise till they arrived at that region of the air
which was of the same specific gravity with themselves, where they
would rest; while other matter, mixed with the lighter air, would
descend, and the two meeting would form the shell of the first earth,
leaving the upper atmosphere nearly clear. The original movement of
the parts towards their common centre would naturally form a whirl
there; which would continue upon the turning of the new-formed globe
upon its axis, and the greatest diameter of the shell would be in its
equator. If by any accident afterwards the axis should be changed,
the dense internal fluid, by altering its form, must burst the shell,
and throw all its substance into the confusion in which we find it. I
will not trouble you at present with my fancies concerning the manner
of forming the rest of our system. Superior beings smile at our
theories, and at our presumption in making them. I will just mention,
that your observation of the ferruginous nature of the lava which is
thrown out from the depths of our volcanoes, gave me great pleasure.
It has long been a supposition of mine, that the iron contained in
the surface of the globe has made it capable of becoming, as it is,
a great magnet; that the fluid of magnetism perhaps exists in all
space; so that there is a magnetical north and south of the universe,
as well as of this globe, and that if it were possible for a man to
fly from star to star, he might govern his course by the compass;
that it was by the power of this general magnetism this globe became
a particular magnet. In soft or hot iron the fluid of magnetism is
naturally diffused equally; when within the influence of the magnet
it is drawn to one end of the iron, made denser there and rarer
at the other. While the iron continues soft and hot, it is only a
temporary magnet; if it cools or grows hard in that situation, it
becomes a permanent one, the magnetic fluid not easily resuming its
equilibrium. Perhaps it may be owing to the permanent magnetism of
this globe, which it had not at first, that its axis is at present
kept parallel to itself, and not liable to the changes it formerly
suffered, which occasioned the rupture of its shell, the submersions
and emersions of its lands and the confusion of its seasons. The
present polar and equatorial diameters differing from each other
near ten leagues, it is easy to conceive, in case some power should
shift the axis gradually, and place it in the present equator, and
make the new equator pass through the present poles, what a sinking
of the waters would happen in the present equatorial regions, and
what a rising in the present polar regions; so that vast tracts would
be discovered, that now are under water, and others covered, that
are now dry, the water rising and sinking in the different extremes
near five leagues. Such an operation as this possibly occasioned
much of Europe, and among the rest this Mountain of Passy on which I
live, and which is composed of limestone, rock and sea-shells, to be
abandoned by the sea, and to change its ancient climate, which seems
to have been a hot one. The globe being now become a perfect magnet,
we are, perhaps, safe from any change of its axis. But we are still
subject to the accidents on the surface, which are occasioned by a
wave in the internal ponderous fluid; and such a wave is producible
by the sudden violent explosion you mention, happening from the
junction of water and fire under the earth, which not only lifts
the incumbent earth that is over the explosion, but impressing with
the same force the fluid under it, creates a wave, that may run a
thousand leagues, lifting, and thereby shaking, successively, all
the countries under which it passes. I know not, whether I have
expressed myself so clearly, as not to get out of your sight in
these reveries. It they occasion any new enquiries, and produce a
better hypothesis, they will not be quite useless. You see I have
given a loose to imagination; but I approve much more your method
of philosophising, which proceeds upon actual observation, makes
a collection of facts, and concludes no farther than those facts
will warrant. In my present circumstances, that mode of studying
the nature of the globe is out of my power, and therefore I have
permitted myself to wander a little in the wilds of fancy. With great
esteem,
I have the honour to be, Sir, &c.
BENJ. FRANKLIN.
_P. S._ I have heard, that chymists can by their art decompose stone
and wood, extracting a considerable quantity of water from the one,
and air from the other. It seems natural to conclude from this, that
water and air were ingredients in their original composition: for
men cannot make new matter of any kind. In the same manner may we
not suppose, that when we consume combustibles of all kinds, and
produce heat or light, we do not create that heat or light; but only
decompose a substance, which received it originally as a part of its
composition? Heat may be thus considered as originally in a fluid
state; but, attracted by organized bodies in their growth, becomes a
part of the solid. Besides this, I can conceive, that in the first
assemblage of the particles of which this earth is composed, each
brought its portion of the loose heat that had been connected with
it, and the whole, when pressed together, produced the internal fire
that still subsists.
FOOTNOTE:
[21] In an American periodical publication, this paper is said to
have been so endorsed in Dr. Franklin's hand. We extract the paper
itself, from the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,
where it was read Nov. 21, 1788. The two papers that follow it are
from the same work, and were read in the Society the preceding day,
and the other Jan. 15, 1790. _Editor._
TO DAVID RITTENHOUSE, ESQ.
_New and curious Theory of Light and Heat._
[No date.]
Universal space, as far as we know of it, seems to be filled with a
subtle fluid, whose motion, or vibration, is called light.
This fluid may possibly be the same with that, which, being attracted
by, and entering into other more solid matter, dilates the substance
by separating the constituent particles, and so rendering some solids
fluid, and maintaining the fluidity of others; of which fluid, when
our bodies are totally deprived, they are said to be frozen; when
they have a proper quantity, they are in health, and fit to perform
all their functions; it is then called natural heat; when too much,
it is called fever; and when forced into the body in too great a
quantity from without, it gives pain, by separating and destroying
the flesh, and is then called burning, and the fluid so entering and
acting is called fire.
While organised bodies, animal or vegetable, are augmenting in
growth, or are supplying their continual waste, is not this done by
attracting and consolidating this fluid called fire, so as to form
of it a part of their substance? And is it not a separation of the
parts of such substance, which, dissolving its solid state, sets that
subtle fluid at liberty, when it again makes its appearance as fire?
For the power of man relative to matter, seems limited to the
separating or mixing the various kinds of it, or changing its form
and appearance by different compositions of it; but does not extend
to the making or creating new matter, or annihilating the old. Thus,
if fire be an original element or kind of matter, its quantity is
fixed and permanent in the universe. We cannot destroy any part of
it, or make addition to it; we can only separate it from that which
confines it, and so set it at liberty; as when we put wood in a
situation to be burnt, or transfer it from one solid to another, as
when we make lime by burning stone, a part of the fire dislodged
in the fuel being left in the stone. May not this fluid, when at
liberty, be capable of penetrating and entering into all bodies,
organised or not, quitting easily in totality those not organised,
and quitting easily in part those which are; the part assumed and
fixed remaining till the body is dissolved?
Is it not this fluid which keeps asunder the particles of air,
permitting them to approach, or separating them more, in proportion
as its quantity is diminished or augmented?
Is it not the greater gravity of the particles of air, which forces
the particles of this fluid to mount with the matters to which it is
attached, as smoke or vapour?
Does it not seem to have a greater affinity with water, since it will
quit a solid to unite with that fluid, and go off with it in vapour,
leaving the solid cold to the touch, and the degree measurable by the
thermometer?
The vapour rises attached to this fluid, but at a certain height they
separate, and the vapour descends in rain, retaining but little of
it, in snow or hail less. What becomes of that fluid? Does it rise
above our atmosphere, and mix with the universal mass of the same
kind?
Or does a spherical stratum of it, denser, as less mixed with air,
attracted by this globe, and repelled or pushed up only to a certain
height from its surface, by the greater weight of air, remain there
surrounding the globe, and proceeding with it round the sun?
In such case, as there may be a continuity or communication of this
fluid through the air quite down to the earth, is it not by the
vibrations given to it, by the sun, that light appears to us? And
may it not be, that every one of the infinitely small vibrations,
striking common matter with a certain force, enters its substance,
is held there by attraction, and augmented by succeeding vibrations,
till the matter has received as much as their force can drive into it?
Is it not thus, that the surface of this globe is continually heated
by such repeated vibrations in the day, and cooled by the escape of
the heat when those vibrations are discontinued in the night, or
intercepted and reflected by clouds?
Is it not thus, that fire is amassed and makes the greatest part of
the substance of combustible bodies?
Perhaps, when this globe was first formed, and its original particles
took their place at certain distances from the centre, in proportion
to their greater or less gravity, the fluid fire, attracted towards
that centre, might in great part be obliged, as lightest, to take
place above the rest, and thus form the sphere of fire above
supposed, which would afterwards be continually diminishing by the
substance it afforded to organised bodies, and the quantity restored
to it again, by the burning or other separating of the parts of those
bodies.
Is not the natural heat of animals thus produced, by separating in
digestion the parts of food, and setting their fire at liberty?
Is it not this sphere of fire which kindles the wandering globes that
sometimes pass through it in our course round the sun, have their
surface kindled by it, and burst when their included air is greatly
rarefied by the heat on their burning surfaces?
May it not have been from such considerations that the ancient
philosophers supposed a sphere of fire to exist above the air of our
atmosphere?
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MR. BODOIN.
_Queries and Conjectures relating to Magnetism and the Theory of
the Earth._
[No date.]
DEAR SIR,
I received your favours by Messrs. Gore, Hilliard, and Lee, with
whose conversation I was much pleased, and wished for more of it; but
their stay with us was too short. Whenever you recommend any of your
friends to me, you oblige me.
I want to know whether your Philosophical Society received the
second volume of our Transactions. I sent it, but never heard of its
arriving. If it miscarried, I will send another. Has your Society
among its books the French work _Sur les Arts, et les Metiers_? It
is voluminous, well executed, and may be useful in our country. I
have bequeathed it them in my will; but if they have it already, I
will substitute something else.
Our ancient correspondence used to have something philosophical in
it. As you are now more free from public cares, and I expect to be so
in a few months, why may we not resume that kind of correspondence?
Our much regretted friend Winthrop once made me the compliment, that
I was good at starting game for philosophers, let me try if I can
start a little for you.
Has the question, how came the earth by its magnetism, ever been
considered?
Is it likely that _iron ore_ immediately existed when this globe was
first formed; or may it not rather be supposed a gradual production
of time?
If the earth is at present magnetical, in virtue of the masses of
iron ore contained in it, might not some ages pass before it had
magnetic polarity?
Since iron ore may exist without that polarity, and by being placed
in certain circumstances may obtain it, from an external cause, is
it not possible that the earth received its magnetism from some such
cause?
In short, may not a magnetic power exist throughout our system,
perhaps through all systems, so that if men could make a voyage in
the starry regions, a compass might be of use? And may not such
universal magnetism, with its uniform direction, be serviceable in
keeping the diurnal revolution of a planet more steady to the same
axis?
Lastly, as the poles of magnets may be changed by the presence of
stronger magnets, might not, in ancient times, the near passing of
some large comet of greater magnetic power than this globe of ours
have been a means of changing its poles, and thereby wrecking and
deranging its surface, placing in different regions the effect of
centrifugal force, so as to raise the waters of the sea in some,
while they were depressed in others?
Let me add another question or two, not relating indeed to magnetism,
but, however, to the theory of the earth.
Is not the finding of great quantities of shells and bones of animals
(natural to hot climates) in the cold ones of our present world,
some proof that its poles have been changed? Is not the supposition
that the poles have been changed, the easiest way of accounting for
the deluge, by getting rid of the old difficulty how to dispose of
its waters after it was over? Since if the poles were again to be
changed, and placed in the present equator, the sea would fall there
about fifteen miles in height, and rise as much in the present polar
regions; and the effect would be proportionable if the new poles were
placed any where between the present and the equator.
Does not the apparent wreck of the surface of this globe, thrown up
into long ridges of mountains, with strata in various positions, make
it probable, that its internal mass is a fluid; but a fluid so dense
as to float the heaviest of our substances? Do we know the limit of
condensation air is capable of? Supposing it to grow denser _within_
the surface, in the same proportion nearly as it does _without_, at
what depth may it be equal in density with gold?
Can we easily conceive how the strata of the earth could have been
so deranged, if it had not been a mere shell supported by a heavier
fluid? Would not such a supposed internal fluid globe be immediately
sensible of a change in the situation of the earth's axis, alter its
form, and thereby burst the shell, and throw up parts of it above
the rest? As, if we would alter the position of the fluid contained
in the shell of an egg, and place its longest diameter where the
shortest now is, the shell must break; but would be much harder to
break; if the whole internal substance were as solid and hard as the
shell.
Might not a wave, by any means raised in this supposed internal ocean
of extremely dense fluid, raise in some degree, as it passes, the
present shell of incumbent earth, and break it in some places, as in
earthquakes? And may not the progress of such wave, and the disorders
it occasions among the solids of the shell, account for the rumbling
sound being first heard at a distance, augmenting as it approaches,
and gradually dying away as it proceeds? A circumstance observed by
the inhabitants of South America in their last great earthquake, that
noise coming from a place, some degrees north of Lima, and being
traced by enquiry quite down to Buenos Ayres, proceeded regularly
from north to south at the rate of [___] leagues per minute, as I was
informed by a very ingenious Peruvian whom I met with at Paris.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO M. DUBOURG.
_On the Nature of Sea Coal[22]._
**** I am persuaded, as well as you, that the sea coal has a
vegetable origin, and that it has been formed near the surface of
the earth; but as preceding convulsions of nature had served to bring
it very deep in many places, and covered it with many different
strata, we are indebted to subsequent convulsions for having brought
within our view the extremities of its veins, so as to lead us to
penetrate the earth in search of it. I visited last summer a large
coal-mine at Whitehaven, in Cumberland; and in following the vein
and descending by degrees towards the sea, I penetrated below the
ocean, where the level of its surface was more than eight hundred
fathom above my head, and the miners assured me, that their works
extended some miles beyond the place where I then was, continually
and gradually descending under the sea. The slate, which forms the
roof of this coal mine, is impressed in many places with the figures
of leaves and branches of fern, which undoubtedly grew at the surface
when the slate was in the state of sand on the banks of the sea.
Thus it appears that this vein of coal has suffered a prodigious
settlement. ****
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[22] Retranslated from the French edition of Dr. Franklin's works.
_Editor._
TO DR. PRIESTLEY[23].
_Effect of Vegetation on noxious Air._
**** That the vegetable creation should restore the air which is
spoiled by the animal part of it, looks like a rational system, and
seems to be of a piece with the rest. Thus fire purifies water all
the world over. It purifies it by distillation, when it raises it in
vapours, and lets it fall in rain; and farther still by filtration,
when, keeping it fluid, it suffers that rain to percolate the
earth. We knew before, that putrid animal substances were converted
into sweet vegetables, when mixed with the earth, and applied as
manure; and now, it seems, that the same putrid substances, mixed
with the air, have a similar effect. The strong thriving state of
your mint, in putrid air, seems to shew, that the air is mended
by taking something from it, and not by adding to it. I hope this
will give some check to the rage of destroying trees that grow near
houses, which has accompanied our late improvements in gardening,
from an opinion of their being unwholesome. I am certain, from long
observation, that there is nothing unhealthy in the air of woods; for
we Americans have every where our country habitations in the midst
of woods, and no people on earth enjoy better health, or are more
prolific. ****
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[23] This extract is taken from Dr. Priestley's Experiments on
Air, Vol. I. page 94. It was written in answer to a note from Dr.
Priestley, informing our author of the result of certain experiments
on some plants which he had seen at Dr. Priestley's house in a very
flourishing state, in jars of highly noxious air. _Editor._
TO THE SAME[24].
_On the Inflammability of the Surface of certain Rivers in America._
_Craven-street, April 10, 1774._
DEAR SIR,
In compliance with your request, I have endeavoured to recollect the
circumstances of the American experiments I formerly mentioned to
you, of raising a flame on the surface of some waters there.
When I passed through New Jersey in 1764, I heard it several times
mentioned, that by applying a lighted candle near the surface of
some of their rivers, a sudden flame would catch and spread on the
water, continuing to burn for near half a minute. But the accounts I
received were so imperfect, that I could form no guess at the cause
of such an effect, and rather doubted the truth of it. I had no
opportunity of seeing the experiment; but calling to see a friend who
happened to be just returning home from making it himself, I learned
from him the manner of it; which was to choose a shallow place,
where the bottom could be reached by a walking-stick, and was muddy;
the mud was first to be stirred with the stick, and when a number
of small bubbles began to arise from it, the candle was applied.
The flame was so sudden and so strong, that it catched his ruffle
and spoiled it, as I saw. New Jersey having many pine-trees in many
parts of it, I then imagined that something like a volatile oil of
turpentine might be mixed with the waters from a pine-swamp, but this
supposition did not quite satisfy me. I mentioned the fact to some
philosophical friends on my return to England, but it was not much
attended to. I suppose I was thought a little too credulous.
In 1765, the Reverend Dr. Chandler received a letter from Dr.
Finley, President of the College in that province, relating the
same experiment. It was read at the Royal Society, November 21 of
that year, but not printed in the Transactions; perhaps because
it was thought too strange to be true, and some ridicule might be
apprehended, if any member should attempt to repeat it, in order to
ascertain, or refute it. The following is a copy of that account.
"A worthy gentleman, who lives at a few miles distance, informed
me, that in a certain small cove of a mill-pond, near his house, he
was surprized to see the surface of the water blaze like inflamed
spirits. I soon after went to the place, and made the experiment with
the same success. The bottom of the creek was muddy, and when stirred
up, so as to cause a considerable curl on the surface, and a lighted
candle held within two or three inches of it, the whole surface was
in a blaze, as instantly as the vapour of warm inflammable spirits,
and continued, when strongly agitated, for the space of several
seconds. It was at first imagined to be peculiar to that place; but
upon trial it was soon found, that such a bottom in other places
exhibited the same phenomenon. The discovery was accidentally made by
one belonging to the mill."
I have tried the experiment twice here in England, but without
success. The first was in a slow running water with a muddy bottom.
The second in a stagnant water at the bottom of a deep ditch. Being
some time employed in stirring this water, I ascribed an intermitting
fever, which seized me a few days after, to my breathing too much of
that foul air, which I stirred up from the bottom, and which I could
not avoid while I stooped, endeavouring to kindle it. The discoveries
you have lately made, of the manner in which inflammable air is in
some cases produced, may throw light on this experiment, and explain
its succeeding in some cases, and not in others. With the highest
esteem and respect,
I am, dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[24] From his Experiments on Air, Vol. I. page 321. _Editor._
TO DR. PERCIVAL[25].
_On the different Quantities of Rain which fall at different
Heights over the same Ground._
[No date.]
On my return to London I found your favour of the 16th of May (1771).
I wish I could, as you desire, give you a better explanation of the
phenomenon in question, since you seem not quite satisfied with your
own; but I think we want more and a greater variety of experiments,
in different circumstances, to enable us to form a thoroughly
satisfactory hypothesis. Not that I make the least doubt of the facts
already related, as I know both Lord Charles Cavendish, and Dr.
Heberden to be very accurate experimenters: but I wish to know the
event of the trials proposed in your six queries; and also, whether
in the same place where the lower vessel receives nearly twice the
quantity of water that is received by the upper, a third vessel
placed at half the height will receive a quantity proportionable. I
will however endeavour to explain to you what occurred to me, when I
first heard of the fact.
I suppose it will be generally allowed, on a little consideration
of the subject, that scarce any drop of water was, when it began to
fall from the clouds, of a magnitude equal to that it has acquired,
when it arrives at the earth; the same of the several pieces of
hail; because they are often so large and so weighty, that we
cannot conceive a possibility of their being suspended in the air,
and remaining at rest there, for any time, how small soever; nor do
we conceive any means of forming them so large, before they set out
to fall. It seems then, that each beginning drop, and particle of
hail, receives continual addition in its progress downwards. This
may be several ways: by the union of numbers in their course, so
that what was at first only descending mist, becomes a shower; or
by each particle, in its descent through air that contains a great
quantity of dissolved water, striking against, attaching to itself,
and carrying down with it such particles of that dissolved water, as
happen to be in its way; or attracting to itself such as do not lie
directly in its course by its different state with regard either to
common or electric fire; or by all these causes united.
In the first case, by the uniting of numbers, larger drops might be
made, but the quantity falling in the same place would be the same at
all heights; unless, as you mention, the whole should be contracted
in falling, the lines described by all the drops converging, so
that what set out to fall from a cloud of many thousand acres,
should reach the earth in perhaps a third of that extent, of which I
somewhat doubt. In the other cases we have two experiments.
1. A dry glass bottle filled with very cold water, in a warm day,
will presently collect from the seemingly dry air that surrounds
it a quantity of water, that shall cover its surface and run down
its sides, which perhaps is done by the power wherewith the cold
water attracts the fluid, common fire that had been united with the
dissolved water in the air, and drawing the fire through the glass
into itself, leaves the water on the outside.
2. An electrified body left in a room for some time, will be more
covered with dust than other bodies in the same room not electrified,
which dust seems to be attracted from the circumambient air.
Now we know that the rain, even in our hottest days, comes from a
very cold region. Its falling sometimes in the form of ice, shows
this clearly; and perhaps even the rain is snow or ice, when it first
moves downwards, though thawed in falling: and we know that the
drops of rain are often electrified: but those causes of addition to
each drop of water, or piece of hail, one would think could not long
continue to produce the same effect; since the air, through which the
drops fall, must soon be stripped of its previously dissolved water,
so as to be no longer capable of augmenting them. Indeed very heavy
showers, of either, are never of long continuance; but moderate rains
often continue so long as to puzzle this hypothesis: so that upon the
whole I think, as I intimated before, that we are yet hardly ripe for
making one. ****
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[25] This letter is taken from the Memoirs of the Literary and
Philosophical Society of Manchester, Vol. II. page 126. It was
communicated by the person to whom it is addressed, and was read
in the Society, January 21, 1784, as an appendix to a paper by Dr.
Percival on the same subject. _Editor._
TO MR. NAIRNE, OF LONDON[26].
_Proposing a slowly sensible Hygrometer for certain Purposes._
_Passy, near Paris, Nov. 13, 1780._
SIR,
The qualities hitherto sought in a hygrometer, or instrument to
discover the degrees of moisture and dryness in the air, seem to
have been, an aptitude to receive humidity readily from a moist
air, and to part with it is as readily to a dry air. Different
substances have been found to possess more or less of this quality;
but when we shall have found the substance that has it in the
greatest perfection, there will still remain some uncertainty in the
conclusions to be drawn from the degree shown by the instrument,
arising from the actual state of the instrument itself as to heat and
cold. Thus, if two bottles or vessels of glass or metal being filled,
the one with cold and the other with hot water, are brought into
a room, the moisture of the air in the room will attach itself in
quantities to the surface of the cold vessel, while if you actually
wet the surface of the hot vessel, the moisture will immediately quit
it, and be absorbed by the same air. And thus, in a sudden change of
the air from cold to warm, the instrument remaining longer cold may
condense and absorb more moisture, and mark the air as having become
more humid than it is in reality, and the contrary in a change from
warm to cold.
But if such a suddenly changing instrument could be freed from
these imperfections, yet when the design is to discover the
different degrees of humidity in the air of different countries,
I apprehend the quick sensibility of the instrument to be rather
a disadvantage; since, to draw the desired conclusions from it, a
constant and frequent observation day and night in each country will
be necessary for a year or years, and the mean of each different
set of observations is to be found and determined. After all which
some uncertainty will remain respecting the different degrees of
exactitude with which different persons may have made and taken
notes of their observations.
For these reasons, I apprehend that a substance which, though capable
of being distended by moisture and contracted by dryness, is so
slow in receiving and parting with its humidity, that the frequent
changes in the atmosphere have not time to affect it sensibly, and
which therefore should gradually take nearly the medium of all
those changes and preserve it constantly, would be the most proper
substance of which to make such an hygrometer.
Such an instrument, you, my dear sir, though without intending it,
have made for me; and I, without desiring or expecting it, have
received from you. It is therefore with propriety that I address to
you the following account of it; and the more, as you have both a
head to contrive and a hand to execute the means of perfecting it.
And I do this with greater pleasure, as it affords me the opportunity
of renewing that antient correspondence and acquaintance with you,
which to me was always so pleasing and so instructive.
You may possibly remember, that in or about the year 1758, you made
for me a set of artificial magnets, six in number, each five and
a half inches long, half an inch broad, and one eighth of an inch
thick. These, with two pieces of soft iron, which together equalled
one of the magnets, were inclosed in a little box of mahogany wood,
the grain of which ran with, and not across, the length of the box:
and the box was closed by a little shutter of the same wood, the
grain of which ran across the box; and the ends of this shutting
piece were bevelled so as to fit and slide in a kind of dovetail
groove when the box was to be shut or opened.
I had been of opinion, that good mahogany wood was not affected by
moisture so as to change its dimensions, and that it was always to
be found as the tools of the workman left it. Indeed the difference
at different times in the same country is so small as to be scarcely
in a common way observable. Hence the box, which was made so as to
allow sufficient room for the magnets to slide out and in freely,
and, when in, afforded them so much play that by shaking the box one
could make them strike the opposite sides alternately, continued in
the same state all the time I remained in England, which was four
years, without any apparent alteration. I left England in August
1762, and arrived at Philadelphia in October the same year. In a few
weeks after my arrival, being desirous of showing your magnets to a
philosophical friend, I found them so tight in the box, that it was
with difficulty I got them out; and constantly during the two years I
remained there, viz. till November 1764, this difficulty of getting
them out and in continued. The little shutter too, as wood does not
shrink lengthways of the grain, was found too long to enter its
grooves, and, not being used, was mislaid and lost; and I afterwards
had another made that fitted.
In December 1764 I returned to England, and after some time I
observed that my box was become full big enough for my magnets, and
too wide for my new shutter; which was so much too short for its
grooves, that it was apt to fall out; and to make it keep in, I
lengthened it by adding to each end a little coat of sealing-wax.
I continued in England more than ten years, and during all that time,
after the first change, I perceived no alteration. The magnets had
the same freedom in their box, and the little shutter continued with
the added sealing-wax to fit its grooves, till some weeks after my
second return to America.
As I could not imagine any other cause for this change of dimensions
in the box, when in the different countries, I concluded, first
generally that the air of England was moister than that of America.
And this I supposed an effect of its being an island, where every
wind that blew must necessarily pass over some sea before it arrived,
and of course lick up some vapour. I afterwards indeed doubted
whether it might be just only so far as related to the city of
London, where I resided; because there are many causes of moisture in
the city air, which do not exist to the same degree in the country;
such as the brewers' and dyers' boiling caldrons, and the great
number of pots and tea-kettles continually on the fire, sending forth
abundance of vapour; and also the number of animals who by their
breath continually increase it; to which may be added, that even the
vast quantity of sea coals burnt there, do in kindling discharge a
great deal of moisture.
When I was in England, the last time, you also made for me a little
achromatic pocket telescope, the body was brass, and it had a round
case (I think of thin wood) covered with shagrin. All the while
I remained in England, though possibly there might be some small
changes in the dimensions of this case, I neither perceived nor
suspected any. There was always comfortable room for the telescope
to slip in and out. But soon after I arrived in America, which was
in May 1775, the case became too small for the instrument, it was
with much difficulty and various contrivances that I got it out, and
I could never after get it in again, during my stay there, which
was eighteen months. I brought it with me to Europe, but left the
case as useless, imagining that I should find the continental air of
France as dry as that of Pennsylvania, where my magnet box had also
returned a second time to its narrowness, and pinched the pieces, as
heretofore, obliging me too, to scrape the sealing-wax off the ends
of the shutter.
I had not been long in France, before I was surprised to find, that
my box was become as large as it had always been in England, the
magnets entered and came out with the same freedom, and, when in,
I could rattle them against its sides; this has continued to be
the case without sensible variation. My habitation is out of Paris
distant almost a league, so that the moist air of the city cannot be
supposed to have much effect upon the box. I am on a high dry hill,
in a free air, as likely to be dry as any air in France. Whence it
seems probable that the air of England in general may, as well as
that of London, be moister than the air of America, since that of
France is so, and in a part so distant from the sea.
The greater dryness of the air in America appears from some other
observations. The cabinet work formerly sent us from London, which
consisted in thin plates of fine wood glued upon fir, never would
stand with us; the vaneering, as those plates are called, would get
loose and come off; both woods shrinking, and their grains often
crossing, they were forever cracking and flying. And in my electrical
experiments there, it was remarkable, that a mahogany table, on which
my jars stood under the prime conductor to be charged, would often be
so dry, particularly when the wind had been some time at north-west,
which with us is a very drying wind, as to isolate the jars, and
prevent their being charged till I had formed a communication between
their coatings and the earth. I had a like table in London, which I
used for the same purpose all the time I resided there; but it was
never so dry as to refuse conducting the electricity.
Now what I would beg leave to recommend to you, is, that you would
recollect, if you can, the species of mahogany of which you made
my box, for you know there is a good deal of difference in woods
that go under that name; or if that cannot be, that you would take
a number of pieces of the closest and finest grained mahogany that
you can meet with, plane them to the thinness of about a line, and
the width of about two inches across the grain, and fix each of the
pieces in some instrument that you can contrive, which will permit
them to contract and dilate, and will show, in sensible degrees, by
a moveable hand upon a marked scale, the otherwise less sensible
quantities of such contraction and dilatation. If these instruments
are all kept in the same place while making, and are graduated
together while subject to the same degrees of moisture or dryness,
I apprehend you will have so many comparable hygrometers, which,
being sent into different countries, and continued there for some
time, will find and show there the mean of the different dryness
and moisture of the air of those countries, and that with much less
trouble than by any hygrometer hitherto in use.
With great esteem, I am,
Dear Sir, your most obedient,
And most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[26] This letter is taken from the Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society, in which it was read, January 26, 1786.
_Editor._
TO DR. P.[27] IN LONDON.
_Relating a curious Instance of the Effect of Oil on Water._
_Philadelphia, Dec. 1, 1762._
SIR,
During our passage to Madeira, the weather being warm, and the cabin
windows constantly open for the benefit of the air, the candles
at night flared and run very much, which was an inconvenience. At
Madeira, we got oil to burn, and with a common glass tumbler or
beaker, slung in wire, and suspended to the cieling of the cabin, and
a little wire hoop for the wick, furnished with corks to float on the
oil, I made an Italian lamp, that gave us very good light all over
the table.--The glass at bottom contained water to about one third of
its height; another third was taken up with oil; the rest was left
empty that the sides of the glass might protect the flame from the
wind. There is nothing remarkable in all this; but what follows is
particular. At supper, looking on the lamp, I remarked, that though
the surface of the oil was perfectly tranquil, and duly preserved
its position and distance with regard to the brim of the glass, the
water under the oil was in great commotion, rising and falling in
irregular waves, which continued during the whole evening. The lamp
was kept burning as a watch light all night, till the oil was spent,
and the water only remained. In the morning I observed, that though
the motion of the ship continued the same, the water was now quiet,
and its surface as tranquil as that of the oil had been the evening
before.
At night again, when oil was put upon it, the water resumed its
irregular motions, rising in high waves almost to the surface of the
oil, but without disturbing the smooth level of that surface. And
this was repeated every day during the voyage.
Since my arrival in America, I have repeated the experiment
frequently thus. I have put a pack-thread round a tumbler, with
strings of the same, from each side, meeting above it in a knot at
about a foot distance from the top of the tumbler. Then putting in
as much water as would fill about one third part of the tumbler, I
lifted it up by the knot, and swung it to and fro in the air; when
the water appeared to keep its place in the tumbler as steadily as if
it had been ice. But pouring gently in upon the water about as much
oil, and then again swinging it in the air as before, the tranquility
before possessed by the water, was transferred to the surface of the
oil, and the water under it was agitated with the same commotions as
at sea.
I have shewn this experiment to a number of ingenious persons. Those
who are but slightly acquainted with the principles of hydrostatics,
&c. are apt to fancy immediately that they understand it, and readily
attempt to explain it; but their explanations have been different,
and to me not very intelligible. Others, more deeply skilled in those
principles, seem to wonder at it, and promise to consider it. And I
think it is worth considering: for a new appearance, if it cannot
be explained by our old principles, may afford us new ones, of use
perhaps in explaining some other obscure parts of natural knowledge.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[27] Dr. Pringle. _Editor._
_Of the Stilling of Waves by Means of Oil. Extracted from Sundry
Letters between Benjamin Franklin, L. L. D. F. R. S. William
Brownrigg, M. D. F. R. S. and the Rev. Mr. Farish._
Read at the Royal Society, June 2, 1774.
_Extract of a Letter from Dr. Brownrigg to Dr. Franklin, dated
Ormathwait, January 27, 1773._
By the enclosed from an old friend, a worthy clergyman at Carlisle,
whose great learning and extensive knowledge in most sciences would
have more distinguished him, had he been placed in a more conspicuous
point of view, you will find, that he had heard of your experiment on
Derwent Lake, and has thrown together what he could collect on that
subject; to which I have subjoined one experiment from the relation
of another gentleman.
_Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Farish, to Dr. Brownrigg._
I some time ago met with Mr. Dun, who surprised me with an account of
an experiment you had tried upon the Derwent Water, in company with
Sir John Pringle and Dr. Franklin. According to his representation,
the water, which had been in great agitation before, was instantly
calmed upon pouring in only a very small quantity of oil, and that
to so great a distance round the boat as seemed incredible. I have
since had the same accounts from others, but I suspect all of a
little exaggeration. Pliny mentions this property of oil as known
particularly to the divers, who made use of it in his days, in order
to have a more steady light at the bottom.[28] The sailors, I have
been told, have observed something of the same kind in our days, that
the water is always remarkably smoother, in the wake of a ship that
has been newly tallowed, than it is in one that is foul. Mr. Pennant
also mentions an observation of the like nature made by the seal
catchers in Scotland. _Brit. Zool._ Vol. IV. _Article_ Seal. When
these animals are devouring a very oily fish, which they always do
under water, the waves alone are observed to be remarkably smooth,
and by this mark the fishermen know where to look for them. Old Pliny
does not usually meet with all the credit I am inclined to think he
deserves. I shall be glad to have an authentic account of the Keswick
experiment, and if it comes up to the representations that have been
made of it, I shall not much hesitate to believe the old gentleman in
another more wonderful phenomenon he relates of stilling a tempest
only by throwing up a little vinegar into the air.
_Extract of a Letter to Dr. Brownrigg from Dr. Franklin._
_London Nov. 7, 1773._
DEAR SIR,
I thank you for the remarks of your learned friend at Carlisle. I
had, when a youth, read and smiled at Pliny's account of a practice
among the seamen of his time, to still the waves in a storm by
pouring oil into the sea; which he mentions, as well as the use
made of oil by the divers; but the stilling a tempest by throwing
vinegar into the air had escaped me. I think with your friend, that
it has been of late too much the mode to slight the learning of the
ancients. The learned, too, are apt to slight too much the knowledge
of the vulgar. The cooling by evaporation was long an instance of the
latter. This art of smoothing the waves by oil is an instance of both.
Perhaps you may not dislike to have an account of all I have heard,
and learnt, and done in this way. Take it if you please as follows.
In 1757, being at sea in a fleet of 96 sail bound against Louisbourg,
I observed the wakes of two of the ships to be remarkably smooth,
while all the others were ruffled by the wind, which blew fresh.
Being puzzled with the differing appearance, I at last pointed it out
to our captain, and asked him the meaning of it. "The cooks," says
he, "have, I suppose, been just emptying their greasy water through
the scuppers, which has greased the sides of those ships a little;"
and this answer he gave me with an air of some little contempt, as
to a person ignorant of what every body else knew. In my own mind
I at first slighted his solution, though I was not able to think
of another, but recollecting what I had formerly read in Pliny, I
resolved to make some experiment of the effect of oil on water, when
I should have opportunity.
Afterwards being again at sea in 1762, I first observed the wonderful
quietness of oil on agitated water, in the swinging glass lamp I made
to hang up in the cabin, as described in my printed papers[29]. This
I was continually looking at and considering, as an appearance to me
inexplicable. An old sea captain, then a passenger with me, thought
little of it, supposing it an effect of the same kind with that of
oil put on water to smooth it, which he said was a practice of the
Bermudians when they would strike fish, which they could not see, if
the surface of the water was ruffled by the wind. This practice I had
never before heard of, and was obliged to him for the information;
though I thought him mistaken as to the sameness of the experiment,
the operations being different as well as the effects. In one
case, the water is smooth till the oil is put on, and then becomes
agitated. In the other it is agitated before the oil is applied, and
then becomes smooth. The same gentleman told me, he had heard it was
a practice with the fisherman of Lisbon when about to return into the
river (if they saw before them too great a surf upon the bar, which
they apprehended might fill their boats in passing) to empty a bottle
or two of oil into the sea, which would suppress the breakers, and
allow them to pass safely. A confirmation of this I have not since
had an opportunity of obtaining: but discoursing of it with another
person, who had often been in the Mediterranean, I was informed,
that the divers there, who, when under water in their business, need
light, which the curling of the surface interrupts by the refractions
of so many little waves, let a small quantity of oil now and then out
of their mouths, which rising to the surface smooths it, and permits
the light to come down to them. All these informations I at times
revolved in my mind, and wondered to find no mention of them in our
books of experimental philosophy.
At length being at Clapham, where there is, on the common, a large
pond, which I observed one day to be very rough with the wind, I
fetched out a cruet of oil, and dropt a little of it on the water.
I saw it spread itself with surprising swiftness upon the surface;
but the effect of smoothing the waves was not produced; for I had
applied it first on the leeward side of the pond, where the waves
were largest, and the wind drove my oil back upon the shore. I
then went to the windward side where they began to form; and there
the oil, though not more than a tea spoonful, produced an instant
calm over a space several yards square, which spread amazingly,
and extended itself gradually till it reached the lee side, making
all that quarter of the pond, perhaps half an acre, as smooth as a
looking-glass.
After this I contrived to take with me, whenever I went into the
country, a little oil in the upper hollow joint of my bamboo cane,
with which I might repeat the experiment as opportunity should offer,
and I found it constantly to succeed.
In these experiments, one circumstance struck me with particular
surprise. This was the sudden, wide and forcible spreading of a drop
of oil on the face of the water, which I do not know that any body
has hitherto considered. If a drop of oil is put on a highly polished
marble table, or on a looking-glass that lies horizontally, the drop
remains in its place, spreading very little. But when put on water,
it spreads instantly many feet round, becoming so thin as to produce
the prismatic colours, for a considerable space, and beyond them so
much thinner as to be invisible, except in its effect of smoothing
the waves at a much greater distance. It seems as if a mutual
repulsion between its particles took place as soon as it touched the
water, and a repulsion so strong as to act on other bodies swimming
on the surface, as straw, leaves, chips, &c. forcing them to recede
every way from the drop, as from a centre, leaving a large clear
space. The quantity of this force, and the distance to which it
will operate, I have not yet ascertained; but I think it a curious
enquiry, and I wish to understand whence it arises.
In our journey to the north, when we had the pleasure of seeing you
at Ormathwaite, we visited the celebrated Mr. Smeaton, near Leeds.
Being about to show him the smoothing experiment on a little pond
near his house, an ingenious pupil of his, Mr. Jessop, then present,
told us of an odd appearance on that pond, which had lately occurred
to him. He was about to clean a little cup in which he kept oil, and
he threw upon the water some flies that had been drowned in the oil.
These flies presently began to move, and turned round on the water
very rapidly, as if they were vigorously alive, though on examination
he found they were not so. I immediately concluded that the motion
was occasioned by the power of the repulsion above mentioned, and
that the oil issuing gradually from the spungy body of the fly
continued the motion. He found some more flies drowned in oil, with
which the experiment was repeated before us. To show that it was not
any effect of life recovered by the flies, I imitated it by little
bits of oiled chips and paper cut in the form of a comma, of the size
of a common fly; when the stream of repelling particles issuing from
the point made the comma turn round the contrary way. This is not a
chamber experiment; for it cannot be well repeated in a bowl or dish
of water on a table. A considerable surface of water is necessary to
give room for the expansion of a small quantity of oil. In a dish of
water, if the smallest drop of oil be let fall in the middle, the
whole surface is presently covered with a thin greasy film proceeding
from the drop; but as soon as that film has reached the sides of the
dish, no more will issue from the drop, but it remains in the form
of oil, the sides of the dish putting a stop to its dissipation by
prohibiting the farther expansion of the film.
Our friend Sir John Pringle, being soon after in Scotland, learned
there, that those employed in the herring-fishery could at a distance
see where the shoals of herrings were, by the smoothness of the water
over them, which might possibly be occasioned, he thought, by some
oiliness proceeding from their bodies.
A gentleman from Rhode-island told me, it had been remarked, that the
harbour of Newport was ever smooth while any whaling vessels were
in it; which probably arose from hence, that the blubber which they
sometimes bring loose in the hold, or the leakage of their barrels,
might afford some oil, to mix with that water, which from time to
time they pump out to keep their vessel free, and that some oil might
spread over the surface of the water in the harbour, and prevent the
forming of any waves.
This prevention I would thus endeavour to explain.
There seems to be no natural repulsion between water and air, such as
to keep them from coming into contact with each other. Hence we find
a quantity of air in water; and if we extract it by means of the
air-pump, the same water, again exposed to the air, will soon imbibe
an equal quantity.
Therefore air in motion, which is wind, in passing over the smooth
surface of water, may rub, as it were, upon that surface, and raise
it into wrinkles, which, if the wind continues, are the elements of
future waves.
The smallest wave once raised does not immediately subside, and leave
the neighbouring water quiet: but in subsiding raises nearly as much
of the water next to it, the friction of the parts making little
difference. Thus a stone dropped in a pool raises first a single wave
round itself; and leaves it, by sinking to the bottom; but that first
wave subsiding raises a second, the second a third, and so on in
circles to a great extent.
A small power continually operating will produce a great action. A
finger applied to a weighty suspended bell can at first move it but
little; if repeatedly applied, though with no greater strength, the
motion increases till the bell swings to its utmost height, and with
a force that cannot be resisted by the whole strength of the arm and
body. Thus the small first-raised waves, being continually acted upon
by the wind, are, though the wind does not increase in strength,
continually increased in magnitude, rising higher and extending their
bases, so as to include a vast mass of water in each wave, which in
its motion acts with great violence.
But if there be a mutual repulsion between the particles of oil, and
no attraction between oil and water, oil dropped on water will not be
held together by adhesion to the spot whereon it falls; it will not
be imbibed by the water; it will be at liberty to expand itself; and
it will spread on a surface that, besides being smooth to the most
perfect degree of polish, prevents, perhaps by repelling the oil,
all immediate contact, keeping it at a minute distance from itself;
and the expansion will continue till the mutual repulsion between
the particles of the oil is weakened and reduced to nothing by their
distance.
Now I imagine that the wind, blowing over water thus covered with
a film of oil, cannot easily _catch_ upon it, so as to raise the
first wrinkles, but slides over it, and leaves it smooth as it finds
it. It moves a little the oil indeed, which being between it and
the water, serves it to slide with, and prevents friction, as oil
does between those parts of a machine, that would otherwise rub
hard together. Hence the oil dropped on the windward side of a pond
proceeds gradually to leeward, as may be seen by the smoothness it
carries with it, quite to the opposite side. For the wind being thus
prevented from raising the first wrinkles, that I call the elements
of waves, cannot produce waves, which are to be made by continually
acting upon, and enlarging those elements, and thus the whole pond is
calmed.
Totally therefore we might suppress the waves in any required place,
if we could come at the windward place where they take their rise.
This in the ocean can seldom if ever be done. But perhaps something
may be done on particular occasions, to moderate the violence of the
waves when we are in the midst of them, and prevent their breaking
where that would be inconvenient.
For when the wind blows fresh, there are continually rising on the
back of every great wave a number of small ones, which roughen its
surface, and give the wind hold, as it were, to push it with greater
force. This hold is diminished, by preventing the generation of
those small ones. And possibly too, when a wave's surface is oiled,
the wind, in passing over it, may rather in some degree press
it down, and contribute to prevent it, rising again, instead of
promoting it.
This as mere conjecture would have little weight, if the apparent
effects of pouring oil into the midst of waves were not considerable,
and as yet not otherwise accounted for.
When the wind blows so fresh, as that the waves are not sufficiently
quick in obeying its impulse, their tops being thinner and lighter
are pushed forward, broken, and turned over in a white foam. Common
waves lift a vessel without entering it; but these when large
sometimes break above and pour over it, doing great damage.
That this effect might in any degree be prevented, or the height
and violence of waves in the sea moderated, we had no certain
account; Pliny's authority for the practice of seamen in his time
being slighted. But discoursing lately on this subject with his
excellency Count Bentinck, of Holland, his son the honourable Captain
Bentinck, and the learned professor Allemand (to all whom I showed
the experiment of smoothing in a windy day the large piece of water
at the head of the Green Park) a letter was mentioned, which had
been received by the Count from Batavia, relative to the saving of a
Dutch ship in a storm by pouring oil into the sea. I much desired to
see that letter, and a copy of it was promised me, which I afterward
received.
FOOTNOTES:
[28] Note by Dr. Brownrigg.
Sir Gilfred Lawson, who served long in the army at Gibraltar,
assures me, that the fishermen in that place are accustomed to pour
a little oil on the sea, in order to still its motion, that they may
be enabled to see the oysters lying at its bottom; which are there
very large, and which they take up with a proper instrument. This
Sir Gilfred had often seen there performed, and said the same was
practised on other parts of the Spanish coast.
[29] See the preceding paper. _Editor._
_Extract of a Letter from Mr. Tengnagel to Count Bentinck, dated at
Batavia, the 5th of January, 1770._
"Near the islands Paul and Amsterdam, we met with a storm, which had
nothing particular in it worthy of being communicated to you, except
that the captain found himself obliged for greater safety in wearing
the ship, to pour oil into the sea, to prevent the waves breaking
over her, which had an excellent effect, and succeeded in preserving
us. As he poured out but a little at a time, the East India Company
owes perhaps its ship to only six demi-ames of oil-olive. I was
present upon deck when this was done; and I should not have mentioned
this circumstance to you, but that we have found people here so
prejudiced against the experiment, as to make it necessary for the
officers on board and myself to give a certificate of the truth on
this head, of which we made no difficulty."
On this occasion, I mentioned to Captain Bentinck, a thought
which had occurred to me in reading the voyages of our late
circumnavigators, particularly where accounts are given of pleasant
and fertile islands which they much desired to land upon, when
sickness made it more necessary, but could not effect a landing
through a violent surf breaking on the shore, which rendered it
impracticable. My idea was, that possibly by sailing to and fro at
some distance from such lee-shore, continually pouring oil into the
sea, the waves might be so much depressed, and lessened before they
reached the shore, as to abate the height and violence of the surf,
and permit a landing; which, in such circumstances, was a point of
sufficient importance to justify the expense of the oil that might
be requisite for the purpose. That gentleman, who is ever ready
to promote what may be of public utility, though his own ingenious
inventions have not always met with the countenance they merited, was
so obliging as to invite me to Portsmouth, where an opportunity would
probably offer, in the course of a few days, of making the experiment
on some of the shores about Spithead, in which he kindly proposed
to accompany me, and to give assistance with such boats as might be
necessary. Accordingly, about the middle of October last, I went with
some friends to Portsmouth; and a day of wind happening, which made
a lee-shore between Haslar-hospital and the point near Jillkecker,
we went from the Centaur with the long-boat and barge towards that
shore. Our disposition was this: the long-boat was anchored about a
quarter of a mile from the shore; part of the company were landed
behind the point (a place more sheltered from the sea) who came
round and placed themselves opposite to the long-boat, where they
might observe the surf, and note if any change occurred in it upon
using the oil. Another party, in the barge, plied to windward of the
long-boat, as far from her as she was from the shore, making trips
of about half a mile each, pouring oil continually out of a large
stone-bottle, through a hole in the cork, somewhat bigger than a
goose-quill. The experiment had not, in the main point, the success
we wished, for no material difference was observed in the height or
force of the surf upon the shore; but those who were in the long-boat
could observe a tract of smoothed water, the whole of the distance in
which the barge poured the oil, and gradually spreading in breadth
towards the long-boat. I call it smoothed, not that it was laid
level; but because, though the swell continued, its surface was not
roughened by the wrinkles, or smaller waves, before-mentioned; and
none or very few white caps (or waves whose tops turn over in foam)
appeared in that whole space, though to windward and leeward of it
there were plenty; and a wherry, that came round the point under
sail, in her way to Portsmouth, seemed to turn into that tract of
choice, and to use it from end to end, as a piece of turnpike-road.
It may be of use to relate the circumstances of an experiment that
does not succeed, since they may give hints of amendment in future
trials: it is therefore I have been thus particular. I shall only add
what I apprehend may have been the reason of our disappointment.
I conceive, that the operation of oil on water is, first, to prevent
the raising of new waves by the wind; and, secondly, to prevent its
pushing those before raised with such force, and consequently their
continuance of the same repeated height, as they would have done, if
their surface were not oiled. But oil will not prevent waves being
raised by another power, by a stone, for instance, falling into a
still pool; for they then rise by the mechanical impulse of the
stone, which the greasiness on the surrounding water cannot lessen
or prevent, as it can prevent the winds catching the surface and
raising it into waves. Now waves once raised, whether by the wind or
any other power, have the same mechanical operation, by which they
continue to rise and fall, as a _pendulum_ will continue to swing,
a long time after the force ceases to act by which the motion was
first produced: that motion will, however, cease in time; but time
is necessary. Therefore, though oil spread on an agitated sea may
weaken the push of the wind on those waves whose surfaces are covered
by it, and so, by receiving less fresh impulse, they may gradually
subside; yet a considerable time, or a distance through which they
will take time to move, may be necessary to make the effect sensible
on any shore in a diminution of the surf: for we know, that when
wind ceases suddenly, the waves it has raised do not as suddenly
subside, but settle gradually, and are not quite down till after the
wind has ceased. So though we should, by oiling them, take off the
effect of wind on waves already raised, it is not to be expected
that those waves should be instantly levelled. The motion they have
received will, for some time, continue; and if the shore is not far
distant, they arrive there so soon, that their effect upon it will
not be visibly diminished. Possibly, therefore, if we had begun our
operations at a greater distance, the effect might have been more
sensible. And perhaps we did not pour oil in sufficient quantity.
Future experiments may determine this.
I was, however, greatly obliged to Captain Bentinck, for the chearful
and ready aids he gave me: and I ought not to omit mentioning Mr.
Banks, Dr. Solander, General Carnoc, and Dr. Blagden, who all
assisted at the experiment, during that blustering unpleasant day,
with a patience and activity that could only be inspired by a zeal
for the improvement of knowledge, such especially as might possibly
be of use to men in situations of distress.
I would wish you to communicate this to your ingenious friend, Mr.
Farish, with my respects; and believe me to be, with sincere esteem,
Dear Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
TO SIR JOHN PRINGLE, BART.
_On the Difference of Navigation in shoal and deep Water._
_Craven-street, May 10, 1768._
SIR,
You may remember, that when, we were travelling together in Holland,
you remarked, that the trackschuyt in one of the stages went slower
than usual, and enquired of the boatman, what might be the reason;
who answered, that it had been a dry season, and the water in the
canal was low. On being again asked if it was so low as that the boat
touched the muddy bottom; he said, no, not so low as that, but so
low as to make it harder for the horse to draw the boat. We neither
of us at first could conceive that if there was water enough for
the boat to swim clear of the bottom, its being deeper would make
any difference; but as the man affirmed it seriously as a thing
well known among them; and as the punctuality required in their
stages was likely to make such difference, if any there were, more
readily observed by them, than by other watermen who did not pass so
regularly and constantly backwards and forwards in the same track; I
began to apprehend there might be something in it, and attempted to
account for it from this consideration, that the boat in proceeding
along the canal, must in every boat's length of her course, move out
of her way a body of water, equal in bulk to the room her bottom took
up in the water; that the water so moved must pass on each side of
her and under her bottom to get behind her; that if the passage under
her bottom was straitened by the shallows, more of that water must
pass by her sides, and with a swifter motion, which would retard her,
as moving the contrary way; or that the water becoming lower behind
the boat than before, she was pressed back by the weight of its
difference in height, and her motion retarded by having that weight
constantly to overcome. But as it is often lost time to attempt
accounting for uncertain facts, I determined to make an experiment of
this when I should have convenient time and opportunity.
After our return to England, as often as I happened to be on the
Thames, I enquired of our watermen whether they were sensible of any
difference in rowing over shallow or deep water. I found them all
agreeing in the fact, that there was a very great difference, but
they differed widely in expressing the quantity of the difference;
some supposing it was equal to a mile in six, others to a mile in
three, &c. As I did not recollect to have met with any mention of
this matter in our philosophical books, and conceiving that if
the difference should really be great, it might be an object of
consideration in the many projects now on foot for digging new
navigable canals in this island, I lately put my design of making
the experiment in execution, in the following manner.
I provided a trough of plained boards fourteen feet long, six inches
wide and six inches deep, in the clear, filled with water within half
an inch of the edge, to represent a canal. I had a loose board of
nearly the same length and breadth, that, being put into the water,
might be sunk to any depth, and fixed by little wedges where I would
chuse to have it stay, in order to make different depths of water,
leaving the surface at the same height with regard to the sides of
the trough. I had a little boat in form of a lighter or boat of
burthen, six inches long, two inches and a quarter wide, and one inch
and a quarter deep. When swimming, it drew one inch water. To give
motion to the boat, I fixed one end of a long silk thread to its
bow, just even with the water's edge, the other end passed over a
well-made brass pully, of about an inch diameter, turning freely on a
small axis; and a shilling was the weight. Then placing the boat at
one end of the trough, the weight would draw it through the water to
the other.
Not having a watch that shows seconds, in order to measure the time
taken up by the boat in passing from end to end, I counted as fast
as I could count to ten repeatedly, keeping an account of the number
of tens on my fingers. And as much as possible to correct any little
inequalities in my counting, I repeated the experiment a number of
times at each depth of water, that I might take the medium. And the
following are the results.
Water 1½ inches deep. 2 inches. 4½ inches.
1st exp. 100 94 79
2 104 93 78
3 104 91 77
4 106 87 79
5 100 88 79
6 99 86 80
7 100 90 79
8 100 88 81
---- ---- ----
813 717 632
---- ---- ----
Medium 101 Medium 89 Medium 79
I made many other experiments, but the above are those in which I was
most exact; and they serve sufficiently to show that the difference
is considerable. Between the deepest and shallowest it appears to
be somewhat more than one fifth. So that supposing large canals and
boats and depths of water to bear the same proportions, and that four
men or horses would draw a boat in deep water four leagues in four
hours, it would require five to draw the same boat in the same time
as far in shallow water; or four would require five hours.
Whether this difference is of consequence enough to justify a greater
expence in deepening canals, is a matter of calculation, which our
ingenious engineers in that way will readily determine. I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MR. ALPHONSUS LE ROY, MEMBER OF SEVERAL ACADEMIES AT PARIS.[30]
_Containing sundry Maritime Observations._
At Sea, on board the London Packet, Capt. Truxton.
_Aug. 1785._
SIR,
Your learned writings on the navigation of the antients, which
contain a great deal of curious information, and your very ingenious
contrivances for improving the modern sails (_voilure_) of which
I saw with great pleasure a successful trial on the river Seine,
have induced me to submit to your consideration and judgment, some
thoughts I have had on the latter subject.
Those mathematicians, who have endeavoured to improve the swiftness
of vessels, by calculating to find the form of least resistance, seem
to have considered a ship as a body moving through one fluid only,
the water; and to have given little attention to the circumstance
of her moving through another fluid, the air. It is true that when
a vessel sails right before the wind, this circumstance is of no
importance, because the wind goes with her; but in every deviation
from that course, the resistance of the air is something, and becomes
greater in proportion as that deviation increases. I wave at present
the consideration of those different degrees of resistance given by
the air to that part of the hull which is above water, and confine
myself to that given to the sails; for their motion through the air
is resisted by the air, as the motion of the hull through the
water is resisted by the water, though with less force as the air is
a lighter fluid. And to simplify the discussion as much as possible,
I would state one situation only, to wit, that of the wind upon the
beam, the ship's course being directly across the wind; and I would
suppose the sail set in an angle of 45 degrees with the keel, as in
the following figure; wherein (Plate VI, Fig. 1.)
[Illustration:
_Plate VI._ MARITIME OBSERVATIONS. _Vol. II. page 163._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
A B represents the body of the vessel, C D the position of the sail,
EEE the direction of the wind, MM the line of motion. In observing
this figure it will appear, that so much of the body of the vessel
as is immersed in the water must, to go forward, remove out of its
way what water it meets with between the pricked lines FF. And the
sail, to go forward, must move out of its way all the air its whole
dimension meets with between the pricked lines CG and DG. Thus both
the fluids give resistance to the motion, each in proportion to the
quantity of matter contained in the dimension to be removed. And
though the air is vastly lighter than the water, and therefore more
easily removed, yet the dimension being much greater its effect is
very considerable.
It is true that in the case stated, the resistance given by the air
between those lines to the motion of the sail is not apparent to the
eye, because the greater force of the wind, which strikes it in the
direction EEE, overpowers its effect, and keeps the sail full in the
curve a, a, a, a, a. But suppose the wind to cease, and the vessel in
a calm to be impelled with the same swiftness by oars, the sail would
then appear filled in the contrary curve b, b, b, b, b, when prudent
men would immediately perceive, that the air resisted its motion,
and would order it to be taken in.
Is there any possible means of diminishing this resistance, while
the same quantity of sail is exposed to the action of the wind, and
therefore the same force obtained from it? I think there is, and
that it may be done by dividing the sail into a number of parts, and
placing those parts in a line one behind the other; thus instead of
one sail extending from C to D, figure 2, if four sails containing
together the same quantity of canvas, were placed as in figure 3,
each having one quarter of the dimensions of the great sail, and
exposing a quarter of its surface to the wind, would give a quarter
of the force; so that the whole force obtained from the wind would be
the same, while the resistance from the air would be nearly reduced
to the space between the pricked lines _a b_ and _c d_, before the
foremost sail.
It may perhaps be doubted whether the resistance from the air would
be so diminished; since possibly each of the following small sails
having also air before it, which must be removed, the resistance on
the whole would be the same.
This is then a matter to be determined by experiment. I will mention
one that I many years since made with success for another purpose;
and I will propose another small one easily made. If that too
succeeds, I should think it worth while to make a larger, though at
some expense, on a river boat; and perhaps time, and the improvements
experience will afford, may make it applicable with advantage to
larger vessels.
Having near my kitchen chimney a round hole of eight inches diameter,
through which was a constant steady current of air, increasing or
diminishing only as the fire increased or diminished, I contrived
to place my jack so as to receive that current; and taking off the
flyers, I fixed in their stead on the same pivot a round tin plate of
nearly the same diameter with the hole; and having cut it in radial
lines almost to the centre, so as to have six equal vanes, I gave to
each of them the obliquity of forty-five degrees. They moved round,
without the weight, by the impression only of the current of air,
but too slowly for the purpose of roasting. I suspected that the air
struck by the back of each vane might possibly by its resistance
retard the motion; and to try this, I cut each of them into two, and
I placed the twelve, each having the same obliquity, in a line behind
each other, when I perceived a great augmentation in its velocity,
which encouraged me to divide them once more, and, continuing the
same obliquity, I placed the twenty-four behind each other in a line,
when the force of the wind being the same, and the surface of vane
the same, they moved round with much greater rapidity, and perfectly
answered my purpose.
The second experiment that I propose, is, to take two playing cards
of the same dimensions, and cut one of them transversely into eight
equal pieces; then with a needle string them upon two threads one
near each end, and place them so upon the threads that, when hung up,
they may be one exactly over the other, at a distance equal to their
breadth, each in a horizontal position; and let a small weight, such
as a bird-shot, be hung under them, to make them fall in a straight
line when let loose. Suspend also the whole card by threads from
its four corners, and hang to it an equal weight, so as to draw
it downwards when let fall, its whole breadth pressing against the
air. Let those two bodies be attached, one of them to one end of a
thread a yard long, the other to the other end. Extend a twine under
the ceiling of a room, and put through it at thirty inches distance
two pins bent in the form of fish-hooks. On these two hooks hang
the two bodies, the thread that connects them extending parallel to
the twine, which thread being cut, they must begin to fall at the
same instant. If they take equal time in falling to the floor, it
is a proof that the resistance of the air is in both cases equal.
If the whole card requires a longer time, it shows that the sum of
the resistances to the pieces of the cut card is not equal to the
resistance of the whole one[31].
This principle so far confirmed, I would proceed to make a larger
experiment, with a shallop, which I would rig in this manner. (Plate
VI. Fig. 4.)
A B is a long boom, from which are hoisted seven jibs, a, b, c, d,
e, f, g, each a seventh part of the whole dimensions, and as much
more as will fill the whole space when set in an angle of forty-five
degrees, so that they may lap when going before the wind, and hold
more wind when going large. Thus rigged, when going right before the
wind, the boom should be brought at right angles with the keel, by
means of the sheet ropes C D, and all the sails hauled flat to the
boom.
These positions of boom and sails to be varied as the wind quarters.
But when the wind is on the beam, or when you would turn to
windward, the boom is to be hauled right fore and aft, and the sails
trimmed according as the wind is more or less against your course.
It seems to me, that the management of a shallop so rigged would be
very easy, the sails being run up and down separately, so that more
or less sail may be made at pleasure; and I imagine, that there being
full as much sail exposed to the force of the wind which impels the
vessel in its course, as if the whole were in one piece, and the
resistance of the dead air against the foreside of the sail being
diminished, the advantage of swiftness would be very considerable;
besides that the vessel would lie nearer the wind.
Since we are on the subject of improvements in navigation, permit
me to detain you a little longer with a small relative observation.
Being, in one of my voyages, with ten merchant-ships under convoy
of a frigate at anchor in Torbay, waiting for a wind to go to the
westward; it came fair, but brought in with it a considerable swell.
A signal was given for weighing, and we put to sea all together; but
three of the ships left their anchors, their cables parting just as
the anchors came a-peak. Our cable held, and we got up our anchor;
but the shocks the ship felt before the anchor got loose from the
ground, made me reflect on what might possibly have caused the
breaking of the other cables; and I imagined it might be the short
bending of the cable just without the hause-hole, from a horizontal
to an almost vertical position, and the sudden violent jerk it
receives by the rising of the head of the ship on the swell of a wave
while in that position. For example, suppose a vessel hove up so as
to have her head nearly over her anchor, which still keeps its hold,
perhaps in a tough bottom; if it were calm, the cable still out would
form nearly a perpendicular line, measuring the distance between the
hause-hole and the anchor; but if there is a swell, her head in the
trough of the sea will fall below the level, and when lifted on the
wave will be much above it. In the first case the cable will hang
loose and bend perhaps as in figure 5. In the second case, figure 6,
the cable will be drawn straight with a jerk, must sustain the whole
force of the rising ship, and must either loosen the anchor, resist
the rising force of the ship, or break. But why does it break at the
hause-hole?
Let us suppose it a cable of three inches diameter, and represented
by figure 7. If this cable is to be bent round the corner A, it is
evident that either the part of the triangle contained between the
letters a, b, c, must stretch considerably, and those most that are
nearest the surface; or that the parts between d, e, f, must be
compressed; or both, which most probably happens. In this case the
lower half of the thickness affords no strength against the jerk, it
not being strained, the upper half bears the whole, and the yarns
near the upper surface being first and most strained, break first,
and the next yarns follow; for in this bent situation they cannot
bear the strain all together, and each contributes its strength to
the whole, as they do when the cable is strained in a straight line.
To remedy this, methinks it would be well to have a kind of large
pulley wheel, fixed in the hause-hole, suppose of two feet diameter,
over which the cable might pass; and being there bent gradually to
the round of the wheel, would thereby be more equally strained, and
better able to bear the jerk, which may save the anchor, and by that
means in the course of the voyage may happen to save the ship.
One maritime observation more shall finish this letter. I have been a
reader of news-papers now near seventy years, and I think few years
pass without an account of some vessel met with at sea, with no
living soul on board, and so many feet of water in her hold, which
vessel has nevertheless been saved and brought into port: and when
not met with at sea, such forsaken vessels have often come ashore
on some coast. The crews, who have taken to their boats and thus
abandoned such vessels, are sometimes met with and taken up at sea by
other ships, sometimes reach a coast, and are sometimes never heard
of. Those that give an account of quitting their vessels generally
say, that she sprung a leak, that they pumped for some time, that
the water continued to rise upon them, and that, despairing to save
her, they had quitted her lest they should go down with her. It
seems by the event that this fear was not always well founded, and
I have endeavoured to guess at the reason of the people's too hasty
discouragement.
When a vessel springs a leak near her bottom, the water enters with
all the force given by the weight of the column of water, without,
which force is in proportion to the difference of level between the
water without and that within. It enters therefore with more force
at first and in greater quantity, than it can afterwards when the
water within is higher. The bottom of the vessel too is narrower,
so that the same quantity of water coming into that narrow part,
rises faster than when the space for it to flow in is larger. This
helps to terrify. But as the quantity entering is less and less as
the surfaces without and within become more nearly equal in height,
the pumps that could not keep the water from rising at first, might
afterwards be able to prevent its rising higher, and the people might
have remained on board in safety, without hazarding themselves in an
open boat on the wide ocean.(Fig. 8.)
Besides the greater equality in the height of the two surfaces, there
may sometimes be other causes that retard the farther sinking of a
leaky vessel. The rising water within may arrive at quantities of
light wooden work, empty chests, and particularly empty water-casks,
which if fixed so as not to float themselves may help to sustain her.
Many bodies which compose a ship's cargo may be specifically lighter
than water, all these when out of water are an additional weight to
that of the ship, and she is in proportion pressed deeper into the
water; but as soon as these bodies are immersed, they weigh no longer
on the ship, but on the contrary, if fixed, they help to support her,
in proportion as they are specifically lighter than the water. And
it should be remembered, that the largest body of a ship may be so
balanced in the water, that an ounce less or more of weight may leave
her at the surface or sink her to the bottom. There are also certain
heavy cargoes, that, when the water gets at them, are continually
dissolving, and thereby lightening the vessel, such as salt and
sugar. And as to water-casks mentioned above, since the quantity of
them must be great in ships of war where the number of men consume a
great deal of water every day, if it had been made a constant rule to
bung them up as fast as they were emptied, and to dispose the empty
casks in proper situations, I am persuaded that many ships which
have been sunk in engagements, or have gone down afterwards, might
with the unhappy people have been saved; as well as many of those
which in the last war foundered, and were never heard of. While on
this topic of sinking, one cannot help recollecting the well known
practice of the Chinese, to divide the hold of a great ship into a
number of separate chambers by partitions tight caulked (of which you
gave a model in your boat upon the Seine) so that if a leak should
spring in one of them the others are not affected by it; and though
that chamber should fill to a level with the sea, it would not be
sufficient to sink the vessel. We have not imitated this practice.
Some little disadvantage it might occasion in the stowage is perhaps
one reason, though that I think might be more than compensated by an
abatement in the insurance that would be reasonable, and by a higher
price taken of passengers, who would rather prefer going in such
a vessel. But our seafaring people are brave, despise danger, and
reject such precautions of safety, being cowards only in one sense,
that of _fearing_ to be _thought afraid_.
I promised to finish my letter with the last observation, but the
garrulity of the old man has got hold of me, and as I may never have
another occasion of writing on this subject, I think I may as well
now, once for all, empty my nautical budget, and give you all the
thoughts that have in my various long voyages occurred to me relating
to navigation. I am sure that in you they will meet with a candid
judge, who will excuse my mistakes on account of my good intention.
There are six accidents that may occasion the loss of ships at
sea. We have considered one of them, that of foundering by a
leak. The other five are, 1. Oversetting by sudden flaws of wind,
or by carrying sail beyond the bearing. 2. Fire by accident or
carelessness. 3. A heavy stroke of lightning, making a breach in the
ship, or firing the powder. 4. Meeting and shocking with other ships
in the night. 5. Meeting in the night with islands of ice.
To that of oversetting, privateers in their first cruize have, as
far as has fallen within my knowledge or information, been more
subject than any other kind of vessels. The double desire of being
able to overtake a weaker flying enemy, or to escape when pursued
by a stronger, has induced the owners to overmast their cruizers,
and to spread too much canvass; and the great number of men, many
of them not seamen, who being upon deck when a ship heels suddenly
are huddled down to leeward, and increase by their weight the effect
of the wind. This therefore should be more attended to and guarded
against, especially as the advantage of lofty masts is problematical.
For the upper sails have greater power to lay a vessel more on her
side, which is not the most advantageous position for going swiftly
through the water. And hence it is that vessels, which have lost
their lofty masts, and been able to make little more sail afterwards
than permitted the ship to sail upon an even keel, have made so much
way, even under jury masts, as to surprize the mariners themselves.
But there is besides, something in the modern form of our ships
that seems as if calculated expressly to allow their oversetting
more easily. The sides of a ship, instead of spreading out as they
formerly did in the upper works, are of late years turned in, so as
to make the body nearly round, and more resembling a cask. I do not
know what the advantages of this construction are, except that such
ships are not easily boarded. To me it seems a contrivance to have
less room in a ship at nearly the same expense. For it is evident
that the same timber and plank consumed in raising the sides from a
to b, and from d to c, would have raised them from a to e, and from
d to f, fig. 9. In this form all the spaces between e, a, b, and c,
d, f, would have been gained, the deck would have been larger, the
men would have had more room to act, and not have stood so thick in
the way of the enemy's shot; and the vessel, the more she was laid
down on her side, the more bearing she would meet with, and more
effectual to support her, as being farther from the centre. Whereas
in the present form, her ballast makes the chief part of her bearing,
without which she would turn in the sea almost as easily as a barrel.
More ballast by this means becomes necessary, and that sinking a
vessel deeper in the water occasions more resistance to her going
through it. The Bermudian sloops still keep with advantage to the old
spreading form. The islanders in the great Pacific ocean, though they
have no large ships, are the most expert boat-sailors in the world,
navigating that sea safely with their proas, which they prevent
oversetting by various means. Their sailing proas for this purpose
have outriggers generally to windward, above the water, on which, one
or more men are placed, to move occasionally further from or nearer
to the vessel as the wind freshens or slackens. But some have their
outriggers to leeward, which, resting on the water, support the boat
so as to keep her upright when pressed down by the wind. Their boats
moved by oars or rather by paddles are, for long voyages, fixed two
together by cross bars of wood that keep them at some distance from
each other, and so render their oversetting next to impossible.
How far this may be practicable in larger vessels, we have not yet
sufficient experience. I know of but one trial made in Europe, which
was about one hundred years since, by Sir William Petty. He built a
double vessel, to serve as a packet boat between England and Ireland.
Her model still exists in the museum of the Royal Society, where
I have seen it. By the accounts we have of her, she answered well
the purpose of her construction, making several voyages; and though
wrecked at last by a storm, the misfortune did not appear owing to
her particular construction, since many other vessels of the common
form were wrecked at the same time. The advantage of such a vessel
is, that she needs no ballast, therefore swims either lighter or will
carry more goods; and that passengers are not so much incommoded by
her rolling: to which may be added, that if she is to defend herself
by her cannon, they will probably have more effect, being kept more
generally in a horizontal position, than those in common vessels. I
think, however, that it would be an improvement of that model, to
make the sides which are opposed to each other perfectly parallel,
though the other sides are formed as in common thus, figure 10.
The building of a double ship would indeed be more expensive in
proportion to her burthen; and that perhaps is sufficient to
discourage the method.
The accident of fire is generally well guarded against by the prudent
captain's strict orders against smoking between decks, or carrying a
candle there out of a lanthorn. But there is one dangerous practice
which frequent terrible accidents have not yet been sufficient to
abolish; that of carrying store-spirits to sea in casks. Two large
ships, the Seraphis and the Duke of Athol, one an East-Indiaman, the
other a frigate, have been burnt within these two last years, and
many lives miserably destroyed, by drawing spirits out of a cask near
a candle. It is high time to make it a general rule, that all the
ship's store of spirits should be carried in bottles.
The misfortune by a stroke of lightning I have in my former writings
endeavoured to show a method of guarding against, by a chain and
pointed rod, extending, when run up, from above the top of the mast
to the sea. These instruments are now made and sold at a reasonable
price by Nairne & Co. in London, and there are several instances of
success attending the use of them. They are kept in a box, and may be
ran up and fixed in about five minutes, on the apparent approach of a
thunder gust.
Of the meeting and shocking with other ships in the night, I have
known two instances in voyages between London and America. In one
both ships arrived though much damaged, each reporting their belief
that the other must have gone to the bottom. In the other, only one
got to port; the other was never afterwards heard of. These instances
happened many years ago, when the commerce between Europe and America
was not a tenth part of what it is at present, ships of course
thinner scattered, and the chance of meeting proportionably less.
It has long been the practice to keep a _look-out before_ in the
channel, but at sea it has been neglected. If it is not at present
thought worth while to take that precaution, it will in time become
of more consequence; since the number of ships at sea is continually
augmenting. A drum frequently beat, or a bell rung in a dark night,
might help to prevent such accidents.
Islands of ice are frequently seen off the banks of Newfoundland,
by ships going between North-America and Europe. In the day time
they are easily avoided, unless in a very thick fog. I remember two
instances of ship's running against them in the night. The first lost
her bowsprit, but received little other damage. The other struck
where the warmth of the sea had wasted the ice next to it, and a part
hung over above. This perhaps saved her, for she was under great way;
but the upper part of the cliff taking her foretopmast, broke the
shock, though it carried away the mast. She disengaged herself with
some difficulty, and got safe into port; but the accident shows the
possibility of other ships being wrecked and sunk by striking those
vast masses of ice, of which I have seen one that we judged to be
seventy feet high above the water, consequently eight times as much
under water; and it is another reason for keeping a good _look-out
before_, though far from any coast that may threaten danger.
It is remarkable, that the people we consider as savages have
improved the art of sailing and rowing-boats in several points beyond
what we can pretend to. We have no sailing-boats equal to the flying
proas of of the South Seas, no rowing or paddling-boat equal to that
of the Greenlanders for swiftness and safety. The birch canoes of the
North-American Indians have also some advantageous properties. They
are so light that two men may carry one of them over land, which is
capable of carrying a dozen upon the water; and in heeling they are
not so subject to take in water as our boats, the sides of which are
lowest in the middle where it is most likely to enter, this being
highest in that part, as in figure 11.
The Chinese are an enlightened people, the most antiently civilized
of any existing, and their arts are antient, a presumption in their
favour: their method of rowing their boats differs from ours, the
oars being worked either two a-stern as we scull, or on the sides
with the same kind of motion, being hung parallel to the keel on a
rail and always acting in the water, not perpendicular to the side as
ours are, nor lifted out at every stroke, which is a loss of time,
and the boat in the interval loses motion. They see our manner, and
we theirs, but neither are disposed to learn of or copy the other.
To the several means of moving boats mentioned above, may be added
the singular one lately exhibited at Javelle, on the Seine below
Paris, where a clumsy boat was moved across that river in three
minutes by rowing, not in the water, but in the air, that is, by
whirling round a set of windmill vanes fixed to a horizontal axis,
parallel to the keel, and placed at the head of the boat. The axis
was bent into an elbow at the end, by the help of which it was turned
by one man at a time. I saw the operation at a distance. The four
vanes appeared to be about five feet long, and perhaps two and a
half wide. The weather was calm. The labour appeared to be great
for one man, as the two several times relieved each other. But the
action upon the air by the oblique surfaces of the vanes must have
been considerable, as the motion of the boat appeared tolerably quick
going and returning; and she returned to the same place from whence
she first set out, notwithstanding the current. This machine is since
applied to the moving of air-balloons: an instrument similar may be
contrived to move a boat by turning under water.
Several mechanical projectors have at different times proposed
to give motion to boats, and even to ships, by means of circular
rowing, or paddles placed on the circumference of wheels to be turned
constantly on each side of the vessel; but this method, though
frequently tried, has never been found so effectual as to encourage
a continuance of the practice. I do not know that the reason has
hitherto been given. Perhaps it may be this, that great part of the
force employed contributes little to the motion. For instance, (fig.
12) of the four paddles a, b, c, d, all under water, and turning to
move a boat from X to Y, c has the most power, b nearly though not
quite as much, their motion being nearly horizontal; but the force
employed in moving a, is consumed in pressing almost downright upon
the water till it comes to the place of b; and the force employed
in moving d is consumed in lifting the water till d arrives at the
surface; by which means much of the labour is lost. It is true, that
by placing the wheels higher out of the water, this waste labour
will be diminished in a calm, but where a sea runs, the wheels must
unavoidably be often dipt deep in the waves, and the turning of them
thereby rendered very laborious to little purpose.
Among the various means of giving motion to a boat, that of M.
Bernoulli appears one of the most singular, which was to have fixed
in the boat a tube in the form of an L, the upright part to have a
funnel-kind of opening at top, convenient for filling the tube with
water; which, descending and passing through the lower horizontal
part, and issuing in the middle of the stern, but under the surface
of the river, should push the boat forward. There is no doubt that
the force of the descending water would have a considerable effect,
greater in proportion to the height from which it descended; but
then it is to be considered, that every bucket-full pumped or dipped
up into the boat, from its side or through its bottom, must have
its _vis inertiæ_ overcome so as to receive the motion of the boat,
before it can come to give motion by its descent; and that will be a
deduction from the moving power. To remedy this, I would propose the
addition of another such L pipe, and that they should stand back to
back in the boat thus, figure 13, the forward one being worked as a
pump, and sucking in the water at the head of the boat, would draw it
forward while pushed in the same direction by the force at the stern.
And after all it should be calculated whether the labour of pumping
would be less than that of rowing. A fire-engine might possibly in
some cases be applied in this operation with advantage.
Perhaps this labour of raising water might be spared, and the whole
force of a man applied to the moving of a boat by the use of air
instead of water; suppose the boat constructed in this form, figure
14. A, a tube round or square of two feet diameter, in which a piston
may move up and down. The piston to have valves in it, opening
inwards to admit air when the piston rises; and shutting, when it
is forced down by means of the lever B turning on the centre C. The
tube to have a valve D, to open when the piston is forced down, and
let the air pass out at E, which striking forcibly against the water
abaft must push the boat forward. If there is added an air-vessel
F properly valved and placed, the force would continue to act while
a fresh stroke is taken with the lever. The boat-man might stand
with his back to the stern, and putting his hands behind him, work
the motion by taking hold of the cross bar at B, while another
should steer; or if he had two such pumps, one on each side of the
stern, with a lever for each hand, he might steer himself by working
occasionally more or harder with either hand, as watermen now do
with a pair of sculls. There is no position in which the body of a
man can exert more strength than in pulling right upwards. To obtain
more swiftness, greasing the bottom of a vessel is sometimes used,
and with good effect. I do not know that any writer has hitherto
attempted to explain this. At first sight one would imagine, that
though the friction of a hard body, sliding on another hard body,
and the resistance occasioned by that friction, might be diminished
by putting grease between them, yet that a body sliding on a fluid,
such as water, should have no need of, nor receive any advantage
from such greasing. But the fact is not disputed. And the reason
perhaps may be this--The particles of water have a mutual attraction,
called the attraction of adhesion. Water also adheres to wood, and
to many other substances, but not to grease: on the contrary they
have a mutual repulsion, so that it is a question whether when oil
is poured on water, they ever actually touch each other; for a drop
of oil upon water, instead of sticking to the spot where it falls,
as it would if it fell on a looking-glass, spreads instantly to an
immense distance in a film extremely thin, which it could not easily
do if it touched and rubbed or adhered even in a small degree to the
surface of the water. Now the adhesive force of water to itself, and
to other substances, may be estimated from the weight of it necessary
to separate a drop, which adheres, while growing, till it has weight
enough to force the separation and break the drop off. Let us suppose
the drop to be the size of a pea, then there will be as many of these
adhesions as there are drops of that size touching the bottom of a
vessel, and these must be broken by the moving power, every step
of her motion that amounts to a drop's breadth: and there being no
such adhesions to break between the water and a greased bottom, may
occasion the difference.
So much respecting the motion of vessels. But we have sometimes
occasion to stop their motion; and if a bottom is near enough we can
cast anchor: where there are no soundings, we have as yet no means
to prevent driving in a storm, but by lying-to, which still permits
driving at the rate of about two miles an hour; so that in a storm
continuing fifty hours, which is not an uncommon case, the ship may
drive one hundred miles out of her course; and should she in that
distance meet with a lee shore, she may be lost.
To prevent this driving to leeward in deep water, a swimming anchor
is wanting, which ought to have these properties.
1. It should have a surface so large as, being at the end of a hauser
in the water, and placed perpendicularly, should hold so much of it,
as to bring the ship's head to the wind, in which situation the wind
has least power to drive her.
2. It should be able by its resistance to prevent the ship's
receiving way.
3. It should be capable of being situated below the heave of the sea,
but not below the undertow.
4. It should not take up much room in the ship.
5. It should be easily thrown out, and put into its proper situation.
6. It should be easy to take in again, and stow away.
An ingenious old mariner, whom I formerly knew, proposed, as a
swimming anchor for a large ship, to have a stem of wood twenty-five
feet long and four inches square, with four boards of 18, 16, 14, and
12, feet long, and one foot wide, the boards to have their substance
thickened several inches in the middle by additional wood, and to
have each a four inch square hole through its middle, to permit its
being slipt on occasionally upon the stem, and at right angles with
it; where all being placed and fixed at four feet distance from
each other, it would have the appearance of the old mathematical
instrument called a forestaff. This thrown into the sea, and held by
a hauser veered out to some length, he conceived would bring a vessel
up, and prevent her driving, and when taken in might be stowed away
by separating the boards from the stem. Figure 15. Probably such a
swimming anchor would have some good effect, but it is subject to
this objection, that lying on the surface of the sea, it is liable to
be hove forward by every wave, and thereby give so much leave for the
ship to drive.
Two machines for this purpose have occurred to me, which, though not
so simple as the above, I imagine would be more effectual, and more
easily manageable. I will endeavour to describe them, that they may
be submitted to your judgment, whether either would be serviceable;
and if they would, to which we should give the preference.
The first is to be formed, and to be used in the water on almost the
same principles with those of a paper kite used in the air. Only as
the paper kite rises in the air, this is to descend in the water. Its
dimensions will be different for ships of different size.
To make one of suppose fifteen feet high; take a small spar of that
length for the back-bone, AB, figure 16, a smaller of half that
length CD, for the cross piece. Let these be united by a bolt at E,
yet so as that by turning on the bolt they may be laid parallel to
each other. Then make a sail of strong canvas, in the shape of figure
17. To form this, without waste of sail-cloth, sew together pieces of
the proper length, and for half the breadth, as in figure 18, then
cut the whole in the diagonal lines a, b, c, and turn the piece F so
as to place its broad part opposite to that of the piece G, and the
piece H in like manner opposite to I, which when all sewed together
will appear as in fig. 17. This sail is to be extended on the cross
of figure 16, the top and bottom points well secured to the ends of
the long spar; the two side points d, e, fastened to the ends of
two cords, which coming from the angle of the loop (which must be
similar to the loop of a kite) pass through two rings at the ends of
the short spar, so as that on pulling upon the loop the sail will be
drawn to its extent. The whole may, when aboard, be furled up, as in
figure 19, having a rope from its broad end, to which is tied a bag
of ballast for keeping that end downwards when in the water, and at
the other end another rope with an empty keg at its end to float on
the surface; this rope long enough to permit the kite's descending
into the undertow, or if you please lower into still water. It should
be held by a hauser. To get it home easily, a small loose rope may be
veered out with it, fixed to the keg. Hauling on that rope will bring
the kite home with small force, the resistance being small as it will
then come end ways.
It seems probable that such a kite at the end of a long hauser would
keep a ship with her head to the wind, and, resisting every tug,
would prevent her driving so fast as when her side is exposed to it,
and nothing to hold her back. If only half the driving is prevented,
so as that she moves but fifty miles instead of the hundred during a
storm, it may be some advantage, both in holding so much distance as
is saved, and in keeping from a lee-shore. If single canvas should
not be found strong enough to bear the tug without splitting, it may
be doubled, or strengthened by a netting behind it, represented by
figure 20.
The other machine for the same purpose, is to be made more in the
form of an umbrella, as represented, figure 21. The stem of the
umbrella a square spar of proper length, with four moveable arms, of
which two are represented C, C, figure 22. These arms to be fixed in
four joint cleats, as D, D, &c. one on each side of the spar, but so
as that the four arms may open by turning on a pin in the joint. When
open they form a cross, on which a four-square canvas sail is to be
extended, its corners fastened to the ends of the four arms. Those
ends are also to be stayed by ropes fastened to the stem or spar, so
as to keep them short of being at right angles with it: and to the
end of one of the arms should be hung the small bag of ballast, and
to the end of the opposite arm the empty keg. This, on being thrown
into the sea, would immediately open; and when it had performed its
function, and the storm over, a small rope from its other end being
pulled on, would turn it, close it, and draw it easily home to the
ship. This machine seems more simple in its operation, and more
easily manageable than the first, and perhaps may be as effectual[32].
Vessels are sometimes retarded, and sometimes forwarded in their
voyages, by currents at sea, which are often not perceived. About
the year 1769 or 70, there was an application made by the board
of customs at Boston, to the lords of the treasury in London,
complaining that the packets between Falmouth and New-York, were
generally a fortnight longer in their passages, than merchant-ships
from London to Rhode-Island, and proposing that for the future
they should be ordered to Rhode-Island instead of New-York. Being
then concerned in the management of the American post-office, I
happened to be consulted on the occasion; and it appearing strange
to me that there should be such a difference between two places,
scarce a day's run asunder, especially when the merchant-ships are
generally deeper laden, and more weakly manned than the packets, and
had from London the whole length of the river and channel to run
before they left the land of England, while the packets had only to
go from Falmouth, I could not but think the fact misunderstood or
misrepresented. There happened then to be in London a Nantucket
sea-captain of my acquaintance, to whom I communicated the affair. He
told me he believed the fact might be true; but the difference was
owing to this, that the Rhode-Island captains were acquainted with
the gulf-stream, which those of the English packets were not. We are
well acquainted with that stream, says he, because in our pursuit
of whales, which keep near the sides of it, but are not to be met
with in it, we run down along the sides, and frequently cross it to
change our side: and in crossing it have sometimes met and spoke with
those packets, who were in the middle of it, and stemming it. We have
informed them that they were stemming a current, that was against
them to the value of three miles an hour; and advised them to cross
it and get out of it; but they were too wise to be counselled by
simple American fishermen. When the winds are but light, he added,
they are carried back by the current more than they are forwarded
by the wind: and if the wind be good, the subtraction of 70 miles
a day from their course is of some importance. I then observed it
was a pity no notice was taken of this current upon the charts,
and requested him to mark it out for me, which he readily complied
with, adding directions for avoiding it in sailing from Europe to
North-America. I procured it to be engraved by order from the general
post-office, on the old chart of the Atlantic, at Mount and Page's,
Tower-hill; and copies were sent down to Falmouth for the captains
of the packets, who slighted it however; but it is since printed in
France, of which edition I hereto annex a copy.
This stream is probably generated by the great accumulation of
water on the eastern coast of America between the tropics, by the
trade-winds which constantly blow there. It is known that a large
piece of water ten miles broad and generally only three feet deep,
has by a strong wind had its waters driven to one side and sustained
so as to become six feet deep, while the windward side was laid dry.
This may give some idea of the quantity heaped up on the American
coast, and the reason of its running down in a strong current through
the islands into the bay of Mexico, and from thence issuing through
the gulph of Florida, and proceeding along the coast to the banks of
Newfoundland, where it turns off towards and runs down through the
Western Islands. Having since crossed this stream several times in
passing between America and Europe, I have been attentive to sundry
circumstances relating to it, by which to know when one is in it; and
besides the gulph weed with which it is interspersed, I find that it
is always warmer than the sea on each side of it, and that it does
not sparkle in the night: I annex hereto the observations made with
the thermometer in two voyages, and possibly may add a third. It will
appear from them, that the thermometer may be an useful instrument to
a navigator, since currents coming from the northward into southern
seas, will probably be found colder than the water of those seas,
as the currents from southern seas into northern are found warmer.
And it is not to be wondered that so vast a body of deep warm water,
several leagues wide, coming from between the tropics and issuing
out of the gulph into the northern seas, should retain its warmth
longer than the twenty or thirty days required to its passing the
banks of Newfoundland. The quantity is too great, and it is too
deep to be suddenly cooled by passing under a cooler air. The air
immediately over it, however, may receive so much warmth from it as
to be rarefied and rise, being rendered lighter than the air on each
side of the stream; hence those airs must flow in to supply the place
of the rising warm air, and, meeting with each other, form those
tornados and water-spouts frequently met with, and seen near and over
the stream; and as the vapour from a cup of tea in a warm room, and
the breath of an animal in the same room, are hardly visible, but
become sensible immediately when out in the cold air, so the vapour
from the gulph stream, in warm latitudes is scarcely visible, but
when it comes into the cool air from Newfoundland, it is condensed
into the fogs, for which those parts are so remarkable.
The power of wind to raise water above its common level in the sea
is known to us in America, by the high tides occasioned in all our
sea-ports when a strong north-easter blows against the gulph stream.
The conclusion from these remarks is, that a vessel from Europe to
North-America may shorten her passage by avoiding to stem the stream,
in which the thermometer will be very useful; and a vessel from
America to Europe may do the same by the same means of keeping in
it. It may have often happened accidentally, that voyages have been
shortened by these circumstances. It is well to have the command of
them.
But may there not be another cause, independent of winds and
currents, why passages are generally shorter from America to Europe
than from Europe to America? This question I formerly considered in
the following short paper.
On board the Pennsylvania Packet, Capt. Osborne.
_At Sea_, _April 5, 1775._
"Suppose a ship to make a voyage eastward from a place in lat. 40°
north, to a place in lat. 50° north, distance in longitude 75 degrees.
"In sailing from 40 to 50, she goes from a place where a degree of
longitude is about eight miles greater than in the place she is going
to. A degree is equal to four minutes of time; consequently the ship
in the harbour she leaves, partaking of the diurnal motion of the
earth, moves two miles in a minute faster, than when in the port she
is going to; which is 120 miles in an hour.
"This motion in a ship and cargo is of great force; and if she could
be lifted up suddenly from the harbour in which she lay quiet, and
set down instantly in the latitude of the port she was bound to,
though in a calm, that force contained in her would make her run a
great way at a prodigious rate. This force must be lost gradually in
her voyage, by gradual impulse against the water, and probably thence
shorten the voyage. Query, In returning does the contrary happen, and
is her voyage thereby retarded and lengthened?"[33]
Would it not be a more secure method of planking ships, if, instead
of thick single planks laid horizontally, we were to use planks of
half the thickness, and lay them double and across each other as
in figure 23? To me it seems that the difference of expence would
not be considerable, and that the ship would be both tighter and
stronger.
The securing of the ship is not the only necessary thing; securing
the health of the sailors, a brave and valuable order of men,
is likewise of great importance. With this view the methods so
successfully practised by Captain Cook in his long voyages cannot be
too closely studied or carefully imitated. A full account of those
methods is found in Sir John Pringle's speech, when the medal of the
Royal Society was given to that illustrious navigator. I am glad to
see in his last voyage that he found the means effectual which I had
proposed for preserving flour, bread, &c. from moisture and damage.
They were found dry and good after being at sea four years. The
method is described in my printed works, page 452, fifth edition[34].
In the same, page 469, 470[35], is proposed a means of allaying
thirst in case of want of fresh water. This has since been practised
in two instances with success. Happy if their hunger, when the other
provisions are consumed, could be relieved as commodiously; and
perhaps in time this may be found not impossible. An addition might
be made to their present vegetable provision, by drying various roots
in slices by the means of an oven. The sweet potatoe of America and
Spain is excellent for this purpose. Other potatoes, with carrots,
parsnips and turnips, might be prepared and preserved in the same
manner.
With regard to make-shifts in cases of necessity, seamen are
generally very ingenious themselves. They will excuse however the
mention of two or three. If they happen in any circumstance, such
as after shipwreck, taking to their boat, or the like, to want a
compass, a fine sewing-needle laid on clear water in a cup will
generally point to the north, most of them being a little magnetical,
or may be made so by being strongly rubbed or hammered, lying in a
north and south direction. If their needle is too heavy to float by
itself, it may be supported by little pieces of cork or wood. A man
who can swim, may be aided in a long traverse by his handkerchief
formed into a kite, by two cross sticks extending to the four
corners; which, being raised in the air when the wind is fair and
fresh, will tow him along while lying on his back. Where force is
wanted to move a heavy body, and there are but few hands and no
machines, a long and strong rope may make a powerful instrument.
Suppose a boat is to be drawn up on a beach, that she may be out of
the surf; a stake drove into the beach where you would have the boat
drawn, and another to fasten the end of the rope to, which comes
from the boat, and then applying what force you have to pull upon
the middle of the rope at right angles with it, the power will be
augmented in proportion to the length of rope between the posts. The
rope being fastened to the stake A, and drawn upon in the direction
C D, will slide over the stake B; and when the rope is bent to the
angle A D B, represented by the pricked line in figure 24, the boat
will be at B.
Some sailors may think the writer has given himself unnecessary
trouble in pretending to advise them; for they have a little
repugnance to the advice of landmen, whom they esteem ignorant and
incapable of giving any worth notice; though it is certain that most
of their instruments were the invention of landmen. At least the
first vessel ever made to go on the water was certainly such. I will
therefore add only a few words more, and they shall be addressed to
passengers.
When you intend a long voyage, you may do well to keep your intention
as much as possible a secret, or at least the time of your departure;
otherwise you will be continually interrupted in your preparations
by the visits of friends and acquaintance, who will not only rob
you of the time you want, but put things out of your mind, so that
when you come to sea, you have the mortification to recollect points
of business that ought to have been done, accounts you intended to
settle, and conveniencies you had proposed to bring with you, &c. &c.
all which have been omitted through the effect of these officious
friendly visits. Would it not be well if this custom could be
changed; if the voyager after having, without interruption, made all
his preparations, should use some of the time he has left, in going
himself to take leave of his friends at their own houses, and let
them come to congratulate him on his happy return.
It is not always in your power to make a choice in your captain,
though much of your comfort in the passage may depend on his personal
character, as you must for so long a time be confined to his company,
and under his direction; if he be a sensible, sociable, good-natured,
obliging man, you will be so much the happier. Such there are; but if
he happens to be otherwise, and is only skilful, careful, watchful
and active in the conduct of his ship, excuse the rest, for these are
the essentials.
Whatever right you may have by agreement in the mass of stores laid
in by him for the passengers, it is good to have some particular
things in your own possession, so as to be always at your own
command.
1. Good water, that of the ship being often bad. You can be sure of
having it good only by bottling it from a clear spring or well and
in clean bottles. 2. Good tea. 3. Coffee ground. 4. Chocolate. 5.
Wine of the sort you particularly like, and cyder. 6. Raisins. 7.
Almonds. 8. Sugar. 9. Capillaire. 10. Lemons. 11. Jamaica spirits.
12. Eggs greased. 13. Diet bread 14. Portable soup. 15. Rusks. As to
fowls, it is not worth while to have any called yours, unless you
could have the feeding and managing of them according to your own
judgment under your own eye. As they are generally treated at present
in ships, they are for the most part sick, and their flesh tough and
hard as whit-leather. All seamen have an opinion, broached I supposed
at first prudently, for saving of water when short, that fowls do not
know when they have drank enough, and will kill themselves if you
give them too much, so they are served with a little only once in two
days. This is poured into troughs that lie sloping, and therefore
immediately runs down to the lower end. There the fowls ride upon one
another's backs to get at it, and some are not happy enough to reach
and once dip their bills in it. Thus tantalized, and tormented with
thirst, they cannot digest their dry food, they fret, pine, sicken
and die. Some are found dead, and thrown overboard every morning, and
those killed for the table are not eatable. Their troughs should be
in little divisions, like cups, to hold the water separately, figure
25. But this is never done. The sheep and hogs are therefore your
best dependance for fresh meat at sea, the mutton being generally
tolerable and the pork excellent.
It is possible your captain may have provided so well in the general
stores, as to render some of the particulars above recommended of
little or no use to you. But there are frequently in the ship poorer
passengers, who are taken at a lower price, lodge in the steerage,
and have no claim to any of the cabin provisions, or to any but
those kinds that are allowed the sailors. These people are sometimes
dejected, sometimes sick, there may be women and children among
them. In a situation where there is no going to market, to purchase
such necessaries, a few of these your superfluities distributed
occasionally may be of great service, restore health, save life, make
the miserable happy, and thereby afford you infinite pleasure.
The worst thing in ordinary merchant ships is the cookery. They have
no professed cook, and the worst hand as a seaman is appointed to
that office, in which he is not only very ignorant but very dirty.
The sailors have therefore a saying, that _God sends meat and the
devil cooks_. Passengers more piously disposed, and willing to
believe heaven orders all things for the best, may suppose, that,
knowing the sea-air and constant exercise by the motion of the vessel
would give us extraordinary appetites, bad cooks were kindly sent to
prevent our eating too much; or that, foreseeing we should have bad
cooks, good appetites were furnished to prevent our starving. If you
cannot trust to these circumstances, a spirit-lamp, with a blaze-pan,
may enable you to cook some little things for yourself; such as a
hash, a soup, &c. And it might be well also to have among your stores
some potted meats, which if well put up will keep long good. A small
tin oven, to place with the open side before the fire, may be another
good utensil, in which your own servant may roast for you a bit of
pork or mutton. You will sometimes be induced to eat of the ship's
salt beef, as it is often good. You will find cyder the best quencher
of that thirst which salt meat or fish occasions. The ship biscuit
is too hard for some sets of teeth. It may be softened by toasting.
But rusk is better; for being made of good fermented bread, sliced
and baked a second time, the pieces imbibe the water easily, soften
immediately, digest more kindly, and are therefore more wholesome
than the unfermented biscuit. By the way, rusk is the true original
biscuit, so prepared to keep for sea, biscuit in French signifying
twice baked. If your dry peas boil hard, a two-pound iron shot put
with them into the pot, will by the motion of the ship grind them as
fine as mustard.
The accidents I have seen at sea with large dishes of soup upon a
table, from the motion of the ship, have made me wish, that our
potters or pewterers would make soup-dishes in divisions, like a set
of small bowls united together, each containing about sufficient for
one person, in some such form as fig. 26; for then when the ship
should make a sudden heel, the soup would not in a body flow over one
side, and fall into people's laps and scald them, as is sometimes the
case, but would be retained in the separate divisions, as in figure
27.
After these trifles, permit the addition of a few general
reflections. Navigation, when employed in supplying necessary
provisions to a country in want, and thereby preventing famines,
which were more frequent and destructive before the invention of that
art, is undoubtedly a blessing to mankind. When employed merely in
transporting superfluities, it is a question whether the advantage of
the employment it affords is equal to the mischief of hazarding so
many lives on the ocean. But when employed in pillaging merchants
and transporting slaves, it is clearly the means of augmenting the
mass of human misery. It is amazing to think of the ships and lives
risqued in fetching tea from China, coffee from Arabia, sugar and
tobacco from America, all which our ancestors did well without.
Sugar employs near one thousand ships, tobacco almost as many. For
the utility of tobacco there is little to be said; and for that of
sugar, how much more commendable would it be if we could give up the
few minutes gratification afforded once or twice a day by the taste
of sugar in our tea, rather than encourage the cruelties exercised
in producing it. An eminent French moralist says, that when he
considers the wars we excite in Africa to obtain slaves, the numbers
necessarily slain in those wars, the many prisoners who perish at sea
by sickness, bad provisions, foul air, &c. &c. in the transportation,
and how many afterwards die from the hardships of slavery, he cannot
look on a piece of sugar without conceiving it stained with spots of
human blood! Had he added the consideration of the wars we make to
take and retake the sugar islands from one another, and the fleets
and armies that perish in those expeditions, he might have seen his
sugar not merely spotted, but thoroughly dyed scarlet in grain. It is
these wars that make the maritime powers of Europe, the inhabitants
of London and Paris, pay dearer for sugar than those of Vienna, a
thousand miles from the sea; because their sugar costs not only the
price they pay for it by the pound, but all they pay in taxes to
maintain the fleets and armies that fight for it.
With great esteem, I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[30] This letter and the annexed paper on the Gulph stream, are taken
from the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, in which
they were read December 2, 1785. _Editor._
[31] The motion of the vessel made it inconvenient to try this simple
experiment at sea, when the proposal of it was written. But it has
been tried since we came on shore, and succeeded as the other.
[32] Captain Truxton, on board whose ship this was written, has
executed this proposed machine; he has given six arms to the
umbrella, they are joined to the stem by iron hinges, and the canvas
is double. He has taken it with him to China. February, 1786.
[33] Since this paper was read at the Society, an ingenious member,
Mr. Patterson, has convinced the writer that the returning voyage
would not, from this cause, be retarded.
[34] See the Paper referred to, Vol. I. p. 376. _Editor._
[35] See Vol. II. p. 104. _Editor._
[Illustration:
_Plate VII. Vol. II. page 197._
A
CHART
of The
_GULPH STREAM_.
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
_Remarks upon the Navigation from Newfoundland to New-York, in
order to avoid the Gulph Stream on one hand, and on the other the
Shoals that lie to the Southward of Nantucket and of St. George's
Banks._
After you have passed the banks of Newfoundland in about the 44th
degree of latitude, you will meet with nothing, till you draw near
the Isle of Sables, which we commonly pass in latitude 43. Southward
of this isle, the current is found to extend itself as far north as
41° 20′ or 30′, then it turns towards the E. S. E. or S. E. ¼ E.
Having passed the Isle of Sables, shape your course for the St.
George's Banks, so as to pass them in about latitude 40°, because the
current southward of those banks reaches as far north as 39°. The
shoals of those banks lie in 41° 35′.
After having passed St. George's Banks, you must, to clear Nantucket,
form your course so as to pass between the latitudes 38° 30′ and 40°
45′.
The most southern part of the shoals of Nantucket lie in about 40°
45′. The northern part of the current directly to the south of
Nantucket is felt in about latitude 38° 30′.
By observing these directions and keeping between the stream and
the shoals, the passage from the Banks of Newfoundland to New-York,
Delaware, or Virginia, may be considerably shortened; for so you will
have the advantage of the eddy current, which moves contrary to the
Gulph Stream. Whereas if to avoid the shoals you keep too far to the
southward, and get into that stream, you will be retarded by it at
the rate of 60 or 70 miles a day.
The Nantucket whale-men being extremely well acquainted with the
Gulph Stream, its course, strength, and extent, by their constant
practice of whaling on the edges of it, from their island quite down
to the Bahamas, this draft of that stream was obtained from one of
them, Captain Folges, and caused to be engraved on the old chart in
London, for the benefit of navigators, by
B. FRANKLIN.
_Note_, The Nantucket captains who are acquainted with this stream,
make their voyages from England to Boston in as short a time
generally as others take in going from Boston to England, viz. from
twenty to thirty days.
A stranger may know when he is in the Gulph Stream, by the warmth
of the water, which is much greater than that of the water on each
side of it. If then he is bound to the westward, he should cross the
stream to get out of it as soon as possible.
B. FRANKLIN.
OBSERVATIONS _of the Warmth of the_ SEA-WATER, &c. _by Fahrenheit's
Thermometer, in crossing the Gulph Stream; with other Remarks made
on board the Pennsylvania Packet, Capt. Osborne, bound from London
to Philadelphia, in April and May, 1775_.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Date| Hour |Temp|Temp |Wind|Course|Dist-| Lat |Long | Remarks. |
| | | of | of | | |ance | N. | W. | |
| | | Air|Water| | | | | | |
|----+-------+----+-----+----+------+-----+-----+-----+------------------|
| Apr| | | | | | | | | |
| 10| | | 62 | | | | | | |
| 11| | | 61 | | | | | | |
| 12| | | 64 | | | | | | |
| 13| | | 65 | | | | | | |
| 14| | | 65 | | | | ° ′| ° ′| |
| 26| | 60 | 70 | | | |37 39|60 38|Much gulph weed; |
| | | | | | | | | | saw a whale. |
| 27| | 60 | 70 | SSE| WbS | |37 13|62 29|Colour of water |
| | | | | | | | | | changed. |
| 28| 8 A.M.| 70 | 64 | SW | WNW | |37 48|64 35|No gulph weed. |
| --| 6 P.M.| 67 | 60 | | | 34 | | |Sounded, no bottom|
| 29| 8 A.M.| 63 | 71 | N | W | 44 |37 26|66 0|Much light in the |
| | | | | | | | | | water last night.|
| --| 5 P.M.| 65 | 72 | NE | | 57 | | |Water again of the|
| --|11 dit.| 66 | 66 |NWbN| WbS | 57 | | | usual deep sea |
| 30| 8 A.M.| 64 | 70 | NE | WbN | 69 | | | colour, little or|
| | | | | | | | | | no light in it at|
| | | | | | | | | | night. |
| --|12 | 62 | 70 | | EbS | 24 |37 20|68 53|Freq. gulph weed, |
| --| 6 P.M.| 64 | 72 | ESE| WbN | 43 | | | water continues of
| | | | | | | | | | sea colour, little
| | | | | | | | | | light. |
| --|10 dit.| 65 | 65 | S | | 25 | | |Much light. |
| May| | | | | | | | | |
| 1| 7 A.M.| 68 | 63 | | | 60 | | |Much light all |
| | | | | | | | | | last night. |
| --|12 | 65 | 56 | SSW| WNW | 44 |38 13|72 2 |Colour of water |
| | | | | | | | | | changed. |
| --| 4 P.M.| 64 | 56 | | WbN | 21 | | | |
| --|10 dit.| 64 | 57 | SW | WNW | 31 | | |Much light. |
| 2| 8 A.M.| 62 | 53 | | | 18 |38 43|74 3|Much light. Thunder
| | | | | | | | | | -gust. |
| --|12 | 60 | 53 | WSW| NW | 18 | | | |
| --| 6 P.M.| 64 | 55 | NW| WSW | 15 | | | |
| --|10 | 65 | 55 | NbW| WbN | 10 | | | |
| 3| 7 A.M.| 62 | 54 | | | 30 |38 30|75 0| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVATIONS _of the Warmth of the_ SEA-WATER, &c. _by Fahrenheit's
Thermometer; with other Remarks made on board the Reprisal, Capt.
Wycks, bound from Philadelphia to France, in October and November,
1776_.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Date |Hour|Hour|Temp|Temp |Wind|Course|Dist-| Lat |Long | Remarks |
| |A.M.|P.M.| of | of | | |ance | N. | W. | |
| | | | Air|Water| | | | | | |
|-----+----+----+----+-----+----+------+-----+-----+-----+---------------
| Oct | | | | | | | | | |Left the capes |
| 31| 10 | | 76 | 70 |SSE | EbS | 135 |38 12|70 30|Thursday night,|
| --| | 4 | | 71 | | | | | |Oct 29, 1776 |
| Nov | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1| 10 | | | 78 |WSW | E½N | 109 |No ob|68 12| |
| --| | 4 | 71 | 81 | | | | | | |
| 2| 8 | | 71 | 75 | N | | | | |Some sparks in |
| --| 12 | | | 78 | | | 141 |ditto|65 23|the water these|
| --| | 4 | 67 | 76 | | | | | |two last nights|
| 3| 8 | | | 76 | NW | ESE½E| | | | |
| --| 12 | | | 76 | | EbS | 160 |37 0|62 7| |
| --| | 4 | 70 | 76 | | | | | | |
| 4| 9 | | 68 | 76 | | NbE | | | |Ditto. |
| --| | 1 | | 76 | | | 194 |36 26|58 8| |
| --| | 4 | 68 | 76 | | | | | | |
| --| | 8 | | 78 | | | | | | |
| 5| 8 | | 68 | 76 | | NE | | | |Ditto. |
| --| 12 | | 70 | 75 | | | 163 |35 21|55 3| |
| --| | 4 | | 75 | | | | | | |
| --| | 8 | | 75 | | | | | | |
| 6| 8 | | | 76 |EbN | S50E | | | | |
| --| 12 | | | 77 | | | 7 |35 33|53 52| |
| 7| 8 | | | 78 |SEbE| N30W | | | | |
| --| 12 | | | 77 | | | 108 |36 6|52 46| |
| --| | 4 | | 77 | | | | | | |
| 8| 9 | | 75 | 77 |SbE | N49E | | | | |
| --| 12 | | | 77 | | | 175 |38 2|50 1| |
| --| | 4 | | 77 | | | | | | |
| 9| 9 | | 75 | 77 | | | | | | |
| --| 12 | | 75 | 70 | SW | N33E | 175 |39 39|46 55| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVATIONS MADE ON BOARD THE REPRISAL, CONTINUED.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Date.|Hour|Hour|Temp|Temp |Wind|Course|Dist-| Lat |Long |Remarks. |
| |A.M.|P.M.| of | of | | |ance | N. | W. | |
| | | | Air|Water| | | | | | |
|-----+----+----+----+-----+----+------+-----+-----+-----+---------------
| Nov | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | | 4 | | 71 | | | | | | |
| 10 | 8 | | 70 | 68 | | | | | | |
| -- | 12 | | | 64 | E |N 17 E| 64 |40 39|46 27| |
| 11 | 8 | | | 63 | | | | | | |
| -- | 12 | | | 61 |S E |N 8 E | 41 |41 19|46 19| |
| 12 | 8 | | 56 | 59 | | | | | | |
| -- | | 4 | | 69 |NNW |N 80 E| 120 |41 39|43 42| |
| 13 | all day | | 68 | E |S 82 E| 69 |41 29|42 10| |
| 14 | 8 | | 70 | 70 | |N 74 E| 111 |42 0|39 57| |
| -- | |Noon| | 72 |ESE | | | | | |
| -- | | 4 | | 71 | | | | | | |
| 15 | 8 | | 61 | 69 | | | | | | |
| -- | |Noon| | 68 |WSW |N 70 E| 186 |43 3|35 51| |
| -- | | 4 | | 67 | | | | | | |
| 16 | |Noon| 65 | 67 |S W |N 67 W| 48 |43 22|34 50| |
| -- | | 4 | | 63 | | | | | | |
| 17 | 8 | | | 63 |ESE |N 19 E| 56 |44 15|34 25| |
| 18 | all day | | 65 |SbW |N 75 E| 210 |45 6|29 43|Some gulph weed|
| 19 | |Noon| 65 | 64 |S W |N 80 E| 238 |45 46|24 2| |
| 20 | 8 | | | 62 | N |S 80 E| 155 |45 19|20 30| |
| -- | | 4 | | 60 | | | | | | |
| 21 | 9 | | | 62 | S |N 88 E| 94 |45 22|18 17| |
| 22 | 10 | | 60 | 62 |SSW |S 89 E| 133 |45 19|15 19| |
| 23 | |Noon| | 61 |WSW |S 86 E| 194 |45 6|10 35| |
| 24 | | do.| | 60 |NNE |N 78 E| 191 |45 46| 6 10| |
| 25 | | do.| | 60 |N E |S 76 E| 125 |45 4| 3 23| |
| 26 | | do.| 56 | 60 | E |N 73 E| 31 |45 13| 2 20| |
| 27 | | do.| | 58 | | | | | |Soundings off |
| 28 | | do.| 54 | 56 | | | | | | Bellisle. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_A Journal of a Voyage from the Channel between France and England
towards America._
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | |Therm. AM|Therm. PM| | | |Varia-| |
| | | |---------|---------| | |Dis- |tion | |
|Date|Latit.|Long.|Air|Water|Air|Water|Winds|Course|tance |of the| |
| | N. | W. | | | | | | | |Needle| |
| | | | | | | | | |Miles.| West.| |
|----|------|-----|---|-----|---|-----|-----|------|------|------| |
|July| | | | | | | | | | | |
| 29 | | | 62| 57 | | | {These are taken on an} | |
| 30 | | | 62| 58 | 63| 58 | {average of 24 hours. } | |
| 31 | | | 60| 58 | 62| 62 | | | | | |
|Aug | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 |49 15 | 4 15| 63| 62 | 60| 64 |East |SW ½W | 60 |22° 0 | |
| 2 |48 28 | 8 58| 64| 64 | 64| 63 |E S E|WbS ½S| 174 | | |
| 3 |47 0 |12 13| 60| 67 | omitted |N E |SW bW | 160 | | |
| 4 |45 0 |15 43| 66| 66 |do.| 66 |NW bW|SW ½W | 190 | | |
| 5 |43 5 |17 25| 67| 65 | 65| 68 |N E |SW bS | 131 |20 0 | |
| 6 |41 3 |19 44| 70| 68 | 71| 69 |N E |SW ½S | 166 |16 30 | |
| 7 |38 45 |21 34| 70| 70 | 68| 70 |N E |SSW ¾W| 165 |11 30 | |
| 8 |36 42 |23 10| 72| 71 | 73| 72 |N E |SSW ¾W| 149 |11 15 | |
| 9 |35 40 |25 40| 73| 73 | 73| 74 |N E |WSW ¼S| 137 | --|--------|
| 10 |35 0 |27 0| 71| 73 | 77| 75 |N W |WSW ¾S| 76 | |Therm|Noon|
| 11 |33 51 |28 42| 74| 74 | 76| 77 |North|SW ¾W | 112 | |-----|----|
| 12 |33 30 |31 30| 76| 75 | 76| 76 |North|W ¾S | 143 | | A. | W. |
| 13 |33 17 |33 32| 76| 76 | 78| 77 |N E |W ½ S | 103 | | 77 | 78 |
| 14 |33 22 |34 31| 76| 76 | 81| 79 |S S E|W ½ N | 50 | | 81 | 79 |
| 15 |33 45 |35 0| 78| 79 | 79| 78 |W N W|SW ¼W | 35 | | 79 | 79 |
| 16 |34 14 |35 30| 79| 78 | 81| 80 |West |NW ½N | 38 | | 81 | 80 |
| 17 |35 37 |36 4| 80| 79 | 80| 78 |W S W|N N W | 75 | | 80 | 78 |
| 18 |36 7 |37 16| 80| 78 | omitted |NW bW|WNW ½N| 65 | | 80 | 79 |
| 19 |36 38 |38 0| 78| 77 | 78| 77 |W S W|NW ½W | 49 | | 79 | 77 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Journal of a Voyage, &c. continued._
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | |Therm. AM|Therm. PM| | | |Varia-|Therm. |
| | | |---------|---------| | |Dis- |tion |at Noon.|
|Date|Latit.|Long.|Air|Water|Air|Water|Winds|Course|tance |of the|--------|
| | N. | W. | | | | | | | |Needle| | |
| | | | | | | | | |Miles.| West.| A.| W. |
|----|------|-----|---|-----|---|-----|-----|------|------|------|--------|
|Aug | | | | | | | | | | / |
| 20 |37 38 |38 6| 78| 76 | omitted |West |N ¼ W | 62 | | 77 | 75 |
| 21 |36 15 |38 26| 73| 74 | 78| 76 |W N W|S b W | 82 | | 77 | 75 |
| 22 |35 40 |38 44| 7 | 76 | 80| 77 |W b S|S S W | 38 | | 80 | 77 |
| 23 |35 35 |40 52| 7 | 77 | 78| 75 |North|W ¼ S | 100 | | omitted.|
| 24 |35 12 |41 31| 75| 73 | 75| 74 |W N W|S WbW | 41 | | 75 | 74 |
| 25 |35 40 |42 33| 79| 76 | 79| 76 |W b N|W NW¾N| 60 | | 80 | 76 |
| 26 |35 30 |42 44| 79| 76 | 80| 76 |S WbW|S W½S | 14 | | 80 | 76 |
| 27 |35 14 |43 23| 79| 77 | 81| 79 |West |W SW¼S| 38 | | 81 | 78 |
| 28 |34 23 |44 0| 7 | 76 | 78| 78 |N N E|S WbS | 60 | | 78 | 78 |
| 29 |34 12 |45 52| 77| 78 | 78| 78 |N E |W ¼ S | 94 | 8° 0| 79 | 78 |
| 30 |34 5 |48 31| 78| 78 | 78| 78 |East |W ½ S | 134 | | 78 | 78 |
| 31 |34 20 |51 4| 80| 79 | 81| 79 |East |W ¾ S | 129 | | 80 | 80 |
|Sep | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 |34 20 |52 47| 81| 78 | omitted |S S W|W ¼ N | 86 | | 83 | 80 |
| 2 |34 55 |55 12| 81| 80 | 83| 80 |S W |WbN ½W| 125 | | 83 | 80 |
| 3 |35 30 |57 24| 83| 80 | 83| 80 |S WbS|WbN ½N| 114 | 6° 0| 84 | 81 |
| 4 |35 50 |59 1| 82| 80 | 83| 80 |S W½W|WbN ¼N| 82 | | 83 | 81 |
| 5 |35 55 |61 0| 81| 80 | 82| 81 |S S W|W ¼ N | 96 | | 82 | 81 |
| 6 |36 20 |62 30| 80| 81 | 79| 80 |N WbN|W b N | 75 | | 78 | 80 |
| 7 |34 50 |63 10| 87| 80 | 78| 81 |N WbN|S S W | 86 | | 78 | 81 |
| 8 |34 45 |64 40| 75| 79 | 75| 79 |North|W ¼ S | 74 | | 75 | 79 |
| 9 |35 43 |66 42| 75| 79 | 77| 73 |N E |W N W | 108 | | 78 | 80 |
| 10 |37 20 |68 40| 77| 73 | 77| 70 |E N E|N W | 126 | | 78 | 72 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
N.B. Longitude is reckoned from London, and the Thermometer is
according to Fahrenheit.
OBSERVATIONS.
July 31. At one P.M. the Start bore WNW. distant six leagues.
August 1. The water appears luminous in the ship's wake.
---- 2. The temperature of the water is taken at eight in the
morning and at eight in the evening.
---- 6. The water appears less luminous.
---- 7. Formegas SW. dist 32½ deg. St. Mary's SW½S. 33 leagues.
---- 8. From this date the temperature of the water is taken at
eight in the morning and at six in the evening.
---- 10. Moonlight, which prevents the luminous appearance of the
water.
---- 11. A strong southerly current.
---- 12. Ditto. From this date the temperature of the air and water
was taken at noon, as well as morning and evening.
---- 16. Northerly current.
---- 19. First saw gulph weed.
---- 21. Southerly current.
---- 22. Again saw gulph weed.
---- 24. The water appeared luminous in a small degree before the
moon rose.
---- 29. No moon, yet very little light in the water.
---- 30. Much gulph weed to-day.
---- 31. Ditto.
Sept. 1. Ditto.
---- 2. A little more light in the water.
---- 4. No gulph weed to-day. More light in the water.
---- 5. Some gulph weed again.
---- 6. Little light in the water. A very hard thunder-gust in the
night.
---- 7. Little gulph weed.
---- 8. More light in the water. Little gulph weed.
---- 9. Little gulph weed. Little light in the water last evening.
---- 10. Saw some beds of rock-weed; and we were surprised to
observe the water six degrees colder by the thermometer than the
preceding noon.
This day (10th) the thermometer still kept descending, and at five
in the morning of the 11th, it was in water as low as 70, when
we struck soundings. The same evening the pilot came on board,
and we found our ship about five degrees of longitude a-head of
the reckoning, which our captain accounted for by supposing our
course to have been near the edge of the gulph stream, and thus
an eddy-current always in our favour. By the distance we ran from
Sept. 9, in the evening, till we struck soundings, we must have
then been at the western edge of the gulph stream, and the change
in the temperature of the water was probably owing to our suddenly
passing from that current, into the waters of our own climate.
On the 14th of August the following experiment was made. The
weather being perfectly calm, an empty bottle, corked very tight,
was sent down 20 fathoms, and it was drawn up still empty. It was
then sent down again 35 fathoms, when the weight of the water
having forced in the cork, it was drawn up full; the water it
contained was immediately tried by the thermometer, and found to be
70, which was six degrees colder than at the surface: the lead and
bottle were visible, but not very distinctly so, at the depth of
12 fathoms, but when only 7 fathoms deep, they were perfectly seen
from the ship. This experiment was thus repeated Sept. 11, when we
were in soundings of 18 fathoms. A keg was previously prepared with
a valve at each end, one opening inward, the other outward; this
was sent to the bottom in expectation that by the valves being both
open when going down, and both shut when coming up, it would keep
within it the water received at bottom. The upper valve performed
its office well, but the under one did not shut quite close, so
that much of the water was lost in hauling it up the ship's side.
As the water in the keg's passage upwards could not enter at the
top, it was concluded that what water remained in it was of that
near the ground, and on trying this by the thermometer, it was
found to be at 58, which was 12 degrees colder than at the surface.
_This last Journal was obligingly kept for me by Mr. J. Williams,
my fellow-passenger in the London Packet, who made all the
experiments with great exactness._
TO MR. O. N[36].
_On the Art of Swimming._
[No date.]
DEAR SIR,
I cannot be of opinion with you that it is too late in life for you
to learn to swim. The river near the bottom of your garden affords
a most convenient place for the purpose. And as your new employment
requires your being often on the water, of which you have such a
dread, I think you would do well to make the trial; nothing being
so likely to remove those apprehensions as the consciousness of
an ability to swim to the shore, in case of an accident, or of
supporting yourself in the water till a boat could come to take you
up.
I do not know how far corks or bladders may be useful in learning to
swim, having never seen much trial of them. Possibly they may be of
service in supporting the body while you are learning what is called
the stroke, or that manner of drawing in and striking out the hands
and feet that is necessary to produce progressive motion. But you
will be no swimmer till you can place some confidence in the power of
the water to support you; I would therefore advise the acquiring that
confidence in the first place; especially as I have known several
who, by a little of the practice necessary for that purpose, have
insensibly acquired the stroke, taught as it were by nature.
The practice I mean is this. Chusing a place where the water deepens
gradually, walk coolly into it till it is up to your breast, then
turn round, your face to the shore, and throw an egg into the water
between you and the shore. It will sink to the bottom, and be easily
seen there, as your water is clear. It must lie in water so deep
as that you cannot reach it to take it up but by diving for it. To
encourage yourself in order to do this, reflect that your progress
will be from deeper to shallower water, and that at any time you may,
by bringing your legs under you and standing on the bottom, raise
your head far above the water. Then plunge under it with your eyes
open, throwing yourself towards the egg, and endeavouring by the
action of your hands and feet against the water to get forward till
within reach of it. In this attempt you will find, that the water
buoys you up against your inclination; that it is not so easy a thing
to sink as you imagined; that you cannot but by active force get down
to the egg. Thus you feel the power of the water to support you, and
learn to confide in that power; while your endeavours to overcome it,
and to reach the egg, teach you the manner of acting on the water
with your feet and hands, which action is afterwards used in swimming
to support your head higher above water, or to go forward through it.
I would the more earnestly press you to the trial of this method,
because, though I think I satisfied you that your body is lighter
than water, and that you might float in it a long time with your
mouth free for breathing, if you would put yourself in a proper
posture, and would be still and forbear struggling; yet till you have
obtained this experimental confidence in the water, I cannot depend
on your having the necessary presence of mind to recollect that
posture and the directions I gave you relating to it. The surprize
may put all out of your mind. For though we value ourselves on being
reasonable knowing creatures, reason and knowledge seem on such
occasions to be of little use to us; and the brutes to whom we allow
scarce a glimmering of either, appear to have the advantage of us.
I will, however, take this opportunity of repeating, those
particulars to you, which I mentioned in our last conversation, as,
by perusing them at your leisure, you may possibly imprint them so in
your memory as on occasion to be of some use to you.
1. That though the legs, arms, and head, of a human body, being solid
parts, are specifically something heavier than fresh water, yet the
trunk, particularly the upper part, from its hollowness, is so much
lighter than water, as that the whole of the body taken together
is too light to sink wholly under water, but some part will remain
above, until the lungs become filled with water, which happens from
drawing water into them instead of air, when a person in the fright
attempts breathing while the mouth and nostrils are under water.
2. That the legs and arms are specifically lighter than salt water,
and will be supported by it, so that a human body would not sink
in salt-water, though the lungs were filled as above, but from the
greater specific gravity of the head.
3. That therefore a person throwing himself on his back in salt
water, and extending his arms, may easily lie so as to keep his mouth
and nostrils free for breathing; and by a small motion of his hands
may prevent turning, if he should perceive any tendency to it.
4. That in fresh water, if a man throws himself on his back, near
the surface, he cannot long continue in that situation but by proper
action of his hands on the water. If he uses no such action, the legs
and lower part of the body will gradually sink till he comes into an
upright position, in which he will continue suspended, the hollow of
the breast keeping the head uppermost.
5. But if, in this erect position, the head is kept upright above the
shoulders, as when we stand on the ground, the immersion will, by the
weight of that part of the head that is out of water, reach above the
mouth and nostrils, perhaps a little above the eyes, so that a man
cannot long remain suspended in water with his head in that position.
6. The body continuing suspended as before, and upright, if the head
be leaned quite back, so that the face looks upwards, all the back
part of the head being then under water, and its weight consequently
in a great measure supported by it, the face will remain above water
quite free for breathing, will rise an inch higher every inspiration,
and sink as much every expiration, but never so low as that the water
may come over the mouth.
7. If therefore a person unacquainted with swimming and falling
accidentally into the water, could have presence of mind sufficient
to avoid struggling and plunging, and to let the body take this
natural position, he might continue long safe from drowning till
perhaps help would come. For as to the cloaths, their additional
weight while immersed is very inconsiderable, the water supporting it
though, when he comes out of the water, he would find them very heavy
indeed.
But, as I said before, I would not advise you or any one to depend on
having this presence of mind on such an occasion, but learn fairly to
swim; as I wish all men were taught to do in their youth; they would,
on many occurrences, be the safer for having that skill, and on many
more the happier, as freer from painful apprehensions of danger,
to say nothing of the enjoyment in so delightful and wholesome an
exercise. Soldiers particularly should, methinks, all be taught to
swim; it might be of frequent use either in surprising an enemy, or
saving themselves. And if I had now boys to educate, I should prefer
those schools (other things being equal) where an opportunity was
afforded for acquiring so advantageous an art, which once learned is
never forgotten.
I am, Sir, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[36] Oliver Neale. _Editor._
ON THE SAME SUBJECT,
_In Answer to some Enquiries of M. Dubourg[37]._
**** I am apprehensive that I shall not be able to find leisure for
making all the disquisitions and experiments which would be desirable
on this subject. I must, therefore, content myself with a few remarks.
The specific gravity of some human bodies, in comparison to that
of water, has been examined by Mr. Robinson, in our Philosophical
Transactions, volume 50, page 30, for the year 1757. He asserts, that
fat persons with small bones float most easily upon the water.
The diving-bell is accurately described in our Transactions.
When I was a boy, I made two oval pallets, each about ten inches
long, and six broad, with a hole for the thumb, in order to retain it
fast in the palm of my hand. They much resembled a painter's pallets.
In swimming I pushed the edges of these forward, and I struck the
water with their flat surfaces as I drew them back. I remember I swam
faster by means of these pallets, but they fatigued my wrists. I
also fitted to the soles of my feet a kind of sandals; but I was not
satisfied with them, because I observed that the stroke is partly
given by the inside of the feet and the ancles, and not entirely with
the soles of the feet.
We have here waistcoats for swimming, which are made of double
sail-cloth, with small pieces of cork quilted in between them.
I know nothing of the _scaphandre_ of M. de la Chapelle.
I know by experience, that it is a great comfort to a swimmer, who
has a considerable distance to go, to turn himself sometimes on
his back, and to vary in other respects the means of procuring a
progressive motion.
When he is seized with the cramp in the leg, the method of driving it
away is to give to the parts affected a sudden, vigorous and violent
shock; which he may do in the air as he swims on his back.
During the great heats of summer there is no danger in bathing,
however warm we may be, in rivers which have been thoroughly warmed
by the sun. But to throw oneself into cold spring water, when the
body has been heated by exercise in the sun, is an imprudence which
may prove fatal. I once knew an instance of four young men, who,
having worked at harvest in the heat of the day, with a view of
refreshing themselves plunged into a spring of cold water: two died
upon the spot, a third the next morning, and the fourth recovered
with great difficulty. A copious draught of cold water, in similar
circumstances, is frequently attended with the same effect in North
America.
The exercise of swimming is one of the most healthy and agreeable in
the world. After having swam for an hour or two in the evening, one
sleeps coolly the whole night, even during the most ardent heat of
summer. Perhaps the pores being cleansed, the insensible perspiration
increases and occasions this coolness. It is certain that much
swimming is the means of stopping a diarrhœa, and even of producing a
constipation. With respect to those who do not know how to swim, or
who are affected with a diarrhœa at a season which does not permit
them to use that exercise, a warm bath, by cleansing and purifying
the skin, is found very salutary, and often effects a radical cure. I
speak from my own experience, frequently repeated, and that of others
to whom I have recommended this.
You will not be displeased if I conclude these hasty remarks by
informing you, that as the ordinary method of swimming is reduced
to the act of rowing with the arms and legs, and is consequently
a laborious and fatiguing operation when the space of water to be
crossed is considerable; there is a method in which a swimmer may
pass to great distances with much facility, by means of a sail. This
discovery I fortunately made by accident, and in the following manner.
When I was a boy I amused myself one day with flying a paper kite;
and approaching the bank of a pond, which was near a mile broad,
I tied the string to a stake, and the kite ascended to a very
considerable height above the pond, while I was swimming. In a little
time, being desirous of amusing myself with my kite, and enjoying at
the same time the pleasure of swimming, I returned; and loosing from
the stake the string with the little stick which was fastened to it,
went again into the water, where I found, that, lying on my back and
holding the stick in my hands, I was drawn along the surface of the
water in a very agreeable manner. Having then engaged another boy
to carry my clothes round the pond, to a place which I pointed out
to him on the other side, I began to cross the pond with my kite,
which carried me quite over without the least fatigue, and with
the greatest pleasure imaginable. I was only obliged occasionally
to halt a little in my course, and resist its progress, when it
appeared that, by following too quick, I lowered the kite too much;
by doing which occasionally I made it rise again. I have never since
that time practised this singular mode of swimming, though I think
it not impossible to cross in this manner from Dover to Calais. The
packet-boat, however, is still preferable. ****
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[37] This and the four following extracts of letters to M. Dubourg,
are re-translated from the French edition of Dr. Franklin's works.
_Editor._
TO M. DUBOURG.
_On the free Use of Air._
_London, July 28, 1760._
**** I greatly approve the epithet which you give, in your letter
of the 8th of June, to the new method of treating the small-pox,
which you call the _tonic_ or bracing method; I will take occasion,
from it, to mention a practice to which I have accustomed myself.
You know the cold bath has long been in vogue here as a tonic; but
the shock of the cold water has always appeared to me, generally
speaking, as too violent, and I have found it much more agreeable
to my constitution to bathe in another element, I mean cold air.
With this view I rise almost every morning, and sit in my chamber
without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according
to the season, either reading or writing. This practice is not in
the least painful, but, on the contrary, agreeable; and if I return
to bed afterwards, before I dress myself, as sometimes happens, I
make a supplement to my night's rest of one or two hours of the most
pleasing sleep that can be imagined. I find no ill consequences
whatever resulting from it, and that at least it does not injure my
health, if it does not in fact contribute much to its preservation. I
shall therefore call it for the future a _bracing_ or _tonic_ bath.
****
B. FRANKLIN.
_On the Causes of Colds._
_March 10, 1773._
**** I shall not attempt to explain why damp clothes occasion
colds, rather than wet ones, because I doubt the fact; I imagine
that neither the one nor the other contribute to this effect, and
that the causes of colds are totally independent of wet and even of
cold. I propose writing a short paper on this subject, the first
moment of leisure I have at my disposal. In the mean time I can
only say, that having some suspicions that the common notion, which
attributes to cold the property of stopping the pores and obstructing
perspiration, was ill founded, I engaged a young physician, who is
making some experiments with Sanctorius's balance, to estimate the
different proportions of his perspiration, when remaining one hour
quite naked, and another warmly clothed. He pursued the experiment
in this alternate manner for eight hours successively, and found his
perspiration almost double during those hours in which he was naked.
****
B. FRANKLIN.
_Dr. Stark_[38].
_May 4, 1773._
**** The young physician whom I mentioned is dead, and all the notes
which he had left of his curious experiments are by some accident
lost between our friends Sir John Pringle and Dr. Huck (Saunders);
but these gentlemen, if the papers cannot be recovered, it is to be
presumed, will repeat the experiments themselves ****
B. FRANKLIN.
_Dr. Lettsom._
_London, August 30, 1769._
**** This letter will be forwarded to you by Dr. Lettsom, a young
American physician of much merit, and one of the peaceable sect of
Quakers: you will therefore at least regard him as a curiosity, even
though you should have embraced all the opinions of the majority of
your countrymen concerning these people ****
B. FRANKLIN.
FROM DR. ----[39] OF BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. OF
PHILADELPHIA.
_Respecting the Number of Deaths in Philadelphia by Inoculation._
_Boston, Aug. 3, 1752._
SIR,
This comes to you on account of Dr. Douglass: he desired me to write
to you for what you know of the number that died of the inoculation
in Philadelphia, telling me he designed to write something on the
small-pox shortly. We shall both be obliged to you for a word on this
affair.
The chief particulars of our visitation, you have in the public
prints. But the less degree of mortality than usual in the common way
of infection, seems chiefly owing to the purging method designed to
prevent the secondary fever; a method first begun and carried on in
this town, and with success beyond expectation. We lost one in eleven
one-sixth, but had we been experienced in this way, at the first
coming of the distemper, probably the proportion had been but one in
thirteen or fourteen. In the year 1730 we lost one in nine, which is
more favourable than ever before with us. The distemper pretty much
the same then as now, but some circumstances not so kind this time.
If there be any particulars which you want to know, please to signify
what they are, and I shall send them.
The number of our inhabitants decreases[40]. On a strict inquiry,
the overseers of the poor find but fourteen thousand one hundred and
ninety Whites, and one thousand five hundred and forty-four Blacks,
including those absent, on account of the small-pox, many of whom, it
is probable, will never return.
I pass this opportunity without any particulars of my old theme.
One thing, however, I must mention, which is, that perhaps my last
letters contained something that seemed to militate with your
doctrine of the _Origin_, &c. But my design was only to relate the
phenomena as they appeared to me. I have received so much light and
pleasure from your writings, as to prejudice me in favour of every
thing from your hand, and leave me only liberty to observe, and a
power of dissenting when some great probability might oblige me: and
if at any time that be the case, you will certainly hear of it.
I am, Sir, &c.
FOOTNOTES:
[38] The works of Dr. Stark, including the experiments alluded to,
have since been published. _Editor._
[39] Dr. Perkins. _Editor._
[40] Boston is an old town, and was formerly the seat of all the
trade of the country, that was carried on by sea. New towns, and
ports, have, of late, divided the trade with it, and diminished its
inhabitants, though the inhabitants of the country, in general, have
greatly increased.
FROM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. OF PHILADELPHIA.
_In Answer to the preceding._
_Philadelphia, Aug. 13, 1752._
SIR,
I received your favour of the 3d instant. Some time last winter I
procured from one of our physicians an account of the number of
persons inoculated during the five visitations of the small-pox we
have had in twenty-two years; which account I sent to Mr. W. V. of
your town, and have no copy. If I remember right, the number exceeded
eight hundred, and the deaths were but four. I suppose Mr. V. will
show you the account, if he ever received it. Those four were all
that our doctors allow to have died of the small-pox by inoculation,
though I think there were two more of the inoculated who died of the
distemper; but the eruptions appearing soon after the operation, it
is supposed they had taken the infection before, in the common way.
I shall be glad to see what Dr. Douglass may write on the subject. I
have a French piece printed at Paris, 1724, entitled, _Observations
sur la Saignée du Pied, et sur la Purgation au commencement de la
Petite Verole, & Raisons de doubte contre l' Inoculation._--A letter
of the doctor's is mentioned in it. If he or you have it not, and
desire to see it, I will send it.--Please to favour me with the
particulars of your purging method, to prevent the secondary fever.
I am indebted for your preceding letter, but business sometimes
obliges one to postpone philosophical amusements. Whatever I
have wrote of that kind, are really, as they are entitled, but
_Conjectures_ and _Suppositions_; which ought always to give place,
when careful observation militates against them. I own I have too
strong a penchant to the building of hypotheses; they indulge my
natural indolence: I wish I had more of your patience and accuracy in
making observations, on which, alone, true philosophy can be founded.
And, I assure you, nothing can be more obliging to me, than your kind
communication of those you make, however they may disagree with my
pre-conceived notions.
I am sorry to hear that the number of your inhabitants decreases. I
some time since, wrote a small paper of _Thoughts on the peopling of
Countries_[41], which, if I can find, I will send you, to obtain your
sentiments. The favourable opinion you express of my writings, may,
you see, occasion you more trouble than you expected from,
Sir, yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[41] This paper will be found in a subsequent part of the present
volume. _Editor._
TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN, ESQ.
_On the Effects of Lead upon the human Constitution[42]._
_Philadelphia, July 31, 1786._
DEAR FRIEND,
I recollect that when I had last the pleasure of seeing you at
Southampton, now a twelvemonth since, we had some conversation on
the bad effects of lead taken inwardly; and that at your request I
promised to send you in writing a particular account of several facts
I then mentioned to you, of which you thought some good use might be
made. I now sit down to fulfil that promise.
The first thing I remember of this kind was a general discourse
in Boston when I was a boy, of a complaint from North Carolina
against New-England rum, that it poisoned their people, giving
them the dry-belly-ach, with a loss of the use of their limbs. The
distilleries being examined on the occasion, it was found, that
several of them used leaden still-heads and worms, and the physicians
were of opinion, that the mischief was occasioned by that use of
lead. The legislature of Massachussetts thereupon passed an act,
prohibiting, under severe penalties, the use of such still-heads and
worms hereafter.
In 1724, being in London, I went to work in the printing-house of Mr.
Palmer, Bartholomew-close, as a compositor. I there found a practice,
I had never seen before, of drying a case of types (which are wet in
distribution) by placing it sloping before the fire.
I found this had the additional advantage, when the types were not
only dried but heated, of being comfortable to the hands working over
them in cold weather. I therefore sometimes heated my case when the
types did not want drying. But an old workman observing it advised me
not to do so, telling me I might lose the use of my hands by it, as
two of our companions had nearly done, one of whom, that used to earn
his guinea a week, could not then make more than ten shillings, and
the other, who had the dangles, but seven and sixpence. This, with a
kind of obscure pain, that I had sometimes felt, as it were, in the
bones of my hand when working over the types made very hot, induced
me to omit the practice. But talking afterwards with Mr. James, a
letter-founder in the same Close, and asking him if his people, who
worked over the little furnaces of melted metal, were not subject to
that disorder; he made light of any danger from the effluvia, but
ascribed it to particles of the metal swallowed with their food by
slovenly workmen, who went to their meals after handling the metal,
without well washing their fingers, so that some of the metalline
particles were taken off by their bread and eaten with it. This
appeared to have some reason in it. But the pain I had experienced
made me still afraid of those effluvia.
Being in Derbyshire at some of the furnaces for smelting of lead
ore, I was told, that the smoke of those furnaces was pernicious to
the neighbouring grass and other vegetables; but I do not recollect
to have heard any thing of the effect of such vegetables eaten by
animals. It may be well to make the enquiry.
In America I have often observed, that on the roofs of our
shingled-houses, where moss is apt to grow in northern exposures,
if there be any thing on the roof painted with white lead, such as
balusters, or frames of dormant windows, &c. there is constantly a
streak on the shingles from such paint down to the eaves, on which
no moss will grow, but the wood remains constantly clean and free
from it. We seldom drink rain-water that fall on our houses; and
if we did, perhaps the small quantity of lead descending from such
paint might not be sufficient to produce any sensible ill-effect
on our bodies. But I have been told of a case in Europe, I forget
the place, where a whole family was afflicted with what we call
the dry-belly-ach, or _colica pictorum_, by drinking rain-water.
It was at a country-seat, which, being situated too high to have
the advantage of a well, was supplied with water from a tank, which
received the water from the leaded roofs. This had been drank several
years without mischief, but some young trees planted near the house
growing up above the roof, and shedding their leaves upon it, it
was supposed, that an acid in those leaves had corroded the lead
they covered, and furnished the water of that year with its baneful
particles and qualities.
When I was in Paris with Sir John Pringle in 1767, he visited _La
Charité_, an hospital particularly famous for the cure of that
malady, and brought from thence a pamphlet, containing a list of
the names of persons, specifying their professions or trades, who
had been cured there. I had the curiosity to examine that list,
and found, that all the patients were of trades, that some way or
other use or work in lead; such as plumbers, glaziers, painters, &c.
excepting only two kinds, stone-cutters and soldiers. In them, I
could not reconcile it to my notion, that lead was the cause of that
disorder. But on my mentioning it to a physician of that hospital, he
informed me, that the stone-cutters are continually using melted lead
to fix the ends of iron balustrades in stone; and that the soldiers
had been employed by painters as labourers in grinding of colours.
This, my dear friend, is all I can at present recollect on the
subject. You will see by it, that the opinion of this mischievous
effect from lead, is at least above sixty years old; and you will
observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist,
before it is generally received and practised on.
I am, ever, yours most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[42] This letter is taken from a work by Dr. John Hunter, entitled
_Observations on the Diseases of the Army_. _Editor._
TO M. DUBOURG[43].
_Observations on the prevailing Doctrines of Life and Death._
**** Your observations on the causes of death, and the experiments
which you propose for recalling to life those who appear to be killed
by lightning, demonstrate equally your sagacity and your humanity. It
appears, that the doctrines of life and death, in general, are yet
but little understood.
A toad buried in sand will live, it is said, till the sand becomes
petrified: and then, being inclosed in the stone, it may still live
for we know not how many ages. The facts which are cited in support
of this opinion are too numerous, and too circumstantial, not to
deserve a certain degree of credit. As we are accustomed to see all
the animals, with which we are acquainted, eat and drink, it appears
to us difficult to conceive, how a toad can be supported in such
a dungeon: but if we reflect, that the necessity of nourishment,
which animals experience in their ordinary state, proceeds from the
continual waste of their substance by perspiration, it will appear
less incredible, that some animals in a torpid state, perspiring
less because they use no exercise, should have less need of aliment;
and that others, which are covered with scales or shells, which
stop perspiration, such as land and sea-turtles, serpents, and some
species of fish, should be able to subsist a considerable time
without any nourishment whatever.--A plant, with its flowers, fades
and dies immediately, if exposed to the air without having its
root immersed in a humid soil, from which it may draw a sufficient
quantity of moisture to supply that which exhales from its substance
and is carried off continually by the air. Perhaps, however, if it
were buried in quicksilver, it might preserve for a considerable
space of time its vegetable life, its smell and colour. If this be
the case, it might prove a commodious method of transporting from
distant countries those delicate plants, which are unable to sustain
the inclemency of the weather at sea, and which require particular
care and attention. I have seen an instance of common flies preserved
in a manner somewhat similar. They had been drowned in Madeira wine,
apparently about the time when it was bottled in Virginia, to be
sent hither (to London). At the opening of one of the bottles, at
the house of a friend where I then was, three drowned flies fell
into the first glass that was filled. Having heard it remarked, that
drowned flies were capable of being revived by the rays of the sun,
I proposed making the experiment upon these: they were therefore
exposed to the sun upon a sieve, which had been employed to strain
them out of the wine. In less than three hours, two of them began by
degrees to recover life. They commenced by some convulsive motions
of the thighs, and at length they raised themselves upon their legs,
wiped their eyes with their fore-feet, beat and brushed their wings
with their hind-feet, and soon after began to fly, finding themselves
in Old England, without knowing how they came thither. The third
continued lifeless till sunset, when, losing all hopes of him, he was
thrown away.
I wish it were possible, from this instance, to invent a method of
embalming drowned persons, in such a manner that they may be recalled
to life at any period, however distant; for having a very ardent
desire to see and observe the state of America an hundred years
hence, I should prefer to any ordinary death, the being immersed in a
cask of Madeira wine, with a few friends till that time, to be then
recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country! But since in
all probability we live in an age too early and too near the infancy
of science, to hope to see such an art brought in our time to its
perfection, I must for the present content myself with the treat,
which you are so kind as to promise me, of the resurrection of a fowl
or a turkey-cock.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[43] This letter is translated from the French edition of Dr.
Franklin's works. It has no date, but the letter to which it is an
answer is dated 15th April, 1773.
_An Account of the new-invented Pensylvanian Fire-Places: wherein
their Construction and Manner of Operation is particularly
explained; their Advantages above every other Method of warming
Rooms demonstrated; and all Objections that have been raised
against the Use of them answered and obviated. With Directions for
putting them up, and for using them to the best Advantage. And a
Copper-Plate, in which the several parts of the Machine are exactly
laid down, from a Scale of Equal Parts._
BY B. FRANKLIN.
(First printed at Philadelphia in 1745.)
In these northern colonies the inhabitants keep fires to sit by
generally seven months in the year; that is, from the beginning
of October, to the end of April; and, in some winters, near eight
months, by taking in part of September and May.
Wood, our common fuel, which within these hundred years might be had
at every man's door, must now be fetched near one hundred miles to
some towns, and makes a very considerable article in the expence of
families.
As therefore so much of the comfort and conveniency of our lives, for
so great a part of the year, depends on the article of _fire_; since
fuel is become so expensive, and (as the country is more cleared and
settled) will of course grow scarcer and dearer, any new proposal for
saving the wood, and for lessening the charge, and augmenting the
benefit of fire, by some particular method of making and managing it,
may at least be thought worth consideration.
The new fire-places are a late invention to that purpose, of which
this paper is intended to give a particular account.
That the reader may the better judge whether this method of managing
fire has any advantage over those heretofore in use, it may be proper
to consider both the old and new methods separately and particularly,
and afterwards make the comparison.
In order to this, it is necessary to understand well, some few of the
properties of air and fire, viz.
1. Air is rarefied by _heat_, and condensed by _cold_, _i. e._ the
same quantity of air takes up more space when warm than when cold.
This may be shown by several very easy experiments. Take any clear
glass bottle (a Florence flask stript of the straw is best) place it
before the fire, and as the air within is warmed and rarefied, part
of it will be driven out of the bottle; turn it up, place its mouth
in a vessel of water, and remove it from the fire; then, as the air
within cools and contracts, you will see the water rise in the neck
of the bottle, supplying the place of just so much air as was driven
out. Hold a large hot coal near the side of the bottle, and as the
air within feels the heat, it will again distend and force out the
water.--Or, fill a bladder not quite full of air, tie the neck tight,
and lay it before a fire as near as may be without scorching the
bladder; as the air within heats, you will perceive it to swell and
fill the bladder, till it becomes tight, as if full blown: remove it
to a cool place, and you will see it fall gradually, till it becomes
as lank as at first.
2. Air rarefied and distended by heat is[44] specifically
lighter than it was before, and will rise in other air of greater
density. As wood, oil, or any other matter specifically lighter than
water, if placed at the bottom of a vessel of water, will rise till
it comes to the top; so rarefied air will rise in common air, till
it either comes to air of equal weight, or is by cold reduced to its
former density.
A fire then being made in any chimney, the air over the fire is
rarefied by the heat, becomes lighter, and therefore immediately
rises in the funnel, and goes out; the other air in the room (flowing
towards the chimney) supplies its place, is rarefied in its turn, and
rises likewise; the place of the air thus carried out of the room,
is supplied by fresh air coming in through doors and windows, or, if
they be shut, through every crevice with violence, as may be seen by
holding a candle to a key-hole: If the room be so tight as that all
the crevices together will not supply so much air as is continually
carried off, then, in a little time, the current up the funnel must
flag, and the smoke being no longer driven up, must come into the
room.
1. Fire (_i. e._ common fire) throws out light, heat, and smoke (or
fume.) The two first move in right lines, and with great swiftness,
the latter is but just separated from the fuel, and then moves
only as it is carried by the stream of rarefied air: and without a
continual accession and recession of air, to carry off the smoaky
fumes, they would remain crouded about the fire, and stifle it.
2. Heat may be separated from the smoke as well as from the light, by
means of a plate of iron, which will suffer heat to pass through it
without the others.
3. Fire sends out its rays of heat as well as rays of light, equally
every way; but the greatest sensible heat is over the fire, where
there is, besides the rays of heat shot upwards, a continual rising
stream of hot air, heated by the rays shot round on every side.
These things being understood, we proceed to consider the fire-places
heretofore in use, _viz._
1. The large open fire-places used in the days of our fathers, and
still generally in the country, and in kitchens.
2. The newer-fashioned fire-places, with low breasts, and narrow
hearths.
3. Fire-places with hollow backs, hearths, and jams of iron
(described by M. Gauger, in his tract entitled, _La Mechanique de
Feu_) for warming the air as it comes into the room.
4. The Holland stoves, with iron doors opening into the room.
5. The German stoves, which have no opening in the room where they
are used, but the fire is put in from some other room, or from
without.
6. Iron pots, with open charcoal fires, placed in the middle of a
room.
1. The first of these methods has generally the conveniency of two
warm seats, one in each corner; but they are sometimes too hot to
abide in, and, at other times, incommoded with the smoke; there is
likewise good room for the cook to move, to hang on pots, &c. Their
inconveniencies are, that they almost always smoke, if the door be
not left open; that they require a large funnel, and a large funnel
carries off a great quantity of air, which occasions what is called
a strong draft to the chimney, without which strong draft the smoke
would come out of some part or other of so large an opening, so that
the door can seldom be shut; and the cold air so nips the backs and
heels of those that sit before the fire, that they have no comfort
till either screens or settles are provided (at a considerable
expence) to keep it off, which both cumber the room, and darken the
fire-side. A moderate quantity of wood on the fire, in so large a
hearth, seems but little; and, in so strong and cold a draught, warms
but little; so that people are continually laying on more. In short,
it is next to impossible to warm a room with such a fire-place: and I
suppose our ancestors never thought of warming rooms to sit in; all
they purposed was, to have a place to make a fire in, by which they
might warm themselves when cold.
2. Most of these old-fashioned chimneys in towns and cities, have
been, of late years, reduced to the second sort mentioned, by
building jambs within them, narrowing the hearth, and making a
low arch or breast. It is strange, methinks, that though chimneys
have been so long in use, their construction should be so little
understood till lately, that no workman pretended to make one which
should always carry off all smoke, but a chimney-cloth was looked
upon as essential to a chimney. This improvement, however, by small
openings and low breasts, has been made in our days; and success in
the first experiments has brought it into general use in cities, so
that almost all new chimneys are now made of that sort, and much
fewer bricks will make a stack of chimneys now than formerly. An
improvement, so lately made, may give us room to believe, that still
farther improvements may be found to remedy the inconveniencies yet
remaining. For these new chimneys, though they keep rooms generally
free from smoke, and, the opening being contracted, will allow
the door to be shut, yet the funnel still requiring a considerable
quantity of air, it rushes in at every crevice so strongly, as to
make a continual whistling or howling; and it is very uncomfortable,
as well as dangerous, to sit against any such crevice. Many colds
are caught from this cause only, it being safer to sit in the open
street, for then the pores do all close together, and the air does
not strike so sharply against any particular part of the body.
The Spaniards have a proverbial saying,
If the wind blows on you through a hole,
Make your will, and take care of your soul.
Women particularly, from this cause, as they sit much in the house,
get colds in the head, rheums and defluctions, which fall into their
jaws and gums, and have destroyed early many a fine set of teeth in
these northern colonies. Great and bright fires do also very much
contribute to damage the eyes, dry and shrivel the skin, and bring
on early the appearances of old age. In short, many of the diseases
proceeding from colds, as fevers, pleurisies, &c. fatal to very
great numbers of people, may be ascribed to strong drawing chimneys,
whereby, in severe weather, a man is scorched before while he is
froze behind.[45] In the mean time, very little is done by these
chimneys towards warming the room; for the air round the fire-place,
which is warmed by the direct rays from the fire, does not continue
in the room, but is continually crouded and gathered into the chimney
by the current of cold air coming behind it, and so is presently
carried off.
In both these sorts of fire-places, the greatest part of the heat
from the fire is lost; for as fire naturally darts heat every way,
the back, the two jambs, and the hearth, drink up almost all that is
given them, very little being reflected from bodies so dark, porous,
and unpolished; and the upright heat, which is by far the greatest,
flies directly up the chimney. Thus five-sixths at least of the heat
(and consequently of the fuel) is wasted, and contributes nothing
towards warming the room.
3. To remedy this, the Sieur Gauger gives, in his book entitled, La
Mechanique de Feu, published in 1709, seven different constructions
of the third sort of chimneys mentioned above, in which there are
hollow cavities made by iron plates in the back, jambs, and hearths,
through which plates the heat passing warms the air in those
cavities, which is continually coming into the room fresh and warm.
The invention was very ingenious, and had many conveniencies: the
room was warmed in all parts, by the air flowing into it through the
heated cavities: cold air was prevented rushing through the crevices,
the funnel being sufficiently supplied by those cavities: much less
fuel would serve, &c. But the first expence, which was very great,
the intricacy of the design, and the difficulty of the execution,
especially in old chimneys, discouraged the propagation of the
invention; so that there are, I suppose, very few such chimneys now
in use. [The upright heat, too, was almost all lost in these, as in
the common chimneys.]
4. The Holland iron stove, which has a flue proceeding from the
top, and a small iron door opening into the room, comes next to be
considered. Its conveniencies are, that it makes a room all over
warm; for the chimney being wholly closed, except the flue of the
stove, very little air is required to supply that, and therefore not
much rushes in at crevices, or at the door when it is opened. Little
fuel serves, the heat being almost all saved; for it rays out almost
equally from the four sides, the bottom and the top, into the room,
and presently warms the air around it, which, being rarefied, rises
to the ceiling, and its place is supplied by the lower air of the
room, which flows gradually towards the stove, and is there warmed,
and rises in its turn, so that there is a continual circulation
till all the air in the room is warmed. The air, too, is gradually
changed, by the stove-door's being in the room, through which part of
it is continually passing, and that makes these stoves wholesomer,
or at least pleasanter than the German stoves, next to be spoken of.
But they have these inconveniencies. There is no sight of the fire,
which is in itself a pleasant thing. One cannot conveniently make
any other use of the fire but that of warming the room. When the room
is warm, people, not seeing the fire, are apt to forget supplying it
with fuel till it is almost out, then, growing cold, a great deal
of wood is put in, which soon makes it too hot. The change of air
is not carried on quite quick enough, so that if any smoke or ill
smell happens in the room, it is a long time before it is discharged.
For these reasons the Holland stove has not obtained much among the
English (who love the sight of the fire) unless in some workshops,
where people are obliged to sit near windows for the light, and in
such places they have been found of good use.
5. The German stove is like a box, one side wanting. It is composed
of five iron plates screwed together, and fixed so as that you may
put the fuel into it from another room, or from the outside of the
house. It is a kind of oven reversed, its mouth being without, and
body within the room that is to be warmed by it. This invention
certainly warms a room very speedily and thoroughly with little fuel:
no quantity of cold air comes in at any crevice, because there is
no discharge of air which it might supply, there being no passage
into the stove from the room. These are its conveniencies. Its
inconveniencies are, that people have not even so much sight or use
of the fire as in the Holland stoves, and are, moreover, obliged to
breathe the same unchanged air continually, mixed with the breath and
perspiration from one another's bodies, which is very disagreeable to
those who have not been accustomed to it.
[Illustration: (of the Pensylvania fireplace)
_Plate VIII._ _Vol. II. page 235._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
6. Charcoal fires in pots are used chiefly in the shops of
handicraftsmen. They warm a room (that is kept close, and has no
chimney to carry off the warmed air) very speedily and uniformly; but
there being no draught to change the air, the sulphurous fumes from
the coals [be they ever so well kindled before they are brought in,
there will be some] mix with it, render it disagreeable, hurtful to
some constitutions, and sometimes, when the door is long kept shut,
produce fatal consequences.
To avoid the several inconveniencies, and at the same time retain all
the advantages of other fire-places, was contrived the Pensylvania
fire-place, now to be described.
This machine consists of
A bottom-plate, (i) (_See the Plate annexed_.)
A back plate, (ii)
Two side plates, (iii iii)
Two middle plates, (iv iv) which, joined together, form a tight box,
with winding passages in it for warming the air.
A front plate, (v)
A top plate (vi)
These are all cast of iron, with mouldings or ledges where the
plates come together, to hold them fast, and retain the mortar used
for pointing to make tight joints. When the plates are all in their
places, a pair of slender rods, with screws, are sufficient to bind
the whole very firmly together, as it appears in Fig. 2.
There are, moreover, two thin plates of wrought iron, viz. the
shutter, (vii) and the register, (viii); besides the screw-rods O P,
all which we shall explain in their order.
(i) The bottom plate, or hearth-piece, is round before, with a
rising moulding, that serves as a fender to keep coals and ashes from
coming to the floor, &c. It has two ears, F G, perforated to receive
the screw-rods O P; a long air-hole, _a a_, through which the fresh
outward air passes up into the air-box; and three smoke-holes B C,
through which the smoke descends and passes away; all represented
by dark squares. It has also double ledges to receive between them
the bottom edges of the back plate, the two side-plates, and the two
middle plates. These ledges are about an inch asunder, and about
half an inch high; a profile of two of them, joined to a fragment of
plate, appears in Fig. 3.
(ii) The back plate is without holes, having only a pair of ledges on
each side, to receive the back edges of the two.
(iii iii) Side-plates: These have each a pair of ledges to receive
the side-edges of the front-plate, and a little shoulder for it to
rest on; also two pair of ledges to receive the side-edges of the two
middle plates which form the air-box; and an oblong air-hole near the
top, through which is discharged into the room the air warmed in the
air-box. Each has also a wing or bracket, H and I, to keep in falling
brands, coals, &c. and a small hole, Q and R, for the axis of the
register to turn in.
(iv iv) The air-box is composed of the two middle plates, D E and
F G. The first has five thin ledges or partitions cast on it, two
inches deep, the edges of which are received in so many pair of
ledges cast in the other. The tops of all the cavities formed by
these thin deep ledges, are also covered by a ledge of the same form
and depth, cast with them; so that when the plates are put together,
and the joints luted, there is no communication between the air-box
and the smoke. In the winding passages of this box, fresh air is
warmed as it passes into the room.
(v) The front plate is arched on the under side, and ornamented with
foliages, &c. it has no ledges.
(vi) The top plate has a pair of ears, M N, answerable to those in
the bottom plate, and perforated for the same purpose: it has also a
pair of ledges running round the under side, to receive the top edges
of the front, back, and side-plates. The air-box does not reach up to
the top plate by two inches and a half.
(vii) The shutter is of thin wrought iron and light, of such a length
and breadth as to close well the opening of the fire-place. It is
used to blow up the fire, and to shut up and secure it at nights. It
has two brass knobs for handles, _d d_, and commonly slides up and
down in a groove, left, in putting up the fire-place, between the
foremost ledge of the side-plates, and the face of the front plate;
but some chuse to set it aside when it is not in use, and apply it on
occasion.
(viii) The register is also of thin wrought iron. It is placed
between the back plate and air-box, and can, by means of the key S,
be turned on its axis so as to lie in any position between level and
upright.
The screw-rods O P are of wrought iron, about a third of an inch
thick, with a button at bottom, and a screw and nut at top, and may
be ornamented with two small brasses screwed on above the nuts.
To put this machine to work,
1. A false back of four inch (or, in shallow small chimneys, two
inch) brick work is to be made in the chimney, four inches or more
from the true back; from the top of this false back a closing is to
be made over to the breast of the chimney, that no air may pass into
the chimney, but what goes under the false back, and up behind it.
2. Some bricks of the hearth are to be taken up, to form a hollow
under the bottom plate; across which hollow runs a thin tight
partition, to keep apart the air entering the hollow and the smoke;
and is therefore placed between the air-hole and smoke-holes.
3. A passage is made, communicating with the outward air, to
introduce that air into the fore part of the hollow under the bottom
plate, whence it may rise through the air-hole into the air-box.
4. A passage is made from the back part of the hollow, communicating
with the flue behind the false back: through this passage the smoke
is to pass.
The fire-place is to be erected upon these hollows, by putting all
the plates in their places, and screwing them together.
Its operation may be conceived by observing the plate entitled,
Profile of the Chimney and Fire-Place.
_M_ The mantle-piece, or breast of the chimney.
_C_ The funnel.
_B_ The false back and closing.
_E_ True back of the chimney.
_T_ Top of the fire-place.
_F_ The front of it.
_A_ The place where the fire is made.
_D_ The air-box.
_K_ The hole in the side-plate, through which the warmed air is
discharged out of the air-box into the room.
_H_ The hollow filled with fresh air, entering at the passage _I_,
and ascending into the air-box through the air-hole in the bottom
plate near
_G_ The partition in the hollow to keep the air and smoke apart.
_P_ The passage under the false back and part of the hearth for the
smoke.
The arrows show the course of the smoke.
[Illustration:
_Plate VIII*._ _Vol. II. page 238._
_PROFILE OF THE PENSYLVANIA CHIMNEY & FIRE-PLACE._
_STAFFORDSHIRE FIRE-PLACE._
_Front View Side View_
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
The fire being made at A, the flame and smoke will ascend and strike
the top T, which will thereby receive a considerable heat. The smoke,
finding no passage upwards, turns over the top of the air-box, and
descends between it and the back plate to the holes in the bottom
plate, heating, as it passes, both plates of the air-box, and the
said back plate; the front plate, bottom and side plates are also all
heated at the same time. The smoke proceeds in the passage that leads
it under and behind the false back, and so rises into the chimney.
The air of the room, warmed behind the back plate, and by the sides,
front, and top plates, becoming specifically lighter than the other
air in the room, is obliged to rise; but the closure over the
fireplace hindering it from going up the chimney, it is forced out
into the room, rises by the mantle-piece to the cieling, and spreads
all over the top of the room, whence being crouded down gradually by
the stream of newly-warmed air that follows and rises above it, the
whole room becomes in a short time equally warmed.
At the same time the air, warmed under the bottom plate, and in the
air-box, rises and comes out of the holes in the side-plates, very
swiftly, if the door of the room be shut, and joins its current with
the stream before-mentioned, rising from the side, back, and top
plates.
The air that enters the room through the air-box is fresh, though
warm; and, computing the swiftness of its motion with the areas of
the holes, it is found that near ten barrels of fresh air are hourly
introduced by the air-box; and by this means the air in the room is
continually changed, and kept, at the same time, sweet and warm.
It is to be observed, that the entering air will not be warm at first
lighting the fire, but heats gradually as the fire increases.
A square opening for a trap-door should be left in the closing of
the chimney, for the sweeper to go up: the door may be made of slate
or tin, and commonly kept close shut, but so placed as that, turning
up against the back of the chimney when open, it closes the vacancy
behind the false back, and shoots the soot, that falls in sweeping,
out upon the hearth. This trap-door is a very convenient thing.
In rooms where much smoking of tobacco is used, it is also convenient
to have a small hole, about five or six inches square, cut near the
ceiling through into the funnel: this hole must have a shutter, by
which it may be closed or opened at pleasure. When open, there will
be a strong draught of air through it into the chimney, which will
presently carry off a cloud of smoke, and keep the room clear: if
the room be too hot like-wise, it will carry off as much of the warm
air as you please, and then you may stop it entirely, or in part, as
you think fit. By this means it is, that the tobacco smoke does not
descend among the heads of the company near the fire, as it must do
before it can get into common chimneys.
_The Manner of using this Fire-Place._
Your cord-wood must be cut into three lengths; or else a short
piece, fit for the fire-place, cut off, and the longer left for the
kitchen or other fires. Dry hickery, or ash, or any woods that burn
with a clear flame are rather to be chosen, because such are less
apt to foul the smoke-passages with soot; and flame communicates
with its light, as well as by contact, greater heat to the plates
and room. But where more ordinary wood is used, half a dry faggot
of brush-wood, burnt at the first making the fire in the morning,
is very advantageous, as it immediately, by its sudden blaze, heats
the plates, and warms the room (which with bad wood slowly kindling
would not be done so soon) and at the same time by the length of
its flame, turning in the passages, consumes and cleanses away the
soot that such bad smoaky wood had produced therein the preceding
day, and so keeps them always free and clean. When you have laid a
little back log, and placed your billets on small dogs, as in common
chimneys, and put some fire to them, then slide down your shutter
as low as the dogs, and the opening being by that means contracted,
the air rushes in briskly, and presently blows up the flames. When
the fire is sufficiently kindled, slide it up again.[46] In some of
these fire-places there is a little six-inch square trap-door of
thin wrought iron or brass, covering a hole of like dimensions near
the fore-part of the bottom plate, which being by a ring lifted up
towards the fire, about an inch, where it will be retained by two
springing sides fixed to it perpendicularly (_See the Plate, Fig.
4._) the air rushes in from the hollow under the bottom plate, and
blows the fire. Where this is used, the shutter serves only to close
the fire at nights. The more forward you can make your fire on the
hearth-plate, not to be incommoded by the smoke, the sooner and
more will the room be warmed. At night, when you go to bed, cover
the coals or brands with ashes as usual; then take away the dogs,
and slide down the shutter close to the bottom-plate, sweeping a
little ashes against it, that no air may pass under it; then turn
the register, so as very near to stop the flue behind. If no smoke
then comes out at crevices into the room, it is right: if any smoke
is perceived to come out, move the register, so as to give a little
draught, and it will go the right way. Thus the room will be kept
warm all night; for the chimney being almost entirely stopt, very
little cold air, if any, will enter the room at any crevice. When you
come to re-kindle the fire in the morning, turn open the register
before you lift up the slider, otherwise, if there be any smoke in
the fireplace, it will come out into the room. By the same use of the
shutter and register, a blazing fire may be presently stifled, as
well as secured, when you have occasion to leave it for any time; and
at your return you will find the brands warm, and ready for a speedy
rekindling. The shutter alone will not stifle a fire, for it cannot
well be made to fit so exactly but that air will enter, and that
in a violent stream, so as to blow up and keep alive the flames,
and consume the wood, if the draught be not checked by turning the
register to shut the flue behind. The register has also two other
uses. If you observe the draught of air into your fire-place to be
stronger than is necessary (as in extreme cold weather it often is)
so that the wood is consumed faster than usual; in that case, a
quarter, half, or two-thirds turn of the register, will check the
violence of the draught, and let your fire burn with the moderation
you desire: and at the same time both the fire-place and the room
will be the warmer, because less cold air will enter and pass
through them. And if the chimney should happen to take fire (which
indeed there is very little danger of, if the preceding direction be
observed in making fires, and it be well swept once a year; for, much
less wood being burnt, less soot is proportionably made; and the fuel
being soon blown into flame by the shutter, or the trap-door bellows,
there is consequently less smoke from the fuel to make soot; then,
though the funnel should be foul, yet the sparks have such a crooked
up and down round about way to go, that they are out before they get
at it). I say, if ever it should be on fire, a turn of the register
shuts all close, and prevents any air going into the chimney, and so
the fire may easily be stifled and mastered.
_The Advantages of this Fire-Place._
Its advantages above the common fire-places are,
1. That your whole room is equally warmed, so that people need not
croud so close round the fire, but may sit near the window, and have
the benefit of the light for reading, writing, needle-work, &c.
They may sit with comfort in any part of the room, which is a very
considerable advantage in a large family, where there must often be
two fires kept, because all cannot conveniently come at one.
2. If you sit near the fire, you have not that cold draught of
uncomfortable air nipping your back and heels, as when before common
fires, by which many catch cold, being scorched before, and, as it
were, froze behind.
3. If you sit against a crevice, there is not that sharp draught of
cold air playing on you, as in rooms where there are fires in the
common way; by which many catch cold, whence proceed coughs[47],
catarrhs, tooth-achs, fevers, pleurisies, and many other diseases.
4. In case of sickness, they make most excellent nursing rooms; as
they constantly supply a sufficiency of fresh air, so warmed at the
same time as to be no way inconvenient or dangerous. A small one
does well in a chamber; and, the chimneys, being fitted for it, it
may be removed from one room to another, as occasion requires, and
fixed in half an hour. The equal temper too, and warmth of the air
of the room, is thought to be particularly advantageous in some
distempers; for it was observed in the winters of 1730 and 1736, when
the small-pox spread in Pensylvania, that very few children of the
Germans died of that distemper in proportion to those of the English;
which was ascribed, by some, to the warmth and equal temper of air
in their stove-rooms, which made the disease as favourable as it
commonly is in the West Indies. But this conjecture we submit to the
judgment of physicians.
5. In common chimneys, the strongest heat from the fire, which is
upwards, goes directly up the chimney, and is lost; and there is such
a strong draught into the chimney that not only the upright heat, but
also the back, sides, and downward heats are carried up the chimney
by that draught of air; and the warmth given before the fire, by
the rays that strike out towards the room, is continually driven
back, crouded into the chimney, and carried up by the same draught
of air. But here the upright heat strikes and heats the top plate,
which warms the air above it, and that comes into the room. The heat
likewise, which the fire communicates to the sides, back, bottom, and
air-box, is all brought into the room; for you will find a constant
current of warm air coming out of the chimney-corner into the room.
Hold a candle just under the mantle-piece, or breast of your chimney,
and you will see the flame bent outwards: by laying a piece of
smoaking paper on the hearth, on either side, you may see how the
current of air moves, and where it tends, for it will turn and carry
the smoke with it.
6. Thus, as very little of the heat is lost, when this fire-place is
used, _much less wood_[48] will serve you, which is a considerable
advantage where wood is dear.
7. When you burn candles near this fire-place, you will find that
the flame burns quite upright, and does not blare and run the tallow
down, by drawing towards the chimney, as against common fires.
8. This fire-place cures most smoaky chimneys, and thereby preserves
both the eyes and furniture.
9. It prevents the fouling of chimneys; much of the lint and dust
that contributes to foul a chimney being, by the low arch, obliged to
pass through the flame, where it is consumed. Then, less wood being
burnt, there is less smoke made. Again, the shutter, or trap-bellows,
soon blowing the wood into a flame, the same wood does not yield so
much smoke as if burnt in a common chimney: for as soon as flame
begins, smoke in proportion ceases.
10. And if a chimney should be foul, it is much less likely to take
fire. If it should take fire, it is easily stifled and extinguished.
11. A fire may be very speedily made in this fire-place by the help
of the shutter, or trap-bellows, as aforesaid.
12. A fire may be soon extinguished, by closing it with the shutter
before, and turning the register behind, which will stifle it, and
the brands will remain ready to rekindle.
13. The room being once warm, the warmth may be retained in it all
night.
14. And lastly, the fire is so secured at night, that not one spark
can fly out into the room to do damage.
With all these conveniences, you do not lose the pleasing sight nor
use of the fire, as in the Dutch stoves, but may boil the tea-kettle,
warm the flat-irons, heat heaters, keep warm a dish of victuals by
setting it on the top, &c.
_Objections answered._
There are some objections commonly made by people that are
unacquainted with these fire-places, which it may not be amiss to
endeavour to remove, as they arise from prejudices which might
otherwise obstruct, in some degree, the general use of this
beneficial machine. We frequently hear it said, _They are of the
nature of Dutch stoves_; _stoves have an unpleasant smell_; _stoves
are unwholesome_; _and, warm rooms make people tender, and apt
to catch cold_.--As to the first, that they are of the nature of
Dutch stoves, the description of those stoves, in the beginning
of this paper, compared with that of these machines, shows that
there is a most material difference, and that these have vastly the
advantage, if it were only in the single article of the admission and
circulation of the fresh air. But it must be allowed there may have
been some cause to complain of the offensive smell of iron stoves.
This smell, however, never proceeded from the iron itself, which, in
its nature, whether hot or cold, is one of the sweetest of metals,
but from the general uncleanly manner of using those stoves. If they
are kept clean, they are as sweet as an ironing-box, which though
ever so hot, never offends the smell of the nicest lady: but it is
common to let them be greased, by setting candlesticks on them,
or otherwise; to rub greasy hands on them; and, above all, to spit
upon them, to try how hot they are, which is an inconsiderate filthy
unmannerly custom; for the slimy matter of spittle drying on burns
and fumes when the stove is hot, as well as the grease, and smells
most nauseously, which makes such close stove-rooms, where there is
no draught to carry off those filthy vapours, almost intolerable to
those that are not from their infancy accustomed to them. At the same
time nothing is more easy than to keep them clean; for when by any
accident they happen to be fouled, a lee made of ashes and water,
with a brush, will scour them perfectly: as will also a little strong
soft soap and water.
That hot iron of itself gives no offensive smell, those know very
well who have (as the writer of this has) been present at a furnace
when the workmen were pouring out the flowing metal to cast large
plates, and not the least smell of it to be perceived. That hot
iron does not, like lead, brass, and some other metals, give out
unwholesome vapours, is plain from the general health and strength
of those who constantly work in iron, as furnace-men, forge-men,
and smiths; that it is in its nature a metal perfectly wholesome
to the body of man, is known from the beneficial use of chalybeate
or iron-mine-waters; from the good done by taking steel filings in
several disorders; and that even the smithy water in which hot irons
are quenched, is found advantageous to the human constitution.--The
ingenious and learned Dr. Desaguliers, to whose instructive writings
the contriver of this machine acknowledges himself much indebted,
relates an experiment he made, to try whether heated iron would yield
unwholesome vapours: he took a cube of iron, and having given it
a very great heat, he fixed it so to a receiver, exhausted by the
air-pump, that all the air rushing in to fill the receiver, should
first pass through a hole in the hot iron. He then put a small bird
into the receiver, who breathed that air without any inconvenience,
or suffering the least disorder. But the same experiment being made
with a cube of hot brass, a bird put into that air died in a few
minutes. Brass, indeed, stinks even when cold, and much more when
hot; lead, too, when hot, yields a very unwholesome steam; but iron
is always sweet and every way taken is wholesome and friendly to the
human body--except in weapons.
_That warmed rooms make people tender, and apt to catch cold_, is a
mistake as great as it is (among the English) general. We have seen
in the preceding pages how the common rooms are apt to give colds;
but the writer of this paper may affirm from his own experience, and
that of his family and friends who have used warm rooms for these
four winters past, that by the use of such rooms, people are rendered
_less liable_ to take cold, and, indeed, _actually hardened_. If
sitting warm in a room made one subject to take cold on going out,
lying warm in bed, should by a parity of reason, produce the same
effect when we rise. Yet we find we can leap out of the warmest bed
naked, in the coldest morning, without any such danger; and in the
same manner out of warm cloaths into a cold bed. The reason is, that
in these cases the pores all close at once, the cold is shut out,
and the heat within augmented, as we soon after feel by the glowing
of the flesh and skin. Thus no one was ever known to catch cold by
the use of the cold bath: and are not cold baths allowed to harden
the bodies of those that use them? Are they not therefore frequently
prescribed to the tenderest constitutions? Now every time you go
out of a warm room into the cold freezing air, you do as it were
plunge into a cold bath, and the effect is in proportion the same;
for (though perhaps you may feel somewhat chilly at first) you find
in a little time your bodies hardened and strengthened, your blood
is driven round with a brisker circulation, and a comfortable steady
uniform inward warmth succeeds that equal outward warmth you first
received in the room. Farther to confirm this assertion, we instance
the Swedes, the Danes, and the Russians: these nations are said to
live in rooms, compared to ours, as hot as ovens[49]; yet where are
the hardy soldiers, though bred in their boasted cool houses, that
can, like these people, bear the fatigues of a winter campaign in so
severe a climate, march whole days to the neck in snow, and at night
entrench in ice as they do?
The mentioning of those northern nations, puts me in mind of a
considerable _public advantage_ that may arise from the general use
of these fire-places. It is observable, that though those countries
have been well inhabited for many ages, wood is still their fuel,
and yet at no very great price; which could not have been, if they
had not universally used stoves, but consumed it as we do, in great
quantities, by open fires. By the help of this saving invention our
wood may grow as fast as we consume it, and our posterity may warm
themselves at a moderate rate, without, being obliged to fetch their
fuel over the Atlantic; as, if pit-coal should not be here discovered
(which is an uncertainty) they must necessarily do.
We leave it to the _political arithmetician_ to compute how much
money will be saved to a country, by its spending two-thirds less of
fuel; how much labour saved in cutting and carriage of it; how much
more land may be cleared by cultivation; how great the profit by the
additional quantity of work done, in those trades particularly that
do not exercise the body so much, but that the workfolks are obliged
to run frequently to the fire to warm themselves: and to physicians
to say, how much healthier thick-built towns and cities will be,
now half-suffocated with sulphury smoke, when so much less of that
smoke shall be made, and the air breathed by the inhabitants be
consequently so much purer. These things it will suffice just to have
mentioned; let us proceed to give some necessary directions to the
workman who is to fix or set up these fire-places.
_Directions to the Bricklayer._
The chimney being first well swept and cleansed from soot, &c.
lay the bottom plate down on the hearth, in the place where the
fire-place is to stand, which may be as forward as the hearth will
allow. Chalk a line from one of its back corners round the plate
to the other corner, that you may afterwards know its place when
you come to fix it; and from those corners, two parallel lines to
the back of the chimney: make marks also on each side, that you
may know where the partition is to stand, which is to prevent any
communication between the air and smoke. Then, removing the plate,
make a hollow under it and beyond it, by taking up as many of the
bricks or tiles as you can, within your chalked lines, quite to
the chimney-back. Dig out six or eight inches deep of the earth
or rubbish, all the breadth and length of your hollow; then make
a passage of four inches square (if the place will allow so much)
leading from the hollow to some place communicating with the outer
air; by _outer air_ we mean air without the room you intend to warm.
This passage may be made to enter your hollow on either side, or in
the fore part, just as you find most convenient, the circumstances
of your chimney considered. If the fire-place is to be put up in
a chamber, you may have this communication of outer air from the
stair-case; or sometimes more easily from between the chamber floor,
and the ceiling of the lower room, making only a small hole in the
wall of the house entering the space betwixt those two joists with
which your air-passage in the hearth communicates. If this air
passage be so situated as that mice may enter it, and nestle in the
hollow, a little grate of wire will keep them out. This passage
being made, and, if it runs under any part of the earth, tiled
over securely, you may proceed to raise your false back. This may
be of four inches or two inches thickness, as you have room, but
let it stand at least four inches from the true chimney-back. In
narrow chimneys this false back runs from jamb to jamb, but in large
old-fashioned chimneys, you need not make it wider than the back of
the fire-place. To begin it, you may form an arch nearly flat, of
three bricks end to end, over the hollow, to leave a passage the
breadth of the iron fire-place, and five or six inches deep, rounding
at bottom, for the smoke to turn and pass under the false back, and
so behind it up the chimney. The false back is to rise till it is
as high as the breast of the chimney, and then to close over to the
breast[50]; always observing, if there is a wooden mantle-tree, to
close above it. If there is no wood in the breast, you may arch over
and close even with the lower part of the breast. By this closing the
chimney is made tight, that no air or smoke can pass up it, without
going under the false back. Then from side to side of your hollow,
against the marks you made with chalk, raise a tight partition,
brick-on-edge, to separate the air from the smoke, bevelling away to
half an inch the brick that comes just under the air-hole, that the
air may have a free passage up into the air-box: lastly, close the
hearth over that part of the hollow that is between the false back
and the place of the bottom plate, coming about half an inch under
the plate, which piece of hollow hearth may be supported by a bit
or two of old iron-hoop; then is your chimney fitted to receive the
fire-place.
To set it, lay first a little bed of mortar all round the
edges of the hollow, and over the top of the partition: then lay
down your bottom plate in its place (with the rods in it) and tread
it till it lies firm. Then put a little fine mortar (made of loam
and lime, with a little hair) into its joints, and set in your back
plate, leaning it for the present against the false back: then set
in your air-box, with a little mortar in its joints; then put in the
two sides, closing them up against the air-box, with mortar in their
grooves, and fixing at the same time your register: then bring up
your back to its place, with mortar in its grooves, and that will
bind the sides together. Then put in your front plate, placing it
as far back in the groove as you can, to leave room for the sliding
plate: then lay on your top plate, with mortar in its grooves also,
screwing the whole firmly together by means of the rods. The capital
letters A B D E, &c. in Plate VIII., shew the corresponding parts of
the several plates. Lastly, the joints being pointed all round on the
outside, the fire-place is fit for use.
When you make your first fire in it, perhaps if the chimney be
thoroughly cold, it may not draw, the work too being all cold and
damp. In such case, put first a few shovels of hot coals in the
fire-place, then lift up the chimney-sweeper's trap-door, and putting
in a sheet or two of flaming paper, shut it again, which will set
the chimney a drawing immediately, and when once it is filled with a
column of warm air, it will draw strongly and continually.
The drying of the mortar and work by the first fire may smell
unpleasantly, but that will soon be over.
In some shallow chimneys, to make more room for the false back and
its flue, four inches or more of the chimney back may be picked away.
Let the room be made as tight as conveniently it may be, so will the
outer air, that must come in to supply the room and draught of the
fire, be all obliged to enter through the passage under the bottom
plate, and up through the air-box, by which means it will not come
cold to your backs, but be warmed as it comes in, and mixed with the
warm air round the fire-place, before it spreads in the room.
But as a great quantity of cold air, in extreme cold weather
especially, will presently enter a room if the door be carelessly
left open, it is good to have some contrivance to shut it, either by
means of screw hinges, a spring, or a pulley.
When the pointing in the joints is all dry and hard, get some
powder of black lead (broken bits of black lead crucibles from the
silver-smiths, pounded fine, will do) and mixing it with a little rum
and water, lay it on, when the plates are warm, with a hard brush,
over the top and front-plates, part of the side and bottom-plates,
and over all the pointing; and, as it dries, rub it to a gloss with
the same brush, so the joints will not be discerned, but it will look
all of a piece, and shine like new iron. And the false back being
plaistered and white-washed, and the hearth reddened, the whole will
make a pretty appearance. Before the black lead is laid on, it would
not be amiss to wash the plates with strong lee and a brush, or soap
and water, to cleanse them from any spots of grease or filth that may
be on them. If any grease should afterwards come on them, a little
wet ashes will get it out.
If it be well set up, and in a tolerable good chimney, smoke will
draw in from as far as the fore part of the bottom plate, as you may
try by a bit of burning paper.
People are at first apt to make their rooms too warm, not imagining
how little a fire will be sufficient. When the plates are no hotter
than that one may just bear the hand on them, the room will generally
be as warm as you desire it.
_Soon after the foregoing piece was published, some persons in
England, in imitation of Mr. Franklin's invention, made what they
call_ Pensylvanian Fire-places, with improvements; _the principal of
which pretended improvements is, a contraction of the passages in the
air-box, originally designed for admitting a quantity of fresh air,
and warming it as it entered the room. The contracting these passages
gains indeed more room for the grate, but in a great measure defeats
their intention. For if the passages in the air-box do not greatly
exceed in dimensions the amount of all the crevices by which cold air
can enter the room, they will not considerably prevent, as they were
intended to do, the entry of cold air through these crevices._
FOOTNOTES:
[44] Body or matter of any sort, is said to be _specifically_ heavier
or lighter than other matter, when it has more or less substance or
weight in the same dimensions.
[45] As the writer is neither physician nor philosopher, the reader
may expect he should justify these his opinions by the authority of
some that are so. M. Clare, F. R. S. in his treatise of _The Motion
of Fluids_, says, page 246, &c. "And here it may be remarked, that
it is more prejudicial to health to sit near a window or door, in
a room where there are many candles and a fire, than in a room
without; for the consumption of air thereby occasioned, will always
be very considerable, and this must necessarily be replaced by cold
air from without. Down the chimney can enter none, the stream of
warm air always arising therein absolutely forbids it, the supply
must therefore come in wherever other openings shall be found. If
these happen to be small, _let those who sit near them beware_; the
smaller the floodgate, the smarter will be the stream. Was a man,
even in a sweat, to leap into a cold bath, or jump from his warm bed,
in the intensest cold, even in a frost, provided he do not continue
over-long therein, and be in health when he does this, we see by
experience that he gets no harm. If he sits a little while against a
window, into which a successive current of cold air comes, his pores
are closed, and he gets a fever. In the first case, the shock the
body endures, is general, uniform, and therefore less fierce; in the
other, a single part, a neck, or ear perchance, is attacked, and that
with the greater violence probably, as it is done by a successive
stream of cold air. And the cannon of a battery, pointed against a
single part of a bastion, will easier make a breach than were they
directed to play singly upon the whole face, and will admit the enemy
much sooner into the town."
That warm rooms, and keeping the body warm in winter, are means of
preventing such diseases, take the opinion of that learned Italian
physician Antonino Parcio, in the preface to his tract _de Militis
Sanitate tuenda_, where, speaking of a particular wet and cold
winter, remarkable at Venice for its sickliness, he says, "Popularis
autem pleuritis quæ Venetiis sæviit mensibus _Dec. Jan. Feb._ ex
cæli, aërisque inclementia facta est, quod non habeant hypocausta
[_stove-rooms_] & quod non soliciti sunt Itali omnes de auribus,
temporibus, collo, totoque corpore defendendis ab injuriis aëris; et
tegmina domorum Veneti disponant parum inclinata, ut nives diutius
permaneant super tegmina. E contra, Germani, qui experiuntur cæli
inclementiam, perdidicere sese defendere ab aëris injuria. Tecta
construunt multum inclinata, ut decidant nives. Germani abundant
lignis, domusque _hypocaustis_; foris autem incedunt pannis
pellibus, gossipio, bene mehercule loricati atque muniti. In Bavaria
interrogabam (curiositate motus videndi Germaniam) quot nam elapsis
mensibus pleuritide vel peripneumonia fuissent absumti: dicebant vix
unus aut alter illis temporibus pleuritide fuit correptus."
The great Dr. Boerhaave, whose authority alone might be sufficient,
in his _Aphorisms_, mentions, as one antecedent cause of pleurisies,
"A cold air, driven violently through some narrow passage upon the
body, overheated by labour or fire."
The eastern physicians agree with the Europeans in this point;
witness the Chinese treatise entitled, _Tschang seng_; i.e. _The
Art of procuring Health and long Life_, as translated in Pere Du
Halde's account of China, which has this passage. "As, of all the
passions which ruffle us, anger does the most mischief, so of all
the malignant affections of the air, a wind that comes through any
narrow passage, which is cold and piercing, is most dangerous; and
coming upon us unawares insinuates itself into the body, often
causing grievous diseases. It should therefore be avoided, according
to the advice of the ancient proverb, as carefully as the point of an
arrow." These mischiefs are avoided by the use of the new-invented
fire-places, as will be shown hereafter.
[46] The shutter is slid up and down in this manner, only in those
fire-places which are so made as that the distance between the top of
the arched opening, and the bottom plate, is the same as the distance
between it and the top plate. Where the arch is higher, as it is in
the draught annexed (which is agreeable to the last improvements) the
shutter is set by, and applied occasionally; because if it were made
deep enough to close the whole opening when slid down, it would hide
part of it when up.
[47] My Lord Molesworth, in his account of Denmark, says, "That few
or none of the people there are troubled with coughs, catarrhs,
consumptions, or such like diseases of the lungs; so that in the
midst of winter in the churches, which are very much frequented,
there is no noise to interrupt the attention due to the preacher.
I am persuaded (says he) their _warm stoves_ contribute to their
freedom from these kind of maladies." page 91.
[48] People who have used these fire-places, differ much in their
accounts of the wood saved by them. Some say five-sixths, others
three-fourths, and others much less. This is owing to the great
difference there was in their former fires; some (according to the
different circumstances of their rooms and chimneys) having been used
to make very large, others middling, and others, of a more sparing
temper, very small ones: while in these fire-places (their size
and draught being nearly the same), the consumption is more equal.
I suppose, taking a number of families together, that two-thirds,
or half the wood, at least, is saved. My common room, I know, is
made thrice as warm as it used to be, with a quarter of the wood I
formerly consumed there.
[49] Mr. Boyle, in his experiments and observations upon cold,
_Shaw's Abridgement_, Vol. I. p. 684, says, "It is remarkable, that
while the cold has strange and tragical effects at Moscow, and
elsewhere, the Russians and Livonians should be exempt from them, who
accustom themselves to pass immediately from a great degree of heat,
to as great an one of cold, without receiving any visible prejudice
thereby. I remember being told by a person of unquestionable credit,
that it was a common practice among them, to go from a hot stove,
into cold water; the same was also affirmed to me by another who
resided at Moscow. This tradition is likewise abundantly confirmed by
Olearius."--"It is a surprising thing, says he, to see how far the
Russians can endure heat; and how, when it makes them ready to faint,
they can go out of their stoves, stark naked, both men and women, and
throw themselves into cold water; and even in winter wallow in the
snow."
[50] See page 240, where the trap-door is described that ought to be
in this closing.
TO DR. INGENHAUSZ, PHYSICIAN TO THE EMPEROR, AT VIENNA[51].
_On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimnies._
_At Sea, Aug., 28, 1785._
DEAR FRIEND,
In one of your letters, a little before I left France, you desire
me to give you in writing my thoughts upon the construction and use
of chimneys, a subject you had sometimes heard me touch upon in
conversation. I embrace willingly this leisure afforded by my present
situation to comply with your request, as it will not only show my
regard to the desires of a friend, but may at the same time be of
some utility to others; the doctrine of chimneys appearing not to
be as yet generally well understood, and mistakes respecting them
being attended with constant inconvenience, if not remedied, and with
fruitless expence, if the true remedies are mistaken.
Those who would be acquainted with this subject should begin by
considering on what principle smoke ascends in any chimney. At first
many are apt to think that smoke is in its nature and of itself
specifically lighter than air, and rises in it for the same reason
that cork rises in water. These see no case why smoke should not rise
in the chimney, though the room be ever so close. Others think there
is a power in chimneys to _draw_ up the smoke, and that there are
different forms of chimneys which afford more or less of this power.
These amuse themselves with searching for the best form. The equal
dimensions of a funnel in its whole length is not thought artificial
enough, and it is made, for fancied reasons, sometimes tapering and
narrowing from below upwards, and sometimes the contrary, &c. &c. A
simple experiment or two may serve to give more correct ideas. Having
lit a pipe of tobacco, plunge the stem to the bottom of a decanter
half filled with cold water; then putting a rag over the bowl, blow
through it and make the smoke descend in the stem of the pipe, from
the end of which it will rise in bubbles through the water; and being
thus cooled, will not afterwards rise to go out through the neck of
the decanter, but remain spreading itself and resting on the surface
of the water. This shows that smoke is really heavier than air, and
that it is carried upwards only when attached to, or acted upon, by
air that is heated, and thereby rarefied and rendered specifically
lighter than the air in its neighbourhood.
Smoke being rarely seen but in company with heated air, and its
upward motion being visible, though that of the rarefied air that
drives it is not so, has naturally given rise to the error.
I need not explain to you, my learned friend, what is meant by
rarefied air; but if you make the public use you propose of this
letter, it may fall into the hands of some who are unacquainted with
the term and with the thing. These then may be told, that air is a
fluid which has weight as well as others, though about eight hundred
times lighter than water. That heat makes the particles of air recede
from each other and take up more space, so that the same weight of
air heated will have more bulk, than equal weights of cold air which
may surround it, and in that case must rise, being forced upwards by
such colder and heavier air, which presses to get under it and take
its place. That air is so rarefied or expanded by heat may be proved
to their comprehension, by a lank blown bladder, which, laid before a
fire, will soon swell, grow tight and burst.
[Illustration: (remedies for smoky chimnies)
_Plate IX._ _Vol. II. page 269._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
Another experiment may be to take a glass tube about an inch in
diameter, and twelve inches long, open at both ends and fixed upright
on legs, so that it need not be handled, for the hands might warm it.
At the end of a quill fasten five or six inches of the finest light
filament of silk, so that it may be held either above the upper
end of the tube or under the lower end, your warm hand being at a
distance by the length of the quill. (Plate IX. fig. 1.) If there
were any motion of air through the tube, it would manifest itself
by its effect on the silk; but if the tube and the air in it are
of the same temperature with the surrounding air, there will be no
such motion, whatever may be the form of the tube, whether crooked
or strait, narrow below and widening upwards, or the contrary; the
air in it will be quiescent. Warm the tube, and you will find, as
long as it continues warm, a constant current of air entering below
and passing up through it, till discharged at the top; because the
warmth of the tube being communicated to the air it contains rarefies
that air and makes it lighter than the air without, which therefore
presses in below, forces it upwards, and follows and takes its place,
and is rarefied in its turn. And, without warming the tube, if you
hold under it a knob of hot iron, the air thereby heated will rise
and fill the tube, going out at its top, and this motion in the
tube will continue as long as the knob remains hot, because the air
entering the tube below is heated and rarefied by passing near and
over that knob.
That this motion is produced merely by the difference of specific
gravity between the fluid within and that without the tube, and not
by any fancied form of the tube itself, may appear by plunging it
into water contained in a glass jar a foot deep, through which such
motion might be seen. The water within and without the tube being
of the same specific gravity, balance each other, and both remain
at rest. But take out the tube, stop its bottom with a finger and
fill it with olive oil, which is lighter than water, then stopping
the top, place it as before, its lower end under water, its top a
very little above. As long as you keep the bottom stopt, the fluids
remain at rest, but the moment it is unstopt, the heavier enters
below, forces up the lighter, and takes its place. And the motion
then ceases, merely because the new fluid cannot be successively made
lighter, as air may be by a warm tube.
In fact, no form of the funnel of a chimney has any share in its
operation or effect respecting smoke, except its height. The longer
the funnel, if erect, the greater its force when filled with heated
and rarefied air, to _draw_ in below and drive up the smoke, if one
may, in compliance with custom, use the expression _draw_, when in
fact it is the superior weight of the surrounding atmosphere that
_presses_ to enter the funnel below, and so _drives up_ before it the
smoke and warm air it meets with in its passage.
I have been the more particular in explaining these first principles,
because, for want of clear ideas respecting them, much fruitless
expence has been occasioned; not only single chimneys, but in some
instances, within my knowledge, whole stacks having been pulled down
and rebuilt with funnels of different forms, imagined more powerful
in _drawing_ smoke; but having still the same height and the same
opening below, have performed no better than their predecessors.
What is it then which makes a _smoky chimney_, that is, a chimney
which, instead of conveying up all the smoke, discharges a part of it
into the room, offending the eyes and damaging the furniture?
The causes of this effect, which have fallen under my observation,
amount to _nine_, differing from each other, and therefore requiring
different remedies.
1. _Smoky chimneys in a new house, are such, frequently from mere
want of air._ The workmanship of the rooms being all good, and just
out of the workman's hand, the joints of the boards of the flooring,
and of the pannels of wainscotting are all true and tight, the more
so as the walls, perhaps not yet thoroughly dry, preserve a dampness
in the air of the room which keeps the wood-work swelled and close.
The doors and the sashes too, being worked with truth, shut with
exactness, so that the room is as tight as a snuff-box, no passage
being left open for air to enter, except the key-hole, and even that
is sometimes covered by a little dropping shutter. Now if smoke
cannot rise but as connected with rarefied air, and a column of such
air, suppose it filling the funnel, cannot rise, unless other air
be admitted to supply its place; and if, therefore, no current of
air enter the opening of the chimney, there is nothing to prevent
the smoke coming out into the room. If the motion upwards of the
air in a chimney that is freely supplied, be observed by the rising
of the smoke or a feather in it, and it be considered that in the
time such feather takes in rising from the fire to the top of the
chimney, a column of air equal to the content of the funnel must be
discharged, and an equal quantity supplied from the room below, it
will appear absolutely impossible that this operation should go on
if the tight room is kept shut; for were there any force capable of
drawing constantly so much air out of it, it must soon be exhausted
like the receiver of an air-pump, and no animal could live in it.
Those therefore who stop every crevice in a room to prevent the
admission of fresh air, and yet would have their chimney carry up
the smoke, require inconsistencies, and expect impossibilities.
Yet under this situation, I have seen the owner of a new house, in
despair, and ready to sell it for much less than it cost, conceiving
it uninhabitable, because not a chimney in any one of its rooms would
carry off the smoke, unless a door or window were left open. Much
expence has also been made, to alter and amend new chimneys which
had really no fault; in one house particularly that I knew, of a
nobleman in Westminster, that expence amounted to no less than three
hundred pounds, _after_ his house had been, as he thought, finished
and all charges paid. And after all, several of the alterations were
ineffectual, for want of understanding the true principles.
_Remedies._ When you find on trial, that opening the door or a
window, enables the chimney to carry up all the smoke, you may be
sure that want of air _from without_, was the cause of its smoking.
I say _from without_, to guard you against a common mistake of those
who may tell you, the room is large, contains abundance of air,
sufficient to supply any chimney, and therefore it cannot be that the
chimney wants air. These reasoners are ignorant, that the largeness
of a room, if tight, is in this case of small importance, since it
cannot part with a chimney full of its air without occasioning so
much vacuum; which it requires a great force to effect, and could not
be borne if effected.
It appearing plainly, then, that some of the outward air must be
admitted, the question will be, how much is _absolutely necessary_;
for you would avoid admitting more, as being contrary to one of your
intentions in having a fire, viz. that of warming your room. To
discover this quantity, shut the door gradually while a middling
fire is burning, till you find that, before it is quite shut, the
smoke begins to come out into the room, then open it a little till
you perceive the smoke comes out no longer. There hold the door, and
observe the width of the open crevice between the edge of the door
and the rabbit it should shut into. Suppose the distance to be half
an inch, and the door eight feet high, you find thence that your room
requires an entrance for air equal in area to ninety-six half inches,
or forty-eight square inches, or a passage of six inches by eight.
This however is a large supposition, there being few chimneys, that,
having a moderate opening and a tolerable height of funnel, will not
be satisfied with such a crevice of a quarter of an inch; and I have
found a square of six by six, or thirty-six square inches, to be a
pretty good medium, that will serve for most chimneys. High funnels,
with small and low openings, may indeed be supplied thro' a less
space, because, for reasons that will appear hereafter, the _force
of levity_, if one may so speak, being greater in such funnels, the
cool air enters the room with greater velocity, and consequently
more enters in the same time. This however has its limits; for
experience shows, that no increased velocity, so occasioned, has
made the admission of air through the key-hole equal in quantity to
that through an open door; though through the door the current moves
slowly, and through the key-hole with great rapidity.
It remains then to be considered how and where this necessary
quantity of air from without is to be admitted so as to be least
inconvenient. For if at the door, left so much open, the air thence
proceeds directly to the chimney, and in its way comes cold to your
back and heels as you sit before your fire. If you keep the door
shut, and raise a little the sash of your window, you feel the same
inconvenience. Various have been the contrivances to avoid this, such
as bringing in fresh air through pipes in the jams of the chimney,
which, pointing upwards, should blow the smoke up the funnel; opening
passages into the funnel above, to let in air for the same purpose.
But these produce an effect contrary to that intended: for as it
is the constant current of air passing from the room _through the
opening of the chimney_ into the funnel which prevents the smoke
coming out into the room, if you supply the funnel by other means or
in other ways with the air it wants, and especially if that air be
cold, you diminish the force of that current, and the smoke in its
effort to enter the room finds less resistance.
The wanted air must then _indispensably_ be admitted into the
room, to supply what goes off through the opening of the chimney.
M. Gauger, a very ingenious and intelligent French writer on the
subject, proposes with judgment to admit it _above_ the opening
of the chimney; and to prevent inconvenience from its coldness,
he directs its being made to pass in its entrance through winding
cavities made behind the iron back and sides of the fire-place, and
under the iron hearth-plate; in which cavities it will be warmed, and
even heated, so as to contribute much, instead of cooling, to the
warming of the room. This invention is excellent in itself, and may
be used with advantage in building new houses; because the chimneys
may then be so disposed, as to admit conveniently the cold air to
enter such passages: but in houses built without such views, the
chimneys are often so situated, as not to afford that convenience,
without great and expensive alterations. Easy and cheap methods,
though not quite so perfect in themselves, are of more general
utility; and such are the following.
In all rooms where there is a fire, the body of air warmed and
rarefied before the chimney is continually changing place, and making
room for other air that is to be warmed in its turn. Part of it
enters and goes up the chimney, and the rest rises and takes place
near the ceiling. If the room be lofty, that warm air remains above
our heads as long as it continues warm, and we are little benefited
by it, because it does not descend till it is cooler. Few can imagine
the difference of climate between the upper and lower parts of such
a room, who have not tried it by the thermometer, or by going up a
ladder till their heads are near the ceiling. It is then among this
warm air that the wanted quantity of outward air is best admitted,
with which being mixed, its coldness is abated, and its inconvenience
diminished so as to become scarce observable. This may be easily
done, by drawing down about an inch the upper sash of a window; or,
if not moveable, by cutting such a crevice through its frame; in both
which cases, it will be well to place a thin shelf of the length,
to conceal the opening, and sloping upwards to direct the entering
air horizontally along and under the ceiling. In some houses the air
may be admitted by such a crevice made in the wainscot, cornish or
plastering, near the ceiling and over the opening of the chimney.
This, if practicable, is to be chosen, because the entering cold air
will there meet with the warmest rising air from before the fire, and
be soonest tempered by the mixture. The same kind of shelf should
also be placed here. Another way, and not a very difficult one, is
to take out an upper pane of glass in one of your sashes, set in a
tin frame, (Plate, Fig. 2.) giving it two springing angular sides,
and then replacing it, with hinges below on which it may be turned
to open more or less above. It will then have the appearance of an
internal sky light. By drawing this pane in, more or less, you may
admit what air you find necessary. Its position will naturally throw
that air up and along the ceiling. This is what is called in France
a _Was ist das?_ As this is a German question, the invention is
probably of that nation, and takes its name from the frequent asking
of that question when it first appeared. In England, some have of
late years cut a round hole about five inches diameter in a pane
of the sash and placed against it a circular plate of tin hung on
an axis, and cut into vanes, which, being separately bent a little
obliquely, are acted upon by the entering air, so as to force the
plate continually round like the vanes of a windmill. This admits the
outward air, and by the continual whirling of the vanes, does in some
degree disperse it. The noise only, is a little inconvenient.
2. A second cause of the smoking of chimneys is, _their openings
in the room being too large_; that is, too wide, too high, or
both. Architects in general have no other ideas of proportion
in the opening of a chimney, than what relate to symmetry and
beauty, respecting the dimensions of the room;[52] while its true
proportion, respecting its function and utility depends on quite
other principles; and they might as properly proportion the step
in a stair-case to the height of the story, instead of the natural
elevation of men's legs in mounting. The proportion then to be
regarded, is what relates to the height of the funnel. For as the
funnels in the different stories of a house are necessarily of
different heights or lengths, that from the lowest floor being
the highest or longest, and those of the other floors shorter and
shorter, till we come to those in the garrets, which are of course
the shortest; and the force of draft being, as already said, in
proportion to the height of funnel filled with rarefied air; and a
current of air from the room into the chimney, sufficient to fill
the opening, being necessary to oppose and prevent the smoke coming
out into the room; it follows, that the openings of the longest
funnels may be larger, and that those of the shorter funnels should
be smaller. For if there be a large opening to a chimney that does
not draw strongly, the funnel may happen to be furnished with the
air it demands by a partial current entering on one side of the
opening, and, leaving the other side free of any opposing current,
may permit the smoke to issue there into the room. Much too of the
force of draft in a funnel depends on the degree of rarefaction in
the air it contains, and that depends on the nearness to the fire of
its passage in entering the funnel. If it can enter far from the fire
on each side, or far above the fire in a wide or high opening, it
receives little heat in passing by the fire, and the contents of the
funnel is by that means less different in levity from the surrounding
atmosphere, and its force in drawing consequently weaker. Hence if
too large an opening be given to chimneys in upper rooms, those rooms
will be smoky: on the other hand, if too small openings be given to
chimneys in the lower rooms, the entering air, operating too directly
and violently on the fire, and afterwards strengthening the draft as
it ascends the funnel, will consume the fuel too rapidly.
_Remedy._ As different circumstances frequently mix themselves
in these matters, it is difficult to give precise dimensions for
the openings of all chimneys. Our fathers made them generally
much too large; we have lessened them; but they are often still
of greater dimension than they should be, the human eye not being
easily reconciled to sudden and great changes. If you suspect that
your chimney smokes from the too great dimension of its opening,
contract it by placing moveable boards so as to lower and narrow
it gradually, till you find the smoke no longer issues into the
room. The proportion so found will be that which is proper for that
chimney, and you may employ the bricklayer or mason to reduce it
accordingly. However, as, in building new houses, something must
be sometimes hazarded, I would make the openings in my lower rooms
about thirty inches square and eighteen deep, and those in the upper,
only eighteen inches square and not quite so deep; the intermediate
ones diminishing in proportion as the height of funnel diminished.
In the larger openings, billets of two feet long, or half the common
length of cordwood, may be burnt conveniently; and for the smaller,
such wood may be sawed into thirds. Where coals are the fuel, the
grates will be proportioned to the openings. The same depth is nearly
necessary to all, the funnels being all made of a size proper to
admit a chimney-sweeper. If in large and elegant rooms custom or
fancy should require the appearance of a larger chimney, it may be
formed of expensive marginal decorations, in marble, &c. In time
perhaps, that which is fittest in the nature of things may come to be
thought handsomest. But at present, when men and women in different
countries show themselves dissatisfied with the forms God has given
to their heads, waists and feet, and pretend to shape them more
perfectly, it is hardly to be expected that they will be content
always with the best form of a chimney. And there are some, I know,
so bigotted to the fancy of a large noble opening, that rather than
change it, they would submit to have damaged furniture, sore eyes,
and skins almost smoked to bacon.
3. Another cause of smoky chimneys is, _too short a funnel_. This
happens necessarily in some cases, as where a chimney is required in
a low building; for, if the funnel be raised high above the roof, in
order to strengthen its draft, it is then in danger of being blown
down, and crushing the roof in its fall.
_Remedies_. Contract the opening of the chimney, so as to oblige all
the entering air to pass through or very near the fire; whereby it
will be more heated and rarefied, the funnel itself be more warmed,
and its contents have more of what may be called the force of levity,
so as to rise strongly and maintain a good draft at the opening.
Or you may in some cases, to advantage, build additional stories over
the low building, which will support a high funnel.
If the low building be used as a kitchen, and a contraction of the
opening therefore inconvenient, a large one being necessary, at
least when there are great dinners, for the free management of so
many cooking utensils; in such case, I would advise the building of
two more funnels joining to the first, and having three moderate
openings, one to each funnel, instead of one large one. When there is
occasion to use but one, the other two may be kept shut by sliding
plates, hereafter to be described;[53] and two or all of them may be
used together when wanted. This will indeed be an expence, but not an
useless one, since your cooks will work with more comfort, see better
than in a smoky kitchen what they are about, your victuals will be
cleaner dressed, and not taste of smoke, as is often the case; and
to render the effect more certain, a stack of three funnels may be
safely built higher above the roof than a single funnel.
The case of too short a funnel is more general than would be
imagined, and often found where one would not expect it. For it is
not uncommon, in ill-contrived buildings, instead of having a funnel
for each room or fire-place, to bend and turn the funnel of an upper
room so as to make it enter the side of another funnel that comes
from below. By this means the upper room funnel is made short of
course, since its length can only be reckoned from the place where
it enters the lower room funnel; and that funnel is also shortened
by all the distance between the entrance of the second funnel and
the top of the stack: for all that part being readily supplied with
air through the second funnel, adds no strength to the draught,
especially as that air is cold when there is no fire in the second
chimney. The only easy remedy here is, to keep the opening shut of
that funnel in which there is no fire.
4. Another very common cause of the smoking of
chimneys, is, _their overpowering one another_. For instance, if
there be two chimneys in one large room, and you make fires in both
of them, the doors and windows close shut, you will find that the
greater and stronger fire shall overpower the weaker, and draw air
down its funnel to supply its own demand; which air descending in
the weaker funnel will drive down its smoke, and force it into the
room. If, instead of being in one room, the two chimneys are in
two different rooms, communicating by a door, the case is the same
whenever that door is open. In a very tight house, I have known a
kitchen chimney on the lowest floor, when it had a great fire in,
it, overpower any other chimney in the house, and draw air and smoke
into its room, as often as the door was opened communicating with the
stair-case.
_Remedy._ Take care that every room has the means of supplying itself
from without, with the air its chimney may require, so that no one of
them may be obliged to borrow from another, nor under the necessity
of lending. A variety of these means have been already described.
5. Another cause of smoking is, _when the tops of chimneys are
commanded by higher buildings, or by a hill_, so that the wind
blowing over such eminences falls like water over a dam, sometimes
almost perpendicularly on the tops of the chimneys that lie in its
way, and beats down the smoke contained in them.
_Remedy._ That commonly applied to this case, is a turncap made of
tin or plate iron, covering the chimney above and on three sides,
open on one side, turning on a spindle, and which, being guided or
governed by a vane, always presents its back to the current. This
I believe may be generally effectual, though not certain, as there
may be cases in which it will not succeed. Raising your funnels, if
practicable, so as their tops may be higher, or at least equal with
the commanding eminence, is more to be depended on. But the turning
cap, being easier and cheaper, should first be tried. If obliged to
build in such a situation, I would chuse to place my doors on the
side next the hill, and the backs of my chimneys on the furthest
side; for then the column of air falling over the eminence, and of
course pressing on that below and forcing it to enter the doors or
_Was ist das_es on that side, would tend to balance the pressure down
the chimneys, and leave the funnels more free in the exercise of
their functions.
6. There is another case of command, the reverse of that last
mentioned. It is where the commanding eminence is farther from the
wind than the chimney commanded. To explain this a figure may be
necessary. Suppose then a building whose side A happens to be exposed
to the wind, and forms a kind of dam against its progress. (Plate,
Figure 3.) The air obstructed by this dam will, like water, press and
search for passages through it; and finding the top of the chimney B,
below the top of the dam, it will force itself down that funnel, in
order to get through by some door or window open on the other side of
the building. And if there be a fire in such chimney, its smoke is of
course beat down, and fills the room.
_Remedy._ I know of but one, which is to raise such funnel higher
than the roof, supporting it, if necessary by iron bars. For a
turn-cap in this case has no effect, the dammed up air pressing down
through it in whatever position the wind may have placed its opening.
I know a city in which many houses are rendered smoky by this
operation. For their kitchens being built behind, and connected by a
passage with the houses, and the tops of the kitchen chimneys lower
than the top of the houses, the whole side of a street, when the wind
blows against its back, forms such a dam, as above described; and the
wind, so obstructed, forces down those kitchen chimneys (especially
when they have but weak fires in them) to pass through the passage
and house into the street. Kitchen chimneys, so formed and situated,
have another inconvenience. In summer, if you open your upper room
windows for air, a light breeze blowing over your kitchen chimney
towards the house, though not strong enough to force down its smoke
as aforesaid, is sufficient to waft it into your windows, and fill
the rooms with it; which, besides the disagreeableness, damages your
furniture.
7. Chimneys, otherwise drawing well, are sometimes made to smoke by
_the improper and inconvenient situation of a door_. When the door
and chimney are on the same side of the room as in the figure, if the
door A, being in the corner, is made to open against the wall (Plate,
Figure 4) which is common, as being there, when open, more out of the
way, it follows, that when the door is only opened in part, a current
of air rushing in passes along the wall into and across the opening
of the chimney B, and flirts some of the smoke out into the room.
This happens more certainly when the door is shutting, for then the
force of the current is augmented, and becomes very inconvenient to
those who, warming themselves by the fire, happen to sit in its way.
The _remedies_ are obvious and easy. Either put an intervening
skreen from the wall round great part of the fire-place; or, which is
perhaps preferable, shift the hinges of your door, so as it may open
the other way, and when open throw the air along the other wall.
8. A room, that has no fire in its chimney, is sometimes filled
with _smoke which is received at the top of its funnel and descends
into the room_. In a former paper[54] I have already explained the
descending currents of air in cold funnels; it may not be amiss
however to repeat here, that funnels without fires have an effect,
according to their degree of coldness or warmth, on the air that
happens to be contained in them. The surrounding atmosphere is
frequently changing its temperature; but stacks of funnels, covered
from winds and sun by the house that contains them, retain a more
equal temperature. If, after a warm season, the outward air suddenly
grows cold, the empty warm funnels begin to draw strongly upward;
that is, they rarefy the air contained in them, which of course
rises, cooler air enters below to supply its place, is rarefied in
its turn and rises; and this operation continues till the funnel
grows cooler, or the outward air warmer, or both, when the motion
ceases. On the other hand, if after a cold season, the outward air
suddenly grows warm and of course lighter, the air contained in
the cool funnels, being heavier, descends into the room; and the
warmer air which enters their tops being cooled in its turn, and
made heavier, continues to descend; and this operation goes on, till
the funnels are warmed by the passing of warm air through them, or
the air itself grows cooler. When the temperature of the air and of
the funnels is nearly equal, the difference of warmth in the air
between day and night is sufficient to produce these currents, the
air will begin to ascend the funnels as the cool of the evening comes
on, and this current will continue till perhaps nine or ten o'clock
the next morning, when it begins to hesitate; and as the heat of the
day approaches, it sets downwards, and continues so till towards
evening, when it again hesitates for some time, and then goes upwards
constantly during the night, as before mentioned. Now when smoke
issuing from the tops of neighbouring funnels passes over the tops of
funnels which are at the time drawing downwards, as they often are
in the middle part of the day, such smoke is of necessity drawn into
these funnels, and descends with the air into the chamber.
The _remedy_ is to have a sliding plate, hereafter described[55],
that will shut perfectly the offending funnel.
9. Chimneys which generally draw well, do nevertheless sometimes give
smoke into the rooms, _it being driven down by strong winds passing
over the tops of their funnels_, though not descending from any
commanding eminence. This case is most frequent where the funnel is
short, and the opening turned from the wind. It is the more grievous,
when it happens to be a cold wind that produces the effect, because
when you most want your fire, you are sometimes obliged to extinguish
it. To understand this, it may be considered that the rising light
air, to obtain a free issue from the funnel, must push out of its
way or oblige the air that is over it to rise. In a time of calm or
of little wind this is done visibly, for we see the smoke that is
brought up by that air rise in a column above the chimney. But when a
violent current of air, that is, a strong wind, passes over the top
of a chimney, its particles have received so much force, which keeps
them in a horizontal direction and follow each other so rapidly,
that the rising light air has not strength sufficient to oblige them
to quit that direction and move upwards to permit its issue. Add to
this, that some of the current passing over that side of the funnel
which it first meets with, viz. at A, (Plate IX. Figure 5.) having
been compressed by the resistance of the funnel, may expand itself
over the flue, and strike the interior opposite side at B, from
whence it may be reflected downwards and from side to side in the
direction of the pricked lines c c c.
_Remedies._ In some places, particularly in Venice, where they have
not stacks of chimneys but single flues, the custom is, to open or
widen the top of the flue rounding in the true form of a funnel;
(Plate, Figure 6) which some think may prevent the effect just
mentioned, for that the wind blowing over one of the edges into the
funnel may be slanted out again on the other side by its form. I have
had no experience of this; but I have lived in a windy country, where
the contrary is practised, the tops of the flues being _narrowed_
inwards, so as to form a slit for the issue of the smoke, long as
the breadth of the funnel, and only four inches wide. This seems to
have been contrived on a supposition, that the entry of the wind
would thereby be obstructed, and perhaps it might have been imagined,
that the whole force of the rising warm air being condensed, as it
were, in the narrow opening, would thereby be strengthened, so as
to overcome the resistance of the wind. This however did not always
succeed; for when the wind was at north-east and blew fresh, the
smoke was forced down by fits into the room I commonly sat in, so
as to oblige me to shift the fire into another. The position of the
slit of this funnel was indeed north-east and south-west. Perhaps if
it had lain across the wind, the effect might have been different.
But on this I can give no certainty. It seems a matter proper to
be referred to experiment. Possibly a turn-cap might have been
serviceable, but it was not tried.
Chimneys have not been long in use in England. I formerly saw a
book printed in the time of queen Elizabeth, which remarked the
then modern improvements of living, and mentioned among others the
convenience of chimneys. "Our forefathers," said the author, "had
no chimneys. There was in each dwelling house only one place for a
fire, and the smoke went out through a hole in the roof; but now
there is scarce a gentleman's house in England that has not at least
one chimney in it."--When there was but one chimney, its top might
then be opened as a funnel, and perhaps, borrowing the form from the
Venetians, it was then the flue of a chimney got that name. Such is
now the growth of luxury, that in both England and France we must
have a chimney for every room, and in some houses every possessor
of a chamber, and almost every servant, will have a fire; so that
the flues being necessarily built in stacks, the opening of each as
a funnel is impracticable. This change of manners soon consumed the
firewood of England, and will soon render fuel extremely scarce
and dear in France, if the use of coals be not introduced in the
latter kingdom as it has been in the former, where it at first met
with opposition; for there is extant in the records of one of queen
Elizabeth's parliaments, a motion made by a member, reciting, "That
many dyers, brewers, smiths, and other artificers of London, had
of late taken to the use of pit-coal for their fires, instead of
wood, which filled the air with noxious vapours and smoke, very
prejudicial to the health, particularly of persons coming out of
the country; and therefore moving that a law might pass to prohibit
the use of such fuel (at least during the session of parliament) by
those artificers."--It seems it was not then commonly used in private
houses. Its supposed unwholesomeness was an objection. Luckily the
inhabitants of London have got over that objection, and now think
it rather contributes to render their air salubrious, as they have
had no general pestilential disorder since the general use of coals,
when, before it, such were frequent. Paris still burns wood at an
enormous expence continually augmenting, the inhabitants having still
that prejudice to overcome. In Germany you are happy in the use of
stoves, which save fuel wonderfully: your people are very ingenious
in the management of fire; but they may still learn something in that
art from the Chinese[56], whose country being greatly populous and
fully cultivated, has little room left for the growth of wood, and
having not much other fuel that is good, have been forced upon many
inventions during a course of ages, for making a little fire go as
far as possible.
I have thus gone through all the common causes of the smoking of
chimneys that I can at present recollect as having fallen under
my observation; communicating the remedies that I have known
successfully used for the different cases, together with the
principles on which both the disease and the remedy depend, and
confessing my ignorance wherever I have been sensible of it. You
will do well, if you publish, as you propose, this letter, to add in
notes, or as you please, such observations as may have occurred to
your attentive mind; and if other philosophers will do the same, this
part of science, though humble, yet of great utility, may in time
be perfected. For many years past, I have rarely met with a case of
a smoky chimney, which has not been solvable on these principles,
and cured by these remedies, where people have been willing to apply
them; which is indeed not always the case; for many have prejudices
in favour of the nostrums of pretending chimney-doctors and fumists,
and some have conceits and fancies of their own, which they rather
chuse to try, than to lengthen a funnel, alter the size of an
opening, or admit air into a room, however necessary; for some are as
much afraid of fresh air as persons in the hydrophobia are of fresh
water. I myself had formerly this prejudice, this _aerophobia_, as I
now account it, and dreading the supposed dangerous effects of cool
air, I considered it as an enemy, and closed with extreme care every
crevice in the rooms I inhabited. Experience has convinced me of
my error. I now look upon fresh air as a friend: I even sleep with
an open window. I am persuaded that no common air from without, is
so unwholesome as the air within a close room that has been often
breathed and not changed. Moist air too, which formerly I thought
pernicious, gives me now no apprehensions: for considering that
no dampness of air applied to the outside of my skin can be equal
to what is applied to and touches it within, my whole body being
full of moisture, and finding that I can lie two hours in a bath
twice a week, covered with water, which certainly is much damper
than any air can be, and this for years together, without catching
cold, or being in any other manner disordered by it, I no longer
dread mere moisture, either in air or in sheets or shirts: and I
find it of importance to the happiness of life, the being freed
from vain terrors, especially of objects that we are every day
exposed inevitably to meet with. You physicians have of late happily
discovered, after a contrary opinion had prevailed some ages, that
fresh and cool air does good to persons in the small pox and other
fevers. It is to be hoped, that in another century or two we may all
find out, that it is not bad even for people in health. And as to
moist air, here I am at this present writing in a ship with above
forty persons, who have had no other but moist air to breathe for six
weeks past; every thing we touch is damp, and nothing dries, yet we
are all as healthy as we should be on the mountains of Switzerland,
whose inhabitants are not more so than those of Bermuda or St.
Helena, islands on whose rocks the waves are dashed into millions of
particles, which fill the air with damp, but produce no diseases,
the moisture being pure, unmixed with the poisonous vapours arising
from putrid marshes and stagnant pools, in which many insects die and
corrupt the water. These places only, in my opinion (which however
I submit to yours) afford unwholesome air; and that it is not the
mere water contained in damp air, but the volatile particles of
corrupted animal matter mixed with that water, which renders such air
pernicious to those who breathe it. And I imagine it a cause of the
same kind that renders the air in close rooms, where the perspirable
matter is breathed over and over again by a number of assembled,
people so hurtful to health. After being in such a situation, many
find themselves affected by that _febricula_, which the English alone
call a _cold_, and, perhaps from the name, imagine that they caught
the malady by _going out_ of the room, when it was in fact by being
in it.
You begin to think that I wander from my subject, and go out of my
depth. So I return again to my chimneys.
We have of late many lecturers in experimental philosophy. I have
wished that some of them would study this branch of that science,
and give experiments in it as a part of their lectures. The addition
to their present apparatus need not be very expensive. A number of
little representations of rooms composed each of five panes of sash
glass, framed in wood at the corners, with proportionable doors,
and moveable glass chimneys, with openings of different sizes, and
different lengths of funnel, and some of the rooms so contrived as
to communicate on occasion with others, so as to form different
combinations, and exemplify different cases; with quantities of green
wax taper cut into pieces of an inch and half, sixteen of which stuck
together in a square, and lit, would make a strong fire for a little
glass chimney, and blown out would continue to burn and give smoke as
long as desired. With such an apparatus all the operations of smoke
and rarified air in rooms and chimneys might be seen through their
transparent sides; and the effect of winds on chimneys, commanded or
otherwise, might be shown, by letting the entering air blow upon them
through an opened window of the lecturer's chamber, where it would
be constant while he kept a good fire in his chimney. By the help of
such lectures our fumists would become better instructed. At present
they have generally but one remedy, which perhaps they have known
effectual in some one case of smoky chimneys, and they apply that
indiscriminately to all the other cases, without success,--but not
without expence to their employers.
With all the science, however, that a man shall suppose himself
possessed of in this article, he may sometimes meet with cases
that shall puzzle him. I once lodged in a house at London, which,
in a little room, had a single chimney and funnel. The opening was
very small, yet it did not keep in the smoke, and all attempts to
have a fire in this room were fruitless. I could not imagine the
reason, till at length observing that the chamber over it, which had
no fire-place in it, was always filled with smoke when a fire was
kindled below and that the smoke came through the cracks and crevices
of the wainscot; I had the wainscot taken down, and discovered that
the funnel, which went up behind it, had a crack many feet in length,
and wide enough to admit my arm, a breach very dangerous with regard
to fire, and occasioned probably by an apparent irregular settling of
one side of the house. The air entering this breach freely, destroyed
the drawing force of the funnel. The remedy would have been, filling
up the breach or rather rebuilding the funnel: but the landlord
rather chose to stop up the chimney.
Another puzzling case I met with at a friend's country house near
London. His best room had a chimney in which, he told me, he never
could have a fire, for all the smoke came out into the room. I
flattered myself I could easily find the cause, and prescribe the
cure. I had a fire made there, and found it as he said. I opened
the door, and perceived it was not want of air. I made a temporary
contraction of the opening of the chimney, and found that it was not
its being too large that caused the smoke to issue. I went out and
looked up at the top of the chimney: its funnel was joined in the
same stack with others, some of them shorter, that drew very well,
and I saw nothing to prevent its doing the same. In fine, after
every other examination I could think of, I was obliged to own the
insufficiency of my skill. But my friend, who made no pretension to
such kind of knowledge, afterwards discovered the cause himself. He
got to the top of the funnel by a ladder, and looking down, found
it filled with twigs and straw cemented by earth, and lined with
feathers. It seems the house, after being built, had stood empty some
years before he occupied it; and he concluded that some large birds
had taken the advantage of its retired situation to make their nest
there. The rubbish, considerable in quantity, being removed, and the
funnel cleared, the chimney drew well, and gave satisfaction.
In general smoke is a very tractable thing, easily governed and
directed when one knows the principles, and is well informed of
the circumstances. You know I made it _descend_ in my Pensylvania
stove. I formerly had a more simple construction, in which the same
effect was produced, but visible to the eye (Plate, Figure 7). It
was composed of two plates A B and C D, placed as in the figure.
The lower plate A B rested with its edge in the angle made by the
hearth with the back of the chimney. The upper plate was fixed to
the breast, and lapped over the lower about six inches wide and
the length of the plates (near two feet) between them. Every other
passage of air into the funnel was well stopped. When therefore a
fire was made at E, for the first time with charcoal, till the air
in the funnel was a little heated through the plates, and then wood
laid on, the smoke would rise to A, turn over the edge of that plate,
descend to D, then turn under the edge of the upper plate, and go
up the chimney. It was pretty to see, but of no great use. Placing
therefore the under plate in a higher situation, I removed the
upper plate C D, and placed it perpendicularly (Plate, Figure 8) so
that the upper edge of the lower plate A B came within about three
inches of it, and might be pushed farther from it, or suffered to
come nearer to it, by a moveable wedge between them. The flame then
ascending from the fire at E, was, carried to strike the upper plate,
made it very hot, and its heat rose and spread with the rarefied air
into the room.
I believe you have seen in use with me, the contrivance of a
sliding-plate over the fire, seemingly placed to oppose the rising of
the smoke, leaving but a small passage for it, between the edge of
the plate and the back of the chimney. It is particularly described,
and its uses explained, in my former printed letter, and I mention it
here only as another instance of the tractability of smoke[57].
What is called the Staffordshire chimney, (see the Plate, facing page
238) affords an example of the same kind. The opening of the chimney
is bricked up, even with the fore-edge of its jams, leaving open only
a passage over the grate of the same width, and perhaps eight inches
high. The grate consists of semicircular bars, their upper bar of
the greatest diameter, the others under it smaller and smaller, so
that it has the appearance of half a round basket. It is, with the
coals it contains, wholly without the wall that shuts up the chimney,
yet the smoke bends and enters the passage above it, the draft being
strong, because no air can enter that is not obliged to pass near or
through the fire, so that all that the funnel is filled with is much
heated, and of course much rarefied.
Much more of the prosperity of a winter country depends on the plenty
and cheapness of fuel, than is generally imagined. In travelling I
have observed, that in those parts where the inhabitants can have
neither wood nor coal nor turf but at excessive prices, the working
people live in miserable hovels, are ragged, and have nothing
comfortable about them. But when fuel is cheap (or where they have
the art of managing it to advantage) they are well furnished with
necessaries, and have decent habitations. The obvious reason is,
that the working hours of such people are the profitable hours, and
they who cannot afford sufficient fuel have fewer such hours in the
twenty four, than those who have it cheap and plenty: for much of the
domestic work of poor women, such as spinning, sewing, knitting; and
of the men in those manufactures that require little bodily exercise,
cannot well be performed where the fingers are numbed with cold,
those people, therefore, in cold weather, are induced to go to bed
sooner, and lie longer in a morning, than they would do if they could
have good fires or warm stoves to sit by; and their hours of work are
not sufficient to produce the means of comfortable subsistence. Those
public works, therefore, such as roads, canals, &c. by which fuel
may be brought cheap into such countries from distant places, are of
great utility; and those who promote them may be reckoned among the
benefactors of mankind.
I have great pleasure in having thus complied with your request, and
in the reflection, that the friendship you honour me with, and in
which I have ever been so happy, has continued so many years without
the smallest interruption. Our distance from each other is now
augmented, and nature must soon put an end to the possibility of my
continuing our correspondence: but if consciousness and memory remain
in a future state, my esteem and respect for you, my dear friend,
will be everlasting.
B. FRANKLIN.
_Notes for the Letter upon Chimneys._
No. I.
The latest work on architecture that I have seen, is that entitled
_Nutshells_, which appears to be written by a very ingenious man, and
contains a table of the proportions of the openings of chimneys; but
they relate solely to the proportions he gives his rooms, without
the smallest regard to the funnels. And he remarks, respecting those
proportions, that they are similar to the harmonic divisions of a
monochord.[58] He does not indeed lay much stress on this; but it
shows that we like the appearance of principles; and where we have
not true ones, we have some satisfaction in producing such as are
imaginary.
No. II.
The description of the sliding plates here promised, and which hath
been since brought into use under various names, with some immaterial
changes, is contained in a former letter to J. B. Esq. as follows:
TO J. B.[59] ESQ. AT BOSTON, IN NEW-ENGLAND.
_London, Dec. 2, 1758,_
DEAR SIR,
I have executed here an easy simple contrivance, that I have long
since had in speculation, for keeping rooms warmer in cold weather
than they generally are, and with less fire. It is this. The opening
of the chimney is contracted, by brick-work faced with marble slabs,
to about two feet between the jams, and the breast brought down to
within about three feet of the hearth. An iron frame is placed just
under the breast, and extending quite to the back of the chimney,
so that a plate of the same metal may slide horizontally backwards
and forwards in the grooves on each side of the frame. This plate
is just so large as to fill the whole space, and shut the chimney
entirely when thrust quite in, which is convenient when there is no
fire. Drawing it out, so as to leave a space between its further edge
and the back, of about two inches; this space is sufficient for the
smoke to pass; and so large a part of the funnel being stopt by the
rest of the plate, the passage of warm air out of the room, up the
chimney, is obstructed and retarded, and by that means much cold air
is prevented from coming in through crevices, to supply its place.
This effect is made manifest three ways. First, when the fire burns
briskly in cold weather, the howling or whistling noise made by the
wind, as it enters the room through the crevices, when the chimney
is open as usual, ceases as soon as the plate is slid in to its
proper distance. Secondly, opening the door of the room about half
an inch, and holding your hand against the opening, near the top of
the door, you feel the cold air coming in against your hand, but
weakly, if the plate be in. Let another person suddenly draw it out,
so as to let the air of the room go up the chimney, with its usual
freedom where chimneys are open, and you immediately feel the cold
air rushing in strongly. Thirdly, if something be set against the
door, just sufficient, when the plate is in, to keep the door nearly
shut, by resisting the pressure of the air that would force it open:
then, when the plate is drawn out, the door will be forced open by
the increased pressure of the outward cold air endeavouring to get in
to supply the place of the warm air, that now passes out of the room
to go up the chimney. In our common open chimneys, half the fuel is
wasted, and its effect lost; the air it has warmed being immediately
drawn off. Several of my acquaintance, having seen this simple
machine in my room, have imitated it at their own houses, and it
seems likely to become pretty common. I describe it thus particularly
to you, because I think it would be useful in Boston, where firing is
often dear.
Mentioning chimneys puts me in mind of a property I formerly had
occasion to observe in them, which I have not found taken notice of
by others; it is, that in the summer time, when no fire is made in
the chimneys, there is, nevertheless, a regular draft of air through
them, continually passing upwards, from about five or six o'clock
in the afternoon, till eight or nine o'clock the next morning, when
the current begins to slacken and hesitate a little, for about half
an hour, and then sets as strongly down again, which it continues to
do till towards five in the afternoon, then slackens and hesitates
as before, going sometimes a little up, then a little down, till, in
about a half an hour, it gets into a steady upward current for the
night, which continues till eight or nine the next day; the hours
varying a little as the days lengthen and shorten, and sometimes
varying from sudden changes in the weather; as if, after being long
warm, it should begin to grow cool about noon, while the air was
coming down the chimney, the current will then change earlier than
the usual hour, &c.
This property in chimneys I imagine we might turn to some account,
and render improper, for the future, the old saying, _as useless
as a chimney in summer_. If the opening of the chimney, from the
breast down to the hearth, be closed by a slight moveable frame or
two, in the manner of doors, covered with canvas, that will let the
air through, but keep out the flies; and another little frame set
within upon the hearth, with hooks on which to hang joints of meat,
fowls, &c. wrapt well in wet linen cloths, three or four fold, I
am confident, that if the linen is kept wet, by sprinkling it once
a day, the meat would be so cooled by the evaporation, carried on
continually by means of the passing air, that it would keep a week
or more in the hottest weather. Butter and milk might likewise be
kept cool, in vessels or bottles covered with wet cloths. A shallow
tray, or keeler, should be under the frame to receive any water that
might drip from the wetted cloths. I think, too, that this property
of chimneys might, by means of smoke-jack vanes, be applied to some
mechanical purposes, where a small but pretty constant power only is
wanted.
If you would have my opinion of the cause of this changing current of
air in chimneys, it is, in short, as follows. In summer time there
is generally a great difference in the warmth of the air at mid-day
and mid-night, and, of course, a difference of specific gravity
in the air, as the more it is warmed the more it is rarefied. The
funnel of a chimney, being for the most part surrounded by the house,
is protected, in a great measure, from the direct action of the
sun's rays, and also from the coldness of the night air. It thence
preserves a middle temperature between the heat of the day, and the
coldness of the night. This middle temperature it communicates to
the air contained in it. If the state of the outward air be cooler
than that in the funnel of the chimney, it will, by being heavier,
force it to rise, and go out at the top. What supplies its place from
below, being warmed, in its turn, by the warmer funnel, is likewise
forced up by the colder and weightier air below, and so the current
is continued till the next day, when the sun gradually changes the
state of the outward air, makes it first as warm as the funnel of
the chimney can make it (when the current begins to hesitate) and
afterwards warmer. Then the funnel, being cooler than the air that
comes into it, cools that air, makes it heavier than the outward air,
of course it descends; and what succeeds it from above being cooled
in its turn, the descending current continues till towards evening,
when it again hesitates and changes its course, from the change of
warmth in the outward air, and the nearly remaining same middle
temperature in the funnel.
Upon this principle, if a house were built behind Beacon-hill, an
adit carried from one of the doors into the hill horizontally, till
it meet with a perpendicular shaft sunk from its top, it seems
probable to me, that those who lived in the house would constantly,
in the heat even of the calmest day, have as much cool air passing
through the house, as they should chuse; and the same, though
reversed in its current, during the stillest night.
I think, too, this property might be made of use to miners; as,
where several shafts or pits are sunk perpendicularly into the
earth, communicating at bottom by horizontal passages, which is a
common case, if a chimney of thirty or forty feet high were built
over one of the shafts, or so near the shaft, that the chimney might
communicate with the top of the shaft, all air being excluded but
what should pass up or down by the shaft, a constant change of air
would, by this means, be produced in the passages below, tending to
secure the workmen from those damps, which so frequently incommode
them. For the fresh air would be almost always going down the open
shaft, to go up the chimney, or down the chimney, to go up the shaft.
Let me add one observation more, which is, that if that part of the
funnel of a chimney, which appears above the roof of a house, be
pretty long, and have three of its sides exposed to the heat of the
sun successively, viz. when he is in the east, in the south, and in
the west, while the north side is sheltered by the building from the
cool northerly winds; such a chimney will often be so heated by the
sun, as to continue the draft strongly upwards, through the whole
twenty-four hours, and often for many days together. If the outside
of such a chimney be painted black, the effect will be still greater,
and the current stronger.
No. III.
It is said the northern Chinese have a method of warming their ground
floors, which is ingenious. Those floors are made of tiles, a foot
square and two inches thick, their corners being supported by bricks
set on end, that are a foot long and four inches square; the tiles,
too, join into each other, by ridges and hollows along their sides.
This forms a hollow under the whole floor, which on one side of the
house has an opening into the air, where a fire is made, and it has a
funnel rising from the other side to carry off the smoke. The fuel is
a sulphurous pitcoal, the smell of which in the room is thus avoided,
while the floor, and of course the room, is well warmed. But as the
underside of the floor must grow foul with soot, and a thick coat of
soot prevents much of the direct application of the hot air to the
tiles, I conceive that burning the smoke, by obliging it to descend
through red coals, would in this construction be very advantageous,
as more heat would be given by the flame than by the smoke, and the
floor being thereby kept free from soot would be more heated with
less fire. For this purpose I would propose erecting the funnel close
to the grate, so as to have only an iron plate between the fire and
the funnel, through which plate, the air in the funnel being heated,
it will be sure to draw well, and force the smoke to descend, as in
the figure (Plate, Figure 9.) where A is the funnel or chimney, B the
grate on which the fire is placed, C one of the apertures through
which the descending smoke is drawn into the channel D of figure
10, along which channel it is conveyed by a circuitous route, as
designated by the arrows, until it arrives at the small aperture E,
figure 10, through which it enters the funnel F. G in both figures is
the iron plate against which the fire is made, which, being heated
thereby, will rarefy the air in that part of the funnel, and cause
the smoke to ascend rapidly. The flame thus dividing from the grate
to the right and left, and turning in passages, disposed, as in
figure 10, so as that every part of the floor may be visited by it
before it enters the funnel F, by the two passages E E, very little
of the heat will be lost, and a winter room thus rendered very
comfortable.
No. IV.
Page 265. _Few can imagine_, &c. It is said the Icelanders have very
little fuel, chiefly drift wood that comes upon their coast. To
receive more advantage from its heat, they make their doors low, and
have a stage round the room above the door, like a gallery, wherein
the women can sit and work, the men read or write, &c. The roof being
tight, the warm air is confined by it and kept from rising higher and
escaping; and the cold air, which enters the house when the door is
opened, cannot rise above the level of the top of the door, because
it is heavier than the warm air above the door, and so those in the
gallery are not incommoded by it. Some of our too lofty rooms might
have a stage so constructed as to make a temporary gallery above, for
the winter, to be taken away in summer. Sedentary people would find
much comfort there in cold weather.
No. V.
Page 285. _Where they have the art of managing it_, &c. In some
houses of the lower people among the northern nations of Europe, and
among the poorer sort of Germans in Pensylvania, I have observed this
construction, which appears very advantageous. (Plate Figure 11.) A
is the kitchen with its chimney; B an iron stove in the stove-room.
In a corner of the chimney is a hole through the back into the stove,
to put in fuel, and another hole above it to let the smoke of the
stove come back into the chimney. As soon as the cooking is over,
the brands in the kitchen chimney are put through the hole to supply
the stove, so that there is seldom more than one fire burning at a
time. In the floor over the stove-room, is a small trap door, to
let the warm air rise occasionally into the chamber. Thus the whole
house is warmed at little expence of wood, and the stove-room kept
constantly warm; so that in the coldest winter nights, they can work
late, and find the room still comfortable when they rise to work
early. An English farmer in America, who makes great fires in large
open chimneys, needs the constant employment of one man to cut and
haul wood for supplying them; and the draft of cold air to them is
so strong, that the heels of his family are frozen while they are
scorching their faces, and the room is never warm, so that little
sedentary work can be done by them in winter. The difference in
this article alone of economy shall, in a course of years, enable
the German to buy out the Englishman, and take possession of his
plantation.
_Miscellaneous Observations._
Chimneys, whose funnels go up in the north wall of a house and are
exposed to the north winds, are not so apt to draw well as those in
a south wall; because, when rendered cold by those winds, they draw
downwards.
Chimneys, enclosed in the body of a house, are better than those
whose funnels are exposed in cold walls.
Chimneys in stacks are apt to draw better than separate funnels,
because the funnels, that have constant fires in them, warm the
others, in some degree, that have none.
One of the funnels, in a house I once occupied, had a particular
funnel joined to the south side of the stack, so that three of its
sides were exposed to the sun in the course of the day, viz. (Plate,
Figure 12.) the east side E during the morning, the south side S in
the middle part of the day, and the west side W during the afternoon,
while its north side was sheltered by the stack from the cold winds.
This funnel, which came from the ground-floor, and had a considerable
height above the roof, was constantly in a strong drawing state day
and night, winter and summer.
Blacking of funnels, exposed to the sun, would probably make them
draw still stronger.
In Paris I saw a fire-place so ingeniously contrived as to serve
conveniently two rooms, a bedchamber and a study. The funnel over the
fire was round. The fire-place was of cast iron (Plate, Figure 13.)
having an upright back A, and two horizontal semicircular plates B C,
the whole so ordered as to turn on the pivots D E. The plate B always
stopped that part of the round funnel that was next to the room
without fire, while the other half of the funnel over the fire was
always open. By this means a servant in the morning could make a fire
on the hearth C, then in the study, without disturbing the master by
going into his chamber; and the master, when he rose, could, with a
touch of his foot, turn the chimney on its pivots, and bring the fire
into his chamber, keep it there as long as he wanted it, and turn it
again, when he went out, into his study. The room which had no fire
in it was also warmed by the heat coming through the back plate, and
spreading in the room, as it could not go up the chimney.
FOOTNOTES:
[51] This letter, which has been published in a separate pamphlet,
both in this country and America, first appeared in the Transactions
of the American Philosophical Society, in which it was read Oct. 21,
1785. _Editor._
[52] See Notes at the end of the Letter, No. I.
[53] See Notes at the end of the Letter, No. II.
[54] See Notes at the end of the letter, No. II.
[55] See Notes at the end of the letter, No. II.
[56] See Notes at the end of the letter, No. III.
[57] See Notes at the end of the Letter, No. II.
[58] "It may be just remarked here, that upon comparing these
proportions with those arising from the common divisions of the
monochord, it happens that the first answers to unisons, and although
the second is a discord, the third answers to the third minor, the
fourth to the third major, the fifth to the fourth, the sixth to the
fifth, and the seventh to the octave." NUTSHELLS, page 85.
[59] Badoin. _Editor._
[Illustration:
_Plate X._ _Vol. II. page 297._
STOVE FOR BURNING PIT-COAL.
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
_Description of a new Stove for burning of Pitcoal, and consuming
all its smoke._[60] _By Dr. B._ FRANKLIN.
Towards the end of the last century an ingenious French philosopher,
whose name I am sorry I cannot recollect, exhibited an experiment
to show, that very offensive things might be burnt in the middle of
a chamber, such as woollen rags, feathers, &c. without creating the
least smoke or smell. The machine in which it was made, if I remember
right, was of this form, (Plate X. Figure 1.) made of plate iron.
Some clear burning charcoals were put into the opening of the short
tube A, and supported there by the grate B. The air, as soon as the
tubes grew warm, would ascend in the longer leg C and go out at D,
consequently air must enter at A descending to B. In this course it
must be heated by the burning coals through which it passed, and
rise more forcibly in the longer tube, in proportion to its degree
of heat or rarefaction, and length of that tube. For such a machine
is a kind of inverted syphon; and as the greater weight of water in
the longer leg of a common syphon in descending is accompanied by an
ascent of the same fluid in the shorter; so, in this inverted syphon,
the greater quantity of levity of air in the longer leg, in rising
is accompanied by the descent of air in the shorter. The things to
be burned being laid on the hot coals at A, the smoke must descend
through those coals, be converted into flame, which, after destroying
the offensive smell, came out at the end of the longer tube as mere
heated air.
Whoever would repeat this experiment with success must take care that
the part A, B, of the short tube, be quite full of burning coals,
so that no part of the smoke may descend and pass by them without
going through them, and being converted into flame; and that the
longer tube be so heated as that the current of ascending hot air
is established in it before the things to be burnt are laid on the
coals; otherwise there will be a disappointment.
It does not appear either in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences,
or Philosophical Transactions of the English Royal Society, that any
improvement was ever made of this ingenious experiment, by applying
it to useful purposes. But there is a German book, entitled _Vulcanus
Famulans_, by Joh. George Leutmann, P. D. printed at Wirtemberg in
1723, which describes, among a great variety of other stoves for
warming rooms, one, which seems to have been formed on the same
principle, and probably from the hint thereby given, though the
French experiment is not mentioned. This book being scarce, I have
translated the chapter describing the stove, viz.
"_Vulcanus Famulans, by John George Leutmann, P. D._
"_Wirtemberg, 1723._
"CHAP. VII.
"On a Stove, which draws downwards.
"Here follows the description of a sort of stove, which can easily
be removed and again replaced at pleasure. This drives the fire down
under itself, and gives no smoke, but however a very unwholesome
vapour.
"In the figure, A is an iron vessel like a funnel, (Plate X. Figure
20.) in diameter at the top about twelve inches, at the bottom near
the grate about five inches; its height twelve inches. This is set on
the barrel C, which is ten inches diameter and two feet long, closed
at each end E E. From one end rises a pipe or flue about four inches
diameter, on which other pieces of pipe are set, which are gradually
contracted to D, where the opening is but about two inches. Those
pipes must together be at least four feet high. B is an iron grate.
F F are iron handles guarded with wood, by which the stove is to be
lifted and moved. It stands on three legs. Care must be taken to stop
well all the joints, that no smoke may leak through.
"When this stove is to be used, it must first be carried into the
kitchen and placed in the chimney near the fire. There burning wood
must be laid and left upon its grate till the barrel C is warm, and
the smoke no longer rises at A, but descends towards C. Then it is to
be carried into the room which it is to warm. When once the barrel C
is warm, fresh wood may be thrown into the vessel A as often as one
pleases, the flame descends and without smoke, which is so consumed
that only a vapour passes out at D.
"As this vapour is unwholesome, and affects the head, one may be
freed from it, by fixing in the wall of the room an inverted funnel,
such as people use to hang over lamps, through which their smoke goes
out as through a chimney. This funnel carries out all the vapour
cleverly, so that one finds no inconvenience from it, even though the
opening D be placed a span below the mouth of the said funnel G. The
neck of the funnel is better when made gradually bending, than if
turned in a right angle.
"The cause of the draft downwards in the stove is the pressure of the
outward air, which, falling into the vessel A in a column of twelve
inches diameter, finds only a resisting passage at the grate B, of
five inches, and one at D, of two inches, which are much too weak
to drive it back again; besides, A stands much higher than B, and
so the pressure on it is greater and more forcible, and beats down
the frame to that part where it finds the least resistance. Carrying
the machine first to the kitchen fire for preparation, is on this
account, that in the beginning the fire and smoke naturally ascend,
till the air in the close barrel C is made thinner by the warmth.
When that vessel is heated, the air in it is rarefied, and then all
the smoke and fire descends under it.
"The wood should be thoroughly dry, and cut into pieces five or six
inches long, to fit it for being thrown into the funnel A." Thus far
the German book.
It appears to me, by Mr. Leutmann's explanation of the operation of
this machine, that he did not understand the principles of it, whence
I conclude he was not the inventor of it; and by the description of
it, wherein the opening at A is made so large, and the pipe E, D,
so short, I am persuaded he never made nor saw the experiment, for
the first ought to be much smaller and the last much higher, or it
hardly will succeed. The carrying it in the kitchen, too, every time
the fire should happen to be out, must be so troublesome, that it is
not likely ever to have been in practice, and probably has never been
shown but as a philosophical experiment. The funnel for conveying
the vapour out of the room would besides have been uncertain in its
operation, as a wind blowing against its mouth would drive the vapour
back.
The stove I am about to describe was also formed on the idea given by
the French experiment, and completely carried into execution before
I had any knowledge of the German invention; which I wonder should
remain so many years in a country, where men are so ingenious in the
management of fire, without receiving long since the improvements I
have given it.
_Description of the Parts._
A, the bottom plate which lies flat upon the hearth, with its
partitions, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, (Plate X. Figure 2.) that are cast with
it, and a groove Z Z, in which are to slide, the bottom edges of the
small plates Y, Y, figure 12; which plates meeting at X close the
front.
B 1, figure 3, is the cover plate showing its under side, with the
grooves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, to receive the top edges of the partitions
that are fixed to the bottom plate. It shows also the grate W W, the
bars of which are cast in the plate, and a groove V V, which comes
right over the groove Z Z, figure 2, receiving the upper edges of the
small sliding plates Y Y, figure 12.
B 2, figure 4, shows the upper side of the same plate, with a square
impression or groove for receiving the bottom mouldings T T T T of
the three-sided box C, figure 5, which is cast in one piece.
D, figure 6, its cover, showing its under side with grooves to
receive the upper edges S S S of the sides of C, figure 5, also a
groove R, R, which when the cover is put on comes right over another
Q Q in C, figure 5, between which it is to slide.
E, figure 7, the front plate of the box.
P, a hole three inches diameter through the cover D, figure 6, over
which hole stands the vase F, figure 8, which has a corresponding
hole two inches diameter through its bottom.
The top of the vase opens at O, O, O, figure 8, and turns back
upon a hinge behind when coals are to be put in; the vase has a
grate within at N N of cast iron H, figure 9, and a hole in the top,
one and a half inches diameter, to admit air, and to receive the
ornamental brass guilt flame M, figure 10, which stands in that hole,
and, being itself hollow and open, suffers air to pass through it to
the fire.
G, figure 11, is a drawer of plate iron, that slips in between in
the partitions 2 and 3, figure 2, to receive the falling ashes. It
is concealed when the small sliding plates Y Y, figure 12, are shut
together.
I, I, I, I, figure 8, is a niche built of brick in the chimney and
plastered. It closes the chimney over the vase, but leaves two
funnels, one in each corner, communicating with the bottom box K K,
figure 2.
_Dimensions of the Parts._
_Feet._ _In._
Front of the bottom box, 2 0
Height of its partitions, 0 4¼
Length of No. 1, 2, 3 and 4, each, 1 3
Length of No. 5 and 6, each, 0 8¼
Breadth of the passage between No. 2 and 3, 0 6
Breadth of the other passages each, 0 3½
Breadth of the grate, 0 6½
Length of ditto, 0 8
Bottom moulding of box C, square, 1 0
Height of the sides of ditto, 0 4
Length of the back side, 0 10
Length of the right and left sides, each, 0 9½
Length of the front plate E, where longest, 0 11
The cover D, square, 0 12
Hole in ditto, diameter, 0 3
Sliding plates Y Y, their length, each, 1 0
----- ----- ----- their breadth, each, 0 4½
Drawer G, its length, 1 0
----- ----- breadth, 0 5¾
----- ----- depth, 0 4
----- ----- depth of its further end, only, 0 1
Grate H in the vase, its diameter to the
extremity of its knobs, 0 5¾
Thickness of the bars at top, 0 0¼
----- ----- ----- at bottom, less, 0 0
Depth of the bars at the top, 0 0¾
Height of the vase, 1 6
Diameter of the opening O, O, in the clear, 0 8
Diameter of the air-hole at top, 0 1½
----- of the flame hole at bottom, 0 2
_To fix this Machine._
Spread mortar on the hearth to bed the bottom plate A, then lay that
plate level, equally distant from each jamb, and projecting out
as far as you think proper. Then putting some Windsor loam in the
grooves of the cover B, lay that on: trying the sliding plates Y Y,
to see if they move freely in the grooves Z Z, V V, designed for them.
Then begin to build the niche, observing to leave the square corners
of the chimney unfilled; for they are to be funnels. And observe also
to leave a free open communication between the passages at K K, and
the bottom of those funnels, and mind to close the chimney above the
top of the niche, that no air may pass up that way. The concave back
of the niche will rest on the circular iron partition 1 A 4, figure
2, then, with a little loam, put on the box C over the grate, the
open side of the box in front.
Then, with loam in three of its grooves, the groove R R being left
clean, and brought directly over the groove Q Q in the box, put on
the cover D, trying the front plate E, to see if it slides freely in
those grooves.
Lastly, set on the vase, which has small holes in the moulding of its
bottom to receive two iron pins that rise out of the plate D at I I,
for the better keeping it steady.
Then putting in the grate H, which rests on its three knobs h h h
against the inside of the vase, and slipping the drawer into its
place; the machine is fit for use.
_To use it._
Let the first fire be made after eight in the evening or before
eight in the morning, for at those times and between those hours all
night, there is usually a draft up a chimney, though it has long been
without fire; but between those hours in the day there is often, in
a cold chimney, a draft downwards, when, if you attempt to kindle a
fire, the smoke will come into the room.
But to be certain of your proper time, hold a flame over the air-hole
at the top. If the flame is drawn strongly down for a continuance,
without whiffling, you may begin to kindle a fire.
First put in a few charcoals on the grate H.
Lay some small sticks on the charcoals,
Lay some pieces of paper on the sticks,
Kindle the paper with a candle,
Then shut down the top, and the air will pass down through the
air-hole, blow the flame of the paper down through the sticks, kindle
them, and their flame passing lower kindles the charcoal.
When the charcoal is well kindled, lay on it the sea-coals, observing
not to choak the fire by putting on too much at first.
The flame descending through the hole in the bottom of the vase,
and that in plate D into the box C, passes down farther through the
grate W W in plate B 1, then passes horizontally towards the back of
the chimney; there dividing, and turning to the right and left, one
part of it passes round the far end of the partition 2, then coming
forward it turns round the near end of partition 1, then moving
backward it arrives at the opening into the bottom of one of the
upright corner funnels behind the niche, through which it ascends
into the chimney, thus heating that half of the box and that side of
the niche. The other part of the divided flame passes round the far
end of partition 3, round the near end of partition 4, and so into
and up the other corner funnel, thus heating the other half of the
box, and the other side of the niche. The vase itself, and the box C
will also be very hot, and the air surrounding them being heated, and
rising, as it cannot get into the chimney, it spreads in the room,
colder air succeeding is warmed in its turn, rises and spreads, till
by the continual circulation the whole is warmed.
If you should have occasion to make your first fire at hours not
so convenient as those above mentioned, and when the chimney does
not draw, do not begin it in the vase, but in one or more of the
passages of the lower plate, first covering the mouth of the vase.
After the chimney has drawn a while with the fire thus low, and
begins to be a little warm, you may close those passages and kindle
another fire in the box C, leaving its sliding shutter a little open;
and when you find after some time that the chimney being warmed draws
forcibly, you may shut that passage, open your vase, and kindle your
fire there, as above directed. The chimney well warmed by the first
day's fire will continue to draw constantly all winter, if fires are
made daily.
You will, in the management of your fire, have need of the following
implements:
A pair of small light tongs, twelve or fifteen inches long, plate,
figure 13.
A light poker about the same length with a flat broad point, figure
14.
A rake to draw ashes out of the passages of the lower plate, where
the lighter kind escaping the ash-box will gather by degrees, and
perhaps once in a week or ten days require being removed, figure 15.
And a fork with its prongs wide enough to slip on the neck of the
vase cover, in order to raise and open it when hot, to put in fresh
coals, figure 16.
In the management of this stove there are certain precautions to
be observed, at first with attention, till they become habitual.
To avoid the inconvenience of smoke, see that the grate H be clear
before you begin to light a fresh fire. If you find it clogged with
cinders and ashes, turn it up with your tongs and let them fall upon
the grate below; the ashes will go through it, and the cinders may be
raked off and returned into the vase when you would burn them. Then
see that all the sliding plates are in their places and close shut,
that no air may enter the stove but through the round opening at the
top of the vase. And to avoid the inconvenience of dust from the
ashes, let the ash-drawer be taken out of the room to be emptied; and
when you rake the passages, do it when the draft of the air is strong
inwards, and put the ashes carefully into the ash-box, that remaining
in its place.
If, being about to go abroad, you would prevent your fire burning in
your absence, you may do it by taking the brass flame from the top
of the vase, and covering the passage with a round tin plate, which
will prevent the entry of more air than barely sufficient to keep a
few of the coals alive. When you return, though some hours absent, by
taking off the tin plate and admitting the air, your fire will soon
be recovered.
The effect of this machine, well managed, is to burn not only the
coals, but all the smoke of the coals, so that while the fire is
burning, if you go out and observe the top of your chimney, you will
see no smoke issuing, nor any thing but clear warm air, which as
usual makes the bodies seen through it appear waving.
But let none imagine from this, that it may be a cure for bad or
smoky chimneys, much less, that as it burns the smoke it may be used
in a room that has no chimney. It is by the help of a good chimney,
the higher the better, that it produces its effect; and though a
flue of plate iron sufficiently high might be raised in a very lofty
room, the management to prevent all disagreeable vapour would be too
nice for common practice, and small errors would have unpleasing
consequences.
It is certain that clean iron yields no offensive smell when heated.
Whatever of that kind you perceive, where there are iron stoves,
proceeds therefore from some foulness burning or fuming on their
surface. They should therefore never be spit upon, or greased, nor
should any dust be suffered to lie upon them. But as the greatest
care will not always prevent these things, it is well once a week
to wash the stove with soap lees and a brush, rinsing it with clean
water.
_The Advantages of this Stove._
1. The chimney does not grow foul, nor ever need sweeping; for as no
smoke enters it, no soot can form in it.
2. The air heated over common fires instantly quits the room and
goes up the chimney with the smoke; but in the stove, it is obliged
to descend in flame and pass through the long winding horizontal
passages, communicating its heat to a body of iron plate, which,
having thus time to receive the heat, communicates the same to the
air of the room, and thereby warms it to a greater degree.
3. The whole of the fuel is consumed by being turned into flame, and
you have the benefit of its heat, whereas in common chimneys a great
part goes away in smoke which you see as it rises, but it affords
you no rays of warmth. One may obtain some notion of the quantity of
fuel thus wasted in smoke, by reflecting on the quantity of soot that
a few weeks firing will lodge against the sides of the chimney, and
yet this is formed only of those particles of the column of smoke
that happen to touch the sides in its ascent. How much more must have
passed off in the air? And we know that this soot is still fuel;
for it will burn and flame as such, and when hard caked together is
indeed very like and almost as solid as the coal it proceeds from.
The destruction of your fuel goes on nearly in the same quantity
whether in smoke or in flame: but there is no comparison in the
difference of heat given. Observe when fresh coals are first put on
your fire, what a body of smoke arises. This smoke is for a long
time too cold to take flame. If you then plunge a burning candle
into it, the candle instead of inflaming the smoke will instantly be
itself extinguished. Smoke must have a certain degree of heat to be
inflammable. As soon as it has acquired that degree, the approach of
a candle will inflame the whole body, and you will be very sensible
of the difference of the heat it gives. A still easier experiment
may be made with the candle itself. Hold your hand near the side of
its flame, and observe the heat it gives; then blow it out, the hand
remaining in the same place, and observe what heat may be given by
the smoke that rises from the still burning snuff. You will find it
very little. And yet that smoke has in it the substance of so much
flame, and will instantly produce it, if you hold another candle
above it so as to kindle it. Now the smoke from the fresh coals laid
on this stove, instead of ascending and leaving the fire while too
cold to burn, being obliged to descend through the burning coals,
receives among them that degree of heat which converts it into flame,
and the heat of that flame is communicated to the air of the room, as
above explained.
4. The flame from the fresh coals laid on in this stove, descending
through the coals already ignited, preserves them long from
consuming, and continues them in the state of red coals as long as
the flame continues that surrounds them, by which means the fires
made in this stove are of much longer duration than in any other,
and fewer coals are therefore necessary for a day. This is a very
material advantage indeed. That flame should be a kind of pickle, to
preserve burning coals from consuming, may seem a paradox to many,
and very unlikely to be true, as it appeared to me the first time
I observed the fact. I must therefore relate the circumstances,
and shall mention an easy experiment, by which my reader may be in
possession of every thing necessary to the understanding of it. In
the first trial I made of this kind of stove, which was constructed
of thin plate iron, I had instead of the vase a kind of inverted
pyramid like a mill-hopper; and fearing at first that the small
grate contained in it might be clogged by cinders, and the passage
of the flame sometimes obstructed, I ordered a little door near the
grate, by means of which I might on occasion clear it: though after
the stove was made, and before I tried it, I began to think this
precaution superfluous, from an imagination, that the flame being
contracted in the narrow part where the grate was placed, would be
more powerful in consuming what it should there meet with, and that
any cinders between or near the bars would be presently destroyed
and the passage opened. After the stove was fixed and in action, I
had a pleasure now and then in opening that door a little, to see
through the crevice how the flame descended among the red coals,
and observing once a single coal lodged on the bars in the middle
of the focus, a fancy took me to observe by my watch in how short a
time it would be consumed. I looked at it long without perceiving
it to be at all diminished, which surprised me greatly. At length
it occurred to me, that I and many others had seen the same thing
thousands of times, in the conservation of the red coal formed in
the snuff of a burning candle, which while envelloped in flame, and
thereby prevented from the contact of passing air, is long continued
and augments instead of diminishing, so that we are often obliged
to remove it by the snuffers, or bend it out of the flame into the
air, where it consumes presently to ashes. I then supposed, that to
consume a body by fire, passing air was necessary to receive and
carry off the separated particles of the body: and that the air
passing in the flame of my stove, and in the flame of a candle,
being already saturated with such particles, could not receive more,
and therefore left the coal undiminished as long as the outward air
was prevented from coming to it by the surrounding flame, which
kept it in a situation somewhat like that of charcoal in a well
luted crucible, which, though long kept in a strong fire, comes out
unconsumed.
An easy experiment will satisfy any one of this conserving power of
flame envelloping red coal. Take a small stick of deal or other wood
the size of a goose quill, and hold it horizontally and steadily in
the flame of the candle above the wick, without touching it, but in
the body of the flame. The wood will first be inflamed, and burn
beyond the edge of the flame of the candle, perhaps a quarter of an
inch. When the flame of the wood goes out, it will leave a red coal
at the end of the stick, part of which will be in the flame of the
candle and part out in the air. In a minute or two you will perceive
the coal in the air diminish gradually, so as to form a neck; while
the part in the flame continues of its first size, and at length the
neck being quite consumed it drops off; and by rolling it between
your fingers when extinguished you will find it still a solid coal.
However, as one cannot be always putting on fresh fuel in this stove
to furnish a continual flame as is done in a candle, the air in the
intervals of time gets at the red coals and consumes them. Yet the
conservation while it lasted, so much delayed the consumption of the
coals, that two fires, one made in the morning, and the other in the
afternoon, each made by only a hatfull of coals, were sufficient to
keep my writing room, about sixteen feet square and ten high, warm a
whole day. The fire kindled at seven in the morning would burn till
noon; and all the iron of the machine with the walls of the niche
being thereby heated, the room kept warm till evening, when another
smaller fire kindled kept it warm till midnight.
Instead of the sliding plate E, which shuts the front of the box C,
I sometimes used another which had a pane of glass, or, which is
better, of Muscovy talc, that the flame might be seen descending
from the bottom of the vase and passing in a column through the box
C, into the cavities of the bottom plate, like water falling from a
funnel, admirable to such as are not acquainted with the nature of
the machine, and in itself a pleasing spectacle.
Every utensil, however properly contrived to serve its purpose,
requires some practice before it can be used adroitly. Put into the
hands of a man for the first time a gimblet or a hammer (very simple
instruments) and tell him the use of them, he shall neither bore a
hole or drive a nail with the dexterity and success of another who
has been accustomed to handle them. The beginner therefore in the
use of this machine will do well not to be discouraged with little
accidents that may arise at first from his want of experience.
Being somewhat complex, it requires as already said a variety of
attentions; habit will render them unnecessary. And the studious man
who is much in his chamber, and has a pleasure in managing his own
fire, will soon find this a machine most comfortable and delightful.
To others who leave their fires to the care of ignorant servants, I
do not recommend it. They will with difficulty acquire the knowledge
necessary, and will make frequent blunders that will fill your
room with smoke. It is therefore by no means fit for common use in
families. It may be adviseable to begin with the flaming kind of
stone coal, which is large, and, not caking together, is not so apt
to clog the grate. After some experience, any kind of coal may be
used, and with this advantage, that no smell, even from the most
sulphurous kind can come into your room, the current of air being
constantly into the vase, where too that smell is all consumed.
The vase form was chosen as being elegant in itself, and very
proper for burning of coals: where wood is the usual fuel, and
must be burned in pieces of some length, a long square chest may
be substituted, in which A is the cover opening by a hinge behind,
B the grate, C the hearth-box with its divisions as in the other,
D the plan of the chest, E the long narrow grate. (Plate, Figure
17.) This I have not tried, but the vase machine was completed in
1771, and used by me in London three winters, and one afterwards in
America, much to my satisfaction; and I have not yet thought of any
improvement it may be capable of, though such may occur to others.
For common use, while in France, I have contrived another grate
for coals, which has in part the same property of burning the smoke
and preserving the red coals longer by the flame, though not so
completely as in the vase, yet sufficiently to be very useful, which
I shall now describe as follows.
A, is a round grate, one foot (French) in diameter, and eight inches
deep between the bars and the back; (Plate, Figure 18.) the sides
and back of plate iron; the sides having holes of half an inch
diameter distant three or four inches from each other, to let in air
for enlivening the fire. The back without holes. The sides do not
meet at top nor at bottom by eight inches: that square is filled by
grates of small bars crossing front to back to let in air below,
and let out the smoke or flame above. The three middle bars of the
front grate are fixed, the upper and lower may be taken out and put
in at pleasure, when hot, with a pair of pincers. This round grate
turns upon, an axis, supported by the crotchet B, the stem of which
is an inverted conical tube five inches deep, which comes on as many
inches upon a pin that fits it, and which is fixed upright in cast
iron plate D, that lies upon the hearth; in the middle of the top and
bottom grates are fixed small upright pieces E E about an inch high,
which as the whole is turned on its axis stop it when the grate is
perpendicular. Figure 19 is another view of the same machine.
In making the first fire in a morning with this grate, there is
nothing particular to be observed. It is made as in other grates,
the coals being put in above, after taking out the upper bar, and
replacing it when they are in. The round figure of the fire when
thoroughly kindled is agreeable, it represents the great giver of
warmth to our system. As it burns down and leaves a vacancy above,
which you would fill with fresh coals, the upper bar is to be taken
out, and afterwards replaced. The fresh coals, while the grate
continues in the same position, will throw up as usual a body of
thick smoke. But every one accustomed to coal fires in common grates
must have observed, that pieces of fresh coal stuck in below among
the red coals have their smoke so heated as that it becomes flame
as fast as it is produced, which flame rises among the coals and
enlivens the appearance of the fire. Here then is the use of this
swivel grate. By a push with your tongs or poker, you turn it on
its pin till it faces the back of the chimney, then turn it over on
its axis gently till it again faces the room, whereby all the fresh
coals will be found under the live coals, and the greater part of the
smoke arising from the fresh coals will in its passage through the
live ones be heated so as to be converted into flame: whence you have
much more heat from them, and your red coals are longer preserved
from consuming. I conceive this construction, though not so complete
a consumer of all the smoke as the vase, yet to be fitter for common
use, and very advantageous. It gives too a full sight of the fire,
always a pleasing object, which we have not in the other. It may
with a touch be turned more or less from any one of the company that
desires to have less of its heat, or presented full to one just come
out of the cold. And supported in a horizontal position, a tea-kettle
may be boiled on it.
The author's description of his Pensylvania fireplace, first
published in 1744, having fallen into the hands of workmen in Europe,
who did not, it seems, well comprehend the principles of that
machine, it was much disfigured in their imitations of it; and one
of its main intentions, that of admitting a sufficient quantity of
fresh air warmed in entering through the air-box, nearly defeated,
by a pretended improvement, in lessening its passages to make more
room for coals in a grate. On pretence of such improvements, they
obtained patents for the invention, and for a while made great profit
by the sale, till the public became sensible of that defect, in the
expected operation. If the same thing should be attempted with this
vase stove, it will be well for the buyer to examine thoroughly
such pretended improvements, lest, being the mere productions of
ignorance, they diminish or defeat the advantages of the machine, and
produce inconvenience and disappointment.
The method of burning smoke, by obliging it to descend through hot
coals, may be of great use in heating the walls of a hot-house. In
the common way, the horizontal passages or flues that are made to go
and return in those walls, lose a great deal of their effect when
they come to be foul with soot; for a thick blanket-like lining of
soot prevents much of the hot air from touching and heating the brick
work in its passage, so that more fire must be made as the flue grows
fouler: but by burning the smoke they are kept always clean. The same
method may also be of great advantage to those businesses in which
large coppers or caldrons are to be heated.
_Written at Sea, 1785._
FOOTNOTE:
[60] From the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, in
which it was read January 28, 1786. _Editor._
TO MISS STEPHENSON.
_Method of Contracting Chimneys. Modesty in Disputation._
_Craven-Street, Saturday Evening, past 10._
The question you ask me is a very sensible one, and I shall be
glad if I can give you a satisfactory answer. There are two ways
of contracting a chimney; one, by contracting the opening _before_
the fire; the other, by contracting the funnel _above_ the fire.
If the funnel above the fire is left open in its full dimensions,
and the opening before the fire is contracted; then the coals, I
imagine, will burn faster, because more air is directed through the
fire, and in a stronger stream; that air which before passed over
it, and on each side of it, now passing _through_ it. This is seen
in narrow stove chimneys, when a sacheverell or blower is used,
which still more contracts the narrow opening.--But if the funnel
only _above_ the fire is contracted, then, as a less stream of air
is passing up the chimney, less must pass through the fire, and
consequently it should seem that the consuming of the coals would
rather be checked than augmented by such contraction. And this will
also be the case, when both the opening _before_ the fire, and the
funnel _above_ the fire are contracted, provided the funnel above
the fire is more contracted in proportion than the opening before
the fire.--So you see I think you had the best of the argument; and
as you notwithstanding gave it up in complaisance to the company, I
think you had also the best of the dispute. There are few, though
convinced, that know how to give up, even an error, they have been
once engaged in maintaining; there is therefore the more merit in
dropping a contest where one thinks one's self right; it is at least
respectful to those we converse with. And indeed all our knowledge
is so imperfect, and we are from a thousand causes so perpetually
subject to mistake and error, that positiveness can scarce ever
become even the most knowing; and modesty in advancing any opinion,
however plain and true we may suppose it, is always decent, and
generally more likely to procure assent. Pope's rule
To speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence,
is therefore a good one; and if I had ever seen in your conversation
the least deviation from it, I should earnestly recommend it to your
observation.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO MICHAEL HILLEGRAS ESQ.
_Respecting covering Houses with Copper.[61]_
_London, March 17, 1770._
DEAR SIR,
I received your favour of November 25, and have made enquiries, as
you desired, concerning the copper covering of houses. It has been
used here in a few instances only, and the practice does not seem to
gain ground. The copper is about the thickness of a common playing
card, and though a dearer metal than lead, I am told, that, as less
weight serves, on account of its being so much thinner, and as
slighter woodwork in the roof is sufficient to support it, the roof
is not dearer on the whole, than one covered with lead. It is said,
that hail and rain make a disagreeable drumming noise on copper; but
this I suppose is rather fancy; for the plates being fastened on
the rafters, must, in a great measure, deaden such sound. The first
cost, whatever it is, will be all, as a copper covering must last for
ages; and when the house decays, the plates will still have intrinsic
worth. In Russia, I am informed many houses are covered with plates
of iron tinned, such as our tin pots and other vases are made of,
laid on over the edges of one another like tiles; and which, it is
said, last very long, the tin preserving the iron from much decay by
rusting. In France and the Low Countries, I have seen many spouts or
pipes for conveying the water down from the roofs of houses, made of
the same kind of tin plates soldered together; and they seem to stand
very well.
With sincere regard, I am,
Yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[61] The two following letters, and the accompanying paper, appeared
in several periodical publications, both English and American, many
years before the death of Franklin, which is sufficient to give them
authenticity. _Editor._
TO SAMUEL RHOADS, ESQ.
_On the same Subject._
_London, June 26, 1770._
DEAR FRIEND,
It is a long time since I had the pleasure of hearing from you
directly. Mrs. Franklin has indeed now and then acquainted me of your
welfare, which I am always glad to hear of. It is, I fear, partly,
if not altogether, my fault, that our correspondence has not been
regularly continued. One thing I am sure of, that it has been from no
want of regard on either side, but rather from too much business, and
avocations of various kinds, and my having little of importance to
communicate.
One of our good citizens, Mr. Hillegras, anxious for the future
safety of our town, wrote to me some time since, desiring I would
enquire concerning the covering of our houses here with copper. I
sent him the best information I could then obtain, but have since
received the inclosed from an ingenious friend, who is what they call
here a civil engineer. I should be glad you would peruse it, think of
the matter a little and give me your sentiments of it. When you have
done with the paper, please to give it to Mr. Hillegras. I am told
by Lord Despencer, who has covered a long piazza, or gallery, with
copper, that the expence is charged in this account too high, for his
cost but one shilling and ten-pence per foot, all charges included.
I suppose his copper must have been thinner. And, indeed, it is so
strong a metal, that I think it may well be used very thin.
It appears to me of great importance, to build our dwelling houses,
if we can, in a manner more secure from danger by fire. We scarcely
ever hear of fire in Paris. When I was there I took particular notice
of the construction of their houses, and I did not see how one of
them could well be burnt, the roofs are slate or tile, the walls are
stone, the walls generally lined with stucco or plaster, instead of
wainscot, the floors of stucco, or of six square tiles painted brown,
or of flag stone, or of marble; if any floors were of wood, it was of
oak wood, which is not so inflammable as pine. Carpets prevent the
coldness of stone or brick floors offending the feet in winter, and
the noise of treading on such floors, overhead, is less inconvenient
than on boards. The stairs too, at Paris, are either stone or brick,
with only a wooden edge or corner for the step; so that on the whole,
though the Parisians commonly burn wood in their chimneys, a more
dangerous kind of fuel than that used here, yet their houses escape
extremely well, as there is little in a room that can be consumed
by fire except the furniture: whereas in London, perhaps scarcely a
year passes in which half a million of property and many lives are
not lost by this destructive element. Of late, indeed, they begin
here to leave off wainscoting their rooms, and instead of it cover
the walls with stucco, often formed into pannels like wainscot,
which being painted, is very strong and warm. Stone staircases too,
with iron rails, grow more and more into fashion here: but stone
steps cannot, in some circumstances, be fixed; and there, methinks,
oak is safer than pine; and I assure you, that in many genteel
houses here, both old and new, the stairs and floors are oak, and
look extremely well. Perhaps solid oak for the steps would be still
safer than boards; and two steps might be cut diagonally out of one
piece. Excuse my talking to you on a subject with which you must
be so much better acquainted than I am. It is partly to make out a
letter, and partly in hope, that, by turning your attention to the
point, some methods of greater security in our future building may be
thought of and promoted by you, whose judgment I know has deservedly
great weight with our fellow-citizens. For though our town has not
hitherto suffered very greatly by fire, yet I am apprehensive, that
some time or other, by a concurrence of unlucky circumstances, such
as dry weather, hard frost, and high winds, a fire then happening
may suddenly spread far and wide over our cedar roofs, and do us an
immense mischief. I am,
Yours, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
_Paper referred to in the preceding Letter._
The carpentry of the roof being formed with its proper descents,
is, in the first place, sheeted or covered with deals, nailed
horizontally upon the rafters, after the same manner as when intended
to be covered with lead. The sheets of the copper for this covering
are two feet by four, and for covering the slopes of the roof are
cast so thin, as to weigh eight or nine pounds, and for covering the
flats or gutters, ten or eleven pounds each, or about one pound, or a
pound and a quarter, to the superficial foot.
A string of strong cartridge paper (over-lapping a little at its
joints) is regularly tacked down upon the sheeting, under the copper
covering, as the work proceeds from eaves to ridge. It prevents the
jingling sound of hail or rain falling upon the roof, and answers
another purpose to be mentioned by-and-by.
In order to shew the regular process of laying down the roof, we must
begin with fastening two sheets together lengthwise. The edges of two
sheets are laid down so as to lap or cover each other an inch, and a
slip of the same copper, about three and a half inches broad, called
the reeve, is introduced between them. Four oblong holes, or slits,
are then cut or punched through the whole, and they are fastened or
riveted together by copper nails, with small round shanks and flat
heads. Indents are then cut 1¾ inch deep upon the seam at top and
bottom. The right hand sheet and the reeve are then folded back to
the left. The reeve is then folded to the right, and the sheets being
laid on the roof in their place, it is nailed down to the sheeting
with flat-headed short copper nails. The right hand sheet is then
folded over the reeve to the right, and the whole beat down flat
upon the cartridge paper covering the sheeting, and thus they are
fastened and laid in their places, by nailing down the reeve only;
and by reason of the oblong holes through them and the reeve, have a
little liberty to expand or contract with the heat and cold, without
raising themselves up from the sheeting, or tearing themselves or
the fastening to pieces. Two other sheets are then fixed together,
according to the first and second operations above, and their seam,
with the reeve, introduced under the upper ends of the seam of the
former, so as to cover down about two inches upon the upper ends
of the former sheets: and so far the cartridge paper is allowed
to cover the two first sheets. This edge of the paper is dipped in
oil, or in turpentine, so far before its application, and thus a
body between the sheets is formed impenetrable to wet, and the reeve
belonging to the two last sheets is nailed down to the sheeting as
before, and the left hand sheet is turned down to the right. Four
sheets are now laid down, with the seam or joint rising to the ridge;
and thus the work is continued, both vertically and horizontally,
till the roof be covered, the sides and ends of each sheet being
alternately each way, undermost and uppermost.
The price for copper, nails, and workmanship, runs at about eight
pounds ten shillings per hundred weight, or two shillings and
three-pence per foot, superficial, exclusive of the lappings; and
about two shillings and eight-pence per foot upon the whole; which
is rather above half as much more as the price of doing it well with
lead.
TO PETER COLLINSON, ESQ. AT LONDON.
_Magical Square of Squares._
SIR,
According to your request I now send you the arithmetical curiosity,
of which this is the history.
Being one day in the country, at the house of our common friend, the
late learned Mr. Logan, he showed me a folio French book filled with
magic squares, wrote, if I forget not, by one M. Frenicle, in which
he said the author had discovered great ingenuity and dexterity in
the management of numbers; and though several other foreigners had
distinguished themselves in the same way, he did not recollect that
any one Englishman had done any thing of the kind remarkable.
I said, it was, perhaps, a mark of the good sense of our English
mathematicians, that they would not spend their time in things that
were merely _difficiles nugæ_, incapable of any useful application.
He answered, that many of the arithmetical or mathematical questions,
publicly proposed and answered in England, were equally trifling and
useless. Perhaps the considering and answering such questions, I
replied, may not be altogether useless, if it produces by practice an
habitual readiness and exactness in mathematical disquisitions, which
readiness may, on many occasions, be of real use. In the same way,
says he, may the making of these squares be of use. I then confessed
to him, that in my younger days, having once some leisure (which I
still think I might have employed more usefully) I had amused myself
in making these kind of magic squares, and, at length, had acquired
such a knack at it, that I could fill the cells of any magic square
of reasonable size, with a series of numbers as fast as I could
write them, disposed in such a manner as that the sums of every row,
horizontal, perpendicular, or diagonal, should be equal; but not
being satisfied with these, which I looked on as common and easy
things, I had imposed on myself more difficult tasks, and succeeded
in making other magic squares, with a variety of properties, and
much more curious. He then shewed me several in the same book, of an
uncommon and more curious kind; but as I thought none of them equal
to some I remembered to have made, he desired me to let him see
them; and accordingly, the next time I visited him, I carried him a
square of 8, which I found among my old papers, and which I will now
give you, with an account of its properties. (_See Plate_ V. Fig. 3.)
The properties are,
1. That every strait row (horizontal or vertical) of 8 numbers added
together makes 260, and half each row half 260.
2. That the bent row of 8 numbers, ascending and descending
diagonally, viz. from 16 ascending to 10, and from 23 descending
to 17; and every one of its parallel bent rows of 8 numbers make
260.--Also the bent row from 52 descending to 54, and from 43
ascending to 45; and every one of its parallel bent rows of 8 numbers
make 260.--Also the bent row from 45 to 43, descending to the left,
and from 23 to 17, descending to the right, and every one of its
parallel bent rows of 8 numbers, make 260.--Also the bent row from
52 to 54, descending to the right, and from 10 to 16, descending to
the left, and every one of its parallel bent rows of 8 numbers make
260.--Also the parallel bent rows next to the above-mentioned, which
are shortened to 3 numbers ascending, and 3 descending, &c. as from
53 to 4 ascending, and from 29 to 44 descending, make, with the two
corner numbers, 260.--Also the 2 numbers 14, 61 ascending, and 36,
19 descending, with the lower 4 numbers situated like them, viz. 50,
1, descending, and 32, 47, ascending, make 260.--And, lastly, the 4
corner numbers, with the 4 middle numbers, make 260.
[Illustration:
_Plate XI._ _Vol. II. page 327._
_A Magic Square of Squares._
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
So this magical square seems perfect in its kind. But these are not
all its properties; there are 5 other curious ones, which, at some
other time, I will explain to you.
Mr. Logan then shewed me an old arithmetical book, in quarto, wrote,
I think, by one Stifelius, which contained a square of 16, that he
said he should imagine must have been a work of great labour; but if
I forget not, it had only the common properties of making the same
sum, viz. 2056, in every row, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal.
Not willing to be out-done by Mr. Stifelius, even in the size of my
square, I went home, and made, that evening, the following magical
square of 16, which, besides having all the properties of the
foregoing square of 8, _i. e._ it would make the 2056 in all the same
rows and diagonals, had this added, that a four-square hole being cut
in a piece of paper of such a size as to take in and show through it
just 16 of the little squares, when laid on the greater square, the
sum of the 16 numbers so appearing through the hole, wherever it was
placed on the greater square, should likewise make 2056. This I sent
to our friend the next morning, who, after some days, sent it back
in a letter with these words: "I return to thee thy astonishing or
most stupendous piece of the magical square, in which----" but the
compliment is too extravagant, and therefore, for his sake, as well
as my own, I ought not to repeat it. Nor is it necessary; for I make
no question but you will readily allow this square of 16 to be the
most magically magical of any magic square ever made by any magician.
(_See the Plate._)
I did not, however, end with squares, but composed also a magic
circle, consisting of 8 concentric circles, and 8 radial rows, filled
with a series of numbers from 12 to 75 inclusive, so disposed as that
the numbers of each circle, or each radial row, being added to the
central number 12, they make exactly 360, the number of degrees in
a circle; and this circle had, moreover, all the properties of the
square of 8. If you desire it, I will send it; but at present, I
believe, you have enough on this subject. I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO THE SAME.
_Magical Circle._
SIR,
I am glad the perusal of the magical squares afforded you any
amusement. I now send you the magical circle. (_See Plate_ XII.)
Its properties, besides those mentioned in my former, are these.
Half the number in any radial row, added with half the central
number, make 180, equal to the number of degrees in a semi-circle.
Also half the numbers in any one of the concentric circles, taken
either above or below the horizontal double line, with half the
central number, make 180.
And if any four adjoining numbers, standing nearly in a square, be
taken from any part, and added with half the central number, they
make 180.
[Illustration:
_Plate XII._ _Vol. II. page 328._
A MAGIC CIRCLE OF CIRCLES.
_Published as the Act directs, April 1, 1806, by Longman, Hurst, Rees
& Orme, Paternoster Row._]
There are, moreover, included four other sets of circular spaces,
excentric with respect to the first, each of these sets containing
five spaces. The centres of the circles that bound them, are at A, B,
C, and D. Each set, for the more easy distinguishing them from the
first, are drawn with a different coloured ink, red, blue, green,
and yellow.[62]
These sets of excentric circular spaces intersect those of the
concentric, and each other; and yet the numbers contained in each of
the twenty excentric spaces, taken all around, make, with the central
number, the same sum as those in each of the 8 concentric, viz. 360.
The halves, also of those drawn from the centres A and C, taken above
or below the double horizontal line, and of those drawn from centres
B and D, taken to the right or left of the vertical line, do, with
half the central number, make just 180.
It may be observed, that there is not one of the numbers but what
belongs at least to two of the different circular spaces; some to
three, some to four, some to five; and yet they are all so placed as
never to break the required number 360, in any of the 28 circular
spaces within the primitive circle.
These interwoven circles make so perplexed an appearance, that it
is not easy for the eye to trace every circle of numbers one would
examine, through all the maze of circles intersected by it; but if
you fix one foot of the compasses in either of the centres, and
extend the other to any number in the circle you would examine
belonging to that centre, the moving foot will point the others out,
by passing round over all the numbers of that circle successively. I
am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[62] In the plate they are distinguished by dashed or dotted lines,
as different as the engraver could well make them.
TO THE REV. FATHER BECCARIA.
_Describing a new musical Instrument composed of Glasses._
_London, July 13, 1762._
REV. SIR,
I once promised myself the pleasure of seeing you at Turin, but as
that is not now likely to happen, being just about returning to my
native country, America, I sit down to take leave of you (among
others of my European friends that I cannot see) by writing.
I thank you for the honourable mention you have so frequently made
of me in your letters to Mr. Collinson and others, for the generous
defence you undertook and executed with so much success, of my
electrical opinions; and for the valuable present you have made me
of your new work, from which I have received great information and
pleasure. I wish I could in return entertain you with any thing new
of mine on that subject; but I have not lately pursued it. Nor do I
know of any one here that is at present much engaged in it.
Perhaps, however, it may be agreeable to you, as you live in a
musical country, to have an account of the new instrument lately
added here to the great number that charming science was before
possessed of.--As it is an instrument that seems peculiarly adapted
to Italian music, especially that of the soft and plaintive kind,
I will endeavour to give you such a description of it, and of the
manner of constructing it, that you or any of your friends, may
be enabled to imitate it, if you incline so to do, without being
at the expence and trouble of the many experiments I have made in
endeavouring to bring it to its present perfection.
You have doubtless heard the sweet tone that is drawn from a drinking
glass, by passing a wet finger round its brim. One Mr. Puckeridge, a
gentleman from Ireland, was the first who thought of playing tunes,
formed of these tones. He collected a number of glasses of different
sizes, fixed them near each other on a table, and tuned them by
putting into them water more or less, as each note required. The
tones were brought out by passing his fingers round their brims.--He
was unfortunately burned here, with his instrument, in a fire which
consumed the house he lived in. Mr. E. Delaval, a most ingenious
member of our Royal Society, made one in imitation of it, with a
better choice and form of glasses, which was the first I saw or
heard. Being charmed with the sweetness of its tones, and the music
he produced from it, I wished only to see the glasses disposed in a
more convenient form, and brought together in a narrower compass, so
as to admit of a greater number of tones, and all within reach of
hand to a person sitting before the instrument, which I accomplished,
after various intermediate trials, and less commodious forms, both of
glasses and construction, in the following manner.
[Illustration: (hemispherical glass vessel)]
The glasses are blown as near as possible in the form of hemispheres,
having each an open neck or socket in the middle. The thickness of
the glass near the brim about a tenth of an inch, or hardly quite so
much, but thicker as it comes nearer the neck, which in the largest
glasses is about an inch deep, and an inch and half wide within,
these dimensions lessening as the glasses themselves diminish in
size, except that the neck of the smallest ought not to be shorter
than half an inch.--The largest glass is nine inches diameter, and
the smallest three inches. Between these three are twenty-three
different sizes, differing from each other a quarter of an inch in
diameter.--To make a single instrument there should be at least six
glasses blown of each size; and out of this number one may probably
pick thirty-seven glasses (which are sufficient for three octaves
with all the semitones) that will be each either the note one wants
or a little sharper than that note, and all fitting so well into each
other as to taper pretty regularly from the largest to the smallest.
It is true there are not thirty-seven sizes, but it often happens
that two of the same size differ a note or half note in tone, by
reason of a difference in thickness, and these may be placed one in
the other without sensibly hurting the regularity of the taper form.
The glasses being chosen, and every one marked with a diamond the
note you intend it for, they are to be tuned by diminishing the
thickness of those that are too sharp. This is done by grinding them
round from the neck towards the brim, the breadth of one or two
inches, as may be required; often trying the glass by a well tuned
harpsichord, comparing the tone drawn from the glass by your finger,
with the note you want, as sounded by that string of the harpsichord.
When you come nearer the matter, be careful to wipe the glass clean
and dry before each trial, because the tone is something flatter when
the glass is wet, than it will be when dry;--and grinding a very
little between each trial, you will thereby tune to great exactness.
The more care is necessary in this, because if you go below your
required tone, there is no sharpening it again but by grinding
somewhat off the brim, which will afterwards require polishing, and
thus increase the trouble.
The glasses being thus tuned, you are to be provided with a case
for them, and a spindle on which they are to be fixed. My case is
about three feet long, eleven inches every way wide within at the
biggest end, and five inches at the smallest end; for it tapers all
the way, to adapt it better to the conical figure of the set of
glasses. This case opens in the middle of its height, and the upper
part turns up by hinges fixed behind. The spindle, which is of hard
iron, lies horizontally from end to end of the box within, exactly
in the middle, and is made to turn on brass gudgeons at each end.
It is round, an inch diameter at the thickest end, and tapering to
a quarter of an inch at the smallest.--A square shank comes from
its thickest end through the box, on which shank a wheel is fixed
by a screw. This wheel serves as a fly to make the motion equable,
when the spindle, with the glasses, is turned by the foot like a
spinning-wheel. My wheel is of mahogany, eighteen inches diameter,
and pretty thick, so as to conceal near its circumference about 25lb
of lead.--An ivory pin is fixed in the face of this wheel, and about
four inches from the axis. Over the neck of this pin is put the loop
of the string that comes up from the moveable step to give it motion.
The case stands on a neat frame with four legs.
To fix the glasses on the spindle, a cork is first to be fitted in
each neck pretty tight, and projecting a little without the neck,
that the neck of one may not touch the inside of another when put
together, for that would make a jarring.--These corks are to be
perforated with holes of different diameters, so as to suit that
part of the spindle on which they are to be fixed. When a glass is
put on, by holding it stiffly between both hands, while another turns
the spindle, it may be gradually brought to its place. But care must
be taken that the hole be not too small, lest in forcing it up the
neck should split; nor too large, lest the glass not being firmly
fixed should turn or move on the spindle, so as to touch and jar
against its neighbouring glass. The glasses thus are placed one in
another, the largest on the biggest end of the spindle which is to
the left hand; the neck of this glass is towards the wheel, and the
next goes into it in the same position, only about an inch of its
brim appearing beyond the brim of the first; thus proceeding, every
glass when fixed shews about an inch of its brim (or three quarters
of an inch, or half an inch, as they grow smaller) beyond the brim
of the glass that contains it; and it is from these exposed parts of
each glass that the tone is drawn, by laying a finger upon one of
them as the spindle and glasses turn round.
My largest glass is G, a little below the reach of a common voice,
and my highest G, including three compleat octaves.--To distinguish
the glasses the more readily to the eye, I have painted the apparent
parts of the glasses within side, every semitone white, and the other
notes of the octave with the seven prismatic colours, _viz._ C, red;
D, orange; E, yellow; F, green; G, blue; A, indigo; B, purple; and C,
red again;--so that glasses of the same colour (the white excepted)
are always octaves to each other.
This instrument is played upon, by sitting before the middle of the
set of glasses as before the keys of a harpsichord, turning them
with the foot, and wetting them now and then with a spunge and clean
water. The fingers should be first a little soaked in water, and
quite free from all greasiness; a little fine chalk upon them is
sometimes useful, to make them catch the glass and bring out the tone
more readily. Both hands are used, by which means different parts are
played together.--Observe, that the tones are best drawn out when the
glasses turn _from_ the ends of the fingers, not when they turn _to_
them.
The advantages of this instrument are, that its tones are
incomparably sweet beyond those of any other; that they may be
swelled and softened at pleasure by stronger or weaker pressures of
the finger, and continued to any length; and that the instrument,
being once well tuned, never again wants tuning.
In honour of your musical language, I have borrowed from it the name
of this instrument, calling it the Armonica.
With great esteem and respect, I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
TO A FRIEND[63].
_Respecting the best Mediums for conveying Sound._
_July 20, 1762._
DEAR SIR,
I have perused your paper on sound, and would freely mention to
you, as you desire it, every thing that appeared to me to need
correction:--But nothing of that kind occurs to me, unless it be,
where you speak of the air as "the _best_ medium for conveying
sound." Perhaps this is speaking rather too positively, if there be,
as I think there are, some other mediums that will convey it farther
and more readily.--It is a well-known experiment, that the scratching
of a pin at one end of a long piece of timber, may be heard by an
ear applied near the other end, though it could not be heard at the
same distance through the air.--And two stones being struck smartly
together under water, the stroke may be heard at a greater distance
by an ear also placed under water, than it can be heard through the
air. I think I have heard it near a mile; how much farther it may be
heard I know not; but suppose a great deal farther, because the sound
did not seem faint, as if at a distance, like distant sounds through
air, but smart and strong, and as if present just at the ear.--I wish
you would repeat these experiments now you are upon the subject, and
add your own observations.--And if you were to repeat, with your
naturally exact attention and observation, the common experiment of
the bell in the exhausted receiver, possibly something new may occur
to you, in considering,
1. Whether the experiment is not ambiguous; _i. e._ whether the
gradual exhausting of the air, as it creates an increasing difference
of pressure on the outside, may not occasion in the glass a
difficulty of vibrating, that renders it less fit to communicate to
the air without, the vibrations that strike it from within; and the
diminution of the sound arise from this cause, rather than from the
diminution of the air?
2. Whether, as the particles of air themselves are at a distance
from each other, there must not be some medium between them, proper
for conveying sound, since otherwise it would stop at the first
particle?
3. Whether the great difference we experience in hearing sounds at
a distance, when the wind blows towards us from the sonorous body,
or towards that from us, can be well accounted for by adding to or
subtracting from the swiftness of sound, the degree of swiftness that
is in the wind at the time? The latter is so small in proportion,
that it seems as if it could scarce produce any sensible effect,
and yet the difference is very great. Does not this give some hint,
as if there might be a subtle fluid, the conductor of sound, which
moves at different times in different directions over the surface of
the earth, and whose motion may perhaps be much swifter than that of
the air in our strongest winds; and that in passing through air, it
may communicate that motion to the air which we call wind, though a
motion in no degree so swift as its own?
4. It is somewhere related, that a pistol fired on the top of an
exceeding high mountain, made a noise like thunder in the valleys
below. Perhaps this fact is not exactly related: but if it is, would
not one imagine from it, that the rarer the air, the greater sound
might be produced in it from the same cause?
5. Those balls of fire which are sometimes seen passing over a
country, computed by philosophers to be often thirty miles high at
least, sometimes burst at that height; the air must be exceeding rare
there, and yet the explosion produces a sound that is heard at that
distance, and for seventy miles round on the surface of the earth,
so violent too as to shake buildings, and give an apprehension of an
earthquake. Does not this look as if a rare atmosphere, almost a
vacuum, was no bad conductor of sound?
I have not made up my own mind on these points, and only mention them
for your consideration, knowing that every subject is the better for
your handling it.
With the greatest esteem, I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[63] Mr. Oliver Neave. _Editor._
TO LORD KAIMS, AT EDINBURGH.
_On the Harmony and Melody of the old Scotch Tunes._
_June 2, 1765._
**** In my passage to America I read your excellent work, the
_Elements of Criticism_, in which I found great entertainment. I
only wished you had examined more fully the subject of music, and
demonstrated that the pleasure artists feel in hearing much of that
composed in the modern taste, is not the natural pleasure arising
from melody or harmony of sounds, but of the same kind with the
pleasure we feel on seeing the surprising feats of tumblers and
rope-dancers, who execute difficult things. For my part I take this
to be really the case, and suppose it the reason why those who
are unpractised in music, and therefore unacquainted with those
difficulties, have little or no pleasure in hearing this music. Many
pieces of it are mere compositions of tricks. I have sometimes, at a
concert, attended by a common audience, placed myself so as to see
all their faces, and observed no signs of pleasure in them during
the performance of a great part that was admired by the performers
themselves; while a plain old Scotch tune, which they disdained, and
could scarcely be prevailed on to play, gave manifest and general
delight. Give me leave, on this occasion, to extend a little the
sense of your position, that "melody and harmony are separately
agreeable, and in union delightful," and to give it as my opinion,
that the reason why the Scotch tunes have lived so long, and will
probably live for ever (if they escape being stifled in modern
affected ornament) is merely this, that they are really compositions
of melody and harmony united, or rather that their melody is harmony.
I mean the simple tunes sung by a single voice. As this will appear
paradoxical, I must explain my meaning. In common acceptation,
indeed, only an agreeable _succession_ of sounds is called _melody_,
and only the _co-existence_ of agreeable sounds, _harmony_. But since
the memory is capable of retaining for some moments a perfect idea of
the pitch of a past sound, so as to compare with it the pitch of a
succeeding sound, and judge truly of their agreement or disagreement,
there may and does arise from thence a sense of harmony between the
present and past sounds, equally pleasing with that between two
present sounds. Now the construction of the old Scotch tunes is this,
that almost every succeeding emphatical note is a third, a fifth, an
octave, or in short some note that is in concord with the preceding
note. Thirds are chiefly used, which are very pleasing concords. I
use the word _emphatical_ to distinguish those notes which have a
stress laid on them in singing the tune, from the lighter connecting
notes, that serve merely, like grammar articles in common speech, to
tack the whole together.
That we have a most perfect idea of a sound just past, I might appeal
to all acquainted with music, who know how easy it is to repeat a
sound in the same pitch with one just heard. In tuning an instrument,
a good ear can as easily determine that two strings are in unison
by sounding them separately, as by sounding them together; their
disagreement is also as easily, I believe I may say more easily and
better distinguished, when sounded separately; for when sounded
together, though you know by the beating that one is higher than the
other, you cannot tell which it is. I have ascribed to memory the
ability of comparing the pitch of a present tone with that of one
past. But if there should be, as possibly there may be, something
in the ear, similar to what we find in the eye, that ability would
not be entirely owing to memory. Possibly the vibrations given to
the auditory nerves by a particular sound may actually continue some
time after the cause of those vibrations is past, and the agreement
or disagreement of a subsequent sound become by comparison with them
more discernible. For the impression made on the visual nerves by a
luminous object will continue for twenty or thirty seconds. Sitting
in a room, look earnestly at the middle of a window a little while
when the day is bright, and then shut your eyes; the figure of the
window will still remain in the eye, and so distinct that you may
count the panes. A remarkable circumstance attending this experiment,
is, that the impression of forms is better retained than that of
colours; for after the eyes are shut, when you first discern the
image of the window, the panes appear dark, and the cross bars of the
sashes, with the window frames and walls, appear white or bright;
but if you still add to the darkness in the eyes by covering them
with your hand, the reverse instantly takes place, the panes appear
luminous and the cross bars dark. And by removing the hand they are
again reversed. This I know not how to account for.--Nor for the
following; that after looking long through green spectacles, the
white paper of a book will on first taking them off appear to have a
blush of red; and after long looking through red glasses, a greenish
cast; this seems to intimate a relation between green and red not
yet explained. Farther, when we consider by whom these ancient tunes
were composed, and how they were first performed, we shall see that
such harmonical successions of sounds was natural and even necessary
in their construction. They were composed by the minstrels of those
days to be played on the harp accompanied by the voice. The harp was
strung with wire, which gives a sound of long continuance, and had
no contrivance like that in the modern harpsichord, by which the
sound of the preceding could be stopt, the moment a succeeding note
began. To avoid actual discord, it was therefore necessary that the
succeeding emphatic note should be a chord with the preceding, as
their sounds must exist at the same time. Hence arose that beauty
in those tunes that has so long pleased, and will please for ever,
though men scarce know why. That they were originally composed for
the harp, and of the most simple kind, I mean a harp without any
half notes but those in the natural scale, and with no more than
two octaves of strings, from C to C, I conjecture from another
circumstance, which is, that not one of those tunes, really ancient,
has a single artificial half note in it, and that in tunes where it
was most convenient for the voice to use the middle notes of the
harp, and place the key in F, there the B, which if used should be
a B flat, is always omitted, by passing over it with a third. The
connoisseurs in modern music will say, I have no taste, but I cannot
help adding, that I believe our ancestors, in hearing a good song,
distinctly articulated, sung to one of those tunes, and accompanied
by the harp, felt more real pleasure than is communicated by the
generality of modern operas, exclusive of that arising from the
scenery and dancing. Most tunes of late composition, not having
this natural harmony united with their melody, have recourse to the
artificial harmony of a bass, and other accompanying parts.[64] This
support, in my opinion, the old tunes do not need, and are rather
confused than aided by it. Whoever has heard James Oswald play them
on his violoncello, will be less inclined to dispute this with me.
I have more than once seen tears of pleasure in the eyes of his
auditors; and yet, I think, even _his_ playing those tunes would
please more, if he gave them less modern ornament.
I am, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[64] The celebrated Rousseau in his Dictionnaire de Musique, printed
1768, appears to have similar sentiments of our modern harmony, viz.
"M. Rameau prétend que les dessus d'une certaine simplicité suggerènt
naturellement leur basse, & qu'un homme ayant l'oreille juste & non
exercée, entonnera naturellement cette basse. C'est-là un préjugé
de musicien, démenti par toute expérience. Non seulement celui qui
n'aura jamais entendu ni basse ni harmonie, ne trouvera, de lui-même,
ni cette harmonie ni cette basse; mais elles lui déplairont si on les
lui fait entendre, & il aimera beaucoup mieux le simple unisson.
Quand on songe que, de tous les peuples de la terre, qui tous ont
une musique & un chant, les Européens sont les seuls qui aient une
harmonie des accords, & qui trouvent ce mélange agréable; quand
on songe que le monde a duré tant de siècles, sans que, de toutes
les nations qui ont cultivé les beaux arts, aucune ait connu cette
harmonie; qu'aucun animal, qu'aucun oiseau, qu'aucan être dans la
nature ne produit d'autre accord que l'unisson, ni d'autre musique
que la mélodie; que les langues orientales, si sonores, si musicales;
que les oreilles Grecques, si délicates, si sensibles, exercées avec
tant d'art, n'ont jamais guidé ces peuples voluptueax & passionnés
vers notre harmonie; que, sans elle, leur musique avoits des effets
si prodigieux: qu'avec elle la nôtre en a de si foibles: qu'entin
il étoit réservé à des peuples du Nord, dont les organes durs &
grossiers sont plus touchés de l'éclat & du bruit des voix, que de la
douceur des accens, & de la mélodie des inflexions, de faire cette
grande découverte, & de la donner pour principe à toutes les régles
de l'art; quand, dis-je, on fait attention à tout cela, il est bien
difficile de ne pas soupçonner que toute notre harmonie n'est qu'une
invention gothique & barbare, dont nous ne nous fussions jamais
avisés, si nous fussions été plus sensibles aux véritables beautés de
l'art, & à la musique vraiment naturelle."
TO MR. PETER FRANKLIN, NEWPORT, NEW ENGLAND.
_On the Defects of Modern Music._
[No date.]
DEAR BROTHER,
**** I like your ballad, and think it well adapted for your purpose
of discountenancing expensive foppery, and encouraging industry and
frugality. If you can get it generally sung in your country, it may
probably have a good deal of the effect you hope and expect from it.
But as you aimed at making it general, I wonder you chose so uncommon
a measure in poetry, that none of the tunes in common use will suit
it. Had you fitted it to an old one, well known, it must have spread
much faster than I doubt it will do from the best new tune we can
get composed for it. I think too, that if you had given it to some
country girl in the heart of the Massachusets, who has never heard
any other than psalm tunes, or _Chevy Chace_, the _Children in the
Wood_, the _Spanish Lady_, and such old simple ditties, but has
naturally a good ear, she might more probably have made a pleasing
popular tune for you, than any of our masters here, and more proper
for your purpose, which would best be answered, if every word could
as it is sung be understood by all that hear it, and if the emphasis
you intend for particular words could be given by the singer as
well as by the reader; much of the force and impression of the song
depending on those circumstances. I will however get it as well done
for you as I can.
Do not imagine that I mean to depreciate the skill of our composers
of music here; they are admirable at pleasing _practised_ ears, and
know how to delight _one another_; but, in composing for songs, the
reigning taste seems to be quite out of nature, or rather the reverse
of nature, and yet like a torrent, hurries them all away with it; one
or two perhaps only excepted.
You, in the spirit of some ancient legislators, would influence the
manners of your country by the united powers of poetry and music. By
what I can learn of _their_ songs, the music was simple, conformed
itself to the usual pronunciation of words, as to measure, cadence or
emphasis, &c. never disguised and confounded the language by making
a long syllable short, or a short one long when sung; their singing
was only a more pleasing, because a melodious manner of speaking;
it was capable of all the graces of prose oratory, while it added
the pleasure of harmony. A modern song, on the contrary, neglects
all the proprieties and beauties of common speech, and in their
place introduces its _defects_ and _absurdities_ as so many graces.
I am afraid you will hardly take my word for this, and therefore I
must endeavour to support it by proof. Here is the first song I lay
my hand on. It happens to be a composition of one of our greatest
masters, the ever-famous Handel. It is not one of his juvenile
performances, before his taste could be improved and formed: it
appeared when his reputation was at the highest, is greatly admired
by all his admirers, and is really excellent in its kind. It is
called, "The additional favourite song in Judas Maccabeus." Now I
reckon among the defects and improprieties of common speech, the
following, viz.
1. _Wrong placing the accent or emphasis_, by laying it on words of
no importance, or on wrong syllables.
2. _Drawling_; or extending the sound of words or syllables beyond
their natural length.
3. _Stuttering_; or making many syllables of one.
4. _Unintelligibleness_; the result of the three foregoing united.
5. _Tautology_; and
6. _Screaming_, without cause.
For the _wrong placing of the accent, or emphasis_, see it on the
word _their_ instead of being on the word _vain_.
[Illustration (music): with _their_ vain my-ste-rious Art]
And on the word _from_, and the wrong syllable _like_.
[Illustration (music): God _like_ wisdom _from_ a-bove.]
For the _drawling_, see the last syllable of the word _wounded_.
[Illustration (music): Nor can heal the wound_ed_ heart]
And in the syllable _wis_, and the word _from_, and syllable _bove_
[Illustration (music): God-like _wis_dom _from_ a-_bove_]
For the _stuttering_, see the words _ne'er relieve_, in
[Illustration (music): Ma-gick charms can _ne'er_ _re-lieve_ you]
Here are four syllables made of one, and eight of three; but this
is moderate. I have seen in another song that I cannot now find,
seventeen syllables made of three, and sixteen of one: the latter I
remember was the word _charms_; viz. _cha, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
a, a, a, a, a, a, arms_. Stammering with a witness!
For the _unintelligibleness_; give this whole song to any taught
singer, and let her sing it to any company that have never heard it;
you shall find they will not understand three words in ten. It is
therefore, that at the oratorios and operas one sees with books in
their hands all those who desire to understand what they hear sung by
even our best performers.
For the _tautology_; you have, _with their vain mysterious art_,
twice repeated; _magic charms can ne'er relieve you_, three times.
_Nor can heal the wounded heart_, three times. _Godlike wisdom from
above_, twice; and, _this alone can deceive you_, two or three times.
But this is reasonable when compared with _the Monster Polypheme, the
Monster Polypheme_, a hundred times over and over, in his admired
_Acis and Galatea_.
As to the _screaming_; perhaps I cannot find a fair instance in this
song; but whoever has frequented our operas will remember many. And
yet here methinks the words _no_ and _e'er_, when sung to these
notes, have a little of the air of _screaming_, and would actually be
screamed by some singers.
[Illustration (music): _No_ magic charms can _e'er_ re-lieve you.]
I send you inclosed the song with its music at length. Read the words
without the repetitions. Observe how few they are, and what a shower
of notes attend them: you will then perhaps be inclined to think with
me, that though the words might be the principal part of an ancient
song, they are of small importance in a modern one; they are in short
only _a pretence for singing_.
I am, as ever,
Your affectionate brother,
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. I might have mentioned _inarticulation_ among the defects in
common speech that are assumed as beauties in modern singing. But
as that seems more the fault of the singer than of the composer, I
omitted it in what related merely to the composition. The fine singer
in the present mode, stifles all the hard consonants, and polishes
away all the rougher parts of words that serve to distinguish them
one from another; so that you hear nothing but an admirable pipe, and
understand no more of the song, than you would from its tune played
on any other instrument. If ever it was the ambition of musicians to
make instruments that should imitate the human voice, that ambition
seems now reversed, the voice aiming to be like an instrument. Thus
wigs were first made to imitate a good natural head of hair;--but
when they became fashionable, though in unnatural forms, we have seen
natural hair dressed to look like wigs.
_Description of the Process to be observed in making large Sheets
of Paper in the Chinese Manner, with one smooth surface._[65]
In Europe to have a large surface of paper connected together and
smooth on one side, the following operations are performed.
1. A number of small sheets are to be made separately.
2. These are to be couched, one by one, between blankets.
3. When a heap is formed it must be put under a strong press, to
force out the water.
4. Then the blankets are to be taken away, one by one, and the sheets
hung up to dry.
5. When dry they are to be again pressed, or if to be sized, they
must be dipped into size made of warm water, in which glue and alum
are dissolved.
6. They must then be pressed again to force out the superfluous size.
7. They must then be hung up a second time to dry, which, if the air
happens to be damp, requires some days.
8. They must then be taken down, laid together, and again pressed.
9. They must be pasted together at their edges.
10. The whole must be glazed by labour, with a flint.
In China, if they would make sheets, suppose of four and a half ells
long and one and a half ells wide, they have two large vats, each
five ells long and two ells wide, made of brick, lined with a plaster
that holds water. In these the stuff is mixed ready to work.
Between these vats is built a kiln or stove, with two inclining
sides; each side something larger than the sheet of paper; they are
covered with a fine stucco that takes a polish, and are so contrived
as to be well heated by a small fire circulating in the walls.
The mould is made with thin but deep sides, that it may be both
light and stiff: it is suspended at each end with cords that pass
over pullies fastened to the cieling, their ends connected with a
counterpoise nearly equal the weight of the mould.
Two men, one at each end of the mould, lifting it out of the water
by the help of the counterpoise, turn it and apply it with the stuff
to the smooth surface of the stove, against which they press it, to
force out great part of the water through the wires. The heat of the
wall soon evaporates the rest, and a boy takes off the dried sheet by
rolling it up. The side next the stove receives the even polish of
the stucco, and is thereby better fitted to receive the impression of
fine prints. If a degree of sizing is required, a decoction of rice
is mixed with the stuff in the vat.
Thus the great sheet is obtained, smooth and sized, and a number of
the European operations saved.
As the stove has two polished sides, and there are two vats, the same
operation is at the same time performed by two other men at the other
vat; and one fire serves.
FOOTNOTE:
[65] Communicated by Dr. Franklin to the American Philosophical
Society, in which it was read, June 20, 1788. _Editor._
TO NOAH WEBSTER, JUN. ESQ. AT HARTFORD[66].
_On Modern Innovations in the English Language and in Printing._
_Philadelphia, Dec_.26, 1789.
DEAR SIR,
I received, some time since, your _Dissertations on the English
Language_. It is an excellent work, and will be greatly useful in
turning the thoughts of our countrymen to correct writing. Please to
accept my thanks for it, as well as for the great honour you have
done me in its dedication. I ought to have made this acknowledgment
sooner, but much indisposition prevented me.
I cannot but applaud your zeal for preserving the purity of our
language both in its expression and pronunciation, and in correcting
the popular errors several of our states are continually falling
into with respect to both. Give me leave to mention some of them,
though possibly they may already have occurred to you. I wish,
however, that in some future publication of yours, you would set 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 sense 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 obscure 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 _l_ in the writing for
an _r_, and a _y_ with too short a tail for a _v_, whereby _employed_
was converted into _improved_: but when I returned to Boston in
1733, I found this change had obtained favour, and was then become
common; for I met with it often in perusing the newspapers, where it
frequently made an appearance rather ridiculous. Such, for instance,
as the advertisement of a country house to be sold, 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 justice 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 side of the water.
During my late absence in France, I find that several other new
words have been introduced into our parliamentary language. For
example, I find a verb from the substantive _notice_. _I should
not have_ noticed _this, were it not that the gentleman_, &c. Also
another verb, from the substantive _advocate_; _The gentleman who_
advocates, _or who has_ advocated _that motion_,&c. Another from
the substantive _progress_, the most awkward and abominable of the
three: _the committee having_ progressed, _resolved to adjourn_. The
word _opposed_, though not a new word, I find used in a new manner,
as, _the gentlemen who are_ opposed _to this measure, to which I
have also myself always been_ opposed. If you should happen to be
of my opinion with respect to these innovations, you will use your
authority in reprobating them.
The Latin language, long the vehicle used in distributing knowledge
among the different nations of Europe, is daily more and more
neglected; and one of the modern tongues, viz. French, seems, in
point of universality, to have supplied its place. It is spoken in
all the courts of Europe; and most of the literati, those even who
do not speak it, have acquired enough knowledge of it, to enable
them easily to read the books, that are written in it. This gives
a considerable advantage to that nation. It enables its authors
to inculcate and spread through other nations, such sentiments
and opinions, on important points, as are most conducive to its
interests, or which may contribute to its reputation, by promoting
the common interests of mankind. It is, perhaps, owing to its being
written in French, that Voltaire's Treatise on Toleration has had so
sudden and so great an effect on the bigotry of Europe, as almost
entirely to disarm it. The general use of the French language has
likewise a very advantageous effect on the profits of the bookselling
branch of commerce, it being well known, that the more copies can
be sold, that are struck off from one composition of types, the
profits increase in a much greater proportion, than they do in
making a greater number of pieces in any other kind of manufacture.
And at present there is no capital town in Europe without a French
bookseller's shop corresponding with Paris. Our English bids fair
to obtain the second place. The great body of excellent printed
sermons in our language, and the freedom of our writings on political
subjects, have induced a great dumber of divines of different sects
and nations, as well as gentlemen concerned in public affairs, to
study it, so far at least as to read it. And if we were to endeavour
the facilitating its progress, the study of our tongue might become
much more general. Those, who have employed some part of their time
in learning a new language, must have frequently observed, that while
their acquaintance with it was imperfect, difficulties, small in
themselves, operated as great ones in obstructing their progress. A
book, for example, ill printed, or a pronunciation in speaking, not
well articulated, would render a sentence unintelligible, which, from
a clear print, or a distinct speaker, would have been immediately
comprehended. If, therefore, we would have the benefit of seeing our
language more generally known among mankind, we should endeavour
to remove all the difficulties, however small, that discourage the
learning of it. But I am sorry to observe, that, of late years, those
difficulties, instead of being diminished, have been augmented.
In examining the English books, that were printed between the
restoration and the accession of George the Second, we may observe,
that all the substantives were begun with a capital, in which we
imitated our mother tongue, the German. This was more particularly
useful to those, who were not well acquainted with the English,
there being such a prodigious number of our words, that are both
verbs and substantives, and spelt in the same manner, though
often accented differently in pronunciation. This method has, by
the fancy of printers, of late years been entirely laid aside;
from an idea, that suppressing the capitals shows the character
to greater advantage; those letters prominent above the line,
disturbing its even, regular appearance. The effect of this change
is so considerable, that a learned man of France, who used to read
our books, though not perfectly acquainted with our language, in
conversation with me on the subject of our authors, attributed the
greater obscurity he found in our modern books, compared with those
of the period above mentioned, to a change of style for the worse in
our writers: of which mistake I convinced him, by marking for him
each substantive with a capital, in a paragraph, which he then easily
understood, though before he could not comprehend it. This shows the
inconvenience of that pretended improvement.
From the same fondness for an uniform and even appearance of
characters in the line, the printers have of late banished also the
Italic types, in which words, of importance to be attended to in the
sense of the sentence, and words, on which an emphasis should be put
in reading, used to be printed. And lately, another fancy has induced
other printers to use the round _s_ instead of the long one, which
formerly served well to distinguish a word readily by its varied
appearance. Certainly the omitting this prominent letter makes a
line appear more even, but renders it less immediately legible; as
the paring of all men's noses might smooth and level their faces,
but would render their physiognomies less distinguishable. Add to
all these improvements backwards, another modern fancy, that _grey_
printing is more beautiful than black. Hence the English new books
are printed in so dim a character, as to be read with difficulty
by old eyes; unless in a very strong light and with good glasses.
Whoever compares a volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, printed
between the years 1731 and 1740, with one of those printed in the
last ten years, will be convinced of the much greater degree of
perspicuity given by black than by the grey. Lord Chesterfield
pleasantly remarked this difference to Faulkener, the printer of the
Dublin Journal, who was vainly making encomiums on his own paper, as
the most complete of any in the world. "But Mr. Faulkener," says my
lord, "don't you think it might be still farther improved, by using
paper and ink not quite so near of a colour?"--For all these reasons,
I cannot but wish, that our American printers would, in their
editions, avoid these fancied improvements, and thereby render their
works more agreeable to foreigners in Europe, to the great advantage
of our bookselling commerce.
Farther, to be more sensible of the advantage of clear and distinct
printing, let us consider the assistance it affords in reading
well aloud to an auditory. In so doing, the eye generally slides
forward three or four words before the voice. If the sight clearly
distinguishes what the coming words are, it gives time to order
the modulation of the voice to express them properly. But if they
are obscurely printed or disguised, by omitting the capitals and
long _ʃ_'s, or otherwise, the reader is apt to modulate wrong; and
finding he has done so, he is obliged to go back and begin the
sentence again; which lessens the pleasure of the hearers. This
leads me to mention an old error in our mode of printing. We are
sensible, that when a question is met with in the reading, there is a
proper variation to be used in the management of the voice. We have
therefore a point, called an interrogation, affixed to the question,
in order to distinguish it. But this is absurdly placed at its end,
so that the reader does not discover it till he finds, that he has
wrongly modulated his voice, and is therefore obliged to begin again
the sentence. To prevent this, the Spanish printers, more sensibly,
place an interrogation at the beginning as well as at the end of the
question. We have another error of the same kind in printing plays,
where something often occurs, that is marked as spoken _aside_. But
the word _aside_ is placed at the end of the speech, when it ought
to precede it, as a direction to the reader, that he may govern his
voice accordingly. The practice of our ladies in meeting five or six
together, to form little busy parties, where each is employed in some
useful work, while one reads to them, is so commendable in itself,
that it deserves the attention of authors and printers to make it as
pleasing as possible, both to the reader and hearers.
My best wishes attend you, being, with sincere esteem,
Sir,
Your most obedient and very humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[66] This letter is taken from an American periodical publication
entitled the Columbian Magazine. _Editor._
_A Scheme for a New Alphabet and reformed Mode of Spelling; with
Remarks and Examples concerning the same; and an Enquiry into its
Uses, in a Correspondence between Miss S----[67] and Dr. Franklin,
written in the Characters of the Alphabet[68]._
TABLE OF THE REFORMED ALPHABET
To face page 357,
Vol. II.
|Characters
|
| |_Sounded_ respectively, as in
| |the Words in the Column below.
| |
| | |_Names_ of Letters as expressed in
| | |the reformed Sounds and Characters.
| | |
| | | |_Manner of pronouncing_ the Sounds.
+-----+-----------------------+-----+--------------------------------------+
| o |Old. | o |The first VOWEL naturally, and deepest|
| | | | sound; requires only the mouth, and |
| | | | breathe through it. |
| *ϖ |John, folly; awl, ball.| ϖ |The next requiring the mouth opened a |
| | | | little more, or hollower. |
| a |Man, can. | a |The next, a little more. |
| e |Men, lend, name, lane. | e |The next requires the _tongue_ to be a|
| | | | little more elevated. |
| i |Did, sin, deed, seen. | i |The next still more. |
| u |Tool, fool, rule. | u |The next requires the _lips_ to be |
| | | | gathered up, leaving a small opening|
| *ų |Um, un; as in umbrage, | ų |The next a very short vowel, the sound|
| | unto, &c. and | | of which we should express in our |
| | as in _er_. | | present letters thus, _uh_; a short,|
| | | | and not very strong _aspiration_. |
| h |Hunter, happy, high. | huh |A stronger or more forcible aspiration|
| | | | |
| g |Give, gather, | gi |The first CONSONANT; being formed by |
| | | | the _root of the tongue_; this is |
| | | | the present hard _g_. |
| k |Keep, kick. | ki |A kindred sound; a little more acute; |
| | | | to be used instead of the hard _c_. |
| *Ի |(sh) Ship, wish. | ish |A new letter wanted in our language; |
| | | | our _sh_, separately taken, not |
| | | | being proper elements of the sound. |
| *ŋ |(ng) ing, repeating, | ing |A new letter wanted for the same |
| | among, | | reason:--These are formed _back in |
| | | | the mouth_. |
| n |End. | en |Formed _more forward_ in the mouth; |
| | | | the _tip of the tongue_ to the |
| | | | _roof_ of the mouth. |
| r |Art. | r |The same; the tip of the tongue a |
| | | | little loose or separate from the |
| | | | roof of the mouth, and vibrating. |
| t |Teeth. | ti |The tip of the tongue more forward; |
| | | | touching, and then leaving, the roof|
| d |Deed. | di |The same; touching a little fuller. |
| l |ell, tell. | el |The same; touching just about the |
| | | | _gums_ of the _upper teeth_. |
| s |Essence. | es |This sound is formed by the breath |
| | | | passing _between_ the moist end of |
| | | | the _tongue_ and the _upper teeth_. |
| z |(ez) Wages. | ez |The same; a little denser and duller. |
| *ɧ |(th) Think | eɧ |The tongue under, and a little |
| | | | _behind_, the upper teeth; touching |
| | | | them, but so as to let the breath |
| | | | pass between. |
| *ƕ |(dh) Thy. | eƕ |The same; a little fuller. |
| f |Effect. | ef |Formed by the _lower lip_ against the |
| | | | upper teeth. |
| v |Ever. | ev |The same; fuller and duller. |
| b |Bees. | b |The _lips full together_, and _opened_|
| | | | as the air passes out. |
| p |Peep. | pi |The same; but a thinner sound. |
| m |Ember. | em |The _closing_ of the lips, while the |
| | | | _e_ [here annexed] is sounding. |
+-----+-----------------------+-----+--------------------------------------+
* _N. B._ The six new letters are marked with an asterisk (*) to
distinguish them, and show how few new characters are proposed. B. V.
[Transcriber Note: The original text used italic styling on each
character in columns 1 and 3 above, and column 1 below. This
styling (underscores) has been removed from the tables for clarity.]
REMARKS [_on the Alphabetical Table_.]
{ It is endeavoured to give the alphabet
o { a _more natural order_; beginning first with
{ the simple sounds formed by the breath,
to { with none or very little help of tongue,
{ teeth, and lips, and produced chiefly in
huh { the windpipe.
{ Then coming forward to those, formed
g k { by the roof of the tongue next to the
{ windpipe.
r n { Then to those, formed more forward,
t d { the forepart of the tongue against the
{ roof of the mouth.
{ Then those, formed still more forward
l { in the mouth, by the tip of the tongue
s z { applied first to the roots of the upper
{ teeth.
ɧ { Then to those, formed by the tip of the
ƕ { tongue applied to the ends or edges of
{ the upper teeth.
f { Then to those, formed still more forward,
v { by the under lip applied to the upper
{ teeth.
b { Then to those, formed yet more forward
p { by the upper and under lip opening
{ to let out the sounding breath.
{ And lastly, ending with the shutting
m { up of the mouth, or closing the lips while
{ any vowel is sounding.
In this alphabet _c_ is _omitted_ as unnecessary; _k_ supplying
its hard sound, and _s_ the soft; _k_ also supplies well the place
of _q_, and with an _s_ added the place of _x_: _q_ and _x_ are
therefore omitted. The vowel _u_ being sounded as _oo_ makes the _w_
unnecessary. The _y_, where used simply, is supplied by _i_, and
where as a dipthong, by two vowels: that letter is therefore omitted
as useless. The jod _j_ is also omitted, its sound being supplied by
the new letter _Ի_, _ish_, which serves other purposes, assisting in
the formation of other sounds;--thus the _Ի_ with a _d_ before it
gives the sound of the jod _j_ and soft _g_, as in "James, January,
giant, gentle," "_dԻeems_, _dԻhanueri_, _dԻųiant_, _dԻentel_;" with
a _t_ before it, it gives the sound of _ch_, as in "cherry, chip,"
"_tԻeri_, _tԻip_;" and with a _z_ before it, the French sound of the
jod _j_, as in "jamais," "_zԻame_."
Thus the _g_ has no longer _two different_ sounds, which occasioned
confusion, but is, as every letter ought to be, confined to one. The
same is to be observed in _all_ the letters, vowels, and consonants,
that wherever they are met with, or in whatever company, their
sound is always the same. It is also intended, that there be _no
superfluous_ letters used in spelling; i. e. no letter that is not
sounded; and this alphabet, by six new letters, provides, that, there
be no distinct sounds in the language, _without letters_ to express
them. As to the difference between _short and long vowels_, it is
naturally expressed by a single vowel where short, a double one
where long; as for "mend," write "mend," but for "remain'd," write
"remeen'd;" for "did" write "did," but for "deed" write "diid," &c.
What in our common alphabet is supposed the third vowel, _i_, as
we sound it, is as a _dipthong_, consisting of two of our vowels
joined; [viz.] _ų_ as sounded in "unto," and _i_ in its true sound.
Any one will be sensible of this who sounds those two vowels _ų i_
quick after each other; the sounds begins _ų_ and ends _ii_. The
true sound of the _i_ is that we now give to _e_ in the words "deed,
keep--[69]."
FOOTNOTES:
[67] Stephenson. Editor.
[68] For the nature and intention of this alphabet, &c. I must refer
to what Dr. Franklin has himself said upon the subject, in answer
to Miss S----n's objections; as the reader may understand the whole
in an hour or two.--It is necessary to add, that the new letters;
used in the course of printing this paper, are exactly copied from
the _manuscript_ in my possession; there being no provision for a
distinction in the character as _written_ or _printed_. I have no
other way therefore of marking the scored parts of the manuscript
(answering to _italics_) than by placing such passages between
inverted commas.--As to _capitals_, I should have provided for them
by means of larger types, but the form of some of them would have
made them too large for the page: however, were the author's general
system ever adopted, nothing would be easier than to remedy this
particular. B. V.
[69] The copy, from which this is printed, ends in the same abrupt
way with the above, followed by a considerable blank space; so that
more perhaps was intended to be added by our author. B. V.
EXAMPLES [_of writing in this Character_.]
_So huen sųm EndԻel, bųi divųin kϖmand, Uiƕ rųiziŋ tempests Իeeks
e gilti Land; (SųtԻ az ϖv leet or peel Britania past,) Kalm and
siriin hi drųivs ƕi fiuriųs blast; And, pliiz'd ƕ' ϖlmųitis ϖrdųrs tu
pųrfϖrm, Rųids in ƕi Huųrluind and dųirekts ƕi Stϖrm._
_So ƕi piur limpid striim, huen fϖul uiɧ steens ϖv rųԻiŋ Tϖrents and
disendiŋ Reens, Uųrks itself kliir; and az it rųns rifųins; Til bųi
digriis, ƕe flotiŋ mirųr Իųins, Riflekts iitԻ flϖur ƕat ϖn its bϖrdųr
groz, And e nu hev'n in its feer Bųzųm Իoz._
_Kensiŋtųn, Septembųr_ 26, 1768.
_Diir Sųr_,
_ųi hav transkrųb'd iur alfabet, &c. huitԻ ųi ƕink mųit bi ϖv sųrvis
tu ƕoz, hu uiԻ ta akuųir an akiuret pronųnsieԻųn, if ƕat kuld bi
fiks'd; bųt ųi si meni inkϖnviiniensis, az uel oz difikųltis, ƕat
uuld atend ƕi briŋiŋ iur letųrs and ϖrɧϖgrafi intu kϖmųn ias. ϖϖl ϖur
etimϖlodԻiz uuld be lϖst, kϖnsikuentli ui kuld nϖt asųrteen ƕi miiniŋ
ϖv meni uųrds; ƕi distinkԻųn tu, bituiin uųrds ϖv difųrent miiniŋ
and similar sϖund uuld bi iusles, ųnles ui liviŋ rųiters pųbliԻ nu
iidiԻųns. In Իϖrt ųi biliiv ui mųst let piipil spel ϖn in ƕeer old
ue, (az ui fųind it iisiiest) du ƕi seem ϖurselves._ With ease and
with sincerity I can, in the old way, subscribe myself,
Dear Sir,
Your faithful and affectionate Servant,
M. S.
Dr. Franklin.
ANSWER TO MISS S****.
_Diir Madam,_
_ƕi ϖbdԻekԻyn iu meek to rektifųiiŋ ϖur alfabet, "ƕat it uil bi
atended uiƕ inkϖviniensiz and difikųltiz," iz e natural uųn; fϖr it
ϖluaz ϖkųrz huen eni refϖrmeԻųn iz propozed; hueƕųr in rilidԻųn,
gųvernment, lϖz, and iven dϖun az lo az rods and huil karidԻiz.
ƕi tru kuestԻųn ƕen, is nϖt hueƕhųr ƕaer uil bi no difikųltiz ϖr
inkϖnviniensiz, bųt hueƕer ƕi difikųltiz mê nϖt bi sųrmϖunted;
and hueƕeųr ƕi kϖnviniensiz uil nϖt, ϖn ƕi huol, bi gretųr ƕan ƕi
inkϖnviniensiz. In ƕis kes, ƕi difikųltiz er onli in ƕi biginiŋ ϖv ƕi
praktis: huen ƕê er uųns ovųrkųm, ƕi advantedԻez er lastiŋ.--To ųiƕųr
iu ϖr mi, hu spel uel in ƕi prezent mod, ųi imadԻin ƕi difikųlti ϖv
tԻendiŋ ƕat mod fϖr ƕi nu, iz nϖt so grêt, bųt ƕat ui mųit pųrfektli
git ovųr it in a uiiks rųitiŋ.--Az to ƕoz hu du nϖt spel uel, if
ƕi tu difikųltiz er kųmpêrd, viz. ƕat ϖv titԻiŋ ƕem tru speliŋ in
ƕi prezent mod, and ƕat ϖv titԻing ƕem ƕi nu alfabet and ƕi nu
speliŋ akϖrdiŋ to it, ųi am kϖnfident ƕat ƕi latųr uuld bi byi far
ƕi liist. ƕê natųrali fϖl into ƕi nu meɧųd alreadi, az mųtԻ az ƕi
imperfekԻųn ϖv ƕer alfabet uil admit ϖv; ƕêr prezent bad speliŋ iz
onli bad, bikϖz kϖntreri to ƕi prezent bad ruls: ųndųr ƕi nu ruls
it uuld bi gud.--ƕi difikųlti ϖv lųrniŋ to spel uel in ƕi old uê iz
so grêt, ƕat fiu atên it; ɧϖuzands and ɧϖuzands rųitiŋ ϖn to old
edԻ, uiƕϖut ever biiŋ ebil to akuųir it. 'Tiz, bisųidz, e difikųlti
kϖntinuali inkriisiŋ az ƕi sϖund graduali veriz mor and mor frϖm ƕi
speliŋ; and to fϖrenųrs[70] it mêks ƕi lųrniŋ to pronϖns ϖur laŋuedԻ,
az riten in ϖur buks, almost impϖsibil._
_Nϖu az to "ƕi inkϖnviniensiz" iu menԻųn.--ƕi fųrst iz, ƕat "ϖϖl ϖur
etimϖlodԻiz uuld bi lϖst, kϖnsikuentli ui kuld nϖt asųrteen ƕi miiniŋ
ϖv meni uųrds."--etimϖlodԻiz er at present veri ųnsųrteen; bųt sųtԻ
az ƕê er, ƕi old buks uuld stil prizųrv ƕem, and etimolodԻiz uuld
ƕêr fųind ƕem. Uųrds in ƕi kors ϖv tyim, tԻendԻ ƕer miiniŋs, az uel
az ƕer speliŋ and pronųnsieԻųn; and ui du nϖt luk to etimϖlodԻi fϖr
ƕer prezent miiniŋs. If ųi Իuld kϖl e man e Neev and e Vilen, hi uuld
hardli bi satisfųid wiɧ mųi teliŋ him, ƕat uųn ϖv ƕi uųrds oridԻinali
signifųid onli e lad ϖr sųrvant; and ƕi ųƕųr, an ųndųr plϖuman, ϖr ƕi
inhabitant ϖv e viledԻ. It iz frϖm prezent iusedԻ onli, ƕi miiniŋ ϖv
uųrds iz to bi ditųrmined._
_Iur sekųnd inkϖnviniens iz, ƕat "ƕi distinkԻųn bituiin uųrds ϖv
difųrent miiniŋ and similar sϖund uuld bi distrϖųid."--ƕat distinkԻųn
iz ϖlreadi distrϖųid in pronϖunsiŋ ƕem; and ui rilųi ϖn ƕi sens alon
ϖv ƕi sentens to asųrteen, huitԻ ϖv ƕi several uųrds, similar in
sϖund, ui intend. If ƕis iz sųfiԻent in ƕi rapiditi ϖv diskors, it
uil bi mutԻ mor so in riten sentenses, huitԻ mê bi red lezԻurli, and
atended to mor partikularli in kes ϖv difikųlti, ƕan ui kan atend to
e past sentens, huųil e spikųr iz hųryiŋ ųs alϖng uiɧ nu uųns._
_Iur ɧųrd inkϖnviniens iz, ƕat "ϖϖl ƕi buks alredi riten uuld bi
iusles."--ƕis inkϖnviniens uuld onli kųm ϖn graduali, in e kors ϖv
edԻes. Iu and ųi, and ųƕųr nϖu liviŋ ridųrs, uuld hardli fϖrget ƕi
ius ϖv ƕem. Piipil uuld long lųrn to riid ƕi old rųiting, ƕo ƕê
praktist ƕi nu.--And ƕi inkϖnvinens iz nϖt greter, ƕan huat hes
aktuali hapend in a similar kes, in Iteli, Fϖrmerli its inhabitants
ϖϖl spok and rot Latin: az ƕi laŋuedԻ tԻendԻd, ƕi speliŋ fϖlo'd it.
It iz tru ƕat at prezent, e miir ųnlarn'd Italien knϖt riid ƕi Latin
buks; ƕo ƕe er stil red and ųndųrstud bųi meni. Bųt, if ƕi speliŋ
had nevųr bin tԻendԻed, hi uuld nϖu hev fϖund it mųtԻ mor difikųlt
to riid and ryit hiz on laŋuadԻ; fϖr riten uųrds uuld hev had no
rilêԻųn to sϖunds, ƕe uuld onli hev stud fϖr ƕiŋs; so ƕat if hi uuld
ekspres in rųitiŋ ƕi ųidia hi hez, huen hi sϖunds ƕi uųrd_ Vescovo,
_hi mųst iuz ƕi leterz_ Episcopus.--_In Իϖrt, huatever ƕi difikųltiz
and inkϖnviniensiz nϖu er, ƕe uil bi mor iizili sųrmϖunted nϖu, ƕan
hiraftųr; and sųm tųim ϖr ųƕųr, it mųst bi dųn; ϖr ϖur rųitiŋ uil
bikųm ƕi sêm uiƕ ƕi TԻųiniiz[71], az to ƕi difikųlti ϖv lųrniŋ and
iuzing it. And it uuld alredi hev bin sųtԻ, if ui had kϖntinud ƕi
Saksųn speliŋ and rųitiŋ, iuzed bųi our forfaƕers._
_ųi am, mųi diir frind,_
_iurs afekԻųnetli,_
B. FRANKLIN.
_Lųndųn_,
_Kreven-striit, Sept. 28, 1768._
FOOTNOTES:
[70] Dr. Franklin used to lay some little stress on this
circumstance, when he occasionally spoke on the subject. "A
dictionary, formed on this model, would have been serviceable to
him, he said, even as an American;" because, from the want of
public examples of pronunciation in his own country, it was often
difficult to learn the proper sound of certain words, which occurred
very frequently in our English writings, and which of course every
American very well understood as to their meaning. B. V.
[71] Chinese.
_Rules for a Club formerly established in Philadelphia[72]._
Previous question, to be answered at every meeting.
Have you read over these queries this morning, in order to consider
what you might have to offer the Junto [touching] any one of them?
viz.
1. Have you met with any thing, in the author you last read,
remarkable, or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? particularly
in history, morality, poetry, physic, travels, mechanic arts, or
other parts of knowledge.
2. What new story have you lately heard agreeable for telling in
conversation?
3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately,
and what have you heard of the cause?
4. Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what
means?
5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or elsewhere,
got his estate?
6. Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy
action, deserving praise and imitation? or who has lately committed
an error, proper for us to be warned against and avoid?
[7. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or
heard? of imprudence? of passion? or of any other vice or folly?
8. What happy effects of temperance? of prudence? of moderation? or
of any other virtue?]
9. Have you or any of your acquaintance been lately sick or wounded?
If so, what remedies were used, and what were their effects?
10. Who do you know that are shortly going voyages or journies, if
one should have occasion to send by them?
11. Do you think of any thing at present, in which the Junto may be
serviceable to _mankind_? to their country, to their friends, or to
themselves?
12. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting,
that you heard of? and what have you heard or observed of his
character or merits? and whether think you, it lies in the power of
the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?
13. Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom
it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?
14. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your
_country_, [of] which it would be proper to move the legislature for
an amendment? or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?
15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties
of the people?
16. Hath any body attacked your reputation lately? and what can the
Junto do towards securing it?
17. Is their any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto,
or any of them, can procure for you?
18. Have you lately heard any member's character attacked, and how
have you defended it?
19. Hath any man injured you, from whom it is in the power of the
Junto to procure redress?
20. In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any
of your honourable designs?
21. Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the
advice of the Junto may be of service[73]?
22. What benefits have you lately received from any man not present?
23. Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and
injustice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time?
24. Do you see any thing amiss in the present customs or proceedings
of the Junto, which might be amended?
Any person to be qualified, to stand up, and lay his hand on his
breast, and be asked these questions; viz.
1. Have you any particular disrespect to any present
members?--_Answer._ I have not.
2. Do you sincerely declare, that you love mankind in general; of
what profession or religion soever? _Ans._ I do.
3. Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name
or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of
worship?--_Ans._ No.
4. Do you love truth for truth's sake, and will you endeavour
impartially to find and receive it yourself and communicate it to
others?--_Ans._ Yes.
FOOTNOTES:
[72] This was an early performance, and carries along with it an
air of singularity, accompanied with such operative good sense and
philanthropy, as characterizes it for Dr. Franklin's. The club, for
which it was written, was held at Philadelphia; and, if I am well
informed, was composed of men considerable for their influence and
discretion; for though the chief measures of Pensylvania usually
received their first formation in this club, it existed for thirty
years without the nature of its institution being publicly known. B.
V.
[73] Queries No. 7 and 8 follow here, in the original. B. V.
_Questions discussed by the Junto forming the preceding Club[74]._
Is _sound_ an entity or body?
How may the phenomena of vapours be explained?
Is self-interest the rudder that steers mankind, the universal
monarch to whom all are tributaries?
Which is the best form of government, and what was that form which
first prevailed among mankind?
Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind?
What is the reason that the tides rise higher in the Bay of Fundy
than the Bay of Delaware?
Is the emission of paper-money safe?
What is the reason that men of the greatest knowledge not the most
happy?
How may the possession of the Lakes be improved to our advantage?
Why are tumultuous, uneasy sensations, united with our desires?
Whether it ought to be the aim of philosophy to eradicate the
passions?
How may smoaky chimneys be best cured?
Why does the flame of a candle tend upwards in a spire?
Which is least criminal, a _bad_ action joined with a _good_
intention, or a _good_ action with a _bad_ intention?
Is it consistent with the principles of liberty in a free government,
to punish a man as a libeller, when he speaks the truth?
FOOTNOTE:
[74] These questions are from the Eulogium of Dr. Franklin, delivered
before the American Philosophical Society, in 1791, of which the
Junto was the foundation. On the formation of that society, a
book, containing many of the questions discussed by the Junto, was
delivered into Dr. Smith's hands, for the purpose of being digested,
and in due time published among the transactions of that body.
Many of the questions Dr. Smith observes are curious and curiously
handled, and he selects the above as answering the description.
_Editor._
_Sketch of an English School; for the Consideration of the Trustees
of the Philadelphia Academy[75]._
It is expected that every scholar, to be admitted into this school,
be at least able to pronounce and divide the syllables in reading,
and to write a legible hand. None to be received, that are under
[___]years of age.
_First, or lowest Class._
Let the first class learn the English Grammar rules, and at the same
time let particular care be taken to improve them in orthography.
Perhaps the latter is best done by pairing the scholars; two of those
nearest equal in their spelling to be put together. Let these strive
for victory; each propounding ten words every day to the other to be
spelled. He that spells truly most of the other's words is victor for
that day; he that is victor most days in a month, to obtain a prize,
a pretty neat book of some kind, useful in their future studies. This
method fixes the attention of children extremely to the orthography
of words, and makes them good spellers very early. It is a shame for
a man to be so ignorant of this little art, in his own language,
as to be perpetually confounding words of like sound and different
significations; the consciousness of which defect makes some men,
otherwise of good learning and understanding, averse to writing even
a common letter.
Let the pieces read by the scholars in this class be short; such as
Croxal's fables, and little stories. In giving the lesson, let it
be read to them; let the meaning of the difficult words in it be
explained to them; and let them con over by themselves before they
are called to read to the master or usher, who is to take particular
care, that they do not read too fast, and that they duly observe the
stops and pauses. A vocabulary of the most usual difficult words
might be formed for their use, with explanations; and they might
daily get a few of those words and explanations by heart, which would
a little exercise their memories; or at least they might write a
number of them in a small book for the purpose, which would help to
fix the meaning of those words in their minds, and at the same time
furnish every one with a little dictionary for his future use.
_The Second Class_
To be taught, reading with attention, and with proper modulations of
the voice, according to the sentiment and the subject.
Some short pieces, not exceeding the length of a Spectator, to be
given this class for lessons (and some of the easier Spectators would
be very suitable for the purpose). These lessons might be given every
night as tasks; the scholars to study them against the morning. Let
it then be required of them to give an account, first of the parts of
speech, and construction of one or two sentences. This will oblige
them to recur frequently to their grammar, and fix its principal
rules in their memory. Next, of the intention of the writer, or
the scope of the piece, the meaning of each sentence, and of every
uncommon word. This would early acquaint them with the meaning and
force of words, and give them that most necessary habit, of reading
with attention.
The master then to read the piece with the proper modulations of
voice, due emphasis, and suitable action, where action is required;
and put the youth on imitating his manner.
Where the author has used an expression not the best, let it be
pointed out; and let his beauties be particularly remarked to the
youth.
Let the lessons for reading be varied, that the youth may be made
acquainted with good styles of all kinds, in prose and verse, and
the proper manner of reading each kind--sometimes a well-told story,
a piece of a sermon, a general's speech to his soldiers, a speech
in a tragedy, some part of a comedy, an ode, a satire, a letter,
blank verse, Hudibrastic, heroic, &c. But let such lessons be
chosen for reading, as contain some useful instruction, whereby the
understanding or morals of the youth may at the same time be improved.
It is required that they should first study and understand the
lessons, before they are put upon reading them properly; to which
end each boy should have an English dictionary, to help him over
difficulties. When our boys read English to us, we are apt to
imagine they understand what they read, because we do, and because
it is their mother tongue. But they often read, as parrots speak,
knowing little or nothing of the meaning. And it is impossible a
reader should give the due modulation to his voice, and pronounce
properly, unless his understanding goes before his tongue, and makes
him master of the sentiment. Accustoming boys to read aloud what
they do not first understand, is the cause of those even set tones,
so common among readers, which, when they have once got a habit of
using, they find so difficult to correct; by which means, among fifty
readers we scarcely find a good one. For want of good reading, pieces
published with a view to influence the minds of men, for their own or
the public benefit, lose half their force. Were there but one good
reader in a neighbourhood, a public orator might be heard throughout
a nation with the same advantages, and have the same effect upon his
audience, as if they stood within the reach of his voice.
_The Third Class_
To be taught speaking properly and gracefully; which is near a-kin
to good reading, and naturally follows it in the studies of youth.
Let the scholars of this class begin with learning the elements of
rhetoric from some short system, so as to be able to give an account
of the most useful tropes and figures. Let all their bad habits of
speaking, all offences against good grammar, all corrupt or foreign
accents, and all improper phrases, be pointed out to them. Short
speeches from the Romans, or other history, or from the parliamentary
debates, might be got by heart, and delivered with the proper action,
&c. Speeches and scenes in our best tragedies and comedies (avoiding
every thing, that could injure the morals of youth) might likewise
be got by rote, and the boys exercised in delivering or acting them:
great care being taken to form their manner after the truest models.
For their farther improvement, and a little to vary their studies,
let them now begin to read history, after having got by heart a short
table of the principal epochs in chronology. They may begin with
Rollin's ancient and Roman histories, and proceed at proper hours, as
they go through the subsequent classes, with the best histories of
our own nation and colonies. Let emulation be excited among the boys,
by giving, weekly, little prizes, or other small encouragements to
those, who are able to give the best account of what they have read,
as to time, places, names of persons, &c. This will make them read
with attention, and imprint the history well in their memories. In
remarking on the history, the master will have fine opportunities of
instilling instruction of various kinds, and improving the morals, as
well as the understandings, of youth.
The natural and mechanic history, contained in the Spectacle de la
Nature, might also be begun in this class, and continued through the
subsequent classes, by other books of the same kind; for, next to
the knowledge of duty, this kind of knowledge is certainly the most
useful, as well as the most entertaining. The merchant may thereby
be enabled better to understand many commodities in trade; the
handicraftsman, to improve his business by new instruments, mixtures
and materials; and frequently hints are given for new manufactures,
or new methods of improving land, that may be set on foot greatly to
the advantage of a country.
_The Fourth Class_
To be taught composition. Writing one's own language well, is
the next necessary accomplishment after good speaking. It is the
writing-master's business, to take care that the boys make fair
characters, and place them straight and even in the lines: but to
form their style, and even to take care that the stops and capitals
are properly disposed, is the part of the English master. The
boys should be put on writing letters to each other on any common
occurrences, and on various subjects, imaginary business, &c.
containing little stories, accounts of their late reading, what
parts of authors please them, and why; letters of congratulation, of
compliment, of request, of thanks, of recommendation, of admonition,
of consolation, of expostulation, excuse, &c. In these, they should
be taught to express themselves clearly, concisely, and naturally,
without affected words or high-flown phrases. All their letters to
pass through the master's hand, who is to point out the faults,
advise the corrections, and commend what he finds right. Some of the
best letters published in our own language, as sir William Temple's,
those of Pope and his friends, and some others, might be set before
the youth as models, their beauties pointed out and explained by the
master, the letters themselves transcribed by the scholar.
Dr. Johnson's Ethices Elementa, or First Principles of Morality,
may now be read by the scholars, and explained by the master, to
lay a solid foundation of virtue and piety in their minds. And as
this class continues the reading of history, let them now, at proper
hours, receive some farther instruction in chronology, and in that
part of geography (from the mathematical master) which is necessary
to understand the maps and globes. They should also be acquainted
with the modern names of the places they find mentioned in ancient
writers. The exercises of good reading, and proper speaking, still
continued at suitable times.
_Fifth Class_
To improve the youth in composition, they may now, besides continuing
to write letters, begin to write little essays in prose, and
sometimes in verse; not to make them poets, but for this reason,
that nothing acquaints a lad so speedily with variety of expression,
as the necessity of finding such words and phrases as will suit the
measure, sound and rhyme of verse, and at the same time well express
the sentiment. These essays should all pass under the master's eye,
who will point out their faults, and put the writer on correcting
them. Where the judgment is not ripe enough for forming new essays,
let the sentiments of a Spectator be given, and required to be
clothed in the scholar's own words; or the circumstances of some good
story, the scholar to find expression. Let them be put sometimes on
abridging a paragraph of a diffuse author: sometimes on dilating or
amplifying what is wrote more closely. And now let Dr. Johnson's
Noetica, or First Principles of Human Knowledge, containing a logic,
or art of reasoning, &c. be read by the youth, and the difficulties,
that may occur to them, be explained by the master. The reading of
history, and the exercises of good reading and just speaking still
continued.
_Sixth Class_
In this class, besides continuing the studies of the preceding in
history, rhetoric, logic, moral and natural philosophy, the best
English authors may be read and explained; as Tillotson, Milton,
Locke, Addison, Pope, Swift, the higher papers in the Spectator and
Guardian, the best translations of Homer, Virgil and Horace, of
Telemachus, travels of Cyrus, &c.
Once a year, let there be public exercises in the hall; the trustees
and citizens present. Then let fine gilt books be given as prizes
to such boys, as distinguish themselves, and excel the others in
any branch of learning, making three degrees of comparison: giving
the best prize to him, that performs best; a less valuable one to
him, that comes up next to the best, and another to the third.
Commendations, encouragement, and advice to the rest; keeping up
their hopes, that, by industry, they may excel another time. The
names of those, that obtain the prize, to be yearly printed in a list.
The hours of each day are to be divided and disposed in such a
manner, as that some classes may be with the writing-master,
improving their hands; others with the mathematical master, learning
arithmetic, accounts, geography, use of the globes, drawing,
mechanics, &c. while the rest are in the English school, under the
English master's care.
Thus instructed, youth will come out of this school fitted for
learning any business, calling, or profession, except such wherein
languages are required: and, though unacquainted with any ancient or
foreign tongue, they will be masters of their own, which is of more
immediate and general use, and withal will have attained many other
valuable accomplishments: the time usually spent in acquiring those
languages, often without success, being here employed in laying such
a foundation of knowledge and ability, as, properly improved, may
qualify them to pass through and execute the several offices of civil
life, with advantage and reputation to themselves and country.
FOOTNOTE:
[75] This piece, which we believe to be an early production of our
author, is taken from the American Museum, Vol. V. p. 473. _Editor._
TO MISS S----N[76], AT WANSTEAD.
_Advice to Youth in Reading._
_Craven-street, May 17, 1760._
I send my good girl the books I mentioned to her last night. I beg
her to accept of them as a small mark of my esteem and friendship.
They are written in the familiar easy manner for which the French are
so remarkable, and afford a good deal of philosophic and practical
knowledge, unembarrassed with the dry mathematics, used by more
exact reasoners, but which is apt to discourage young beginners. I
would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in a
little book short hints of what you find, that is curious, or that
may be useful; for this will be the best method of imprinting such
particulars in your memory, where they will be ready, either for
practice on some future occasion, if they are matters of utility,
or at least to adorn and improve your conversation, if they are
rather points of curiosity. And as many of the terms of science are
such, as you cannot have met with in your common reading, and may
therefore be unacquainted with, I think it would be well for you to
have a good dictionary at hand, to consult immediately when you meet
with a word you do not comprehend the precise meaning of. This may
at first seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that
will daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion
for your dictionary as you become more acquainted with the terms; and
in the mean time you will read with more satisfaction, because with
more understanding. When any point occurs, in which you would be glad
to have farther information than your book affords you, I beg you
would not in the least apprehend, that I should think it a trouble
to receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure, and no
trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock of
knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct you to
the books, where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and believe me
ever, my dear friend,
Yours affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[76] Stevenson. _Editor._
PAPERS
ON
_SUBJECTS OF GENERAL POLITICS_.
PAPERS
ON
_SUBJECTS OF GENERAL POLITICS_.
_Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, peopling of
Countries, &c[77]._
Written in Pensylvania, 1751.
1. Tables of the proportion of marriages to births, of deaths to
births, of marriages to the number of inhabitants, &c. formed on
observations made upon the bills of mortality, christenings, &c. of
populous cities, will not suit countries; nor will tables, formed on
observations made on full settled old countries, as Europe, suit new
countries, as America.
2. For people increase in proportion to the number of marriages,
and that is greater, in proportion to the ease and convenience of
supporting a family. When families can be easily supported, more
persons marry, and earlier in life.
3. In cities, where all trades, occupations, and offices are full,
many delay marrying, till they can see how to bear the charges of
a family; which charges are greater in cities, as luxury is more
common; many live single during life, and continue servants to
families, journeymen to trades, &c. Hence cities do not, by natural
generation, supply themselves with inhabitants; the deaths are more
than the births.
4. In countries full settled, the case must be nearly the same, all
lands being occupied and improved to the height; those who cannot
get land, must labour for others, that have it; when labourers are
plenty, their wages will be low; by low wages a family is supported
with difficulty; this difficulty deters many from marriage, who
therefore long continue servants and single. Only, as the cities take
supplies of people from the country, and thereby make a little more
room in the country, marriage is a little more encouraged there, and
the births exceed the deaths.
5. Great part of Europe is fully, settled with husbandmen,
manufacturers, &c. and therefore cannot now much encrease in
people. America is chiefly occupied by Indians, who subsist mostly
by hunting. But as the hunter, of all men, requires the greatest
quantity of land from whence to draw his subsistence, (the husbandman
subsisting on much less, the gardener on still less, and the
manufacturer requiring least of all) the Europeans found America as
fully settled, as it well could be by hunters; yet these, having
large tracts, were easily prevailed on to part with portions of
territory to the new comers, who did not much interfere with the
natives in hunting, and furnished them with many things they wanted.
6. Land being thus plenty in America, and so cheap, as that a
labouring man, that understands husbandry, can, in a short time,
save money enough to purchase a piece of new land, sufficient for
a plantation, whereon he may subsist a family; such are not afraid
to marry; for if they even look far enough forward to consider how
their children, when grown up, are to be provided for, they see,
that more land is to be had at rates equally easy, all circumstances
considered.
7. Hence marriages in America are more general, and more generally
early, than in Europe. And if it is reckoned there, that there is
but one marriage _per annum_ among 100 persons, perhaps we may
here reckon two; and if in Europe, they have but four births to a
marriage, (many of their marriages being late) we may here reckon
eight, of which, if one half grow up, and our marriages are made,
reckoning one with another, at twenty years of age, our people must
at least be doubled every twenty years.
8. But notwithstanding this increase, so vast is the territory of
North America, that it will require many ages to settle it fully,
and till it is fully settled, labour will never be cheap here, where
no man continues long a labourer for others, but gets a plantation
of his own; no man continues long a journeyman to a trade, but goes
among those new settlers, and sets up for himself, &c. Hence labour
is no cheaper now, in Pensylvania, than it was thirty years ago,
though so many thousand labouring people have been imported from
Germany and Ireland.
9. The danger, therefore, of these colonies interfering with their
mother country in trades, that depend on labour, manufactures, &c. is
too remote to require the attention of Great Britain.
10. But, in proportion to the increase of the colonies, a vast demand
is growing for British manufactures; a glorious market, wholly in
the power of Britain, in which foreigners cannot interfere, which
will increase, in a short time, even beyond her power of supplying,
though her whole trade should be to her colonies.
* * * * *
12. It is an ill-grounded opinion, that, by the labour of slaves,
America may possibly vie in cheapness of manufactures with Britain.
The labour of slaves can never be so cheap here, as the labour of
working men is in Britain. Any one may compute it. Interest of
money is in the colonies from 6 to 10 per cent. Slaves, one with
another, cost 30_l._ sterling per head. Reckon then the interest of
the first purchase of a slave, the insurance or risque on his life,
his clothing and diet, expences in his sickness, and loss of time,
loss by his neglect of business, (neglect is natural to the man,
who is not to be benefited by his own care or diligence) expence of
a driver to keep him at work, and his pilfering from time to time,
almost every slave being, from the nature of slavery, a thief, and
compare the whole amount with the wages of a manufacturer of iron or
wool in England, you will see, that labour is much cheaper there,
than it ever can be by negroes here. Why then will Americans purchase
slaves? Because slaves may be kept as long as a man pleases, or has
occasion for their labour, while hired men are continually leaving
their master (often in the midst of his business) and setting up for
themselves. §8.
13. As the increase of people depends on the encouragement of
marriages, the following things must diminish a nation, viz. 1. The
being conquered; for the conquerors will engross as many offices, and
exact as much tribute or profit on the labour of the conquered, as
will maintain them in their new establishment; and this diminishing
the subsistence of the natives discourages their marriages, and
so gradually diminishes them, while the foreigners increase. 2.
Loss of territory. Thus the Britons, being driven into Wales, and
crouded together in a barren country, insufficient to support such
great numbers, diminished, till the people bore a proportion to the
produce; while the Saxons increased on then abandoned lands, till
the island became full of English. And, were the English now driven
into Wales by some foreign nation, there would, in a few years, be no
more Englishmen in Britain, than there are now people in Wales. 3.
Loss of trade. Manufactures, exported, draw subsistence from foreign
countries for numbers, who are thereby enabled to marry and raise
families. If the nation be deprived of any branch of trade, and no
new employment is found for the people occupied in that branch, it
will soon be deprived of so many people. 4. Loss of food. Suppose
a nation has a fishery, which not only employs great numbers, but
makes the food and subsistence of the people cheaper: if another
nation becomes master of the seas, and prevents the fishery, the
people will diminish in proportion as the loss of employ and dearness
of provision makes it more difficult to subsist a family. 5. Bad
government and insecure property. People not only leave such a
country, and, settling abroad, incorporate with other nations, lose
their native language, and become foreigners; but the industry of
those that remain being discouraged, the quantity of subsistence
in the country is lessened, and the support of a family becomes
more difficult. So heavy taxes tend to diminish a people. 6. The
introduction of slaves. The negroes, brought into the English sugar
islands, have greatly diminished the whites there; the poor are by
this means deprived of employment, while a few families acquire vast
estates, which they spend on foreign luxuries; and, educating their
children in the habit of those luxuries, the same income is needed
for the support of one, that might have maintained one hundred. The
whites, who have slaves, not labouring; are enfeebled, and therefore
not so generally prolific; the slaves being worked too hard, and
ill fed, their constitutions are broken, and the deaths among them
are more than the births; so that a continual supply is needed from
Africa. The northern colonies, having few slaves, increase in whites.
Slaves also pejorate the families that use them; the white children
become proud, disgusted with labour, and, being educated in idleness,
are rendered unfit to get a living by industry.
14. Hence the prince, that acquires new territory, if he finds it
vacant, or removes the natives to give his own people room;--the
legislator, that makes effectual laws for promoting of trade,
increasing employment, improving land by more or better tillage,
providing more food by fisheries, securing property, &c.--and the man
that invents new trades, arts or manufactures, or new improvements in
husbandry, may be properly called _fathers of their nation_, as they
are the cause of the generation of multitudes, by the encouragement
they afford to marriage.
15. As to privileges granted to the married, (such as the _jus
trium liberorum_ among the Romans) they may hasten the filling of
a country, that has been thinned by war or pestilence, or that has
otherwise vacant territory, but cannot increase a people beyond the
means provided for their subsistence.
16. Foreign luxuries, and needless manufactures, imported and used
in a nation, do, by the same reasoning, increase the people of the
nation, that furnishes them, and diminish the people of the nation,
that uses them. Laws, therefore, that prevent such importations,
and, on the contrary, promote the exportation of manufactures to
be consumed in foreign countries, may be called (with respect to
the people that make them) _generative laws_, as, by increasing
subsistence, they encourage marriage. Such laws likewise strengthen
a country doubly, by increasing its own people, and diminishing its
neighbours.
17. Some European nations prudently refuse to consume the
manufactures of East India:--they should likewise forbid them to
their colonies; for the gain to the merchant is not to be compared
with the loss, by this means, of people to the nation.
18. Home luxury in the great increases the nation's manufacturers
employed by it, who are many, and only tends to diminish the families
that indulge in it, who are few. The greater the common fashionable
expence of any rank of people, the more cautious they are of
marriage. Therefore luxury should never be suffered to become common.
19. The great increase of offspring in particular families is not
always owing to greater fecundity of nature, but sometimes to
examples of industry in the heads, and industrious education, by
which the children are enabled to provide better for themselves,
and their marrying early is encouraged from the prospect of good
subsistence.
20. If there be a sect, therefore, in our nation, that regard
frugality and industry as religious duties, and educate their
children therein, more than others commonly do, such sect must
consequently increase more by natural generation than any other sect
in Britain.
21. The importation of foreigners into a country, that has as many
inhabitants as the present employments and provisions for subsistence
will bear, will be in the end no increase of people, unless the
new-comers have more industry and frugality than the natives, and
then they will provide more subsistence, and increase in the country;
but they will gradually eat the natives out.--Nor is it necessary to
bring in foreigners to fill up any occasional vacancy in a country;
for such vacancy (if the laws are good, § 14, 16) will soon be filled
by natural generation. Who can now find the vacancy made in Sweden,
France, or other warlike nations, by the plague of heroism 40 years
ago; in France, by the expulsion of the protestants; in England,
by the settlement of her colonies; or in Guinea by a hundred years
exportation of slaves, that has blackened half America? The thinness
of the inhabitants in Spain is owing to national pride, and idleness,
and other causes, rather than to the expulsion, of the Moors, or to
the making of new settlements.
22. There is, in short, no bound to the prolific nature of plants
or animals, but what is made by their crowding and interfering with
each other's means of subsistence. Was the face of the earth vacant
of other plants, it might be gradually sowed and the overspread
with one kind only, as for instance, with fennel; and were it empty
of other inhabitants, it might, in a few ages, be replenished from
one nation only, as for instance, with Englishmen. Thus there are
supposed to be now upwards of one million of English souls in North
America (though it is thought scarce 80,000 have been brought over
sea) and yet perhaps there is not one the fewer in Britain, but
rather many more, on account of the employment the colonies afford to
manufacturers at home. This million doubling, suppose but once in 25
years, will, in another century, be more than the people of England,
and the greatest number of Englishmen will be on this side the water.
What an accession of power to the British empire by sea as well as
land! What increase of trade and navigation! What numbers of ships
and seamen! We have been here but little more than a hundred years,
and yet the force of our privateers in the late war, united, was
greater, both in men and guns, than that of the whole British navy in
queen Elizabeth's time. How important an affair then to Britain is
the present treaty[78] for settling the bounds between her colonies
and the French! and how careful should she be to secure, room enough,
since on the room depends so much the increase of her people?
23. In fine, a nation well regulated is like a polypus[79], take
away a limb, its place is soon supplied; cut it in two, and each
deficient part shall speedily grow out of the part remaining. Thus,
if you have room and subsistence enough, as you may, by dividing,
make ten polypuses out of one, you may, of one, make ten nations,
equally populous and powerful; or, rather, increase a nation tenfold
in numbers and strength.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[77] This paper and the answer to it are the last we have to extract
from Mr. Collinson's collection. The papers that follow, having notes
with the signature B. V., are from the collection referred to before,
Vol. I, p. 399. _Editor._
[78] In 1751.
[79] A water insect, well-known to naturalists.
R. J.[80] ESQ. OF LONDON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.
_Remarks on some of the foregoing Observations, showing
particularly the Effect which manners have on Population._
DEAR SIR,
It is now near three years since I received your excellent
_Observations on the Increase of Mankind_, &c. in which you have
with so much sagacity and accuracy shown in what manner, and by
what causes, that principal means of political grandeur is best
promoted; and have so well supported those just inferences you have
occasionally drawn, concerning the general state of our American
colonies, and the views and conduct of some of the inhabitants of
Great Britain.
You have abundantly proved, that natural fecundity is hardly to
be considered, because the _vis generandi_, as far as we know,
is unlimited, and because experience shows, that the numbers of
nations is altogether governed by collateral causes, and among these
none of so much force as quantity of subsistence, whether arising
from climate, soil, improvement of tillage, trade, fisheries,
secure property, conquest of new countries, or other favourable
circumstances.
As I perfectly concurred with you in your sentiments on these heads,
I have been very desirous of building somewhat on the foundation you
have there laid; and was induced, by your hints in the twenty-first
section, to trouble you with some thoughts on the influence manners
have always had, and are always likely to have, on the numbers of a
people, and their political prosperity in general.
The end of every individual is its own private good. The rules it
observes in the pursuit of this good are a system of propositions,
almost every one founded in authority, that is, derive their
weight from the credit given to one or more persons, and not from
demonstration.
And this, in the most important as well as the other affairs of
life, is the case even of the wisest and philosophical part of the
human species; and that it should be so is the less strange, when we
consider, that it is perhaps impossible to prove, that _being_, or
life itself, has any other value than what is set on it by authority.
A confirmation of this may be derived from the observation, that, in
every country in the universe, happiness is sought upon a different
plan; and, even in the same country, we see it placed by different
ages, professions, and ranks of men, in the attainment of enjoyments
utterly unlike.
These propositions, as well as others framed upon them, become
habitual by degrees, and, as they govern the determination of the
will, I call them _moral habits_.
There are another set of habits, that have the direction of the
members of the body, that I call therefore _mechanical habits_. These
compose what we commonly call _the arts_, which are more or less
liberal or mechanical, as they more or less partake of assistance
from the operations of the mind.
The _cumulus_ of the moral habits of each individual is the manners
of that individual; the _cumulus_ of the manners of individuals makes
up the manners of a nation.
The happiness of individuals is evidently the end of political
society; and political welfare, or the strength, splendour, and
opulence of the state, have been always admitted, both by political
writers, and the valuable part of mankind in general, to conduce to
this end, and are therefore desirable.
The causes, that advance or obstruct any one of these three objects,
are external or internal. The latter may be divided into physical,
civil, and personal, under which last head I comprehend the moral and
mechanical habits of mankind. The physical causes are principally
climate, soil, and number of subjects; the civil, are government and
laws; and political welfare is always in a ratio composed of the
force of these particular causes; a multitude of external causes,
and all these internal ones, not only control and qualify, but are
constantly acting on, and thereby insensibly, as well as sensibly,
altering one another, both for the better and the worse, and this not
excepting the climate itself.
The powerful efficacy of manners in encreasing a people is manifest
from the instance you mention, the Quakers; among them industry and
frugality multiply and extend the use of the necessaries of life;
to manners of a like kind are owing the populousness of Holland,
Switzerland, China, Japan, and most parts of Indostan, &c. in every
one of which, the force of extent of territory and fertility of soil
is multiplied, or their want compensated by industry and frugality.
Neither nature nor art have contributed much to the production of
subsistence in Switzerland, yet we see frugality preserves and
even increases families, that live on their fortunes, and which,
in England, we call the gentry; and the observation we cannot but
make in the southern part of this kingdom, that those families,
including all superior ones, are gradually becoming extinct,
affords the clearest proof, that luxury (that is, a greater expence
of subsistence than in prudence a man ought to consume) is as
destructive as a proportionable want of it; but in Scotland, as
in Switzerland, the gentry, though one with another they have not
one-fourth of the income, increase in number.
And here I cannot help remarking, by the by, how well founded your
distinction is between the increase of mankind in old and new settled
countries in general, and more particularly in the case of families
of condition. In America, where the expences are more confined, to
necessaries, and those necessaries are cheap, it is common to see
above one hundred persons descended from one living old man. In
England, it frequently happens, where a man has seven, eight, or more
children, there has not been a descendant in the next generation,
occasioned by the difficulties the number of children has brought on
the family, in a luxurious dear country, and which have prevented
their marrying.
That this is more owing to luxury than mere want appears from what I
have said of Scotland, and more plainly from parts of England remote
from London, in most of which the necessaries of life are nearly as
dear, in some dearer than London, yet the people of all ranks marry
and breed up children.
Again; among the lower ranks of life, none produce so few children
as servants. This is, in some measure, to be attributed to their
situation, which hinders marriage, but is also to be attributed to
their luxury and corruption of manners, which are greater than among
any other set of people in England, and is the consequence of a
nearer view of the lives and persons of a superior rank, than any
inferior rank, without a proper education, ought to have.
The quantity of subsistence in England has unquestionably become
greater for many ages; and yet if the inhabitants are more numerous,
they certainly are not so in proportion to our improvement of the
means of support. I am apt to think there are few parts of this
kingdom, that have not been at some former time more populous than
at present. I have several cogent reasons for thinking so of great
part of the counties I am most intimately acquainted with; but as
they were probably not all most populous at the same time, and as
some of our towns are visibly and vastly grown in bulk, I dare not
suppose, as judicious men have done, that England is less peopled
than heretofore.
This growth of our towns is the effect of a change of manners, and
improvement of arts, common to all Europe; and though it is not
imagined, that it has lessened the country growth of necessaries,
it has evidently, by introducing a greater consumption of them, (an
infallible consequence of a nation's dwelling in towns) counteracted
the effects of our prodigious advances in the arts.
But however frugality may supply the place, or prodigality counteract
the effects, of the natural or acquired subsistence of a country,
industry is, beyond doubt, a more efficacious cause of plenty than
any natural advantage of extent or fertility. I have mentioned
instances of frugality and industry united with extent and fertility.
In Spain and Asia Minor, we see frugality joined to extent and
fertility, without industry; in Ireland, we once saw the same;
Scotland had then none of them but frugality. The change in these
two countries is obvious to every one, and it is owing to industry
not yet very widely diffused in either. The effects of industry and
frugality in England are surprising; both the rent and the value of
the inheritance of land depend on them greatly more than on nature,
and this, though there is no considerable difference in the prices of
our markets. Land of equal goodness lets for double the rent of other
land lying in the same county, and there are many years purchase
difference between different counties, where rents are equally well
paid and secure.
Thus manners operate upon the number of inhabitants, but of their
silent effects upon a civil constitution, history, and even our
own experience, yields us abundance of proofs, though they are
not uncommonly attributed to external causes: their support of a
government against external force is so great, that it is a common
maxim among the advocates of liberty, that no free government was
ever dissolved, or overcome, before the manners of its subjects were
corrupted.
The superiority of Greece over Persia was singly owing to their
difference of manners; and that, though all natural advantages were
on the side of the latter, to which I might add the civil ones; for
though the greatest of all civil advantages, liberty, was on the
side of Greece, yet that added no political strength to her, than
as it operated on her manners, and, when they were corrupted, the
restoration of their liberty by the Romans, overturned the remains of
their power.
Whether the manners of ancient Rome were at any period calculated
to promote the happiness of individuals, it is not my design to
examine; but that their manners, and the effects of those manners
on their government and public conduct, founded, enlarged, and
supported, and afterwards overthrew their empire, is beyond all
doubt. One of the effects of their conquest furnishes us with a
strong proof, how prevalent manners are even beyond quantity of
subsistence; for, when the custom of bestowing on the citizens of
Rome corn enough to support themselves and families was become
established, and Egypt and Sicily produced the grain, that fed the
inhabitants of Italy, this became less populous every day, and the
_jus trium liberorum_ was but an expedient, that could not balance
the want of industry and frugality.
But corruption of manners did not only thin the inhabitants of the
Roman empire, it rendered the remainder incapable of defence, long
before its fall, perhaps before the dissolution of the republic; so
that without standing disciplined armies, composed of men, whose
moral habits principally, and mechanical habits secondarily, made
them different from the body of the people, the Roman empire had been
a prey to the barbarians many ages before it was.
By the mechanical habits of the soldiery, I mean their discipline,
and the art of war; and that this is but a secondary quality appears
from the inequality that has in all ages been between raw, though
well disciplined armies, and veterans, and more from the irresistible
force a single moral habit, religion, has conferred on troops,
frequently neither disciplined nor experienced.
The military manners of the noblesse in France, compose the chief
force of that kingdom, and the enterprising manners and restless
dispositions of the inhabitants of Canada have enabled a handful of
men to harass our populous, and, generally, less martial colonies;
yet neither are of the value they seem at first sight, because
overbalanced by the defect they occasion of other habits, that would
produce more eligible political good: and military manners in a
people are not necessary in an age and country where such manners may
be occasionally formed and preserved among men enough to defend the
state; and such a country is Great Britain, where, though the lower
class of people are by no means of a military cast, yet they make
better soldiers than even the noblesse of France.
The inhabitants of this country, a few ages back, were to the
populous and rich provinces of France, what Canada is now to the
British colonies. It is true, there was less disproportion between
their natural strength; but I mean, that the riches of France were a
real weakness, opposed to the military manners founded upon poverty
and a rugged disposition, then the character of the English; But it
must be remembered, that at this time the manners of a people were
not distinct from that of their soldiery, for the use of standing
armies has deprived a military people of the advantages they before
had over others; and though it has been often said, that civil wars
give power, because they render all men soldiers, I believe this has
only been found true in internal wars following civil wars, and not
in external ones; for now, in foreign wars, a small army, with ample
means to support it, is of greater force than one more numerous, with
less. This last fact has often happened between France and Germany.
The means of supporting armies, and consequently the power of
exerting external strength, are best found in the industry and
frugality of the body of a people living under a government and laws,
that encourage commerce: for commerce is at this day almost the only
stimulus, that forces every one to contribute a share of labour for
the public benefit.
But such is the human frame, and the world is so constituted, that
it is a hard matter to possess ones self of a benefit, without
laying ones self open to a loss on some other side; the improvements
of manners of one sort often deprave those of another: thus we see
industry and frugality under the influence of commerce, which I
call a commercial spirit, tend to destroy, as well as support, the
government it flourishes under.
Commerce perfects the arts, but more the mechanical than the liberal,
and this for an obvious reason; it softens and enervates the manners.
Steady virtue and unbending integrity are seldom to be found where
a spirit of commerce pervades every thing; yet the perfection of
commerce is, that every thing should have its price. We every day
see its progress, both to our benefit and detriment here. Things,
that _boni mores_ forbid to be set to sale, are become its objects,
and there are few things indeed _extra commercium_. The legislative
power itself has been _in commercio_, and church livings are seldom
given without consideration, even by sincere Christians, and, for
consideration, not seldom to very unworthy persons. The rudeness of
ancient military times and the fury of more modern enthusiastic ones
are worn off; even the spirit of forensic contention is astonishingly
diminished, all marks of manners softening; but luxury and corruption
have taken their places, and seem the inseparable companions of
commerce and the arts.
I cannot help observing, however, that this is much more the case in
extensive countries, especially at their metropolis, than in other
places. It is an old observation of politicians, and frequently
made by historians, that small states always best preserve their
manners. Whether this happens from the greater room there is for
attention in the legislature, or from the less room there is for
ambition and avarice, it is a strong argument, among others, against
an incorporating union of the colonies in America, or even a federal
one, that may tend to the future reducing them under one government.
Their power, while disunited, is less, but their liberty; as well
as manners, is more secure; and, considering the little danger
of any conquest to be made upon them, I had rather they should
suffer something through disunion, than see them under a general
administration less equitable than that concerted at Albany[81].
I take it, the inhabitants of Pensylvania are both frugal and
industrious beyond those of any province in America. If luxury should
spread, it cannot be extirpated by laws. We are told by Plutarch,
that Plato used to say, _It was a hard thing to make laws for the
Cyrenians, a people abounding in plenty and opulence_.
But from what I set out with, it is evident, if I be not mistaken,
that education only can stem the torrent, and, without checking
either true industry or frugality, prevent the sordid frugality and
laziness of the old Irish, and many of the modern Scotch, (I mean
the inhabitants of that country, those who leave it for another
being generally industrious) or the industry, mixed with luxury, of
this capital, from getting ground, and, by rendering ancient manners
familiar, produce a reconciliation between disinterestedness and
commerce; a thing we often see, but almost always in men of a liberal
education.
To conclude: when we would form a people, soil and climate may be
found at least sufficiently good; inhabitants may be encouraged to
settle, and even supported for a while; a good government and laws
may be framed, and even arts may be established, or their produce
imported: but many necessary moral habits are hardly ever found
among those who voluntary offer themselves in times of quiet at
home, to people new colonies; besides that the moral, as well as
mechanical habits adapted to a mother country are frequently not so
to the new settled one, and to external events, many of which are
always unforeseen. Hence it is we have seen such fruitless attempts
to settle colonies, at an immense public and private expence, by
several of the powers of Europe: and it is particularly observable,
that none of the English colonies became any way considerable, till
the necessary manners were born and grew up in the country, excepting
those to which singular circumstances at home forced manners fit for
the forming a new state.
I am, sir, &c.
R.J.
FOOTNOTES:
[80] Richard Jackson, an English barrister. _Editor._
[81] The reader will see an account of this plan in the subsequent
volume. _Editor._
_Plan, by Messieurs Franklin and Dalrymple, for benefitting distant
unprovided Countries[82]._
_Aug. 29, 1771._
The country called in the maps New Zealand has been discovered by the
Endeavour, to be two islands, together as large as Great Britain:
these islands, named Acpy-nomawée and Tovy-poennammoo, are inhabited
by a brave and generous race, who are destitute of _corn_, _fowls_,
and _all quadrupeds_, except _dogs_.
These circumstances being mentioned lately in a company of men of
liberal sentiments, it was observed, that it seemed incumbent on such
a country as this, to communicate to all others the conveniences of
life, which we enjoy.
Dr. Franklin, whose life has ever been directed to promote the true
interest of society, said, "he would with all his heart _subscribe_
to a voyage intended to communicate _in general_ those benefits,
which we enjoy, to countries destitute of them in the remote parts
of the globe." This proposition being warmly adopted by the rest of
the company, Mr. Dalrymple, then present, was induced to offer to
undertake the command on such an expedition.
On mature reflection, this scheme appears the more honourable to the
national character of any which can be conceived, as it is grounded
on the noblest principle of benevolence. Good intentions are often
frustrated by letting them remain indigested; on this consideration
Mr. Dalrymple was induced to put the outlines on paper, which are
now published, that by an early communication there, may be a better
opportunity of collecting all the hints, which can conduce to execute
effectually the benevolent purpose of the expedition, in case it
should meet with general approbation.
On this scheme being shown to Dr. Franklin, he communicated his
sentiments, by way of introduction, to the following effect:
"Britain is said to have produced originally nothing but _sloes_.
What vast advantages have been communicated to her by the fruits,
seeds, roots, herbage, animals, and arts of other countries! We are
by their means become a wealthy and a mighty nation, abounding in all
good things. Does not some _duty_ hence arise from us towards other
countries, still remaining in our former state?
"Britain is now the first maritime power in the world. Her ships are
innumerable, capable by their form, size, and strength, of sailing
all seas. Our seamen are equally bold, skilful, and hardy; dexterous
in exploring the remotest regions, and ready to engage in voyages
to unknown countries, though attended with the greatest dangers.
The inhabitants of those countries, our _fellow men_, have canoes
only; not knowing iron, they cannot build ships; they have little
astronomy, and no knowledge of the compass to guide them; they cannot
therefore come to us, or obtain any of our advantages. From these
circumstances, does not some duty seem to arise from us to them? Does
not Providence, by these distinguishing favours, seem to call on us,
to do something ourselves for the common interest of humanity!
"Those who think it their duty, to ask bread and other blessings
daily from heaven, would they not think it equally a duty, to
communicate of those blessings when they have received them, and show
their gratitude to their great Benefactor by the only means in their
power, promoting the happiness of his other children?
"Ceres is said to have made a journey through many countries to teach
the use of corn, and the art of raising it. For this single benefit
the grateful nations deified her. How much more may Englishmen
deserve such honour, by communicating the knowledge and use not of
corn only, but of all the other enjoyments earth can produce, and
which they are now in possession of. _Communiter bona profundere,
Deum est._
"Many voyages have been undertaken with views of profit or of
plunder, or to gratify resentment; to procure some advantage to
ourselves, or do some mischief to others: but a voyage is now
proposed, to visit a distant people on the other side the globe; not
to cheat them, not to rob them, not to seize their lands, or enslave
their persons; but merely to do them good, and make them, as far as
in our power lies, to live as comfortably as ourselves.
"It seems a laudable wish, that all the nations of the earth were
connected by a knowledge of each other, and a mutual exchange of
benefits: but a commercial nation particularly should wish for a
general civilization of mankind, since trade is always carried on to
much greater extent with people who have the arts and conveniences
of life, than it can be with naked savages. We may therefore hope,
in this undertaking, to be of, some service to our country, as well
as to those poor people, who, however distant from us, are in truth
related to us, and whose interests do, in some degree, concern every
one who can say, _Homo sum, &c._"
_Scheme of a voyage, by subscription_, to convey the conveniences of
life, as fowls, hogs, goats, cattle, corn, iron, &c., to those remote
regions, which are destitute of them, and to bring from thence such
productions, as can be cultivated in this kingdom to the advantage of
society, in a ship under the command of Alexander Dalrymple.
Catt or bark, from the coal trade, £
of 350 tons, estimated at about 2000
Extra expences, stores, boats, &c. 3000
----
To be manned with 60 men at
4 per man per month
----
240
12
----
2880 per annum
3
----
Wages and 8640 for three years 8640
provisions -----
13640
-----
Cargo included, supposed 15000
The expences of this expedition are calculated for _three_ years: but
the greatest part of the amount of wages will not be wanted till the
ship returns, and a great part of the expence of provisions will be
saved by what is obtained in the course of the voyage, by barter, or
otherwise, though it is proper to make provision for contingencies.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE:
[82] These proposals were printed upon a sheet of paper some two or
three years ago, and distributed. The parts written by Dr. Franklin
and Mr. Dalrymple are easily distinguished. B. V.
TO DR. PERCIVAL.
_Concerning the Provision made in China against Famine._
I have somewhere read, that in China an account is yearly taken of
the number of people, and the quantities of provision produced. This
account is transmitted to the emperor, whose ministers can thence
foresee a scarcity, likely to happen in any province, and from what
province it can best be supplied in good time. To facilitate the
collecting of this account, and prevent the necessity of entering
houses and spending time in asking and answering questions, each
house is furnished with a little board, to be hung without the door
during a certain time each year; on which board are marked certain
words, against which the inhabitant is to mark number and quantity,
somewhat in this manner:
-----------------
| Men, |
| Women, |
| Children, |
| Rice, or Wheat, |
| Flesh, &c. |
-----------------
All under sixteen are accounted children, and all above, men
and women. Any other particulars, which the government desires
information of, are occasionally marked on the same boards. Thus the
officers, appointed to collect the accounts in each district, have
only to pass before the doors, and enter into their book what they
find marked on the board, without giving the least trouble to the
family. There is a penalty on marking falsely, and as neighbours must
know nearly the truth of each others account, they dare not expose
themselves, by a false one, to each others accusation. Perhaps such a
regulation is scarcely practicable with us[83].
FOOTNOTE:
[83] The above passage is taken from Dr. Percival's Essays, Vol.
III. p. 25, being an extract from a letter written to him, by
Dr. Franklin, on the subject of his observations on the state of
population in Manchester and other adjacent places. B. V.
_Positions to be examined, concerning national Wealth[84]._
1. All food or subsistence for mankind arise from the earth or waters.
2. Necessaries of life, that are not foods, and all other
conveniences, have their values estimated by the proportion of food
consumed while we are employed in procuring them.
3. A small people, with a large territory, may subsist on the
productions of nature, with no other labour than that of gathering
the vegetables and catching the animals.
4. A large people, with a small territory, finds these insufficient,
and, to subsist, must labour the earth, to make it produce greater
quantities of vegetable food, suitable for the nourishment of men,
and of the animals they intend to eat.
5. From this labour arises a _great increase_ of vegetable and
animal food, and of materials for clothing, as flax, wool, silk,
&c. The superfluity of these is wealth. With this wealth we pay for
the labour employed in building our houses, cities, &c. which are
therefore only subsistence thus metamorphosed.
6. _Manufactures_ are only _another shape_ into which so much
provisions and subsistence are turned, as were equal in value to the
manufactures produced. This appears from hence, that the manufacturer
does not, in fact, obtain from the employer, for his labour, _more_
than a mere subsistence, including raiment, fuel, and shelter: all
which derive their value from the provisions consumed in procuring
them.
7. The produce of the earth, thus converted into manufactures, may be
more easily carried to distant markets than before such conversion.
8. _Fair commerce_ is, where equal values are exchanged for equal,
the expence of transport included. Thus, if it costs A in England
as much labour and charge to raise a bushel of wheat, as it costs B
in France to produce four gallons of wine, then are four gallons of
wine the fair exchange for a bushel of wheat, A and B meeting at half
distance with their commodities to make the exchange. The advantage
of this fair commerce is, that each party increases the number of his
enjoyments, having, instead of wheat alone, or wine alone, the use of
both wheat and wine.
9. Where the labour and expence of producing both commodities are
known to both parties, bargains will generally be fair and equal.
Where they are known to one party only, bargains will often be
unequal, knowledge taking its advantage of ignorance.
10. Thus he, that carries one thousand bushels of wheat abroad to
sell, may not probably obtain so great a profit thereon, as if he had
first turned the wheat into manufactures, by subsisting therewith
the workmen while producing those manufactures: since there are many
expediting and facilitating methods of working, not generally known;
and strangers to the manufactures, though they know pretty well the
expence of raising wheat, are unacquainted with those short methods
of working, and thence, being apt to suppose more labour employed
in the manufactures than there really is, are more easily imposed
on in their value, and induced to allow more for them than they are
honestly worth.
11. Thus the advantage of having manufactures in a country does not
consist, as is commonly supposed, in their highly advancing the
value of rough materials, of which they are formed; since, though
six-pennyworth of flax may be worth twenty shillings when worked into
lace, yet the very cause of its being worth twenty shillings, is,
that, besides the flax, it has cost nineteen shillings and sixpence
in subsistence to the manufacturer. But the advantage of manufactures
is, that under their shape provisions may be more easily carried to a
foreign market; and by their means our traders may more easily cheat
strangers. Few, where it is not made, are judges of the value of
lace. The importer may demand forty, and perhaps get thirty shillings
for that, which cost him but twenty.
12. Finally, there seem to be but three ways for a nation to
acquire wealth. The first is by _war_, as the Romans did, in
plundering their conquered neighbours. This is _robbery_.--The
second by _commerce_, which is generally _cheating_.--The third by
_agriculture_, the only _honest way_, wherein man receives a real
increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual
miracle wrought by the hand of God in his favour, as a reward for his
innocent life, and his virtuous industry.
B. FRANKLIN.
_April 4, 1769._
FOOTNOTE:
[84] This article has been inserted in The Repository for select
Papers on Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures. Vol. I, p. 350. B. V.
_Political Fragments, supposed either to be written by Dr.
Franklin, or to contain Sentiments nearly allied to his own[85]._
[§ 1. _Of the Employment of Time, and of Indolence: particularly as
respecting the State._]
All that live must be subsisted. Subsistence costs something. He,
that is industrious, produces, by his industry, something that is an
equivalent, and pays for his subsistence: he is therefore no charge
or burden to society. The indolent are an expence uncompensated.
There can be no doubt but all kinds of employment, that can be
followed without prejudice from interruptions; work, that can be
taken up, and laid down, often in a day, without damage; (such
as spinning, knitting, weaving, &c.) are highly advantageous to
a community; because in them may be collected all the produce of
those fragments of time, that occur in family-business, between the
constant and necessary parts of it, that usually occupy females;
as the time between rising and preparing for breakfast, between
breakfast and preparing for dinner, &c. &c. The amount of all these
fragments is, in the course of a year, very considerable to a single
family; to a state proportionably. Highly profitable therefore it is,
in this case also, to follow that divine direction, _gather up the
fragments that nothing be lost_. Lost time is lost subsistence; it is
therefore lost treasure.
Hereby, in several families, many yards of linen have been produced,
from the employment of those fragments only, in one year, though such
families were just the same in number as when not so employed.
It was an excellent saying of a certain Chinese emperor, _I will, if
possible, have no idleness in my dominions; for if there be one man
idle, some man must suffer cold or hunger_. We take this emperor's
meaning to be, that the labour due to the public by each individual,
not being performed by the indolent, must naturally fall to the share
of others, who must thereby suffer.
[§ 2. _Of Embargoes upon Corn, and of the Poor._]
In inland high countries, remote from the sea, and whose rivers
are small, running _from_ the country, and not _to_ it, as is the
case of Switzerland, great distress may arise from a course of
bad harvests, if public granaries are not provided, and kept well
stored. Anciently too, before navigation was so general, ships so
plenty, and commercial connections so well established, even maritime
countries might be occasionally distressed by bad crops. But such is
now the facility of communication between those countries, that an
unrestrained commerce can scarce ever fail of procuring a sufficiency
for any of them. If indeed any government is so imprudent, as to lay
its hands on imported corn, forbid its exportation, or compel its
sale at limited prices, there the people may suffer some famine from
merchants avoiding their ports. But wherever commerce is known to be
always free, and the merchant absolute master of his commodity, as in
Holland, there will always be a reasonable supply.
When an exportation of corn takes place, occasioned by a higher price
in some foreign countries, it is common to raise a clamour, on the
supposition, that we shall thereby produce a domestic famine. Then
follows a prohibition, founded on the imaginary distress of the poor.
The poor, to be sure, if in distress, should be relieved; but if the
farmer could have a high price for his corn from the foreign demand,
must he, by a prohibition of exportation, be compelled to take a
low price, not of the poor only, but of every one that eats bread,
even the richest? the duty of relieving the poor is incumbent on the
rich; but by this operation the whole burden of it is laid on the
farmer, who is to relieve the rich at the same time. Of the poor too,
those, who are maintained by the parishes, have no right to claim
this sacrifice of the farmer; as, while they have their allowance,
it makes no difference to them, whether bread be cheap or dear.
Those working poor, who now mind business only _five_ or _four_
days in the week, if bread should be so dear, as to oblige them to
work the whole _six_ required by the commandment, do not seem to be
aggrieved, so as to have a right to public redress. There will then
remain, comparatively, only a few families in every district, who,
from sickness, or a great number of children, will be so distressed
by a high price of corn, as to need relief; and these should be taken
care of by particular benefactions, without restraining the farmer's
profit.
Those, who fear, that exportation may so far drain the country of
corn, as to starve ourselves, fear what never did, nor ever can
happen. They may as well, when they view the tide ebbing towards
the sea, fear, that all the water will leave the river. The price
of corn, like water, will find its own level. The more we export,
the dearer it becomes at home; the more is received abroad, the
cheaper it becomes there; and as soon as these prices are equal,
the exportation stops of course. As the seasons vary in different
countries, the calamity of a bad harvest is never universal. If then,
all ports were always open, and all commerce free, every maritime
country would generally eat bread at the medium price, or average
of all the harvests; which would probably be more equal than we can
make it by out artificial regulations, and therefore a more steady
encouragement to agriculture. The nation would all have bread at this
middle price; and that nation, which at any time inhumanely refuses
to relieve the distresses of another nation, deserves no compassion
when in distress itself.
[§ 3. _Of the Effect of Dearness of Provisions upon Working, and upon
Manufactures._]
The common people do not work for pleasure generally, but from
necessity. Cheapness of provisions makes them more idle; less work is
then done, it is then more in demand proportionally, and of course
the price rises. Dearness of provisions obliges the manufacturer to
work more days and more hours; thus more work is done than equals the
usual demand; of course it becomes cheaper, and the manufactures in
consequence.
[§ 4. _Of an open Trade._]
Perhaps, in general, it would be better if government meddled no
farther with trade, than to protect it, and let it take its course.
Most of the statutes or acts, edicts, arrets, and placarts of
parliaments, princes, and states, for regulating, directing, or
restraining of trade, have, we think, been either political blunders,
or jobs obtained by artful men, for private advantage, under pretence
of public good. When Colbert assembled some wise old merchants of
France, and desired their advice and opinion, how he could serve and
promote commerce: their answer, after consultation, was in three
words only, _Laissez nous faire_; "Let us alone."--It is said, by a
very solid writer of the same nation, that he is well advanced in
the science of politics, who knows the full force of that maxim,
_Pas trop gouverner_, "Not to govern too much;" which, perhaps,
would be of more use when applied to trade, than in any other public
concern. It were therefore to be wished, that commerce were as free
between all the nations of the world, as it is between the several
counties of England; so would all, by mutual communication, obtain
more enjoyments. Those counties do not ruin each other by trade,
neither would the nations. No nation was ever ruined by trade, even,
seemingly, the most disadvantageous.
Wherever desirable superfluities are imported, industry is excited,
and thereby plenty is produced. Were only necessaries permitted to be
purchased, men would work no more than was necessary for that purpose.
[§ 5. _Of Prohibitions, with Respect to the Exportation of Gold and
Silver._]
Could Spain and Portugal have succeeded in executing their foolish
laws for _hedging in the cuckoo_, as Locke calls it, and have kept
at home all their gold and silver, those metals would by this time
have been of little more value than so much lead or iron. Their
plenty would have lessened their value. We see the folly of these
edicts: but are not our own prohibitory and restrictive laws, that
are professedly made with intention to bring a balance in our favour
from our trade with foreign nations to be paid in money, and laws
to prevent the necessity of exporting that money, which if they
could be thoroughly executed, would make money as plenty, and of as
little value; I say, are not such laws a kin to those Spanish edicts,
follies of the same family?
[§ 6. _Of the Returns for foreign Articles._]
In fact, the _produce of other countries_ can hardly be obtained,
unless by fraud and rapine, without giving the _produce of our land
or our industry_ in exchange for them. If we have mines of gold and
silver, gold and silver may then be called the produce of our land:
if we have not, we can only fairly obtain those metals by giving for
them the produce of our land or industry. When we have them, they are
then only that produce or industry in another shape; which we may
give, if the trade requires it, and our other produce will not suit,
in exchange for the produce of some other country, that furnishes
what we have more occasion for, or more desire. When we have, to an
inconvenient degree, parted with our gold and silver, our industry
is stimulated afresh to procure more; that, by its means, we may
contrive to procure the same advantage.
[§ 7. _Of Restraints upon Commerce in Time of War._]
When princes make war by prohibiting commerce, each may hurt himself
as much as his enemy. Traders, who by their business are promoting
the common good of mankind, as well as farmers and fishermen, who
labour for the subsistence of all, should never be interrupted, or
molested in their business, but enjoy the protection of all in the
time of war, as well as in time of peace.
This policy, those, whom we are pleased to call Barbarians, have in
a great measure adopted; for the trading subjects of any power with
whom the emperor of Morocco may be at war, are not liable to capture,
when within sight of his land, going or coming; and have otherwise
free liberty to trade and reside in his dominions.
As a maritime power, we presume it is not thought right, that Great
Britain should grant such freedom, except partially; as in the case
of war with France, when tobacco is allowed to be sent thither under
the sanction of passports.
[§ 8. _Exchanges in Trade may be gainful to each Party._]
In transactions of trade, it is not to be supposed, that, like
gaming, what one party _gains_ the other must necessarily _lose_. The
gain to each may be equal. If A has more corn than he can consume,
but wants cattle; and B has more cattle, but wants corn, exchange
is gain to each: hereby the common stock of comforts in life is
increased.
[§9. _Of Paper Credit._]
It is impossible for government to circumscribe, or fix the extent of
paper credit, which must of course fluctuate. Government may as well
pretend to lay down rules for the operations, or the confidence of
every individual in the course of his trade. Any seeming temporary
evil arising, must naturally work its own cure.
FOOTNOTE:
[85] The political fragments, which are here presented to the reader,
were gathered up from the notes, annexed to a pamphlet called The
Principles of Trade, printed for Brotherton and Sewel, London, 1774,
second edition.--The writer of this work speaks of assistance lent to
him, in the following passage in his preface: "Some very respectable
friends have indulged me with their ideas and opinions. It is with
the greatest pleasure we, in this second edition, most gratefully
acknowledge the favour; and must add, that should the public hold
this performance in any estimation, no small share belongs to those
friends." Our author is one of the respectable friends here alluded
to. B. V.
_On the Price of Corn, and Management of the Poor[86]._
TO MESSIEURS THE PUBLIC.
I am one of that class of people, that feeds you all, and at present
is abused by you all;--in short, I am a _farmer_.
By your news-papers we are told, that God had sent a very short
harvest to some other countries of Europe. I thought this might be in
favour of Old England; and that now we should get a good price for
our grain, which would bring millions among us, and make us flow in
money: that to be sure is scarce enough.
But the wisdom of government forbad the exportation[87].
Well, says I, then we must be content with the market-price at home.
No, say my lords the mob, you sha'n't have that. Bring your corn to
market if your dare;--we'll sell it for you, for less money, or take
it for nothing.
Being thus attacked by both ends _of the constitution_, the head and
tail _of government_, what am I to do?
Must I keep my corn in the barn, to feed and increase
the breed of rats?--be it so;--they cannot be less thankful than
those I have been used to feed.
Are we farmers the only people to be grudged the profits of our
honest labour?--And why? One of the late scribblers against us gives
a bill of fare of the provisions at my daughter's wedding, and
proclaims to all the world, that we had the insolence to eat beef and
pudding!--Has he not read the precept in the good book, _Thou shalt
not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn_; or does
he think us less worthy of good living than our oxen?
O, but the manufacturers! the manufacturers! they are to be favoured,
and they must have bread at a cheap rate!
Hark ye, Mr. Oaf:--The farmers live splendidly, you say. And pray,
would you have them hoard the money they get? Their fine clothes
and furniture, do they make them themselves or for one another, and
so keep the money among them? Or, do they employ these your darling
manufacturers, and so scatter it again all over the nation?
The wool would produce me a better price, if it were suffered to
go to foreign markets; but that, Messieurs the Public, your laws
will not permit. It must be kept all at home, that our _dear_
manufacturers may have it the cheaper. And then, having yourselves
thus lessened our encouragement for raising sheep, you curse us for
the scarcity of mutton!
I have heard my grandfather say, that the farmers submitted to the
prohibition on the exportation of wool, being made to expect and
believe, that when the manufacturer bought his wool cheaper, they
should also have their cloth cheaper. But the deuce a bit. It has
been growing dearer and dearer from that day to this. How so? Why,
truly, the cloth is exported; and that keeps up the price.
Now if it be a good principle, that the exportation of a commodity is
to be restrained, that so our people at home may have it the cheaper;
stick to that principle, and go thorough stitch with it. Prohibit the
exportation of your cloth, your leather, and shoes, your ironware,
and your manufactures of all sorts, to make them, all cheaper at
home. And cheap enough they will be, I will warrant you--till people
leave off making them.
Some folks seem to think they ought never to be easy till England
becomes another Lubberland, where it is fancied the streets are paved
with penny-rolls, the houses tiled with pancakes, and chickens, ready
roasted, cry, Come eat me.
I say, when you are sure you have got a good principle, stick to
it, and carry it thorough.--I hear it is said, that though it was
_necessary and right_ for the m----y to advise a prohibition of the
exportation of corn, yet it was _contrary to law_; and also, that
though it was _contrary to law_ for the mob to obstruct waggons,
yet it was _necessary and right_.--Just the same thing to a tittle.
Now they tell me, an act of indemnity ought to pass in favour of
the m----y, to secure them from the consequences of having acted
illegally.--If so, pass another in favour of the mob. Others say,
some of the mob ought to be hanged, by way of example.---If so,--but
I say no more than I have said before, _when you are sure that you
have got a good principle, go through with it_.
You say, poor labourers cannot afford to buy bread at a high price,
unless they had higher wages.--Possibly.--But how shall we farmers be
able to afford our labourers higher wages, if you will not allow us
to get, when we might have it, a higher price for our corn?
By all that I can learn, we should at least have had a guinea a
quarter more, if the exportation had been allowed. And this money
England would have got from foreigners.
But, it seems, we farmers must take so much less, that the poor may
have it so much cheaper.
This operates then as a tax for the maintenance of the poor. A very
good thing, you will say. But I ask, why a partial tax? why laid on
us farmers only? If it be a good thing, pray, Messieurs the Public,
take your share of it, by indemnifying us a little out of your
public treasury. In doing a good thing, there is both honour and
pleasure--you are welcome to your share of both.
For my own part, I am not so well satisfied of the goodness of this
thing. I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about
the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is, not
making them easy _in_ poverty, but leading or driving them _out_
of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different
countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor,
the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer.
And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did
for themselves, and became richer. There is no country in the world
where so many provisions are established for them; so many hospitals
to receive them when they are sick or lame, founded and maintained
by voluntary charities; so many alms houses for the aged of both
sexes, together with a solemn general law made by the rich to subject
their estates to a heavy tax for the support of the poor. Under all
these obligations, are our poor modest, humble, and thankful? And do
they use their best endeavours to maintain themselves, and lighten
our shoulders of this burthen? On the contrary, I affirm, that
there is no country in the world in which the poor are more idle,
dissolute, drunken, and insolent. The day you passed that act, you
took away from before their eyes the greatest of all inducements to
industry, frugality, and sobriety, by giving them a dependence on
somewhat else than a careful accumulation during youth and health,
for support in age or sickness. In short, you offered a premium for
the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder, that
it has had its effect in the increase of poverty. Repeal that law,
and you will soon see a change in their manners, _Saint Monday_, and
_Saint Tuesday_, will soon cease to be holidays. Six _days shalt thou
labour_, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of
date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry
will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their
circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness
by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by
dividing all your estates among them.
Excuse me, Messieurs the Public, if upon this _interesting_ subject,
I put you to the trouble of reading a little of _my_ nonsense; I am
sure I have lately read a great deal of _yours_, and therefore from
you (at least from those of you who are writers) I deserve a little
indulgence.
I am yours, &c.
ARATOR[88].
FOOTNOTES:
[86] The following extracts of a letter signed Columella, and
addressed to the editors of the Repository for select Papers on
Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures (See Vol. I. p. 352.) will again
serve the purpose of preparing those who read it, for entering upon
this paper.
"GENTLEMEN,
"There is now publishing in France a periodical work, called
Ephemeridis du Citoyen, in which several points, interesting to those
concerned in agriculture, are from time to time discussed by some
able hands. In looking over one of the volumes of this work a few
days ago, I found a little piece written by one of our countrymen,
and which our vigilant neighbours had taken from the London Chronicle
in 1766. The author is a gentleman well known to every man of letters
in Europe, and perhaps there is none, in this age, to whom mankind in
general are more indebted.
"That this piece may not be lost to our own country, I beg you will
give it a place in your Repository: it was written in favour of the
farmers, when they suffered so much abuse in our public papers, and
were also plundered by the mob in many places."
The principles on which this piece is grounded are given more at
large in the Political Fragments, art. 2. B. V.
[87] It is not necessary to repeat in what degree Dr. Franklin
respected the ministers, to whom he alludes.--The embargo upon corn
was but a single measure, which, it is enough to say, an host of
politicians thought well advised, but ill defended. Of the great
and honourable services of the earl of Chatham to his country, Dr.
Franklin has borne the amplest testimony. B. V.
[88] The late Mr. Owen Ruffhead, being some time ago employed in
preparing _a digest of our poor laws_, communicated a copy of it to
Dr. Franklin for his advice. Dr. Franklin recommended, that provision
should be made therein, for the printing on a sheet of paper and
dispersing, in each parish in the kingdom, annual accounts of every
disbursement and receipt of its officers. It is obvious to remark,
how greatly this must tend to check both the officers and the poor,
and to inform and interest the parishioners with respect to parish
concerns.--Some of the American colonies actually practise this
measure with a success which might justify its adoption here. B. V.
TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN, ESQ[89].
_On Luxury, Idleness, and Industry._
Written in 1784.
It is wonderful how preposterously the affairs of this world are
managed. Naturally one would imagine, that the interest of a few
individuals should give way to general interest; but individuals
manage their affairs with so much more application, industry, and
address, than the public do theirs, that, general interest most
commonly gives way to particular. We assemble parliaments and
councils, to have the benefit of their collected wisdom; but we
necessarily have, at the same time, the inconvenience of their
collected passions, prejudices, and private interests. By the help of
these, artful men overpower their wisdom, and dupe its possessors:
and if we may judge, by the acts, arrets, and edicts, all the world
over, for regulating commerce, an assembly of great men is the
greatest fool upon earth.
I have not yet, indeed, thought of a remedy for luxury. I am not
sure that in a great state it is capable of a remedy, nor that the
evil is in itself always so great as it is represented. Suppose we
include in the definition of luxury all unnecessary expence, and then
let us consider, whether laws to prevent such expence are possible
to be executed in a great country, and whether, if they could be
executed, our people generally would be happier, or even richer. Is
not the hope of being one day able to purchase and enjoy luxuries, a
great spur to labour and industry? May not luxury therefore produce
more than it consumes, if, without such a spur, people would be,
as they are naturally enough inclined to be, lazy and indolent? To
this purpose I remember a circumstance. The skipper of a shallop,
employed between Cape-May and Philadelphia, had done us some small
service, for which he refused to be paid. My wife, understanding
that he had a daughter, sent her a present of a new-fashioned cap.
Three years after, this skipper being at my house with an old farmer
of Cape-May, his passenger, he mentioned the cap, and how much his
daughter had been pleased with it. "But (said he) it proved a dear
cap to our congregation." "How so?" "When my daughter appeared with
it at meeting, it was so much admired, that all the girls resolved
to get such caps from Philadelphia; and my wife and I computed, that
the whole could not have cost less than a hundred pounds." "True
(said the farmer), but you do not tell all the story. I think the cap
was nevertheless an advantage to us, for it was the first thing that
put our girls upon knitting worsted mittens for sale at Philadelphia,
that they might have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there,
and you know that that industry has continued, and is likely to
continue and increase to a much greater value, and answer better
purposes."--Upon the whole, I was more reconciled to this little
piece of luxury, since not only the girls were made happier by having
fine caps, but the Philadelphians by the supply of warm mittens.
In our commercial towns upon the sea-coast, fortunes will
occasionally be made. Some of those who grow rich will be prudent,
live within bounds, and preserve what they have gained for their
posterity: others, fond of showing their wealth, will be extravagant,
and ruin themselves. Laws cannot prevent this: and perhaps it is not
always an evil to the public. A shilling spent idly by a fool, may
be picked up by a wiser person, who knows better what to do with
it. It is therefore not lost. A vain silly fellow builds a fine
house, furnishes it richly, lives in it expensively, and in a few
years ruins himself: but the masons, carpenters, smiths, and other
honest tradesmen, have been by his employ assisted in maintaining and
raising their families; the farmer has been paid for his labour, and
encouraged, and the estate is now in better hands. In some cases,
indeed, certain modes of luxury may be a public evil, in the same
manner as it is a private one. If there be a nation, for instance,
that exports its beef and linen, to pay for the importation of claret
and porter, while a great part of its people live upon potatoes,
and wear no shirts, wherein does it differ from the sot, who lets
his family starve, and sells his clothes to buy drink? Our American
commerce is, I confess, a little in this way. We sell our victuals to
the islands for rum and sugar; the substantial necessaries of life
for superfluities. But we have plenty, and live well nevertheless,
though, by being soberer, we might be richer.
The vast quantity of forest land we have yet to clear, and put
in order for cultivation, will for a long time keep the body of
our nation laborious and frugal. Forming an opinion of our people
and their manners, by what is seen among the inhabitants of the
sea-ports, is judging from an improper sample. The people of
the trading towns may be rich and luxurious, while the country
possesses all the virtues, that tend to promote happiness and public
prosperity. Those towns are not much regarded by the country; they
are hardly considered as an essential part of the states, and the
experience of the last war has shown, that their being in the
possession of the enemy did not necessarily draw on the subjection
of the country, which bravely continued to maintain its freedom and
independence notwithstanding.
It has been computed by some political arithmetician, that if every
man and woman would work for four hours each day on something useful,
that labour would produce sufficient to procure all the necessaries
and comforts of life, want and misery would be banished out of the
world, and the rest of the twenty-four hours might be leisure and
pleasure.
What occasions then so much want and misery? It is the employment
of men and women in works, that produce neither the necessaries
nor conveniences of life, who, with those who do nothing, consume
necessaries raised by the laborious. To explain this.
The first elements of wealth are obtained by labour, from the earth
and waters. I have land, and raise corn. With this, if I feed a
family that does nothing, my corn will be consumed, and at the end of
the year I shall be no richer than I was at the beginning. But if,
while I feed them, I employ them, some in spinning, others in making
bricks, &c. for building, the value of my corn will be arrested and
remain with me, and at the end of the year we may all be better
clothed and better lodged. And if, instead of employing a man I feed
in making bricks, I employ him in fiddling for me, the corn he eats
is gone, and no part of his manufacture remains to augment the wealth
and convenience of the family: I shall therefore be the poorer for
this fiddling man, unless the rest of my family work more, or eat
less, to make up the deficiency he occasions.
Look round the world, and see the millions employed in doing nothing,
or in something that amounts to nothing, when the necessaries and
conveniences of life are in question. What is the bulk of commerce,
for which we fight and destroy each other, but the toil of millions
for superfluities, to the great hazard and loss of many lives, by the
constant dangers of the sea? How much labour is spent in building and
fitting great ships, to go to China and Arabia for tea and coffee,
to the West Indies for sugar, to America for tobacco? These things
cannot be called the necessaries of life, for our ancestors lived
very comfortably without them.
A question may be asked: could all these people now employed in
raising, making, or carrying superfluities, be subsisted by raising
necessaries? I think they might. The world is large, and a great part
of it still uncultivated. Many hundred millions of acres in Asia,
Africa, and America, are still in a forest, and a great deal even
in Europe. On a hundred acres of this forest a man might become a
substantial farmer, and a hundred thousand men, employed in clearing
each his hundred acres, would hardly brighten a spot big enough to be
visible from the moon, unless with Herschel's telescope; so vast are
the regions still in wood.
It is, however, some comfort to reflect, that, upon the whole, the
quantity of industry and prudence among mankind exceeds the quantity
of idleness and folly. Hence the increase of good buildings, farms
cultivated, and populous cities filled with wealth, all over Europe,
which a few ages since were only to be found on the coasts of the
Mediterranean; and this notwithstanding the mad wars continually
raging, by which are often destroyed in one year the works of many
years peace. So that we may hope the luxury of a few merchants on the
coast will not be the ruin of America.
One reflection more, and I will end this long rambling letter. Almost
all the parts of our bodies require some expence. The feet demand
shoes; the legs stockings; the rest of the body clothing; and the
belly a good deal of victuals. Our eyes, though exceedingly useful,
ask, when reasonable, only the cheap assistance of spectacles, which
could not much impair our finances. But the eyes of other people are
the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want
neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fine furniture.
FOOTNOTE:
[89] This letter is taken from a periodical publication, that existed
only for a short period, entitled, The Repository, to which it was
communicated by the person to whom it is addressed. _Editor._
_On Smuggling, and its various Species[90]._
SIR,
There are many people that would be thought, and even think
themselves, _honest_ men, who fail nevertheless in particular points
of honesty; deviating from that character sometimes by the prevalence
of mode or custom, and sometimes through mere inattention; so that
their _honesty_ is partial only, and not _general_ or universal. Thus
one, who would scorn to over-reach you in a bargain, shall make no
scruple of tricking you a little now and then at cards; another, that
plays with the utmost fairness, shall with great freedom cheat you in
the sale of a horse. But there is no kind of dishonesty, into which
otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall, than that of
defrauding government of its revenues by smuggling, when they have an
opportunity, or encouraging smugglers by buying their goods.
I fell into these reflections the other day, on hearing two gentlemen
of reputation discoursing about a small estate, which one of them
was inclined to sell, and the other to buy; when the seller, in
recommending the place, remarked, that its situation was very
advantageous on this account, that, being on the sea-coast in a
smuggling country, one had frequent opportunities of buying many
of the expensive articles used in a family (such as tea, coffee,
chocolate, brandy, wines, cambrics, Brussels laces, French silks,
and all kinds of India goods), 20, 30, and in some articles 50 _per
cent_ cheaper, than they could be had in the more interior parts, of
traders that paid duty.--The other _honest_ gentlemen allowed this
to be an advantage, but insisted, that the seller, in the advanced
price he demanded on that account, rated the advantage much above its
value. And neither of them seemed to think dealing with smugglers a
practice, that an _honest_ man (provided he got his goods cheap) had
the least reason to be ashamed of.
At a time when the load of our, public debt, and the heavy expence
of maintaining our fleets and armies to be ready for our defence on
occasion, makes it necessary, not only to continue old taxes, but
often to look out for new ones, perhaps it may not be unuseful to
state this matter in a light, that few seem to have considered it in.
The people of Great Britain, under the happy constitution of this
country, have a privilege few other countries enjoy, that of choosing
the third branch of the legislature, which branch has alone the
power of regulating their taxes. Now whenever the government finds
it necessary for the common benefit, advantage, and safety of the
nation, for the security of our liberties, property, religion, and
every thing that is dear to us, that certain sums shall be yearly
raised by taxes, duties, &c. and paid into the public treasury,
thence to be dispensed by government for those purposes; ought not
every _honest man_ freely and willingly to pay his just proportion
of this necessary expence? Can he possibly preserve a right to that
character, if, by any fraud, stratagem, or contrivance, he avoids
that payment in whole or in part.
What should we think of a companion, who, having supped with his
friends at a tavern, and partaken equally of the joys of the evening
with the rest of us, would nevertheless contrive by some artifice
to shift his share of the reckoning upon others, in order to go off
scot-free? If a man who practised this would, when detected, be
deemed and called a scoundrel, what ought he to be called, who can
enjoy all the inestimable benefits of public society, and yet by
smuggling, or dealing with smugglers, contrive to evade paying his
just share of the expence, as settled by his own representatives in
parliament; and wrongfully throw it upon his honester and perhaps
much poorer neighbours? He will perhaps be ready to tell me, that
he does not wrong his neighbours; he scorns the imputation, he only
cheats the king a little, who is very able to bear it. This however
is a mistake. The public treasure is the treasure of the nation,
to be applied to national purposes. And when a duty is laid for a
particular public and necessary purpose, if, through smuggling, that
duty falls short of raising the sum required, and other duties must
therefore be laid to make up the deficiency, all the additional sum
laid by the new duties and paid by other people, though it should
amount to no more than a halfpenny or a farthing per head, is so
much actually picked out of the pockets of those other people by
the smugglers and their abettors and encouragers. Are they then
any better or other than pickpockets? and what mean, low, rascally
pickpockets must those be, that can pick pockets for halfpence and
for farthings?
I would not however be supposed to allow in what I have just said,
that cheating the king is a less offence against honesty, than
cheating the public. The king and the public in this case are
different names for the same thing; but if we consider the king
distinctly it will not lessen the crime: it is no justification of
a robbery, that the person robbed was rich and able to bear it. The
king has as much right to justice as the meanest of his subjects;
and as he is truly the common _father_ of his people, those that rob
him fall under the scripture woe, pronounced against the son _that
robbeth his father, and saith it is no sin_.
Mean as this practice is, do we not daily see people of character and
fortune engaged in it for trifling advantages to themselves?--Is any
lady ashamed to request of a gentleman of her acquaintance, that when
he returns from abroad, he would smuggle her home a piece of silk or
lace from France or Flanders? Is any gentleman ashamed to undertake
and execute the commission?--Not in the least. They will talk of it
freely, even before others whose pockets they are thus contriving to
pick by this piece of knavery.
Among other branches of the revenue, that of the post-office is, by
a late law, appropriated to the discharge of our public debt, to
defray the expences of the state. None but members of parliament,
and a few public officers have now a right to avoid, by a frank, the
payment of postage. When any letter, not written by them or on their
business, is franked by any of them, it is a hurt to the revenue, an
injury which they must now take the pains to conceal by writing the
whole superscription themselves. And yet such is our insensibility
to justice in this particular, that nothing is more common than to
see, even in a reputable company, a _very honest_ gentleman or lady
declare his or her intention to cheat the nation of three-pence by
a frank, and without blushing apply to one of the very legislators
themselves, with a modest request, that he would be pleased to become
an accomplice in the crime, and assist in the perpetration.
There are those who by these practices take a great deal in a year
out of the public purse, and put the money into their own private
pockets. If, passing through a room where public treasure is
deposited, a man takes the opportunity of clandestinely pocketing and
carrying off a guinea, is he not truly and properly a thief? And if
another evades paying into the treasury a guinea he ought to pay in,
and applies it to his own use, when he knows it belongs to the public
as much as that which has been paid in, what difference is there in
the nature of the crime, or the baseness of committing it?
Some laws make the receiving of stolen goods equally penal with
stealing, and upon this principle, that if there were no receivers
there would be few thieves. Our proverb too says truly, that _the
receiver is as bad as the thief_. By the same reasoning, as there
would be few smugglers, if there were none who knowingly encouraged
them by buying their goods, we may say, that the encouragers of
smuggling are as bad as the smugglers; and that, as smugglers are a
kind of thieves, both equally deserve the punishments of thievery.
In this view of wronging the revenue, what must we think of those who
can evade paying for their wheels and their plate, in defiance of law
and justice, and yet declaim against corruption and peculation, as if
their own hands and hearts were pure and unsullied? The Americans
offend us grievously, when, contrary to our laws, they smuggle goods
into their own country: and yet they had no hand in making those
laws. I do not however pretend from thence to justify them. But
I think the offence much greater in those who either directly or
indirectly have been concerned in making the very laws they break.
And when I hear them exclaiming against the Americans, and for every
little infringement of the acts of trade, or obstruction given by a
petty mob to an officer of our customs in that country, calling for
vengeance against the whole people as REBELS and traitors, I cannot
help thinking there are still those in the world who can _see a mote
in their brother's eye, while they do not discern a beam in their
own_; and that the old saying is as true now as ever it was, _one man
may better steal a horse, than another look over the hedge_.
F. B.
FOOTNOTE:
[90] This letter is extracted from the London Chronicle, for November
24, 1767, and is addressed to the printer of that newspaper. B. V.
_Observations on War[91]._
By the original law of nations, war and extirpation were the
punishment of injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted slavery
instead of death: a farther step was the exchange of prisoners
instead of slavery: another, to respect more the property of private
persons under conquest, and be content with acquired dominion. Why
should not this law of nations go on improving? Ages have intervened
between its several steps: but as knowledge of late increases
rapidly, why should not those steps be quickened? Why should it
not be agreed to, as the future law of nations, that in any war
hereafter the following description of men should be undisturbed,
have the protection of both sides, and be permitted to follow their
employments in security? viz.
1. Cultivators of the earth, because they labour for the subsistence
of mankind.
2. Fishermen, for the same reason.
3. Merchants and traders in unarmed ships, who accommodate different
nations by communicating and exchanging the necessaries and
conveniences of life.
4. Artists and mechanics, inhabiting and working in open towns.
It is hardly necessary to add, that the hospitals of enemies should
be unmolested--they ought to be assisted. It is for the interest of
humanity in general, that the occasions of war, and the inducements
to it, should be diminished. If rapine be abolished, one of the
encouragements to war is taken away; and peace therefore more likely
to continue and be lasting.
The practice of robbing merchants on the high seas--a remnant of
the antient piracy--though it may be accidentally beneficial to
particular persons, is far from being profitable to all engaged in
it, or to the nation that authorises it. In the beginning of a war,
some rich ships are surprized and taken. This encourages the first
adventurers to fit out more armed vessels, and many others to do the
same. But the enemy at the same time become more careful, arm their
merchant ships better, and render them not so easy to be taken:
they go also more under the protection of convoys. Thus, while
the privateers to take them are multiplied, the vessels subject to
be taken, and the chances of profit, are diminished; so that many
cruises are made wherein the expences overgo the gains, and, as is
the case in other lotteries, though particulars have got prizes, the
mass of adventurers are losers, the whole expence of fitting out all
the privateers during a war being much greater than the whole amount
of goods taken.
Then there is the national loss of all the labour of so many men
during the time they have been employed in robbing, who besides
spend what they get in riot, drunkenness, and debauchery, lose their
habits of industry, are rarely fit for any sober business after
a peace, and serve only to increase the number of highwaymen and
housebreakers. Even the undertakers, who have been fortunate, are by
sudden wealth led into expensive living, the habit of which continues
when the means of supporting it cease, and finally ruins them: a just
punishment for their having wantonly and unfeelingly ruined many
honest, innocent traders and their families, whose substance was
employed in serving the common interest of mankind.
FOOTNOTE:
[91] From the American Museum, Vol. VII. p. 101. _Editor._
_Notes copied from Dr. Franklin's writing in pencil in the margin
of Judge Foster's celebrated argument in favour of the Impressing
of Seamen (published in the folio edition of his works)[92]._
Judge Foster, p. 158. "Every man."--The conclusion here, from the
_whole to a part_, does not seem to be good logic. If the alphabet
should say, Let us all fight for the defence of the whole, that is
equal, and may therefore be just. But if they should say, Let A B C
and D go out and fight for us, while we stay at home and sleep in
whole skins, that is not equal, and therefore cannot be just.
_Ib._ "Employ."--If you please. The word signifies engaging a man to
work for me, by offering him such wages as are sufficient to induce
him to prefer my service. This is very different from compelling him
to work on such terms as I think proper.
_Ib._ "This service and employment, &c."--These are false facts. His
employments and service are not the same.--Under the merchant he
goes in an unarmed vessel, not obliged to fight, but to transport
merchandise. In the king's service he is obliged to fight, and to
hazard all the dangers of battle. Sickness on board of king's ships
is also more common and more mortal. The merchant's service too
he can quit at the end of the voyage, not the king's. Also, the
merchant's wages are much higher.
_Ib._ "I am very sensible, &c."--Here are two things put in
comparison that are not comparable: viz. injury to seamen, and
inconvenience to trade. Inconvenience to the whole trade of a nation
will not justify injustice to a single seaman. If the trade would
suffer without his service, it is able and ought to be willing
to offer him such wages, as may induce him to afford his service
voluntarily.
Page 159. "Private mischief must be borne with patience, for
preventing a national calamity."--Where is this maxim in law and
good policy to be found? And how can that be a maxim, which is not
consistent with common sense? If the maxim had been, that private
mischiefs, which prevent a national calamity, ought to be generously
compensated by the nation, one might understand it: but that such
private mischiefs are only to be borne with patience, is absurd!
_Ib._ "The expedient, &c. And, &c." (Paragraphs 2 and 3).--Twenty
ineffectual or inconvenient schemes will not justify one that is
unjust.
_Ib._ "Upon the foot of, &c."--Your reasoning, indeed, like a lie,
stands but upon one _foot_, truth upon two.
Page 160. "Full wages."--Probably the same they had in the merchant's
service.
Page 174. "I hardly admit, &c." (Paragraph 5).--When this author
speaks of impressing, page 158, he diminishes the horror of the
practice as much as possible, by presenting to the mind one sailor
only suffering a "_hardship_" (as he tenderly calls it) in some
"_particular cases_" only, and he places against this private
mischief the inconvenience to the trade of the kingdom.--But if,
as he supposes is often the case, the sailor who is pressed, and
obliged to serve for the defence of trade, at the rate of twenty-five
shillings a month, could get three pounds fifteen shillings in the
merchant's service, you take from him fifty shillings a month; and if
you have a 100,000 in your service, you rob this honest industrious
part of society and their poor families of 250,000_l._ per month, or
three millions a year, and at the same time oblige them to hazard
their lives in fighting for the defence of your trade, to the defence
of which all ought indeed to contribute (and sailors among the rest)
in proportion to their profits by it: but this three millions is more
than their share, if they did not pay with their persons; but when
you force that, methinks you should excuse the other.
But it may be said, to give the king's seamen merchant's wages would
cost the nation too much, and call for more taxes. The question then
will amount to this: whether it be just in a community, that the
richer part should compel the poorer to fight in defence of them
and their properties, for such wages as they think fit to allow,
and punish them if they refuse? Our author tells us that it is
"_legal_." I have not law enough to dispute his authorities, but I
cannot persuade myself that it is equitable. I will, however, own
for the present, that it may be lawful when necessary; but then I
contend, that it may be used so as to produce the same good effects,
_the public security_, without doing so much intolerable injustice
as attends the impressing common seamen.--In order to be better
understood I would premise two things: first, that voluntary seamen
may be had for the service, if they were sufficiently paid. The proof
is, that to serve in the same ship, and incur the same dangers,
you have no occasion to impress captains, lieutenants, second
lieutenants, midshipmen, pursers, nor many other officers. Why, but
that the profits of their places, or the emoluments expected, are
sufficient inducements? The business then is, to find money, by
impressing, sufficient to make the sailors all volunteers, as well as
their officers, and this without any fresh burthen upon trade.--The
second of my premises is, that twenty-five shillings a month, with
his share of the salt beef, pork, and peas-pudding, being found
sufficient for the subsistence of a hard-working seaman, it will
certainly be so for a sedentary scholar or gentleman. I would then
propose to form a treasury, out of which encouragements to seamen
should be paid. To fill this treasury, I would impress a number of
civil officers, who at present have great salaries, oblige them to
serve in their respective offices for twenty-five shillings a month,
with their shares of mess provisions, and throw the rest of their
salaries into the seamen's treasury. If such a press-warrant were
given me to execute, the first I would press should be a recorder
of Bristol, or a Mr. Justice Foster, because I might have need of
his edifying example, to show how much impressing ought to be borne
with; for he would certainly find, that though to be reduced to
twenty-five shillings a month might be a "_private mischief_," yet
that, agreeably to his maxim of law and good policy, it "_ought to
be borne with patience_," for preventing a national calamity. Then
I would press the rest of the judges; and, opening the red book,
I would press every civil officer of government from 50_l._ a year
salary, up to 50,000_l._ which would throw an immense sum into our
treasury: and these gentlemen could not complain, since they would
receive twenty-five shillings a month, and their rations; and this
without being obliged to fight. Lastly, I think I would impress ****
FOOTNOTE:
[92] These notes are taken from the periodical publication mentioned
in p. 424 of the present Vol. _Editor._
TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN, ESQ[93].
_On the criminal Laws, and the Practice of Privateering._
_March 14, 1785._
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Among the pamphlets you lately sent me, was one, entitled, Thoughts
on Executive Justice. In return for that, I send you a French one on
the same subject, Observations concernant l'Exécution de l'Article
II, de la Déclaration sur le Vol. They are both addressed to the
judges, but written, as you will see, in a very different spirit. The
English author is for hanging _all_ thieves. The Frenchman is for
proportioning punishments to offences.
If we really believe, as we profess to believe, that the law of Moses
was the law of God, the dictate of divine wisdom, infinitely superior
to human; on what principles do we ordain death as the punishment of
an offence, which, according to that law, was only to be punished
by a restitution of fourfold? To put a man to death for an offence,
which does not deserve death, is it not a murder? And, as the French
writer says, _Doit on punir un délit contre la societé, par un crime
contre la nature?_
Superfluous property is the creature of society. Simple and mild laws
were sufficient to guard the property that was merely necessary. The
savage's bow, his hatchet, and his coat of skins, were sufficiently
secured, without law, by the fear of personal resentment and
retaliation. When, by virtue of the first laws, part of the society
accumulated wealth and grew powerful, they enacted others more
severe, and would protect their property at the expence of humanity.
This was abusing their power, and commencing a tyranny. If a savage,
before he entered into society, had been told,--"Your neighbour, by
this means, may become owner of an hundred deer; but if your brother,
or your son, or yourself, having no deer of your own, and being
hungry, should kill one, an infamous death must be the consequence:"
he would probably have preferred his liberty, and his common right
of killing any deer, to all the advantages of society that might be
proposed to him.
That it is better a hundred guilty persons should escape, than that
one innocent person should suffer, is a maxim that has been long
and generally approved; never, that I know of, controverted. Even
the sanguinary author of the Thoughts agrees to it, adding well,
"that the very thought of _injured_ innocence, and much more that
of _suffering_ innocence, must awaken all our tenderest and most
compassionate feelings, and at the same time raise our highest
indignation against the instruments of it." "But," he adds, "there is
no danger of _either_, from a strict adherence to the laws."--Really!
Is it then impossible to make an unjust law? and if the law itself be
unjust, may it not be the very "instrument" which ought "to raise the
author's, and every body's highest indignation?" I see, in the last
newspapers from London, that a woman is capitally convicted at the
Old Bailey, for privately stealing out of a shop some gauze, value
fourteen shillings and three-pence: is there any proportion between
the injury done by a theft, value fourteen shillings and three-pence,
and the punishment of a human creature, by death, on a gibbet? Might
not that woman, by her labour, have made the reparation ordained by
God, in paying fourfold? Is not all punishment, inflicted beyond
the merit of the offence, so much punishment of innocence? In this
light, how vast is the annual quantity, of not only _injured_ but
_suffering_ innocence, in almost all the civilized states of Europe!
But it seems to have been thought, that this kind of innocence may
be punished by way of _preventing_ crimes. I have read, indeed, of a
cruel Turk in Barbary, who, whenever he bought a new Christian slave,
ordered him immediately to be hung up by the legs, and to receive a
hundred blows of a cudgel on the soles of his feet, that the severe
sense of the punishment, and fear of incurring it thereafter, might
prevent the faults, that should merit it. Our author himself would
hardly approve entirely of this Turk's conduct in the government
of slaves; and yet he appears to recommend something like it for
the government of English subjects, when he applauds the reply of
judge Burnet to the convict horse-stealer; who, being asked what
he had to say why judgment of death should not pass against him,
and answering, that it was hard to hang a man for _only_ stealing a
horse, was told by the judge, "Man, thou art not to be hanged _only_
for stealing a horse, but that horses may not be stolen." The man's
answer, if candidly examined, will, I imagine, appear reasonable,
as being founded on the eternal principle of justice and equity,
that punishments should be proportioned to offences; and the judge's
reply brutal and unreasonable, though the writer "wishes all judges
to carry it with them whenever they go the circuit, and to bear
it in their minds, as containing a wise reason for all the penal
statutes, which they are called upon to put in execution. "It at
once illustrates," says he, "the true grounds and reasons of all
capital punishments whatsoever, namely, that every man's property,
as well as his life, may be held sacred and inviolate." Is there
then no difference in value between property and life? If I think
it right, that the crime of murder should be punished with death,
not only as an equal punishment of the crime, but to prevent other
murders, does it follow, that I must approve of inflicting the same
punishment for a little invasion on my property by theft? If I am
not myself so barbarous, so bloody-minded, and revengeful, as to
kill a fellow-creature for stealing from me fourteen shillings and
three-pence, how can I approve of a law that does it? Montesquieu,
who was himself a judge, endeavours to impress other maxims. He must
have known what humane judges feel on such occasions, and what the
effects of those feelings; and, so far from thinking that severe and
excessive punishments prevent crimes, he asserts, as quoted by our
French writer, that
"_L'atrocité des loix en empêche l'exécution._
"_L'orsque la peine est sans mesure, on est souvent obligé de lui
préférer l'impunité._
"_La cause de tous les relâchemens vient de l'impunité des crimes, et
non de la modération des peines._"
It is said by those who know Europe generally, that there are more
thefts committed and punished annually in England, than in all the
other nations put together. If this be so, there must be a cause
or causes for such depravity in our common people. May not one be
the deficiency of justice and morality in our national government,
manifested in our oppressive conduct to subjects, and unjust wars
on our neighbours? View the long-persisted in, unjust, monopolizing
treatment of Ireland, at length acknowledged! View the plundering
government exercised by our merchants in the Indies; the confiscating
war made upon the American colonies; and, to say nothing of those
upon France and Spain, view the late war upon Holland, which was
seen by impartial Europe in no other light than that of a war of
rapine and pillage; the hopes of an immense and easy prey being
its only apparent, and probably its true and real motive and
encouragement. Justice is as strictly due between neighbour nations,
as between neighbour citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when
he plunders in a gang, as when single; and a nation, that makes
an unjust war, is only a great gang. After employing your people
in robbing the Dutch, strange is it, that, being put out of that
employ by peace, they still continue robbing, and rob one another?
_Piraterie_, as the French call it, or privateering, is the universal
bent of the English nation, at home and abroad, wherever settled. No
less than seven hundred privateers were, it is said, commissioned in
the last war! These were fitted out by merchants, to prey upon other
merchants, who had never done them any injury. Is there probably any
one of those privateering merchants of London, who were so ready to
rob the merchants of Amsterdam, that would not as readily plunder
another London merchant of the next street, if he could do it with
the same impunity! The avidity, the _alieni appetens_, is the same;
it is the fear alone of the gallows that makes the difference. How
then can a nation, which, among the honestest of its people, has so
many thieves by inclination, and whose government encouraged and
commissioned no less than seven hundred gangs of robbers; how can
such a nation have the face to condemn the crime in individuals, and
hang up twenty of them in a morning! It naturally puts one in mind
of a Newgate anecdote. One of the prisoners complained, that in the
night somebody had taken his buckles out of his shoes. "What, the
devil!" says another, "have we then _thieves_ amongst us? It must not
be suffered. Let us search out the rogue, and pump him to death."
There is, however, one late instance of an English merchant, who will
not profit by such ill-gotten gain. He was, it seems, part-owner of
a ship, which the other owners thought fit to employ as a letter of
marque, and which took a number of French prizes. The booty being
shared, he has now an agent here enquiring, by an advertisement in
the Gazette, for those who suffered the loss, in order to make them,
as far as in him lies, restitution. This conscientious man is a
Quaker. The Scotch presbyterians were formerly as tender; for there
is still extant an ordinance of the town-council of Edinburgh, made
soon after the reformation, "forbidding the purchase of prize goods,
under pain of losing the freedom of the burgh for ever, with other
punishment at the will of the magistrate; the practice of making
prizes being contrary to good conscience, and the rule of treating
Christian brethren as we would wish to be treated; and such goods
_are not to be sold by any godly men within this burgh_." The race of
these godly men in Scotland is probably extinct, or their principles
abandoned, since, as far as that nation had a hand in promoting the
war against the colonies, prizes and confiscations are believed to
have been a considerable motive.
It has been for some time a generally received opinion, that a
military man is not to inquire whether a war be just or unjust; he is
to execute his orders. All princes who are disposed to become tyrants
must probably approve of this opinion, and be willing to establish
it; but is it not a dangerous one? since, on that principle, if
the tyrant commands his army to attack and destroy, not only an
unoffending neighbour nation, but even his own subjects, the army
is bound to obey. A negro slave, in our colonies, being commanded
by his master to rob or murder a neighbour, or do any other immoral
act, may refuse, and the magistrate will protect him in his refusal.
The slavery then of a soldier is worse than that of a negro! A
conscientious officer, if not restrained by the apprehension of
its being imputed to another cause, may indeed resign, rather than
be employed in an unjust war; but the private men are slaves for
life; and they are perhaps incapable of judging for themselves. We
can only lament their fate, and still more that of a sailor, who is
often dragged by force from his honest occupation, and compelled to
imbrue his hands in, perhaps, innocent blood. But methinks it well
behoves merchants (men more enlightened by their education, and
perfectly free from any such force or obligation) to consider well
of the justice of a war, before they voluntarily engage a gang of
ruffians to attack their fellow-merchants of a neighbouring nation,
to plunder them of their property, and perhaps ruin them and their
families, if they yield it; or to wound, maim, or murder them, if
they endeavour to defend it. Yet these things are done by Christian
merchants, whether a war be just or unjust; and it can hardly be
just on both sides. They are done by English and American merchants,
who, nevertheless, complain of private theft, and hang by dozens the
thieves they have taught by their own example.
It is high time, for the sake of humanity, that a stop were put to
this enormity. The United States of America, though better situated
than any European nation to make profit by privateering (most of the
trade of Europe, with the West Indies, passing before their doors)
are, as far as in them lies, endeavouring to abolish the practice,
by offering, in all their treaties with other powers, an article,
engaging solemnly, that, in case of future war, no privateer shall
be commissioned on either side; and that unarmed merchant-ships, on
both sides, shall pursue their voyages unmolested[94]. This will be
a happy improvement of the law of nations. The humane and the just
cannot but wish general success to the proposition.
With unchangeable esteem and affection,
I am, my dear friend,
Ever yours.
FOOTNOTES:
[93] From a small collection of Dr. Franklin's papers, printed for
Dilly. _Editor_.
[94] This offer having been accepted by the late king of Prussia, a
treaty of amity and commerce was concluded between that monarch and
the United States, containing the following humane, philanthropic
article; in the formation of which Dr. Franklin, as one of the
American plenipotentiaries, was principally concerned, viz.
ART. XXIII.
If war should arise between the two contracting parties, the
merchants of either country, then residing in the other, shall be
allowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle
their affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their effects
without molestation or hindrance; and all women and children,
scholars of every faculty, cultivators of the earth, artisans,
manufacturers, and fishermen, unarmed and inhabiting unfortified
towns, villages, or places, and in general all others, whose
occupations are for the common subsistence and benefit of mankind,
shall be allowed to continue their respective employments, and shall
not be molested in their persons, nor shall their houses and goods
be burnt, or otherwise destroyed, nor their fields wasted, by the
armed force of the enemy into whose power, by the events of war, they
may happen to fall; but if any thing is necessary to be taken from
them for the use of such armed force, the same shall be paid for at
a reasonable price. And all merchant and trading vessels employed in
exchanging the products of different places, and thereby rendering
the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of human life more easy
to be obtained, and more general, shall be allowed to pass free and
unmolested; and neither of the contracting powers shall grant or
issue any commission to any private armed vessels, empowering them to
take or destroy such trading vessels, or interrupt such commerce.
_A Parable against Persecution, in Imitation of Scripture
Language[95]._
1. And it came to pass after these things, that Abraham sat in the
door of his tent, about the going down of the sun.
2. And behold a man bent with age, coming from the way of the
wilderness leaning on a staff.
3. And Abraham arose, and met him, and said unto him, Turn in, I pray
thee, and wash thy feet, and tarry all night; and thou shalt arise
early in the morning, and go on thy way.
4. And the man said, Nay; for I will abide under this tree.
5. But Abraham pressed him greatly: so he turned and they went into
the tent: and Abraham baked unleaven bread, and they did eat.
6. And when Abraham saw that the man blessed not God, he said unto
him, Wherefore dost thou not worship the most high God, creator of
heaven and earth?
7. And the man answered and said, I do not worship thy God, neither
do I call upon his name, for I have made to myself a god, which
abideth always in my house, and provideth me with all things.
8. And Abraham's zeal was kindled against the man, and he arose, and
fell upon him, and drove him forth with blows into the wilderness.
9. And God called unto Abraham, saying, Abraham, where is the
stranger?
10. And Abraham answered and said, Lord, he would not worship thee,
neither would he call upon thy name, therefore have I driven him out
from before my face into the wilderness.
11. And God said, Have I borne with him these hundred and ninety and
eight years, and nourished him, and clothed him, notwithstanding his
rebellion against me, and couldst not thou, who art thyself a sinner,
bear with him one night?
12. And Abraham said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot against
his servant; lo, I have sinned, forgive me I pray thee.
13. And Abraham arose, and went forth into the wilderness and
diligently sought for the man and found him, and returned with him to
the tent, and when he had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on
the morrow with gifts.
14. And God spake again unto Abraham saying, For this thy sin shall
thy seed be afflicted four hundred years in a strange land.
15. But for thy repentance will I deliver them, and they shall
come forth with power, and with gladness of heart, and with much
substance.[96]
FOOTNOTES:
[95] I have taken this piece from Sketches of the History of Man,
written by lord Kaims, and shall preface it with his lordship's own
words. See Vol. II. p. 472, 473.
"The following Parable against Persecution was communicated to me
by Dr. Franklin of Philadelphia, a man who makes a great figure
in the learned world: and who would still make a greater figure
for benevolence and candour, were virtue as much regarded in this
declining age as knowledge."
* * * * *
"The historical style of the Old Testament is here finely imitated;
and the moral must strike every one who is not sunk in stupidity
and superstition. Were it really a chapter of Genesis, one is apt
to think, that persecution could never have shown a bare face among
Jews or Christians. But alas! that is a vain thought. Such a passage
in the Old Testament would avail as little against the rancorous
passions of men, as the following passages in the New Testament,
though persecution cannot be condemned in terms more explicit.
_Him that is weak in the faith, receive you, but not to doubtful
disputations. For, &c._" B. V.
[96] Dr. Franklin, as I have been told, has often imposed this
parable upon his friends and acquaintance, as part of a chapter of
Genesis. B. V.
_A Letter concerning Persecution in former Ages, the Maintenance of
the Clergy, American Bishops, and the State of Toleration in Old
England and New England compared[97]._
SIR,
I understand from the public papers, that in the debates on the
bill for relieving the dissenters in the point of subscription to
the church articles, sundry reflections were thrown out against
the people, importing, that they themselves are of a persecuting
intolerant spirit, for that when they had the superiority, they
persecuted the church, and still persecute it in America, where they
compel its members to pay taxes for maintaining the presbyterian or
independent worship, and at the same time refuse them a toleration
in the full exercise of their religion, by the administrations of a
bishop.
If we look back into history for the character of the present sects
in Christianity, we shall find few that have not, in their turns,
been persecutors and complainers of persecution. The primitive
christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the pagans, but
practised it on one another. The first protestants of the church of
England blamed persecution in the Romish church, but practised it
against the puritans: these found it wrong in the bishops, but fell
into the same practice both here and in New England.--To account
for this, we should remember, that the doctrine of _toleration_ was
not then known, or had not prevailed in the world. Persecution was
therefore not so much the fault of the sect as of the times. It was
not in those days deemed wrong _in itself_. The general opinion
was only, that those _who are in error_ ought not to persecute
_the truth_: but the _possessors of truth_ were in the right to
persecute error, in order to destroy it. Thus every sect believing
itself possessed of _all truth_, and that every tenet differing from
theirs was _error_, conceived, that when the power was in their
hands, persecution was a duty required of them by that God whom they
supposed to be offended with heresy.--By degrees, more moderate _and
more modest_ sentiments have taken place in the christian world;
and among protestants particularly, all disclaim persecution, none
vindicate it, and few practise it.--We should then cease to reproach
each other with what was done by our ancestors, but judge of the
present character of sects or churches by their _present conduct_
only[98].
Now to determine on the justice of this charge against the present
dissenters, particularly those in America, let us consider the
following facts. They went from England to establish a new country
for themselves, _at their own expence_, where they might enjoy
the free exercise of religion in their own way. When they had
purchased the territory of the natives, they granted the lands out
in townships, requiring for it neither purchase-money nor quit-rent,
but this condition only to be complied with, that the freeholders
should support a gospel-minister (meaning probably one of the then
governing sects) and a free-school, within the township. Thus,
what is commonly called presbyterianism became the _established
religion_ of that country. All went on well in this way, while the
same religious opinions were general, the support of minister and
school being raised by a proportionate tax on the lands. But, in
process of time, some becoming quakers[99], some baptists, and of
late years, some returning to the church of England (through the
laudable endeavours and a _proper application_[100] of their funds
by the society for propagating the gospel), objections were made
to the payment of a tax appropriated to the support of a church
they disapproved and had forsaken. The civil magistrates, however,
continued for a time to collect and apply the tax according to the
original laws, which remained in force; and they did it the more
freely as thinking it just and equitable, that the holders of lands
should pay what was contracted to be paid when they were granted, as
the only consideration for the grant, and what had been considered by
all subsequent purchasers as a perpetual incumbrance on the estate,
bought therefore at a proportionally cheaper rate; a payment which,
it was thought, no honest man ought to avoid, under pretence of his
having changed his religious persuasion: and this, I suppose, is one
of the best grounds of demanding tythes of dissenters now in England.
But the practice being clamoured against by the episcopalians as
persecution, the legislature of the province of Massachusets Bay,
near thirty years since, passed an act for their relief, requiring,
indeed, the tax to be paid as usual, but directing that the several
sums, levied from members of the church of England, should be paid
over to the minister of that church with whom such members usually
attended divine worship; which minister had power given him to
receive, and, on occasion, _to recover the same by law_.
It seems that legislature considered, that the end of the
tax was to secure and improve the morals of the people, and promote
their happiness, by supporting among them the public worship of God
and the preaching of the gospel; that where particular people fancied
a particular mode, that mode might probably, therefore, be of most
use to those people, and that if the good was done, it was not so
material in what mode or by whom it was done. The consideration, that
their brethren, the dissenters in England, were still compelled to
pay tythes to the clergy of the church, had not weight enough with
the legislature to prevent this moderate act, which still continues
in full force; and I hope no uncharitable conduct of the church
toward the dissenters will ever provoke them to repeal it.----
With regard to _a bishop_, I know not upon what ground the
dissenters, either here or in America, are charged with refusing the
benefit of such an officer to the church in that country. _Here_
they seem to have naturally no concern in the affair. _There_ they
have no power to prevent it, if government should think fit to send
one. They would probably _dislike_, indeed, to see an order of
men established among them, from whose persecutions their fathers
fled into that wilderness, and whose future domination they might
possibly fear, _not knowing that their natures are changed_.--But the
non-appointment of bishops for America seems to arise from another
quarter. The same wisdom of government, probably, that prevents the
sitting of convocations, and forbids, by _noli prosequi's_, the
persecution of dissenters for non-subscription, avoids establishing
bishops, where the minds of people are not yet prepared to receive
them cordially, lest the public peace should be endangered.
And now let us see how this _persecution-account_ stands between the
parties.
In New England, where the legislative bodies are almost to a man
dissenters from the church of England:
1. There is no test to prevent churchmen holding offices.
2. The sons of churchmen have the full benefit of the universities.
3. The taxes for support of public worship, when paid by churchmen,
are given to the episcopal minister.
In Old England:
1. Dissenters are excluded from all offices of profit and honour.
2. The benefits of education in the universities are appropriated to
the sons of churchmen.
3. The clergy of the dissenters receive none of the tythes paid by
their people, who must be at the additional charge of maintaining
their own separate worship.--
But it is said, that the dissenters of America _oppose_ the
introduction of a bishop.
In fact, it is not alone the dissenters there that give the
opposition (if _not encouraging_ must be termed _opposing_) but
the laity in general dislike the project, and some even of the
clergy. The inhabitants of Virginia are almost all episcopalians,
the church is fully established there, and the council and general
assembly are, perhaps to a man, its members: yet, when lately at
a meeting of the clergy, a resolution was taken to apply for a
bishop, against which several however protested; assembly of the
province, at the next meeting, expressed their disapprobation of the
thing in the strongest manner, by unanimously ordering the thanks
of the house to the protesters; for many of the American laity of
the church think it some advantage--whether their own young men
come to England for ordination, and improve themselves at the same
time by conversation with the learned here--or the congregations
are supplied by Englishmen, who have had the benefit of education
in English universities, and are ordained before they came abroad.
They do not, therefore, see the necessity of a bishop merely for
ordination; and confirmation is among them deemed a ceremony of no
very great importance, since few seek it in England, where bishops
are in plenty.--These sentiments prevail with many churchmen there,
not to promote a design which they think must sooner or later saddle
them with great expences to support it.--As to the dissenters, their
minds might probably be more conciliated to the measure, if the
bishops here should, in their wisdom and goodness, think fit to set
their sacred character in a more friendly light, by dropping their
opposition to the dissenters' application for relief in subscription,
and declaring their willingness that dissenters should be capable of
offices, enjoy the benefit of education in the universities, and the
privilege of appropriating their tythes to the support of their own
clergy. In all these points of toleration, they appear far behind
the present dissenters of New England, and it may seem to some a
step below the dignity of bishops, to follow the example of such
inferiors. I do not, however, despair of their doing it some time
or other, since nothing of the kind is too hard for _true christian
humility_.
I am, sir, yours, &c.
A NEW-ENGLAND-MAN.
FOOTNOTES:
[97] The above letter first appeared in one of the public papers on
June 3, 1772, and seems to have been addressed to the printer. The
spirited writer of the _Two letters to the prelates_ republished
it in an appendix to that pamphlet, without, however, naming Dr.
Franklin as the author, but expressing it to be the production "of a
gentleman highly respected in the literary world." B. V.
[98] "Toleration in religion, though obvious to common understanding,
was not however the production of reason, but of commerce. The
advantage of toleration for promoting commerce was discovered long
before by the Portuguese. They were too zealous Catholics to venture
so bold a measure in Portugal; but it was permitted in Goa, and the
inquisition in that town was confined to Roman Catholics." Lord
Kaim's Sketches of the History of Man, Vol. II. p. 474. B. V.
[99] "No person appeared in New England who professed the opinion
of the Quakers, until 1656, (i. e. about 36 years after the first
settling of the colony), when Mary Fisher and Ann Austin came from
Barbadoes; and soon after, nine others arrived in the ship Speedwell
from London." They were successful in their preaching, and the
provincial government, wishing to keep the colony free from them,
attempted to send away such as they discovered, and prevent the
arrival of others. Securities, fines, banishment, imprisonment, and
corporal punishments were instituted for this purpose, but with so
little effect, that at last "a law was made for punishing with death,
all such as should _return_ into the jurisdiction _after banishment_.
A few were hanged!" See the history of the British dominions, 4to,
1773, p. 118, 120. B. V.
[100] They were to spread the gospel, and maintain a learned and
orthodox clergy, where ministers were wanted or ill-provided,
administering God's word and sacraments, and preventing atheism,
infidelity, popery, and idolatry. B. V.
_On the Slave Trade[101]._
Reading in the newspapers the speech of Mr. Jackson in congress,
against meddling with the affair of slavery, or attempting to mend
the condition of slaves, it put me in mind of a similar speech, made
about one hundred years since, by Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim, a member
of the divan of Algiers, which may be seen in Martin's account of
his consulship, 1687. It was against granting the petition of the
sect called erika, or purists, who prayed for the abolition of
piracy and slavery, as being unjust.--Mr. Jackson does not quote it;
perhaps he has not seen it. If therefore, some of its reasonings are
to be found in his eloquent speech, it may only show, that men's
interests operate, and are operated on, with surprising similarity,
in all countries and climates, whenever they are under similar
circumstances. The African speech, as translated, is as follows:
"Alla Bismillah, &c. God is great, and Mahomet is his prophet.
"Have these erika considered the consequences of granting their
petition? If we cease our cruises against the christians, how shall
we be furnished with the commodities their countries produce,
and which are so necessary for us? If we forbear to make slaves
of their people, who, in this hot climate, are to cultivate our
lands? Who are to perform the common labours of our city, and of
our families? Must we not then be our own slaves? And is there not
more compassion and more favour due to us mussulmen, than to those
christian dogs?--We have now above fifty thousand slaves in and near
Algiers. This number, if not kept up by fresh supplies, will soon
diminish, and be gradually annihilated. If, then, we cease taking
and plundering the infidel ships, and making slaves of the seamen
and passengers, our lands will become of no value, for want of
cultivation; the rents of houses in the city will sink one half; and
the revenues of government, arising from the share of prizes, must be
totally destroyed.--And for what? To gratify the whim of a whimsical
sect, who would have us not only forbear making more slaves, but even
manumit those we have. But who is to indemnify their masters for the
loss? Will the state do it? Is our treasury sufficient? Will the
erika do it? Can they do it? Or would they, to do what they think
justice to the slaves, do a greater injustice to the owners? And if
we set our slaves free, what is to be done with them? Few of them
will return to their native countries; they know too well the greater
hardships they must there be subject to. They will not embrace our
holy religion: they will not adopt our manners: our people will not
pollute themselves by intermarrying with them. Must we maintain them
as beggars in our streets; or suffer our properties to be the prey
of their pillage? for men, accustomed to slavery, will not work for
a livelihood, when not compelled.--And what is there so pitiable
in their present condition? Were they not slaves in their own
countries? Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the Italian states,
governed by despots, who hold all their subjects in slavery, without
exception? Even England treats her sailors as slaves, for they are,
whenever the government pleases, seized and confined in ships of war,
condemned not only to work, but to fight for small wages, or a mere
subsistence, not better than our slaves are allowed by us. Is their
condition then made worse by their falling into our hands? no; they
have only exchanged one slavery for another; and I may say a better:
for here they are brought into a land, where the sun of islamism
gives forth its light, and shines in full splendor, and they have an
opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the true doctrine,
and thereby saving their immortal souls. Those who remain at home
have not that happiness. Sending the slaves home then, would be
sending them out of light into darkness.
"I repeat the question, what is to be done with them? I have heard
it suggested, that they may be planted in the wilderness, where
there is plenty of land for them to subsist on, and where they may
flourish as a free state.--But they are, I doubt, too little disposed
to labour without compulsion, as well as too ignorant to establish
good government: and the wild Arabs would soon molest and destroy, or
again enslave them. While serving us, we take care to provide them
with every thing; and they are treated with humanity. The labourers
in their own countries are, as I am informed, worse fed, lodged,
and clothed. The condition of most of them is therefore already
mended, and requires no farther improvement. Here their lives are in
safety. They are not liable to be impressed for soldiers, and forced
to cut one another's christian throats, as in the wars of their
own countries. If some of the religious mad bigots, who now tease
us with their silly petitions, have, in a fit of blind zeal, freed
their slaves, it was not generosity, it was not humanity, that moved
them to the action; it was from the conscious burthen of a load of
sins, and hope, from the supposed merits of so good a work, to be
excused from damnation.--How grossly are they mistaken, in imagining
slavery to be disavowed by the Alcoran! Are not the two precepts, to
quote no more, "Masters, treat your slaves with kindness--Slaves,
serve your masters with cheerfulness and fidelity," clear proofs to
the contrary? Nor can the plundering of infidels be in that sacred
book forbidden; since it is well known from it, that God has given
the world, and all that it contains, to his faithful mussulmen, who
are to enjoy it, of right, as fast as they can conquer it. Let us
then hear no more of this detestable proposition, the manumission
of christian slaves, the adoption of which would, by depreciating
our lands and houses, and thereby depriving so many good citizens
of their properties, create universal discontent, and provoke
insurrections, to the endangering of government and producing general
confusion. I have, therefore, no doubt that this wise council will
prefer the comfort and happiness of a whole nation of true believers,
to the whim of a few erika, and dismiss their petition."
The result was, as Martin tells us, that the divan came to this
resolution: "That the doctrine, that the plundering and enslaving the
christians is unjust, is at best problematical; but that it is the
interest of this state to continue the practice is clear; therefore,
let the petition be rejected."----And it was rejected accordingly.
And since like motives are apt to produce, in the minds of men,
like opinions and resolutions, may we not venture to predict, from
this account, that the petitions to the parliament of England for
abolishing the slave-trade, to say nothing of other legislatures and
the debates upon them, will have a similar conclusion.
HISTORICUS.
_March 23, 1790._
FOOTNOTE:
[101] American Museum, Vol. IX. p. 336. _Editor._
_Account of the highest Court of Judicature in Pensylvania, viz.
The Court of the Press[102]._
_Power of this Court._
It may receive and promulgate accusations of all kinds, against all
persons and characters among the citizens of the state, and even
against all inferior courts; and may judge, sentence, and condemn to
infamy, not only private individuals, but public bodies, &c. with or
without enquiry or hearing, at the court's discretion.
_Whose Favour, or for whose Emolument this Court is established._
In favour of about one citizen in five hundred, who, by education, or
practice in scribbling, has acquired a tolerable style as to grammar
and construction, so as to bear printing; or who is possessed of a
press and a few types. This five hundredth part of the citizens have
the privilege of accusing and abusing the other four hundred and
ninety-nine parts, at their pleasure; or they may hire out their
pens and press to others, for that purpose.
_Practice of this Court._
It is not governed by any of the rules of the common courts of
law. The accused is allowed no grand jury to judge of the truth of
the accusation before it is publicly made; nor is the name of the
accuser made known to him; nor has he an opportunity of confronting
the witnesses against him, for they are kept in the dark, as in the
Spanish court of inquisition. Nor is there any petty jury of his
peers sworn to try the truth of the charges. The proceedings are also
sometimes so rapid, that an honest good citizen may find himself
suddenly and unexpectedly accused, and in the same morning judged and
condemned, and sentence pronounced against him, that he is a rogue
and a villain. Yet if an officer of this court receives the slightest
check for misconduct in this his office, he claims immediately the
rights of a free citizen by the constitution, and demands to know his
accuser, to confront the witnesses, and to have a fair trial by a
jury of his peers.
_Foundation of its Authority._
It is said to be founded on an article in the state constitution,
which establishes the liberty of the press--a liberty which every
Pennsylvanian would fight and die for, though few of us, I believe,
have distinct ideas of its nature and extent. It seems, indeed,
somewhat like the liberty of the press, that felons have, by the
common law of England, before conviction; that is, to be either
pressed to death or hanged. If, by the liberty of the press, were
understood merely the liberty of discussing the propriety of public
measures and political opinions, let us have as much of it as you
please; but if it means the liberty of affronting, calumniating, and
defaming one another, I, for my part, own myself willing to part with
my share of it, whenever our legislators shall please so to alter the
law; and shall cheerfully consent to exchange my liberty of abusing
others, for the privilege of not being abused myself.
_By whom this Court is commissioned or constituted._
It is not by any commission from the supreme executive council, who
might previously judge of the abilities, integrity, knowledge, &c.
of the persons to be appointed to this great trust, of deciding upon
the characters and good fame of the citizens: for this court is above
that council, and may accuse, judge, and condemn it at pleasure.
Nor is it hereditary, as is the court of dernier resort in the
peerage of England. But any man who can procure pen, ink, and paper,
with a press, a few types, and a huge pair of blacking balls, may
commissionate himself, and his court is immediately established in
the plenary possession and exercise of its rights. For if you make
the least complaint of the judge's conduct, he daubs his blacking
balls in your face wherever he meets you; and, besides tearing your
private character to splinters, marks you out for the odium of the
public, as an enemy to the liberty of the press.
_Of the natural Support of this Court._
Its support is founded in the depravity of such minds, as have not
been mended by religion, nor improved by good education.
There is a lust in man no charm can tame,
Of loudly publishing his neighbour's shame.
Hence,
On eagles' wings, immortal scandals fly,
While virtuous actions are but born and die.----DRYDEN.
Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of his neighbour, will
feel a pleasure in the reverse. And of those who, despairing to rise
to distinction by their virtues, are happy if others can be depressed
to a level with themselves, there are a number sufficient in every
great town to maintain one of these courts by their subscription. A
shrewd observer once said, that in walking the streets of a slippery
morning, one might see where the good-natured people lived, by the
ashes thrown on the ice before the doors: probably he would have
formed a different conjecture of the temper of those whom he might
find engaged in such subscriptions.
_Of the Checks proper to be established against the Abuses of Power
in those Courts._
Hitherto there are none. But since so much has been written and
published on the federal constitution; and the necessity of checks,
in all other parts of good government, has been so clearly and
learnedly explained, I find myself so far enlightened as to suspect
some check may be proper in this part also: but I have been at a
loss to imagine any, that may not be construed an infringement of
the sacred liberty of the press. At length, however, I think I have
found one, that, instead of diminishing general liberty, shall
augment it; which is, by restoring to the people a species of liberty
of which they have been deprived by our laws, I mean the liberty of
the cudgel! In the rude state of society, prior to the existence
of laws, if one man gave another ill-language, the affronted person
might return it by a box on the ear; and if repeated, by a good
drubbing; and this without offending against any law: but now the
right of making such returns is denied, and they are punished as
breaches of the peace, while the right of abusing seems to remain in
full force; the laws made against it being rendered ineffectual by
the liberty of the press.
My proposal then is, to leave the liberty of the press untouched, to
be exercised in its full extent, force, and vigour, but to permit the
liberty of the cudgel to go with it, _pari passu_. Thus, my fellow
citizens, if an impudent writer attacks your reputation--dearer
perhaps to you than your life, and puts his name to the charge, you
may go to him as openly, and break his head. If he conceals himself
behind the printer, and you can nevertheless discover who he is, you
may, in like manner, way-lay him in the night, attack him behind, and
give him a good drubbing. If your adversary hires better writers than
himself to abuse you more effectually, you may hire brawny porters,
stronger than yourself, to assist you in giving him a more effectual
drubbing. Thus far goes my project, as to _private_ resentment and
retribution. But if the public should ever happen to be affronted, as
it ought to be, with the conduct of such writers, I would not advise
proceeding immediately to these extremities, but that we should in
moderation content ourselves with tarring and feathering, and tossing
them in a blanket.
If, however, it should be thought, that this proposal of mine may
disturb the public peace, I would then humbly recommend to our
legislators to take up the consideration of both liberties, that of
the press, and that of the cudgel; and by an explicit law mark their
extent and limits: and at the same time that they secure the person
of a citizen from assaults, they would likewise provide for the
security of his reputation.
FOOTNOTE:
[102] Ut supra, Vol. VI. p. 295. _Editor._
END OF VOLUME THE SECOND.
JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,
_Ivy-Lane, Paternoster-Row._
INDEX.
A.
_Accent_, or emphasis, wrong placing of, a fault in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Accidents_ at sea, how to guard against, ii. 172.
_Adams_, Mr. Matthew, offers the use of his library to Franklin, i. 16.
_Addison_, Franklin an assiduous imitator of, in his youth, i. 13.
_Advice_ to youth in reading, ii. 378.
to emigrants to America, iii. 398.
to a crafty statesman, 430.
to a young tradesman, 463.
to a young married man, 477.
to players at chess, 490.
_Æpinus_, his hypothesis of magnetism, i. 412.
_Agriculture_ takes place of manufactures till a country is fully settled,
iii. 107.
the great business of America, 393.
_Air_, some of the properties of, ii. 226.
its properties with respect to electricity, i. 204.
properties of its particles, 205. ii. 1.
its currents over the globe, i. 207.
resists the electric fluid and confines it to bodies, 241.
its effects in electrical experiments, 253.
its elasticity not affected by electricity, 254.
its friction against trees, 270, 323.
has its share of electricity, 333.
its electricity denser above than below, 335.
in rooms, electrified positively and negatively, 353.
attracts water, ii. 1.
when saturated with water precipitates it, 2.
dissolves water, and, when dry, oil, 4.
why suffocating, when impregnated with oil or grease, _ibid._
supports water, 5, 46, 49.
why less heated in the higher regions than near the earth's surface,
6.
how it creates hurricanes, _ibid._
winds, 8.
whirlwinds, 10.
effects of heat upon, 50.
its effects on the barometer, 92.
condensed, supposed to form the centre of the earth, 119, 127.
noxious, corrected by vegetation, 129.
observations on the free use of, 213.
rare, no bad conductor of sound, 337.
fresh, beneficial effects of, in bed-rooms, iii. 495.
_Air-thermometer_, electrical, experiments with, i. 336.
_Albany_ plan of union, short account of, i. 127.
its singular fate, 129.
papers relating to, iii. 3.
motives on which formed, 4.
rejects partial unions, 6.
its president and grand council, 9.
election of members, 12.
place of first meeting, 13.
new election, _ibid._
proportion of members after three years, 15.
meetings of the grand council and call, 16.
allowance to members, 17.
power of president and his duty, 18.
treaties of peace and war, _ibid._
Indian trade and purchases, 19.
new settlements, 21.
military establishments, 23.
laws and taxes, 24, 26.
issuing of money, 25.
appointment of officers, 27.
rejected in England, 29.
_Almanack._ _See Poor Richard._
_Alphabet_, a new one proposed, ii. 357.
examples of writing in it, 360.
correspondence on its merits, 361.
_Amber_, electrical experiments on, i. 403.
_America_, North, air of, drier than that of England and France, ii. 140.
why marriages are more frequent there than in Europe, 385.
why labour will long continue dear there, _ibid._
argument against the union of the colonies of, under one government,
401.
state of toleration there, 457.
reflections on the scheme of imposing taxes on, without its consent,
iii. 30.
thoughts on the representation of, in the British parliament, 37.
interest of Great Britain with regard to, 39.
forts in the back settlements of, no security against France, 99.
wars carried on there against the French, not merely in the cause of
the colonies, 105.
preference of the colonies of, to the West Indian colonies, 113.
great navigable rivers of, favourable to inland trade, 118.
what commodities the inland parts of, are fitted to produce, 119.
the productions of, do not interfere with those of Britain, 123.
union of the colonies of, in a revolt against Britain, impossible but
from grievous oppression, 132.
reasons given for restraining paper-bills of credit there, 144.
intended scheme of a bank there, described, 155.
attempts of Franklin for conciliation of Britain with, 286.
feeling of, as to Britain, in May 1775, 346.
conciliation of Britain with, hopeless, 355.
account of the first campaign of the British forces against, 357.
application of, to foreign courts, for aid in its independence, 360.
credit of, with that of Britain, in 1777, compared, 372.
true description of the interest and policy of, 391.
information to those emigrating thither, 398.
terms on which land may be obtained for new settlements there, 409.
_Americans_, their prejudices for whatever is English, i. 144.
_Anchor_, a swimming one proposed, ii. 181, 185.
_Ancients_, their experimental learning too often slighted, ii. 146.
_Anecdote_ of Franklin's early spirit of enterprise, i. 11.
of a Swedish clergyman among the Indians, iii. 386.
of an Indian who went to church, 389.
_Animal_ food, Franklin's abstinence from, i. 20.
return to, 47.
humorous instance of abstinence from, 49.
heat, whence it arises, ii. 79, 125.
magnetism, detected and exposed, i. 150.
_Animalcules_, supposed to cause the luminous appearance of sea-water,
ii. 89.
_Animals_, how to kill them by electricity, i. 415.
_Antifederalists_ of America, comparison of, to the ancient Jews,
iii. 410.
_Apprentices_ easier placed out in America than in Europe, iii. 407.
indentures of, how made in America, 408.
_Argumentation_, bad effects of, as a habit, i. 17.
best method of, 22.
_Armies_, best means of supporting them, ii. 400.
_Armonica_, musical instrument so called, described, ii. 330.
manner of playing on it, 334.
_Asbestos_, specimen of, sold by Franklin to Sir Hans Sloane, i. 60.
letter relating to it, iii. 513.
_Astrology_, letter to the Busy-body on, iii. 448.
_Atmosphere_ sometimes denser above than below, ii. 6.
electrical, its properties, i. 294.
_Aurora borealis_ explained, i. 212.
conjectures respecting, 257, ii. 69.
query concerning, i. 293.
B.
_Badoin_, Mr. letters from, i. 314, 324.
_Ballads_, two, written by Franklin in his youth, i. 16.
_Balls_ of fire in the air, remark concerning, ii. 337.
_Barometer_, how acted on by air, ii. 92.
_Barrels_ for gunpowder, new sort proposed, i. 376.
_Bass_, unnecessary in some tunes, ii. 343.
_Bathing_ relieves thirst, ii. 104.
observations on, 211.
_Battery_, electrical, its construction, i. 193.
_Baxter_, Mr. observations on his enquiry into the nature of the soul,
ii. 110.
_Beccaria_, character of his book on electricity, i. 310.
_Beer_, not conducive to bodily strength, i. 62.
_Bells_, form in consecrating them at Paris, i. 384.
_Belly-ache_, dry, lead a cause of, ii. 220.
_Bermuda_, little thunder there, i. 216.
_Bermudian_ sloops, advantages of their construction, ii. 173.
_Bernoulli_, Mr. his plan for moving boats, ii. 179.
_Bevis_, Dr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Bible_, anecdote of its concealment in the reign of Mary, i. 7.
travestied by Dr. Brown, 31.
_Bills_ of mortality, reasonings, formed on those for capital cities,
not applicable to the country, ii. 383.
_Birth_, noble, no qualification in America, iii. 400.
_Bishops_, none in America, and why, ii. 456, 458.
_Black clothes_ heat more and dry sooner than white, ii. 108.
not fit for hot climates, 109.
_Blacksmith_, trade of, hereditary in Franklin's family, i. 4.
_Blindness_ occasioned both by lightning and electricity, i. 228.
_Boats_, difference of their sailing in shoal and deep water, ii. 160.
management of, best understood by savages, 176.
how rowed by the Chinese, 177.
methods of moving them by machinery, _ibid._
improvement of Mr. Bernoulli's plan for moving them, 179.
proposal for a new mode of moving them, _ibid._
double, advantage of, 173, 174.
one built by Sir W. Petty, _ibid._
_Bodies_, electrified negatively, repel each other, ii. 294.
effect of blunt, compared with pointed ones, i. 172, 223.
_Body_, human, specifically lighter than water, ii. 208.
political and human, compared, iii. 115.
_Boerhaave_, his opinion of the propagation of heat, ii. 58.
of steam from fermenting liquors, 59.
_Boiling_ water, experiments with, i. 332, 344, 345.
pot, bottom of, why cold, 387.
_Bolton_, Mr. experiment by, i. 346.
_Books_ read by Franklin in his youth, i. 15, 18, 20, 21.
_Boston_, the birth-place of Franklin, i. 8.
why quitted by him in his youth, 27,
its inhabitants decrease, ii. 210.
preface to proceedings of the town meeting of, iii. 317.
_Boyle's_ lectures, effect of, on Franklin, i. 79.
_Braddock_, general, defeat of, i. 131.
_Bradford_, printer at Philadelphia, i. 34, 102.
_Brass_, hot, yields unwholesome steams, ii. 249
_Brientnal_, Joseph, a member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Brimstone_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Bristol waters_, an alledged fact concerning, ii. 95.
_Britain_, incapacity of, to supply the colonies with manufactures,
ii. 386.
_British empire_, an union of several states, iii. 310.
_Brown_, Dr. acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 30.
travestied the bible, 31.
_Bubbles_ on the surface of water, hypothesis respecting, ii. 48.
_Buchan_, earl of, letter to, on the price of land for new settlements
in America, iii. 409.
_Buildings_, what kind safest from lightning, i. 379.
_Bullion_, causes of its variation in price, iii. 153.
_Bunyan's_ Voyages, a book early read by Franklin, i. 15, 28.
_Bur_, cause of, round a hole struck through pasteboard, i. 280.
_Burnet_, governor, his attention to Franklin in his youth, i. 44.
_Busy-body_, essays under the title of, i. 86. iii. 422.
C.
_Cabinet-work_, veneered in England, shrinks and flies in America,
ii. 140.
_Cables_, why apt to part when weighing anchor in a swell, ii. 167.
this defect of, remedied, 168.
_Cabot_, Sebastian, his commission from Henry VII., iii. 348.
_Calvinism_, Franklin educated in the principles of, i. 79.
_Campaign_ in America, account of the first, iii. 357.
_Canals_, observations on their depth, ii. 159.
_Canada_, importance of, to England, i. 136.
visited by Franklin, 147.
its extent, iii. 20.
pamphlet on the importance of, 89.
easily peopled without draining Britain, 139.
_Cancers_, specific for, i. 260, 261.
_Candles_ lighted by electricity, i. 176.
distance at which the flame of, may be seen, ii. 90.
_Cann_, silver, a singular experiment on, i. 307.
_Canoes_ of the American Indians, their advantages, ii. 176.
_Canton_, Mr. John, experiments by, i. 286, 346.
draws electricity from the clouds, 428.
_Capitals_, their use in printing, ii. 352.
_Caribbees_, possession of, only a temporary benefit, iii. 142.
_Carolina_, South, see _Lightning_.
_Cavendish_, lord Charles, his electrical experiments, i. 348.
_Cayenne_ would be a great acquisition to Britain, iii. 140.
_Centre_ of the earth, hypothesis concerning, ii. 119, 127.
_Cessions_ from an enemy, on what grounds may be demanded, iii. 93.
_Chapel_, nickname for a printing house, i. 63.
_Character_, remarks on the delineation of, iii. 445.
_Charcoal-fires_, hurtful, ii. 235.
_Charging_ and discharging, in electricity, explained, i. 190.
a number of bottles at once, how done, _ibid._
_Charters_ of the colonies could not be altered by parliament, iii. 332.
_Chess_, morals of, iii. 488.
not an idle amusement, _ibid._
teaches various virtues, 489.
advice to those who play, 490.
too intense an application to, injurious, 500.
_Chimnies_, different kinds of, enumerated, ii. 228.
inconvenience of the old-fashioned ones, 229.
defect of more modern ones, 230.
have not long been in use in England, 277.
Staffordshire, described, 285.
have a draft of air up and down, 289.
may be used for keeping provisions in summer, 290.
may be of use to miners, 291.
funnels to, what the best, 292, 295.
method of contracting them, 317.
smoky. See _Smoky_.
_China_, provision made there against famine, ii. 407.
_Chinese_ wisely divide the holds of their vessels by partitions, ii. 171.
how they row their boats, 177.
their method of warming ground floors, 292.
improvement in this method suggested, 293.
their method of making large paper, 349.
_Circle_, magical, account of, ii. 327, 328.
_Cities_, spring water gradually deteriorates in, i. 163.
do not supply themselves with inhabitants, ii. 384.
_Clark_, Dr. of Boston, quoted, on the instigation of the American
Indians against the English, iii. 95, 100, 102.
_Clothes_, wet, may preserve from lightning, i. 213.
will relieve thirst, ii. 104.
do not give colds, _ibid._
imbibe heat according to their colour, 108.
white, most suitable for hot climates, _ibid._
_Clothing_ does not give, but preserves, warmth, ii. 81.
_Clouds_, at land and at sea, difference between, i. 207.
formed at sea, how brought to rain on land, 208.
driven against mountains, form springs and rivers, 209.
passing different ways, accounted for, 211.
electrical, attracted by trees, spires, &c. 213.
manner in which they become electrised, 257, 305.
are electrised sometimes negatively and sometimes positively, 274,
277, 284, 292.
electricity drawn from them, at Marly, 420.
by Mr. Cauton, 428.
by Dr. Bevis, 429,
by Mr. Wilson, _ibid._
how supported in air, ii. 5.
how formed, 7.
whether winds are generated or can be confined in them, 57.
have little more solidity than fogs, _ibid._
_Club_, called the Junto, instituted by Franklin, i. 82.
rules of, ii. 366, 369.
questions discussed in, 369.
_Coal_, sea, letter on the nature of, ii. 128.
_Cold_, why seemingly greater in metals than in wood, ii. 56, 77.
sensation of, how produced, 57.
only the absence of heat, 81.
produced by chemical mixtures, _ibid._
evaporation. See _Evaporation_.
_Colden_, Mr. his remarks on Abbé Nollet's letters, i. 430.
meteorological observations, ii. 51.
observations on water-spouts, 53.
_Colds_, causes of, ii. 214, 230.
_Coleman_, William, a member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Colica pictorum_, caused by lead, ii. 219.
_Collins_, John, an early friend of Franklin's, i. 17, 27, 41, 43, 44.
_Collinson_, Mr. some account of, iii. 514.
_Colonial_ governments in America of three kinds, iii. 50.
_Colonies_, the settlement of, does not diminish national numbers,
ii. 391.
their prosperity beneficial to the mother country, iii. 113.
are intitled to distinct governments, 303.
American, preferable to the West Indies, _ibid._
not dangerous to Britain, 132.
aids to government, how given by, 225, 226.
originally governed by the crown, independent of Parliament,
291.
not settled at the expence of Britain, 348.
_Colonists_ in America, double their number in 25 years, iii. 113.
from Britain, their rights, 299.
_Colours._ See _Clothes_.
_Comazants_, or corposants, are electrical appearances, i. 248.
_Commerce_, influence of, on the manners of a people, ii. 400.
is best encouraged by being left free, 415.
should not be prohibited in time of war, 417.
by inland carriage, how supported, iii. 116.
_Common-sense_, by Paine, Franklin supposed to have contributed to,
i. 148.
_Compass_, instances of its losing its virtue by lightning, i. 248.
how to remedy the want of, at sea, ii. 191.
_Conductors_ of lightning, very common in America, i. 113.
first suggestion of the utility of, 227.
construction of, 358.
particulars relating to, 377.
of electricity, difference in the action of, 200, 303.
which the most perfect, 253, 256.
and non-conductors, other terms substituted for, _ibid._
of common fire, their properties and differences, ii. 76, 77.
experiments on, ii. 77.
_Congress_, Franklin appointed a delegate to, i. 146.
proposed overture from, in 1775, iii. 347.
_Consecration_ of bells in France, form of, i. 384.
_Conspirators_, electrical, meaning of the term, i. 196.
_Controversy_, benefit of, iii. 92.
_Conversation_, advantage of useful topics of, at dinner, i. 12.
_Cook_, captain, circular letter concerning, iii. 515.
copy of the voyages of, presented to Franklin, by the Admiralty, 517.
Cookery, at sea, generally bad, ii. 194.
_Copper_, manner of covering houses with, ii. 318, 320, 322.
_Copper_ plate printing-press, the first in America, constructed by
Franklin, i. 77.
_Corn_, ill policy of laying restraints on the exportation of, ii. 413,
418.
_Countries_, distant and unprovided, a plan for benefiting, ii. 403.
_Creation_, conjectures as to, ii. 118.
_Credit_, that of America and Britain in 1777, compared, iii. 372.
depends on payment of loans, 373.
industry and frugality, 374.
public spirit, 375.
income and security, 376.
prospects of future ability, _ibid._
prudence, 377.
character for honesty, 378.
is money to a tradesman, 464.
_Criminal_ laws, reflections on, ii. 439.
_Crooked_ direction of lightning explained, i. 316.
_Cutler_, circumstance that prevented Franklin's being apprenticed to
one, i. 14.
_Currents_ at sea, often not perceivable, ii. 185.
_Cyder_, the best quencher of thirst, ii. 195.
D.
_Dalrymple_, Mr. scheme of a voyage under his command to benefit remote
regions, ii. 403.
_Damp_ air, why more chilling than dry air that is colder, ii. 56, 77.
_Dampier_, account of a water-spout by, ii. 33.
references to his voyage, on the subject of water-spouts, 58.
_Dampness_ on walls, cause of, ii. 50.
_Day-light_, proposal to use it instead of candle-light, iii. 470.
_Deacon_, Isaac, from an underling to a surveyor, becomes inspector-
general of America, i. 78.
prognosticates the future eminence in life of Franklin, _ib._
_Death_ of Franklin, i. 153.
letter from Dr. Price on, iii. 541.
of relatives, reflections on, 507.
_Deism_, effects on Franklin of books written against, i. 79.
_Deluge_, accounted for, ii. 127.
_Denham_, a quaker, a friend of Franklin's, i. 54.
extraordinary trait of honesty of, to his creditors, 67.
Franklin's engagement with, as a clerk, 68, 70.
_Denmark_, the people of, not subject to colds, ii. 244.
_Denny_, governor, remarks on his official conduct in Pensylvania,
iii. 170.
_Desaquiliers_, his experiment on the vapour of hot iron, ii. 249.
_Dew_, how produced, i. 207.
_Dialogue_, between Franklin and the gout, iii. 499.
_Dickenson_, Mr. his remarks on the views of England in framing laws
over the colonies, iii. 234.
remarks on his conduct, 192.
on his protest, 202.
_Discontented_ dispositions satirized, iii. 485.
_Discontents_ in America before 1768, causes of, iii. 225.
_Dissentions_ between England and America, letter on, iii. 310.
_Dissertation_, early one of Franklin's, that he repented having written,
i. 58.
_Disputation_, modesty in, recommended, i. 21. ii. 317.
_Disputes_ between Franklin and his brother, to whom he was apprenticed,
i. 24.
_Domien_, a traveller, short account of, i. 302.
_Drawling_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Dreams_, art of procuring pleasant ones, iii. 493.
_Dumas_, Monsieur, letter to, on the aid wanted by America in her struggle
for independence, iii. 360.
_Duna_ river, not to be confounded with the Dwina, iii. 119, note.
_Dust_, how raised and carried up into the air, ii. 3.
_Duties_, moral, the knowledge of, more important than the knowledge of
nature, ii. 95.
_Dutch_ iron stove, advantages and defects of, ii. 233.
E.
_Early_ impressions, lasting effect of, on the mind, iii. 478.
_Earth_ will dissolve in air, ii. 2.
dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 206.
the, sometimes strikes lightning into the clouds, 274.
grows no hotter under the summer sun, why, ii. 86.
different strata of, 116.
theory of, 117.
_Earthquakes_, general good arising from, ii. 116.
how occasioned, 120, 128.
_Eaton_, in Northamptonshire, residence of Franklin's family, i. 3.
_Ebb_ and flood, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Economical_ project, iii. 469.
_Edinburgh_, an ordinance there against the purchase of prize-goods,
ii. 447.
_Education_ of women, controversy respecting, i. 17.
_Eel_, electrical, of Surinam, i. 408, 409.
_Effluvia_ of drugs, &c. will not pass through glass, i. 243.
_Electrical_ air-thermometer described, i. 336, _et seq._
atmosphere, how produced, 221.
how drawn off, 222.
atmospheres repel each other, 294.
repel electric matter in other bodies, _ib._
battery, its construction, 193.
clouds, experiment regarding, 229.
death, the easiest, 307.
experiments, Franklin's eager pursuit of, 104.
made in France, 109.
various, 182, 229, 254, 255, 261, 271, 278, 286, 294, 307, 327,
337, 348, 371, 434.
fire, not created by friction, but collected, 173.
passes through water, 202.
loves water and subsists in it, 203.
diffused through all matter, 205
visible on the surface of the sea, _ibid._
its properties and uses, 214, _et seq._
produces common fire, 214, 238, 356.
has the same crooked direction as lightning, 315.
fluid, its beneficial uses, 219.
is strongly attracted by glass, 236.
manner of its acting through glass hermetically sealed, 241.
a certain quantity of, in all kinds of matter, 275.
nature of its explosion, 280.
chooses the best conductor, 281, 378.
force, may be unboundedly increased, 251.
horse-race, 334.
jack for roasting, 197.
kiss, its force increased, 177.
kite, described, 268.
machine; simple and portable one, described, 178.
matter, its properties, 217, 294.
party of pleasure, 202.
phial, or Leyden bottle, its phenomena explained, 179.
shock, observations on, 182.
effects of a strong one on the human body, 297, 306.
spark, perforates a quire of paper, 195.
wheel, its construction, 196.
self-moving one, 198.
_Electricity_, summary of its progress, i. 104.
positive and negative, discovered, 106.
distinguished, 175.
in a tourmalin, 370.
does not affect the elasticity of the air, 254.
its similarity to lightning, 288.
its effects on paralysis, 401.
of fogs in Ireland, 405.
supposed affinity between, and magnetism, 410.
_Electrics per se_ and non-electrics, difference between, i. 242, 258.
_Electrified_ bumpers described, i. 203.
_Electrisation_, what constitutes the state of, i. 218.
various appearances of, 175.
variety of, 176.
_Electrising_ one's self, manner of, i. 174.
_Elocution_, how best taught, ii. 374.
_Embassador_ from the United States to France, Franklin appointed to the
office of, i. 148.
_Emblematical_ design illustrative of the American troubles, iii. 371.
_Emigrants_ to America, advice to, iii. 398.
_Empire_, rules for reducing a great one, iii. 334.
_England_, Franklin's first arrival in, i. 55.
second arrival in, as agent for the province of Pensylvania, 134.
third arrival in, as agent for the same province, 141.
its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
decrease of population in, doubtful, 296.
_English_, effect of the ancient manners of, ii. 399.
language, innovations in, 351.
_Enterprises_, public, Franklin's early disposition for, i. 10.
_Ephemera_, an emblem of human life, iii. 508.
_Epitaph_ on Franklin's parents, i. 13.
on himself, 155.
_Episcopalians_, conduct of the American legislature towards, ii. 455.
_Errors_ of Franklin's early life, i. 45, 58, 61, 80, 97.
_Ether_, what, ii. 59.
_Evaporation_, cold produced by, i. 344, ii. 76, 83, 85.
of rivers, effects of, 106.
_Examination_ of Franklin before the house of commons, i. 142, iii. 245.
before the privy council, 328.
further particulars of, 551.
_Exchange_, rate of, between Philadelphia and Britain, iii. 252.
_Exercise_, should precede meals, iii. 493.
_Experiments_, to show the electrical effect of points, i. 171, 172.
to prove the electrical state of the Leyden phial, 182.
of firing spirits by a spark sent through a river, 202.
to show how thunder-storms produce rain, 209.
on the clouds, proposed, 228.
on drugs electrified, 243.
on the elasticity of the air, 254.
on the electric fluid, 255.
by Mr. Kennersley, 261.
on the electricity of the clouds, 271.
for increasing electricity, 278.
by Mr. Canton, 286.
in pursuance of those of Mr. Canton, 294.
on a silver cann, 307.
on the velocity of the electric fluid, 327, 329, 330.
for producing cold by evaporation, 344.
on the different effects of electricity, 357.
by lord Charles Cavendish, 348.
on the tourmalin, 371.
to show the utility of long pointed rods to houses, 389.
on amber, 403 _et seq._
on the Leyden phial, 434.
on different coloured cloths, ii. 108, 109.
on the sailing of boats, 160.
_Exportation_ of gold and silver, observations on, ii. 416.
_Exports_ to North America and the West Indies, iii. 127, 128.
to Pensylvania, 129, 250.
from ditto, 250.
_Eye_, retains the images of luminous objects, ii. 340.
F.
_Facts_, should be ascertained before we attempt to account for them,
ii. 96.
_Family_ of Franklin, account of, i. 5. _et seq._
_Famine_, how provided against in China, ii. 407.
_Fanning_, how it cools, ii. 87.
_Farmers_, remonstrance in behalf of, ii. 420.
_Federal_ constitution, speech on, iii. 416.
_Felons_, transportation of, to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants, iii. 235.
_Fermenting_ liquors, their steam deleterious, ii. 59.
Fire, not destroyed by water, but dispersed, i. 172.
makes air specifically lighter, 206.
exists in all bodies, 214.
common and electrical, exist together, _ibid._
a region of, above our atmosphere, 257, ii. 124.
many ways of kindling it, i. 356.
exists in a solid or quiescent state in substances, _ibid._ ii. 80,
122.
recovers its fluidity by combustion, _ibid._
is a fluid permeating all bodies, 76.
conductors of, are also best conductors of the electric fluid, _ibid._
difference between, and electrical conductors, 77.
how diffused through substances, 78.
how generated in animated bodies, 79.
theory of, 122.
a fixed and permanent quantity of, in the universe, 123.
its properties, 227.
electrical, see _Electrical_.
_Fire-companies_, numerous at Philadelphia, i. 103.
_Fire-places_, Pensylvanian, account of, ii. 225.
large and open, inconvenient, 228.
hollow backed, by Gauger, 232.
Staffordshire, 285.
an ingenious one for serving two rooms, 296.
_Fires_, at sea, how often produced, ii. 174.
great and bright, damage the eyes and skin, 230.
_Fisheries_, value of those of Newfoundland, iii. 452.
_Flame_, preserves bodies from being consumed while surrounding them,
ii. 310, 311.
_Flaxseed_, amount of the exportation of from America to Ireland,
iii. 270.
_Flesh_, of animals, made tender by lightning and by electricity, i. 359,
414.
_Flies_, drowned in America, brought to life in England, ii. 223.
_Flood_ and ebb, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Florence_ flask, when filled with boiling water, not chargeable with
electricity, i. 332, 345.
_Fog_, great, in 1783, ii. 68.
conjectures as to its cause, _ibid._
_Fogs_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
electricity of, in Ireland, i. 405.
_Folger_, family-name of Franklin's mother, i. 8.
_Foreigners_, the importation of, not necessary to fill up occasional
vacancies in population, ii. 390.
_Forts_ in the back settlements, not approved of, iii. 99.
_Foster_, judge, notes on his argument for the impress of seamen, ii. 437.
_Foundering_ at sea, accidents that occasion it, ii. 169, 170.
_Fountain_, when electrified, its stream separates, i. 206.
_Fowls_, improperly treated at sea, ii. 193.
_Fragments_, political, ii. 411.
_France_, its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
effects of its military manners, 399.
_Franklin_, derivation of the name, i. 4.
genealogy of the family of, 5.
_Franks_, the improper use of, reprobated, ii. 435.
_Freezing_ to death in summer, possibility of, ii. 84.
_French_ language, its general use, ii. 353.
_Frontiers_, in America, the attack of, the common cause of the state,
iii. 109.
_Frugality_, advantages of, ii. 397.
observance of, in America, iii. 374
_Fruit-walls_, blacking them recommended, ii. 110.
_Fuel_, scarce in Philadelphia, ii. 225.
_Fulling-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Fusion_, cold, of metals, supposed, i. 215.
proves a mistake, 339.
error respecting it acknowledged, 355.
G.
_Galloway_, Mr, preface to his speech, iii. 163.
_Garnish-money_, practice among printers of demanding it, i. 63.
_Gauger_, M. his invention for fire-places, ii. 232.
_Genealogy_ of the Franklin family, i. 5.
_German_ stoves, advantages and disadvantages of, ii. 234.
_Germany_, why the several states of, encourage foreign manufactures in
preference to those of each other, iii. 118. note.
_Gilding_, its properties as a conductor, i. 201.
the effects of lightning and of electricity on, 229.
fails as a conductor after a few shocks, 231.
_Glass_, has always the same quantity of electrical fire, i. 191.
possesses the whole power of giving a shock, 192, 247.
in panes, when first used in an electrical experiment, 193, 194.
great force in small portions of, 199.
impermeable to the electric fluid, 234, 310.
strongly attracts the electric fluid, 236.
cannot be electrified negatively, _ibid._
its opposite surfaces, how affected, _ibid._
its component parts and pores extremely fine, 237.
manner of its operation in producing electricity, _ibid._
its elasticity, to what owing, 239.
thick, resists a change of the quantity of electricity of its
different sides, 242.
rod of, will not conduct a shock, _ibid._
when fluid, or red hot, will conduct electricity, 256.
difference in its qualities, 301.
error as to its pores, 302.
will admit the electric fluid, when moderately heated, 345, 347.
when cold retains the electric fluid, 346.
experiments on warm and cold, 348.
singular tube and ball of, 386.
_Glasses_, musical, described, ii. 330, _et seq._
_God_, saying in America respecting, iii. 401.
_Godfrey_, Thomas, a lodger with Franklin, i. 81.
a member of the Junto, 83.
inventor of Hadley's quadrant, _ibid._
wishes Franklin to marry a relation of his, 95.
_Gold_ and silver, remarks on exportation of, ii. 416.
_Golden_ fish, an electrical device, i. 233.
_Government_, free, only destroyed by corruption of manners, ii. 397.
_Gout_, dialogue with that disease, iii. 499.
_Grace_, Robert, member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Gratitude_ of America, letter on, iii. 239.
_Greasing_ the bottoms of ships, gives them more swiftness, ii. 180.
_Greece_, causes of its superiority over Persia, ii. 397.
_Greek_ empire, the destruction of, dispersed manufacturers over Europe,
iii. 122.
_Green_ and red, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Greenlanders_, their boats best for rowing, ii. 176.
_Guadaloupe_, its value to Britain over-rated, iii. 139.
_Gulph-stream_, observations on, ii. 186.
whalers frequent its edges, _ibid._
long unknown to any but the American fishermen, _ibid._
how generated, 187.
its properties, _ibid._
tornadoes and water-spouts attending it, accounted for, 188.
how to avoid it, 197.
Nantucket whalers best acquainted with it, 198.
thermometrical observations on, 199.
journal of a voyage across, _ibid._
_Gunpowder_, fired by electricity, i. 250.
magazines of, how to secure them from lightning, 375.
proposal for keeping it dry, 376.
H.
_Habits_, effects of, on population, ii. 393. 394.
_Hadley's_ quadrant, by whom invented, i. 83, 95.
_Hail_, brings down electrical fire, i. 292.
how formed, ii. 66.
_Hamilton_, Mr. a friend of Franklin's, i. 54, 88.
_Handel_, criticism on one of his compositions, ii. 345.
_Harmony_, in music, what, ii. 339.
_Harp_, effect of, on the ancient Scotch tunes, ii. 340.
_Harry_, David, companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 93.
_Hats_, summer, should be white, ii. 109.
the manufacture of, in New England, in 1760, iii. 131.
_Health_ of seamen, Captain Cook's method of preserving it recommended,
ii. 190.
_Heat_, produced by electricity and by lightning, i. 338, 339.
better conducted by some substances than others, ii. 56, 58.
how propagated, 58.
the pain it occasions, how produced, 78.
in animals, how generated, 79, 125.
in fermentation, the same as that of the human body, 80.
great, at Philadelphia, in 1750, 85.
general theory of, 122.
_Herrings_, shoals of, perceived by the smoothness of the sea, ii. 150.
_Hints_ to those that would be rich, iii. 466.
_Holmes_, Robert, brother-in-law to Franklin, i. 37, 71.
_Honesty_, often a very partial principle of conduct, ii. 430.
_Honours_, all descending ones absurd, iii. 550.
_Hopkins_, governor, his report of the number of inhabitants in Rhode
Island, iii. 129.
_Horse-race_, electrical, i. 335.
_Hospital_, one founded by the exertions of Franklin, i. 126.
_Hospitals_, foundling, state of in England and France, iii. 544*, 548*.
_Hospitality_, a virtue of barbarians, iii. 391.
_Houses_, remarks on covering them with copper, ii. 318, 320.
many in Russia covered with iron plates, 319.
their construction in Paris renders them little liable to fires, 321.
_Howe_, lord, letter from, to Franklin, iii. 365.
Franklin's answer to, 367.
_Hudson's_ river, winds there, ii. 52, 59.
_Hunters_, require much land to subsist on, ii. 384.
_Hurricanes_, how produced, ii. 7.
why cold in hot climates, _ibid._
_Hutchinson_, governor, cause of the application for his removal,
iii. 323.
account of the letters of, 331, 551.
_Hygrometer_, best substances for forming one, ii. 136.
mahogany recommended for forming one, 141.
I. J.
_Jackson_, Mr. remarks on population by, ii. 392.
_Jamaica_, its vacant lands not easily made sugar lands, iii. 140.
_Javelle_, his machinery for moving boats, ii. 177.
_Ice_ will not conduct an electric shock, i. 201.
_Ice-islands_, dangerous to shipping, ii. 176.
_Idleness_, the heaviest tax on mankind, ii. 411, iii. 454.
encouraged by charity, ii. 422.
reflections on, iii. 428.
_Jefferson_, Mr. letter from, on the character of Franklin, iii. 545.
_Jesuits_, hostility of the Indians in America excited by, iii. 95.
_Ignorance_, a frank acknowledgment of, commendable, i. 308.
_Imports_ into Pensylvania from Britain before 1766, iii. 250.
_Impress_ of seamen, notes on Judge Foster's argument in favour of,
ii. 437.
_Inarticulation_ in modern singing, censured, ii. 348.
_Increase_ of mankind, observations on, ii. 383, and _seq._
what prevented by, 386, 387.
how promoted, 388, 389.
further observations on, 393.
_Indemnification_, just ground for requiring cessions from an enemy,
iii. 93.
_Independence_, soon acquired in America, iii. 402.
_Indian trade_ and affairs, remarks on a plan for the future management
of, iii. 216.
spirituous liquors the great encouragement of, 219.
the debts from, must be left to honour, 220.
not an American but a British interest, 275.
_Indians_, of North America, a number of, murdered, i. 139.
often excited by the French against the English, iii. 95.
list of fighting men in the different nations of, 221.
difference of their warfare from that of Europeans, 100.
remarks concerning, 383.
their mode of life, 384.
public councils, 385.
politeness in conversation, 386.
rules in visiting, 388.
_Industry_, effects of Franklin's, i. 85.
the cause of plenty, ii. 396.
essential to the welfare of a people, 411.
relaxed by cheapness of provisions, 415.
a greater portion of, in every nation, than of idleness, 396, 429,
iii. 396.
its prevalence in America, iii. 373.
_Inflammability_ of the surface of rivers, ii. 130.
_Inland_ commerce, instances of, iii. 120.
_Innovations_ in language and printing, ii. 351.
_Inoculation_, letter on the deaths occasioned by, ii. 215.
success of, in Philadelphia, 216, 217.
_Insects_, utility of the study of, ii. 93.
_Interrogation_, the mark of, how to be placed, ii. 356.
_Invention_, the faculty of, its inconveniences, i. 308.
_Inventions_, new, generally scouted, _ibid._
_Journal_ of a voyage, crossing the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202, _et seq._
_Iron_ contained in the globe, renders it a great magnet, ii. 119.
query whether it existed at the creation, 126.
hot, gives no bad smell, 247.
yields no bad vapours, 248.
rods, erected for experiments on the clouds, i. 270.
conduct more lightning in proportion to their thickness, 282.
_Islands_ far from a continent have little thunder, i. 216.
_Italic_ types, use of, in printing, ii. 355.
_Judges_, mode of their appointment in America, in 1768, iii. 23.
_Junto._ See _Club_.
K.
_Keimer_, a connection of Franklin's, some account of, i. 35, 70, 93.
_Keith_, sir William, Franklin patronized by, i. 39.
deceived by, 54.
character of, 57.
_Kinnersley_, Mr. electrical experiments by, i. 261, _et seq._, 331.
_Kiss_, electrical, i. 177.
_Kite_ used to draw electricity from the clouds, i. 108.
electrical, described, i. 268.
_Knobs_, not so proper as points, for conducting lightning, i. 359.
L.
_Labour_, why it will long continue dear in America, ii. 385.
its advantages, 427, 428.
_Land_, terms on which it may be obtained in America, by settlers,
iii. 409.
_Landing_ in a surf, supposed practicable, how, ii. 154.
tried without success, 155.
_Language_, remarks on innovations in, ii. 351, _et seq._
_Laughers_, satyrized, iii. 425.
_Law_, the old courts of, in the colonies, as ample in their powers, as
those in England, iii. 304.
_Law-expenses_, no discouragement to law-suits, iii. 270.
_Law-stamps_, a tax on the poor, iii. 269.
_Lead_, effects of, on the human constitution, ii. 219.
_Leaks_ in ships, why water enters by them most rapidly at first, ii. 109.
means to prevent their being fatal, 170.
_Leather_ globe, proposed, instead of glass, for electrical experiments,
i. 267.
_Left_ hand, a petition from, iii. 483.
_Leg_, handsome and deformed, humourous anecdote of, iii. 437.
_Legal_ tender of paper-money, its advantages, iii. 150.
further remarks on, 151.
_Lending_ money, new mode of, iii. 463.
_Letter-founding_ effected by Franklin in America, i. 74.
_Leutmann_, J. G. extract from his vulcanus famulans, ii. 298.
_Leyden_ bottle, its phenomena explained, i. 179.
analysed, 192.
experiment to prove its qualities, 245.
when sealed hermetically, retains long its electricity, 345.
_Liberty_ of the press, observations on, ii. 463.
abused, 465.
of the cudgel, should be allowed in return, 467.
_Libraries_, public, the first in America set on foot by Franklin, i. 99.
are now numerous in America, 100.
advantages of, to liberty, 101.
_Life_ and death, observations on the doctrines of, ii. 222.
_Light_, difference between that from the sun and that from a fire in
electrical experiments, i. 173.
difficulties in the doctrines of, i. 253.
queries concerning, _ibid._
visibility of its infinitely small particles computed, ii. 90.
new theory of, 122.
_Lighthouse-tragedy_, an early poem of Franklin's, i. 16.
_Lightning_, represented by electricity, i. 176.
drawn from the clouds, by a kite, 268.
by an iron rod, _ibid._
reasons for proposing the experiment on, 304.
its effects at Newbury, 310.
will leave other substances, to pass through metals, 312.
communicates magnetism to iron, 314.
objections to the hypothesis of its being collected from the sea,
318, 323.
effects of, on a wire at New York, 326.
on Mr. West's pointed rod, 340, _et seq._
how it shivers trees, 359.
effects of, on conductors in Carolina, 361, 362, 364.
does not enter through openings, 368.
should be distinguished from its light, 369.
an explosion always accompanies it, _ibid._
observations on its effects on St. Bride's church, 374, 382.
how to preserve buildings from, 377.
personal danger from, how best avoided, 381.
brought down by a pointed rod, in a large quantity, 389.
how to prevent a stroke of, at sea, ii. 175.
_Linnæus_, instance of public benefit arising from his knowledge
of insects, ii. 94.
_London_, atmosphere of, moister than that of the country, ii. 139.
_Loyalty_ of America before the troubles, iii. 237.
_Luxury_, beneficial when not too common, ii. 389.
definition of, 395, 425.
extinguishes families, 395.
not to be extirpated by laws, 401.
further observations on, 425.
_Lying-to_, the only mode yet used for stopping a vessel at sea, ii. 181.
M.
_Maddeson_, Mr. death of, lamented, iii. 544*.
_Magazine_ of powder, how to secure it from lightning, i. 375.
_Magical_ circle of circles, ii. 327.
picture, i. 195.
square of squares, ii. 324.
_Magnetism_, animal, detected and exposed, i. 150.
given by electricity, 248, 314.
and electricity, affinity between, 410.
supposed to exist in all space, ii. 119, 126.
conjectures as to its effects on the globe, 120.
enquiry how it first came to exist, 126.
_Mahogany_, expands and shrinks, according to climate, ii. 138.
recommended for an hygrometer, 141.
_Mandeville_, Franklin's acquaintance with, i. 39.
_Manners_, effects of, on population, ii. 393, _et seq._
letter to the Busy-body on the want of, iii. 432.
_Manufactures_, produce greater proportionate returns than raw materials,
ii. 410.
founded in the want of land for the poor, iii. 107.
are with difficulty transplanted from one country to another, 121.
hardly ever lost but by foreign conquest, 122.
probability of their establishment in America, 260.
want no encouragement from the government, if a country be ripe for
them, 405.
_Maritime_ observations, ii. 162.
_Marly_, experiments made at, for drawing lightning from the clouds,
i. 421.
_Marriage_ of Franklin, i. 97.
_Marriages_, where the greatest number take place, ii. 383.
why frequent and early in America, 385. iii. 113, 403.
early, letter on, iii. 475.
_Maryland_, account of a whirlwind there, ii. 61.
of paper bills formerly issued there, iii. 155.
its conduct in a French war, previous to the American troubles,
defended, 262.
_Massachusets_ bay, petition of the inhabitants of, to the king, iii. 325.
_Matter_, enquiry into the supposed vis inertiæ of, ii. 110.
man can neither create nor annihilate it, 123.
_Mawgridge_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 84.
_Maxims_, prudential, from poor Richard's almanack, iii. 453.
_Mazeas_, abbe, letter from, i. 420.
_Meal_, grain, &c. manner of preserving them good for ages, i. 376.
ii. 190.
_Mechanics_, advantages of an early attention to, i. 14.
_Mediocrity_, prevalence of, in America, iii. 399.
_Melody_ in music, what, ii. 340.
_Men_, six, struck down by an electric shock, i. 306.
_Mercer_, Dr. letter from, on a water-spout, ii. 34.
_Merchants_ and shopkeepers in America, iii. 394.
_Meredith_, Hugh, companion of Franklin, short account of, i. 72, 76, 89.
_Metalline_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 281.
either prevent or conduct a stroke, 310.
_Metals_, melted by electricity and by lightning, i. 215, 229.
when melted by electricity, stain glass, 232.
polished, spotted by electrical sparks, 253.
feel colder than wood, why, ii. 56.
_Meteorological_ observations, ii. 1, 45, 66.
_Methusalem_ slept always in the open air, iii. 495.
_Mickle_, Samuel, a prognosticator of evil, i. 81.
_Military_ manners, effects of, ii. 398, 399.
power of the king, remarks on, iii. 307.
_Militia_ bill, Franklin the author of one, i. 132.
particular one, rejected by the governor of Pensylvania, 100.
iii. 157.
_Mines_, method of changing air in them, ii. 291.
of rock salt, conjectures as to their formation, 92.
_Mists_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
_Modesty_ in disputation recommended, ii. 317.
_Money_, how to make it plenty, iii. 467.
new mode of lending, 468.
_Moral_ principles, state of Franklin's mind respecting, on his entering
into business, i. 79.
_Morals_ of chess, iii. 488.
_Motion_, the communication and effects of, ii. 7, 8.
of vessels at sea, how to be stopped, 181.
_Mountains_, use of, in producing rain and rivers, i. 208.
why the summits of, are cold, ii. 6.
conjecture how they became so high, 91.
_Music_, harmony and melody of the old Scotish, ii. 338.
modern, defects of, 343.
_Musical_ glasses described, ii. 330.
N.
_Nantucket_ whalers best acquainted with the gulph-stream, ii. 198.
_National_ wealth, data for reasoning on, ii. 408.
three ways of acquiring, 410.
_Navigation_, difference of, in shoal and deep water, ii. 158.
observations on, 195, 196.
from Newfoundland to New York, 197.
inland, in America, iii. 118.
_Needle_ of a compass, its polarity reversed by lightning, i. 248, 325.
of wood, circular motion of, by electricity, 332, 351.
_Needles_, magnetised by electricity, i. 148.
and pins, melted by electricity, 249.
_Negatively_ electrised bodies repel each other, i. 294.
_Negroes_ bear heat better, and cold worse, than whites, ii. 86.
_Newbury_, effects of a stroke of lightning there, i. 310.
_New-England_, former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper money,
iii. 145.
circumstances which rendered the restriction of paper money there not
injurious, 148.
abolition of paper currency there, 263.
_Newfoundland_ fisheries, more valuable than the mines of Peru, iii. 452.
_Newspaper_, one sufficient for all America, in 1721, i. 23.
instance of one set up by Franklin at Philadelphia, 86.
_New-York_, effects of lightning there, i. 326.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, iii. 146.
sentiments of the colonists on the act for abolishing the legislature
of, 232.
obtained in exchange for Surinam, 349.
_Nollet_, Abbé, Franklin's theory of electricity opposed by, i. 113.
remarks on his letters, 430.
_Non-conductors_ of electricity, i. 378.
_Non-electric_, its property in receiving or giving electrical fire,
i. 193.
_North-east_ storms in America, account of, ii. 68.
_Nurses_, office at Paris for examining the health of, iii. 549*.
O.
_Oak_ best for flooring and stair-cases, ii. 321.
_Ohio_, distance of its fort from the sea, iii. 119, note.
_Oil_, effect of heat on, ii. 4.
evaporates only in dry air, _ibid._
renders air unfit to take up water, _ibid._
curious instance of its effects on water in a lamp, 142.
stilling of waves by means of, 144, 145, 148, 150, 151, 154.
_Old_ man's wish, song so called quoted, iii. 546*.
_Onslow_, Arthur, dedication of a work to, by Franklin, iii. 59.
_Opinions_, vulgar ones too much slighted, ii. 146.
regard to established ones, thought wisdom in a government, iii. 226.
_Orthography_, a new mode of, ii. 359.
_Osborne_, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53
_Oversetting_ at sea, how it occurs, ii. 172.
how to be prevented, _ibid._, 173.
_Outriggers_ to boats, advantages of, ii. 173.
P.
_Packthread_, though wet, not a good conductor, i. 200.
_Paine's_ Common Sense, Franklin supposed to have contributed to, i. 148.
_Paper_, how to make large sheets, in the Chinese way, ii. 349.
a poem, iii. 522.
_Paper-credit_, cannot be circumscribed by law, ii. 418.
_Paper-money_, pamphlet written by Franklin on, i. 91.
American, remarks and facts relative to, iii. 144.
advantages of, over gold and silver, iii. 152.
_Papers_ on philosophical subjects, i. 169, _et seq._ ii. 1, _et seq._
on general politics, ii. 383, _et seq._
on American subjects, before the revolution, iii. 3, _et seq._
during the revolution, iii. 225, _et seq._
subsequent to the revolution, iii. 383, _et seq._
on moral subjects, iii. 421, _et seq._
_Parable_ against persecution, ii. 450.
_Paradoxes_ inferred from some experiments, i. 262.
_Paralysis_, effects of electricity on, i. 401.
_Parliament_ of England, opinions in America, in 1766, concerning,
iii. 254.
_Parsons_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Parties_, their use in republics, iii. 396.
_Party_ of pleasure, electrical, i. 202.
_Passages_ to and from America, how to be shortened, ii. 138.
why shorter from, than to, America, 189.
_Passengers_ by sea, instructions to, ii. 192.
_Patriotism_, spirit of, catching, iii. 90.
_Peace_, the victorious party may insist on adequate securities in the
terms of, iii. 96.
_Penn_, governor, remarks on his administration, iii. 183.
sold his legislative right in Pensylvania, but did not complete the
bargain, 189.
_Pensylvania_, Franklin appointed clerk to the general assembly of,
i. 102.
forms a plan of association for the defence of, 104.
becomes a member of the general assembly of, 114.
aggrievances of, iii. 50.
infraction of its charter, 52.
review of the constitution of, 59.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, 146.
rate of exchange there, 154.
letter on the militia bill of, 157.
settled by English and Germans, 162.
English and German, its provincial languages, _ib._
pecuniary bargains between the governors and assembly of, 165.
taxes there, 246, 251.
number of its inhabitants, 249.
proportion of quakers, and of Germans, _ibid._
exports and imports, 250.
assembly of, in 1766, how composed, 252.
_Pensylvanian_ fire-places, account of, ii. 223.
particularly described, 235.
effects of, 239.
manner of using them, 241.
advantages of, 243.
objections to, answered, 247.
directions to bricklayers respecting, 251.
_Peopling_ of countries, observations on, ii. 383, _et seq._
_Perkins_, Dr. letter from, on water-spouts, ii. 11.
on shooting stars, 36.
_Persecution_, parable against, ii. 450.
of dissenters, letter on, 452.
of quakers in New England, 454.
_Perspirable_ matter, pernicious, if retained, ii. 50.
_Perspiration_, necessary to be kept up, in hot climates, ii. 86.
difference of, in persons when naked and clothed, 214.
_Petition_ from the colonists of Massachusets bay, iii. 325.
of the left hand, 483.
_Petty_, sir William, a double vessel built by, ii. 174.
_Philadelphia_, Franklin's first arrival at, i. 32.
account of a seminary there, instituted by Franklin, 116 to 127.
state of the public bank at, iii. 551*.
_Phytolacca_, or poke weed, a specific for cancers, i. 261.
_Picture_, magical, described, i. 195.
_Plain_ truth, Franklin's first political pamphlet, iii. 524.
_Plan_ for benefiting distant countries, ii. 403.
for settling two western colonies, iii. 41.
for the management of Indian affairs, remarks on, 216.
for improving the condition of the free blacks, 519.
_Planking_ of ships, improvement in, ii. 189.
_Pleurisy_, Franklin attacked by, i. 71, 154.
_Plus_ and minus electricity, in the Leyden bottle, i. 181.
in other bodies, 185.
_Pointed_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 283, 381.
experiments and observations on, 388.
objections to, answered, 395, 396.
_Points_, their effects, i. 170.
property of, explained, 223.
experiment showing the effect of, on the clouds, 283.
mistake respecting, 310.
_Poke-weed_, a cure for cancers, i. 260, 261.
_Polarity_ given to needles by electricity, i. 248.
_Poles_ of the earth, if changed, would produce a deluge, ii. 127.
_Political_ fragments, ii. 411.
_Polypus_, a nation compared to, ii. 391.
_Poor_, remarks on the management of, ii. 418.
the better provided for, the more idle, 422.
_Poor_ Richard, maxims of, iii. 453.
_Pope_, criticism on two of his lines, i. 23.
_Population_, observations on, ii. 383.
causes which diminish it, 386.
occasional vacancies in, soon filled by natural generation, 390.
rate of its increase in America, 385. iii. 113, 250, 254.
why it increases faster there, than in England, iii. 255.
_Positions_ concerning national wealth, ii. 408.
_Positiveness_, impropriety of, ii. 318.
_Postage_, not a tax, but payment for a service, iii. 265.
state of, in America, in 1766, 279.
_Post-master_, and deputy post-master general, Franklin appointed to the
offices of, i. 102, 127.
_Potts_, Stephen, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84.
_Poultry_, not good at sea, ii. 193.
_Powder-magazines_, how secured from lightning, i. 375.
_Power_ to move a heavy body, how to be augmented, ii. 191.
_Pownall_, governor, memorial of, to the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 41.
letter from, on an equal communication of rights to America, 243.
constitution of the colonies by, 299.
_Preface_ to Mr. Galloway's speech, iii. 163.
to proceedings of the inhabitants of Boston, 317.
_Presbyterianism_, established religion in New England, ii. 454.
_Press_, account of the court of, ii. 463.
liberty of, abused, 465.
_Pressing_ of seamen, animadversions on, ii. 437.
_Price_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's death, iii. 541.
_Priestley_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's character, iii. 547.
_Printers_ at Philadelphia before Franklin, i. 36.
_Printing_, Franklin apprenticed to the business of, i. 15.
works at it as a journeymen in England, 58, 62.
in America, 35, 71.
enters on the business of, as master, 78.
observations on fashions in, ii. 355.
_Prison_, society for relieving the misery of, i. 151.
not known among the Indians of America, iii. 220.
_Privateering_, reprobated, ii. 436.
further observations on, 446.
article to prevent it, recommended in national treaties, 448.
inserted in a treaty between America and Prussia, 449.
_Proas_, of the pacific ocean, safety of, ii. 173.
flying, superior to any of our sailing boats, 176.
_Produce_ of the inland parts of America, iii. 119.
_Products_ of America, do not interfere with those of Britain, iii. 124.
_Prose-writing_, method of acquiring excellence in, i. 18.
_Protest_ against Franklin's appointment as colonial agent, remarks on,
iii. 203.
_Provisions_, cheapness of, encourages idleness, ii. 415.
_Prussian_ edict, assuming claims over Britain, iii. 311.
_Public_ services and functions of Franklin, i. 125.
spirit, manifest in England, iii. 91.
different opinion respecting it expressed, 375.
_Punctuality_ of America in the payment of public debts, iii. 373.
_Puckridge_, Mr. inventor of musical glasses, i. 136.
Q.
_Quaker-lady_, good advice of one to Franklin in his youth, i. 42.
_Quakers_, persecution of, in New England, ii. 454.
proportion of, in Pensylvania, iii. 249.
_Quebec_, remarks on the enlargement of the province of, iii. 20, note.
_Queries_ concerning light, i. 258.
proposed at the Junto club, ii. 366.
from Mr. Strahan, on the American disputes, iii. 287.
_Questions_ discussed by the Junto club, ii. 369.
R.
_Rain_, how produced, i. 207.
generally brings down electricity, 292.
why never salt, ii. 32.
different quantities of, falling at different heights, 133.
_Ralph_, James, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53, 54, 57, 60.
_Rarefaction_ of the air, why greater in the upper regions, ii. 6.
_Read_, maiden name of Franklin's wife, i. 33, 37, 49, 54, 59, 70, 96.
_Reading_, Franklin's early passion for, i. 15, 16.
how best taught, ii. 372.
advice to youth respecting, 378.
_Recluse_, a Roman Catholic one, in London, i. 65.
_Red_ and green, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Regimen_, sudden alterations of, not prejudicial, i. 49.
_Religious_ sect, new one, intended establishment of, i. 48.
_Repellency_, electrical, how destroyed, i. 172.
_Representation_, American, in the British parliament, thoughts on,
iii. 37, 243.
_Repulsion_, electrical, the doctrine of, doubted, i. 333.
considerations in support of, 349.
_Revelation_, doubted by Franklin in his youth, i. 79.
_Rhode-Island_, purchased for a pair of spectacles, iii. 21.
its population at three periods, iii. 129.
_Rich_, hints to those that would be, iii. 466.
_Ridicule_, delight of the prince of Condé in, iii. 424.
_Rivers_, from the Andes, how formed, i. 209.
motion of the tides in, explained, ii. 96, 102.
do not run into the sea, 105.
evaporate before they reach the sea, 106.
inflammability of the surface of, 130.
_Rods_, utility of long pointed ones, to secure buildings from lightning,
i. 388.
See farther. _Iron._ _Lightning._ _Metalline._
_Rome_, causes of its decline enquired into, ii. 398.
political government of its provinces, iii. 136.
_Rooms_, warm, advantages of, ii. 249.
do not give colds, ibid.
_Roots_, edible, might be dried and preserved for sea-store, ii. 190.
_Rosin_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Rousseau_, his opinion of tunes in parts, ii. 342.
_Rowing_ of boats, Chinese method of, ii. 177.
_Rowley_, Dr. Franklin's obligations to, iii. 555*.
S.
_Sailing_, observations on, ii. 163.
_Sails_, proposed improvements in, ii. 164, 166.
_Saint_ Bride's church, stroke of lightning on, i. 374.
_Salt_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 258.
rock, conjectures as to its origin, ii. 91.
_Saltness_ of the sea-water considered, _ib._
_Savage_, John, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72.
_Savages_ of North America, remarks on, iii. 383, _et seq._
_School_, sketch of one, for Philadelphia, ii. 370.
_Scotch_ tunes, harmony of, and melody, ii. 338.
_Screaming_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Scull_, Nicholas, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Sea_, electrical qualities of its component parts, i. 205.
opinion, that it is the source of lightning, considered, 269, 321,
322.
supposed cause of its luminous appearance, ii. 88.
from what cause, salt, 91.
has formerly covered the mountains, _ib._
_Sea-coal_, has a vegetable origin, ii. 128.
prejudices against the use of, at Paris, 278.
_Sea-water_, soon loses its luminous quality, i. 269.
considerations on the distillation of, ii. 103.
how to quench thirst with, 104.
thermometrical observation on, 199, _et seq._
_Security_, a just ground to demand cessions from an enemy, iii. 93.
_Separation_ of the colonies from Britain, probability of, in 1775,
iii. 356.
_Servants_ in England, the most barren parts of the people, ii. 395.
_Settlements_, new, in America, letter concerning, iii. 409.
_Settlers_ of British colonies, their rights, iii. 299.
_Sheep_, a whole flock killed by lightning, i. 415.
_Ships_, abandoned at sea, often saved, ii. 169.
may be nicely balanced, 170.
accidents to, at sea, how guarded against, 172.
_Shirley_, governor, letters to, on the taxation of the colonies, iii. 30.
on American representation in the British parliament, 37.
_Shooting-stars_, letter on, ii. 36.
_Shop-keepers_ in America, iii. 394.
_Sides_ of vessels, the best construction of, ii. 172.
_Silver_ cann, experiment with, i. 307.
vessels, not so easily handled as glass, when filled with hot liquors,
ii. 57.
_Slavery_, society for the abolition of, i. 151.
address to the public on the abolition of, iii. 517.
_Slaves_, not profitable labourers, ii. 386.
diminish population, ii. 387.
_Slave-trade_, sentiment of a French moralist respecting, ii. 195.
parody on the arguments in favour of, 450.
_Sliding-plates_ for smoky chimnies described, ii. 287.
_Slitting-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Small_, Mr. Alexander, letter from, i. 374.
_Smell_ of electricity, how produced, i. 244.
_Smoke_, principle by which it ascends, ii. 257.
stove that consumes it, 296.
the burning of, useful in hot-houses, 316.
_Smoky_ chimnies, observation on the causes and cure of, ii. 256.
remedy for, if by want of air, 261, 262.
if by too large openings in the room, 266, 268.
if by too short a funnel, 269.
if by overpowering each other, 270, 271.
if by being overtopped, 271, 272.
if by improper situation of a door, 273.
if by smoke drawn down their funnels, 274, 275.
if by strong winds, 275, 276.
difficult sometimes to discover the cause of, 282.
_Smuggling_, reflections on, ii. 430.
encouragement of, not honest, 432.
_Snow_, singular instance of its giving electricity, i. 373.
_Soap-boiler_, part of Franklin's early life devoted to the business of,
i. 10, 14.
_Societies_, of which Franklin was president, i. 151.
learned, of which he was a member, 135.
_Socrates_, his mode of disputation, i. 21.
_Songs_, ancient, give more pleasure than modern, ii. 342.
modern, composed of all the defects of speech, 344.
_Soul_, argument against the annihilation of, iii. 548*.
_Sound_, best mediums for conveying, ii. 335.
observations on, 336.
queries concerning, 337.
_Sounds_ just past, we have a perfect idea of their pitch, ii. 340.
_Soup-dishes_ at sea, how to be made more convenient, ii. 195.
_Spain_, what has thinned its population, ii. 390.
_Specific_ weight, what, ii. 226.
_Spectacles_, double, advantages of, iii. 544*, 551*.
_Speech_, at Algiers, on slavery and piracy, ii. 450.
of Mr. Galloway, preface to, iii. 163.
last of Franklin, on the federal constitution, 416.
_Spelling_, a new mode of, recommended, ii. 359.
_Spheres_, electric, commodious ones, i. 178.
_Spider_, artificial, described, i. 177.
_Spirits_, fired without heating, i. 214, 245.
linen wetted with, cooling in inflammations, ii. 87.
should always be taken to sea in bottles, 175.
_Spots_ in the sun, how formed, i. 260.
_Squares_, magical square of, ii. 324.
_Staffordshire_ chimney, description of, ii. 285.
_Stamp-act_ in America stigmatized, iii. 228.
letter on the repeal of, iii. 239.
examination of Franklin on, 245.
_Stars._ See _Shooting_.
_State_, internal, of America, iii. 291.
_Storms_, causes of, ii. 65.
_Stove_, Dutch, its advantages and defects, ii. 233.
German, ditto, 234.
to draw downwards, by J. G. Leutmann, 298.
for burning pit-coal and consuming its smoke, 301, 304, 308.
_Strata_ of the earth, letter on, ii. 116.
_Strahan_, Mr. queries by, on American politics, iii. 287.
answer to the queries, 290.
letter to, disclaiming his friendship, iii. 354.
_Stuber_, Dr. continuator of Franklin's life, i. 98.
_Studies_ of trifles, should be moderate, ii. 95.
_Stuttering_, one of the affected beauties of modern tunes, ii. 245.
_Sugar_, cruelties exercised in producing it, ii. 196.
_Sulphur_ globe, its electricity different from that of the glass globe,
i. 265.
_Sun_, supplies vapour with fire, i. 207.
why not wasted by expense of light, 259.
effect of its rays on different coloured clothes, ii. 108.
light of, proposed to be used instead of candlelight, iii. 470, 473.
discovered to give light as soon as it rises, 471.
_Surfaces_ of glass, different state of its opposite ones, when
electrised, i. 191, 238.
_Swimming_, skill of Franklin in, i. 66.
art of, how to be acquired, ii. 206
how a person unacquainted with it may avoid sinking, 208.
a delightful and wholesome exercise, ii. 209, 211.
advantage of, to soldiers, 210.
inventions to improve it, _ibid._ 212.
medical effects of, _ibid._
T.
_Tariffs_, not easily settled in Indian trade, iii. 218.
_Tautology_, an affected beauty of modern songs, ii. 345.
_Taxation_, American, letters to governor Shirley on, iii. 30.
American, Dr. Franklin's examination on, iii. 246, 256.
internal and external, distinguished, 259.
on importation of goods and consumption, difference between, 266.
_Tea-act_, the duty on, in America, how considered there, iii. 261, 317,
319.
characterized by Mr. Burke, 319, _note_.
_Teach_, or Blackbeard, name of a ballad written by Franklin in his youth,
i. 16.
_Thanks_ of the assembly of Pensylvania to Franklin, iii. 214.
_Thanksgiving-days_ appointed in New England instead of fasts, iii. 392.
_Theory_ of the earth, ii. 117.
of light and heat, 122.
_Thermometer_, not cooled by blowing on, when dry, ii. 87.
electrical, described, and experiments with, ii. 336.
_Thermometrical_ observations on the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
on the warmth of sea-water, 200.
_Thirst_, may be relieved by sea-water, how, ii. 105.
_Thunder_ and lightning, how caused, i. 209.
seldom heard far from land, 216.
comparatively little at Bermuda, _ibid._
defined, 378.
_Thunder-gusts_, what, i. 203.
hypothesis to explain them, 203, _et seq._
_Tides_ in rivers, motion of, explained, ii. 96, 102.
_Time_, occasional fragments of, how to be collected, ii. 412.
is money to a tradesman, iii. 463.
_Toads_ live long without nourishment, ii. 223.
_Toleration_ in Old and New England compared, ii. 457.
_Torpedo_, how to determine its electricity, i. 408, 409.
_Tourmalin_, its singular electrical properties, i. 370.
experiments on it, 371, 372.
_Trade_, pleasure attending the first earnings in, i. 81.
should be under no restrictions, ii. 415.
exchanges in, may be advantageous to each party, 418.
inland carriage no obstruction, to, iii. 116.
great rivers in America, favourable to, 118.
bills of credit, in lieu of money, the best medium of, 156.
will find and make its own rates, 219.
_Tradesman_, advice to a young one, iii. 463.
_Transportation_ of felons to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants there, iii. 235.
_Treaty_ between America and Prussia, humane article of, ii. 449.
_Treasures_, hidden, search after, ridiculed, iii. 450.
_Trees_, dangerous to be under, in thunder-storms, i. 213.
the shivering of, by lightning, explained, 359.
why cool in the sun, ii. 87.
_Tubes_ of glass, electrical, manner of rubbing, i. 178.
lined with a non-electric, experiment with, 240.
exhausted, electric fire moves freely in, 241.
_Tunes_, ancient Scotch, why give general pleasure, ii. 338.
composed to the wire-harp, 341.
in parts, Rousseau's opinion of, 342.
modern, absurdities of, 344, _et seq._
_Turkey_ killed by electricity, i. 299.
_Turks_, ceremony observed by, in visiting, iii. 436.
V. U.
_Vacuum_, Torricellian, experiment with, i. 291.
electrical experiment in, 317.
_Vapour_, electrical experiment on, i. 343.
_Vapours_ from moist hay, &c. easily fired by lightning, i. 215.
cause of their rising considered, ii. 46, 49.
_Vanity_, observation on, i. 2.
_Varnish_, dry, burnt by electric sparks, i. 199.
_Vattel's_ Law of Nations, greatly consulted by the American congress,
iii. 360.
_Vegetable_ diet, observed by Franklin, i. 20.
abandoned by Franklin, why, 47.
_Vegetation_, effects of, on noxious air, ii. 129.
_Velocity_ of the electric fire, i. 319.
_Virtue_ in private life exemplified, iii. 427.
_Vernon_, Mr. reposes a trust in Franklin, which he violates, i. 44.
_Vis_ inertiæ of matter, observations on, ii. 110.
_Visits_, unseasonable and importunate, letter on, iii. 432.
_Unintelligibleness_, a fault of modern singing, ii. 345.
_Union_, Albany plan of. See _Albany_.
_Union_ of America with Britain, letter on, iii. 239.
_United_ states of America, nature of the congress of, iii. 550*.
_Voyage_, from Boston to New York, i. 27.
from New York to Philadelphia, 28.
from Newfoundland to New York, remarks on, ii. 197.
crossing the gulph stream, journal of, 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202.
to benefit distant countries, proposed, 403.
_Vulgar_ opinions, too much slighted, ii. 146.
W.
_Waggons_, number of, supplied by Franklin, on a military emergency,
i. 131.
_War_, civil, whether it strengthens a country considered, ii. 399.
observations on, 435.
laws of, gradually humanized, _ib._
humane article respecting, in a treaty between Prussia and America,
ii. 449.
French, of 1757, its origin, iii. 274.
_Warm_ rooms do not make people tender, or give colds, ii. 249.
_Washington_, early military talents of, i. 130.
Franklin's bequest to, 164.
_Water_, a perfect conductor of electricity, i. 201.
strongly electrified, rises in vapour, 204.
particles of, in rising, are attached to particles of air, 205.
and air, attract each other, 206.
exploded like gunpowder, by electricity, 358.
expansion of, when reduced to vapour, _ib._
saturated with salt, precipitates the overplus, ii. 2.
will dissolve in air, _ib._
expands when boiling, _ib._
how supported in air, 45.
bubbles on the surface of, hypothesis respecting, 48.
agitated, does not produce heat, 49, 96.
supposed originally all salt, 91.
fresh, produce of distillation only, _ib._
curious effects of oil on, 142.
_Water-casks_, how to dispose of, in leaky vessels, ii. 170.
_Water-spouts_, observations on, ii. 11.
whether they descend or ascend, 14, 23, 38.
various appearances of, 16.
winds blow from all points towards them, 21.
are whirlwinds at sea, _ib._
effect of one on the coast of Guinea, 33.
account of one at Antigua, 34.
various instances of, 38.
Mr. Colden's observations on, 53.
_Watson_, Mr. William, letter by, on thunder-clouds, i. 427.
_Waves_, stilled by oil, ii. 144, 145, 148.
greasy water, 146.
_Wax_, when fluid will conduct electricity, i. 256.
may be electrised positively and negatively, 291.
_Wealth_, way to, iii. 453.
national, positions to be examined concerning, ii. 408.
but three ways of acquiring it, 410.
_Webb_, George, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84, 86.
_Wedderburn_, Mr. remarks on his treatment of Franklin before the privy
council, iii. 330, 332, notes; 550.
_West_, Mr. his conductor struck by lightning, i. 340.
_Western_ colonies, plan for settling them, iii. 41.
_Whatley_, Mr. four letters to, iii. 543*.
_Wheels_, electrical, described, i. 196.
_Whirlwinds_, how formed, ii. 10.
observations on, 20.
a remarkable one at Rome, 24.
account of one in Maryland, 61.
_Whistle_, a story, iii. 480.
_White_, fittest colour for clothes in hot climates, ii. 109.
_Will_, extracts from Franklin's, i. 155.
_Wilson_, Mr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Wind_ generated by fermentation, ii. 59.
_Winds_ explained, ii. 8, 9, 48.
the explanation objected to, 50, 51.
observations on, by Mr. Colden, 52.
whether confined to, or generated in, clouds, 57.
raise the surface of the sea above its level, 188.
effect of, on sound, 337.
_Winters_, hard, causes of, ii. 68.
_Winthrop_, professor, letters from, i. 373, 382.
_Wire_ conducts a great stroke of lightning, though destroyed itself,
i. 282.
_Wolfe_, general, i. 136.
_Women_ of Paris, singular saying respecting, as mothers, iii. 548*.
_Wood_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 172.
why does not feel so cold as metals, ii. 56.
_Woods_, not unhealthy to inhabit, ii. 130.
_Woollen_, why warmer than linen, ii. 57, 81.
_Words_, to modern songs, only a pretence for singing, ii. 348.
_Wygate_, an acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 66.
_Wyndham_, sir William, applies to Franklin to teach his sons swimming,
i. 69.
The
WORKS
Of
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, L.L.D.
VOL. 3.
[Illustration: (Stalker Sculptor.)]
PRINTED,
for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, Paternoster Row, London.
THE
COMPLETE
WORKS,
IN
PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND MORALS,
OF THE LATE
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
NOW FIRST COLLECTED AND ARRANGED:
WITH
MEMOIRS OF HIS EARLY LIFE,
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
London:
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD;
AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1806.
JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,
LONDON.
CONTENTS.
VOL. III.
PAPERS ON AMERICAN SUBJECTS BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY
TROUBLES.
_Page._
Albany papers; containing, I. reasons and motives on which the
plan of union for the colonies was formed;--II. reasons against
partial unions;--III. and the plan of union drawn by B. F. and
unanimously agreed to by the commissioners from New Hampshire,
Massachusett's Bay, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland,
and Pensylvania, met in congress at Albany, in July 1754, to consider
of the best means of defending the king's dominions in America,
&c. a war being then apprehended; with the reasons or
motives for each article of the plan 3
Albany papers continued. I. letter to Governor Shirley, concerning
the imposition of direct taxes upon the colonies, without their
consent 30
II. Letter to the same; concerning direct taxes in the colonies imposed
without consent, indirect taxes, and the Albany plan of
union 31
III. Letter to the same, on the subject of uniting the colonies more
intimately with Great Britain, by allowing them representatives
in parliament 37
Plan for settling two Western colonies in North America, with reasons
for the plan, 1754 41
Report of the committee of aggrievances of the assembly of Pensylvania,
dated Feb. 22, 1757 50
An historical review of the constitution and government of Pensylvania,
from its origin; so far as regards the several points of controversy
which have, from time to time, arisen between the several
governors of that province, and their several assemblies. Founded
on authentic documents 59
The interest of Great Britain considered, with regard to her colonies,
and the acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe 89
Remarks and facts relative to the American paper-money 144
To the freemen of Pensylvania, on the subject of a particular
militia-bill, rejected by the proprietor's deputy or governor 157
Preface by a member of the Pensylvanian assembly (Dr. Franklin)
to the speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq. one of the members for
Philadelphia county; in answer to the speech of John Dickinson,
Esq. delivered in the house of the assembly of the province of
Pensylvania, May 24, 1764, on occasion of a petition drawn up
by order, and then under the consideration of the house, praying
his majesty for a royal, in lieu of a proprietary government 163
Remarks on a late protest against the appointment of Mr. Franklin
as agent for this province (of Pensylvania) 203
Remarks on a plan for the future management of Indian affairs 216
PAPERS ON AMERICAN SUBJECTS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY
TROUBLES.
Causes of the American discontents before 1768 225
Letter concerning the gratitude of America, and the probability and
effects of an union with Great Britain; and concerning the repeal
or suspension of the stamp act 239
Letter from Governor Pownall to Dr. Franklin, concerning an equal
communication of rights, privileges, &c. to America by Great
Britain 243
Minutes to the foregoing, by Dr. Franklin 244
The examination of Dr. Franklin before the English house of commons,
in February, 1766, relative to the repeal of the American
stamp act 245
Attempts of Dr. Franklin for conciliation of Great Britain with the
colonies 286
Queries from Mr. Strahan 287
Answer to the preceding queries 290
State of the constitution of the colonies, by Governor Pownall; with
remarks by Dr. Franklin 299
Concerning the dissentions between England and America 310
A Prussian edict, assuming claims over Britain 311
Preface by the British editor (Dr. Franklin) to "The votes and
proceedings of the freeholders, and other inhabitants of the town
of Boston, in town-meeting assembled according to law (published
by order of the town), &c." 317
Account of governor Hutchinson's letters 322
Rules for reducing a great empire to a small one, presented to a late
minister, when he entered upon his administration 334
State of America on Dr. Franklin's arrival there 346
Proposed vindication and offer from congress to parliament, in
1775 347
Reprobation of Mr. Strahan's parliamentary conduct 354
Conciliation hopeless from the conduct of Great Britain to
America 355
Account of the first campaign made by the British forces in
America 357
Probability of a separation 358
Letter to Monsieur Dumas, urging him to sound the several courts
of Europe, by means of their ambassadors at the Hague, as to any
assistance they may be disposed to afford America in her struggle
for independence 360
Letter from Lord Howe to Dr. Franklin 365
Dr. Franklin's answer to Lord Howe 367
Comparison of Great Britain and America as to credit, in 1777 372
PAPERS, DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA, OR RELATING TO THAT
COUNTRY, WRITTEN SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION.
Remarks concerning the savages of North America 383
The internal state of America; being a true description of the interest
and policy of that vast continent 391
Information to those who would remove to America 398
Concerning new settlements in America 409
A comparison of the conduct of the ancient Jews, and of the
Antifederalists in the United States of America 410
Final speech of Dr. Franklin in the late federal convention 416
PAPERS ON MORAL SUBJECTS AND THE ECONOMY OF LIFE.
The busy-body 421
The way to wealth, as clearly shown in the preface of an old Pensylvania
almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved 453
Advice to a young tradesman 463
Necessary hints to those that would be rich 466
The way to make money plenty in every man's pocket 467
New mode of lending money 468
An economical project 469
On early marriages 475
Effect of early impressions on the mind 478
The whistle 480
A petition to those who have the superintendency of education 483
The handsome and deformed leg 485
Morals of chess 488
The art of procuring pleasant dreams 493
Dialogue between Franklin and the gout 499
On the death of relatives 507
The ephemera an emblem of human life 508
APPENDIX, NO. I.--CONTAINING PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION,
BUT OMITTED IN THE PRECEDING VOLUMES.
Letter to Sir Hans Sloane 513
Letter to Michael Collinson, Esq. 514
Letter respecting captain Cook 515
An address to the public, from the Pensylvania society for promoting
the abolition of slavery, and the relief of free negroes, unlawfully
held in bondage 517
Plan for improving the condition of the free blacks 519
Paper: a poem 523
Plain truth; or, serious considerations on the present state of the
city of Philadelphia, and province of Pensylvania 524
Four letters to Mr. Whetley 543*
APPENDIX, NO. II.--CONTAINING LETTERS BY SEVERAL
EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF DR. FRANKLIN'S
MANNERS AND CHARACTER.
Letter from the late Dr. Price to a gentleman in America 543
Letter from Mr. Thomas Jefferson to the late Dr. William Smith, of
Philadelphia 545
Letter from the late Dr. Joseph Priestly 547
_ERRATA._
_Page._ _Line._
24 8 from the bottom: for DAY, read LAY.
39 6, for iuppose, read suppose.
60 5 from the bottom: for Cruger, read Stuber.
449 7 from the bottom: for PLEIADS, read PLEIADES.
PAPERS
ON
AMERICAN SUBJECTS
BEFORE THE
_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.
[_The papers under the present head, of American Politics before the
Troubles, in the volume of Dr. Franklin's works, printed for Johnson
in 1799, from which they are nearly all taken, were divided into
two parts, as if distinct from each other, viz. Papers on American
Subjects before the Troubles; and Papers on Subjects of Provincial
Politics. As we can see no grounds for this distinction, we have
brought them together, and have placed them in the order of their
dates, conceiving such to be the natural order of papers furnishing
materials for history._]
PAPERS
ON
AMERICAN SUBJECTS,
BEFORE THE
_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.
ALBANY PAPERS.
_Containing_, I. _Reasons and Motives on which the_ PLAN _of_
UNION _for the_ COLONIES _was formed_;--II. _Reasons against
partial Unions_;--III. _And the Plan of Union drawn by B. F. and
unanimously agreed to by the Commissioners from New Hampshire,
Massachusett's Bay, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, and
Pensylvania[1], met in Congress at Albany, in July 1754, to
consider of the best Means of defending the King's Dominions in
America, &c. a War being then apprehended; with the Reasons or
Motives for each Article of the Plan._
B. F. was one of the four commissioners from Pensylvania[2].
I. _Reasons and Motives on which the Plan of Union was formed._
The commissioners from a number of the northern colonies being
met at Albany, and considering the difficulties that have always
attended the most necessary general measures for the common defence,
or for the annoyance of the enemy, when they were to be carried
through the several particular assemblies of all the colonies;
some assemblies being before at variance with their governors or
councils, and the several branches of the government not on terms of
doing business with each other; others taking the opportunity, when
their concurrence is wanted, to push for favourite laws, powers,
or points, that they think could not at other times be obtained,
and so creating disputes and quarrels; one assembly waiting to see
what another will do, being afraid of doing more than its share, or
desirous of doing less; or refusing to do any thing, because its
country is not at present so much exposed as others, or because
another will reap more immediate advantage; from one or other of
which causes, the assemblies of six (out of seven) colonies applied
to, had granted no assistance to Virginia, when lately invaded by
the French, though purposely convened, and the importance of the
occasion earnestly urged upon them; considering moreover, that one
principal encouragement to the French, in invading and insulting the
British American dominions, was their knowledge of our disunited
state, and of our weakness arising from such want of union; and that
from hence different colonies were, at different times, extremely
harassed, and put to great expence both of blood and treasure, who
would have remained in peace, if the enemy had had cause to fear the
drawing on themselves the resentment and power of the whole; the
said commissioners, considering also the present incroachments of
the French, and the mischievous consequences that may be expected
from them, if not opposed with our force, came to an unanimous
resolution,--_That an union of the colonies is absolutely necessary
for their preservation_.
The manner of forming and establishing this union was the next point.
When it was considered, that the colonies were seldom all in equal
danger at the same time, or equally near the danger, or equally
sensible of it; that some of them had particular interests to manage,
with which an union might interfere; and that they were extremely
jealous of each other; it was thought impracticable to obtain a joint
agreement of all the colonies to an union, in which the expence and
burthen of defending any of them should be divided among them all;
and if ever acts of assembly in all the colonies could be obtained
for that purpose, yet as any colony, on the least dissatisfaction,
might repeal its own act and thereby withdraw itself from the union,
it would not be a stable one, or such as could be depended on: for if
only one colony should, on any disgust withdraw itself, others might
think it unjust and unequal that they, by continuing in the union,
should be at the expence of defending a colony, which refused to
bear its proportionable part, and would therefore one after another,
withdraw, till the whole crumbled into its original parts. Therefore
the commissioners came to another previous resolution, viz. _That it
was necessary the union should be established by act of parliament_.
They then proceeded to sketch out a _plan of union_, which they
did in a plain and concise manner, just sufficient to show
their sentiments of the kind of union that would best suit the
circumstances of the colonies, be most agreeable to the people,
and most effectually promote his majesty's service and the general
interest of the British empire. This was respectfully sent to the
assemblies of the several colonies for their consideration, and to
receive such alterations and improvements as they should think fit
and necessary; after which it was proposed to be transmitted to
England to be perfected, and the establishment of it there humbly
solicited.
This was as much as the commissioners could do[3].
* * * * *
II. _Reasons against partial Unions._
It was proposed by some of the commissioners, to form the colonies
into two or three distinct unions; but for these reasons that
proposal was dropped even by those that made it: [viz.]
1. In all cases where the strength of the whole was necessary to be
used against the enemy, there would be the same difficulty in degree,
to bring the several unions to unite together, as now the several
colonies; and consequently the same delays on our part and advantage
to the enemy.
2. Each union would separately be weaker than when joined by the
whole, obliged to exert more force, be oppressed by the expence, and
the enemy less deterred from attacking it.
3. Where particular colonies have _selfish views_, as New York with
regard to Indian trade and lands; or are less exposed, being covered
by others, as New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland; or
have particular whims and prejudices against warlike measures in
general, as Pensylvania, where the Quakers predominate; such colonies
would have more weight in a partial union, and be better able to
oppose and obstruct the measures necessary for the general good, than
where they are swallowed up in the general union.
4. The Indian trade would be better regulated by the union of the
whole than by partial unions. And as Canada is chiefly supported by
that trade, if it could be drawn into the hands of the English (as
it might be if the Indians were supplied on moderate terms, and by
honest traders appointed by and acting for the public) that alone
would contribute greatly to the weakening of our enemies.
5. The establishing of new colonies westward on the Ohio and the
lakes (a matter of considerable importance to the increase of British
trade and power, to the breaking that of the French, and to the
protection and security of our present colonies,) would best be
carried on by a joint union.
6. It was also thought, that by the frequent meetings-together
of commissioners or representatives from all the colonies, the
circumstances of the whole would be better known, and the good of
the whole better provided for; and that the colonies would by this
connection learn to consider themselves, not as so many independent
states, but as members of the same body; and thence be more ready to
afford assistance and support to each other, and to make diversions
in favour even of the most distant, and to join cordially in any
expedition for the benefit of all against the common enemy.
These were the principal reasons and motives for forming the plan of
union as it stands. To which may be added this, that as the union of
the *******
The remainder of this article is lost.
III. _Plan of a proposed Union of the several Colonies of
Massachusett's Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New
York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina, for their mutual Defence and Security, and
for extending the British Settlements in North America, with the
Reasons and Motives for each Article of the Plan [as far as could be
remembered.]_
It is proposed--That humble application be made for an act of
parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general
government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies,
within and under which government each colony may retain its present
constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be
directed by the said act, as hereafter follows[4].
PRESIDENT GENERAL, AND GRAND COUNCIL.
_That the said general government be administered by a president
general, to be appointed and supported by the crown; and a grand
council, to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the
several colonies met in their respective assemblies._
It was thought that it would be best the president general should be
supported as well as appointed by the crown; that so all disputes
between him and the grand council concerning his salary might be
prevented; as such disputes have been frequently of mischievous
consequence in particular colonies, especially in time of public
danger. The quit-rents of crown-lands in America might in a short
time be sufficient for this purpose.--The choice of members for the
grand council is placed in the house of representatives of each
government, in order to give the people a share in this new general
government, as the crown has its share by the appointment of the
president-general.
But it being proposed by the gentlemen of the council of New York,
and some other counsellors among the Commissioners, to alter the
plan in this particular, and to give the governors and council of
the several provinces a share in the choice of the grand council, or
at least a power of approving and confirming or of disallowing the
choice made by the house of representatives, it was said:
"That the government or constitution proposed to be formed by the
plan, consists of two branches; a president general appointed by
the crown, and a council chosen by the people, or by the people's
representatives, which is the same thing.
"That by a subsequent article, the council chosen by the people can
effect nothing without the consent of the president general appointed
by the crown; the crown possesses therefore full one half of the
power of this constitution.
"That in the British constitution, the crown is supposed to possess
but one third, the lords having their share.
"That this constitution seemed rather more favorable for the crown.
"That it is essential, to English liberty, [that] the subject should
not be taxed but by his own consent, or the consent of his elected
representatives.
"That taxes to be laid and levied by this proposed constitution will
be proposed and agreed to by the representatives of the people, if
the plan in this particular be preserved:
"But if the proposed alteration should take place, it seemed as if
matters may be so managed, as that the crown shall finally have the
appointment not only of the president general, but of a majority of
the grand council; for seven out of eleven governors and councils are
appointed by the crown:
"And so the people in all the colonies would in effect be taxed by
their governors.
"It was therefore apprehended, that such alterations of the plan
would give great dissatisfaction, and that the colonies could not be
easy under such a power in governors, and such an infringement of
what they take to be English liberty.
"Besides, the giving a share in the choice of the grand council would
not be equal with respect to all the colonies, as their constitutions
differ. In some, both governor and council are appointed by the
crown. In others, they are both appointed by the proprietors. In
some, the people have a share in the choice of the council; in
others, both government and council are wholly chosen by the people.
But the house of representatives is every where chosen by the people;
and therefore, placing the right of choosing the grand council in the
representatives is equal with respect to all.
"That the grand council is intended to represent all the several
houses of representatives of the colonies, as a house of
representatives doth the several towns or counties of a colony. Could
all the people of a colony be consulted and unite in public measures,
a house of representatives would be needless: and could all the
assemblies conveniently consult and unite in general measures, the
grand council would be unnecessary.
"That a house of commons or the house of representatives, and the
grand council, are thus alike in their nature and intention. And
as it would seem improper that the king or house of lords should
have a power of disallowing or appointing members of the house of
commons;--so likewise, that a governor and council appointed by
the crown should have a power of disallowing or appointing members
of the grand council (who, in this constitution, are to be the
representatives of the people.)
"If the governors and councils therefore were to have a share in the
choice of any that are to conduct this general government, it should
seem more proper that they chose the president-general. But this
being an office of great trust and importance to the nation, it was
thought better to be filled by the immediate appointment of the crown.
"The power proposed to be given by the plan to the grand council
is only a concentration of the powers of the several assemblies in
certain points for the general welfare; as the power of the president
general, is of the powers of the several governors in the same points.
"And as the choice therefore of the grand council by the
representatives of the people, neither gives the people any new
powers, nor diminishes the power of the crown, it was thought and
hoped the crown would not disapprove of it."
Upon the whole, the commissioners were of opinion, that the choice
was most properly placed in the representatives of the people.
ELECTION OF MEMBERS.
_That within [___] months after the passing such act, the house of
representatives, that happen to be sitting within that time, or that
shall be especially for that purpose convened, may and shall choose
members for the grand council, in the following proportion, that is
to say,_
Massachussett's Bay 7
New Hampshire 2
Connecticut 5
Rhode Island 2
New York 4
New Jerseys 3
Pennsylvania 6
Maryland 4
Virginia 7
North Carolina 4
South Carolina 4
----
48
It was thought, that if the least colony was allowed two, and the
others in proportion, the number would be very great and the expence
heavy; and that less than two would not be convenient, as a single
person, being by any accident prevented appearing at the meeting, the
colony he ought to appear for would not be represented. That as the
choice was not immediately popular, they would be generally men of
good abilities for business, and men of reputation for integrity; and
that forty-eight such men might be a number sufficient. But, though
it was thought reasonable, that each colony should have a share in
the representative body in some degree, according to the proportion
it contributed to the general treasury: yet the proportion of wealth
or power of the colonies is not to be judged by the proportion here
fixed; because it was at first agreed, that the greatest colony
should not have more than seven members, nor the least less than two:
and the settling these proportions between these two extremes was not
nicely attended to, as it would find itself, after the first election
from the sums brought into the treasury, as by a subsequent article.
PLACE OF FIRST MEETING.
--_who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia
Pensylvania, being called by the president-general as soon as
conveniently may be after his appointment._
Philadelphia was named as being the nearer the centre of the
colonies, where the commissioners would be well and cheaply
accommodated. The high-roads, through the whole extent, are for
the most part very good, in which forty or fifty miles a day may
very well be and frequently are travelled. Great part of the way
may likewise he gone by water. In summer time, the passages are
frequently performed in a week from Charles Town to Philadelphia and
New York; and from Rhode Island to New York through the Sound, in two
or three days; and from New York to Philadelphia, by water and land,
in two days, by stage boats and wheel-carriages that set out every
other day. The journey from Charles Town to Philadelphia may likewise
be facilitated by boats running up Chesapeak Bay three hundred miles.
But if the whole journey be performed on horseback, the most distant
members (viz. the two from New Hampshire and from South Carolina) may
probably render themselves at Philadelphia in fifteen or twenty days;
the majority may be there in much less time.
NEW ELECTION.
_That there shall be a new election of the members of the grand
council every three years; and on the death or resignation of any
member, his place shall be supplied by a new choice at the next
silting of the assembly of the colony he represented._
Some colonies have annual assemblies, some continue during a
governor's pleasure; three years was thought a reasonable medium, as
affording a new member time to improve himself in the business, and
to act after such improvement; and yet giving opportunities, frequent
enough, to change him, if he has misbehaved.
PROPORTION OF MEMBERS AFTER THE FIRST THREE YEARS.
_That after the first three years, when the proportion of money
arising out of each colony to the general treasury can be known, the
number of members to be chosen for each colony shall from time to
time, in all ensuing elections, be regulated by that proportion (yet
so as that the number to be chosen by any one province be not more
than seven, nor less than two.)_
By a subsequent article it is proposed, that the general council
shall lay and levy such general duties, as to them may appear most
equal and least burthensome, &c. Suppose, for instance, they lay a
small duty or excise on some commodity imported into or made in the
colonies, and pretty generally and equally used in all of them; as
rum perhaps, or wine; the yearly produce of this duty or excise, if
fairly collected, would be in some colonies greater, in others less,
as the colonies are greater or smaller. When the collector's accounts
are brought in, the proportions will appear; and from them it is
proposed to regulate the proportion of representatives to be chosen
at the next general election, within the limits however of seven and
two. These numbers may therefore vary in course of years, as the
colonies may in the growth and increase of people. And thus the quota
of tax from each colony would naturally vary with its circumstances;
thereby preventing all disputes and dissatisfactions about the just
proportions due from each; which might otherwise produce pernicious
consequences, and destroy the harmony and good agreement that ought
to subsist between the several parts of the union.
MEETINGS OF THE GRAND COUNCIL, AND CALL.
_That the grand council shall meet once in every year, and oftener if
occasion require, at such time and place as they shall adjourn to at
the last preceding meeting, or as they shall be called to meet at by
the president general on any emergency; he having first obtained in
writing the consent of seven of the members to such call, and sent
due and timely notice to the whole._
It was thought, in establishing and governing new colonies or
settlements, regulating Indian trade, Indian treaties, &c. there
would be every year sufficient business arise to require at least one
meeting, and at such meeting many things might be suggested for the
benefit of all the colonies. This annual meeting may either be at a
time or place certain, to be fixed by the president general and grand
council at their first meeting; or left at liberty, to be at such
time and place as they shall adjourn to, or be called to meet at by
the president general.
In time of war it seems convenient, that the meeting should be in
that colony, which is nearest the seat of action.
The power of calling them on any emergency seemed necessary to be
vested in the president general; but that such power might not be
wantonly used to harass the members, and oblige them to make frequent
long journies to little purpose, the consent of seven at least to
such call was supposed a convenient guard.
CONTINUANCE.
_That the grand council have power to choose their speaker; and
shall neither be dissolved, prorogued, nor continued sitting longer
than six weeks at one time, without their own consent or the special
command of the crown._
The speaker should be presented for approbation; it being convenient,
to prevent misunderstandings and disgusts, that the mouth of the
council should be a person agreeable, if possible, both to the
council and president general.
Governors have sometimes wantonly exercised the power of proroguing
or continuing the sessions of assemblies, merely to harass the
members and compel a compliance; and sometimes dissolve them on
slight disgusts. This it was feared might be done by the president
general, if not provided against: and the inconvenience and hardship
would be greater in the general government than in particular
colonies, in proportion to the distance the members must be from
home, during sittings, and the long journies some of them must
necessarily take.
MEMBERS' ALLOWANCE.
_That the members of the grand council shall be allowed for their
service ten shillings sterling per diem, during their session and
journey to and from the place of meeting; twenty miles to be reckoned
a day's journey._
It was thought proper to allow _some_ wages, lest the expence might
deter some suitable persons from the service;--and not to allow _too
great_ wages, lest unsuitable persons should be tempted to cabal for
the employment, for the sake of gain. Twenty miles was set down as
a day's journey, to allow for accidental hinderances on the road,
and the greater expences of travelling than residing at the place of
meeting.
ASSENT OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND HIS DUTY.
_That the assent of the president general be requisite to all acts of
the grand council; and that it be his office and duty to cause them
to be carried into execution._
The assent of the president general, to all acts of the grand council
was made necessary, in order to give the crown its due share of
influence in this government, and connect it with that of Great
Britain. The president general, besides one half of the legislative
power, hath in his hands the whole executive power.
POWER OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL. TREATIES OF PEACE AND
WAR.
_That the president general, with the advice of the grand council,
hold or direct all Indian treaties in which the general interest of
the colonies may be concerned; and make peace or declare war with
Indian nations._
The power of making peace or war with Indian nations is at present
supposed to be in every colony, and is expressly granted to some
by charter, so that no new power is hereby intended to be granted
to the colonies. But as, in consequence of this power, one colony
might make peace with a nation that another was justly engaged in
war with; or make war on slight occasions without the concurrence or
approbation of neighbouring colonies, greatly endangered by it; or
make particular treaties of neutrality in case of a general war, to
their own private advantage in trade, by supplying the common enemy;
of all which there have been instances--it was thought better, to
have all treaties of a general nature under a general direction; that
so the good of the whole may be consulted and provided for.
INDIAN TRADE.
_That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regulating all
Indian trade._
Many quarrels and wars have arisen between the colonies and Indian
nations, through the bad conduct of traders, who cheat the Indians
after making them drunk, &c. to the great expence of the colonies
both in blood and treasure. Particular colonies are so interested in
the trade as not to be willing to admit such a regulation as might be
best for the whole; and therefore it was thought best under a general
direction.
INDIAN PURCHASES.
_That they make all purchases, from Indians for the crown, of lands
not now within the bounds of particular colonies, or that shall
not be within their bounds when some of them are reduced to more
convenient dimensions._
Purchases from the Indians, made by private persons, have been
attended with many inconveniences. They have frequently interfered,
and occasioned uncertainty of titles, many disputes and expensive
law-suits, and hindered the settlement of the land so disputed.
Then the Indians have been cheated by such private purchases, and
discontent and wars have been the consequence. These would be
prevented by public fair purchases.
Several of the colony charters in America extend their bounds to
the South Sea, which may be perhaps three or four thousand miles in
length to one or two hundred miles in breadth. It is supposed they
must in time be reduced to dimensions more convenient for the common
purposes of government[5].
Very little of the land in those grants is yet purchased of the
Indians.
It is much cheaper to purchase of them, than to take and maintain the
possession by force: for they are generally very reasonable in their
demands for land[6]; and the expence of guarding a large frontier
against their incursions is vastly great; because all must be
guarded, and always guarded, as we know not where or when _to expect
them_[7].
NEW SETTLEMENTS.
_That they make new settlements on such purchases, by granting lands
in the king's name, reserving a quit-rent to the crown for the use of
the general treasury._
It is supposed better that there should be one purchaser than many;
and that the crown should be that purchaser, or the union in the name
of the crown. By this means the bargains may be more easily made, the
price not inhanced by numerous bidders, future disputes about private
Indian purchases, and monopolies of vast tracts to particular persons
(which are prejudicial to the settlement and peopling of country)
prevented; and the land being again granted in small tracts to the
settlers, the quit-rents reserved may in time become a fund for
support of government, for defence of the country, ease of taxes, &c.
Strong forts on the lakes, the Ohio, &c. may, at the same time they
secure our present frontiers, serve to defend new colonies settled
under their protection; and such colonies would also mutually defend
and support such forts, and better secure the friendship of the far
Indians.
A particular colony has scarce strength enough to extend itself by
new settlements, at so great a distance from the old: but the joint
force of the union might suddenly establish a new colony or two in
those parts, or extend an old colony to particular passes, greatly to
the security of our present frontiers, increase of trade and people,
breaking off the French communication between Canada and Louisiana,
and speedy settlement of the intermediate lands.
The power of settling new colonies is therefore thought a valuable
part of the plan, and what cannot so well be executed by two unions
as by one.
LAWS TO GOVERN THEM.
_That they make laws for regulating and governing such new
settlements, till the crown shall think fit to form them into
particular governments._
The making of laws suitable for the new colonies, it was thought,
would be properly vested in the president general and grand council;
under whose protection they will at first necessarily be, and who
would be well acquainted with their circumstances, as having settled
them. When they are become sufficiently populous, they may by the
crown be formed into complete and distinct governments.
The appointment of a sub-president by the crown, to take place in
case of the death or absence of the president general, would perhaps
be an improvement of the plan; and if all the governors of particular
provinces were to be formed into a standing council of state, for the
advice and assistance of the president general, it might be another
considerable improvement.
RAISE SOLDIERS AND EQUIP VESSELS, &C.
_That they raise and pay soldiers and build forts for the defence of
any of the colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts
and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes[8], or great rivers; but
they shall not impress men in any colony, without the consent of the
legislature._
It was thought, that quotas of men, to be raised and paid by the
several colonies, and joined for any public service, could not always
be got together with the necessary expedition. For instance, suppose
one thousand men should be wanted in New Hampshire on any emergency;
to fetch them by fifties and hundreds out of every colony, as far as
South Carolina, would be inconvenient, the transportation chargeable
and the occasion perhaps passed before they could be assembled;
and therefore, that it would be best to raise them (by offering
bounty-money and pay) near the place where they would be wanted, to
be discharged again when the service should be over.
Particular colonies are at present backward to build forts at
their own expence, which they say will be equally useful to their
neighbouring colonies; who refuse to join, on a presumption that such
forts _will_ be built and kept up, though they contribute nothing.
This unjust conduct weakens the whole; but the forts being for the
good of the whole, it was thought best they should be built and
maintained by the whole, out of the common treasury.
In the time of war, small vessels of force are sometimes necessary
in the colonies to scour the coast of small privateers. These being
provided by the union will be an advantage in turn to the colonies
which are situated on the sea, and whose frontiers on the land-side,
being covered by other colonies, reap but little immediate benefit
from the advanced forts.
POWER TO MAKE LAWS, LAY DUTIES, &C.
_That for these purposes they have power to make laws, and lay
and levy such general duties, imports, or taxes, as to them shall
appear most equal and just (considering the ability and other
circumstances of the inhabitants in the several colonies,) and such
as may be collected with the least inconvenience to the people;
rather discouraging luxury, than loading industry with unnecessary
burthens._
The laws which the president general and grand council are impowered
to make _are such only_ as shall be necessary for the government of
the settlements; the raising, regulating, and paying soldiers for
the general service; the regulating of Indian trade; and laying and
collecting the general duties and taxes. (They should also have a
power to restrain the exportation of provisions to the enemy from
any of the colonies, on particular occasions, in time of war.) But
is it not intended that they may interfere with the constitution and
government of the particular colonies; who are to be left to their
own laws, and to lay, levy, and apply their own taxes as before.
GENERAL TREASURER AND PARTICULAR TREASURER.
_That they may appoint a general treasurer and particular treasurer
in each government when necessary; and from time to time may order
the sums in the treasuries of each government into the general
treasury; or draw on them for special payments, as they find most
convenient._
The treasurers here meant are only for the general funds, and not for
the particular funds of each colony, which remain in the hands of
their own treasurers at their own disposal.
MONEY HOW TO ISSUE.
_Yet no money to issue but by joint orders of the president general
and grand council; except where sums have been appropriated to
particular purposes, and the president general is previously
impowered by an act to draw for such sums._
To prevent misapplication of the money, or even application that
might be dissatisfactory to the crown or the people, it was thought
necessary, to join the president general and grand council in all
issues of money.
ACCOUNTS.
_That the general accounts shall be yearly settled and reported to
the several assemblies._
By communicating the accounts yearly to each assembly, they will be
satisfied of the prudent and honest conduct of their representatives
in the grand council.
QUORUM.
_That a quorum of the grand council, impowered to act with the
president general, do consist of twenty-five members; among whom
there shall be one or more from a majority of the colonies._
The quorum seems large, but it was thought it would not be
satisfactory to the colonies in general, to have matters of
importance to the whole transacted by a smaller number, or even by
this number of twenty-five, unless there were among them one at least
from a majority of the colonies; because otherwise, the whole quorum
being made up of members from three or four colonies at one end of
the union, something might be done that would not be equal with
respect to the rest, and thence dissatisfactions and discords might
rise to the prejudice of the whole.
LAWS TO BE TRANSMITTED.
_That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid shall not be
repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of England,
and shall be transmitted to the king in council for approbation as
soon as may be after their passing; and if not disapproved within
three years after presentation, to remain in force._
This was thought necessary for the satisfaction of the crown, to
preserve the connection of the parts of the British empire with the
whole, of the members with the head, and to induce greater care and
circumspection in making of the laws, that they be good in themselves
and for the general benefit.
DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT GENERAL.
_That in case of the death of the president general, the speaker of
the grand council for the time being shall succeed, and be vested
with the same powers and authorities, to continue till the king's
pleasure be known._
It might be better, perhaps, as was said before, if the crown
appointed a vice president, to take place on the death or absence of
the president general; for so we should be more sure of a suitable
person at the head of the colonies. On the death or absence of both,
the speaker to take place (or rather the eldest king's-governor) till
his majesty's pleasure be known.
OFFICERS HOW APPOINTED.
_That all military commission officers, whether for land or
sea-service, to act under this general constitution, shall be
nominated by the president general; but the approbation of the grand
council is to be obtained, before they receive their commissions. And
all civil officers are to be nominated by the grand council, and to
receive the president general's approbation before they officiate._
It was thought it might be very prejudicial to the service, to have
officers appointed unknown to the people, or unacceptable, the
generality of Americans serving willingly under officers they know:
and not caring to engage in the service under strangers, or such as
are often appointed by governors through favour or interest. The
service here meant, is not the stated settled service in standing
troops; but any sudden and short service, either for defence of
our own colonies, or invading the enemies country; (such as, the
expedition to Cape Breton in the last war; in which many substantial
farmers and tradesmen engaged as common soldiers under officers of
their own country, for whom they had an esteem and affection; who
would not have engaged in a standing army, or under officers from
England.)--It was therefore thought best, to give the council the
power of approving the officers, which the people will look upon
as a great security of their being good men. And without some such
provision as this, it was thought the expence of engaging men in the
service on any emergency would be much greater, and the number who
could be induced to engage much less; and that therefore it would be
most for the king's service and general benefit of the nation, that
the prerogative should relax a little in this particular throughout
all the colonies in America; as it had already done much more in the
charters of some particular colonies, viz. Connecticut and Rhode
Island.
The civil officers will be chiefly treasurers and collectors of
taxes; and the suitable persons are most likely to be known by the
council.
VACANCIES HOW SUPPLIED.
_But in case of vacancy by death, or removal of any officer civil
or military under this constitution, the governor of the province
in which such vacancy happens may appoint, till the pleasure of the
president general and grand council can be known._
The vacancies were thought best supplied by the governors in each
province, till a new appointment can be regularly made; otherwise the
service might suffer before the meeting of the president general and
grand council.
EACH COLONY MAY DEFEND ITSELF ON EMERGENCY, &C.
_That the particular military as well as civil establishments in
each colony remain in their present state, the general constitution
notwithstanding; and that on sudden emergencies any colony may
defend itself, and lay the accounts of expence thence arising before
the president general and general council, who may allow and order
payment of the same, as far as they judge such accounts just and
reasonable._
Otherwise the union of the whole would weaken the parts, contrary
to the design of the union. The accounts are to be judged of by the
president general and grand council, and allowed if found reasonable:
this was thought necessary to encourage colonies to defend
themselves, as the expence would be light when borne by the whole;
and also to check imprudent and lavish expence in such defences.[9]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The reader must be informed here, that this plan was intended for
all the colonies; but, commissioners from some of them not attending
(from causes which I cannot specify) their consent to it was not,
in this respect, universally expressed. Governor Pownall, however,
says, "That he had an opportunity of conversing with, and knowing
the sentiments of the commissioners appointed by their respective
provinces, to attend this congress, to which they were called by the
crown; of learning from their experience and judgment, the actual
state of the American business and interest; and of hearing amongst
them, the grounds and reasons of that American union, which they then
had under deliberation, and transmitted the plan of to England;" and
he adds, in another place, "that the sentiments of our colonies were
collected in an authentic manner on this subject in the plan proposed
by Dr. Franklin, and unanimously agreed to in congress." See Governor
Pownall's Administration of the British Colonies. Vol. I. p. 13.
Edit. 4, 1774, and Vol. II. p. 86. B. V.
[2] "Mr. [since Governor] Hutchinson was one of the commissioners
for Massachusetts Bay." Governor Pownall as above, Vol. II. p. 144.
"Thomas Pownall, Esq.; brother to John Pownall, Esq.; one of the
secretaries to the board of trade, and afterwards Governor of the
Massachusetts, was upon the spot." History of the British Empire in
North America, p. 25. B. V.
[3] Dr. Davenant was so well convinced of the expediency of an union
of the colonies, that he recites, at full length, a plan contrived,
as he says, with good judgment for the purpose. Davenant, Vol. I. p.
40, 41, of Sir C. Whitworth's Edition. B. V.
[4] The reader may perceive, by the difference of the type, which is
the text of the plan, and which the _reasons and motives_ mentioned
in the title. They are thus consolidated for his convenience. The
editor has taken one or two farther liberties in _transposing_ these
Albany papers; but the sense remains as before. B. V.
[5] Mr. Baron M----, in page 200 of his account of the Proceedings at
Quebec, for obtaining an Assembly, has the following hint: "The vast
enlargement of the province of Quebec by adding to it a new territory
that contains, according to Lord Hillsborough's estimation, of it,
five hundred and eleven millions of acres (that is, more land than
Spain, Italy, France, and Germany put together, and most of it good
land) is a measure that would require an ample discussion."----That
the reader may not suspect that these dimensions were convenient
for uncommon purposes of government, I shall quote the motives
assigned upon this occasion by the act regulating the government
of Quebec. "By the arrangements made by the royal proclamation, a
very large extent of [outlying] country, within which there were
several colonies and settlements of the subjects of France, who
claimed to remain therein under the faith of the said treaty, was
left without any provision being made for the administration of civil
government therein:" _i. e._ a few Indian traders were a pretext for
this appropriation of a tract of country, which, according to the
minister's estimate, was more than thirteen times larger than England
and Wales united, nearly one hundred and twenty eight times larger
than Jamaica, almost one-eighth part of Europe, and considerably more
than one-thirty-eighth part of the whole habitable earth (comparing
it with the several calculations in The Political Survey of Great
Britain, by Dr. Campbell, and in that of Jamaica, by Mr. Long.) "Now
_all_ the inhabitants of the province of Quebec," says this very
act, "amounted at the conquest to above sixty-five thousand [only,]
professing the religion of the church of Rome, and enjoying an
established form of constitution and system of laws." B.V.
[6] "Dr. Franklin (says Mr. Kalm the Swede,) and several other
gentlemen, frequently told me, that a powerful Indian, who possessed
Rhode Island, had sold it to the English for a pair of spectacles:
it is large enough for a prince's domain, and makes a peculiar
government at present. This Indian knew how to set a true value upon
a pair of spectacles: for undoubtedly if those glasses were not so
plentiful, and only a few of them could be found, they would, on
account of their great use, bear the same price with diamonds."
See Kalm's Travels into North America, Vol. I. p. 386, 387. "At
the time when the Swedes first arrived, they bought land at a very
inconsiderable price. For a piece of baize, or a pot full of brandy,
or the like, they could get a piece of ground, which at present would
be worth more than 290_l._ sterling." Ib. Vol. II. p. 118.--The truth
is, that the Indians considered their lands as mere _hunting-manors_,
and not as farms. B. V.
[7] To guard against the incursions of the Indians, a plan was
sent over to America (and, as I think, by authority) suggesting
the expediency of clearing away the woods and bushes from a tract
of land, a mile in breadth, and extending along the back of
the colonies. Unfortunately, besides the large expence of this
undertaking (which, if one acre cost 2_l._ sterling, and six hundred
and forty acres make a square mile, is 128,000_l._ _first cost_ for
every 100 miles) it was forgotten, that the Indians, like other
people, knew the difference between day and night, and that a mile of
advance and another of retreat were nothing to the celerity of such
an enemy.--This plan, it is said, was the work of Dean Tucker; and
possibly might contain many other particulars. The plans of Doctor
Franklin and Governor Pownall appear much more feasible. B. V.
[8] "According to a plan which had been proposed by Governor Pownall,
and approved of by congress."--Administration of the Colonies, Vol.
II. p. 143. B. V.
[9] This plan of union, it will appear from the next page, was
rejected; and another proposed to be substituted by the English
minister, which had for its chief object, the taking power from the
_people_ in the colonies in order to give it to the _crown_. B. V.
ALBANY PAPERS CONTINUED.
I. LETTER _to Governor Shirley, concerning the Imposition of direct
Taxes upon the Colonies, without their Consent_.[10]
_Tuesday Morning._
SIR,
I return you the loose Sheets of the plan, with thanks to your
excellency for communicating them.
I apprehend, that excluding the people of the colonies from all share
in the choice of the grand council will give extreme dissatisfaction;
as well as the taxing them by act of parliament, where they have no
representation. It is very possible, that this general government
might be as well and faithfully administered without the people, as
with them; but where heavy burdens are to be laid upon them, it has
been found useful, to make it as much as possible their own act; for
they bear better, when they have, or think they have, some share in
the direction; and when any public measures are generally grievous,
or even distasteful, to the people, the wheels of government move
more heavily.
FOOTNOTE:
[10] These letters to Governor Shirley first appeared in the London
Chronicle for Feb. 6-8, 1766, with an introduction signed _A Lover of
Britain_. In the beginning of the year 1776, they were republished
in Almon's Remembrancer, with an additional prefatory piece, under
the signature of _A Mourner over our Calamities_.--I shall explain
the subject of them in the words of one of these writers. "The Albany
Plan of Union was sent to the government here for approbation: had
it been approved and established by authority from hence, English
America thought itself sufficiently able to cope with the French,
without other assistance; several of the colonies having alone, in
former wars, withstood the whole power of the enemy, unassisted
not only by the mother-country, but by any of the neighbouring
provinces.--The plan, however, was not approved here; but a _New
one_ was formed instead of it; by which it was proposed, that 'the
governors of all the colonies, attended by one or two members of
their respective councils, should assemble, and concert measures
for the defence of the whole, erect forts where they judged proper,
and raise what troops they thought necessary, with power to draw
on the treasury here for the sums that should be wanted, and the
treasury to be reimbursed by a _tax laid on the colonies by act of
parliament_.'--This _New plan_ being communicated by Governor Shirley
to a gentleman of Philadelphia (Dr. Franklin) then in Boston (who
hath very eminently distinguished himself, before and since that
time, in the literary world, and whose judgment, penetration, and
candor, as well as his readiness and ability to suggest, forward,
or carry into execution, every scheme of public utility, hath most
deservedly endeared him, not only to our fellow-subjects throughout
the continent of North America, but to his numberless friends on
this side the Atlantic) occasioned the following remarks from him,
which perhaps may contribute in some degree to its being laid aside.
As they very particularly show the then sentiments of the Americans
on the subject of a parliamentary tax, before the French power in
that country was subjected, and before the late restraints on their
commerce; they satisfy me, and I hope they will convince your readers
(contrary to what has been advanced by some of your correspondents)
that those particulars have had no share in producing the present
opposition to such a tax, nor in disturbances occasioned by it,
which these papers indeed do almost prophetically foretel. For
this purpose, having accidentally fallen into my hands, they are
communicated to you by one who is, not _partially_, but in the _most
enlarged sense_,
"A LOVER OF BRITAIN." B. V.
II. LETTER _to the same; concerning direct Taxes in the Colonies
imposed without Consent, indirect Taxes, and the Albany Plan of
Union_.
_Wednesday Morning._
SIR,
I mentioned it yesterday to your excellency as my opinion, that
excluding the people of the colonies from all share in the choice
of the grand council would probably give extreme dissatisfaction,
as well as the taxing them by act of parliament, where they have
no representation. In matters of general concern to the people, and
especially where burdens are to be laid upon them; it is of use to
consider, as well what they will be apt to think and say, as what
they ought to think: I shall therefore, as your excellency requires
it of me, briefly mention what of either kind occurs to me on this
occasion.
First, they will say, and perhaps with justice, that the body of the
people in the colonies are as loyal, and as firmly attached to the
present constitution, and reigning family, as any subjects in the
king's dominions.
That there is no reason to doubt the readiness and willingness of
the representatives they may choose, to grant from time to time
such supplies for the defence of the country, as shall be judged
necessary, so far as their abilities will allow.
That the people in the colonies, who are to feel the immediate
mischiefs of invasion and conquest by an enemy, in the loss of their
estates, lives, and liberties, are likely to be better judges of the
quantity of forces necessary to be raised and maintained, forts to be
built and supported, and of their own abilities to bear the expence
than the parliament of England, at so great a distance.
That governors often come to the colonies merely to make fortunes,
with which they intend to return to Britain; are not always men of
the best abilities or integrity; have many of them no estates here,
nor any natural connections with us, that should make them heartily
concerned for our welfare; and might possibly be fond of raising and
keeping up more forces than necessary, from the profits accruing to
themselves, and to make provision for their friends and dependents.
That the counsellors in most of the colonies, being appointed by
the crown, on the recommendation of governors, are often persons of
small estates, frequently dependent on the governors for offices, and
therefore too much under influence.
That there is therefore great reason to be jealous of a power, in
such governors and councils, to raise such sums as they shall judge
necessary, by drafts on the lords of the treasury, to be afterwards
laid on the colonies by act of parliament, and paid by the people
here; since they might abuse it, by projecting useless expeditions,
harassing the people, and taking them from their labour to execute
such projects, merely to create offices and employments, and gratify
their dependents, and divide profits.
That the parliament of England is at a great distance, subject to
be misinformed and misled by such governors and councils, whose
united interests might probably secure them against the effect of any
complaint from hence.
That it is supposed an undoubted right of Englishmen, not to be taxed
but by their own consent, given through their representatives:
That the colonies have no representatives in parliament.
That to propose taxing them by parliament, and refuse them the
liberty of choosing a representative council, to meet in the
colonies, and consider and judge of the necessity of any general tax,
and the quantum, shows a suspicion of their loyalty to the crown,
or of their regard for their country, or of their common sense and
understanding; which they have not deserved.
That compelling the colonies to pay money without their consent,
would be rather like raising contributions in an enemy's country,
than taxing of Englishmen for their own public benefit.
That it would be treating them as a conquered people, and not as true
British subjects.
That a tax laid by the representatives of the colonies might be
easily lessened as the occasions should lessen; but, being once laid
by parliament under the influence of the representations made by
governors, would probably be kept up, and continued for the benefit
of governors; to the grievous burthen and discontentment of the
colonies, and prevention of their growth and increase.
That a power in governors, to march the inhabitants from one end of
the British and French colonies to the other, being a country of at
least one thousand five hundred miles long, without the approbation
or the consent of their representatives first obtained to such
expeditions, might be grievous and ruinous to the people, and would
put them upon a footing with the subjects of France in Canada, that
now groan under such oppression from their governor, who for two
years past has harrassed them with long and destructive marches to
Ohio.
That if the colonies in a body may be well governed by governors and
councils appointed by the crown, without representatives; particular
colonies may as well, or better be so governed; a tax may be laid
upon them all by act of parliament for support of government;
and their assemblies may be dismissed as an useless part of the
constitution.
That the powers proposed by the Albany plan of union, to be vested
in a grand council representative of the people, even with regard to
military matters, are not so great, as those which the colonies of
Rhode Island and Connecticut are entrusted with by their charters,
and have never abused; for by this plan, the president general is
appointed by the crown, and controls all by his negative; but in
those governments, the people choose the governor, and yet allow him
no negative.
That the British colonies bordering on the French are properly
frontiers of the British empire; and the frontiers of an empire are
properly defended at the joint expence of the body of the people in
such empire:--it would now be thought hard by act of parliament to
oblige the Cinque ports or sea coasts of Britain, to maintain the
whole navy, because they are more immediately defended by it, not
allowing them at the same time a vote in choosing members of the
parliament; and, as the frontiers of America bear the expence of
their own defence, it seems hard to allow them no share in voting the
money, judging of the necessity and sum, or advising the measures.
That besides the taxes necessary for the defence of the frontiers,
the colonies pay yearly great sums to the mother-country
unnoticed:--for 1. Taxes paid in Britain by the landholder or
artificer must enter into and increase the price of the produce of
land and manufactures made of it; and great part of this is paid by
consumers in the colonies, who thereby pay a considerable part of the
British taxes.
2. We are restrained in our trade with foreign nations; and where we
could be supplied with any manufacture cheaper from them, but must
buy the same dearer from Britain, the difference of price is a clear
tax to Britain.
3. We are obliged to carry a great part of our produce directly to
Britain; and where the duties laid upon it lessen its price to the
planter, or it sells for less than it would in foreign markets, the
difference is a tax paid to Britain.
4. Some manufactures we could make, but are forbidden, and must take
them of British merchants: the whole price is a tax paid to Britain.
5. By our greatly encreasing the demand and consumption of British
manufactures, their price is considerably raised of late years; the
advantage is clear profit to Britain, and enables its people better
to pay great taxes; and much of it being paid by us, is clear tax to
Britain.
6. In short, as we are not suffered to regulate our trade, and
restrain the importation and consumption of British superfluities
(as Britain can the consumption of foreign superfluities) our whole
wealth centers finally amongst the merchants and inhabitants of
Britain; and if we make them richer, and enable them better to pay
their taxes, it is nearly the same as being taxed ourselves, and
equally beneficial to the crown.
These kind of secondary taxes, however, we do not complain of, though
we have no share in the laying or disposing of them: but to pay
immediate heavy taxes, in the laying, appropriation, and disposition
of which, we have no part, and which perhaps we may know to be as
unnecessary as grievous, must seem hard measure to Englishmen, who
cannot conceive, that by hazarding their lives and fortunes in
subduing and settling new countries, extending the dominion, and
increasing the commerce of the mother-nation, they have forfeited
the native rights of Britons; which they think ought rather to be
given to them, as due to such merit, if they had been before in a
state of slavery. -- -- --
These, and such kinds of things as these, I apprehend, will be
thought and said by the people, if the proposed alteration of the
Albany plan should take place. Then the administration of the board
of governors and council so appointed, not having the representative
body of the people to approve and unite in its measures, and
conciliate the minds of the people to them, will probably become
suspected and odious; dangerous animosities and feuds will arise
between the governors and governed; and every thing go into confusion.
Perhaps I am too apprehensive in this matter; but having freely given
my opinion and reasons, your excellency can judge better than I,
whether there be any weight in them, and the shortness of the time
allowed me will I hope in some degree excuse the imperfections of
this scrawl.
With the greatest respect and fidelity, I have the honour to be
your excellency's most obedient,
and most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
III. LETTER _to the same, on the Subject of uniting the
Colonies more intimately with Great Britain, by allowing them
Representatives in Parliament_.
_Boston, Dec. 22, 1754._
SIR,
Since the conversation your excellency was pleased to honour me
with, on the subject of _uniting the colonies_ more intimately with
Great Britain, by allowing them _representatives in parliament_, I
have something further considered that matter, and am of opinion,
that such an union would be very acceptable to the colonies,
provided they had a reasonable number of representatives allowed
them; and that all the old acts of parliament restraining the trade
or cramping the manufactures of the colonies be at the same time
repealed, and the British subjects _on this side the water_ put, in
those respects, on the same footing with those in Great Britain,
till the new parliament, representing the whole, shall think it
for the interest of the whole to re-enact some or all of them: it
is not that I imagine so many representatives will be allowed the
colonies, as to have any great weight by their numbers; but I think
there might be sufficient to occasion those laws to be better and
more impartially considered, and perhaps to overcome the interest
of a petty corporation, or of any particular set of artificers or
traders in England, who heretofore seem, in some instances, to have
been more regarded than all the colonies, or than was consistent with
the general interest, or best natural good. I think too, that the
government of the colonies by a parliament, in which they are fairly
represented, would be vastly more agreeable to the people, than the
method lately attempted to be introduced by royal instruction; as
well as more agreeable to the nature of an English constitution, and
to English liberty; and that such laws, as now seem to bear hard on
the colonies, would (when judged by such a parliament for the best
interest of the whole) be more cheerfully submitted to, and more
easily executed.
I should hope too, that by such an union, the people of Great
Britain, and the people of the colonies, would learn to consider
themselves, as not belonging to different communities with different
interest, but to one community with one interest; which I imagine
would contribute to strengthen the whole, and greatly lessen the
danger of future separations.
It is, I suppose, agreed to be the general interest of any state,
that its people be numerous and rich; men enow to fight in its
defence, and enow to pay sufficient taxes to defray the charge;
for these circumstances tend to the security of the state, and
its protection from foreign power. But it seems not of so much
importance, whether the fighting be done by John or Thomas, or the
tax paid by William or Charles. The iron manufacture employs and
enriches British subjects, but is it of any importance to the state,
whether the manufacturer lives at Birmingham or Sheffield, or both;
since they are still within its bounds, and their wealth and persons
still at its command? Could the Goodwin Sands be laid dry by banks,
and land equal to a large country thereby gained to England, and
presently filled with English inhabitants, would it be right to
deprive such inhabitants of the common privileges enjoyed by other
Englishmen, the right of vending their produce in the same ports,
or of making their own shoes; because a merchant or a shoemaker,
living on the old land, might fancy it more for his advantage to
trade or make shoes for them? Would this be right, even if the land
were gained at the expence of the state? And would it not seem less
right, if the charge and labour of gaining the additional territory
to Britain had been borne by the settlers themselves? and would not
the hardship appear yet greater, if the people of the new country
should be allowed no representatives in the parliament enacting
such impositions? Now I look on the colonies as so many countries
gained to Great Britain, and more advantageous to it, than if they
had been gained out of the seas around its coasts, and joined to its
lands; for being in different climates, they afford greater variety
of produce, and materials for more manufactures; and being separated
by the ocean, they increase much more its shipping and seamen: and,
since they are all included in the British empire, which has only
extended itself by their means; and the strength and wealth of the
parts is the strength and wealth of the whole; what imports it to the
general state, whether a merchant, a smith, or a hatter, grow rich in
Old or New England? and if, through increase of people, two smiths
are wanted for one employed before, why may not the _new_ smith be
allowed to live and thrive in the _new_ country, as well as the _old_
one in the _old_? In fine, why should the countenance of a state be
_partially_ afforded to its people, unless it be most in favour of
those who have most merit? and if there be any difference, those
who have most contributed to enlarge Britain's empire and commerce,
increase her strength, her wealth, and the numbers of her people, at
the risque of their own lives and private fortunes in new and strange
countries, methinks ought rather to expect some preference. With the
greatest respect and esteem, I have the honour to be
Your Excellency's most obedient
and humble Servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Plan for settling two Western Colonies in North America, with
Reasons for the Plan, 1754[11]._
The great country back of the Apalachian mountains, on both sides
the Ohio, and between that river and the lakes is now well known,
both to the English and French, to be one of the finest in North
America, for the extreme richness and fertility of the land; the
healthy temperature of the air, and mildness of the climate; the
plenty of hunting, fishing, and fowling; the facility of trade
with the Indians; and the vast convenience of inland navigation or
water-carriage by the lakes and great rivers, many hundred of leagues
around.
From these natural advantages it must undoubtedly (perhaps in less
than another century) become a populous and powerful dominion; and a
great accession of power, either to England or France.
The French are now making open encroachments on these territories, in
defiance of our known rights; and, if we longer delay to settle that
country, and suffer them to possess it,--these _inconveniences and
mischiefs_ will probably follow:
1. Our people, being confined to the country between the sea and the
mountains, cannot much more increase in number; people increasing
in proportion to their room and means of subsistence. (See the
Observations on the Increase of Mankind, &c. Vol. II.)
2. The French will increase much more, by that acquired room and
plenty of subsistence, and become a great people behind us.
3. Many of our debtors, and loose English people, our German
servants, and slaves, will probably desert to them, and increase
their numbers and strength, to the lessening and weakening of ours.
4. They will cut us off from all commerce and alliance with the
western Indians, to the great prejudice of Britain, by preventing the
sale and consumption of its manufactures.
5. They will both in time of peace and war (as they have always done
against New England) set the Indians on to harrass our frontiers,
kill and scalp our people, and drive in the advanced settlers; and
so, in preventing our obtaining more subsistence by cultivating of
new lands, they discourage our marriages, and keep our people from
increasing; thus (if the expression may be allowed) killing thousands
of our children before they are born. -- -- --
If two strong colonies of English were settled between the Ohio and
lake Erie, in the places hereafter to be mentioned,--these advantages
might be expected:
1. They would be a great security to the frontiers of our other
colonies; by preventing the incursions of the French and French
Indians of Canada, on the back parts of Pensylvania, Maryland,
Virginia, and the Carolinas; and the frontiers of such new colonies
would be much more easily defended, than those of the colonies last
mentioned now can be, as will appear hereafter.
2. The dreaded junction of the French settlements in Canada with
those of Louisiana would be prevented.
3. In case of a war, it would be easy, from those new colonies, to
annoy Louisiana, by going down the Ohio and Mississippi; and the
southern part of Canada, by sailing over the lakes; and thereby
confine the French within narrower limits.
4. We should secure the friendship and trade of the Miamis or
Twigtwees (a numerous people, consisting of many tribes, inhabiting
the country between the west end of lake Erie, and the south end
of lake Hurons, and the Ohio) who are at present dissatisfied with
the French, and fond of the English, and would gladly encourage and
protect an infant English settlement in or near their country, as
some of their chiefs have declared to the writer of this memoir.
Further, by means of the lakes, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, our
trade might be extended through a vast country, among many numerous
and distant nations, greatly to the benefit of Britain.
5. The settlement of all the intermediate lands, between the present
frontiers of our colonies on one side, and the lakes and Mississippi
on the other, would be facilitated and speedily executed, to the
great increase of Englishmen, English trade, and English power.
The grants to most of the colonies are of long narrow slips of land,
extending west from the Atlantic to the South Sea. They are much too
long for their breadth; the extremes at too great a distance; and
therefore unfit to be continued under their present dimensions.
Several of the old colonies may conveniently be limited westward by
the Allegeny or Apalachian mountains; and new colonies formed west of
those mountains.
A single old colony does not seem strong enough to extend itself
otherwise than inch by inch: it cannot venture a settlement far
distant from the main body, being unable to support it: but if the
colonies were united under one governor-general and grand council,
agreeable to the Albany plan, they might easily, by their joint
force, establish one or more new colonies, whenever they should judge
it necessary or advantageous to the interest of the whole.
But if such union should not take place, it is proposed that two
charters be granted, _each_ for some considerable part of the lands
west of Pensylvania and the Virginian mountains, to a number of the
nobility and gentry of Britain; with such Americans as shall join
them in contributing to the settlement of those lands, either by
paying a proportion of the expence of making such settlements, or
by actually going thither in person, and settling themselves and
families.
That by such charters it be granted, that every actual settler be
intitled to a tract of [___] acres for himself, and [___] acres
for every poll in the family he carries with him; and that every
contributor of [___] guineas be intitled to a quantity of acres,
equal to the share of a single settler, for every such sum of [___]
guineas contributed and paid to the colony treasurer; a contributor
for [___] shares to have an additional share _gratis_; that settlers
may likewise be contributors, and have right of land in both
capacities.
That as many and as great privileges and powers of government be
granted to the contributors and settlers, as his majesty in his
wisdom shall think most fit for their benefit and encouragement,
consistent with the general good of the British empire; for
extraordinary privileges and liberties, with lands on easy terms,
are strong inducements to people to hazard their persons and
fortunes in settling new countries; and such powers of government as
(though suitable to the circumstances, and fit to be trusted with an
infant colony) might be judged unfit, when it becomes populous and
powerful; these might be granted for a term only; as the choice of
their own governor for ninety-nine years; the support of government
in the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island (which _now_ enjoy
that and other like privileges) being much less expensive, than in
the colonies under the immediate government of the crown, and the
constitution more inviting.
That the first contributors to the amount of [___] guineas be
empowered to choose a treasurer to receive the contribution.
That no contributions be paid till the sum of [___] thousand guineas
be subscribed.
That the money thus raised be applied to the purchase of the lands
from the Six Nations and other Indians, and of provisions, stores,
arms, ammunition, carriages, &c. for the settlers; who, after having
entered their names with the treasurer, or person by him appointed
to receive and enter them, are, upon public notice given for that
purpose, to rendezvous at a place to be appointed, and march in a
body to the place destined for their settlement, under the [charge]
of the government to be established over them. Such rendezvous and
march however not to directed, till the number of names of settlers
entered, capable of bearing arms, amount at least to [___] thousand.
-- -- --
It is apprehended, that a great sum of money might be raised in
America on such a scheme as this; for there are many who would be
glad of any opportunity, by advancing a small sum at present, to
secure land for their children, which might in a few years become
very valuable; and a great number it is thought of actual settlers
might likewise be engaged (some from each of our present colonies)
sufficient to carry it into full execution by their strength and
numbers; provided only, that the crown would be at the expence
of removing the little forts the French have erected in their
incroachments on his majesty's territories, and supporting a strong
one near the falls of Niagara, with a few small armed vessels, or
half-galleys to cruize on the lakes. * * * * * -- -- --
For the security of this colony in its infancy, a small fort might
be erected and for some time maintained at Buffalonic on the Ohio,
above the settlement; and another at the mouth of the Hioaga, on
the south side of lake Erie, where a port should be formed, and a
town erected, for the trade of the lakes.--The colonists for _this
settlement_ might march by land through Pensylvania. -- -- --
The river Siotha, which runs into the Ohio about two hundred miles
below Logs Town, is supposed the fittest seat for the _other colony_;
there being for forty miles on each side of it and quite up to its
heads a body of all rich land; the finest spot of its bigness in
all North America, and has the particular advantage of sea-coal in
plenty (even above ground in two places) for fuel, when the woods
shall be destroyed. This colony would have the trade of the Miamis or
Twigtwees; and should, at first, have a small fort near Hock-kockin,
at the head of the river; and another near the mouth of Wabash.
Sandoski, a French fort near the lake Erie, should also be taken; and
all the little French forts south and west of the lakes, quite to the
Mississippi, be removed, or taken and garrisoned by the English.--The
colonists for this settlement might assemble near the heads of the
rivers in Virginia, and march over land to the navigable branches
of the Kanhawa, where they might embark with all their baggage and
provisions, and fall into the Ohio, not far above the mouth of
Siotha. Or they might rendezvous at Will's Creek, and go down the
Mohingahela to the Ohio.
The fort and armed vessels at the strait of Niagara would be a vast
security to the frontiers of these new colonies against any attempts
of the French from Canada. The fort at the mouth of the Wabash would
guard that river, the Ohio, and Cutava river, in case of any attempt
from the French of Mississippi. (Every fort should have a small
settlement round it; as the fort would protect the settlers, and the
settlers defend the fort and supply it with provisions.) -- -- --
The difficulty of settling the first English colonies in America,
at so great a distance from England, must have been vastly greater,
than the settling these proposed new colonies: for it would be the
interest and advantage of all the present colonies to support these
new ones; as they would cover their frontiers, and prevent the growth
of the French power behind or near their present settlements; and the
new country is nearly at equal distance from all the old colonies,
and could easily be assisted from all of them.
And as there are already in the old colonies many thousands of
families that are ready to swarm, wanting more land; the richness
and natural advantage of the Ohio country would draw most of them
thither, were there but a tolerable prospect of a safe settlement.
So that the new colonies would soon be full of people; and from
the advantage of their situation, become much more terrible to the
French settlements, than those are now to us. The gaining of the
back Indian trade from the French, by the navigation of the lakes,
&c. would of itself greatly weaken our enemies:--it being now their
principal support, it seems highly probable, that in time they must
be subjected to the British crown, or driven out of the country.
Such settlements may better be made now, than fifty years hence,
because it is easier to settle ourselves, and thereby prevent the
French settling there as they seem now to intend, than to remove them
when strongly settled.
If these settlements are postponed, then more forts and stronger,
and more numerous and expensive garrisons must be established, to
secure the country, prevent their settling, and secure our present
frontiers; the charge of which may probably exceed the charge of the
proposed settlements, and the advantage nothing near so great.
The fort at Oswego should likewise be strengthened, and some armed
half-gallies, or other small vessels, kept there to cruise on lake
Ontario, as proposed by Mr. Pownall in his paper laid before the
commissioners at the Albany treaty[12].
If a fort was also built at Tirondequat on lake Ontario and a
settlement made there near the lake side, where the lands are said to
be good, (much better than at Oswego;) the people of such settlements
would help to defend both forts on any emergency[13]
FOOTNOTES:
[11] For the occasion which produced this plan, see what follows. I
apprehend it was given to Governor Pownall, 1754, for the purpose of
being inserted in his memorial; but this point of anecdote I cannot
sufficiently ascertain.
"Extract of a Memorial drawn up by Order of, and presented to his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, 1756, by T. Pownall.
"In other parts of our frontier, that are not the immediate residence
and country of Indians, some other species of barrier should be
thought of, of which nothing can be more effectual than a barrier
colony: but even this cannot be carried ... into execution and
effect, without the previous measure of _entrepôts_ in the country
between us and the enemy.... All mankind must know, that no body of
men, whether as an army, or as an emigration of colonists, can march
from one country to another, through an inhospitable wilderness,
without magazines; nor with any safety, without posts communicating
among each other by practicable roads, to which to retire in case of
accidents, repulse, or delay.
"It is a fact, which experience evinces the truth of, that we have
always been able to outsettle the French; and have driven the Indians
out of the country more by settling than fighting; and that whenever
our settlements have been wisely and completely made, the French,
neither by themselves nor their dogs of war, the Indians, have been
able to remove us. It is upon this fact I found the propriety of the
measure of settling a barrier colony in those parts of our frontiers,
_which are not the immediate residence or hunting-grounds of our_
Indians. This is a measure that will be effectual; and will not only
in time pay its expence, but make as great returns as any of our
present colonies do; will give a strength and unity to our dominions
in North America; and give us possession of the country, as well as
settlement in it. But above all this, the state and circumstances of
our settlements render such a measure not only proper and eligible,
but absolutely necessary. The English settlements, as they are at
present circumstanced, are absolutely at a stand; they are settled
up to the mountains: and in the mountains there is no where together
land sufficient for a settlement large enough to subsist by itself,
and to defend itself, and preserve a communication with the present
settlements.
"If the English would advance one step further, or cover themselves
where they are, it must be at once, by one large step over the
mountains, with a numerous and military colony. Where such should
be settled, I do not take upon me to say: at present I shall only
point out the measure and the nature of it, by inserting two schemes,
one of Mr. Franklin's, the other of your memorialist; and if I
might indulge myself with scheming, I should imagine that two such
were sufficient, and only requisite and proper: one at the back of
Virginia, filling up the vacant space between the five nations and
southern confederacy, and connecting, into one system, our barrier;
the other somewhere in the Cohass or Connecticut river, or wherever
best adapted to cover the New England colonies. These, with the
little settlements mentioned above in the Indian countries, complete
my idea of this branch." See Governor Pownall's Administration of the
Colonies. Vol. II. p. 228-231, 5th edition.
The reader must carry along with him a distinction between the plans
of Dr. Franklin and Governor Pownall here referred to. The first
(which is before him) is particular, and proposes a plan for _two_
settlements in the unlocated lands to the westward of Pensylvania
and the Virginian mountains, and is totally silent with respect to a
settlement in New England: the other treats of the mode of settling
new colonies in North America in general, leaving the precise
situation to be in some measure pointed out by the foregoing extract.
The copy from which this paper is printed, has appearances of being
rather incorrectly taken from the original. B. V.
[12] See his work above quoted, Vol. II. p. 234. _et seq._ and p.
179. _et seq._ B. V.
[13] This whole proposal was neglected, though the French thought
a considerable settlement very practicable, in order to get at the
Ohio. See Governor Pownall, Vol. II. p. 236.
Dr. Franklin also failed in another proposal for settling to the
south of the Ohio. B. V.
_Report of the Committee of Aggrievances of the Assembly of
Pensylvania, dated Feb. 22, 1757[14]._
In obedience to the order of the house, we have drawn up the heads
of the most important aggrievances that occur to us, which the
people of this province with great difficulty labour under; the many
infractions of the constitution (in manifest violation of the royal
grant, the proprietary charter, the laws of this province, and of the
laws, usages, and customs of our mother-country) and other matters;
which we apprehend call aloud for redress.
They are as follow:
_First_, By the royal charter (which has ever been, ought to be,
and truly is, the principal and invariable fundamental of this
constitution) King Charles the Second did give and grant unto William
Penn, his heirs and assigns, the province of Pensylvania; and also to
him and his heirs, and his or their _deputies_ or lieutenants, free,
full, and absolute power, for the good and happy government thereof,
to make and enact any laws, "according to their best discretion;
by and with the advice, assent, and approbation of the _freemen_
of the said country, or of their delegates or deputies;" for the
raising of money, or any other end appertaining to the public state,
peace, or safety of the said country. By the words of this grant,
it is evident, that full powers are granted to the _deputies_ and
lieutenants of William Penn and his heirs, to concur with the people
in framing laws for their protection and the safety of the province,
according to their best discretion; independent of any instructions
or directions they should receive from their _principals_. And it is
equally obvious to your committee, that the _people_ of this province
and their representatives were interested in this royal grant; and
by virtue thereof have an original right of legislation inherent in
them; which neither the proprietors nor any other person whatsoever
can divest them of, restrain, or abridge, without manifestly
violating and destroying the letter, spirit, and design of this grant.
Nevertheless we unfortunately find, that the proprietaries of this
province, regardless of this sacred fundamental of our rights and
liberties, have so abridged and restricted their late and present
_governor's_ discretion in matters of legislation, by their illegal,
impracticable, and unconstitutional instructions and prohibitions;
that no bill for granting aids and supplies to our most gracious
sovereign (be it ever so reasonable, expedient, and necessary for
the defence of this his majesty's colony, and safety of his people)
unless it be agreeable thereto, can meet with his approbation: by
means whereof the many considerable sums of money which have been
offered for those purposes, by the assemblies of this province (ever
anxious to maintain his honour and rights,) have been rejected; to
the great encouragement of his majesty's enemies, and the imminent
danger of the loss of this colony.
_Secondly_, The representatives of the people in general assembly
met, by virtue of the said royal grant, and the charter of privileges
granted by the said William Penn, and a law of this province, have
right to, and ought to enjoy all the powers and privileges of an
assembly, according to the rights of the free-born subjects of
England, and as is usual in any of the plantations in America: [also]
it is an indubitable and now an incontested right of the commons of
England, to _grant aids_ and supplies to his majesty in any manner
they think most easy to themselves and the people; and they [also]
are the sole judges of the _measure_, _manner and time_ of granting
and raising the same.
Nevertheless the proprietaries of this province, in contempt of the
said royal grant, proprietary charter, and law of their colony,
designing to subvert the fundamentals of this constitution, to
deprive the assembly and people of their rights and privileges, and
to assume an arbitrary and tyrannical power over the liberties and
properties of his majesty's liege subjects, have so restrained their
governors by the _despotic instructions_ (which are not to be varied
from, and are particularly directory in the framing and passing of
money-bills and supplies to his majesty, as to the mode, measure,
and time) that it is impossible for the assembly, should they lose
all sense of their most essential rights, and comply with those
instructions, to grant sufficient aids for the defence of this his
majesty's province from the common enemy.
_Thirdly_, In pursuance of sundry acts of general assembly, approved
of by the crown, [and] a natural right inherent in every man
antecedent to all laws, the assemblies of this province have had the
power of _disposing_ of the _public_ monies, that have been raised
for the encouragement of trade and support of government, by the
interest money arising by the loan of the bills of credit and the
excise. No part of these monies was ever paid by the _proprietaries_,
or ever raised on their estates; and therefore they can have no
pretence of right to a voice in the disposition of them. They
have ever been applied with prudent frugality to the honour and
advantage of the public, and the king's immediate service, to the
general approbation of the people: the credit of the government has
been preserved, and the debts of the public punctually discharged.
In short, no inconveniencies, but great and many advantages have
accrued, from the assembly's prudent care and management of these
funds.
Yet the proprietaries resolved to deprive the assemblies of the power
and means of _supporting an agent_ in England, and of prosecuting
their complaints and remonstrating their aggrievances, when injured
and oppressed, to his majesty and his parliament: and to rob them
of this natural right (which has been so often approved of by their
gracious sovereign) have, by their said instructions, prohibited
their governor from giving his assent to any laws emitting or
re-emitting any paper-currency or bills of credit, or for raising
money by excise or any other method; unless the governor or commander
in chief for the time being, by clauses to be inserted therein, has
_a negative in the disposition_ of the monies arising thereby; let
the languishing circumstances of our trade be ever so great, and a
further or greater medium be ever so necessary for its support.
_Fourthly_, By the laws and statutes of England, the chief rents,
honours, and castles of the crown are taxed, and _pay their
proportion_ to the supplies that are granted to the king for the
defence of the realm and support of government: his majesty,
the nobility of the realm, and all the British subjects, do now
actually contribute their proportion towards the defence of America
in general, and this province in particular: and it is in a more
especial manner the duty of the _proprietaries_ to pay their
proportion of a tax, for the immediate preservation of their own
estates, in this province. To exempt therefore any part of their
estates from their reasonable part of this necessary burthen, it is
unjust as it is illegal, and as new as it is arbitrary.
Yet the proprietaries, notwithstanding the general danger to which
the nation and its colonies are exposed, and great distress of this
province in particular, by their said instructions, have prohibited
their governors from passing laws for the raising supplies for its
defence; _unless_ all their located, unimproved, and unoccupied
lands, quit-rents, fines, and purchase monies on interest (the much
greater part of their enormous estates in this colony) are expressly
exempted from paying any part of the tax.
_Fifthly_, By virtue of the said royal charter, the proprietaries are
invested with a power of doing every thing "which unto a compleat
establishment of justice, unto courts and tribunals, forms of
judicature, and manner of proceedings, do belong." It was certainly
the import and design of this grant, that the courts of judicature
should be formed, and the _judges_ and officers thereof hold their
commissions, in a manner not repugnant, but agreeable to the laws
and customs of England: that thereby they might remain free from
the influence of persons in power, the rights of the people might
be preserved, and their properties effectually secured. That the
guarantee, William Penn (understanding the said grant in this light)
did, by his original frame of government, covenant and grant with
the people, that the judges and other officers should hold their
commissions during their _good behaviour, and no longer_.
Notwithstanding which, the governors of this province have, for
many years past, granted all the commissions to the judges of the
king's bench or supreme court of this province, and to the judges
of the court of common pleas of the several counties, to be held
during their _will and pleasure_; by means whereof, the said judges
being subject to the influence and directions of the proprietaries
and their governors, their favourites and creatures, the laws may
not be duly administered or executed, but often wrested from their
true sense; to serve particular purposes, the foundation of justice
may be liable to be destroyed; and the lives, laws, liberties,
privileges, and properties of the people thereby rendered precarious
and altogether insecure; to the great disgrace of our laws, and the
inconceivable injury of his majesty's subjects.
Your committee further beg leave to add, that besides these
aggrievances, there are other hardships the people of this province
have experienced, that call for redress.--The _inlistment of
servants, without the least satisfaction_ being made to the masters,
has not only prevented the cultivation of our lands, and diminished
the trade and commerce of the province, but is a burthen extremely
unequal and oppressive to individuals. And should the practice
continue, the consequence must prove very discouraging to the further
settlement of this colony, and prejudicial to his majesty's future
service.--Justice, therefore, demands, that satisfaction should be
made to the masters of such inlisted servants; and that the right of
masters to their servants be confirmed and settled.--But as those
servants have been inlisted into his majesty's service for the
general defence of America, and not of this province only, but all
the colonies, and the nation in general, have and will receive equal
benefit from their service; this satisfaction should be made at the
expence of the nation, and not of the province only.
That the people now labour under _a burthen of taxes_, almost
insupportable by so young a colony, for the defence of its
long-extended frontier, of about two hundred miles from New Jersey
to Maryland; without either of those colonies, or the three lower
counties on Delaware, contributing their proportion thereto; though
their frontiers are in a great measure covered and protected by our
forts. And should the war continue, and with it this unequal burthen,
many of his majesty's subjects in this province will be reduced to
want, and the province, if not lost to the enemy, involved in debt,
and sunk under its load.
That notwithstanding this weight of taxes, the assemblies of this
province _have given to the general service_ of the nation, five
thousand pounds to purchase provisions for the troops under General
Braddock; 2,985_l._ 0_s._ 11_d._ for clearing a road by his orders;
10,514_l._ 10_s._ 1_d._ to General Shirley, for the purchasing
provisions for the New England forces; and expended the sum of
2,385_l._ 0_s._ 2½_d._ in supporting the inhabitants of Nova Scotia;
which likewise we conceive ought to be a national expence.
And that his majesty's subjects, the merchants and insurers in
England, as well as the merchants here and elsewhere, did during
the last, and will during the present war, greatly suffer in their
property, trade, and commerce, by the _enemy's privateers_ on this
coast, and at our capes, unless some method be fallen on to prevent
it.
Wherefore your committee are of opinion, That the commissioners
intended to be sent to England[15], to solicit a memorial and
redress of the many infractions and violations of the constitution;
should also have it in charge, and be instructed to represent
to our most gracious sovereign and his parliaments, the several
unequal burthens and hardships before-mentioned;--and endeavour to
procure satisfaction to the masters of such servants as have been
inlisted, and the right of masters to their servants established and
confirmed;--and obtain a repayment of the said several sums of money,
some assistance towards defending our extensive frontier, and a
vessel of war to protect the trade and commerce of this province.
Submitted to the correction of the house.
_Feb. 22, 1757._
FOOTNOTES:
[14] The English colony-governments seem to have been considered
as of three sorts. First, _provincial_ governments; where the
constitution originally depends on the king's commission, and
instructions given to his governors; and the assemblies, held under
that authority, have their share in making local ordinances not
repugnant to English law. Next, _proprietary_ governments; where a
district of country is given by the crown to individuals, attended
with certain legislative powers in the nature of a fief; with a
provision for the sovereignty at home, and also for the fulfilment
of the terms and end of the grant. Lastly, _charter_ governments,
where the fundamentals of the government are previously prescribed
and made known to the settlers, being in no degree left subject to a
governor's commission or proprietor's will. (See Blackstone, Vol. I.
Introd. § 4.)--Good faith however to mankind seemed to require, that
the constitutions, once begun under the provincial or proprietary
governments, should remain unaltered (except for improvement) to the
respective settlers, equally as in charter-governments. B. V.
[15] Dr. Franklin was afterwards appointed to present this address,
as agent for the province of Pensylvania, and departed from America
for the purpose in June 1757. See his life, Vol. I. p. 134. While in
England, the more effectually to accomplish the business upon which
he was sent, he wrote the article that follows in the next page,
entitled An historical Review, &c. _Editor._
_An historical Review of the Constitution and Government of
Pensylvania, from its Origin; so far as regards the several Points
of Controversy which have, from Time to Time, arisen between the
several Governors of that Province, and their several Assemblies.
Founded on authentic Documents._
Those who would give up _essential liberty_, to purchase a little
_temporary safety_, deserve neither _liberty_ nor _safety_.
Griffiths, 1759[16].
DEDICATION.
To the right honourable Arthur Onslow, speaker of the honourable
House of Commons.
SIR,
The subject of the following sheets is an unhappy one: the
controversy between the proprietaries and successive assemblies of
Pensylvania: a controversy which has often embarrassed, if not
endangered the public service: a controversy which has been long
depending, and which still seems to be as far from an issue as ever.
Our blessed saviour reproaches the Pharisees with laying heavy
burdens on men's shoulders, which they themselves would not stir with
a single finger.
Our proprietaries, sir, have done the same; and, for the sake of the
commonwealth, the province has hitherto submitted to the imposition:
not indeed, without the most strenuous endeavours to lay the load
equally, the fullest manifestations, and the strongest protestations
against the violence put upon them.
Having been most injuriously misrepresented and traduced in print,
by the known agents and dependents of those gentlemen their fellow
subjects, they at last find themselves obliged to set forth an
historical state of their case, and to make their appeal to the
public upon it.
With the public opinion in their favour, they may with the more
confidence lift up their eyes to the wisdom of parliament and the
majesty of the crown, from whence alone they can derive an effectual
remedy.
To your hands, sir, these papers are most humbly presented, for
considerations so obvious, that they scarce need any explanation.
The Roman provinces did not stand more in need of patronage than
ours: and such clients as we are would have preferred the integrity
of Cato to the fortune of Cæsar.
The cause we bring is in fact the cause of all the provinces in one:
it is the cause of every British subject in every part of the British
dominions: it is the cause of every man who deserves to be free every
where.
The propriety, therefore, of addressing these papers to a gentleman,
who, for so many successive parliaments, with so much honour to
himself and satisfaction to the public, has been at the head of the
commons of Great Britain, cannot be called in question.
You will smile, sir, perhaps, as you read the references of a
provincial assembly to the rights and claims of parliament; but we
humbly conceive, it will be without the least mixture of resentment;
those assemblies having nothing more in view, than barely to
establish their privileges on the most rational and solid basis they
could find, for the security and service of their constituents.
And you are humbly besought, sir, not to think the worse of this
address, because it has been made without your permission or privity.
Nobody asks leave to pay a debt: every Briton is your debtor, sir:
and all we have said, or can say, is but a poor composition for what
we owe you.
You have conferred as much honour on the chair you fill, as the chair
has conferred on you.
Probity and dignity are your characteristics.
May that seat always derive the same lustre from the same qualities!
This at least ought to be our prayer, whether it is or not within our
expectations.
For the province of Pensylvania, as well as in my own private
capacity, I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect,
Sir,
your most obedient humble servant,
THE EDITOR.
INTRODUCTION.
To obtain an infinite variety of purposes by a few plain principles
is the characteristic of nature. As the eye is affected so is the
understanding: objects at distance strike it according to their
dimensions, or the quantity of light thrown upon them; near,
according to their novelty or familiarity as they are in motion or
at rest. It is the same with actions. A battle is all motion; a hero
all glare: while such images are before us, we can attend to nothing
else. Solon and Lycurgus would make no figure in the same scene with
the king of Prussia; and we are at present so lost in a military
scramble on the continent next us, in which it must be confessed we
are deeply interested, that we have scarce time to throw a glance
towards America, where we have also much at stake, and where, if any
where, our account must be made up at last.
We love to stare more than to reflect, and to be indolently amused
at our leisure, than to commit the smallest trespass on our patience
by winding a painful tedious maze, which would pay us in nothing but
knowledge.
But then as there are some eyes that can find nothing marvellous but
what is marvellously great, so there are others equally disposed to
marvel at what is marvellously little; and who can derive as much
entertainment from this microscope in examining a mite, as Dr. ----
in ascertaining the geography of the moon, or measuring the tail of a
comet.
Let this serve as an excuse for the author of these sheets, if he
needs any, for bestowing them on the transactions of a colony, till
of late hardly mentioned in our annals; in point of establishment
one of the last upon the British list, and in point of rank one of
the most subordinate, as being not only subject, in common with the
rest, to the crown, but also to the claims of a _proprietary_, who
thinks he does them _honour_ enough in governing them by _deputy_;
consequently so much further removed from the royal eye, and so much
the more exposed to the pressure of self-interested _instructions_.
Considerable, however, as most of them, for happiness of situation,
fertility of soil, product of valuable commodities, number of
inhabitants, shipping, amount of exportations, latitude of rights and
privileges, and every other requisite for the being and well-being of
society, and more considerable than any of them all for the celerity
of its growth, unassisted by any human help but the vigour and virtue
of its own excellent constitution.
A father and his family, the latter united by interest and affection,
the former to be revered for the wisdom of his institutions and
the indulgent use of his authority, was the form it was at first
presented in. Those who were only ambitious of repose found it
here; and as none returned with an evil report of the land, numbers
followed: all partook of the leaven they found: the community still
wore the same equal face: nobody aspired: nobody was oppressed:
industry was sure of profit, knowledge of esteem, and virtue of
veneration.
An assuming _landlord_, strongly disposed to convert free tenants
into abject vassals, and to reap what he did not sow, countenanced
and abetted by a few desperate and designing dependents, on the one
side; and on the other, all who have sense enough to know their
rights, and spirit enough to defend them, combined as one man against
the said landlord and his encroachment in the form it has since
assumed.
And surely a nation born to liberty like this, bound to leave it
unimpaired as they received it from their fathers in perpetuity
to their heirs, and interested in the conservation of it in every
appendix to the British empire, the particulars of such a contest
cannot be wholly indifferent.
On the contrary, it is reasonable to think, the first workings of
power against liberty, and the natural efforts of unbiassed men
to secure themselves against the first approaches of oppression,
must have a captivating power over every man of sensibility and
discernment amongst us.
Liberty it seems thrives best in the woods. America best cultivates
what Germany brought forth. And were it not for certain ugly
comparisons, hard to be suppressed, the pleasure arising from such a
research would be without alloy.
In the feuds of Florence recorded by Machiavel, we find more to
lament and less to praise. Scarce can we believe the first citizens
of the ancient republics had such pretensions to consideration,
though so highly celebrated in ancient story. As to ourselves, we
need no longer have recourse to the late glorious stand of the French
parliament to excite our emulation.
It is a known custom among farmers, to change their corn from season
to season, for the sake of filling the bushel: and in case the wisdom
of the age should condescend to make the like experiment in another
shape, from hence we may learn, whither to repair for the proper
species.
It is not however to be presumed, that such as have long been
accustomed to consider the colonies in general as only so many
dependencies on the council board, the board of trade, and the board
of customs; or, as a hot-bed for causes, jobs and other pecuniary
emoluments, and as formed as effectually by _instructions_ as by
_laws_, can be prevailed on to consider those patriot rustics with
any degree of respect.
But how contemptibly soever these gentlemen may talk of the colonies,
how cheap soever they may hold their assemblies, or how insignificant
the planters and traders who compose them, truth will be truth, and
principle, principle, notwithstanding.
Courage, wisdom, integrity, and honour are not to be measured by the
place assigned them to act in, but by the trials they undergo and
the vouchers they furnish: and if so manifested, need neither robes
or titles to set them off.
CONTENTS.
List of governors of Pensylvania, and dates of the several charters,
&c. of that province.
Abstract of the charter granted to William Penn.
Certain conditions or concessions of Mr. Penn to the first
adventurers in, and settlers of, Pensylvania.
Mr. Penn's first frame of government.
His reservation of quit rents.
His second frame of government.
The province of Pensylvania and the territory of the three lower
counties united by his management.
Remonstrance of a subsequent assembly against the said union.
Motives of the planters, assigned by the said assembly, for accepting
the second frame of government.
Mr. Penn's return to England, and appointment of commissioners to
administer the government.
Disorders which ensued during his absence.
Captain Blackwell's government.
The government assumed into the lands of the crown in 1693, and
administered by colonel Fletcher, governor of New York.
He declares the constitution of Mr. Penn's government, and that of
their majesties, to be directly opposite to each other.
He menaces the assembly with an annexion of their province to that of
New York.
Protestation against passing of bills, amended by the governor
and council, without the previous assent of the assembly to those
amendments, and of money-bills before grievances have been redressed.
Remonstrance to Mr. Penn concerning this period.
The governor admits the principles of the quakers, not to carry arms,
or levy money to make war; and solicits a supply to feed the hungry
and clothe the naked (Indians).
The assembly insist on their right to appropriate as well as to raise
money.
The government of William Markham, Esq.
A new act of settlement or frame of government.
The government resumed by Mr. Penn.
The province purged from the odium of favouring pirates, and carrying
on an illicit trade.
A new model of elections agreed to.
The assembly formed thereon dissolved.
Another assembly called upon another model, to meet at Newcastle
instead of Philadelphia.
Aids granted for the proprietary-governor, in exchange for a
conformation of property.
An aid of 350_l._ sterling to the crown on this account.
Mr. Penn's plausible speech to a new assembly.
Three of the requisitions they made to him, with his answers and
their replies.
A breach between the province and the territory.
The last charter of privileges, which, under the royal charter, is
_now_ the rule of government.
It is unanimously rejected by the freemen of the territory.
Mr. Penn's departure for England.
Andrew Hamilton, Esq. deputy-governor, in vain endeavours to unite
the territory with the province.
John Evans, Esq. succeeds Hamilton, and makes the like endeavour,
also in vain.
Controversy between him and the assembly concerning the bill to
confirm the charter.
Nine several heads of complaint entered in the minutes of the
assembly, as the ground of a representation to the proprietary; being
the representation several times before cited.
The remainder of that representation.
A copy of it demanded by the governor and refused by the assembly.
The latter make a merit of having forborne to make their
representation public.
The governor obtains an assembly to his wish, by undue practices.
Animosities between Lloyd, speaker of the assembly, and Logan,
secretary to the governor and council.
The governor censures the proprietary's charter of property.
The draughtman's defence of it.
The governor declares the proprietary's high resentment of the
assembly's representation.
The assembly's reply.
The governor refers to the charter of privileges as the only rule of
government.
The assembly complains of infractions made in it.
Their representation to the proprietary against the governor.
Logan impeached by the assembly.
An unanimous vote of thanks to the proprietary for recalling Evans.
General view of Gookin's government.
Assembly's character of themselves.
A proprietary-governor a wretched thing.
Artful conduct of governor Keith.
Mr. Penn's death.
The province left in the hands of trustees.
Logan, one of those trustees, obtains a majority in the council
against the governor.
Logan makes a voyage to England, and returns with private
instructions to Keith, which Keith communicates to the assembly.
The governor and assembly in concert pay no regard to the said
instructions.
A controversy in print, between the governor and Logan thereon.
A breach between the governor and speaker.
The province in a state of tranquillity for nine years under his
administration.
A pathetic reflection on the melancholy case of governors recalled.
Pensylvania easy to be governed, if well governed.
Private instructions from the proprietary in two several instances
declared void.
The proprietary of Pensylvania too inconsiderable here at home to be
a patron to the province, and too unsizeably great there.
The proprietaries the sole purchasers of Indian lands:--the people
at the sole expence of Indian affairs:--treaties and purchases
concomitant.
The quit-rents of Pensylvania, paid to the proprietary, first
demanded and granted to defray the charge of government.
Notwithstanding which the people now pay taxes for that purpose, and
the proprietaries insist on holding their estates tax-free.
Paper-money first issued in Pensylvania.
Precautions taken to secure it from depreciation.
Mr. Penn's trustees averse to the said issue, till a provision was
made, at the expence of the province, to render his heirs gainers by
it.
Room left in the constitution of the province for self defence by
force of arms, though the use of arms was not consistent with the
principles of quakers.
In consequence of complaints to parliament, of the mischiefs arising
from excessive issues of paper-money by the eastern governments (that
is to say those of New England) a general instruction was sent to
_all_ the governors of North America, not to give their assent to any
farther bills of that nature, without a suspending clause, till his
majesty's pleasure should be known.
The assembly grants money in aid of the expedition against Carthagena.
The governor inlists indented servants upon that occasion; and the
assembly apply the money they had given to indemnify the masters.
They give 3,000_l._ towards the public service, to be applied as his
majesty should direct.
Also another sum of 4,000_l._ to furnish necessaries to the troops in
Louisburgh.
And yet another sum of 5,000_l._ towards the intended expedition
against Canada in the year 1746, by an addition of the like sum to
their paper currency, and notwithstanding the above instruction, the
governor gave his assent to the bill for that purpose.
The proprietaries of Pensylvania oppose the bill brought into
parliament for restraining the northern colonies from issuing paper
bills of credit, and make a merit of it in the province.
The assembly call upon the proprietaries to contribute to the expence
of Indian affairs, which they decline.
The assembly's representation thereon.
A bill for increasing the provincial paper-currency in proportion to
the increase of the province, by an addition of 20,000_l._ thereto.
Rejected by the governor for being unseasonably timed.
And petitioned by the inhabitants.
A message from the governor (Hamilton) preparing the house to expect
incursions from the French among the Indians in alliance with them,
and requiring assistance on their behalf.
The answer of the proprietaries to the representation of the assembly
concerning the expence of Indian affairs.
The assembly's message sent to the governor, together with the
currency-bill he had before rejected.
Another message to him concerning Indian affairs, and notifying a
present of condolence to the Twigtwee tribe.
Governor's message, importing his assent to the currency-bill, with a
suspending clause.
Resolution of the assembly not to accept this clause, with their
reasons.
A note of regret, that some temperament had not been found out at
home, to prevent the controversy, which was now on the point of
breaking out.
Remonstrance of the assembly against the said clause.
The governor's message of adherence thereto.
The assembly's reply.
Their reply to the proprietary's answer to the representation on
Indian expences.
Unanimous resolution of the assembly concerning the necessity of a
remission of their paper-currency.
Lord Holdernesse's letter and other papers laid before them, together
with a written message from the governor thereon.
The assembly's answer, accompanied with their currency-bill.
The governor rejects it; but offers to pass a bill for striking a
farther sum on a proper fund for sinking the same in a few years.
The assembly prudently avail themselves of the cautions in lord
Holdernesse's letter concerning _undoubted limits_, to decline taking
any part in the broil, till the government of Virginia, as first
concerned, should set the first example.
The governor revives the old controversy concerning the paper-money
instruction.
Declares in another paper he had _undoubted assurance_, that part
of his majesty's dominions _within_ his government was at that time
invaded, and demands supplies to arm the province, &c.
The assembly demur, and desire a short adjournment.
The governor not only persists in his former declaration, but
maintains, that the case was the same, whether the invasion of the
enemy was made in Virginia or Pensylvania.
The assembly adjourn to May 6, and are assembled by the governor
April 2, in order to lay before them papers from governor Dinwiddie;
and demand a supply.
Debates in the assembly on the _quantum_, and a new adjournment.
Another session, and a message from the governor, accompanied with
intelligence, that the French were before the fort built by the
Virginians on the Ohio; with dispatches and a proposition from the
governors of Boston and New York, for an union of the colonies, &c.
A joint bill for granting an aid of 10,000_l._ to the king, and
20,000_l._ for replacing torn and ragged bills, offered.
Amendments proposed by the governor.
Unanimously rejected by the assembly, and for what reasons.
The governor's reply.
A reflection thereon.
Resolutions of the assembly.
And message to the governor before their adjournment.
They are re-convened by special summons on the occasion of
Washington's defeat, and required to form chearful and vigorous
resolutions for dislodging the enemy, in concurrence with Virginia.
The proceedings of the commissioners at Albany laid before them.
They prepare and present a bill for striking 35,000_l._ in bills of
credit, and the rest for replacing defective bills.
Which the governor evades for want of sufficient powers to pass it.
Governor Morris's arrival at Philadelphia, and first speech to a new
assembly.
The assembly's answer and adjournment.
Being assembled again, a letter from Sir Thomas Robinson, secretary
of state, is laid before them; and the governor in his speech
requires them to raise and keep up a considerable body of troops.
They present a bill for raising 40,000_l._ on the former plan; half
of this sum for the public service; with a message, expressing their
concern at a paragraph in the secretary of state's letter, by which
it appeared their conduct had not been fairly represented at home.
The old instruction, and an opinion of the attorney-general's,
pleaded by the governor in bar of his assent, unless the money was
raised in a five-years fund.
A letter from Sir Thomas Robinson to the governor of Pensylvania,
dispatched at the same time with others of similar tendency to the
other governors of the northern colonies.
Which the governor, in his comment upon it, endeavours to narrow the
application of, to Pensylvania only.
A message from the assembly, fully demonstrating, that Pensylvania
was not comprehended in the instruction insisted upon; and that in
case it was, the present emergency was one of those, which, according
to the very letter of that instruction, might be provided for
notwithstanding: also desiring a sight of the instructions he himself
had received from his principals.
A second message, in which they call upon the governor to give his
assent to the bill, as what would answer all the purposes recommended
to them in Sir Thomas Robinson's letter.
The governor's reply, declining the bill as before; because the
supply might be otherwise raised, and evading the communication of
his instructions.
The assembly's rejoinder, justifying the requisition they made of his
instructions; and intimating, that an appeal to the crown was the
only method left them of being continued in the use and benefit of
their birthright, and charter liberties.
The governor questions their right to have these instructions laid
before them, and endeavours to put them beside their point, by
magnifying the preparations of the French, &c.
The assembly order the papers which had passed between the
proprietaries and them to be printed, which till then they had
avoided.
Their unanimous resolutions concerning the proprietary instructions,
in which they declare it as their opinion, that the said instructions
were the principal if not the sole obstruction to their bill: also
the most essential points contained in their reply to the governor's
charges against them.
A brief of the governor's sur-rejoinder.
Some general remarks.
The assembly make their appeal to the crown, inform the governor
thereof, signify their inclination to adjourn till May, and give his
instructions the _coup de grace_.
The governor's expostulatory message thereon.
He demands a copy of their minutes; they order him one when the
printed copies were _finished_, and adjourn.
Upon Braddock's arrival in Virginia, they are re-assembled by special
summons: the demands made by message on that occasion.
The governor reprimands them for having published Sir Thomas
Robinson's letter in their minutes, and for not delivering him a copy
of those minutes so soon as he had required them.
The assembly's answer thereto.
Orders and counter-orders to the printer of these minutes.
Two messages from the governor; one communicating a design of
general Shirley to build a fort _within the limits_ of his majesty's
territories near _Crown Point_, to which the assembly is required
to contribute; and the other, notifying first the arrival of
Braddock's forces, and then the expectations entertained at home,
that the colonies would raise an additional number of forces,
furnish provisions, &c. all terminated with a kind of menace of
the resentment of his majesty and the parliament, in case of a
disappointment.
_Twenty five thousand pounds_ granted to the king's use, to be raised
by an emission of paper-bills to the same amount, and to be sunk by
an extension of the excise for ten years.
Refused by the governor, on the old pretence of a contrary
instruction.
A provision demanded for the expence of an Indian treaty.
A memorial to the assembly from Mr. Quincy, a commissioner from the
government of Massachusett's Bay, expressing both his concern, that
the governor could not be induced to pass the said money-bill, and
his acknowledgments of the _chearfulness_ shown by them in granting
10,000_l._ for victualling the forces to be employed in New England;
being part of the money so granted; and urging them to find out some
other means of rendering their purpose effectual.
The assembly resolve to raise the said sum on the credit of the
province.
Another paper of acknowledgment from the said Mr. Quincy.
The governor refuses to return the said bill to the assembly; informs
them the French had fitted out fifteen sail of the line, with six
thousand land forces, and calls upon them to put the province into a
state of defence, as the enemy could not be ignorant how plentiful
and defenceless it was; yet advises a short adjournment.
They meet again, and a squabble arising between them about a bill
merely provincial, he revives the former controversy.
The assembly's spirited answer to this captious message.
A remark thereon.
They are re-assembled.
A hardy assertion, concerning the paper-money act passed by governor
Thomas, refuted by a fact.
An acknowledgment from the officers of the regular forces of certain
presents made to them by the assembly.
The governor's message to the assembly, said to be founded on a
representation of general Braddock's, requiring them to enable him to
furnish the said general with provisions under proper convoys, &c. &c.
The assembly desire to have the general's letter laid before them,
which the governor declines, and thereby occasions a new controversy.
The assembly send up two other bills; one of 10,000_l._ for
exchanging old bills, and one of 15,000_l._ for the king's use, on
the model of that formerly passed by governor Thomas, and confirmed
at home by the royal authority, since the instruction so often cited
had been sent to the said governor.
Such amendments offered to it by the governor, as he could not but be
pre-convinced would not be allowed.
The assembly adjourn till September; but are again convoked in July,
on occasion of Braddock's defeat.
The governor's speech.
The assembly vote an aid of 50,000_l._ by a tax on all real and
personal estates.
The governor makes a pompous offer in the proprietary's name, of
certain lands west of Allegheny mountains, to such adventurers as
would fight for them, and calls upon the assembly to afford some
assistance to such as should accept the same.
A remonstrance which certain inhabitants of certain places were
induced to present to the assembly.
The address of the assembly to the governor.
Their 50,000_l._ money-bill returned, with an amendment, by which the
WHOLE _proprietary estate_ was to be _exempted_ from tax.
The message of the assembly to the governor on that occasion,
desiring his reasons for that exemption.
The governor's reply, containing four curious reasons.
The assembly's rejoinder, refuting those reasons.
Other papers which passed between them at the same crisis.
The residue of Braddock's troops being recalled from the frontiers,
notwithstanding an application of the assembly to the governor
requesting their continuance, he calls upon the house to provide for
the security of the Back-inhabitants.
A remark thereon.
The governor alarms and embarrasses them with petitions from certain
persons requiring to be armed; _intelligence_ of Indians actually
set out, to fall upon their frontiers; recommendations to provide
by law against exporting provisions to the enemy, as a requisite to
facilitate the reduction of Louisburgh; and _demands_ of all manner
of _things_ for the assistance of colonel Dunbar, who, by orders from
general Shirley, was again to proceed towards Fort Duquesne.
A proposal from certain gentlemen of Philadelphia to subscribe
500_l._ in lieu of the proprietary proportion of the tax in question,
and upon a presumption that the proprietaries would honourably
reimburse them.
The assembly send up their bill to the governor again, together with
the said proposal, as containing by implication an acknowledgment
that the tax was founded in equity, and also a farther security to
the governor, in case he should give his assent to the bill.
Their message to the governor, correcting his manner of stating the
Louisburgh point, and observing, that all required of them from New
England was to prolong the excellent laws they had already made.
Some seasonable remarks.
The governor's verbal answer to the assembly's message concerning the
money-bill, adhering to his amendment.
He contends for a militia.
The assembly order 1,000_l._ if so much remain in their treasury, to
arm the Back-inhabitants.
They signify their purpose to adjourn, and refer the affair of a
militia-bill to a new assembly.
Their proceedings at the next meeting: the governor demands an
additional supply of provision to be sent to Albany, at the
requisition of governor Phipps, for the use of the forces of
Massachusett's Bay: and another supply for the provisional troops of
Connecticut and Rhode Island, which he was _informed_ were raised in
addition to those already employed in the reduction of Crown-Point.
The assembly apply for a sight of Phipps's letter, which is refused.
The old controversy renewed.
A new one concerning the roads opened at the expence of the province
for the convenience of the king's forces, which is carried on with
much acrimony on both sides.
As a last effort for the public service the assembly authorize by
vote a loan, or voluntary subscription, of 10,000_l._ to be raised in
a fortnight, and refer the lenders to the next assembly for payment.
An apology for the length of this treatise; and a brief state of the
province at this period.
The new assembly, after a session of four days, suffered to adjourn
themselves without proceeding to business, for want of having the
intelligence then in the governor's hands in due form imparted to
them.
Being re-convoked, the governor informs them, that a party of French
and Indians had passed the mountains, and were encamped within
eight miles of the capital, and, after a liberal intermixture of
upbraidings and self-sufficiencies, demands a supply; premising, that
it might be raised by an emission of any sum in paper, provided funds
were found for sinking it in five years, &c.
A reference to the only act of parliament extant, and that an
ineffectual one, to prevent the oppressions practised by provincial
governors.
Politics of various kinds, and from various quarters, presented to
the assembly.
The assembly reduce and rectify the matter of alarm communicated by
the governor; and advise such measures as might reclaim the Indians,
&c.
A new message concerning the depredations of the Indians.
_Sixty thousand pounds_ granted, to be struck in bills of credit,
which were to be sunk by a tax of _six-pence_ in the pound; and a
poll-tax of _ten shillings_ a head, yearly, for four years; which the
governor refuses, and talks of _setting off_ for the back counties.
A new message, reporting, that the Susquehanna Indians had offered
their service to the province, provided it was accepted without delay.
Two messages from the assembly to the governor; the first concerning
peace with the Indians, and the money bill; the other an answer to
his concerning the Susquehanna Indians.
They send up a bill for regulating the Indian trade.
The famous Kentish petition to the house of commons, in 1701, outdone
by the mayor of Philadelphia, and one hundred and thirty three other
inconsiderates, in a demand on their assembly to constitute a militia
forthwith.
A petition of certain of the people called Quakers, for peaceable
measures.
Progress of the controversy concerning the bill, which the governor
offers to pass with a suspending clause.
Resolutions of the assembly hereupon.
Message from the governor concerning another Indian massacre, and
demanding an immediate supply, &c.
Another from the assembly to him, justifying their bill both in
matter and manner.
They send him up a militia bill.
The governor's invective against their whole conduct.
He passes the militia bill, under the specific declaration that it
was an improper one.
He communicates to the assembly a discussion of Indian affairs, as
prepared by his council; calls upon them to provide for a swarm
of French banished out of Nova Scotia; and signifies, that the
proprietaries had sent an order upon their receiver-general, for
5000_l._ as a free gift to the public.
Another remonstrance from the mayor of Philadelphia and his posse.
The assembly's reply to the governor's invective, which for the
present they declined making use of.
The answer they did make use of.
Parley between the speaker and twenty-nine petitioners, or rather
prescribers to the assembly.
Unanimous resolutions concerning the right of granting supplies to
the crown; and a new money bill, out of which the proprietary estate
was excepted, in consideration of the late grant of 5000_l._
The assembly's message to the governor, explaining the use and
pressing the dispatch of the Indian trade bill.
The governor's evasive answer.
His message desiring the advice of the house.
The assembly's answer.
Their message relative to the complaint of the Shawanese Indians.
Their resolution concerning the Indian trade bill; also concerning
irregular and improper petitions.
They adjourn; and two months after re-assemble by special summons.
The governor's message on that occasion.
The message of the assembly in regard to the inlisting purchased
servants.
General Shirley's letter of acknowledgment for a voluntary present of
clothing sent by the province to his troops.
The assembly remind the governor of the Indian trade bill.
He returns it with amendments; as also their bill for extending the
excise.
They adhere to their bills and assign their reasons.
The governor goes to Newcastle and the assembly adjourn.
Sir William Johnson's treaty with the six nations laid before them at
their next meeting.
The governor appearing strongly inclined to involve the province in
a war with the Delawares and Shawanese, some of the people called
Quakers petition for specific measures.
The governor on the other hand alarms the house with an account of a
number of people coming in a body to make _demands_ upon them.
Their unanimity on that occasion.
The governor takes advantage of this incident to declare war against
the said two Indian nations.
He also demands farther supplies, and intimates, that certain
Indians, long subsisted by the province, were retiring in discontent,
&c.
The assembly's answer.
The return made by the governor.
The resolutions of the assembly concerning a plan of military
operations communicated to them by the governor.
They adjourn and are re-assembled.
The governor's message to them from a place called _Harris's Ferry_.
A petition of the association companies in Philadelphia, concerning
the insufficiency of the militia law.
The reply of the assembly to the governor's message, accompanied with
a bill for prohibiting provisions.
Another session, and two other messages from the governor, who was
still posted at Harris's Ferry.
A money bill ordered, but postponed on the receipt of intelligence
from Sir Charles Hardy and Sir William Johnson, that the Delawares
and Shawanese were disposed to renew their alliance.
The governor proclaims a suspension of arms.
The assemblies' message to him, in which they again press him to pass
the Indian trade bill; he promises to reconsider it; and a second
time calls upon them to make some (additional) provision for his
support.
Six members desire leave upon the adjournment to quit their seats,
and at the next session present a written paper to the house as a
testimonial thereof.
The resignation accepted and new writs issued.
The governor's message notifying the appointment of Lord Loudoun to
be commander in chief in America; as also the act of parliament for
raising a regiment of foreigners; recommending particularly, that the
masters of such indented servants as should engage in the service
might be indemnified; and that, as by the expiration of an act passed
in the Lower Counties, the Pensylvanian act, lately passed, would
expire also, they would prepare a proper bill for continuing the
embargo, &c.
The assembly's reply; in which they show, the governor had
invalidated the acts of all the other colonies by the law he had
passed in the Lower Counties.
Their message concerning the excise and Indian trade bills; and his
answer, that he would not recede from his amendments because of his
proprietary instruction.
The instruction itself.
A remark; and the resolution of the house on the said instruction.
An act for emitting 4000_l._ in bills of credit, on behalf of the
proprietaries, to supply so far the public occasions, till their
receiver-general should be enabled by his receipts to make good their
order.
An act, for striking and issuing the sum of 40,000_l._ for the king's
use, sent up to the governor.
His message concerning an attack to be apprehended from the Indians
about harvest time.
The assembly's answer.
A bill to permit the exportation of provisions for the king's
service, notwithstanding the act of prohibition.
The governor's evasive conduct in relation thereto.
The assembly apprise him, July 5, of their intention to adjourn till
August 2; and are told that he has no objection.
Notwithstanding which, he re-assembles them a fortnight afterwards,
in the midst of their harvest, under the pretence of continuing the
prohibition act.
Petition of the merchants in relation to the embargo.
The assembly's answer to the governor's message.
Another message to him concerning the preamble to the 4000_l._ bill
on behalf of the proprietaries.
The governor's answer.
He sends down another preamble, which is not relished; refuses to
pass the excise bill, and expunges the clause in the 40,000_l._ bill
for taxing the proprietary estate.
His message concerning Indian affairs, and the expence of conducting
them.
The assembly's answer.
The governor's reply.
A parting compliment from general Shirley to the province.
A new session, and the governor's message thereon.
The assembly's answer.
Governor Morris is superseded by governor Denny.
The governor complimented on his arrival.
The first speech a continuation of the old system.
The business of the assembly at a stand for a few days.
Their address; and message, requesting copies of his proprietary
instructions.
Certain of the said instructions communicated.
A short comment upon them.
A message to the governor.
The governor's answer.
A bill prepared for striking the sum of 60,000_l._ for the king's
use, to be sunk by an excise.
A conference on the said bill.
The assembly's answer to the governor's objections.
The governor's answer, signifying, that he _would not_ give his
assent to it.
Resolutions of the assembly after a _protest_ against the
_instructions_, and a _salvo_ for their own _rights_, to prepare a
new bill.
A new bill prepared and passed.
A brief apology for the conduct of the assembly on this occasion.
A remonstrance voted.
Conclusion; with a testimonial of commodore Sprag in behalf of the
assembly.
AN APPENDIX, containing sundry original papers relative to the
several points in controversy between the governors and assemblies of
Pensylvania, viz.
1. The representation of the assembly to the proprietaries,
requesting them to bear a proportionable part of Indian expences.
2. The proprietaries' answer; and assembly's remarks thereon.
3. A message from governor Morris, containing his additional
arguments to show the _unreasonableness_ of taxing the proprietary
estate for its defence, and in support of the restrictions he was
under in that respect.
4. The assembly's answer thereto.
5. The governor's reply.
6. The assembly's rejoinder.
[Note. _In the above four messages great part of the points in
dispute between the proprietaries and people of the province are
fully litigated; and the perusal of them is necessary to those who
would have a thorough knowledge of the controversy._]
7. The speaker of the Pensylvanian assembly's paper of authorities
relating to the rights of the commons over money-bills, and in
support of the 50,000_l._ bills passed by the assembly, so far as it
relates to the taxing the proprietary estate within that province.
8. Report of a committee of assembly on the proprietary
_instructions_ relative to _money-bills_; clearly demonstrating, that
though the proprietaries would at length appear to be willing to
have their estates taxed in common with other estates, yet that were
laws passed pursuant to these instructions, much the greatest part
of their estate would be exempted, and that the sums necessary to be
granted for his majesty's service in that province could not possibly
be raised thereby, &c. &c. _A paper of importance._
9. Mr. Thomas Penn's estimate of the _value_ of the proprietary
estate in Pensylvania, upwards of twenty years ago; with remarks
thereon, showing its prodigious increase since that time, the profits
arising to the HOUSE OF PENN from their Indian purchases, and the
huckstering manner in which they dispose of lands to the king's
subjects in that province.
10. A specimen of the anonymous abuses continually published against
the inhabitants of Pensylvania, by the proprietaries and their
agents, with Mr. W. Franklin's refutation thereof.
11. Some remarks on the conduct of the last and present governor,
with regard to their employing the provincial forces as _regulars_,
rather than as _rangers_; and showing the secret reason why that
province is at present without a _militia-law_, notwithstanding the
several bills which have been lately passed by the assembly for that
purpose.
12. An account of sundry sums of money paid by the province for his
majesty's service, _since the commencement of the present troubles in
America_.
13. An extract from an original letter of Mr. Logan, containing,
among other things, his opinion of the proprietary right to the
government of the three Delaware counties; and which serves to
account for the particular favour shown that government from time to
time.
FOOTNOTE:
[16] This is the title of an octavo volume, consisting of nearly
five hundred pages closely printed. It was written, as mentioned in
the preceding note, while Dr. Franklin was in England as agent for
the province of Pensylvania, to further the ends of his mission, by
removing the unfavourable impressions which had taken place to the
prejudice of the Pensylvanians: and "it must be confessed," as a
reviewer of the work observes, "they had in our author a most zealous
and able advocate. His sentiments are manly, liberal, and spirited;
his style close, nervous, and rhetorical. By a forcible display of
the oppressions his clients have sustained, he inclines us to pity
their condition; by an enumeration of their virtues he endeavours to
remove the idea, which many have entertained, of their unimportance,
and, abstracted from their consideration in a political light, they
claim our regard by reason of their own personal merits." Interesting
however as the controversy between the governors and the assembly
of Pensylvania may have been at the time, it is too little so now
to justify the insertion of so voluminous an account of it in the
present collection, and we shall content ourselves therefore with
extracting the dedication, preface, and contents. It is singular,
that neither the editor of Dr. Franklin's works, whom we have
designated by the letters B. V.; nor Dr. Stuber, the continuator of
his life, should have mentioned this publication. The work is indeed
anonymous, but it is so well known to have been Dr. Franklin's, that
in the common library catalogue of the British Museum it is ranked
under his name. _Editor._
_The Interest of Great Britain considered, with Regard to her
Colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe[17]._
I have perused with no small pleasure the Letter addressed to Two
Great Men, and the Remarks on that letter. It is not merely from
the beauty, the force and perspicuity of expression, or the general
elegance of manner conspicuous in both pamphlets, that my pleasure
chiefly arises; it is rather from this, that I have lived to see
subjects of the greatest importance to this nation publicly discussed
without party views, or party heat, with decency and politeness, and
with no other warmth, than what a zeal for the honour and happiness
of our king and country may inspire; and this by writers, whose
understanding (however they may differ from each other) appears not
unequal to their candour and the uprightness of their intention.
But, as great abilities have not always the best information, there
are, I apprehend, in the Remarks, some opinions not well founded,
and some mistakes of so important a nature, as to render a few
observations on them necessary for the better information of the
public.
The author of the Letter, who must be every way best able to support
his own sentiments, will, I hope, excuse me, if I seem officiously
to interfere; when he considers, that the spirit of patriotism, like
other qualities good and bad, is catching; and that his long silence
since the Remarks appeared has made us despair of seeing the subject
farther discussed by his masterly hand. The ingenious and candid
remarker, too, who must have been misled himself before he employed
his skill and address to mislead others, will certainly, since he
declares he _aims at no seduction_[18], be disposed to excuse even
the weakest effort to prevent it.
And surely, if the general opinions that possess the minds of the
people may possibly be of consequence in public affairs, it must be
fit to set those opinions right. If there is danger, as the remarker
supposes, that "extravagant expectations" may embarrass "a virtuous
and able ministry," and "render the negotiation for peace a work of
infinite difficulty[19];" there is no less danger that expectations
too low, through want of proper information, may have a contrary
effect, may make even a virtuous and able ministry less anxious,
and less attentive to the obtaining points, in which the honour and
interest of the nation are essentially concerned; and the people less
hearty in supporting such a ministry and its measures.
The people of this nation are indeed respectable, not for their
numbers only, but for their understanding and their public spirit:
they manifest the first, by their universal approbation of the
late prudent and vigorous measures, and the confidence they so
justly repose in a wise and good prince, and an honest and able
administration; the latter they have demonstrated by the immense
supplies granted in parliament unanimously, and paid through the
whole kingdom with chearfulness. And since to this spirit and
these supplies our "victories and successes[20]" have in great
measure been owing, is it quite right, is it generous to say, with
the remarker, that the people "had no share in acquiring them?"
The mere mob he cannot mean, even where he speaks of the madness
of the people; for the madness of the mob must be too feeble and
impotent, armed as the government of this country at present is, to
"overrule[21]," even in the slightest instances, the virtue "and
moderation" of a firm and steady ministry.
While the war continues, its final event is quite uncertain. The
victorious of this year may be the vanquished of the next. It may
therefore be too early to say, what advantages we ought absolutely
to insist on, and make the _sine quibus non_ of a peace. If the
necessity of our affairs should oblige us to accept of terms less
advantageous than our present successes seem to promise us; an
intelligent people, as ours is, must see that necessity, and will
acquiesce. But as a peace, when it is made, may be made hastily; and
as the unhappy continuance of the war affords us time to consider,
among several advantages gained or to be gained, which of them may
be most for our interest to retain, if some and not all may possibly
be retained; I do not blame the public disquisition of these points,
as premature or useless. Light often arises from a collision of
opinions, as fire from flint and steel; and if we can obtain the
benefit of the _light_, without danger from the _heat_ sometimes
produced by controversy, why should we discourage it?
Supposing then, that heaven may still continue to bless his majesty's
arms, and that the event of this just war may put it in our power
to retain some of our conquests at the making of a peace; let us
consider,
[1. _The security of a dominion, a justifiable and prudent ground
upon which to demand cessions from an enemy._]
_Whether we are_ to confine ourselves to those possessions only
_that were "the objects for which we began the war[22]."_ This the
remarker seems to think right, when the question relates to "_Canada,
properly so called_; it having never been mentioned as one of those
objects, in any of our memorials or declarations, or in any national
or public act whatsoever." But the gentleman himself will probably
agree, that if the cession of Canada would be a real advantage to
us; we may demand it under his second head, as an "_indemnification_
for the charges incurred" in recovering our just rights; otherwise,
according to his own principles, the demand of Guadaloupe can have no
foundation.--That "our claims before the war were large enough for
possession and for security too[23]," though it seems a clear point
with the ingenious remarker, is, I own, not so with me. I am rather
of the contrary opinion, and shall presently give my reasons.
But first let me observe, that we did not make those claims
because they were large enough for security, but because we could
rightfully claim no more. Advantages gained in the course of this
war may increase the extent of our rights. Our claims before
the war contained _some_ security; but that is no reason why we
should neglect acquiring _more_, when the demand of more is become
reasonable. It may be reasonable in the case of America, to ask for
the security recommended by the author of the Letter[24], though it
would be preposterous to do it in many other cases. His proposed
demand is founded on the little value of Canada to the French;
the right we have to ask, and the power we may have to insist on
an indemnification for our expences; the difficulty the French
themselves will be under of restraining their restless subjects in
America from encroaching on our limits and disturbing our trade; and
the difficulty on our parts of preventing encroachments, that may
possibly exist many years without coming to our knowledge.
But the remarker "does not see why the arguments, employed concerning
a security for a peaceable behaviour in Canada, would not be equally
cogent for calling for the same security in Europe[25]." On a
little farther reflection, he must I think be sensible, that the
circumstances of the two cases are widely different.--_Here_ we are
separated by the best and clearest of boundaries, the ocean, and we
have people in or near every part of our territory. Any attempt to
encroach upon us, by building a fort even in the obscurest corner of
these islands, must therefore be known and prevented immediately.
The aggressors also must be known, and the nation they belong to
would be accountable for their aggression. In America it is quite
otherwise. A vast wilderness, thinly or scarce at all peopled,
conceals with ease the march of troops and workmen. Important passes
may be seized within our limits, and forts built in a month, at a
small expence, that may cost us an age, and a million, to remove.
Dear experience has taught this. But what is still _worse_, the wide
extended forests between our settlements and theirs, are inhabited
by barbarous tribes of savages, that delight in war, and take pride
in murder; subjects properly neither of the French nor English,
but strongly attached to the former by the art and indefatigable
industry of priests, similarity of superstitions, and frequent family
alliances. These are easily, and have been continually, instigated
to fall upon and massacre our planters, even in times of full peace
between the two crowns; to the certain diminution of our people and
the contraction of our settlements[26]. And though it is known they
are supplied by the French, and carry their prisoners to them, we
can, by complaining, obtain no redress; as the governors of Canada
have a ready excuse, that the Indians are an independent people, over
whom they have no power, and for whose actions they are therefore not
accountable. Surely circumstances so widely different may reasonably
authorise different demands of security in America, from such as are
usual or necessary in Europe.
The remarker however thinks, that our real dependance for keeping
"France or any other nation true to her engagements, must not be in
demanding securities which no nation whilst _independent_ can give;
but on our own strength and our own vigilance[27]." No nation that
has carried on a war with disadvantage, and is unable to continue
it, can be said, under such circumstances, to be _independent_;
and while either side thinks itself in a condition to demand an
indemnification, there is no man in his senses, but will, cæteris
paribus, prefer an indemnification, that is a cheaper and more
effectual security than any other he can think of. Nations in this
situation demand and cede countries by almost every treaty of peace
that is made. The French part of the island of St. Christophers was
added to Great Britain in circumstances altogether similar to those
in which a few months may probably place the country of Canada.
Farther security has always been deemed a motive with a conqueror to
be less moderate; and even the _vanquished_ insist upon security as a
reason for demanding what they acknowledge they could not otherwise
properly ask. The security of the frontier of France _on the side
of the Netherlands_ was always considered in the negotiation, that
began at Gertrudenburgh, and ended with that war. For the same
reason they demanded and had Cape Breton. But a war, concluded to
the advantage of France, has always added something to the power,
either of France, or the house of Bourbon. Even that of 1733, which
she commenced with declarations of her having no ambitious views,
and which finished by a treaty, at which the ministers of France
repeatedly declared, that she desired nothing for herself, in effect
gained for her Lorrain, an indemnification ten times the value of
all her North American possessions. In short, security and quiet of
princes and states have ever been deemed sufficient reasons, when
supported by power, for disposing of rights; and such disposition
has never been looked on as want of moderation. It has always been
the foundation of the most general treaties. The security of Germany
was the argument for yielding considerable possessions there to the
Swedes: and the security of Europe divided the Spanish monarchy by
the partition-treaty, made between powers who had no other right
to dispose of any part of it. There can be no cession that is not
supposed at least, to increase the power of the party to whom it is
made. It is enough that he has a right to ask it, and that he does
it not merely to serve the purposes of a dangerous ambition.
Canada, in the hands of Britain, will endanger the kingdom of
France as little as any other cession; and from its situation and
circumstances cannot be hurtful to any other state. Rather, if
peace be an advantage, this cession may be such to all Europe. The
present war teaches us, that disputes arising in America may be an
occasion of embroiling nations; who have no concerns there. If the
French remain in Canada and Louisiana, fix the boundaries as you
will between us and them, we must border on each other for more
than fifteen hundred miles. The people that inhabit the frontiers
are generally the refuse of both nations, often of the worst morals
and the least discretion; remote from the eye, the prudence, and
the restraint of government. Injuries are therefore frequently, in
some part or other of so long a frontier, committed on both sides,
resentment provoked, the colonies first engaged, and then the mother
countries. And two great nations can scarce be at war in Europe,
but some other prince or state thinks it a convenient opportunity
to revive some ancient claim, seize some advantage, obtain some
territory, or enlarge some power at the expence of a neighbour. The
flames of war, once kindled, often spread far and wide, and the
mischief is infinite. Happy it proved to both nations, that the
Dutch were prevailed on finally to cede the New Netherlands (now
the province of New York) to us at the peace of 1674; a peace that
has ever since continued between us, but must have been frequently
disturbed, if they had retained the possession of that country,
bordering several hundred miles on our colonies of Pensylvania
westward, Connecticut and the Massachusetts eastward. Nor is it
to be wondered at, that people of different language, religion,
and manners, should in those remote parts engage in frequent
quarrels; when we find, that even the people of our _own colonies_
have frequently been so exasperated against _each other_, in their
disputes about boundaries, as to proceed to open violence and
bloodshed.
[2. _Erecting forts in the back settlements, almost in no instance
a sufficient security against the Indians and the French; but the
possession of Canada implies every security, and ought to be had,
while in our power._]
But the remarker thinks _we shall be_ sufficiently _secure in
America, if we "raise English forts at such passes as may at once
make us respectable to the French and to the Indian nations[28]."_
The security desirable in America may be considered as of three
kinds. 1. A security of possession, that the French shall not drive
us out of the country. 2. A security of our planters from the inroads
of savages, and the murders committed by them. 3. A security that
the British nation shall not be obliged, on every new war, to repeat
the immense expence occasioned by this, to defend its possessions in
America. Forts, in the most important passes, may, I acknowledge,
be of use to obtain the _first_ kind of security: but as those
situations are far advanced beyond the inhabitants, the expence of
maintaining and supplying the garrisons will be very great even in
time of full peace, and immense on every interruption of it; as it is
easy for skulking-parties of the enemy, in such long roads through
the woods, to intercept and cut off our convoys, unless guarded
continually by great bodies of men.--The _second_ kind of security
will not be obtained by such forts, unless they were connected by
a wall like that of China, from one end of our settlements to the
other. If the Indians, when at war, marched like the Europeans,
with great armies, heavy cannon, baggage, and carriages; the passes
through which alone such armies could penetrate our country, or
receive their supplies, being secured, all might be sufficiently
secure; but the case is widely different. They go to war, as they
call it, in small parties; from fifty men down to five. Their hunting
life has made them acquainted with the whole country, and scarce any
part of it is impracticable to such a party. They can travel through
the woods even by night, and know how to conceal their tracks. They
pass easily between your forts undiscovered; and privately approach
the settlements of your frontier inhabitants. They need no convoys
of provisions to follow them; for whether they are shifting from
place to place in the woods, or lying in wait for an opportunity to
strike a blow, every thicket and every stream furnishes so small
a number with sufficient subsistence. When they have surprised
separately, and murdered and scalped a dozen families, they are gone
with inconceivable expedition through unknown ways; and it is very
rare that pursuers have any chance of coming up with them[29]. In
short, long experience has taught our planters, that they cannot
rely upon forts as a security against Indians: the inhabitants of
Hackney might as well rely upon the tower of London, to secure them
against highwaymen and housebreakers.--As to the _third_ kind of
security, that we shall not, in a few years, have all we have now
done, to do over again in America, and be obliged to employ the same
number of troops, and ships, at the same immense expence, to defend
our possessions there, while we are in proportion weakened here: such
forts I think, cannot prevent this. During a peace, it is not to be
doubted the French, who are adroit at fortifying, will likewise erect
forts in the most advantageous places of the country we leave them;
which will make it more difficult than ever to be reduced in case of
another war. We know by the experience of this war, how extremely
difficult it is to march an army through the American woods, with its
necessary cannon and stores, sufficient to reduce a very slight fort.
The accounts at the treasury will tell you, what amazing sums we have
necessarily spent in the expeditions against two very trifling forts,
Duquesne, and Crown Point. While the French retain their influence
over the Indians, they can easily keep our long extended frontier
in continual alarm, by a very few of those people; and with a small
number of regulars and militia, in such a country, we find they can
keep an army of ours in full employ for several years. We therefore
shall not need to be told by our colonies, that if we leave Canada,
however circumscribed, to the French, "we have done nothing[30];" we
shall soon be made sensible _ourselves_ of this truth, and to our
cost.
I would not be understood to deny, that even if we subdue and
retain Canada, some _few forts_ may be of use to secure the goods
of the traders, and protect the commerce, in case of any sudden
misunderstanding with any tribe of Indians: but these forts will be
best under the care of the colonies interested in the Indian trade,
and garrisoned by their provincial forces, and at their own expence.
Their own interest will then induce the American governments to
take care of such forts in proportion to their importance, and see
that the officers keep their corps full, and mind their duty. But
any troops of ours placed there, and accountable here, would, in
such remote and obscure places, and at so great a distance from the
eye and inspection of superiors, soon become of little consequence,
even though the French were left in possession of Canada. If the
four independent companies, maintained by the crown in New York
more than forty years, at a great expence, consisted, for most part
of the time, of faggots chiefly; if their officers enjoyed their
places as sinecures, and were only, as a writer[31] of that country
styles them, a kind of military monks; if this was the state of
troops posted in a populous country, where the imposition could
not be so well concealed; what may we expect will be the case of
those, that shall be posted two, three, or four hundred miles from
the inhabitants, in such obscure and remote places as Crown Point,
Oswego, Duquesne, or Niagara? they would scarce be even faggots; they
would dwindle to mere names upon paper, and appear no where but upon
the muster-rolls.
Now _all the kinds_ of security we have mentioned are obtained
by subduing and _retaining_ Canada. Our present possessions in
America are secured; our planters will no longer be massacred by the
Indians, who, depending absolutely on us for what are now become the
necessaries of life to them (guns, powder, hatchets, knives, and
clothing) and having no other Europeans near, that can either supply
them, or instigate them against us; there is no doubt of their being
always disposed, if we treat them with common justice, to live in
perpetual peace with us. And with regard to France, she cannot, in
case of another war, put us to the immense expence of defending that
long extended frontier; we shall then, as it were, have our backs
against a wall in America; the sea coast will be easily protected by
our superior naval power: and here "our own watchfulness and our own
strength" will be properly, and cannot but be successfully employed.
In this situation, the force, now employed in that part of the world,
may be spared for any other service here or elsewhere; so that both
the offensive and defensive strength of the British empire, on the
whole, will be greatly increased.
But to leave the French in possession of Canada, _when it is in our
power to remove them, and depend_ (as the remarker proposes) _on
our own_ "strength and watchfulness[32]" _to prevent the mischiefs
that may attend it, seems neither safe nor prudent_. Happy as we now
are, under the best of kings, and in the prospect of a succession
promising every felicity a nation was ever blessed with; happy too in
the wisdom and vigour of every part of the administration; we cannot,
we ought not to promise ourselves the uninterrupted continuance of
those blessings. The safety of a considerable part of the state, and
the interest of the whole, are not to be trusted to the wisdom and
vigour of _future administrations_; when a security is to be had
more effectual, more constant, and much less expensive. They, who
can be moved by the apprehension of dangers so remote, as that of
the future independence of our colonies (a point I shall hereafter
consider) seem scarcely consistent with themselves, when they
suppose we may rely on the wisdom and vigour of an administration
for their safety.--I should indeed think it less material whether
Canada were ceded to us or not, if I had in view only the security
of _possession_ in our colonies. I entirely agree with the remarker,
that we are in North America "a far greater continental as well
as naval power;" and that only cowardice or ignorance can subject
our colonies there to a French conquest. But for the same reason I
disagree with him widely upon another point.
[3. _The blood and treasure spent in the American wars, not spent
in the cause of the colonies alone._]
I do not think, that our "blood and treasure has been expended," as
he intimates, "_in the cause of the colonies_," and that we are
"making conquests for _them_[33];" yet I believe this is too common
an error. I do not say, they are altogether unconcerned in the event.
The inhabitants of them are, in common with the other subjects of
Great Britain, anxious for the glory of her crown, the extent of
her power and commerce, the welfare and future repose of the whole
British people. They could not therefore but take a large share in
the affronts offered to Britain; and have been animated with a truly
British spirit to exert themselves beyond their strength, and against
their evident interest. Yet so unfortunate have they been, that their
virtue has made against them; for upon no better foundation than this
have they been supposed the authors of a war, carried on for their
advantage only. It is a great mistake to imagine, that the American
country in question between Great Britain and France is claimed as
the property of any _individuals or public body in America_; or that
the possession of it by Great Britain is likely, in any lucrative
view, to redound at all to the advantage of any person there.
On the other hand, the bulk of the inhabitants of North America
are _land-owners_, whose lands are inferior in value to those of
Britain, only by the want of an equal number of people. It is true,
the accession of the large territory claimed before the war began
(especially if that be secured by the possession of Canada) will
tend to the increase of the British subjects faster, than if they
had been confined within the mountains: yet the increase within the
mountains only would evidently make the comparative population equal
to that of Great Britain much sooner than it can be expected, when
our people are spread over a country six times as large. I think this
is the only point of light in which this question is to be viewed,
and is the only one in which any of the colonies are concerned.--No
colony, no possessor of lands in any colony, therefore wishes for
conquests, or can be benefitted by them, otherwise than as they may
be a means of _securing peace on their borders_. No considerable
advantage has resulted to the colonies by the conquests of this
war, or can result from confirming them by the peace, but what they
must enjoy in common with the rest of the British people; with this
evident drawback from their share of these advantages, that they will
necessarily lessen, or at least prevent the increase of the value of
what makes the principal part of their private property [their land].
A people, spread through the whole tract of country on this side
the Mississippi, and secured by Canada in our hands, would probably
for some centuries find employment in agriculture, and thereby free
us at home effectually from our fears of American manufactures.
Unprejudiced men well know, that all the penal and prohibitory
laws that ever were thought on will not be sufficient to prevent
manufactures in a country, whose inhabitants surpass the number that
can subsist by the husbandry of it. That this will be the case in
America soon, if our people remain confined within the mountains, and
almost as soon should it be unsafe for them to live beyond, though
the country be ceded to us, no man acquainted with political and
commercial history can doubt. Manufactures are founded in poverty:
it is the multitude of poor without land in a country, and who must
work for others at low wages or starve, that enables undertakers to
carry on a manufacture, and afford it cheap enough to prevent the
importation of the same kind from abroad, and to bear the expence of
its own exportation.--But no man, who can have a piece of land of
his own, sufficient by his labour to subsist his family in plenty,
is poor enough to be a manufacturer, and work for a master. Hence,
while there is land enough in America for our people, there can never
be manufactures to any amount or value. It is a striking observation
of a very _able pen_[34], that the natural livelihood of the thin
inhabitants of a forest country is hunting; that of a greater number,
pasturage: that of a middling population, agriculture; and that of
the greatest, manufactures; which last must subsist the bulk of the
people in a full country, or they must be subsisted by charity, or
perish. The extended population, therefore, that is most advantageous
to Great Britain, will be best effected, because only effectually
secured, by our possession of Canada.
So far as the _being_ of our present colonies in North America is
concerned, I think indeed with the remarker, that the French there
are not _"an enemy to be apprehended[35];"_--but the expression is
too vague to be applicable to the present, or indeed to any other
case. Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, unequal as they are to this nation
in power and numbers of people, are enemies to be still apprehended;
and the Highlanders of Scotland have been so for many ages, by the
greatest princes of Scotland and Britain. The wild Irish were able
to give a great deal of disturbance even to Queen Elizabeth, and
cost her more blood and treasure than her war with Spain. Canada, in
the hands of France, has always stinted the growth of our colonies,
in the course of this war, and indeed before it, has disturbed
and vexed even the best and strongest of them; has found means to
murder thousands of their people, and unsettle a great part of their
country. Much more able will it be to starve the growth of an infant
settlement. Canada has also found means to make this nation spend two
or three millions a year in America; and a people, how small soever,
that in their present situation, can do this as often as we have a
war with them, is, methinks, "an enemy to be apprehended."
Our North American colonies are to be considered as the _frontier
of the British empire_ on that side. The frontier of any dominion
being attacked, it becomes not merely "the cause" of the people
immediately attacked (the inhabitants of that frontier) but properly
"the cause" of the whole body. Where the frontier people owe and
pay obedience, there they have a right to look for protection:
no political proposition is better established than this. It is
therefore invidious, to represent the "blood and treasure" spent in
this war, as spent in "the cause of the colonies" only; and that they
are "absurd and ungrateful," if they think we have done nothing,
unless we "make conquests for them," and reduce Canada to gratify
their "vain ambition," &c. It will not be a conquest for _them_,
nor gratify any vain ambition of theirs. It will be a conquest for
the _whole_; and all our people will, in the increase of trade, and
the ease of taxes, find the advantage of it. Should we be obliged
at any time, to make a war for the protection of our commerce, and
to secure the exportation of our manufactures, would it be fair to
represent such a war, merely as blood and treasure spent in the
cause of the weavers of Yorkshire, Norwich, or the West; the cutlers
of Sheffield, or the button-makers of Birmingham? I hope it will
appear before I end these sheets, that if ever there was a national
war, this is truly such a one: a war in which the interest of the
whole nation is directly and fundamentally concerned. Those, who
would be thought deeply skilled in human nature, affect to discover
self-interested views every where at the bottom of the fairest, the
most generous conduct. Suspicions and charges of this kind meet
with ready reception and belief in the minds even of the multitude,
and therefore less acuteness and address, than the remarker is
possessed of, would be sufficient to persuade the nation generally,
that all the zeal and spirit, manifested and exerted by the colonies
in this war, was only in "their own cause," to "make conquests for
themselves," to engage us to make more for them, to gratify their own
"vain ambition."
But should they now humbly address the mother-country in the terms
and the sentiments of the remarker; return her their grateful
acknowledgments for the blood and treasure she had spent in "their
cause;" confess that enough had not been done "for them;" allow that
"English forts, raised in proper passes, will, with the wisdom and
vigour of her administration," be a sufficient future protection;
express their desires that their people may be confined within
the mountains, lest [if] they are suffered to spread and extend
themselves in the fertile and pleasant country on the other side,
they should "increase infinitely from all causes," "live wholly
on their own labour" and become independent; beg therefore that
the French may be suffered to remain in possession of Canada, as
their neighbourhood may be useful to prevent our increase, and the
removing them may "in its consequences be even dangerous[36]:"--I
say, should such an address from the colonies make its appearance
here (though, according to the remarker, it would be a most just
and reasonable one) would it not, might it not with more justice
be answered:--We understand you, gentlemen, perfectly well: you
have only your own interest in view: you want to have the people
confined within your present limits, that in a few years the lands
you are possessed of may increase tenfold in value! you want to
reduce the price of labour, by increasing numbers on the same
territory, that you may be able to set up manufactures and vie with
your mother-country! you would have your people kept in a body,
that you may be more able to dispute the commands of the crown, and
obtain an independency. You would have the French left in Canada, to
exercise your military virtue, and make you a warlike people, that
you may have more confidence to embark in schemes of disobedience,
and greater ability to support them! You have tasted too, the sweets
of TWO OR THREE MILLIONS sterling per annum spent among you by our
fleets and forces, and you are unwilling to be without a pretence
for kindling up another war, and thereby occasioning a repetition of
the same delightful doses! But, gentlemen, allow us to understand
_our_ interest a little likewise: we shall remove the French from
Canada, that you may live in peace, and we be no more drained by your
quarrels. You shall have land enough to cultivate, that you may have
neither necessity nor inclination to go into manufactures; and we
will manufacture for you, and govern you.
A reader of the Remarks may be apt to say, if this writer would
have us restore Canada, on principles of moderation, how can we,
consistent with those principles, retain Guadaloupe, which he
represents of so much greater value!--I will endeavour to explain
this, because by doing it I shall have an opportunity of showing the
truth and good sense of the answer to the interested application I
have just supposed: The author then is only apparently and not really
inconsistent with himself. If we can obtain the credit of moderation
by restoring Canada, it is well: but we should, however, restore it
at _all events_; because it would not only be of no use to us; but
"the possession of it (in his opinion) may in its consequences be
dangerous[37]." As how? Why, plainly, (at length it comes out) if the
French are not left there to check the growth of our colonies, "they
will extend themselves almost without bounds into the inland parts,
and increase infinitely from all causes; becoming a numerous, hardy,
independent people; possessed of a strong country, communicating
little or not at all with England, living wholly on their own labour,
and in process of time knowing little and enquiring little about the
mother-country." In short, according to this writer, our present
colonies are large enough and numerous enough; and the French ought
to be left in North America to prevent their increase, lest they
become not only useless, but dangerous to Britain. I agree with the
Gentleman, that with Canada in our possession, our people in America
will increase amazingly. I know, that their common rate of increase,
where they are not molested by the enemy, is doubling their numbers
every twenty-five years, by natural generation only; exclusive of the
accession of foreigners[38]. I think this increase continuing would
probably, in a century more, make the number of British subjects on
that side the water more numerous than they now are on this; But,
[4. _Not necessary that the American colonies should_ cease being
useful to the _mother-country_. _Their_ preference _over the
West-Indian colonies stated_.]
_I am far from entertaining on that account, any fears of their
becoming either useless or dangerous to us; and I look on those fears
to be merely imaginary, and without any probable foundation._--The
remarker is reserved in giving his reasons; as in his opinion this
"is not a fit subject for discussion."--I shall give mine, because
I conceive it a subject necessary to be discussed; and the rather,
as those fears, how groundless and chimerical soever, may, by
possessing the multitude, possibly induce the ablest ministry to
conform to them against their own judgment; and thereby prevent the
assuring to the British name and nation a stability and permanency,
that no man acquainted with history durst have hoped for, till our
American possessions opened the pleasing prospect. The remarker
thinks, that our people in America, "finding no check from Canada,
would extend themselves almost without bounds into the inland parts,
and increase infinitely from all causes." The very reason he assigns
for their so extending, and which is indeed the true one (their
being "invited to it by the pleasantness, fertility, and plenty of
the country,") may satisfy us, that this extension will continue to
proceed, as long as there remains any pleasant fertile country within
their reach. And if we even suppose them confined by the waters
of the Mississippi westward, and by those of St. Laurence and the
lakes to the northward; yet still we shall leave them room enough
to increase, even in the manner of settling now practised there,
till they amount to perhaps a hundred millions of souls. This must
take some centuries to fulfil: and in the _mean time_, this nation
must necessarily supply them with the manufactures they consume;
because the new settlers will be employed in agriculture; and the
new settlements will so continually draw off the spare hands from
the old, that our present colonies will not, during the period we
have mentioned, find themselves in a condition to manufacture, even
for their own inhabitants, to any considerable degree, much less for
those who are settling behind them.
Thus our trade must, till that country becomes as fully peopled as
England (that is for centuries to come) be continually increasing,
and with it our naval power; because the ocean is between us
and them, and our ships and seamen must increase as that trade
increases.--The human body and the political differ in this;
that the first is limited by nature to a certain stature, which,
when attained, it cannot ordinarily exceed: the other, by better
government and more prudent police, as well as by change of manners
and other circumstances, often takes fresh starts of growth, after
being long at a stand; and may add tenfold to the dimensions it
had for ages been confined to. The mother, being of full stature,
is in a few years equalled by a growing daughter: but in the case
of a mother-country and her colonies, it is quite different. The
growth of the children tends to increase the growth of the mother,
and so the difference and superiority is longer preserved. Were the
inhabitants of this island limited to their present number by any
thing in nature, or by unchangeable circumstances, the equality
of population between the two countries might indeed sooner come
to pass: but sure experience, in those parts of the island where
manufactures have been introduced, teaches us; that people increase
and multiply in proportion as the means and facility of gaining a
livelihood increase; and that this island, if they could be employed,
is capable of supporting ten times its present number of people. In
proportion, therefore, as the demand increases for the manufactures
of Britain, by the increase of people in her colonies, the number
of her people at home will increase; and with them, the strength as
well as the wealth of the nation. For satisfaction in this point, let
the reader compare in his mind the number and force of our present
fleets, with our fleet in Queen Elizabeth's time[39], before we had
colonies. Let him compare the ancient, with the present state of our
towns on or near our western coast (Manchester, Liverpool, Kendal,
Lancaster, Glasgow, and the countries round them) that trade with
any manufacture for our colonies (not to mention Leeds, Halifax,
Sheffield, and Birmingham,) and consider what a difference there is
in the numbers of people, buildings, rents, and the value of land
and of the produce of land; even if he goes back no farther than is
within man's memory. Let him compare those countries with others on
the same island, where manufactures have not yet extended themselves;
observe the present difference, and reflect how much greater our
strength may be (if numbers give strength) when our manufacturers
shall occupy every part of the island where they can possibly be
subsisted.
But, say the objectors, "there is a _certain distance from the
sea_, in America, beyond which the expence of carriage will put a
stop to the sale and consumption of your manufactures; and this,
with the difficulty of making returns for them, will oblige the
inhabitants to manufacture for themselves; of course, if you suffer
your people to extend their settlements beyond that distance, your
people become useless to you:" and this distance is limited by some
to two hundred miles, by others to the Apalachian mountains.--Not
to insist on a very plain truth, that no part of a dominion, from
whence a government may on occasion draw supplies and aids both of
men and money (though at too great a distance to be supplied with
manufactures from some other part) is therefore to be deemed useless
to the whole; I shall endeavour to show, that these imaginary limits
of utility, even in point of commerce, are much too narrow. The
inland parts of the continent of Europe are farther from the sea,
than the limits of settlement proposed for America. Germany is full
of tradesmen and artificers of all kinds, and the governments there
are not all of them always favourable to the commerce of Britain; yet
it is a well-known fact, that our manufactures find their way even
into the heart of Germany. Ask the great manufacturers and merchants
of the Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester, and Norwich
goods; and they will tell you, that some of them send their riders
frequently through France or Spain, and Italy, up to Vienna, and back
through the middle and northern parts of Germany, to show samples of
their wares, and collect orders, which they receive by almost every
mail, to a vast amount. Whatever charges arise on the carriage of
goods are added to the value, and all paid by the consumer. If these
nations, over whom we have no government, over whose consumption
we can have no influence, but what arises from the cheapness and
goodness of our wares, whose trade, manufactures, or commercial
connections are not subject to the control of our laws, as those of
our colonies certainly are in some degree; I say, if these nations
purchase and consume such quantities of our goods, notwithstanding
the remoteness of their situation from the sea; how much less likely
is it, that the settlers in America, who must for ages be employed
in agriculture chiefly, should make cheaper for themselves the goods
our manufacturers at present supply them with: even if we suppose the
carriage five, six, or seven hundred miles from the sea as difficult
and expensive, as the like distance into Germany: whereas in the
latter, the natural distances are frequently doubled by political
obstructions; I mean the intermixed territories and clashing
interests of princes[40]. But when we consider, that the inland
parts of America are penetrated by great navigable rivers; that
there are a number of great lakes, communicating with each other,
with those rivers, and with the sea, very small portages here and
there excepted[41]; that the sea-coasts (if one may be allowed the
expression) of those lakes only amount at least to two thousand seven
hundred miles, exclusive of the rivers running into them (many of
which are navigable to a great extent for boats and canoes, through
vast tracts of country); how little likely is it that the expence on
the carriage of our goods into those countries should prevent the
use of them. If the poor Indians in those remote parts are now able
to pay for the linen, woollen, and iron wares they are at present
furnished with by the French and English traders (though Indians have
nothing but what they get by hunting, and the goods are loaded with
all the impositions fraud and knavery can contrive to inhance their
value) will not industrious English farmers, hereafter settled in
those countries, be much better able to pay for what shall be brought
them in the way of fair commerce?
If it is asked, _What_ can such farmers raise, wherewith to pay
for the manufactures they may want from us? I answer, that the
inland parts of America in question are well known to be fitted for
the production of hemp, flax, pot-ash, and above all, silk; the
southern parts may produce olive-oil, raisins, currants, indigo, and
cochineal. Not to mention horses and black cattle, which may easily
be driven to the maritime markets, and at the same time assist in
conveying other commodities. That the commodities first mentioned
may easily, by water and land-carriage, be brought to the sea-ports
from interior America, will not seem incredible, when we reflect,
that _hemp_ formerly came from the Ukraine and most southern parts of
Russia to Wologda, and down the Dwina to Archangel; and thence, by a
perilous navigation, round the North Cape to England, and other parts
of Europe. It now comes from the same country up the Dnieper, and
down the Duna[42], with much land-carriage. Great part of the Russia
_iron_, no high-priced commodity, is brought three hundred miles by
land and water from the heart of Siberia. _Furs_ [the produce too of
America] are brought to Amsterdam from all parts of Siberia, even
the most remote, Kamstchatka. The same country furnishes me with
another instance of extended inland commerce. It is found worth while
to keep up a mercantile communication between Pekin in China, and
Petersburgh. And none of these instances of inland commerce _exceed_
those of the courses by which, at several periods, _the whole trade
of the East_ was carried on. Before the prosperity of the Mameluke
dominion in Egypt fixed the staple for the riches of the East at
Cairo and Alexandria (whither they were brought from the Red Sea)
great part of those commodities were carried to the cities of Cashgar
and Balk. (This gave birth to those towns, that still subsist upon
the remains of their ancient opulence, amidst a people and country
equally wild.) From thence those goods were carried down the Amû (the
ancient Oxus) to the Caspian Sea, and up the Wolga to Astrachan; from
whence they were carried over to, and down the Don, to the mouth of
that river; and thence again the Venetians directly, and the Genoese
and Venetians indirectly (by way of Kaffa and Trebisonde) dispersed
them through the Mediterranean and some other parts of Europe.
Another part of those goods was carried over-land from the Wolga to
the rivers Duna and Neva; from both they were carried to the city
of Wisbuy in the Baltic (so eminent for its sea-laws); and from the
city of Ladoga on the Neva, we are told they were even carried by the
Dwina to Archangel; and from thence round the North Cape.--If iron
and hemp will bear the charge of carriage from this inland country,
_other metals_ will, as well as iron; and certainly _silk_, since
3_d._ per _lb._ is not above 1 per cent on the value, and amounts to
28_l._ per ton. If the _growths_ of a country find their way out of
it; the _manufactures_ of the country where they go will infallibly
find their way into it.
They, who understand the economy and principles of manufactures,
know, that it is impossible to establish them in places not populous:
and even in those that are populous, hardly possible to establish
them to the prejudices of the places _already in possession of them_.
Several attempts have been made in France and Spain, countenanced by
the government, to draw from us, and establish in those countries,
our hard-ware and woollen manufactures; but without success. The
reasons are various. A manufacture is part of a great system of
commerce, which takes in conveniencies of various kinds; methods
of providing materials of all sorts, machines for expediting and
facilitating labour, all the channels of correspondence for vending
the wares, the credit and confidence necessary to found and support
this correspondence, the mutual aid of different artizans, and a
thousand other particulars, which time and long experience have
_gradually_ established. A part of such a system cannot support
itself without the whole: and before the whole can be obtained the
part perishes. Manufactures, where they are in perfection, are
carried on by a multiplicity of hands, each of which is expert only
in his own part; no one of them a master of the whole; and, if by
any means spirited away to a foreign country, he is lost without his
fellows. Then it is a matter of the extremest difficulty to persuade
a complete set of workmen, skilled in all parts of a manufactory,
to leave their country together, and settle in a foreign land.
Some of the idle and drunken may be enticed away; but these only
disappoint their employers, and serve to discourage the undertaking.
If by royal munificence, and an expence that the profits of the
trade alone would not bear, a complete set of good and skilful
hands are collected and carried over, they find so much of the
system imperfect, so many things wanting to carry on the trade to
advantage, so many difficulties to overcome, and the knot of hands
so easily broken by death, dissatisfaction, and desertion; that
they and their employers are discouraged together, and the project
vanishes into smoke. Hence it happens, that established manufactures
are hardly ever lost, but by foreign conquest, or by some eminent
interior fault in manners or government; a bad police oppressing and
discouraging the workmen, or religious persecutions driving the sober
and industrious out of the country. There is, in short, scarce a
single instance in history of the contrary, where manufactures have
once taken firm root. They sometimes start up in a new place; but
are generally supported, like exotic plants, at more expence than
they are worth for any thing but curiosity; until these new seats
become the refuge of the manufacturers driven from the old ones.
The conquest of Constantinople, and final reduction of the Greek
empire, dispersed many curious manufacturers into different parts
of Christendom. The former conquests of its provinces, had _before_
done the same. The loss of liberty in Verona, Milan, Florence, Pisa,
Pistoia, and other great cities of Italy, drove the manufacturers
of woollen cloths into Spain and Flanders. The latter first lost
their trade and manufactures to Antwerp and the cities of Brabant;
from whence, by persecution for religion, they were sent into
Holland and England: [while] the civil wars, during the minority of
Charles the First of Spain, which ended in the loss of the liberty
of their great towns, ended too in the loss of the manufactures of
Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Medina del campo, &c. The revocation of
the _edict of Nantes_ communicated, to all the protestant part of
Europe, the paper, silk, and other valuable manufacturers of France;
almost peculiar at that time to that country, and till then in
vain attempted elsewhere. To be convinced, that it is not soil and
climate, or even freedom from taxes, that determines the residence
of manufacturers, we need only turn our eyes on Holland; where a
multitude of manufactures are still carried on (perhaps more than on
the same extent of territory any where in Europe) and sold on terms
upon which they cannot be had in any other part of the world. And
this too is true of those _growths_, which, by their nature and the
labour required to raise them, come the nearest to manufactures.
As to the common-place objection to the North-American settlements,
that they are _in the same climate, and their produce the same
as that of England_;--in the first place it is not true; it is
particularly not so of the countries now likely to be added to our
settlements; and of our present colonies, the products, lumber,
tobacco, rice, and indigo, great articles of commerce, do not
interfere with the products of England: in the next place, a man must
know very little of the trade of the world, who does not know, that
the greater part of it is carried on between countries whose climate
differs very little. Even the trade between the different parts of
these British islands is greatly superior to that between England and
all the West India Islands put together.
If I have been successful in proving that a considerable commerce may
and will subsist between us and our future most inland settlements
in North America, notwithstanding their distance; I have more than
half proved no _other inconveniency will arise_ from their distance.
Many men in such a country must "know," must "think," and must "care"
about the country they chiefly trade with. The juridical and other
connections of government are yet a faster hold than even commercial
ties, and spread, directly and indirectly, far and wide. Business to
be solicited and causes depending create a great intercourse, even
where private property is _not_ divided in different countries;--yet
this division _will_ always subsist, where different countries are
ruled by the same government. Where a man has landed property both
in the mother country and a province, he will almost always live
in the mother country: this, though there were no trade, is singly
a sufficient gain. It is said, that Ireland pays near a million
sterling annually to its absentees in England: the balance of trade
from Spain, or even Portugal, is scarcely equal to this.
Let it not be said we have _no absentees_ from North America. There
are many, to the writer's knowledge; and if there are at present but
few of them, that distinguish themselves here by great expence, it
is owing to the mediocrity of fortune among the inhabitants of the
Northern colonies, and a more equal division of landed property,
than in the West India islands, so that there are as yet but few
large estates. But if those, who have such estates, reside upon
and take care of them themselves, are they worse subjects than they
would be if they lived idly in England?--Great merit is assumed for
the gentlemen of the West Indies,[43] on the score of their residing
and spending their money in England. I would not depreciate that
merit; it is considerable; for they might, if they pleased, spend
their money in France: but the difference between their spending it
here and at home is not so great. What do they spend it in when they
are here, but the produce and manufactures of this country;--and
would they not do the same if they were at home? Is it of any great
importance to the English farmer, whether the West India gentleman
comes to London and eats his beef, pork, and tongues, fresh; or has
them brought to him in the West Indies salted? whether he eats his
English cheese and butter, or drinks his English ale, at London or
in Barbadoes? Is the clothier's, or the mercer's, or the cutler's,
or the toyman's profit less, for their goods being worn and consumed
by the same persons residing on the other side of the ocean? Would
not the profits of the merchant and mariner be rather greater, and
some addition made to our navigation, ships and seamen? If the North
American gentleman stays in his own country, and lives there in
that degree of luxury and expence with regard to the use of British
manufactures, that his fortune entitles him to; may not his example
(from the imitation of superiors, so natural to mankind) spread the
use of those manufactures among hundreds of families around him, and
occasion a much greater demand for them, than it would do if he
should remove and live in London?--However this may be, if in our
views of immediate advantage, it seems preferable, that the gentlemen
of large fortunes in North America should reside much in England; it
is what may surely be expected, as fast as such fortunes are acquired
there. Their having "colleges of their own for the education of their
youth," will not prevent it: a little knowledge and learning acquired
increases the appetite for more, and will make the conversation of
the learned on this side the water more strongly desired. Ireland
has its university likewise; yet this does not prevent the immense
pecuniary benefit we receive from that kingdom. And there will always
be, in the conveniencies of life, the politeness, the pleasures, the
magnificence of the reigning country, many other attractions besides
those of learning, to draw men of substance there, where they can
(apparently at least) have the best bargain of happiness for their
money.
Our _trade to the West India islands_ is undoubtedly a valuable one:
but whatever is the amount of it, it _has long been at a stand_.
Limited as our sugar planters are by the scantiness of territory,
they cannot increase much beyond their present number; and this is
an evil, as I shall show hereafter, that will be little helped by
our keeping Guadaloupe.--The trade to our Northern Colonies is not
only greater, but yearly increasing with the increase of people: and
even in a greater proportion, as the people increase in wealth and
the ability of spending, as well as in numbers.[44]--I have already
said, that _our people in the northern colonies_ double in about 25
years, exclusive of the accession of strangers. That I speak within
bounds, I appeal to the authentic accounts frequently required by
the board of trade, and transmitted to that board by the respective
governors; of which accounts I shall select one as a sample, being
that from the colony of Rhode-Island;[45] a colony that of all the
others receives the least addition from strangers.--For the increase
of our _trade to those colonies_, I refer to the accounts frequently
laid before Parliament, by the officers of the customs, and to the
custom-house books: from which I have also selected one account, that
of the trade from England (exclusive of Scotland) to Pensylvania[46];
a colony most remarkable for the plain frugal manner of living of
its inhabitants, and the most suspected of carrying on manufactures,
on account of the number of German artizans, who are known to have
transplanted themselves into that country; though even these,
in truth, when they come there, generally apply themselves to
agriculture, as the surest support and most advantageous employment.
By this account it appears, that the exports to that province have in
28 years, increased nearly in the proportion of 17 to 1; whereas the
people themselves, who by other authentic accounts appear to double
their numbers (the strangers who settle there included) in about 16
years, cannot in the 28 years have increased in a greater proportion
than as 4 to 1. The additional demand then, and consumption of goods
from England, of 13 parts in 17 more than the additional number
would require, must be owing to this; that the people having by
their industry mended their circumstances, are enabled to indulge
themselves in finer clothes, better furniture, and a more general use
of all our manufactures than heretofore.
In fact, the occasion for English goods in North America, and the
inclination to have and use them, is, and must be for ages to come,
much greater than the ability of the people to pay for them; they
must therefore, as they now do, deny themselves many things they
would otherwise chuse to have, or increase their industry to obtain
them. And thus, if they should at any time manufacture some coarse
article, which on account of its bulk or some other circumstance,
cannot so well be brought to them from Britain; it only enables them
the better to pay for finer goods, that _otherwise_ they could not
indulge themselves in: so that the exports thither are not diminished
by such manufacture, but rather increased. The single article of
manufacture in these colonies, mentioned by the remarker, is _hats_
made in New-England. It is true, there have been, ever since the
first settlement of that country, a few hatters there; drawn thither
probably at first by the facility of getting beaver, while the woods
were but little cleared, and there was plenty of those animals. The
case is greatly altered now. The beaver skins are not now to be had
in New-England, but from very remote places and at great prices. The
trade is accordingly declining there; so that, far from being able
to make hats in any quantity for exportation, they cannot supply
their home demand; and it is well known, that some thousand dozens
are sent thither yearly from London, Bristol, and Liverpool, and sold
there cheaper than the inhabitants can make them of equal goodness.
In fact, the colonies are so little suited for establishing of
manufactures, that they are continually losing the few branches they
accidentally gain. The working brasiers, cutlers, and pewterers, as
well as hatters, who have happened to go over from time to time and
settle in the colonies, gradually drop the working part of their
business, and import their respective goods from England, whence
they can have them cheaper and better than they can make them. They
continue their shops indeed, in the same way of dealing; but become
_sellers_ of brasiery, cutlery, pewter, hats, &c. brought from
England, instead of being _makers_ of those goods.
[5. _The American colonies_ not dangerous _in their nature to Great
Britain_.]
Thus much to the apprehension of our colonies becoming useless to
us. I shall next consider the other supposition, that their growth
may render them _dangerous_.--Of this, I own, I have not the least
conception, when I consider that we have already _fourteen separate
governments_ on the maritime coast of the continent; and, if we
extend our settlements, shall probably have as many more behind them
on the inland side. Those we now have are not only under different
governors, but have different forms of government, different laws,
different interests, and some of them different religious persuasions
and different manners.--Their jealousy of each other is so great,
that however necessary an union of the colonies has long been, for
their common defence and security against their enemies, and how
sensible soever each colony has been of that necessity; yet they
have never been able to effect such an union among themselves; nor
even to agree in requesting the mother country to establish it for
them. Nothing but the immediate command of the crown has been able
to produce even the imperfect union, but lately seen there, of
the forces of some colonies. If they could not agree to unite for
their defence against the French and Indians, who were perpetually
harassing their settlements, burning their villages, and murdering
their people; can it reasonably be supposed there is any danger of
their uniting against their own nation, which protects and encourages
them, with which they have so many connections and ties of blood,
interest and affection, and which, it is well known, they all love
much more than they love one another?
In short, there are so many causes that must operate to prevent
it, that I will venture to say, an union amongst them for such a
purpose is not merely improbable, it is impossible. And if the
union of the whole is impossible, the attempt of a part must be
madness; as those colonies that did not join the rebellion would
join the mother-country in suppressing it. When I say such an
union is impossible, I mean, without the most grievous tyranny and
oppression. People who have property in a country which they may
lose, and privileges which they may endanger, are generally disposed
to be quiet, and even to bear much, rather than hazard all. While
the government is mild and just, while important civil and religious
rights are secure, such subjects will be dutiful and obedient. The
waves do not rise but when the winds blow.
What such an administration as the Duke of Alva's in the Netherlands
might produce, I know not; but this I think I have a right to deem
impossible. And yet there were two very manifest differences between
that case, and ours; and both are in our favour. The _first_, that
Spain had already united the seventeen provinces under one visible
government, though the states continued independent: the _second_,
that the inhabitants of those provinces were of a nation, not only
different from, but utterly unlike the Spaniards. Had the Netherlands
been peopled from Spain, the worst of oppression had probably not
provoked them to wish a separation of government. It might, and
probably would, have ruined the country; but would never have
produced an independent sovereignty. In fact, neither the very worst
of governments, the worst of politics in the last century, nor the
total abolition of their remaining liberty, in the provinces of Spain
itself, in the present, have produced any independency [in Spain]
that could be supported. The same may be observed of France.
And let it not be said, that the neighbourhood of these to the seat
of government has prevented a separation. While our strength at sea
continues, the banks of the Ohio (in point of easy and expeditious
conveyance of troops) are nearer to London, than the remote parts of
France and Spain to their respective capitals; and much nearer than
Connaught and Ulster were in the days of Queen Elizabeth. No body
foretels the dissolution of the Russian monarchy from its extent; yet
I will venture to say, the eastern parts of it are already much more
inaccessible from Petersburgh, than the country on the Mississippi is
from London; I mean, more men, in less time, might be conveyed the
latter than the former distance. The rivers Oby, Jenesea, and Lena,
do not facilitate the communication half so well by their course,
nor are they half so practicable as the American rivers. To this I
shall only add the observation of Machiavel, in his Prince; that a
government seldom long preserves its dominion over those who are
foreigners to it; who, on the other hand, fall with great ease, and
continue inseparably annexed to the government of their own nation:
which he proves by the fate of the English conquests in France. Yet
with all these disadvantages, so difficult is it to overturn an
established government, that it was not without the assistance of
France and England, that the United Provinces supported themselves:
which teaches us, that
[6. _The French remaining in Canada, an encouragement to
disaffections in the British Colonies_.--_If they prove a_ check,
_that check of the most barbarous nature_.]
_If the visionary danger of independence in our colonies is to be
feared; nothing is more likely to render it substantial, than the
neighbourhood of foreigners at enmity with the sovereign governments,
capable of giving either_ aid[47], _or an_ asylum, _as the event
shall require_. Yet against even these disadvantages, did Spain
preserve almost ten provinces, merely through their want of union;
which indeed could never have taken place among the others, but for
causes, some of which are in our case impossible, and others it is
impious to suppose possible.
The Romans well understood that policy, which teaches the security
arising to the chief government from separate states among the
governed; when they restored the liberties of the states of Greece
(oppressed but united under Macedon) by an edict, that every state
should live under its own laws. They did not even name a governor.
Independence of each other, and separate interests (though among a
people united by common manners, language, and I may say religion;
inferior neither in wisdom, bravery, nor their love of liberty, to
the Romans themselves;) was all the security the sovereigns wished
for their sovereignty. It is true, they did not call themselves
sovereigns; they set no value on the title; they were contented
with possessing the thing. And possess it they did, even without
a standing army: (what can be a stronger proof of the security of
their possession?) And yet by a policy, similar to this throughout,
was the Roman world subdued and held: a world composed of above an
hundred languages, and sets of manners, different from those of their
masters. Yet this dominion was unshakeable, till the loss of liberty
and corruption of manners in the sovereign state overturned it.
_But what is the prudent policy, inculcated by the remarker to obtain
this end, security of dominion over our colonies? It is_, to leave
the French _in_ Canada, to "check" their growth; _for otherwise,
our people may "increase infinitely from all causes[48]."_ We have
already seen in what manner the French and their Indians check the
growth of our colonies. It is a modest word, this _check_, for
massacring men, women, and children. The writer would, if he could,
hide from himself as well as from the public, the horror arising from
such a proposal, by couching it in general terms: it is no wonder
he thought it a "subject not fit for discussion" in his letter;
though he recommends it as "a point that should be the constant
object of the minister's attention!" But if Canada is restored on
this principle, will not Britain be guilty of all the blood to be
shed, all the murders to be committed, in order to check this dreaded
growth of our own people? Will not this be telling the French in
plain terms, that the horrid barbarities they perpetrate with their
Indians on our colonists are agreeable to us; and that they need not
apprehend the resentment of a government, with whose views they so
happily concur? Will not the colonies view it in this light? Will
they have reason to consider themselves any longer as subjects and
children, when they find their cruel enemies hallooed upon them
by the country from whence they sprung; the government that owes
them protection, as it requires their obedience? Is not this the
most likely means of driving them into the arms of the French, who
can invite them by an offer of that security, their own government
chuses not to afford them? I would not be thought to insinuate, that
the remarker wants humanity. I know how little many good-natured
persons are affected by the distresses of people at a distance, and
whom they do not know. There are even those, who, being present, can
sympathize sincerely with the grief of a lady on the sudden death of
a favourite bird; and yet can read of the sinking of a city in Syria
with very little concern. If it be, after all, thought necessary to
check the growth of our colonies, give me leave to propose a method
less cruel. It is a method of which we have an example in scripture.
The murder of husbands, of wives, of brothers, sisters and children,
whose pleasing society has been for some time enjoyed, affects deeply
the respective surviving relations; but grief for the death of a
child just born is short, and easily supported. The method I mean is
that which was dictated by the Egyptian policy, when the "infinite
increase" of the children of Israel was apprehended as dangerous to
the state[49]. Let an act of parliament then be made, enjoining the
colony midwives to stifle in the birth every third or fourth child.
By this means you may keep the colonies to their present size. And
if they were under the hard alternative of submitting to one or the
other of these schemes for checking their growth, I dare answer for
them, they would prefer the latter.
_But all this debate about the propriety or impropriety of keeping or
restoring Canada_ is possibly too early. We have taken the capital
indeed, but the country is yet far from being in our possession;
and perhaps never will be: for if our m----rs are persuaded by such
counsellors as the remarker, that the French there are "not the
worst of neighbours," and that if we had conquered Canada, we ought,
for our own sakes, to restore it, as a check to the growth of our
colonies; I am then afraid we shall never take it. For there are many
ways of avoiding the completion of the conquest, that will be less
exceptionable and less odious than the giving it up.
[7. _Canada easily peopled_, without draining Great Britain _of any
of its inhabitants_.]
_The objection I have often heard, that if we had Canada we could not
people it, without draining Britain of its inhabitants, is founded
on ignorance of the nature of population in new countries._ When we
first began to colonize in America, it was necessary to send people,
and to send seed-corn; but it is not now necessary that we should
furnish, for a new colony, either one or the other. The annual
increment alone of our present colonies, without diminishing their
numbers, or requiring a man from hence, is sufficient in ten years
to fill Canada with double the number of English that it now has of
French inhabitants[50]. Those who are protestants among the French
will probably choose to remain under the English government; many
will choose to remove, if they can be allowed to sell their lands,
improvements, and effects: the rest in that thin-settled country will
in less than half a century, from the crowds of English settling
round and among them, be blended and incorporated with our people
both in language and manners.
[8. _The merits of Guadaloupe to Great Britain_ over-valued; _yet
likely to be paid_ much dearer for, _than Canada_.]
_In Guadaloupe the case is somewhat different_; and though I am far
from thinking[51] we have sugar-land enough[52], I cannot think
Guadaloupe is so desirable an increase of it, as other objects
the enemy would probably be infinitely more ready to part with. A
country, _fully inhabited_ by any nation, is no proper possession
for another of different languages, manners, and religion. It is
hardly ever tenable at less expence than it is worth. But the isle
of _Cayenne, and its appendix, Equinoctial-France_, having but very
few inhabitants, and these therefore easily removed, would indeed
be an acquisition every way suitable to our situation and desires.
This would hold all that migrate from Barbadoes, the Leeward Islands,
or Jamaica. It would certainly recal into an English government (in
which there would be room for millions) all who have before settled
or purchased in Martinico, Guadaloupe, Santa-Cruz, or St. John's;
except such as know not the value of an English government, and such
I am sure are not worth recalling.
But should we keep Guadaloupe, we are told it would _enable us to
export 300,000_l._ in sugars_. Admit it to be true, though perhaps
the amazing increase of English consumption might stop most of
it here,--to whose profit is this to redound? To the profit of
the French inhabitants of the island: except a small part, that
should fall to the share of the English purchasers, but whose whole
purchase-money must first be added to the wealth and circulation of
France. I grant, however, much of this 300,000_l._ would be expended
in British manufactures. Perhaps too, a few of the land-owners of
Guadaloupe might dwell and spend their fortunes in Britain (though
probably much fewer than of the inhabitants of North America.) I
admit the advantage arising to us from these circumstances (as far
as they go) in the case of Guadaloupe, as well as in that of our
other West-India settlements. Yet even this consumption is little
better than that of an allied nation would be, who should take our
manufactures and supply us with sugar, and put us to no great expence
in defending the place of growth. But though our own colonies expend
among us almost the whole produce of our sugar[53], _can we, or ought
we_ to promise ourselves this will be the case of Guadaloupe? One
100,000_l._ will supply them with British manufactures; and supposing
we can effectually prevent the introduction of those of France
(which is morally impossible in a country used to them) the other
200,000_l._ will still be spent in France, in the education of their
children and support of themselves; or else be laid up there, where
they will always think their home to be.
Besides this consumption of British manufactures, _much is said of
the benefit we shall have from the_ situation of Guadaloupe; and we
are told of a trade to the Caraccas and Spanish Main. In what respect
Guadaloupe is better situated for this trade than Jamaica, or even
any of our other islands, I am at a loss to guess. I believe it to be
not so well situated for that of the windward coast, as Tobago and
St. Lucia; which in this, as well as other respects, would be more
valuable possessions, and which, I doubt not, the peace will secure
to us. Nor is it nearly so well situated for that of the rest of
the Spanish Main as Jamaica. As to the greater safety of our trade
by the possession of Guadaloupe, experience has convinced us, that
in reducing a single island, or even more, we stop the privateering
business but little. Privateers still subsist, in equal if not
greater numbers, and carry the vessels into Martinico, which before
it was more convenient to carry into Guadaloupe. Had we all the
Caribbees, it is true, they would in those parts be without shelter.
Yet, upon the whole, I suppose it to be a doubtful point, and
well worth consideration, whether our obtaining possession of all
the Caribbees would be more than a temporary benefit; as it would
necessarily soon fill the French part of Hispaniola with French
inhabitants, and thereby render it five times more valuable in time
of peace, and little less than impregnable in time of war, and
would probably end in a few years in the uniting the whole of that
great and fertile island under a French government. It is agreed
on all hands, that our conquest of St. Christopher's, and driving
the French from thence, first furnished Hispaniola with skilful and
substantial planters, and was consequently the first occasion of
its present opulence. On the other hand, I will hazard an opinion,
that valuable as the French possessions in the West Indies are, and
undeniable the advantages they derive from them, there is somewhat
to be weighed in the opposite scale. They cannot at present make war
with England, without exposing those advantages, while divided among
the numerous islands they now have, much more than they would, were
they possessed of St. Domingo only; their own share of which would,
if well cultivated, grow more sugar, than is now grown in all their
West-India islands.
_I have before said, I do not deny the utility of the conquest, or
even of our future possession of Guadaloupe, if not bought too dear._
The trade of the West Indies is one of our most valuable trades. Our
possessions there deserve our greatest care and attention. So do
those of North America. I shall not enter into the invidious task of
comparing their due estimation. It would be a very long, and a very
disagreeable one, to run through every thing material on this head.
It is enough to our present point, if I have shown, that the value of
North America is capable of an immense increase, by an acquisition
and measures, that must necessarily have an effect the direct
contrary of what we have been industriously taught to fear; and that
Guadaloupe is, in point of advantage, but a very small addition to
our West-India possessions; rendered many ways less valuable to us,
than it is to the French, who will probably set more value upon it,
than upon a country [Canada] that is much more valuable to us than to
them.
There is a great deal more to be said on all the parts of these
subjects; but as it would carry me into a detail, that I fear
would tire the patience of my readers, and which I am not without
apprehensions I have done already, I shall reserve what remains till
I dare venture again on the indulgence of the public[54].
FOOTNOTES:
[17] In the year 1760, upon the prospect of a peace with France,
the late Earl of Bath addressed a Letter to Two Great Men (Mr. Pitt
and the Duke of Newcastle) on the terms necessary to be insisted
upon in the negociation. He preferred the acquisition of Canada, to
acquisitions in the West Indies. In the same year there appeared
Remarks on the letter addressed to two great men, containing opposite
opinions on this and other subjects. At this moment a philosopher
stepped into the controversy, and wrote a pamphlet entitled, The
Interest of Great Britain considered, with Regard to her Colonies,
&c. The arguments he used, appear to have carried weight with them at
the courts of London and Paris, for Canada was kept by the peace.
The editor thinks it necessary to add the following further
explanations.--The above piece (which first came to his hands in the
shape of a pamphlet, printed for Becket, 1761, 2d edit.) has none
of the eight subdivisions it is now thrown into, marked out by the
author. He conceived however that they might be useful, and has taken
the liberty of making them, but guards it with this apology. The
better to suit his purpose, the division of the paragraphs, &c. and
the italics of the original, are not accurately adhered to. It was
impossible for him however to alter one word in the sense, style, or
disposition, of his author: this was a liberty for which he could
make no apology.
In the original, the author has added his observations concerning
the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. [printed in the
2d Vol. of this work] and introduced it with the following note.
"In confirmation of the writer's opinion concerning population,
manufactures, &c. he has thought it not amiss to add an extract from
a piece written some years since in America, where the facts must
be well known, on which the reasonings are founded. It is entitled,
Observations, &c."
With respect to the arguments used by the authors of the Letter, and
of the Remarks, it is useless to repeat them here. As far as they
are necessary for the understanding of Dr. Franklin, they are to be
collected from his own work. B. V.
[18] Remarks, p. 6.
[19] Ibid. p. 7.
[20] Remarks, p. 7.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Remarks, p. 19.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Page 30, of the Letter, and p. 21, of the Remarks.
[25] Remarks, p. 28.
[26] A very intelligent writer of that country, Dr. Clark, in his
Observations on the late and present Conduct of the French, &c.
printed at Boston, 1755, says,
"The Indians in the French interest are, upon all proper
opportunities, _instigated by their priests_ (who have generally
the chief management of their public councils) to acts of hostility
against the English, even in time of profound peace between the two
crowns. Of this there are many undeniable instances: the war between
the Indians and the colonies of the Massachusett's Bay and New
Hampshire, in 1723, by which those colonies suffered so much damage,
was begun by the instigation of the French: their supplies were from
them; and there are now original letters of several Jesuits to be
produced, whereby it evidently appears, that they were continually
animating the Indians, when almost tired with the war, to a farther
prosecution of it. The French not only excited the Indians, and
supported them, but joined their own forces with them in all the late
hostilities that have been committed within his majesty's province
of Nova Scotia. And from an intercepted letter this year from the
Jesuits at Penobscot, and from other information, it is certain,
that they have been using their utmost endeavours to excite the
Indians to new acts of hostility against his majesty's colony of
the Massachusett's Bay; and some have been committed. The French
not only excite the Indians to acts of hostility, but reward them
for it, by _buying the English prisoners of them_: for the ransom
of each of which they afterwards demand of us the price that is
usually given for a slave in these colonies. They do this under the
specious pretence of rescuing the poor prisoners from the cruelties
and barbarities of the savages; but in reality to encourage them to
continue their depredations, as they can by this means get more by
hunting the English, than by hunting wild-beasts; and the French at
the same time are thereby enabled to keep up a large body of Indians,
entirely at _the expence of the English_."
[27] Remarks, p. 25.
[28] Remarks, p. 25.
[29] "Although the Indians live scattered, as a hunter's life
requires, they may be collected together from almost any distance; as
they can find their subsistence from their gun in their travelling.
But let the number of the Indians be what it will, they are not
formidable merely on account of their numbers; there are many other
circumstances that give them a great advantage over the English.
The English inhabitants, though numerous, are extended over a large
tract of land, five hundred leagues in length on the sea shore;
and although some of their trading towns are thick settled, their
settlements in the country towns must be at a distance from each
other: besides, that in a new country where lands are cheap, people
are fond of acquiring large tracts to themselves; and therefore in
the out-settlements, they must be more remote: and as the people that
move out are generally poor, they sit down either where they can
easiest procure land, or soonest raise a subsistence. Add to this,
that the English have fixed settled habitations, the easiest and
shortest passages to which the Indians, by constantly hunting in the
woods, are perfectly well acquainted with; whereas the English know
little or nothing of the Indian country, nor of the passages through
the woods that lead to it. The Indian way of making war is by sudden
attack upon exposed places; and as soon as they have done mischief,
they retire, and either go home by the same or some different route,
as they think safest; or go to some other place at a distance, to
renew their stroke. If a sufficient party should happily be ready to
pursue them, it is a great chance, whether in a country consisting
of woods and swamps, which the English are not acquainted with, the
enemy do not lie in ambush for them in some convenient place, and
from thence destroy them. If this should not be the case, but the
English should pursue them, as soon as they have gained the rivers,
by means of their canoes (to the use of which they are brought up
from their infancy) they presently get out of their reach: further,
if a body of men were to march into their country, to the place where
they are settled, they can, upon the least notice, without great
disadvantage, quit their present habitation, and betake themselves to
new ones." _Clark's Observations_, p. 13.
"It has been already remarked, that the tribes of the Indians, living
upon the lakes and rivers that run upon the back of the English
settlements in North America, are very numerous, and can furnish a
great number of fighting men, all perfectly well acquainted with the
use of arms as soon as capable of carrying them, as they get the
whole of their subsistence from hunting; and that this army, large
as it may be, can be maintained by the French without any expence.
From their numbers, their situation, and the rivers that run into the
English settlements, it is easy to conceive, that they can at any
time make an attack upon, and constantly annoy as many of the exposed
English settlements as they please, and those at any distance from
each other. The effects of such incursions have been too severely
felt by many of the British colonies, not to be very well known. The
entire breaking up places, that had been for a considerable time
settled at a great expence both of labour and money; burning the
houses, destroying the flock, killing and making prisoners great
numbers of the inhabitants, with all the cruel usage they meet with
in their captivity, is only a part of the scene. All other places
that are exposed are kept in continual terror; the lands lie waste
and uncultivated, from the danger that attends those that shall
presume to work upon them: besides the immense charge the governments
must be at in a very ineffectual manner to defend their extended
frontiers; and all this from the influence the French have had over,
but comparatively, a few of the Indians. To the same or greater evils
still will every one of the colonies be exposed, whenever the same
influence shall be extended to the whole body of them." Ibid. p. 20.
[30] Remarks, p. 26.
[31] Douglass.
[32] Remarks, p. 25.
[33] Remarks, p. 26.
[34] This I believe is meant for Dr. Adam Smith, who seems not at
this time to have printed any of his political pieces. B. V.
[35] Remarks, p. 27.
[36] Remarks, p. 50, 51.
[37] Remarks, p. 50, 51.
[38] The reason of this greater increase in America than in Europe
is, that in old settled countries, all trades, farms, offices, and
employments are full; and many people refrain marrying till they see
an opening, in which they can settle themselves, with a reasonable
prospect of maintaining a family: but in America, it being easy to
obtain land, which, with moderate labour will afford subsistence and
something to spare, people marry more readily and earlier in life,
whence arises a numerous offspring and the swift population of those
countries. It is a common error, that we cannot fill our provinces
or increase the number of them, without draining this nation of its
people. The increment alone of our present colonies is sufficient for
both those purposes. [Written in 1760.]
[39] Viz. forty sail, none of more than forty guns.
[40] Sir C. Whitworth has the following assertion: "Each state
in Germany is jealous of its neighbours; and hence, rather than
facilitate the export or transit of its neighbours' products or
manufactures, they have all recourse to strangers." State of Trade,
p. xxiv. B. V.
[41] From New York into lake Ontario, the land-carriage of the
several portages altogether, amounts to but about twenty-seven miles.
From lake Ontario into lake Erie, the land-carriage at Niagara is
but about twelve miles. All the lakes above Niagara communicate by
navigable straits, so that no land-carriage is necessary, to go out
of one into another. From Presqu'isle on lake Erie, there are but
fifteen miles land-carriage, and that a good waggon-road, to Beef
River, a branch of the Ohio; which brings you into a navigation
of many thousand miles inland, if you take together the Ohio, the
Mississippi, and all the great rivers and branches that run into them.
[42] I beg pardon for attempting to remind the reader that he must
not confound the river Duna, with the river Dwina.--The fork of the
Ohio is about four hundred miles distant from the sea, and the fork
of the Mississippi about nine hundred: it is four hundred miles from
Petersburgh to Moscow, and very considerably more than four thousand
from Petersburgh to Pekin. This is enough to justify Dr. Franklin's
positions in the page above, without going into farther particulars.
B. V.
[43] Remarks, p. 47, 48, &c.
[44] The writer has [since] obtained accounts of the exports to
North America, and the West India Islands; by which it appears, that
there has been some increase of trade to those islands as well as to
North America, though in a much less degree. The following extract
from these accounts will show the reader at one view the amount of
the exports to each, in two different terms of five years; the terms
taken at ten years distance from each other, to show the increase,
viz.
_First term, from 1744 to 1748, inclusive._
_Northern Colonies._ _West India Islands._
1744 £.640,114 12 4 £.796,112 17 9
1745 534,316 2 5 503,669 19 9
1746 754,945 4 3 472,994 19 7
1747 726,648 5 5 856,463 18 6
1748 830,243 16 9 734,095 15 3
--------------- ---------------
Total, £.3,486,261 1 2 Tot. £.3,363,337 10 10
Difference, 122,930 10 4
-------------
£.3,486,268 1 2
_Second term, from 1754 to 1758, inclusive._
_Northern Colonies._ _West India Islands._
1754 1,246,615 1 11 685,675 3 0
1755 1,177,848 6 10 694,667 13 3
1756 1,428,720 18 10 733,458 16 3
1757 1,727,924 2 10 776,488 0 6
1758 1,832,948 13 10 877,571 19 11
--------------- ---------------
Total, £.7,414,057 4 3 Tot. £.3,767,841 12 11
Difference, 3,646,215 11 4
---------------
£.7,414,057 4 3
In the first term, total of West India islands, 3,363,337 10 10
In the second term, ditto 3,767,841 12 11
---------------
Increase, only £.0,404,504 2 1
In the first term, total for Northern Colonies, 3,486,268 1 2
In the second term, ditto 7,414,057 4 3
---------------
Increase, £.3,927,789 3 1
By these accounts it appears, that the exports to the West India
islands, and to the northern colonies, were in the first term
nearly equal (the difference being only 122,936_l._ 10s. 4d.) and in
the second term, the exports to those islands had only increased
404,504_l._ 2s. 1d.--Whereas the increase to the northern colonies is
3,927,789_l._ 3s. 1d. almost _four millions_.
Some part of this increased demand for English goods may be ascribed
to the armies and fleets we have had both in North America and the
West Indies; not so much for what is consumed by the soldiery; their
clothing, stores, ammunition, &c. sent from hence on account of the
government, being (as is supposed) not included in these accounts of
merchandize exported; but, as the war has occasioned a great plenty
of money in America, many of the inhabitants have increased their
expence.
N. B. These accounts do not include any exports from Scotland to
America, which are doubtless proportionally considerable; nor the
exports from Ireland.
[I shall carry on this calculation where Dr. Franklin left it. For
four years, from 1770 to 1773 inclusively, the same average _annual_
exports to the same ports of the West Indies is 994,463_l._, and to
the same ports of the North American plantations 2,919,669_l._ But the
annual averages of the first and second terms of the former were
672,668_l._ and 753,568_l._: of the latter, 697,254_l._ and 1,482,811_l._
In ten years therefore (taking the middle years of the terms) the
North American trade is found to have _doubled_ the West Indian: in
the next sixteen years it becomes greater by _three-fold_.--With
respect to itself, the North American trade in 32 years (taking the
extremes of the terms) has quadrupled; while the West Indian trade
increased only one half; of which increase I apprehend Jamaica has
given more than one-third, chiefly in consequence of the quiet
produced by the peace with the maroon negroes.--Had the West Indian
trade continued stationary, the North American trade would have
quadrupled with respect to it, in 26 years; and this, notwithstanding
the checks given to the latter, by their non-importation agreements
and the encouragement of their own manufactures.
There has been an accession to both these trades, produced by the
cessions at the treaty of Paris, not touched upon by Dr. Franklin.
The average _annual_ export-trade, from 1770 to 1773 inclusively, to
the ceded West India islands, amounted to 258,299_l._: to the ceded
North American territory it has been 280,423_l._ See Sir Charles
Whitworth's State of Trade. B. V.]
[45] _Copy of the Report of Governor Hopkins to the Board of Trade,
on the Numbers of People in Rhode-Island._
In obedience to your lordships' commands, I have caused the within
account to be taken by officers under oath. By it there appears to be
in this colony at this time 35,939 white persons, and 4697 blacks,
chiefly negroes.
In the year 1730, by order of the then lords commissioners of trade
and plantations, an account was taken of the number of people in this
colony, and then there appeared to be 15,302 white persons, and 2633
blacks.
Again in the year 1748, by like order, an account was taken of the
number of people in this colony, by which it appears there were at
that time 29,755 white persons, and 4373 blacks.
_Colony of Rhode Island, Dec. 24, 1755._
STEPHEN HOPKINS.
[46] _An Account of the Value of the Exports from England to
Pensylvania, in one Year, taken at different Periods, viz._
In 1723 they amounted only to £. 15,992 19 4
1730 they were 48,592 7 5
1737 56,690 6 7
1742 75,295 3 4
1747 82,404 17 7
1752 201,666 19 11
1757 268,426 6 6
N. B. The accounts for 1758 and 1759, are not yet completed; but
those acquainted with the North American trade know, that the
increase in those two years has been in a still greater proportion;
the last year being supposed to exceed any former year by a third;
and this owing to the increased ability of the people to spend, from
the greater quantities of money circulating among them by the war.
[47] The _aid_ Dr. Franklin alludes to must probably have consisted
in early and full supplies of arms, officers, intelligence, and trade
of export and of import, through the river St. Lawrence, on risques
both public and private; in the encouragement of splendid promises
and a great ally; in the passage from Canada to the back settlements,
being _shut_ to the British _forces_; in the quiet of the _great
body_ of Indians; in the support of emissaries and discontented
citizens; in loans and subsidies to congress, in ways _profitable to
France_; in a refuge to be granted them in case of defeat, in vacant
lands, as settlers; in the probability of war commencing earlier
between England and France, at the gulph of St. Lawrence (when the
shipping taken, were _rightfully_ addressed to Frenchmen) than in
the present case. All this might have happened, as soon as America's
distaste of the sovereign had exceeded the fear of the foreigner;
a circumstance frequently seen possible in history, and which our
ministers took care should not be wanting.
This explanation would have required apology for its insertion, were
not the opinion pretty common in England, that _had not the French
been removed from Canada, the revolt of America never would have
taken place_. Why then were the French _not left_ in Canada, at the
peace of 1763? Or, since they _were not_ left there, why was the
American dispute begun? Yet in one sense, perhaps this opinion is
true; for _had_ the French been left in Canada, ministers would not
only have _sooner_ felt, but _sooner_ have seen, the strange fatality
of their plans. B. V.
[48] Remarks, p. 50, 51.
[49] And Pharoah said unto his people, behold the people of the
children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come on, let us
deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that
when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. And the king
spake to the Hebrew midwives, &c. Exodus, chap. 1.
[50] In fact, there have not gone from Britain [itself] to our
colonies these twenty years past to settle there, so many as ten
families a year; the new settlers are either the offspring of the
old, or emigrants from Germany, or the north of Ireland.
[51] Remarks, p. 30, 34.
[52] It is often said we have plenty of sugar-land still unemployed
in Jamaica: but those who are well acquainted with that island know,
that the remaining vacant land in it is generally situated among
mountains, rocks, and gullies, that make carriage impracticable, so
that no profitable use can be made of it; unless the price of sugars
should so greatly increase, as to enable the planter to make very
expensive roads, by blowing up rocks, erecting bridges, &c. every two
or three hundred yards. [Our author was somewhat misinformed here. B.
V.]
[53] Remarks, p. 47.
[54] Dr. Franklin has often been heard to say, that in writing this
pamphlet he received considerable assistance from a learned friend,
who was not willing to be named. B. V.
_Remarks and Facts relative to the American Paper-money._[55]
In the Report of the Board of Trade, dated Feb. 9, 1764, the
following reasons are given for _restraining the emission_ of
paper-bills of credit in America, as _a legal tender_.
1. "That it _carries the gold and silver out_ of the province, and so
ruins the country; as _experience has shewn_, in every colony where
it has been practised in any great degree.
2. "That the _merchants_ trading to America _have suffered_ and lost
by it.
3. "That the restriction [of it] _has had a beneficial effect_ in New
England.
4. "That every _medium of trade should have an intrinsic value_,
which paper-money has not. Gold and silver are therefore the fittest
for this medium, as they are an equivalent; which paper never can be.
5. "That _debtors_ in the assemblies make paper-money with
_fraudulent views_.
6. "That in the middle colonies, where the credit of the paper-money
has been best supported, the bills have _never kept to their nominal
value_ in circulation; but have constantly depreciated to a certain
degree, whenever the quantity has been increased."
To consider these reasons in their order; the first is,
1. "_That paper-money_ carries the gold and silver out _of the
province, and so ruins the country; as_ experience has shewn, _in
every colony where it has been practised in any great degree_."--This
opinion, of its ruining the country, seems to be merely speculative,
or not otherwise founded than upon misinformation in the matter of
fact. The truth is, that the balance of their trade with Britain
being greatly against them, the gold and silver are drawn out to
pay that balance; and then the necessity of some medium of trade
has induced the making of paper-money, which could _not_ be carried
away. Thus, if carrying out all the gold and silver ruins a country,
every colony was ruined before it made paper-money.--But, far from
being ruined by it, the colonies that have made use of paper-money
have been, and are all, in a thriving condition. The debt indeed to
Britain has increased, because their numbers, and of course their
trade, have increased; for all trade having always a proportion
of debt outstanding, which is paid in its turn, while fresh debt
is contracted, the proportion of debt naturally increases as the
trade increases; but the improvement and increase of estates in
the colonies have been in a greater proportion than their debt.
New England, particularly in 1696 (about the time they began the
use of paper-money) had in all its four provinces but 180 churches
or congregations; in 1760 they were 530. The number of farms and
buildings there is increased in proportion to the numbers of people;
and the goods exported to them from England in 1750, before the
restraint took place, were near five times as much as before they
had paper-money. Pensylvania, before it made any paper-money, was
totally stript of its gold and silver; though they had from time to
time, like the neighbouring colonies, agreed to take gold and silver
coins at higher nominal values, in hopes of drawing money into, and
retaining it, for the internal uses of the province. During that
weak practice, silver got up by degrees to 8s. 9d. per ounce, and
English crowns were called six, seven, and eight-shilling pieces,
long before paper-money was made. But this practice of increasing
the denomination was found not to answer the end. The balance of
trade carried out the gold and silver as fast as they were brought
in; the merchants raising the price of their goods in proportion
to the increased denomination of the money. The difficulties for
want of cash were accordingly very great, the chief part of the
trade being carried on by the extremely inconvenient method of
barter; when in 1723 paper-money was first made there; which gave
new life to business, promoted greatly the settlement of new lands
(by lending small sums to beginners on easy interest, to be repaid
by instalments) whereby the province has so greatly increased in
inhabitants, that the export from hence thither is now more than
tenfold what it then was; and by their trade with foreign colonies,
they have been able to obtain great quantities of gold and silver to
remit hither in return for the manufactures of this country. New York
and New Jersey have also increased greatly during the same period,
with the use of paper-money; so that it does not appear to be of
the ruinous nature ascribed to it. And if the inhabitants of those
countries are glad to have the use of paper among themselves, that
they may thereby be enabled to spare, for remittances hither, the
gold and silver they obtain by their commerce with foreigners; one
would expect, that no objection against their parting with it could
arise here, in the country that receives it.
The 2d reason is, "_That the_ merchants _trading to America have_
suffered _and lost by the paper-money_."--This may have been the case
in particular instances, at particular times and places: as in South
Carolina, about 58 years since; when the colony was thought in danger
of being destroyed by the Indians and Spaniards; and the British
merchants, in fear of losing their whole effects there, called
precipitately for remittances; and the inhabitants, to get something
lodged in safe countries, gave any price in paper-money for bills of
exchange; whereby the paper, as compared with bills, or with produce,
or other effects fit for exportation, was suddenly and greatly
depreciated. The unsettled state of government for a long time in
that province had also its share in depreciating its bills. But
since that danger blew over, and the colony has been in the hands of
the crown; their currency became fixed, and has so remained to this
day. Also in New England, when much greater quantities were issued
than were necessary for a medium of trade, to defray the expedition
against Louisbourg; and, during the last war in Virginia and North
Carolina, when great sums were issued to pay the colony troops, and
the war made tobacco a poorer remittance, from the higher price of
freight and insurance: in these cases, the merchants trading to those
colonies may sometimes have suffered by the sudden and unforeseen
rise of exchange. By slow and gradual rises, they seldom suffer;
the goods being sold at proportionable prices. But war is a common
calamity in all countries, and the merchants that deal with them
cannot expect to avoid a share of the losses it sometimes occasions,
by affecting public credit. It is hoped, however, that the profits of
their subsequent commerce with those colonies may have made them some
reparation. And the merchants trading to the middle colonies (New
York, New Jersey, and Pensylvania) have never suffered by any rise
of exchange; it having ever been a constant rule there, to consider
British debts as payable in Britain, and not to be discharged but
by as much paper (whatever might be the rate of exchange) as would
purchase a bill for the full sterling sum. On the contrary, the
merchants have been great gainers by the use of paper-money in
those colonies; as it enabled them to send much greater quantities
of goods, and the purchasers to pay more punctually for them. And
the people there make no complaint of any injury done them by
paper-money, with a legal tender; they are sensible of its benefits;
and petition to have it so allowed.
The 3d reason is, "_That the_ restriction _has had a_ beneficial
effect _in New England_." Particular circumstances in the New England
colonies made paper-money less necessary and less convenient to them.
They have great and valuable fisheries of whale and cod, by which
large remittances can be made. They are four distinct governments;
but having much mutual intercourse of dealings, the money of each
used to pass current in all: but the whole of this common currency
not being under one common direction, was not so easily kept within
due bounds; the prudent reserve of one colony in its emissions being
rendered useless by excess in another. The Massachusets, therefore,
were not dissatisfied with the restraint, as it restrained their
neighbours as well as themselves; and perhaps _they_ do not desire to
have the act repealed. They have not yet felt much inconvenience from
it; as they were enabled to abolish their paper-currency, by a large
sum in silver from Britain to reimburse their expences in taking
Louisbourg, which, with the gold brought from Portugal, by means of
their fish, kept them supplied with a currency; till the late war
furnished them and all America with bills of exchange; so that little
cash was needed for remittance. Their fisheries too furnish them
with remittance through Spain and Portugal to England; which enables
them the more easily to retain gold and silver in their country. The
middle colonies have not this advantage; nor have they tobacco; which
in Virginia and Maryland answers the same purpose. When colonies
are so different in their circumstances, a regulation, that is not
inconvenient to one or a few, may be very much so to the rest. But
the pay is now become so indifferent in New England, at least in
some of its provinces, through the want of currency, that the trade
thither is at present under great discouragement.
The 4th reason is, "_That every_ medium of trade _should have an_
intrinsic value; _which paper-money has not_. _Gold and silver are
therefore the fittest for this medium, as they are an equivalent;
which paper never can be."_ However fit a particular thing may be
for a particular purpose; wherever that thing is not to be had,
or not to be had in sufficient quantity; it becomes necessary to
use something else, the fittest that can be got, in lieu of it.
Gold and silver are not the produce of North America, which has no
mines; and that which is brought thither cannot be kept there in
sufficient quantity for a currency. Britain, an independent great
state, when its inhabitants grow too fond of the expensive luxuries
of foreign countries, that draw away its money, can, and frequently
does, make laws to discourage or prohibit such importations; and
by that means can retain its cash. The _colonies_ are dependent
governments; and their people having naturally great respect for
the sovereign country, and being thence immoderately fond of its
modes, manufactures, and superfluities, cannot be restrained from
purchasing them by any province law; because such law, if made,
would immediately be repealed here, as prejudicial to the trade and
interest of Britain. It seems hard therefore, to draw all, their
real money from them, and then refuse them the poor privilege of
using paper instead of it. Bank bills and bankers notes are daily
used _here_ as a medium of trade, and in large dealings perhaps the
greater part is transacted by their means; and yet _they_ have no
intrinsic value, but rest on the credit of those that issue them;
as paper-bills in the colonies do on the credit of the respective
governments there. Their being payable in cash upon sight by the
drawer is indeed a circumstance that cannot attend the colony bills;
for the reasons just above-mentioned; their cash being drawn from
them by the British trade; but the legal tender being substituted in
its place is rather a greater advantage to the possessor; since he
need not be at the trouble of going to a _particular bank_ or banker
to demand the money, finding (wherever he has occasion to lay out
money in the province) a person that is obliged to take the bills.
So that even out of the province, the knowledge, that every man
within that province is obliged to take its money, gives the bills a
credit among its neighbours, nearly equal to what they have at home.
And were it not for the laws _here_, that restrain or prohibit as
much as possible all losing trades, the cash of _this_ country would
soon be exported: every merchant, who had occasion to remit it,
would run to the bank with all its bills, that came into his hands,
and take out his part of its treasure for that purpose; so that in
a short time, it would be no more able to pay bills in money upon
sight, than it is now in the power of a colony treasury so to do. And
if government afterwards should have occasion for the credit of the
bank, it must of necessity make its bills a legal tender; funding
them however on taxes by which they may in time be paid off; as
has been the general practice in the colonies.--At this very time,
even the silver-money in England is obliged to the legal tender for
part of its value; that part which is the difference between its
real weight and its denomination. Great part of the shillings and
sixpences now current are, by wearing, become five, ten, twenty,
and some of the sixpences even fifty per cent. too light. For
this difference between the _real_ and the _nominal_, you have no
_intrinsic_ value; you have not so much as paper, you have nothing.
It is the legal tender, with the knowledge that it can easily be
repassed for the same value, that makes three-pennyworth of silver
pass for sixpence. Gold and silver have undoubtedly _some_ properties
that give them a fitness above paper, as a medium of exchange;
particularly their _universal estimation_; especially in cases where
a country has occasion to carry its money abroad, either as a stock
to trade with, or to purchase _allies_ and _foreign succours_.
Otherwise, that very universal estimation is an inconvenience, which
paper-money is free from; since it tends to deprive a country of
even the quantity of currency that should be retained as a necessary
instrument of its internal commerce, and obliges it to be continually
on its guard in making and executing, at a great expence, the
laws that are to prevent the trade which exports it. Paper-money
well funded has another great advantage over gold and silver; its
lightness of carriage, and the little room that is occupied by a
great sum; whereby it is capable of being more easily, and more
safely, because more privately, conveyed from place to place. Gold
and silver are not _intrinsically_ of equal value with iron, a metal
in itself capable of many more beneficial uses to mankind. Their
value rests chiefly in the estimation they happen to be in among the
generality of nations, and the credit given to the opinion, that that
estimation will continue. Otherwise a pound of gold would not be a
real equivalent for even a bushel of wheat. Any other well-founded
credit, is as much an equivalent as gold and silver; and in some
cases more so, or it would not be preferred by commercial people
in different countries. Not to mention again our own bank bills;
Holland, which understands the value of cash as well as any people in
the world, would never part with gold and silver for credit (as they
do when they put it into their bank, from whence little of it is ever
afterwards drawn out) if they did not think and find the credit a
full equivalent.
The 5th reason is, "_That_ debtors _in the assemblies make
paper-money_ with fraudulent views." This is often said by the
adversaries of paper-money, and if it has been the case in any
particular colony, that colony should, on proof of the fact, be duly
punished. This, however, would be no reason for punishing other
colonies, who have _not_ so abused their legislative powers. To
deprive all the colonies of the convenience of paper-money, because
it has been charged on some of them, that they have made it an
instrument of fraud, is as if all the India, Bank, and other stocks
and trading companies were to be abolished, because there have been,
once in an age, Mississippi and South-Sea schemes and bubbles.
The 6th and last reason is, "_That in the middle colonies, where the
paper-money has been best supported, the bills have_ never kept to
their nominal value _in circulation; but have constantly depreciated
to a certain degree, whenever the quantity has been increased_."
If the rising of the value of any particular commodity wanted for
exportation, is to be considered as a depreciation of the values of
_whatever remains_ in the country; then the rising of silver above
paper to that height of additional value, which its capability of
exportation only gave it, may be called a depreciation of the paper.
Even here, as bullion has been wanted or not wanted for exportation,
its price has varied from 5_s._ 2_d._ to 5_s._ 8_d._ per ounce. This
is near 10 per cent. But was it ever said or thought on such an
occasion, that all the bank bills, and all the coined silver, and
all the gold in the kingdom, were depreciated 10 per cent? Coined
silver is now wanted here for change, and 1 per cent is given for
it by some bankers: are gold and bank notes therefore depreciated 1
per cent.? The fact in the middle colonies is really this: on the
emission of the first paper-money, a difference soon arose between
that and silver; the latter having a property the former had not,
a property always in demand in the colonies; to wit, its being fit
for a remittance. This property having soon found its value, by
the merchants bidding on one another for it, and a dollar thereby
coming to be rated at 8_s._ in paper-money of New York, and 7_s._
6_d._ in paper of Pensylvania, it has continued uniformly at those
rates in both provinces now near forty years, without any variation
upon new emissions; though, in Pensylvania, the paper-currency has
at times increased from 15,000_l._ the first sum, to 600,000_l._ or
near it. Nor has any alteration been occasioned by the paper-money,
in the price of the necessaries of life, when compared with silver:
they have been for the greatest part of the time no higher than
before it was emitted; varying only by plenty and scarcity, or by a
less or greater foreign demand. It has indeed been usual with the
adversaries of a paper-currency, to call every rise of exchange with
London, a depreciation of the paper: but this notion appears to be by
no means just: for if the paper purchases every thing but bills of
exchange, at the former rate, and these bills are not above one-tenth
of what is employed in purchases; then it may be more properly and
truly said, that the exchange has risen, than that the paper has
depreciated. And as a proof of this, it is a certain fact, that
whenever in those colonies bills of exchange have been dearer, the
purchaser has been constantly obliged to give more in silver, as well
as in paper, for them; the silver having gone hand in hand with the
paper at the rate above-mentioned; and therefore it might as well
have been said, that the silver was depreciated.
There have been several different schemes for furnishing the
colonies with paper-money, that should _not_ be a legal tender, viz.
1. _To form a bank, in imitation of the bank of England, with a
sufficient stock of cash_ to pay the bills on sight.
This has been often proposed, but appears impracticable, under the
present circumstances of the colony-trade; which, as is said above,
draws all the cash to Britain, and would soon strip the bank.
2. _To raise a fund by some yearly tax, securely lodged in the bank
of England as it arises, which should_ (during the term of years
_for which the paper-bills are to be current_) _accumulate to a sum
sufficient to discharge them all at their_ original value.
This has been tried in Maryland: and the bills so funded were
issued without being made a general legal tender. The event was,
that as notes payable in time are naturally subject to a discount
proportioned to the time: so these bills fell at the beginning of
the term so low, as that twenty pounds of them became worth no more
than twelve pounds in Pensylvania, the next neighbouring province;
though both had been struck near the same time at the same nominal
value, but the latter was supported by the general legal tender.
The Maryland bills however began to rise as the term shortened, and
towards the end recovered their full value. But, as a depreciating
currency injures creditors, _this_ injured debtors; and by its
continually changing value, appears unfit for the purpose of money,
which should be as fixed as possible in its own value; because it is
to be the measure of the value of other things.
3. _To make the bills_ carry an interest _sufficient to support their
value_.
This too has been tried in some of the New England colonies; but
great inconveniencies were found to attend it. The bills, to fit them
for a currency, are made of various denominations, and some very
low, for the sake of change; there are of them from 10_l._ down to
3_d._ When they first come abroad, they pass easily, and answer the
purpose well enough for a few months; but as soon as the interest
becomes worth computing, the calculation of it on every little bill
in a sum between the dealer and his customers, in shops, warehouses
and markets, takes up much time, to the great hindrance of business.
This evil, however, soon gave place to a worse; for the bills were
in a short time gathered up and hoarded; it being a very tempting
advantage to have money bearing interest, and the principal all the
while in a man's power, ready for bargains that may offer; which
money out on mortgage is not. By this means numbers of people became
usurers with small sums, who could not have found persons to take
such sums of them upon interest, giving good security; and would
therefore not have thought of it; but would rather have employed the
money in some business, if it had been money of the common kind.
Thus trade, instead of being increased by such bills, is diminished;
and by their being shut up in chests, the very end of making them
(viz. to furnish a medium of commerce) is in a great measure, if not
totally defeated.
On the whole, no method has hitherto been formed to establish a
medium of trade, in lieu of money, equal in all its advantages, to
bills of credit--funded on sufficient taxes for discharging it, or
on land-security of double the value for repaying it at the end of
the term; and in the mean time, made a GENERAL LEGAL TENDER. The
experience of now near half a century in the middle colonies has
convinced them of it among themselves; by the great increase of their
settlements, numbers, buildings, improvements, agriculture, shipping,
and commerce. And the same experience has satisfied the British
merchants, who trade thither, that it has been greatly useful to
them, and not in a single instance prejudicial.
It is therefore hoped, that securing the full discharge of British
debts, which are payable here, and in all justice and reason ought
to be fully discharged here in sterling money; the restraint on the
legal tender within the colonies will be taken off; at least for
those colonies that desire it, and where the merchants trading to
them make no objection to it[56].
FOOTNOTES:
[55] The best account I can give of the occasion of the Report, to
which this paper is a reply, is as follows. During the war there had
been a considerable and unusual trade to America, in consequence
of the great fleets and armies on foot there, and the clandestine
dealings with the enemy, who were cut off from their own supplies.
This made great debts. The briskness of the trade ceasing with the
war, the merchants were anxious for payment, which occasioned some
confusion in the colonies, and stirred up a clamour here against
paper-money. The board of trade, of which lord Hilsborough was the
chief, joined in this opposition to paper-money, as appears by the
report. Dr. Franklin being asked to draw up an answer to their
report, wrote the paper given above. B. V.
[56] I understand that Dr. Franklin is the friend who assisted
governor Pownall in drawing up a plan for a general paper-currency
for America, to be established by the British government. See
Governor Pownall's Administration of the Colonies, 5th Edition, p.
199, and 208. B. V.
_To the Freemen of Pensylvania, on the Subject of a particular
Militia-Bill, rejected by the Proprietor's Deputy or Governor._
_Philadelphia, Sept. 28, 1764._
GENTLEMEN,
Your desire of knowing how the militia-bill came to fail in the last
assembly shall immediately be complied with.
As the governor pressed hard for a militia-law to secure the internal
peace of the province, and the people of this country had not been
accustomed to militia service; the house, to make it more generally
agreeable to the freeholders, formed the bill so as that they might
have some share in the election of the officers; to secure them
from having absolute strangers set over them, or persons generally
disagreeable.
This was no more, than that every company should choose, and
recommend to the governor, three persons for each office of captain,
lieutenant, and ensign; _out of which three_, the governor was to
commission _one_, that he thought most proper, or which he pleased,
to be the officer. And that the captains, lieutenants, and ensigns,
so commissioned by the governor, should, in their respective
regiments, choose and recommend three persons for each office of
colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major; out of which three the
governor was to commission _one_, whichever he pleased, to each of
the said offices.
The governor's amendment to the bill in this particular was, to
strike out wholly this privilege of the people, and take to himself
the _sole_ appointment of all the officers.
The next amendment was to aggravate and _enhance all the fines_. A
fine, that the assembly had made one hundred pounds, and thought
heavy enough, the governor required to be three hundred pounds. What
they had made fifty pounds, he required to be one hundred and fifty.
These were fines on the commissioned officers for disobedience to
his commands; but the non-commissioned officers, or common soldiers,
whom, for the same offence, the assembly proposed to fine at ten
pounds, the governor insisted should be fined fifty pounds.
These fines, and some others to be mentioned hereafter, the assembly
thought ruinously high: but when, in a subsequent amendment, the
governor would, for offences among the militia, take away the _trial
by jury_ in the common courts; and required, that the trial should be
by a court-martial, composed of officers of his own sole appointing,
who should have power of sentencing even to death; the house could by
no means consent thus to give up their constituents' liberty, estate,
and life itself, into the absolute power of a proprietary governor;
and so the bill failed.
That you may be assured I do not misrepresent this matter, I shall
give you the last-mentioned amendment (so called) at full length; and
for the truth and exactness of my copy I dare appeal to Mr. Secretary
Shippen.
The words of the bill, p. 43, were, "Every such person, so offending,
being legally convicted thereof, &c." By the words _legally
convicted_, was intended a conviction after legal trial, in the
common course of the laws of the land. But the governor required this
addition immediately to follow the words ["convicted thereof"] viz.
'by a court-martial, shall suffer DEATH, or such other punishment
as such court, by their sentence or decree, shall think proper to
inflict and pronounce. And be it farther enacted by the authority
aforesaid, That when and so often as it may be necessary, the
governor and commander in chief for the time being shall appoint
and commissionate, under the great seal of this province, sixteen
commissioned officers in each regiment; with authority and power to
them, or any thirteen of them, to hold courts-martial, of whom a
field-officer shall always be one, and president of the said court;
and such courts-martial shall, and are hereby impowered to administer
an oath to any witness, in order to the examination or trial of any
of the offences which by this act are made cognizable in such courts,
and shall come before them. Provided always, that in all trials by
a court-martial by virtue of this act, every officer present at
such trial, before any proceedings be had therein, shall take an
_oath_ upon the holy evangelists, before one justice of the peace
in the county where such court is held, who are hereby authorized
to administer the same, in the following words, that is to say, "I
A. B. do swear, that I will duly administer justice according to
evidence, and to the directions of an act, entitled, An act for
forming and regulating the militia of the province of Pensylvania,
without partiality, favour, or affection; and that I will not divulge
the sentence of the court, until it shall be approved of by the
governor or commander in chief of this province for the time being;
neither will I, upon any account, at any time whatsoever, disclose
or _discover the vote or opinion_ of any particular member of the
court-martial. So help me God."--And no sentence of death, or other
sentence shall be given against any offender but by the concurrence
of nine of the officers so sworn. And no sentence, passed against
any offender by such court-martial, shall be put in execution, until
report be made of the whole proceedings to the governor or commander
in chief of this province for the time being, and his directions
signified thereupon.'
It is observable here, that by the common course of justice, a man is
to be tried by a jury of his neighbours and fellows; impannelled by a
sheriff, in whose appointment the people have a choice: the prisoner
too has a right to challenge twenty of the pannel, without giving a
reason, and as many more as he can give reasons for challenging; and
before he can be convicted, the jury are to be unanimous; they are
all to agree that he is guilty, and are therefore all accountable
for their verdict. But by this amendment, the jury (if they may be
so called) are all officers of the governor's sole appointing, and
not one of them can be challenged; and though a common militia-man
is to be tried, no common militia-man shall be of that Jury; and so
far from requiring all to agree, a bare majority shall be sufficient
to condemn you. And lest that majority should be under any check or
restraint, from an apprehension of what the world might think or say
of the severity or injustice of their sentence, an oath is to be
taken, never to discover the vote or opinion of any particular member!
These are some of the chains attempted to be forged for you by the
proprietary faction! Who advised the g----r is not difficult to
know. They are the very men, who now clamour at the assembly for a
proposal of bringing the trial of a particular murder to this county,
from another, where it was not thought safe for any man to be either
juryman or witness; and call it disfranchising the people! who are
now bawling about the constitution, and pretending vast concern for
your liberties! In refusing you the least means of recommending or
expressing your regard for persons to be placed over you as officers,
and who were thus to be made your judges in life and estate; they
have not regarded the example of the king, our wise, as well as
kind master, who, in all his requisitions made to the colonies,
of raising troops for their defence, directed, that "the better to
facilitate the important service, the commissions should be given
to such as from their weight and credit with the people may be best
enabled to effectuate the levies[57]." In establishing a militia
for the defence of the province, how could the "weight and credit"
of men with the people be better discovered, than by the mode that
bill directed; viz. by a majority of those that were to be commanded
nominating three for each office to the governor, of which three he
might take the one he liked best?
However, the courts-martial being established, and all of us thus put
into his honour's absolute power, the governor goes on to enhance
the fines and penalties; thus, in page 49 of the bill, where the
assembly had proposed the fine to be ten shillings, the governor
required it to be ten pounds: in page 50, where a fine of five pounds
was mentioned, the governor's amendment required it to be made fifty
pounds. And in page 44, where the assembly had said, "shall forfeit
and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds," the governor's amendment
says, "shall suffer DEATH, or such other punishment, as shall,
according to the nature of the offence, be inflicted by the sentence
of a court-martial!"
The assembly's refusing to admit of these amendments in that bill
is one of their offences against the Lord Proprietary; for which
that faction are now abusing them in both the languages[58] of the
province, with all the virulence that reverend malice can dictate;
enforced by numberless barefaced falshoods, that only the most
dishonest and base would dare to invent, and none but the most weak
and credulous can possibly believe.
VERITAS.
FOOTNOTES:
[57] See Secretary of State's Letters in the printed Votes.
[58] It is hardly necessary to mention here, that Pensylvania was
settled by a mixture of German and English. B. V.
_Preface by a Member of the Pensylvanian Assembly (Dr. Franklin)
to the Speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq. one of the Members for
Philadelphia County; in Answer to the Speech of John Dickinson,
Esq.; delivered in the House of the Assembly of the Province of
Pensylvania, May 24, 1764, on Occasion of a Petition drawn up by
Order, and then under the Consideration of the House, praying his
Majesty for a Royal, in lieu of a Proprietary, Government_[59].
It is not merely because Mr. Dickinson's speech was ushered into
the world by a preface, that one is made to this of Mr. Galloway.
But as, in that preface, a number of aspersions were thrown on
our assemblies, and their proceedings grossly misrepresented, it
was thought necessary to wipe those aspersions off by some proper
animadversions, and by a true state of facts, to rectify those
misrepresentations.
The preface begins with saying, "That governor Denny (whose
administration will never be mentioned but with disgrace in the
annals of this province) was induced, by considerations to which the
world is now no stranger, to pass sundry acts," &c. thus insinuating,
that by some unusual base bargain, secretly made, but afterwards
discovered, he was induced to pass them.
It is fit therefore, without undertaking to justify all that
governor's administration, to show _what_ those considerations
were. Ever since the revenue of the quit-rents first, and after
that, the revenue of tavern-licences, were settled irrevocably on
our proprietors and governors, they have looked on those incomes as
their proper estate, for which they were under no obligations to the
people: and when they afterwards concurred in passing any useful
laws, they considered them as so many jobs, for which they ought to
be particularly paid. Hence arose the custom of _presents_ twice a
year to the governors, at the close of each session in which laws
were passed, given at the time of passing: they usually amounted to
a thousand pounds per annum. But when the governors and assemblies
disagreed, so that laws were not passed, the presents were withheld.
When a disposition to agree ensued, there sometimes still remained
some _diffidence_. The governors would not pass the laws that were
wanted, without being sure of the money, even all that they called
their arrears; nor the assemblies give the money, without being
sure of the laws. Thence the necessity of some private conference,
in which mutual assurances of good faith might be received and
given, that the transactions should go hand in hand. What name
the impartial reader will give to this kind of commerce, I cannot
say: to me it appears an extortion of more money from the people,
for that to which they had before an undoubted right, both by the
constitution and by purchase; but there was no other shop they could
go to for the commodity they wanted, and they were obliged to comply.
Time established the custom, and made it seem honest; so that our
governors, even those of the most undoubted honour, have practised
it. Governor Thomas, after a long misunderstanding with the assembly,
went more openly to work with them in managing this commerce, and
they with him. The fact is curious, as it stands recorded in the
votes of 1742-3. Sundry bills, sent up to the governor for his
assent, had lain long in his hands, without any answer. Jan. 4, the
house "ordered, that Thomas Leech and Edward Warner wait upon the
governor, and acquaint him, that the house had long waited for his
result on the bills that lie before him, and desire to know, when
they may expect it:" the gentlemen return, and report, "that they
waited upon the governor, and delivered the message of the house
according to order; and that the governor was pleased to say, he had
had the bills long under consideration, and _waited the result_ of
the _house_." The house well understood this hint; and immediately
resolved into a committee of the whole house, to take what was
called _the governor's support_ into consideration; in which they
made (the minutes say) _some progress_; and the next morning it
appears, that that _progress_, whatever it was, had been communicated
to him; for he sent them down this message by his secretary: "Mr.
Speaker, the governor commands me to acquaint you, that as he has
received assurances of a _good disposition_ in the house, he thinks
it incumbent on him to show _the like_ on his part; and therefore
sends down the bills which lay before him, without any amendment." As
this message only showed a good disposition, but contained no promise
to pass the bills, the house seem to have had their doubts; and
therefore, February 2, when they came to resolve, on the report of
the grand committee, to give the money, they guarded their resolves
very cautiously, viz. "Resolved, that _on the passage_ of such bills
as now lie before the governor, (the naturalization bill, and such
other bills as may be presented to him during this sitting) there
be PAID him the sum of _five hundred pounds_. Resolved also, that
on the passage of such bills as now lie before the governor (the
naturalization bill, and such other bills as may be presented to him
this sitting) there be PAID to the governor the _further_ sum of _one
thousand pounds_, for the current year's support; and that orders be
drawn on the treasurer and trustees of the loan-office, pursuant to
these resolves." The orders were accordingly drawn; with which being
acquainted, he appointed a time to pass the bills; which was done
with one hand, while he received the orders in the other: and then
with the utmost politeness [he] thanked the house for the fifteen
hundred pounds, as if it had been a pure free gift, and a mere mark
of their respect and affection. "I _thank you_, gentlemen (says he)
for this instance of _your regard_; which I am the more pleased with,
as it gives an agreeable prospect of _future harmony_ between me
and the representatives of the people." This, reader, is an exact
_counterpart_ of the transaction with governor Denny; except that
Denny sent word to the house, that he would pass the bills _before_
they voted the support. And yet _here_ was no proprietary clamour
about bribery, &c. And why so? Why at that time the proprietary
family, by virtue of a _secret bond_ they had obtained of the
governor at his appointment, were to _share with_ him the sums so
obtained of the people!
This reservation of the proprietaries they were at that time a little
ashamed of; and therefore such bonds were then to be secrets. But
as, in every kind of sinning, frequent repetition lessens shame, and
increases boldness, we find the proprietaries ten years afterwards
openly insisting on these advantages to themselves, _over and above_
what was paid to their deputy: "Wherefore (say they) on this occasion
it is necessary that we should inform the people, through yourselves
their representatives, that as by the constitution _our consent
is necessary_ to their _laws_, at the same time that they have an
_undoubted right_ to such as are necessary for the defence and real
service of the country; so it will tend the better to facilitate
the several matters which must be transacted with us, for their
representatives to show a regard _to us_ and our _interest_." This
was in their answer to the representation of the assembly [Votes,
December, 1754, p. 48.] on the justice of their contributing to
Indian expences, which they had refused. And on this clause the
committee make the following remark: "They tell us their consent
is necessary to our laws, and that it will tend the better to
facilitate the matters which must be transacted with them, for the
representatives to show a regard to their _interest_: that is (as we
understand it) though the proprietaries have a deputy here, supported
by the province, who is, or ought to be, fully impowered to pass all
laws necessary for the service of the country; yet, before we can
obtain such laws, we must facilitate their passage by paying money
for the proprietaries, which they ought to pay; or in some shape make
it their particular _interest_ to pass them. We hope, however, that
if this practice has ever been begun, it will never be continued in
this province; and that since, as this very paragraph allows, we have
an undoubted right to such laws, we shall always be able to obtain
them from the goodness of our sovereign, without going to market
for them to a subject." Time has shown, that those hopes were vain;
they have been obliged to go to that market ever since, directly or
indirectly, or go without their laws. The practice has continued,
and will continue, as long as the proprietary government subsists,
intervening between the crown and the people.
Do not, my courteous reader, take pet at our proprietary
constitution, for these our bargain and sale proceedings in
legislation. It is a happy country where justice, and what was your
own before, can be had for ready money. It is another addition to the
value of money, and of course another spur to industry. Every land
is not so blessed. There are countries where the princely proprietor
claims to be lord of all property; where what is your own shall not
only be wrested from you, but the money you give to have it restored
shall be kept with it; and your offering so much, being a sign of
your being too rich, you shall be plundered of every thing that
remained. These times are not come here yet: your present proprietors
have never been more unreasonable hitherto, than barely to insist on
your fighting in defence of _their_ property, and paying the expence
yourselves; or if their estates must [ah! _must_] be taxed towards
it, that the _best_ of their lands shall be taxed no higher than the
_worst_ of yours.
Pardon this digression, and I return to governor Denny; but first let
me do governor Hamilton the justice to observe, that whether from
the uprightness of his own disposition, or from the odious light the
practice had been set in on Denny's account, or from both; he did not
attempt these bargains, but passed such laws as he thought fit to
pass, without any _previous_ stipulation of pay for them. But then,
when he saw the assembly tardy in the payment he expected, and yet
calling upon him still to pass more laws; he openly put them in mind
of the money, as a _debt_ due to him from custom. "In the course of
the present year (says he, in his message of July 8, 1763) a great
deal of public business hath been transacted by me, and I believe as
many useful laws enacted, as by any of my predecessors in the same
space of time: yet I have not understood that any allowance hath
hitherto been made to me for my support, as hath been customary in
this province." The house having then some bills in hand, took the
matter into immediate consideration, and voted him five hundred
pounds, for which an order or certificate was accordingly drawn:
and on the same day the speaker, after the house had been with the
governor, reported, "That his honour had been pleased to give his
assent to the bills, by enacting the same into laws. And Mr. Speaker
farther reported, That he had then, in behalf of the house, presented
their certificate of five hundred pounds to the governor, who was
pleased to say, he was obliged to the house for the same." Thus we
see the practice of purchasing and paying for laws is interwoven
with our proprietary constitution, used in the best times, and under
the best governors. And yet, alas! poor assembly! how will you steer
your brittle bark between these rocks? If you pay _ready money_ for
your laws, and those laws are not liked by the proprietaries, you are
charged with bribery and corruption: if you wait a while before you
pay, you are accused of detaining the governor's customary right, and
dunned as a negligent or dishonest debtor, that refuses to discharge
a just debt!
But governor Denny's case, I shall be told, differs from all these;
for the acts he was induced to pass were, as the prefacer tell us,
"_contrary to his duty, and to every tie of honour and justice_."
Such is the imperfection of our language, and perhaps of all other
languages, that, notwithstanding we are furnished with dictionaries
innumerable, we cannot precisely know the import of words, unless
we know of what party the man is that uses them. In the mouth of an
assembly-man, or true Pensylvanian, "contrary to his duty and to
every tie of honour and justice" would mean, the governor's long
refusal to pass laws, however just and necessary, for taxing the
proprietary estate: a refusal, contrary to the trust reposed in
the lieutenant-governor by the royal charter, to the rights of the
people, whose welfare it was his duty to promote, and to the nature
of the contract made between the governor and the governed, when the
quit-rents and licence-fees were established, which confirmed what
the proprietaries call our "undoubted right" to necessary laws. But
in the mouth of the proprietaries, or their creatures, "contrary to
his duty, and to every tie of justice and honour" means, his passing
laws contrary to proprietary instructions, and contrary to the bonds
he had previously given to observe those instructions: instructions
however, that were unjust and unconstitutional; and bonds, that were
illegal and void from the beginning.
Much has been said of the wickedness of governor Denny in passing,
and of the assembly in prevailing with him to pass, those acts.
By the prefacer's account of them, you would think the laws, so
obtained, were _all_ bad; for he speaks of but _seven_, of which,
six, he says, were repealed, and the seventh reported to be
"fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_," "and ought to be repealed,
_unless_ six certain amendments were made therein[60]." Whereas
in fact there were _nineteen_ of them, and several of those must
have been good laws, for even the proprietaries did not object to
them. Of the eleven that they opposed, only six were repealed; so
that it seems, these good gentlemen may themselves be sometimes as
wrong in opposing, as the assembly in enacting laws. But the words,
"fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_," are the great fund of triumph
to the proprietaries and their partizans. These, their subsequent
governors have unmercifully dinned in the ears of the assembly on all
occasions ever since; for they make a part of near a dozen of their
messages. They have rung the changes on those words, till they worked
them up to say, that the law was fundamentally wrong and unjust in
_six several articles_ (Governor's Message, May 17, 1764) instead
of "ought to be repealed, _unless_ six alterations or amendments
could be made therein." A law, unjust in six several articles, must
be an unjust law indeed. Let us therefore, once for all, _examine_
this unjust law, article by article, in order to see, whether our
assemblies have been such villains as they have been represented.
The _first_ particular in which their lordships proposed the act
should be amended was, "That the real estates to be taxed, be
_defined with precision_; so as not to include the unsurveyed waste
land belonging to the proprietaries." This was at most but an
_obscurity_ to be cleared up. And though the law might well appear
to their lordships uncertain in that particular, with us, who better
know our own customs, and that the proprietaries waste unsurveyed
land was never here considered among estates real, subject to
taxation; there was not the least doubt or supposition, that such
lands were included in the words "all estates, real and personal."
The agents therefore, knowing that the assembly had no intention
to tax those lands, might well suppose they would readily agree to
remove the obscurity. Before we go farther, let it be observed, that
the main design of the proprietaries in opposing this act was, to
_prevent their estates being taxed at all_. But as they knew, that
the doctrine of proprietary exemption, which they had endeavoured to
enforce here, could not be supported there[61], they bent their whole
strength against the act on _other_ principles to procure its repeal,
pretending great willingness to submit to an equitable tax; but that
the assembly (out of mere malice, because they had conscientiously
quitted quakerism for the church!) were wickedly determined to ruin
them, to tax all their unsurveyed wilderness-lands, and at the
highest rates: and by that means exempt themselves and the people,
and throw the whole burden of the war on the proprietary family. How
foreign these charges were from the truth, need not be told to any
man in Pensylvania. And as the proprietors knew, that the hundred
thousand pounds of paper-money, struck for the defence of _their_
enormous estates, with others, was actually issued, spread through
the country, and in the hands of thousands of poor people, who had
given their labour for it; how base, cruel, and inhuman it was to
endeavour, by a repeal of the act, to strike the money dead in those
hands at one blow, and reduce it all to waste paper, to the utter
confusion of all trade and dealings, and the ruin of multitudes,
merely to avoid paying their own just tax--Words may be wanting
to express,--but minds will easily conceive,--and never without
abhorrence!
The _second_ amendment proposed by their lordships was, "That the
located uncultivated lands, belonging to the proprietaries, shall
not be assessed higher than the _lowest_ rate, at which any located
uncultivated lands belonging to the inhabitants shall be assessed."
Had there been any provision in the act, that the proprietaries'
lands, and those of the people, of the same value, should be taxed
differently, the one high, and the other low; the act might well have
been called in this particular fundamentally wrong and unjust. But
as there is no such clause, this cannot be one of the particulars
on which the charge is founded; but, like the first, is merely a
requisition to make the act _clear_, by express directions therein,
that the proprietaries' estate should not be, as they pretended to
believe it would be, taxed higher in proportion to its value than
the estates of others. As to their present claim, founded on that
article, "that the best and most valuable of their lands, should be
taxed no higher than the worst and least valuable of the people's,"
it was not _then_ thought of; they made no such demand; nor did any
one dream that so iniquitous a claim would ever be made by men, who
had the least pretence to the characters of honourable and honest.
The _third_ particular was, "That all lands, _not granted_ by
the proprietaries _within boroughs and towns_, be deemed located
uncultivated lands, and rated accordingly; and not as lots." The
clause in the act that this relates to is, "And whereas many valuable
lots of ground within the city of Philadelphia, and the several
boroughs and towns within this province, remain unimproved; Be it
enacted, &c. That _all_ such unimproved lots of ground within the
city and boroughs aforesaid, shall be rated and assessed according to
their situation and value for, and towards raising the money hereby
granted." The reader will observe, that the word is, _all_ unimproved
lots; and that _all_ comprehends the lots belonging to the people,
as well as those of the proprietary. There were many of the former;
and a number belonging even to members of the then assembly; and
considering the value, the tax must be proportionably as grievous to
them, as the proprietary's to him. Is there among us a single man,
even a proprietary relation, officer, or dependant, so insensible of
the differences of right and wrong, and so confused in his notions of
just and unjust, as to think and say, that the act in this particular
was fundamentally wrong and unjust? I believe not one. What then
could their lordships mean by the proposed amendment? Their meaning
is easily explained. The proprietaries have considerable tracts of
land within the bounds of boroughs and towns, that have not yet been
divided into lots: they pretended to believe, that by virtue of this
clause an imaginary division would be made of _those_ lands into
lots, and an extravagant value set on such imaginary lots, greatly
to their prejudice. It was answered, that no such thing was intended
by the act: and that by lots was meant only such ground as _had_
been surveyed and divided into lots, and not the open undivided
lands. If this only is intended, say their lordships, then let the
act be amended, so as _clearly_ to express what is intended. This is
the full amount of the third particular. How the act was understood
here, is well known by the execution of it before the dispute came
on in England, and therefore before their lordships' opinion on the
point could be given, of which full proof shall presently be made.
In the mean time it appears, that the act was not on _this_ account
fundamentally wrong and unjust.
The _fourth_ particular is, "That the _governor's consent_ and
approbation be made necessary to every issue and application of the
money, to be raised by virtue of such act." The assembly intended
this, and thought they had done it in the act. The words of the
clause being, "That [the commissioners named] or the major part of
them, or of the survivors of them, _with the consent_ or approbation
of the governor or commander in chief of this province for the time
being, shall order and appoint _the disposition of the monies_
arising by virtue of this act, for and towards paying and clothing
two thousand seven hundred effective men," &c. It was understood
here, that as the power of disposing was expressly to be with the
consent and approbation of the governor, the commissioners had no
power to dispose of the money without that approbation: but their
lordships, jealous (as their station requires) of this prerogative of
the crown, and being better acquainted with the force and weakness
of law expression, did not think the clause explicit enough, unless
the words, "_and not otherwise_," were added, or some other words
equivalent. This particular, therefore, was no more than another
requisition of greater _clearness_ and precision; and by no means a
foundation for the charge of fundamentally wrong and unjust.
The _fifth_ particular was, "That _provincial_ commissioners be
named, to hear and _determine appeals_, brought on the part of
the inhabitants, as well as the proprietaries." There was already
subsisting a provision for the appointment of _county_ commissioners
of appeal; by whom the act might be, and actually has been (as we
shall presently show) justly and impartially executed with regard to
the proprietaries; but _provincial_ commissioners appointed in the
act it was thought might be of use, in regulating and equalizing the
modes of assessment of different counties, where they were unequal;
and by affording a second appeal, tend more to the satisfaction both
of the proprietaries and the people.--This particular was therefore
a mere proposed improvement of the act, which could not be, and was
not, in this respect, denominated fundamentally wrong and unjust.
We have now gone through five of the six proposed amendments, without
discovering any thing on which that censure could be founded; but the
_sixth_ remains; which points at a part of the act wherein we must
candidly acknowledge there is something, that, in their lordships'
view of it, must justify their judgment. The words of the _sixth_
article are, "That the payments by the tenants to the proprietaries
of their rents, shall be according to the terms of their respective
grants, as if such act had never been passed." This relates to that
clause of the act by which the _paper-money_ was made a _legal
tender_ in "discharge of all manner of debts, rents, sum and sums
of money whatsoever, &c. at the rates ascertained in the act of
parliament made in the sixth of Queen Anne." From the great injustice
frequently done to creditors, and complained of from the colonies, by
the vast depreciation of paper bills, it was become a general fixed
principle with the ministry, that such bills (whose value, though
fixed in the act, could not be kept fixed by the act) ought _not_ to
be made a legal tender in any colony at those rates. The parliament
had before passed an act, to take that tender away in the four New
England colonies, and have since made the act general. This was what
their lordships would therefore have proposed for the amendment. But
it being represented, That the chief support of the credit of the
bills was the legal tender; and that without it they would become
of no value, it was allowed generally to remain; with an exception
to the proprietaries' rents, where[62] there was a special contract
for payment in another coin. It cannot be denied but that _this_ was
doing justice to the proprietaries; and that, had the requisition
been in favour of _all other_ creditors also, the justice had been
equal, as being general. We do not therefore presume to impeach their
lordships' judgment, that the act, as it enforced the acceptance of
bills for money at a value which they had only nominally, and not
really, was in that respect fundamentally wrong and unjust. And yet
we believe the reader will not think the assembly so much to blame,
when he considers, that the making paper-bills a legal tender had
been the universal mode in America for more than threescore years;
that there was scarce a colony that had not practised that mode
more or less; that it had always been thought absolutely necessary,
in order to give the bills a credit, and thereby obtain from them
the uses of money; that the inconveniences were therefore submitted
to, for the sake of the greater conveniences; that acts innumerable
of the like kind had been approved by the crown; and that if the
assembly made the bills a legal tender at those rates to the
proprietaries, they made them also a legal tender to themselves and
all their constituents, many of whom might suffer in their rents,
&c. as much in proportion to their estates as the proprietaries. But
if he cannot, on these considerations, quite excuse the assembly,
what will he think of those honourable proprietaries, who, when
paper-money was issued in their colony, for the common defence of
their vast estates, with those of the people, and who must therefore
reap at least equal advantages from those bills with the people,
could nevertheless wish to be exempted from their share of the
unavoidable disadvantages. Is there upon earth a man besides, with
any conception of what is honest, with any notion of honour, with
the least tincture in his veins of the gentleman, but would have
blushed at the thought; but would have rejected with disdain such
undue preference, if it had been offered him? Much less would he have
struggled for it, moved heaven and earth to obtain it, resolved to
ruin thousands of his tenants by a repeal of the act, rather than
miss of it[63]; and enforce it afterwards by an audaciously wicked
instruction; forbidding aids to his king, and exposing the province
to destruction, unless it was complied with. And yet,--These are
_honourable_ men[64].
Here then we have a full view of the assembly's injustice; about
which there has been so much insolent triumph! But let the
proprietaries and their discreet deputies hereafter recollect
and remember, that the same august tribunal, which censured some
of the modes and circumstances of that act, did at the same time
establish and confirm the grand principle of the act, viz. "That
the proprietary estate ought, with other estates, to be taxed:" and
thereby did in effect determine and pronounce, that the opposition
so long made in various shapes to that just principle, by the
proprietaries, was fundamentally _wrong_ and _unjust_. An injustice
they were not, like the assembly, under any necessity of committing
for the public good, or any other necessity but what was imposed on
them by those base passions, that act the tyrant in bad minds; their
selfishness, their pride, and their avarice.
I have frequently mentioned the _equitable intentions_ of the house
in those parts of the act, that were supposed obscure, and how they
were understood here. A clear proof thereof is found, as I have
already said, in the actual execution of the act; in the execution
of it before the contest about it in England; and therefore before
their lordships' objections to it had a being. When the report came
over, and was laid before the house, one year's tax had been levied:
and the assembly, conscious that no injustice had been intended to
the proprietaries, and willing to rectify it if any should appear,
appointed a _committee_ of members from the several counties to
examine into the state of the proprietaries' taxes through the
province, and nominated on that committee a gentleman of known
attachment to the proprietaries, and their chief justice, Mr. Allen;
to the end that the strictest inquiry might be made. _Their report_
was as follows: "We, the committee appointed to inquire into, and
consider the state of the proprietary taxation through the several
counties, and report the same to the house, have, in pursuance of
the said appointment, carefully examined the returns of property,
and compared them with the respective assessments thereon made
through the whole province; and find, _first_, That no part of the
_unsurveyed_ waste lands belonging to the proprietaries have, in any
instance, been included in the estates taxed. _Secondly_, That some
of the _located uncultivated_ lands belonging to the proprietaries
in several counties _remain unassessed_; and are not in any county
assessed higher, than the lands under like circumstances belonging
to the inhabitants. _Thirdly_, That all _lands_; _not_ granted by
the proprietaries, _within boroughs_ and towns, remain _untaxed_;
excepting in a few instances, and in those they are rated as _low_,
as the lands which are granted in the said boroughs and towns. The
whole of the proprietary tax of eighteen pence in the pound amounts
to 566_l._ 4_s._ 10_d._ And the sum of the tax on the inhabitants for
the same year amounts, through the several counties, to 27,103_l._
12_s._ 8_d._ And it is the opinion of your committee, that there has
not been any injustice done to the proprietaries, or attempts made to
rate or assess any part of their estates higher than the estates of
the like kind belonging to the inhabitants are rated and assessed;
but, on the contrary, we find that their estates are rated, in many
instances, below others.
Thomas Leech, George Ashbridge,
Joseph Fox, Emanuel Carpenter,
Samuel Rhoads, John Blackburn,
Abraham Chapman, William Allen."
The house communicated this report to governor Hamilton, when he
afterwards pressed them to make the stipulated act of amendment;
acquainting him at the same time, that as in the execution of the act
no injustice _had_ hitherto been done to the proprietary, so, by a
yearly inspection of the assessments, they would take care that none
_should_ be done him; for that if any should appear, or the governor
could at any time point out to them any that had been done, they
would immediately rectify it; and therefore, as the act was shortly
to expire, they did not think the amendments necessary. Thus that
matter ended during that administration.
And had his successor, governor Penn, permitted it still to sleep,
we are of opinion it had been more to the honour of the family, and
of his own discretion. But he was pleased to found upon it a _claim_
manifestly unjust, and which he was totally destitute of reason to
support. A claim, that the proprietaries best and most valuable
located uncultivated lands, should be taxed no _higher_ than the
worst and least valuable of those belonging to the inhabitants: to
enforce which, as he thought the words of one of the stipulations
seemed to give some countenance to it, he insisted on using those
very words as sacred; from which he could "neither in decency or in
duty," deviate; though he had agreed to deviate from words [in] the
same report, and therefore equally sacred in every other instance. A
conduct which will (as the prefacer says in governor Denny's case)
for ever disgrace the annals of _his_ administration[65]. Never did
any administration open with a more _promising_ prospect [than this
of governor Penn]. He assured the people, in his first speeches,
of the proprietaries' paternal regard for them, and their sincere
disposition to do every thing that might promote their happiness. As
the proprietaries had been pleased to appoint a son of the family
to the government, it was thought not unlikely, that there might be
something in these professions; for that they would probably choose
to have his administration made easy and agreeable; and to that
end might think it prudent to withdraw those harsh, disagreeable,
and unjust instructions with which most of his predecessors had
been hampered: the assembly therefore believed fully, and rejoiced
sincerely. They showed the new governor every mark of respect and
regard that was in their power. They readily and cheerfully went into
every thing he recommended to them. And when he and his authority
were insulted and endangered by a lawless murdering mob, they and
their friends took arms at his call, and formed themselves round him
for his defence, and the support of his government. But when it was
found, that those mischievous instructions still subsisted, and were
even farther extended; when the governor began, unprovoked, to send
the house affronting messages, seizing every imaginary occasion of
reflecting on their conduct; when every other symptom appeared of
fixed deep-rooted family malice, which could but a little while bear
the unnatural covering that had been thrown over it, what wonder
is it, if all the old wounds broke out and bled afresh? if all the
old grievances, still unredressed, were recollected; if despair
succeeded of [seeing] any peace with a family, that could make such
returns to all their overtures of kindness! And when in the very
proprietary council, composed of staunch friends of the family, and
chosen for their attachment to it, it was observed, that the _old
men_ (1 Kings, chap. xii.) withdrew themselves, finding their opinion
slighted, and that all measures were taken by the advice of two or
three _young men_ (one of whom too denies his share in them) is it
any wonder, since like causes produce like effects, if the assembly,
notwithstanding all their veneration for the first proprietor, should
say, with the children of Israel, under the same circumstances, "What
portion have we in David, or inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your
tents, O Israel!"
Under these circumstances, and a conviction that while so many
natural sources of difference subsisted between proprietaries and
people, no harmony in government long subsist (without which neither
the commands of the crown could be executed, nor the public good
promoted) the house resumed the consideration of a measure that had
often been proposed in former assemblies; a measure, that every
_proprietary province in_ America had, from the same causes, found
themselves obliged to take, and had actually taken, or were about
to take; and a measure, that had happily succeeded, wherever it was
taken; I mean the recourse to an immediate _royal government_.
They therefore, after a thorough debate, and making no less than
twenty-five unanimous resolves, expressing the many grievances
this province had long laboured under, through the proprietary
government, came to the following resolution, viz. "Resolved, nemine
contradicente, That this house will adjourn, in order to _consult
their constituents_, whether an humble _address_ should be drawn
up and transmitted to _his Majesty_; praying that he would be
graciously pleased to take the people of this province under his
immediate protection and government, by completing the agreement
heretofore made with the first proprietary for the sale of the
government to the crown, or otherwise as to his wisdom and goodness
shall seem meet[66]."
This they ordered to be made public; and it was published accordingly
in all the newspapers: the house then adjourned for no less than
_seven weeks_, to give their constituents time to consider the
matter, and themselves an opportunity of taking their opinion and
advice. Could any thing be more deliberate, more fair and open, or
more respectful to the people that chose them?--During this recess,
the people, in many places, held little meetings with each other;
the result of which was, that they would manifest their sentiments
to their representatives, by petitioning the crown directly of
themselves, and requesting the assembly to transmit and support
those petitions. At the next meeting many of these petitions were
delivered to the house with that request; they were signed by a very
great[67] number of the most substantial inhabitants; and not the
least intimation was received by the assembly from any other of their
constituents, that the method was _disapproved_; except in a petition
from an obscure town-ship in Lancaster county, to which there were
about forty names indeed, but all evidently signed by three hands
only. What could the assembly infer from the expressed willingness of
a part, and silence of the rest; but that the measure was universally
agreeable! They accordingly resumed the consideration of it; and
though a small, very small opposition then appeared to it in the
house; yet as even that was founded not on the impropriety of the
thing; but on supposed unsuitableness of the time or the manner, and
a majority of nine tenths being still for it; a petition was drawn
agreeable to the former resolve, and ordered to be transmitted to his
majesty.
But the preface tells us, that these _petitioners_ for a change were
a "number of rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate people," and generally
of a _low rank_. To be sure they were not of the proprietary
officers, dependents, or expectants; and those are chiefly the people
of high rank among us; but they were otherwise generally men of the
best estates in the province, and men of reputation. The assembly,
who come from all parts of the country, and therefore may be supposed
to know them, at least as well as the prefacer, have given that
testimony of them. But what is the testimony of the assembly; who
in his opinion are equally rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate with
the petitioners? And if his judgment is right, how imprudently and
contrary to their charter, have his _three hundred thousand souls_
acted in their elections of assembly-men these twenty years past; for
the charter requires them to choose men of _most note_ for _virtue_,
_wisdom_ and _ability_!
But these are qualities engrossed, it seems, by the _proprietary_
party. For they say, "the _wiser_ and _better_ part of the province
had far different notions of this measure: they considered, that
the moment they put their hands to these petitions they might be
surrendering up their birthright." I felicitate them on the _honour_
they have thus bestowed upon themselves; on the _sincere_ compliments
thus given and accepted; and on their having with such noble freedom
discarded the snivelling pretence to modesty, couched in that
threadbare form of words, "though we say it, that should not say
it." But is it not surprising, that, during the seven weeks recess
of the assembly, expressly to consult their constituents on the
expediency of this measure, and during the fourteen days the house
sat deliberating on it after they met again, these their wisdoms and
betternesses should never be so kind as to communicate the least
scrap of their prudence, their knowledge, or their consideration, to
their rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate representatives? Wisdom in
the mind is not like money in the purse, diminished by communication
to others: they might have lighted up our farthing candles for
us, without lessening the blaze of their own flambeaux. But they
suffered our representatives to go on in the dark till the fatal
deed was done; and the petition sent to the king, praying him to
take the government of this province into his immediate care:
whereby, if it succeeds, "our glorious plan of public liberty and
charter of privileges is to be bartered away," and we are to be made
slaves for ever! Cruel parsimony! to refuse the charity of a little
understanding, when God had given you so much, and the assembly
begged it as an alms! O that you had but for once remembered and
observed the counsel of that wise poet Pope, where he says,
Be niggards of advice on no pretence;
For the worst avarice is that of sense.
In the constitution of our government, and in that of one more,
there still remains a particular thing that none of the other
American governments have; to wit, the appointment of a governor by
the _proprietors_, instead of an appointment by the _crown_. This
particular in government has been found inconvenient; attended with
contentions and confusions wherever it existed; and has therefore
been gradually taken away from colony after colony, and every where
greatly to the satisfaction and happiness of the people. Our wise
first proprietor and founder was fully sensible of this; and being
desirous of leaving his people happy, and preventing the mischiefs
that he foresaw must in time arise from that circumstance if it
was continued, he determined to take it away, if possible, during
his own lifetime. They accordingly entered into a contract for
the sale of the proprietary right of government to the crown, and
actually received a sum in part of the consideration. As he found
himself likely to die before that contract (and with it, his plan
for the happiness of his people) could be completed, he carefully
made it a part of his last will and testament; devising the right
of the government to two noble lords, in trust, that they should
release it to the crown. Unfortunately for us, this has never yet
been done. And this is merely what the assembly now desire to have
done. Surely he that formed our constitution, must have understood
it. If he had imagined, that all our privileges depended on the
proprietary government; will any one suppose, that he would himself
have meditated the change; that he would have taken such effectual
measures, as he thought them, to bring it about speedily, whether he
should live or die? Will any of those, who now extol him so highly,
charge him at the same time with the baseness of endeavouring thus
to defraud his people of all the liberties and privileges he had
promised them, and by the most solemn charters and grants assured
to them, when he engaged them to assist him in the settlement of
his province? Surely none can be so inconsistent!--And yet this
proprietary right of governing or appointing a governor has all of a
sudden changed its nature; and the preservation of it become of so
much importance to the welfare of the province, that the assembly's
only petitioning to have their venerable founder's will executed,
and the contract he entered into for the good of his people
completed, is stiled, an "attempt to violate the constitution for
which our fathers planted a wilderness; to barter away our glorious
plan of public liberty and charter privileges; a risquing of the
whole constitution; an offering up of our whole charter rights; a
wanton sporting with things sacred, &c."
Pleasant surely it is to hear the proprietary partizans, of all men,
bawling for the constitution, and affecting a terrible concern for
our liberties and privileges. They, who have been these twenty years
cursing our constitution, declaring that it was no constitution, or
worse than none; and that things could never be well with us till
it was new modelled, and made exactly conformable to the British
constitution: they, who have treated our distinguishing privileges
as so many illegalities and absurdities; who have solemnly declared
in print, that though such privileges might be proper in the infancy
of a colony to encourage its settlement, they became unfit for it in
its grown state, and ought to be taken away: they, who by numberless
falshoods, propagated with infinite industry in the mother country,
attempted to procure an act of parliament for the actual depriving a
very great part of the people of their privileges: they too, who have
already deprived the whole people of some of their most important
rights, and are daily endeavouring to deprive them of the rest: are
these become patriots and advocates for our constitution? Wonderful
change! astonishing conversion! Will the wolves then protect the
sheep, if they can but persuade them to give up their dogs? Yes; the
assembly would destroy all their own rights, and those of the people;
and the proprietary partizans are become the champions for liberty!
Let those who have faith now make use of it: for if it is rightly
defined, the evidence of things not seen, certainly never was there
more occasion for such evidence, the case being totally destitute of
all other.
It has been long observed, that men are with that party, angels or
demons, just as they happen to concur with or oppose their measures.
And I mention it for the comfort of _old sinners_, that in politics,
as well as in religion, repentance and amendment, though late, shall
obtain forgiveness, and procure favour. Witness the late speaker,
Mr. Norris; a steady and constant opposer of all the proprietary
encroachments; and whom, for thirty years past, they have been
therefore continually abusing, allowing him no one virtue or good
quality whatsoever: but now, as he shewed some unwillingness to
engage in this present application to the crown, he is become all
at once the "faithful servant;"--but let me look at the text, to
avoid mistakes--and indeed I was mistaken--I thought it had been
"faithful servant of the public," but I find it is only "of the
house." Well chosen that expression, and prudently guarded. The
former, from a proprietary pen, would have been praise too much, only
for disapproving the _time_ of the application. Could _you_, much
respected [Mr. Norris], go but a little farther, and disapprove the
application itself? Could you but say, the proprietary government is
a good one, and ought to be continued; then might all your political
offences be done away, and your scarlet sins become as snow and wool;
then might you end your course with (proprietary) honour. P----
should preach your funeral sermon, and S----, the poisoner of other
characters, embalm your memory. But those honours you will never
receive; for with returning health and strength you will be found in
your old post, firm for your country.
There is encouragement too for _young sinners_. Mr. Dickenson, whose
speech our prefacer has introduced to the world, (though long hated
by some, and disregarded by the rest of the proprietary faction) is
at once, for the same reason as in Mr. Norris's case, become a sage
in the law, and an oracle in matters relating to our constitution. I
shall not endeavour to pluck so much as a leaf from these the young
gentleman's laurels. I would only advise him carefully to preserve
the panegyrics with which they have adorned him: in time they may
serve to console him, by balancing the calumny they shall load him
with, when he does not go through with them in all their measures:
he will not probably do the one, and they will then assuredly do the
other. There are mouths that can blow hot as well as cold, and blast
on your brows the bays their hands have placed there. "Experto crede
Roberto." Let but the moon of _proprietary_ favour withdraw its shine
for a moment, and that "great number of the _principal gentlemen_ of
Philadelphia," who applied to you for the copy of your speech, shall
immediately despise and desert you.
"Those principal gentlemen!" What a pity it is that their names were
not given us in the preface, together with their admirable letter!
We should then have known, where to run for advice on all occasions.
We should have known, who to choose for our future representatives:
for undoubtedly these were they that are elsewhere called "the
_wiser_ and _better_ part of the province." None but their wisdoms
could have known before-hand, that a speech which they never heard,
and a copy of which they had never seen, but were then requesting
to see, was "a spirited defence," and "of our charter privileges,"
and that "the publication of it would be of great utility, and give
general satisfaction." No inferior sagacity could discover, that the
appointment of a governor by the proprietor was one of our "charter
privileges," and that those who opposed the application for a royal
government were therefore patriot members, appearing on the side of
our privileges and our charter!
Utterly to _confound the assembly_, and show the excellence of
proprietary government, the prefacer has extracted from their own
votes, the _praises_ they have from time to time bestowed on the
_first_ proprietor, in their addresses to his sons. And though
addresses are not generally the best repositories of historical
truth, we must not in this instance deny their authority.
* * * * *
What then avails it to the honour of the present proprietors, that
our founder and their father gave us privileges, if they, the sons,
will not permit the use of them, or forcibly rend them from us? David
may have been a man after God's own heart, and Solomon the wisest
of proprietors and governors; but if Rehoboam will be a tyrant and
a ----, who can secure him the affections of the people? The virtue
and merit of his ancestors may be very great, but his presumption in
depending upon those alone may be much greater.
I lamented, a few pages ago, that we were not acquainted with the
names of those "principal gentlemen, the wiser and better part of
the province." I now rejoice that we are likely, some time or other,
to know them; for a copy of a _petition to the king_ is now before
me; which, from its similarity with their _letter_, must be of their
inditing, and will probably be recommended to the people, by their
leading up the signing.
On this petition I shall take the liberty of making a few _remarks_,
as they will save me the necessity of following farther the preface;
the sentiments of this and that being nearly the same.
It begins with a formal quotation from the [assembly's] petition,
which they own they have not seen, and of words that are not in it;
and after relating very imperfectly and unfairly the fact relating
to their application for a copy of it, which is of no importance,
proceeds to set forth, "that as we and all your American subjects
must be governed by persons authorised and approved by your Majesty,
on the best recommendation that can be obtained of them; we cannot
perceive our condition in this respect to be _different_ from our
fellow-subjects around us, or that we are thereby less under your
majesty's particular care and protection than they are; since there
can be no _governors_ of this province without your majesty's
_immediate approbation_ and authority." Such a declaration from the
wiser part of the province is really a little surprising. What! when
disputes concerning matters of property are daily arising between
you and your proprietaries, cannot your wisdoms perceive the least
difference between having the judges of those disputes appointed by
a _royal_ governor, who has no interest in the cause, and having
them appointed by the _proprietaries_ themselves, the principal
parties against you; and _during their pleasure_ too? When supplies
are necessary to be raised for your defence, can you perceive no
difference between having a royal governor, free to promote his
majesty's service by a ready assent to your laws; and a proprietary
governor, shackled by instructions, forbidding him to give that
assent, unless some private advantage is obtained, some profit got,
or unequal exemption gained for their estate, or some privilege
wrested from you? When prerogative, that in other governments is only
used for the good of the people, is here strained to the extreme,
and used to their prejudice, and the proprietaries benefit, can you
perceive no difference? When the direct and immediate rays of majesty
benignly and mildly shine on all _around_ us, but are transmitted and
thrown upon _us_ through the burning-glass of proprietary government,
can your sensibilities feel no difference? Sheltered perhaps in
proprietary offices, or benumbed with expectations, it may be you
cannot. But surely you might have known better than to tell his
majesty, "that there can be no governors of this province, without
his immediate approbation." Don't you know, who know so much, that by
our blessed constitution the _proprietors_ themselves, whenever they
please, may govern us in _person_, without such approbation?
The petition proceeds to tell his majesty, "that the particular mode
of government which we enjoy, under your majesty, is held in the
_highest estimation_ by good men of all denominations among us; and
hath _brought multitudes_ of industrious people from various parts of
the world," &c. Really! Can this be from proprietary partizans? That
constitution, which they were for ever censuring as defective in a
legislative council, defective in government powers, too popular in
many of its modes, is it now become so excellent? Perhaps, as they
have been tinkering it these twenty years, till they have stripped
it of some of its most valuable privileges, and almost spoiled it,
they now begin to like it. But then it is not surely this _present_
constitution, that brought hither those multitudes. They came
before. At least it was not that particular in our constitution (the
proprietary power of appointing a governor) which attracted them,
that single particular, which alone is now in question, which our
venerable founder first, and now the assembly, are endeavouring to
change. As to the remaining valuable part of our constitution, the
assembly have been equally full and strong in expressing their regard
for it, and perhaps stronger and fuller; for _their_ petition, in
that respect, is in the nature of a petition of right: it lays claim,
though modestly and humbly, to those privileges on the foundation
of royal grants, on laws confirmed by the crown, and on justice and
equity, as the grants were the consideration offered to induce them
to settle, and which they have in a manner purchased and paid for, by
executing that settlement without putting the crown to any expence.
Whoever would know what our constitution was, when it was so much
admired, let him peruse that elegant farewell speech of Mr. Hamilton,
father of our late governor, when, as speaker, he took his leave of
the house, and of public business, in 1739; and then let him compare
that constitution with the present. The power of _appointing public
officers_ by the representatives of the people, which he so much
extols, where is it now? Even the bare naming to the governor in a
bill, a trivial officer to receive a light-house duty (which could
be considered as no more than a mere recommendation) is, in a late
message, styled, "an encroachment on the prerogative of the crown!"
The sole power of _raising and disposing of public money_, which he
says was then lodged in the assembly, that inestimable privilege,
what is become of it? Inch by inch they have been wrested from us
in times of public distress; and the rest are going the same way.
I remember to have seen, when governor Hamilton was engaged in a
dispute with the assembly on some of those points, a copy of that
speech, which then was intended to be reprinted, with a dedication to
that honourable gentleman, and this motto from John Rogers's verses
in the Primer:
We send you here a little book,
For you to look upon;
That you may see your father's face,
Now he is dead and gone.
Many a such little book has been sent by our assemblies to the
present proprietaries: but they do not like to see their father's
face; it puts their own out of countenance.
The petition proceeds to say, "that such disagreements as have arisen
in this province, we have beheld with sorrow; but as others around
us are not exempted from the _like misfortunes_, we can by no means
conceive them incident to the nature of our government, which hath
_often_ been administered with remarkable harmony: and your majesty,
before whom our late disputes have been laid, can be at no loss, in
your great wisdom, to discover, whether they proceed from the above
cause, or should be ascribed to some others." The disagreements in
question are proprietary disagreements in government, relating to
proprietary private interests. And are not the _royal_ governments
around us exempt from _these_ misfortunes? Can you really, gentlemen,
by no means conceive, that proprietary government disagreements are
incident to the nature of proprietary governments? If your wisdoms
are so hard to conceive, I am afraid they will never bring forth. But
then our government "hath _often_ been administered with remarkable
harmony." Very true; as often as the assembly have been able and
willing to purchase that harmony, and pay for it, the mode of which
has already been shown. And yet that word _often_ seems a little
unluckily chosen: the flame that is often put out, must be as often
lit. If our government hath often been administered with remarkable
harmony, it hath as often been administered with remarkable discord:
one often is as numerous as the other. And his majesty, if he
should take the trouble of looking over our disputes (to which the
petitioners, to save themselves a little pains, modestly and decently
refer him) where will he, for twenty years past, find any but
_proprietary_ disputes concerning proprietary interests; or disputes
that have been connected with and arose from them?
The petition proceeds to assure his majesty, "that this province
(except from the Indian ravages) enjoys the _most perfect internal
tranquillity_!"--Amazing! what! the most perfect tranquillity! when
there have been three atrocious riots within a few months! when
in two of them, horrid murders were committed on twenty innocent
persons; and in the third, no less than one hundred and forty like
murders were meditated, and declared to be intended, with as many
more as should be occasioned by any opposition! when we know that
these rioters and murderers have none of them been punished, have
never been prosecuted, have not even been apprehended! when we are
frequently told, that they intend still to execute their purposes,
as soon as the protection of the king's forces is withdrawn! Is
our tranquillity more perfect now, than it was between the first
riot and the second, or between the second and the third? And why
"except the Indian ravages," is a _little intermission_ to be
denominated "the most perfect tranquillity?" For the Indians too
have been quiet lately. Almost as well might ships in an engagement
talk of the most perfect tranquillity between two broadsides. But
"a spirit of riot and violence is foreign to the general temper
of the inhabitants." I hope and believe it is; the assembly have
said nothing to the contrary. And yet is there not too much of it?
Are there not pamphlets continually written, and daily sold in our
streets, to justify and encourage it? Are not the mad armed mob in
those writings instigated to embrue their hands in the blood of their
fellow-citizens, by first applauding their murder of the Indians,
and then representing the assembly and their friends as worse than
Indians, as having privately stirred up the Indians to murder the
white people, and armed and rewarded them for that purpose? LIES,
gentlemen, villanous as ever the malice of hell invented, and which,
to do you justice, not one of you believes, though you would have the
mob believe them.
But your petition proceeds to say, "that where such disturbances
have happened, they have been _speedily quieted_." By whom were
they quieted? The _two first_, if they can be said to be quieted,
were quieted only by the rioters themselves going home quietly
(that is, without any interruption) and remaining there till their
next insurrection, without any pursuit, or attempt to apprehend
any of them. And the _third_, was it quieted, or was the mischief
they intended prevented, or could it have been prevented, without
the aid of the king's troops, marched into the province for that
purpose?--"The civil powers have been supported," in some sort.
We all know how they were supported; but have they been _fully_
supported? Has the government sufficient strength, even with all its
supports, to venture on the apprehending and punishment of those
notorious offenders? If it has not, why are you angry at those who
would strengthen its hands by a more immediate royal authority? If
it has, why is not the thing done? Why will the government, by its
conduct, strengthen the suspicions (groundless no doubt) that it
has come to a private understanding with those murderers, and that
impunity for their past crimes is to be the reward of their future
political services?--O! but says the petition, "there are perhaps
cases in all governments where it may _not be possible speedily
to discover offenders_." Probably; but is there any case in any
government where it is not possible to _endeavour_ such a discovery?
There may be cases where it is not safe to do it: and perhaps the
best thing our government can say for itself is, that that is our
case. The only objection to such an apology must be, that it would
justify that part of the assembly's petition to the crown, which
relates to the _weakness_ of our present government.[68]
Still, if there is any _fault_, it must be _in the assembly_; for,
says the petition, "if the executive part of our government should
seem in any case too weak, we conceive it is the duty of the
assembly, and in _their_ power, to strengthen it." This weakness,
however, you have just denied. "Disturbances you say _have_ been
speedily quieted, and the civil power supported," and thereby you
have deprived your insinuated charge against the assembly of its only
support. But is it not a fact known to you all, that the assembly
_did_ endeavour to strengthen the hands of the government? That, at
his honour's instance, they prepared and passed in a few hours a bill
for extending hither the act of parliament for dispersing rioters?
That they also passed and presented to him a militia bill, which he
refused, unless powers were thereby given him over the lives and
properties of the inhabitants, which the public good did not require;
and which their duty to their constituents would not permit them to
trust in the hands of any proprietary governor? You know the points,
gentlemen: they have been made public. Would you have had your
representatives give up those points? Do _you_ intend to give them
up, when at the next election _you_ are made assemblymen? If so, tell
it us honestly beforehand, that we may know what we are to expect
when we are about to choose you?
I come now to the last clause of your petition, where, with the
same wonderful sagacity with which you in another case discovered
the excellency of a speech you never heard, you undertake to
_characterise a petition_ [_from the_ assembly] _you own you never
saw_; and venture to assure his majesty, that it is "exceeding
grievous in its nature, that it by no means contains a proper
representation of the state of this province, and is repugnant to
the general sense of his numerous and loyal subjects in it." Are
then his majesty's "numerous and loyal subjects" in this province
all as great wizards as yourselves, and capable of knowing, without
seeing it, that a petition is repugnant to their general sense? But
the inconsistence of your petition, gentlemen, is not so much to be
wondered at; the _prayer_ of it is _still more_ extraordinary, "We
therefore most humbly pray, that your majesty would be graciously
pleased _wholly to disregard_ the said petition of the assembly."
What! without enquiry! without examination! without a hearing of
what the assembly might say in support of it! "wholly disregard" the
petition of your representatives in assembly, accompanied by other
petitions, signed by thousands of your fellow-subjects as loyal, if
not as wise and as good, as yourselves! Would you wish to see your
great and amiable prince act a part that could not become a dey
of Algiers? Do you, who are Americans, pray for a _precedent_ of
such contempt in the treatment of an American assembly! such "total
disregard" of their humble applications to the throne? Surely your
wisdoms here have overshot yourselves.--But as wisdom shows itself
not only in doing what is right, but in confessing and _amending_
what is wrong, I recommend the latter particularly to your present
attention; being persuaded of this consequence, that though you have
been mad enough to sign such a petition, you never will be fools
enough to present it.
There is one thing mentioned in the preface, which I find I omitted
to take notice of as I came along, _the refusal of the house to enter
Mr. Dickinson's protest_ on their minutes. This is mentioned in such
a manner there and in the newspapers, as to insinuate a charge of
some partiality and injustice in the assembly. But the _reasons_
were merely these, that though protesting may be a practice with
the lords of parliament, there is no instance of it in the house of
commons, whose proceedings are the model followed by the assemblies
of America; that there is no precedent of it on our votes, from the
beginning of our present constitution; and that the introducing
such a practice would be attended with inconveniences, as the
representatives in assembly are not, like the lords in parliament,
unaccountable to any constituents, and would therefore find it
necessary for their own justification, if the reasons of the minority
for being against a measure were admitted in the votes, to put there
likewise the reasons that induced the majority to be for it: whereby
the votes, which were intended only as a register of propositions and
determinations, would be filled with the disputes of members with
members, and the public business be thereby greatly retarded, if ever
brought to a period.
As that protest was a mere abstract of Mr. Dickinson's speech, every
particular of it will be found answered in the following speech of
Mr. Galloway, from which it is fit that I should no longer detain the
reader.[69]
FOOTNOTES:
[59] As I am very much unacquainted with the history and principles
of these provincial politics, I shall confine myself to some
imperfect anecdotes concerning the parties, &c. A speech, which Mr.
Dickinson had delivered in the Pensylvania assembly against the
abolition of the proprietary government, having been published, and
a preface having been written to it, as I think by a Dr. Smith, Mr.
Galloway's speech was held forth as a proper answer to that speech,
while the preface to it appeared balanced by the above preface from
Dr. Franklin. Mr. Galloway's speech, or probably the advertisement
that attended it, urged, I believe, Mr. Dickinson first to a
challenge, and then to a printed reply.--The controversy was quickly
republished in England, or at least the principal parts of it; and
it is from the English edition of Mr. Galloway's speech (printed in
London by Nichols in 1765) that I have copied the above.
These several gentlemen however seem, for a time, to have better
agreed in their subsequent opinions concerning American taxation
by Great Britain; Mr. Dickinson, in particular, having taken a
very spirited line in the Farmer's Letters and other pieces, which
procured him considerable reputation. The congress declaration,
nevertheless, for independence, was reported not to have given
perfect satisfaction at first, either to himself or to Mr. Galloway.
And in the event, Mr. Galloway thought proper to come over to General
Howe, and afterwards to embark for England. B. V.
[60] This act is intitled, An Act for granting to his Majesty the Sum
of One Hundred Thousand Pounds: striking the same in Bills of Credit,
and sinking the Bills by a Tax on all Estates real and personal.
[61] i. e. In England, I suppose, when the laws were brought home to
receive the king's assent. B. V.
[62] Possibly this word _where_, means _wherever_. B. V.
[63] This would have been done, and the money all sunk in the hands
of the people, if the agents, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Charles,
had not interposed, and voluntarily, without authority from the
assembly so to do, but at their own risque, undertaken, that these
amendments should be made, or that they themselves would indemnify
the proprietaries from any damages they might sustain for want
thereof. An action which, as the prefacer says in another case,
"posterity perhaps may find a name for."
[64] It is not easy to guess from what source our proprietaries have
drawn their principles. Those who study law and justice as a science
have established it a maxim in equity, "Qui sentit commodum, sentire
debet et onus." And so consistent is this with the common sense of
mankind, that even our lowest untaught coblers and porters feel the
force of it in their own maxim (which they are honest enough never to
dispute) "Touch pot, touch penny."
[65] For a fuller account of this dispute the reader is referred to
the newspapers and votes of assembly.
[66] These words, "by completing the agreement," &c. are omitted
by the honest prefacer, in his account of the resolve, that they
might not interfere with his insinuation of the measure's being
impracticable, "have the proprietors, by any act of theirs, forfeited
the least tittle of what was granted them by his Majesty's royal
ancestors? Or can they be _deprived_ of their charter rights without
their consent?" &c. Sensible that these questions are impertinent, if
those rights are already sold.
[67] The prefacer, with great art, endeavours to represent this
number as insignificant. He says the petitioners were but 3500, and
that the province contains near three hundred thousand _souls_! His
reader is to imagine, that _two hundred and ninety six thousand
five hundred_ of them were applied to, and refused to sign it.
The truth is, that his number of souls is vastly exaggerated. The
dwelling-houses in the province in 1752 did not exceed 20,000.
Political arithmeticians reckon generally but five souls to a
house, one house with another; and therefore, allowing for houses
since built, there are not probably more than an hundred and ten
thousand souls in the province; that of these, scarce twenty two
thousand could with any propriety be petitioners. And considering
the scattered settlement of the province; the general inattention
of mankind, especially in new countries, to public affairs; and
the indefatigable pains taken by the proprietaries' new allies the
presbyterian clergy of Philadelphia, (who wrote circular letters to
every congregation in the county, to deter them from petitioning, by
dutiful intimations, that if we were reduced to a royal government,
it would be the "ruin of the province;") it is a wonder the number
(near a sixth part) was so great as it was. But if there had been
no such petitions, it would not have been material to the point.
The _assembly_ went upon another foundation. They had adjourned to
consult their constituents; they returned satisfied that the measure
was agreeable to them, and _nothing appeared to the contrary_.
[68] The assembly being called upon by the governor for their advice
on that occasion did, in a message, advise his sending for and
examining the magistrates of Lancaster county and borough, where the
murders were committed, in order to discover the actors; but neither
that nor any of the other measures recommended were ever taken.
Proclamations indeed were published, but soon discontinued.
[69] Mr. Galloway's speech is of course omitted here. _Editor._
_Remarks on a late Protest against the Appointment of Mr. Franklin
as Agent for this Province_ [of Pensylvania].
I have generally passed over, with a silent disregard, the _nameless_
abusive pieces that have been written against me; and though this
paper, called a _protest_, is signed by some respectable names, I
was, nevertheless, inclined to treat it with the same indifference;
but, as the assembly is therein reflected on upon my account, it is
thought more my duty to make some remarks upon it.
I would first observe then, that this mode of _protesting_ by the
minority, with a string of reasons against the proceedings of the
majority of the house of assembly, is quite new among us; the present
is the second we have had of the kind, and both within a few months.
It is unknown to the practice of the house of commons, or of any
house of representatives in America, that I have heard of; and seems
an affected imitation of the lords in parliament, which can by no
means become assemblymen of America. Hence appears the absurdity
of the complaint, that the house refused the protest an _entry_
on their minutes. The protesters know, that they are not, by any
custom or usage, intitled to such an entry; and that the practice
here is not only useless in itself, but would be highly inconvenient
to the house, since it would probably be thought necessary for the
majority also to enter their reasons, to justify themselves to their
constituents; whereby the minutes would be incumbered and the public
business obstructed. More especially will it be found inconvenient,
if such protests are made use of as a new form of libelling, as the
vehicles of personal malice, and as means of giving to private abuse
the appearance of a sanction as public acts. Your protest, gentlemen,
was therefore properly refused; and since it is no part of the
proceedings of assembly, one may with the more freedom examine it.
Your first reason against my appointment is, that you "believe me to
be the chief author of the measures pursued by the last assembly,
which have occasioned _such uneasiness_ and distraction among the
good people of this province." I shall not dispute my share in those
measures; I hope they are such as will in time do honour to all
that were concerned in them. But you seem mistaken in the order of
time: it was the uneasiness and distraction among the good people
of the province that occasioned the measures; the province was in
confusion before they were taken, and they were pursued in order to
prevent such uneasiness and distraction for the future. Make one
step farther back, and you will find proprietary injustice supported
by proprietary minions and creatures, the original cause of all our
uneasiness and distractions.
Another of your reasons is, "that I am, as you are informed, very
_unfavourably_ thought of by several of his _majesty's ministers_." I
apprehend, gentlemen, that your informer is mistaken. He indeed has
taken great pains to give unfavourable impressions of me, and perhaps
may flatter himself, that it is impossible so much true industry
should be totally without effect. His long success in maiming or
murdering all the reputations that stand in his way (which has been
the dear delight and constant employment of his life) may likewise
have given him some just ground for confidence, that he has, as
they call it, _done for me_, among the rest. But, as I said before,
I believe he is mistaken. For what have I done, that they should
think unfavourably of me? It cannot be my constantly and uniformly
promoting the measures of the crown, ever since I had any influence
in the province. It cannot, surely, be my promoting the change from a
proprietary to a royal government. If indeed I had, by speeches and
writings, endeavoured to make his majesty's government universally
odious in the province: if I had harangued by the week to all comers
and goers, on the pretended injustice and oppressions of royal
government, and the slavery of the people under it: if I had written
traitorous papers to this purpose, and got them translated into other
languages, to give his majesty's foreign subjects here those horrible
ideas of it: if I had declared, written, and printed, that "the
king's little finger we should find heavier than the proprietor's
whole loins," with regard to our liberties; _then indeed_ might the
ministers be supposed to think unfavourably of me. But these are not
exploits for a man, who holds a profitable office under the crown,
and can expect to hold it no longer than he behaves with the fidelity
and duty that becomes every good subject. They are only for officers
of proprietary appointment, who hold their commissions during his,
and not the king's pleasure; and who, by dividing among themselves
and their relations, offices of many thousands a year enjoyed by
proprietary favour, _feel_ where to place their loyalty. I wish they
were as good subjects to his majesty; and perhaps they may be so,
when the proprietary interferes no longer.
Another of your reasons is, "that the proposal of me for _an agent_
is extremely disagreeable to a very great number of the most serious
and reputable inhabitants of the province; and the _proof_ is, my
having been rejected at the last election, though I had represented
the city in assembly for fourteen years."
And do those of you, gentlemen, reproach me with this, who, among
near four thousand voters, had scarcely a score more than I had? It
seems then, that your _elections_ were very near being _rejections_,
and thereby furnishing the same proof in your case that you
produce in mine, of _your_ being likewise extremely disagreeable to
a very great number of the most serious and reputable people. Do
you, honourable sir, reproach me with this, who, for almost twice
fourteen years have been rejected (if _not being chosen_ is _to be
rejected_) by the same people? and (unable, with all your wealth and
connections, and the influence they give you, to obtain an election
in the county where you reside, and the city where you were born,
and are best known) have been obliged to accept a seat from one of
the out-counties, the remotest of the province!--It is known, sir,
to the persons who proposed me, that I was first chosen against my
inclination, and against my entreaties that I might be suffered
to remain a private man. In none of the fourteen elections you
mention, did I ever appear as a candidate. I never did, directly or
indirectly, solicit any man's vote. For six of the years in which
I was annually chosen, I was absent, residing in England; during
all which time, your secret and open attacks upon my character and
reputation were incessant; and yet you gained no ground. And can you
really, gentlemen, find matter of triumph in this _rejection_ as you
call it? A moment's reflection on the means by which it was obtained
must make you ashamed of it.
Not only my duty to the crown, in carrying the post-office act more
duly into execution, was made use of to exasperate the ignorant, as
if I was encreasing my own profits, by picking their pockets; but my
very zeal in opposing the murderers, and supporting the authority of
government; and even my humanity, with regard to the innocent Indians
under our protection, were mustered among my offences, to stir up
against me those religious bigots, who are of all savages the most
brutish. Add to this, the numberless falshoods propagated as truths,
and the many perjuries procured among the wretched rabble, brought to
swear themselves intitled to a vote: And yet so _poor a superiority_
obtained at all this expence of honour and conscience! can this,
gentlemen, be matter of triumph? Enjoy it then. Your exultation,
however, was short. Your artifices did not prevail every where; nor
your double tickets and whole boxes of forged votes. A great majority
of the new-chosen assembly were of the old members, and remain
uncorrupted. They still stood firm for the people, and will obtain
justice from the proprietaries. But what does that avail to you, who
are in the proprietary interest? And what comfort can it afford you,
when, by the assembly's choice of an agent, it appears that the same,
to you obnoxious, man (notwithstanding all your venomous invectives
against him) still retains so great a share of the public confidence?
But "this step, you say, gives you the more lively affliction, as it
is taken at the _very moment_ when you were informed by a member of
the house, that the governor had assured him of his having received
instructions from the proprietaries, to give his assent to the
taxation of their estates; in the _same manner_ that the estates
of other persons are to be taxed; and also _to confirm_, for the
public use, the several squares formerly _claimed_ by the city."
O the force of friendship! the power of interest! What politeness
they infuse into a writer, and what _delicate_ expressions they
produce!--The dispute between the proprietaries and us was about the
_quantum_, the _rate_ of their taxation, and not about the _manner_;
but now, when all the world condemns them for requiring a partial
exemption of their estates, and they are forced to submit to an
honest equality, it is called "_assenting_ to be taxed in the _same
manner_ with the people." Their _restitution_ of five public squares
in the plan of the city, which they had near forty years unjustly
and dishonourably seized and detained from us, (directing their
surveyor to map streets over them, in order to turn them into lots,
and their officers to sell a part of them;) this their _disgorging_
is softly called _confirming_ them for the public use; and instead
of the plain words "_formerly given_ to the city, by the first
proprietary, their father," we have the cautious pretty expression
of "formerly _claimed_ by the city:" Yes; not only _formerly_, but
_always_ claimed, ever since they were _promised_ and _given_ to
encourage the settlers; and ever will be _claimed_, till we are
put in actual possession of them. It is pleasant, however, to see
how lightly and tenderly you trip over these matters, as if you
trod upon eggs. But that "_very moment_," that precious moment!
Why was it so long delayed? Why were those healing instructions so
long withheld and concealed from the people? They were, it seems,
brought over by Mr. Allen:[70] intelligence was received by various
hands from London, that orders were sent by the proprietaries, from
which great hopes were entertained of an accommodation. Why was
the bringing and the delivery of such orders so long _denied_? The
reason is easily understood. Messieurs Barclays, friends to both
proprietaries and people, wished for that gentleman's happy arrival;
hoping his _influence_, added to the _power_ and _commissions_ the
proprietaries had vested him with, might prove effectual in restoring
harmony and tranquillity among us; but _he_, it seems, hoped his
_influence_ might do the business, without those additions. There
appeared on his arrival some prospect (from sundry circumstances) of
a _change_ to be made in the house by the approaching election. The
proprietary friends and creatures knew the heart of their master;
and how extremely disagreeable to him that _equal taxation_, that
_restitution_, and the other _concessions_ to be made for the sake of
a reconciliation, must necessarily be. They hoped therefore to spare
him all those mortifications, and thereby secure a greater portion
of his favour. Hence the instructions were not produced to the last
assembly, though they arrived before the September sitting, when the
governor was in town, and actually did business with the house. Nor
to the new assembly were they mentioned, till the "_very moment_,"
the fatal moment, when the house were on the point of choosing that
wicked adversary of the proprietary to be an _agent_ for the province
in England.
But I have, you say, a "fixed _enmity to the proprietaries_," and
"you believe it will _preclude all accommodation_ of our disputes
with them, even on just and reasonable terms." And why do you think
I have a fixed enmity to the proprietaries? I have never had any
personal difference with them. I am no land-jobber; and therefore
have never had any thing to do with their land-office or officers; if
I had, probably, like others, I might have been obliged to truckle
to their measures, or have had like causes of complaint. But our
private interests never clashed; and all their resentment against
me, and mine to them, has been on the public account. Let them do
justice to the people of Pensylvania, act honourably by the citizens
of Philadelphia, and become honest men; my enmity, if that's of
any consequence, ceases from the "_very moment_;" and, as soon as
I possibly can, I promise to love, honour and respect them. In the
mean time, why do you "believe it will preclude all _accommodation_
with them on just and reasonable terms?" Do you not boast, that their
gracious condescensions are in the hands of the governor; and that
"if this had been the usual time for business, his honour would have
sent them down in a message to the house." How then can my going
to England prevent this accommodation? The governor can call the
house when he pleases; and, one would think, that, at least in your
opinion, my being out of the way would be a favourable circumstance.
For then, by "cultivating the disposition shown by the proprietaries,
every _reasonable demand_ that can be made on the part of the people
might be obtained: in vigorously insisting on which, you promise to
unite most earnestly with the rest of the house." It seems then we
have "_reasonable demands_" to make, and, as you call them a little
higher, _equitable demands_. This is much for proprietary minions to
own; but you are all growing better, in imitation of your master,
which is indeed very commendable. And if the accommodation here
should fail, I hope, that though you dislike the person a majority
of two to one in the house have thought fit to appoint an agent,
you will nevertheless, in duty to your country, continue the noble
resolution of uniting with the rest of the house, in vigorously
insisting on that _equity_ and _justice_, which such an union will
undoubtedly obtain for us.
I pass over the trivial charge against the assembly, that they "acted
with _unnecessary haste_ in proceeding to this appointment, without
making a small adjournment," &c. and your affected apprehensions of
danger from that haste. The necessity of expedition on this occasion
is as obvious to every one out of doors, as it was to those within;
and the fears you mention are not, I fancy, considerable enough
to break your rest. I come then to your _high_ charge against me,
"that I heretofore ventured, _contrary_ to an act of assembly, to
place the public money in the stocks; whereby this province suffered
a loss of 6000_l._ and that sum, added to the 5000_l._ granted for my
expences, makes the whole cost of my former voyage to England amount
to _eleven thousand pounds_!" How wisely was that form in our laws
contrived, which, when a man is arraigned for his life, requires
the evidence to speak _the truth_, the _whole truth_, and _nothing
but the truth_! The reason is manifest. A falshood may destroy the
innocent, so may _part of a truth_ without _the whole_; and a mixture
of truth and falshood may be full as pernicious. You, Mr. Chief
Justice, and the other justices among the protesters, and you, sir,
who are a counsellor at law, must all of you be well acquainted with
this excellent form; and when you arraigned my reputation (dearer
to me than life) before the assembly, and now at the respectable
tribunal of the public, would it not have well become your honours
to have had some small regard at least to the spirit of that form?
You might have mentioned, that the direction of the act, to lodge
the money in the bank, subject to the drafts of the trustees of the
loan-office here, was impracticable; that the bank refused to receive
it on those terms, it being contrary to their settled rules to take
charge of money subject to the orders of unknown people living in
distant countries. You might have mentioned, that the house being
informed of this, and having no immediate call for the money, did
_themselves_ adopt the measure of placing it in the stocks, which
then were low, where it might on a peace produce a considerable
profit, and in the mean time accumulate an interest: that they even
passed a bill, directing the subsequent sums granted by parliament to
be placed with the former: that the measure was prudent and safe; and
that the loss arose, not from _placing_ the money _in_ the stocks,
but from the imprudent and unnecessary _drawing it out_ at the very
time when they were lowest, on some slight uncertain rumours of a
peace concluded: that if the assembly had let it remain another year,
instead of losing they would have gained _six thousand pounds_; and
that after all, since the exchange at which they sold their bills
was near _twenty per cent_ higher when they drew than when the
stocks were purchased, the loss was far from being so great as you
represent it. All these things you might have said; for they are, and
you know them to be, part of the _whole truth_; but they would have
spoiled your accusation. The late speaker of your honourable house,
Mr. Norris, (who has, I suppose, all my letters to him, and copies
of his own to me, relating to that transaction) can testify with how
much integrity and clearness I managed the whole affair. All the
house were sensible of it, being from time to time fully acquainted
with the facts. If I had gone to gaming in the stocks with the
public money, and through my fault a sum was lost, as your protest
would insinuate, why was I not censured and punished for it when I
returned? You, honourable sir, (my enemy of seven years standing) was
then in the house. You were appointed on the committee for examining
my accounts; you reported, that you found them just, and signed
that report.[71] I never solicited the employ of agent; I made no
bargain for my future service, when I was ordered to England by the
assembly; nor did they vote me any salary. I lived there near six
years at my own expence, and I made no charge or demand when I came
home. You, sir, of all others, was the very member that proposed (for
the honour and justice of the house) a compensation to be made me
of the _five thousand pounds_ you mention. Was it with an intent to
reproach me thus publicly for accepting it? I thanked the house for
it then, and I thank you now for proposing it: though you, who have
lived in England, can easily conceive, that besides the prejudice to
my private affairs by my absence, a _thousand pounds_ more would not
have reimbursed me. The money voted was immediately paid me. But if
I had occasioned the loss of _six thousand pounds_ to the province,
here was a fair opportunity of securing easily the greatest part
of it; why was not the _five thousand pounds_ deducted, and the
remainder called for? The reason is, this accusation was not then
invented. Permit me to add, that supposing the whole _eleven thousand
pounds_ an expence occasioned by my voyage to England, yet the
taxation of the proprietary estate now established will, when valued
by years purchase, be found in time an advantage to the public, far
exceeding that expence. And if the expence is at present a burthen,
the odium of it ought to lie on those, who, by their injustice, made
the voyage necessary; and not on me, who only submitted to the orders
of the house in undertaking it.
I am now to take leave (perhaps a last leave) of the country I
love, and in which I have spent the greatest part of my life.--ESTO
PERPETUA.--I wish every kind of prosperity to my friends,--and I
forgive my enemies.
B. FRANKLIN.
_Philadelphia, Nov. 5, 1764._
FOOTNOTES:
[70]
_Extract of a Letter, dated London, August 6, 1764, from David Barclay
and Sons, to Messieurs James and Drinker._
"We very much wish for William Allen's happy arrival on your side;
when we hope his influence, added to the _power_ and _commissions_
the proprietaries have invested him with, may prove effectual, in
restoring harmony and tranquillity among you, so much to be desired
by every well-wisher to your province. Pray be assured of our
sincerest and best wishes for the success of this salutary work,
and that nothing in our power, to contribute thereto, will ever be
wanting."
[71]
_Report of the Committee on Benjamin Franklin's Accounts._
"In obedience to the order of the house, we have examined the account
of Benjamin Franklin, Esq. with the vouchers to us produced in
support thereof, and do find the same account to be just, and that he
has expended, in the immediate service of this province, the sum of
_seven hundred and fourteen pounds, ten shillings and seven-pence_,
out of the sum of _fifteen hundred pounds_ sterling to him remitted
and paid, exclusive of any allowance or charge for his support and
services for the province.
JOHN MORTON, JOHN HUGHES,
WILLIAM ALLEN, SAMUEL RHOADS,
JOHN ROSS, JOHN WILKINSON,
JOHN MOOR, ISAAC PEARSON.
JOSEPH FOX,
February 19, 1763.
"The house taking the foregoing report of the committee of accounts
into consideration, and having spent some time therein,
"RESOLVED,
"That the sum of _five hundred pounds_ sterling _per annum_ be
allowed and given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq. late agent for the
province of Pensylvania at the court of Great Britain, during his
absence of six years from his business and connections, in the
service of the public; and that the thanks of this house be also
given to the said gentleman by Mr. Speaker, from the chair; as
well for the faithful discharge of his duty to this province in
particular, as for the many and important services done America in
general, during his residence in Great Britain."
_Thursday, March 31, 1763._
"Pursuant to a resolve of the nineteenth of last month, that the
thanks of this house be given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq. for his many
services not only to the province of Pensylvania, but to America in
general, during his late agency at the court of Great Britain; the
same were this day accordingly given in form from the chair.--To
which Mr. Franklin, respectfully addressing himself to the Speaker,
made answer, That he was thankful to the house, for the very
handsome and generous allowance they had been pleased to make him
for his services; but that the approbation of this house was, in his
estimation, far above every other kind of recompence." _Votes_, 1763.
_Remarks on a Plan for the future Management of Indian Affairs[72]._
The regulations in this plan seem to me to be in general very good:
but some few appear to want explanation, or farther consideration.
_Clause_ 3. Is it intended by this clause, to prevent the trade that
Indians, living near the frontiers, may choose to carry on with the
inhabitants, by bringing their skins into the [English] settlements?
This prevention is hardly practicable; as such trade may be carried
on in many places out of the observation of government; the frontier
being of great extent, and the inhabitants thinly settled in the
woods, remote from each other. The Indians too do not every where
live in towns sufficiently numerous to encourage traders to reside
among them, but in scattered families, here and there, often shifting
their situation for the sake of better hunting; and if they _are_
near the English settlements, it would seem to them very hard to be
obliged to carry their skins for sale to remote towns or posts, when
they could dispose of them to their neighbours, with less trouble,
and to greater advantage; as the goods they want for them, are and
must be dearer at such remote posts.
4. The colony "laws for regulating Indian affairs or commerce" are
the result of long experience, made by people on the spot, interested
to make them good; and it would be well to consider the matter
thoroughly, before they are repealed, to make way for new untried
schemes.
By whom are they to be repealed? By the colony assemblies, or by
parliament? Some difficulty will arise here.
13. The districts seem too large for this. The Indians under the care
of the northern superintendant, by this plan, border on the colonies
of Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia: the
superintendant's situation, remote from many of these, may occasion
great inconvenience, if his consent is always to be necessary in such
cases.
14. This seems too much to be done, when the vastness of the district
is considered. If there were more districts and smaller, it might be
more practicable.
15 and 16. Are these agents or commissaries to try causes where life
is concerned? Would it not be better, to send the criminals into some
civil well settled government or colony for trial, where good juries
can be had?
18. "_Chief for the whole tribe; who shall constantly reside with the
commissary, &c._" Provision must then be made for his maintenance,
as particular Indians have no estates, but live by hunting, and
their public has no funds or revenues. Being used to rambling, it
would perhaps not be easy to find one, who would be obliged to this
constant residence; but it may be tried.
22. If the agent and his deputies, and the commissaries, are not to
trade, should it not be a part of their oath, that they will have no
concern in such trade, directly or indirectly? Private agreements
between them and the traders, for share of profits, should be guarded
against, and the same care taken to prevent, if possible, private
agreements between them and the purchasers of Indian lands.
31. ---- "or trading at any other post, &c." This should be so
expressed, as to make the master liable for the offence of the
servant; otherwise it will have no effect.
33. I doubt the settling of _tariffs_ will be a matter of difficulty.
There may be differences of fineness, goodness, and value, in the
goods of different traders, that cannot be properly allowed for by
general tariffs. And it seems contrary to the nature of commerce,
for government to interfere in the prices of commodities. Trade is a
voluntary thing between buyer and seller; in every article of which,
each exercises his own judgment, and is to please himself. Suppose
either Indian or trader is dissatisfied with the tariff, and refuses
barter on those terms, are the refusers to be compelled? if not, why
should an Indian be forbidden to take more goods for skins than your
tariff allows, if the trader is willing to give them, or a trader
more skins for his goods, if the Indian is willing to give them?
Where there are a number of different traders, the separate desire
of each to get more custom will operate in bringing down their goods
to a reasonable price. It therefore seems to me, that trade will
best find and make its own rates; and that government cannot well
interfere, unless it will take the whole trade into its own hands (as
in some colonies it does) and manage it by its own servants, at its
own risque.
38. I apprehend, that if the Indians cannot get _rum_ of fair
traders, it will be a great means of defeating all these regulations,
that direct the trade to be carried on at certain posts. The
countries and forests are so very large, it is scarce possible to
guard every part, so as to prevent unlicensed traders drawing the
Indians and the trade to themselves, by rum and other spiritous
liquors, which all savage people are so fond of. I think they will
generally trade where they can get rum, preferably to where it is
refused them; and the proposed prohibition will therefore be a great
encouragement to unlicensed traders, and promote such trade. If the
commissaries, or officers at the posts, can prevent the selling of
rum during the barter for other goods, and until the Indians are
about going away, it is perhaps all that is practicable or necessary.
The missionaries will, among other things, endeavour to prevail with
them to live soberly and avoid drunkenness.
39. The Indian trade, so far as _credit_ is concerned, has hitherto
been carried on wholly upon honour. They have among themselves no
such things as prisons or confinements for debt. This article seems
to imply, that an Indian may be compelled by law to pay a debt of
fifty shillings or under. Our legal method of compulsion is by
imprisonment: the Indians cannot and will not imprison one another;
and if we attempt to imprison them, I apprehend it would be generally
disliked by the nations, and occasion breaches. They have such
high ideas of the value of personal liberty, and such slight ones
of the value of personal property;[73] that they would think the
disproportion monstrous between the liberty of a man, and a debt of
a few shillings; and that it would be excessively inequitable and
unjust, to take away the one for a default in payment of the other.
It seems to me therefore best, to leave that matter on its present
footing; the debts _under_ fifty shillings as irrecoverable by law,
as this article proposes for the debts _above_ fifty shillings.
Debts of honour are generally as well paid as other debts. Where
no compulsion can be used, it is more disgraceful to be dishonest.
If the trader thinks his risque greater in trusting any particular
Indian, he will either not do it, or proportion his price to his
risque.
44. As the goods for the Indian trade all come from England, and the
peltry is chiefly brought to England; perhaps it will be best to lay
the duty here, on the exportation of the one, and the importation of
the other, to avoid meddling with the question, of the right to lay
duties in America by parliament here.
If it is thought proper to carry the trading part of this plan into
execution, would it not be well to _try it first in a few posts_,
to which the present colony laws for regulating the Indian trade do
not reach; that by experience its utility may be ascertained, or its
defects discovered and amended, before it is made general, and those
laws repealed to make way for it?--If the Indians find by experience,
that they are better used in their trade at the posts, under these
regulations, than at other places, may it not make them desirous of
having the regulations extended to other places; and when extended,
better satisfied with them upon reflection and comparison[74]?
FOOTNOTES:
[72] The plan remarked upon was under the consideration of ministry
before the close of the year 1766, and (as I am inclined to think)
after the commencement of 1765. I can go no nearer as to its date.
It is needless to enter into the particulars of it, as the remarks
explain themselves; except perhaps as to the following points. The
trade was to be open; there were to be two superintendants to it; in
the northern district the trade was to be carried on at fixed posts,
in the southern within the Indian town; the military were to have no
power over the superintendants or the Indian trade, even in war time,
unless with the superintendants' assent, or in great exigencies;
the superintendants, by themselves or deputies, were to make annual
visitations among the Indians, to see to justice, &c. and their
proceedings were to be very summary; and no credit was to be given to
the Indians beyond fifty shillings, for no higher debt was to be made
recoverable. B. V.
[73] For an account of the sentiments and manners of the Indians, see
an essay by our author in a subsequent part of this volume. _Editor._
[74] The editor has given the following memorandum of Indian
_fighting men_, inhabiting near the distant posts, in 1762; to
indulge the curious in future times. The paper is in Dr. Franklin's
hand-writing: but it must not be mistaken as containing a list of the
whole of the nations enumerated, but only such part of them as lived
near the places described. B. V.
A list of the number of fighting men of the different nations of
Indians, through which I (George Croghan) passed, living at or near
the several posts.
SANDUSKY.
Wyandotts and Mohickons 200
DETROIT.
Poutauwautimies 150
Ottawas 250
Wyandotts 250
Cheapwas 320 970
MICHILEMAKINAC.
Ottawas 250
Cheapwas 400 650
LA BAY.
Meynomeneys 110
Pervons 360
Sax 300
Reynard 320 1090
ST. JOSEPH'S.
Poutauwautimies 200
Ottawas (some distance) 150 350
THE MIAMIES.
Mincamies or Twigtwees 230
OUITANON.
Ouitanons 200
Thickapoose 180
Musquiton 90
Pyankishaws 100 570
SHAWANESE.
At the lower town, on Scioto 240
At the upper town, on Muskingum 60 300
----
4360
There is a nation, back of the Bay, who used formerly to come there
to visit the French when they were in possession of that post, called
_La Sieu_, computed to be 2500 fighting men; who have this summer
sent word to Mr. Gorrell, who commands there, that they purpose
paying him a visit late this fall or in the spring.
PAPERS
ON
AMERICAN SUBJECTS,
DURING THE
_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.
PAPERS
ON
AMERICAN SUBJECTS,
DURING THE
_REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES_.
_Causes of the American Discontents before 1768[75]._
The waves never rise but when the winds blow.
PROV.
SIR,
As the cause of the present ill humour in America, and of the
resolutions taken there to purchase less of our manufactures, does
not seem to be generally understood, it may afford some satisfaction
to your readers, if you give them the following short historical
state of facts.
From the time that the colonies were first considered as capable
of _granting aids to the crown_, down to the end of the last war,
it is said, that the constant mode of obtaining those aids was,
by requisition made from the crown, through its governors, to the
several assemblies, in circular letters from the secretary of state,
in his majesty's name, setting forth the occasion, requiring them
to take the matter into consideration, and expressing a reliance on
their prudence, duty, and affection to his majesty's government, that
they would grant such sums, or raise such numbers of men, as were
suitable to their respective circumstances.
The colonies, being accustomed to this method, have from time to time
granted money to the crown, or raised troops for its service, in
proportion to their abilities, and, during all the last war, beyond
their abilities; so that considerable sums were returned them yearly
by parliament, as they had exceeded their proportion.
Had this happy method of requisition been continued (a method that
left the king's subjects in those remote countries the pleasure
of showing their zeal and loyalty, and of imagining that they
recommended themselves to their sovereign by the liberality of their
voluntary grants) there is no doubt, but all the money that could
reasonably be expected to be raised from them in any manner, might
have been obtained, without the least heart-burning, offence, or
breach of the harmony of affections and interests, that so long
subsisted between the two countries.
It has been thought wisdom in a government exercising sovereignty
over different kinds of people, to have _some regard to prevailing
and established opinions_ among the people to be governed, wherever
such opinions might in their effects obstruct or promote public
measures. If they tend to obstruct public service, they are to be
changed, if possible, before we attempt to act against them; and they
can only be changed by reason and persuasion. But if public business
can be carried on without thwarting those opinions, if they can be,
on the contrary, made subservient to it; they are not unnecessarily
to be thwarted, how absurd such popular opinions may be in their
nature.
This had been the wisdom of our government with respect to raising
money in the colonies. It was well known, that the colonists
universally were of opinion, that no money could be levied from
English subjects but by their own consent, given by themselves or
their chosen representatives; that therefore whatever money was to be
raised from the people in the colonies must first be granted by their
assemblies, as the money raised in Britain is first to be granted by
the house of commons; that this right of granting their own money was
essential to English liberty; and that if any man, or body of men in
which they had no representative of their choosing, could tax them
at pleasure, they could not be said to have any property, any thing
they could call their own. But as these opinions did not hinder their
granting money voluntarily and amply, whenever the crown, by its
servants, came into their assemblies (as it does into its parliaments
of Britain or Ireland) and demanded aids; therefore that method was
chosen, rather than the hateful one of arbitrary taxes.
I do not undertake here to support these opinions of the Americans;
they have been refuted by a late act of parliament, declaring its own
power; which very parliament, however, showed wisely so much tender
regard to those inveterate prejudices, as to repeal a tax that had
militated against them. And those prejudices are still so fixed and
rooted in the Americans, that it has been supposed, not a single
man among them has been convinced of his error, even by that act of
parliament.
The person then, who first projected to lay aside the accustomed
method of requisition, and to raise money on America by _stamps_,
seems not to have acted wisely, in deviating from that method
(which the colonists looked upon as constitutional) and thwarting
unnecessarily the fixed prejudices of so great a number of the king's
subjects. It was not, however, for want of knowledge, that what he
was about to do would give them offence; he appears to have been
very sensible of this, and apprehensive that it might occasion some
disorders; to prevent or suppress which, he projected another bill,
that was brought in the same session with the stamp act, whereby
it was to be made lawful for military officers in the colonies to
quarter their soldiers in private houses. This seemed intended to awe
the people into a compliance with the other act. Great opposition
however being raised here against the bill by the agents from the
colonies and the merchants trading thither (the colonists declaring,
that under such a power in the army, no one could look on his house
as his own, or think he had a home, when soldiers might be thrust
into it and mixed with his family at the pleasure of an officer) that
part of the bill was dropped; but there still remained a clause, when
it passed into a law, to oblige the several assemblies to provide
quarters for the soldiers, furnishing them with firing, bedding,
candles, small beer or rum, and sundry other articles, at the expence
of the several provinces. And this act continued in force when the
stamp act was repealed; though, if obligatory on the assemblies, it
equally militated against the American principle above mentioned,
that money is not to be raised on English subjects without their
consent.
The colonies, nevertheless, being put into high good humour by the
repeal of the stamp act, chose to avoid a fresh dispute upon the
other, it being temporary and soon to expire, never, as they hoped,
to revive again; and in the mean time they, by various ways, in
different colonies, provided for the quartering of the troops, either
by acts of their own assemblies, without taking notice of the act
of parliament, or by some variety or small diminution, as of salt
and vinegar, in the supplies required by the act; that what they
did might appear a voluntary act of their own, and not done in due
obedience to an act of parliament, which, according to their ideas of
their rights, they thought hard to obey.
It might have been well if the matter had then passed without
notice; but a governor having written home an angry and aggravating
letter upon this conduct in the assembly of his province, the
outed [proposer[76]] of the stamp act and his adherents (then in
the opposition) raised such a clamour against America, as being in
rebellion, and against those who had been for the repeal of the stamp
act, as having thereby been encouragers of this supposed rebellion;
that it was thought necessary to enforce the quartering act by
another act of parliament, taking away from the province of New York
(which had been the most explicit in its refusal) all the powers of
legislation, till it should have complied with that act. The news
of which greatly alarmed the people every where in America, as the
language of such an act seemed to them to be--obey implicitly laws
made by the parliament of Great Britain to raise money on you without
your consent, or you shall enjoy no rights or privileges at all.
At the same time a person lately in high office[77] projected the
levying more money from America, by new duties on various articles
of our own manufacture (as glass, paper, painters' colours, &c.)
appointing a new board of customs, and sending over a set of
commissioners, with large salaries, to be established at Boston,
who were to have the care of collecting those duties, which were by
the act expressly mentioned to be intended for the payment of the
salaries of governors, judges, and other officers of the crown in
America; it being a pretty general opinion here, that those officers
ought not to depend on the people there, for any part of their
support.
It is not my intention to combat this opinion. But perhaps it may be
some satisfaction to your readers, to know what ideas the Americans
have on the subject. They say then, as to governors, that they
are not like princes whose posterity have an inheritance in the
government of a nation, and therefore an interest in its prosperity;
they are generally strangers to the provinces they are sent to
govern; have no estate, natural connection, or relation there, to
give them an affection for the country; that they come only to make
money as fast as they can; are sometimes men of vicious characters
and broken fortunes, sent by a minister merely to get them out of the
way; that as they intend staying in the country no longer than their
government continues, and purpose to leave no family behind them,
they are apt to be regardless of the good-will of the people, and
care not what is said or thought of them after they are gone. Their
situation at the same time gives them many opportunities of being
vexatious; and they are often so, notwithstanding their dependence
on the assemblies for all that part of their support, that does not
arise from fees established by law, but would probably be much more
so, if they were to be supported by money drawn from the people
without their consent or good-will, which is the professed design of
this new act. That if by means of these forced duties, government
is to be supported in America, without the intervention of the
assemblies, their assemblies will soon be looked upon as useless; and
a governor will not call them, as having nothing to hope from their
meeting, and perhaps something to fear from their inquiries into,
and remonstrances against, his mal-administration. That thus the
people will be deprived of their most essential right. That it being
(as at present) a governor's interest to cultivate the good-will,
by promoting the welfare of the people he governs, can be attended
with no prejudice to the mother-country, since all the laws he may be
prevailed on to give his assent to are subject to revision here, and
if reported against by the board of trade, are immediately repealed
by the crown; nor dare he pass any law contrary to his instructions;
as he holds his office during the pleasure of the crown, and his
securities are liable for the penalties of their bonds, if he
contravenes those instructions. This is what they say as to governors.
As to _judges_, they alledge, that being appointed from hence, and
holding their commissions not during good behaviour, as in Britain,
but during pleasure: all the weight of interest or influence would
be thrown into one of the scales (which ought to be held even) if
the salaries are also to be paid out of duties raised upon the
people without their consent, and independent of their assemblies
approbation or disapprobation of the judges behaviour. That it is
true, judges should be free from all influence; and therefore,
whenever government here will grant commissions to able and honest
judges during good behaviour, the assemblies will settle permanent
and ample salaries on them during their commissions; but at present,
they have no other means of getting rid of an ignorant or an unjust
judge (and some of scandalous characters have, they say, been
sometimes sent them) left, but by starving them out.
I do not suppose these reasonings of theirs will appear here to have
much weight. I do not produce them with an expectation of convincing
your readers. I relate them merely in pursuance of the task I have
imposed on myself, to be an impartial historian of American facts and
opinions. -- --
The colonists being thus greatly alarmed, as I said before, by the
news of the act for abolishing the legislature of New York, and the
imposition of these new duties, professedly for such disagreeable
purposes (accompanied by a new set of revenue officers, with large
appointments, which gave strong suspicions, that more business of
the same kind was soon to be provided for them, that they might
earn their salaries) began seriously to consider their situation;
and to revolve afresh in their minds, grievances, which, from their
respect and love for this country, they had long borne and seemed
almost willing to forget. They reflected how lightly the interest
of _all_ America had been estimated here, when the interests of
a _few_ of the inhabitants of Great Britain happened to have the
smallest competition with it. That the whole American people was
forbidden the advantage of a direct importation of wine, oil, and
fruit, from Portugal; but must take them loaded with all the expence
of a voyage one thousand leagues round about, being to be landed
first in England, to be re-shipped for America; expences amounting,
in war-time, at least to thirty pounds per cent more than otherwise
they would have been charged with; and all this merely, that a few
Portugal merchants in London may gain a commission on those goods
passing through their hands. (Portugal merchants, by the bye, that
can complain loudly of the smallest hardships laid on their trade by
foreigners, and yet even in the last year could oppose with all their
influence the giving ease to their fellow-subjects labouring under so
heavy an oppression!) That on a slight complaint of a few Virginia
merchants, nine colonies had been restrained from making paper-money,
become absolutely necessary to their internal commerce, from the
constant remittance of their gold and silver to Britain.--But not
only the interest of a particular body of _merchants_, but the
interest of any small body of British _tradesmen or artificers_ has
been found, they say, to outweigh that of all the king's subjects in
the colonies. There cannot be a stronger natural right than that of
a man's making the best profit he can of the natural produce of his
lands, provided he does not thereby hurt the state in general. Iron
is to be found every where in America, and beaver are the natural
produce of that country: hats, and nails and steel are wanted there
as well as here. It is of no importance to the common welfare of the
empire, whether a subject of the king gets his living by making hats
on this, or on that side of the water. Yet the hatters of England
have prevailed to obtain an act in their own favour, restraining
that manufacture in America; in order to oblige the Americans to
send their beaver to England to be manufactured, and purchase back
the hats, loaded with the charges of a double transportation. In
the same manner have a few nail-makers, and still a smaller body of
steel-makers (perhaps there are not half a dozen of these in England)
prevailed totally to forbid by an act of parliament the erecting of
slitting-mills, or steel furnaces in America; that the Americans may
be obliged to take all their nails for their buildings, and steel for
their tools, from these artificers, under the same disadvantages.[78]
Added to these, the Americans remembered the act authorizing the most
cruel insult that perhaps was ever offered by one people to another,
that of _emptying our gaols_ into their settlements; Scotland too
having within these two years obtained the privilege it had not
before, of sending its rogues and villains also to the plantations--I
say, reflecting on these things, they said one to another (their
newspapers are full of such discourses) "These people are not content
with making a monopoly of us (forbidding us to trade with any other
country of Europe, and compelling us to buy every thing of them,
though in many articles we could furnish ourselves ten, twenty, and
even to fifty per cent cheaper elsewhere;) but now they have as good
as declared they have a right to tax us ad libitum, internally and
externally; and that our constitutions and liberties shall all be
taken away, if we do not submit to that claim.
"They are not content with the high prices at which they sell us
their goods, but have now begun to enhance those prices by new
duties, and by the expensive apparatus of a new set of officers,
appear to intend an augmentation and multiplication of those
burthens, that shall still be more grievous to us. Our people have
been foolishly fond of their superfluous modes and manufactures,
to the impoverishing our own country, carrying off all our cash,
and loading us with debt; they will not suffer us to restrain the
luxury of our inhabitants, as they do that of their own, by laws:
they can make laws to discourage or prohibit the importation of
French superfluities: but though those of England are as ruinous to
us as the French ones are to them, if we make a law of that kind,
they immediately repeal it. Thus they get all our money from us by
trade; and every profit we can any where make by our fisheries,
our produce, or our commerce, centres finally with them;--but this
does not satisfy.--It is time then to take care of ourselves by
the best means in our power. Let us unite in solemn resolution and
engagements with and to each other, that we will give these new
officers as little trouble as possible, by not consuming the British
manufactures on which they are to levy the duties. Let us agree to
consume no more of their expensive gewgaws. Let us live frugally,
and let us industriously manufacture what we can for ourselves:
thus we shall be able honourably to discharge the debts we already
owe them; and after that, we may be able to keep some money in
our country, not only for the uses of our internal commerce, but
for the service of our gracious sovereign, whenever he shall have
occasion for it, and think proper to require it of us in the old
constitutional manner.--For notwithstanding the reproaches thrown
out against us in their public papers and pamphlets, notwithstanding
we have been reviled in their senate as rebels and traitors, we are
truly a loyal people. Scotland has had its rebellions, and England
its plots against the present royal family; but _America is untainted
with those crimes_; there is in it scarce a man, there is not a
single native of our country, who is not firmly attached to his King
by principle and by affection. But a new kind of loyalty seems to
be required of us, a loyalty to parliament; a loyalty, that is to
extend, it is said, to a surrender of all our properties, whenever
a house of commons, in which there is not a single member of our
chusing, shall think fit to grant them away without our consent, and
to a patient suffering the loss of our privileges as Englishmen, if
we cannot submit to make such surrender. We were separated too far
from Britain by the ocean, but we were united to it by respect and
love; so that we could at any time freely have spent our lives and
little fortunes in its cause: but this unhappy new system of politics
tends to dissolve those bands of union, and to sever us for ever."
These are the wild ravings of the, at present, half-distracted
Americans. To be sure, no reasonable man in England can approve
of such sentiments, and, as I said before, I do not pretend to
support or justify them: but I sincerely wish, for the sake of the
manufactures and commerce of Great Britain, and for the sake of the
strength, which a firm union with our growing colonies would give us,
that these people had never been thus needlessly driven out of their
senses.
I am, yours, &c.
F. S.[79]
FOOTNOTES:
[75] This letter first appeared in a London paper, January 7, 1768,
and was afterwards reprinted as a postscript to The true Sentiments
of America, printed for Almon, 1768. B. V.
[76] Mr. George Grenville. B. V.
[77] Mr. Charles Townsend. B. V.
[78] I shall here give the reader the note at the end of the fourth
paragraph of the farmer's seventh letter (written by Mr. Dickenson.)
"Many remarkable instances might be produced of the extraordinary
inattention with which bills of great importance concerning these
colonies have passed in parliament; which is owing, as it is
supposed, to the bills being brought in, by the persons who have
points to carry, so artfully framed, that it is not easy for the
members in general in the haste of business, to discover their
tendency.
"The following instances show the truth of this remark.
"When Mr. Grenville, in the violence of reformation and innovation,
formed the 4th George III. chap. 15th, for regulating the American
trade, the word 'Ireland' was dropt in the clause relating to our
iron and lumber, so that we could send these articles to no other
part of Europe, but to Great Britain. This was so unreasonable a
restriction, and so contrary to the sentiments of the legislature,
for many years before, that it is surprising it should not have been
taken notice of in the house. However, the bill passed into a law.
But when the matter was explained, this restriction was taken off in
a subsequent act.
"I cannot say, how long after the taking off this restriction, as I
have not the acts, but I think in less than eighteen months, another
act of parliament passed, in which the word 'Ireland' was left out as
it had been before. The matter being a second time explained was a
second time regulated.
"Now if it be considered, that the omission mentioned, struck off,
with one word, so very great a part of our trade, it must appear
remarkable: and equally so is the method by which rice became an
enumerated commodity, and therefore could be carried to Great Britain
only.
"The enumeration was obtained, (says Mr. Gee on Trade, p. 32) by
one Cole, a captain of a ship, employed by a company then trading
to Carolina; for several ships going from England thither, and
purchasing rice for Portugal, prevented the aforesaid captain of a
loading. Upon his coming home he possessed one Mr. Lowndes, a member
of parliament, (who was frequently employed to prepare bills) with an
opinion, that carrying rice directly to Portugal was a prejudice to
the trade of England, and privately got a clause into an act to make
it an enumerated commodity, by which means he secured a freight to
himself. But the consequence proved a vast loss to the nation.
"I find that this clause, 'privately got into an act, for the benefit
of Captain Cole, to the vast loss of the nation,' is foisted into the
3d Anne, chapter 5th, intitled, 'an act for granting to her majesty
a further subsidy on wines and merchandizes imported,' with which
it has no more connection, than with 34th Edward I. 34th and 35th
of Henry VIII. or the 25th Charles II. which provide that no person
shall be taxed but by himself or his representatives." B. V.
[79] F. S. possibly means Franklin's Seal. The paper, however, is
undoubtedly the production of Dr. Franklin.
In the _collection of tracts on the subjects of taxing the British
colonies in America, and regulating their trade_ (printed in 1773,
in 4 vols. 8vo. by Almon) I find _two_ papers, said there to have
been published originally in 1739, and to have been drawn up by a
club of American merchants, at the head of whom were Sir William
Keith (governor of Pensylvania), Joshua Gee, and many other eminent
persons. The _first_ paper proposes the raising a small body of
regular troops under the command of an officer appointed by the
crown and independent of the governors (who were nevertheless to
assist him in council on emergent occasions) in order to protect the
Indian trade, and take care of the boundaries and back settlements.
They were to be supported by a revenue to be established by _act of
parliament_, in America; which revenue was to arise out of a duty
on _stampt paper and parchment_. The _second_ paper goes into the
particulars of this proposed stamp duty, offers reasons for extending
it over all the British plantations, and recites its supposed
advantages. If these papers are at all genuine (a fact about which I
am not in the least informed) Mr. George Grenville does not appear to
have been original in conceiving _stamps_ as a proper subject for his
new tax. See ib. vol. I. B. V.
_Letter concerning the Gratitude of America, and the probability
and effects of an Union with Great Britain; and concerning the
Repeal or Suspension of the Stamp-Act._[80]
_Jan. 6, 1766._
SIR,
I have attentively perused the paper you sent me, and am of opinion,
that the measure it proposes, of an _union_ with the colonies, is a
wise one: but I doubt it will hardly be thought so here, till it is
too late to attempt it. The time has been, when the colonies would
have esteemed it a great advantage, as well as honour to them, to be
permitted to send members to parliament; and would have asked for
that privilege, if they could have had the least hopes of obtaining
it. The time is now come, when they are indifferent about it, and
will probably not ask it, though they might accept it if offered
them; and the time will come, when they will certainly refuse it.
But if such an union were now established (which methinks it highly
imports this country to establish) it would probably subsist as long
as Britain shall continue a nation. This people, however, is too
proud, and too much despises the Americans, to bear the thought of
admitting them to such an equitable participation in the government
of the whole. Then the _next best_ thing seems to be, leaving them
in the quiet enjoyment of their respective constitutions; and when
money is wanted for any public service in which they ought to bear
a part, calling upon them by requisitorial letters from the crown
(according to the long established custom) to grant such aids as
their loyalty shall dictate, and their abilities permit. The very
sensible and benevolent author of that paper, seems not to have
known, that such a constitutional custom subsists, and has always
hitherto been practised in America; or he would not have expressed
himself in this manner: "It is evident beyond a doubt, to the
intelligent and impartial, that after the very extraordinary efforts,
which were effectually made by Great Britain in the late war to
save the colonists from destruction, and attended of necessity with
an enormous load of debts in consequence, that the same colonists,
now firmly secured from foreign enemies, should be somehow induced
to contribute some proportion towards the exigencies of state in
future." This looks as if he conceived the war had been carried on
at the sole expence of Great Britain, and the colonies only reaped
the benefit, without hitherto sharing the burthen, and were therefore
now indebted to Britain on that account. And this is the same kind
of argument that is used by those who would fix on the colonies the
heavy charge of unreasonableness and ingratitude, which I think
your friend did not intend. Please to acquaint him then, that the
fact is not so: that every year during the war, requisitions were
made by the crown on the colonies for raising money and men; that
accordingly they made _more extraordinary_ efforts, in proportion
to their abilities, than Britain did; that they raised, paid and
clothed, for five or six years, near 25,000 men, besides providing
for other services (as building forts, equipping guard-ships, paying
transports, &c.) And that this was more than their fair proportion is
not merely an opinion of mine, but was the judgment of government
here, in full knowledge of all the facts; for the then ministry, to
make the burthen more equal, recommended the case to parliament, and
obtained a reimbursement to the Americans of about 200,000_l._ sterling
every year; which amounted only to about two fifths of their expence;
and great part of the rest lies still a load of debt upon them; heavy
taxes on all their estates, real and personal, being laid by acts
of their assemblies to discharge it, and yet will not discharge it
in many years. While then these burthens continue: while Britain
restrains the colonies in every branch of commerce and manufactures
that she thinks interferes with her own; while she drains the
colonies, by her trade with them, of all the cash they can procure
by every art and industry in any part of the world, and thus keeps
them always in her debt: (for they can make no law to discourage the
importation of your to _them_ ruinous superfluities, as _you_ do
the superfluities of France; since such a law would immediately be
reported against by your board of trade, and repealed by the crown:)
I say while these circumstances continue, and while there subsists
the established method of royal requisitions, for raising money on
them by their own assemblies on every proper occasion; can it be
necessary or prudent to distress and vex them by taxes laid here, in
a parliament wherein they have no representative, and in a manner
which they look upon to be unconstitutional and subversive of their
most valuable rights; and are they to be thought unreasonable and
ungrateful if they oppose such taxes? Wherewith, they say, shall we
show our loyalty to our gracious king, if our money is to be given
by others, without asking our consent? And if the parliament has a
right thus to take from us a penny in the pound, where is the line
drawn that bounds that right, and what shall hinder their calling
whenever they please for the other nineteen shillings and eleven
pence? Have we then any thing that we can call our own? It is more
than probable, that bringing representatives from the colonies to sit
and act here as members of parliament, thus uniting and consolidating
your dominions, would in a little time _remove_ these objections
and difficulties, and make the future government of the colonies
easy: but, till some such thing is done, I apprehend no taxes, laid
there by parliament here, will ever be collected, but such as must
be stained with blood: and I am sure the profit of such taxes will
never answer the expence of collecting them, and that the respect and
affection of the Americans to this country will in the struggle be
totally lost, perhaps never to be recovered; and therewith all the
commercial and political advantages, that might have attended the
continuance of this respect and this affection.
In my own private judgment I think an immediate repeal of the
stamp-act would be the best measure for _this_ country; but a
suspension of it for three years, the best for _that_. The _repeal_
would fill them with joy and gratitude, re-establish their respect
and veneration for parliament, restore at once their ancient and
natural love for this country, and their regard for every thing
that comes from it; hence the trade would be renewed in all its
branches; they would again indulge in all the expensive superfluities
you supply them with, and their own new assumed home industry
would languish. But the _suspension_, though it might continue
their fears and anxieties, would at the same time keep up their
resolutions of industry and frugality; which in two or three years
would grow into habits, to their lasting advantage. However, as the
repeal will probably not be now agreed to,[81] from what I think a
mistaken opinion, that the honour and dignity of government is better
supported by persisting in a wrong measure once entered into, than
by rectifying an error as soon as it is discovered; we must allow
the next best thing for the advantage of both countries is, the
suspension; for as to executing the act by force, it is madness, and
will be ruin to the whole.
The rest of your friend's reasonings and propositions appear to me
truly just and judicious; I will therefore only add, that I am as
desirous of his acquaintance and intimacy, as he was of my opinion.
I am, with much esteem,
Your obliged friend.
FOOTNOTES:
[80] The name of the person to whom this letter is addressed cannot
be made out in the original copy. The letter, to which it is a reply,
appears to have contained the letter of some third person equally
unknown to the editor. B. V.
[81] It was however agreed to in the same year, viz. in 1766. B. V.
_Letter from Governor Pownall to Dr. Franklin, concerning an equal
communication of rights, privileges, &c. to America by Great
Britain._[82]
DEAR SIR,
The following _objection_ against communicating to the colonies the
rights, privileges, and powers of the realm, as to parts of the
realm, has been made. I have been endeavouring to obviate it, and I
communicate [it] to you, in hopes of your promised assistance.
If, _say the objectors_, we communicate to the colonies the power
of sending representatives, and in consequence expect them to
participate in an _equal share and proportion_ of all our taxes, we
must grant to them all the powers of trade and manufacturing, which
any other parts of the realm within the isle of Great Britain enjoy:
if so, perchance the profits of the Atlantic commerce may converge to
some centre in America; to Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, or to some
of the isles: if so, then the natural and artificial produce of the
colonies, and in course of consequences the landed interest of the
colonies, will be promoted; while the natural and artificial produce
and landed interest of Great Britain will be depressed, to its utter
ruin and destruction; and consequently the balance of the power of
government, although still _within the realm_, will be _locally_
transferred from Great Britain to the colonies. Which consequence,
however it may suit a citizen of the world, must be folly and madness
to a Briton.--My fit is gone off, and though weak, both from the gout
and a concomitant and very ugly fever, I am much better.--Would be
glad to see you.
Your friend,
J. POWNALL.
FOOTNOTE:
[82] This letter bears no date. It was written possibly about the
time that governor Pownall was engaged in publishing his book on the
_administration of the colonies_. B. V.
_On the back of the foregoing letter of Governor Pownall, are the
following minutes, by Dr. Franklin._
This _objection_ goes upon the supposition, that whatever the
colonies gain, Britain must lose; and that if the _colonies_ can be
kept from gaining an advantage, _Britain will gain it_:--
If the colonies are fitter for a particular trade than Britain, they
should have it, and Britain apply to what it is more fit for. The
whole empire is a gainer. And if Britain is not so fit or so well
situated for a particular advantage, _other_ countries will get
it, _if the colonies do not_. Thus Ireland was forbid the woollen
manufacture and remains poor: but this has given to the French the
trade and wealth Ireland might have gained for the British empire.
The government cannot _long_ be retained without the union. Which is
best (supposing your case) to have a total separation, or a change
of the seat of government?--It by no means follows, that promoting
and advancing the landed interest in America will depress that
of Britain: the contrary has always been the fact. Advantageous
situations and circumstances will always secure and fix manufactures:
Sheffield against all Europe for these 300 years past.--
Impracticability.
Danger of innovation.
* * * * *
_The Examination of Dr. Benjamin Franklin before the English House
of Commons, in February, 1766, relative to the Repeal of the
American Stamp Act._[83]
_Q._ What is your name, and place of abode?
_A._ Franklin, of Philadelphia.
_Q._ Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?
_A._ Certainly many, and very heavy taxes.
_Q._ What are the present taxes in Pensylvania, laid by the laws of
the colony?
_A._ There are taxes on all estates real and personal; a poll tax; a
tax on all offices, professions, trades and businesses, according to
their profits; an excise on all wine, rum, and other spirits; and a
duty of ten pounds per head on all negroes imported, with some other
duties.
_Q._ For what purposes are those taxes laid?
_A._ For the support of the civil and military establishments of the
country, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war.
_Q._ How long are those taxes to continue?
_A._ Those for discharging the debt are to continue till 1772, and
longer, if the debt should not be then all discharged. The others
must always continue.
_Q._ Was it not expected that the debt would have been sooner
discharged?
_A._ It was, when the peace was made with France and Spain. But a
fresh war breaking out with the Indians, a fresh load of debt was
incurred; and the taxes, of course, continued longer by a new law.
_Q._ Are not all the people very able to pay those taxes?
_A._ No. The frontier counties, all along the continent, having been
frequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly impoverished, are able
to pay very little tax. And therefore, in consideration of their
distresses, our late tax laws do expressly favour those counties,
excusing the sufferers; and I suppose the same is done in other
governments.
_Q._ Are not you concerned in the management of the _post-office_ in
America?
_A._ Yes. I am deputy post-master general of North America.
_Q._ Don't you think the distribution of stamps _by post_ to all the
inhabitants very practicable, if there was no opposition?
_A._ The posts only go along the sea-coasts; they do not, except in a
few instances, go back into the country; and if they did, sending for
stamps by post would occasion an expence of postage, amounting, in
many cases, to much more than that of the stamps themselves.
_Q._ Are you acquainted with Newfoundland?
_A._ I never was there.
_Q._ Do you know whether there are any post-roads on that island?
_A._ I have heard that there are no roads at all, but that the
communication between one settlement and another is by sea only.
_Q._ Can you disperse the stamps by post in Canada?
_A._ There is only a post between Montreal and Quebec. The
inhabitants live so scattered and remote from each other in that vast
country, that posts cannot be supported among them, and therefore
they cannot get stamps per post. The _English colonies_ too along the
frontiers are very thinly settled.
_Q._ From the thinness of the back settlements, would not the stamp
act be extremely inconvenient to the inhabitants, if executed?
_A._ To be sure it would; as many of the inhabitants could not get
stamps when they had occasion for them, without taking long journeys,
and spending perhaps three or four pounds, that the crown might get
six-pence.
_Q._ Are not the colonies, from their circumstances, very able to pay
the stamp duty?
_A._ In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough in the
colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.[84]
_Q._ Don't you know that the money arising from the stamps was all to
be laid out in America?
_A._ I know it is appropriated by the act to the American service;
but it will be spent in the conquered colonies, where the soldiers
are; not in the colonies that pay it.
_Q._ Is there not a balance of trade due from the colonies where the
troops are posted, that will bring back the money to the old colonies?
_A._ I think not. I believe very little would come back. I know
of no trade likely to bring it back. I think it would come from
the colonies where it was spent, directly to England; for I have
always observed, that in every colony the more plenty the means of
remittance to England, the more goods are sent for, and the more
trade with England carried on.
_Q._ What number of white inhabitants do you think there are in
Pensylvania?
_A._ I suppose there may be about one hundred and sixty thousand.
_Q._ What number of them are Quakers?
_A._ Perhaps a third.
_Q._ What number of Germans?
_A._ Perhaps another third; but I cannot speak with certainty.
_Q._ Have any number of the Germans seen service, as soldiers, in
Europe?
_A._ Yes, many of them, both in Europe and America.
_Q._ Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp duty as the English?
_A._ Yes, and more; and with reason, as their stamps are, in many
cases, to be double[85].
_Q._ How many white men do you suppose there are in North America?
_A._ About three hundred thousand, from sixteen to sixty years of
age[86].
_Q._ What may be the amount of one year's imports into Pensylvania
from Britain?
_A._ I have been informed that our merchants compute the imports from
Britain to be above 500,000_l._
_Q._ What may be the amount of the produce of your province exported
to Britain?
_A._ It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted in
Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed 40,000_l._
_Q._ How then do you pay the balance?
_A._ The balance is paid by our produce carried to the West Indies
(and sold in our own islands, or to the French, Spaniards, Danes,
and Dutch)--by the same [produce] carried to other colonies in North
America, (as to New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina,
and Georgia)--by the same, carried to different parts of Europe, (as
Spain, Portugal, and Italy.) In all which places we receive either
money, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for remittance to
Britain; which, together with all the profits on the industry of our
merchants and mariners, arising in those circuitous voyages, and the
freights made by their ships, centre finally in Britain to discharge
the balance, and pay for British manufactures continually used in the
province, or sold to foreigners by our traders.
_Q._ Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on the Spanish
trade?
_A._ Yes, I have heard that it has been greatly obstructed by some
new regulations, and by the English men of war and cutters stationed
all along the coast in America.
_Q._ Do you think it right that America should be protected by this
country, and pay no part of the expence?
_A._ That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, and paid,
during the last war, near twenty-five thousand men, and spent many
millions.
_Q._ Were you not reimbursed by parliament?
_A._ We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, we had advanced
beyond our proportion, or beyond what might reasonably be expected
from us; and it was a very small part of what we spent. Pensylvania,
in particular, disbursed about 500,000_l._ and the reimbursements, in
the whole, did not exceed 60,000_l._
_Q._ You have said, that you pay heavy taxes in Pensylvania, what do
they amount to in the pound?
_A._ The tax on all estates, real and personal, is eighteen pence in
the pound, fully rated; and the tax on the profits of trades and
professions, with other taxes, do, I suppose, make full half-a-crown
in the pound.
_Q._ Do you know any thing of the _rate of exchange in_ Pensylvania,
and whether it has fallen lately?
_A._ It is commonly from one hundred and seventy to one hundred
and seventy-five. I have heard, that it has fallen lately from one
hundred and seventy-five to one hundred sixty-two and a half; owing,
I suppose, to their lessening their orders for goods; and when their
debts to this country are paid, I think the exchange will probably be
at par.
_Q._ Do not you think the people of America would submit to pay the
stamp duty, if it was moderated?
_A._ No, never, unless compelled by force of arms.
_Q._ Are not the taxes in Pensylvania laid on unequally, in order to
burthen the English trade; particularly the tax on professions and
business?
_A._ It is not more burthensome in proportion, than the tax on lands.
It is intended, and supposed to take an equal proportion of profits.
_Q._ How is the assembly composed? Of what kinds of people are the
members; landholders or traders?
_A._ It is composed of landholders, merchants, and artificers.
_Q._ Are not the majority landholders?
_A._ I believe they are.
_Q._ Do not they, as much as possible, shift the tax off from the
land, to ease that, and lay the burthen heavier on trade?
_A._ I have never understood it so. I never heard such a thing
suggested. And indeed an attempt of that kind could answer no
purpose. The merchant or trader is always skilled in figures, and
ready with his pen and ink. If unequal burthens are laid on his
trade, he puts an additional price on his goods; and the consumers,
who are chiefly landholders, finally pay the greatest part, if not
the whole.
_Q._ What was the temper of America towards Great Britain _before the
year_ 1763[87]?
_A._ The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the
government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, obedience to
acts of parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old
provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons,
or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this
country at the expence only of a little pen, ink, and paper: they
were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection
for Great Britain; for its laws, its customs, and manners, and even
a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce.
Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be
an _Old England-man_ was, of itself, a character of some respect, and
gave a kind of rank among us.
_Q._ And what is their temper now?
_A._ O, very much altered.
_Q._ Did you ever hear the authority of parliament to make laws for
America questioned till lately?
_A._ The authority of parliament was allowed to be valid in all laws,
except such as should lay internal taxes. It was never disputed in
laying duties to regulate commerce.
_Q._ In what proportion hath population increased in America?
_A._ I think the inhabitants of all the provinces together, taken at
a medium, double in about twenty-five years. But their demand for
British manufactures increases much faster; as the consumption is not
merely in proportion to their numbers, but grows with the growing
abilities of the same numbers to pay for them. In 1723, the whole
importation from Britain to Pensylvania was but about 15,000_l._
sterling; it is now near half a million.
_Q._ In what light did the people of America use to consider the
parliament of Great Britain?
_A._ They considered the parliament as the great bulwark and
security of their liberties and privileges, and always spoke of it
with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they
thought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they
relied on it, that the parliament, on application, would always give
redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this,
when a bill was brought into parliament, with a clause, to make royal
instructions laws in the colonies, which the house of commons would
not pass, and it was thrown out.
_Q._ And have they not still the same respect for parliament?
_A._ No, it is greatly lessened.
_Q._ To what causes is that owing?
_A._ To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their
trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into [the]
colonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper-money among
themselves,[88] and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps,
taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to
receive and hear their humble petitions.
_Q._ Don't you think they would submit to the stamp act, if it was
modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty reduced to some
particulars, of small moment?
_A._ No, they will never submit to it.
_Q._ What do you think is the reason that the people in America
increase faster than in England?
_A._ Because they marry younger, and more generally.
_Q._ Why so?
_A._ Because any young couple, that are industrious, may easily
obtain land of their own, on which they can raise a family.
_Q._ Are not the lower rank of people more at their ease in America
than in England?
_A._ They may be so, if they are sober and diligent; as they are
better paid for their labour.
_Q._ What is your opinion of a future tax, imposed on the same
principle with that of the stamp act? how would the Americans receive
it?
_A._ Just as they do this. They would not pay it.
_Q._ Have not you heard of the resolutions of this house, and of
the house of lords, asserting the right of parliament relating to
America, including a power to tax the people there?
_A._ Yes, I have heard of such resolutions.
_Q._ What will be the opinion of the Americans on those resolutions?
_A._ They will think them unconstitutional and unjust.
_Q._ Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that the parliament
had no right to lay taxes and duties there?
_A._ I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to
regulate commerce, but a right to lay internal taxes was never
supposed to be in parliament, as we are not represented there.
_Q._ On what do you found your opinion, that the people in America
made any such distinction?
_A._ I know that whenever the subject has occurred in conversation
where I have been present, it has appeared to be the opinion of every
one, that we could not be taxed in a parliament where we were not
represented. But the payment of duties laid by act of parliament as
regulations of commerce, was never disputed.
_Q._ But can you name any act of assembly, or public act of any of
your governments, that made such distinction?
_A._ I do not know that there was any; I think there was never an
occasion to make any such act, till now that you have attempted to
tax us: _that_ has occasioned resolutions of assembly, declaring the
distinction, in which I think every assembly on the continent, and
every member in every assembly, have been unanimous.
_Q._ What then could occasion conversations on that subject before
that time?
_A._ There was in 1754 a proposition made (I think it came from
hence) that in case of a war, which was then apprehended, the
governors of the colonies should meet, and order the levying of
troops, building of forts, and taking every other necessary measure
for the general defence; and should draw on the treasury here for the
sums expended; which were afterwards to be raised in the colonies
by a general tax, to be laid on them by _act of parliament_. This
occasioned a good deal of conversation on the subject; and the
general opinion was, that the parliament neither would nor could
lay any tax on us, till we were duly represented in parliament;
because it was not just, nor agreeable to the nature of an English
constitution.
_Q._ Don't you know there was a time in New York, when it was under
consideration to make an application to parliament to lay taxes on
that colony, upon a deficiency arising from the assembly's refusing
or neglecting to raise the necessary supplies for the support of the
civil government?
_A._ I never heard of it.
_Q._ There was such an application under consideration in New
York:--and do you apprehend they could suppose the right of
parliament to lay a tax in America was only local, and confined to
the case of a deficiency in a particular colony, by a refusal of its
assembly to raise the necessary supplies?
_A._ They could not suppose such a case, as that the assembly would
not raise the necessary supplies to support its own government. An
assembly that would refuse it must want common sense; which cannot be
supposed. I think there was never any such case at New York, and that
it must be a misrepresentation, or the fact must be misunderstood.
I know there have been some attempts, by ministerial instructions
from hence, to oblige the assemblies to settle permanent salaries
on governors, which they wisely refused to do; but I believe no
assembly of New York, or any other colony, ever refused duly to
support government by proper allowances, from time to time, to public
officers.
_Q._ But in case a governor, acting by instruction, should call on
an assembly to raise the necessary supplies, and the assembly should
refuse to do it, do you not think it would then be for the good of
the people of the colony, as well as necessary to government, that
the parliament should tax them?
_A._ I do not think it would be necessary. If an assembly could
possibly be so absurd, as to refuse raising the supplies requisite
for the maintenance of government among them, they could not long
remain in such a situation; the disorders and confusion occasioned by
it must soon bring them to reason.
_Q._ If it should not, ought not the right to be in Great Britain of
applying a remedy?
_A._ A right, only to be used in such a case, I should have no
objection to; supposing it to be used merely for the good of the
people of the colony.
_Q._ But who is to judge of that, Britain or the colony?
_A._ Those that feel can best judge.
_Q._ You say the colonies have always submitted to external taxes,
and object to the right of parliament only in laying internal taxes;
now can you show, that there is any kind of _difference between the
two taxes_ to the colony on which they may be laid?
_A._ I think the difference is very great. An _external_ tax is a
duty laid on commodities imported; that duty is added to the first
cost and other charges on the commodity, and, when it is offered to
sale, makes a part of the price. If the people do not like it at
that price, they refuse it; they are not obliged to pay it. But an
_internal_ tax is forced from the people without their consent, if
not laid by their own representatives. The stamp act says, we shall
have no commerce, make no exchange of property with each other,
neither purchase nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry
nor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums; and thus it is
intended to extort our money from us, or ruin us by the consequences
of refusing to pay it.
_Q._ But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid on the
necessaries of life imported into your colony, will not that be the
same thing in its effects as an internal tax?
_A._ I do not know a single article imported into the _northern_
colonies, but what they can either do without, or make themselves.
_Q._ Don't you think cloth from England absolutely necessary to them?
_A._ No, by no means absolutely necessary; with industry and good
management, they may very well supply themselves with all they want.
_Q._ Will it not take a long time to establish that manufacture among
them; and must they not in the mean while suffer greatly?
_A._ I think not. They have made a surprising progress already. And I
am of opinion, that before their old clothes are worn out, they will
have new ones of their own making.
_Q._ Can they possibly find wool enough in North America?
_A._ They have taken steps to increase the wool. They entered into
general combinations to eat no more lamb; and very few lambs were
killed last year. This course, persisted in, will soon make a
prodigious difference in the quantity of wool. And the establishing
of great manufactories, like those in the clothing towns here, is not
necessary, as it is where the business is to be carried on for the
purposes of trade. The people will all spin, and work for themselves,
in their own houses.
_Q._ Can there be wool and manufacture enough in one or two years?
_A._ In three years, I think there may.
_Q._ Does not the severity of the winter, in the northern colonies,
occasion the wool to be of bad quality?
_A._ No, the wool is very fine and good.
_Q._ In the more southern colonies, as in Virginia, don't you know,
that the wool is coarse, and only a kind of hair?
_A._ I don't know it. I never heard it. Yet I have been sometimes
in Virginia. I cannot say I ever took particular notice of the wool
there, but I believe it is good, though I cannot speak positively of
it; but Virginia, and the colonies south of it, have less occasion
for wool; their winters are short, and not very severe; and they
can very well clothe themselves with linen and cotton of their own
raising for the rest of the year.
_Q._ Are not the people in the more northern colonies obliged to
fodder their sheep all the winter?
_A._ In some of the most northern colonies they may be obliged to do
it, some part of the winter.
_Q._ Considering the resolutions of parliament[89], _as to the
right_; do you think, if the stamp act is repealed, that the North
Americans will be satisfied?
_A._ I believe they will.
_Q._ Why do you think so?
_A._ I think the resolutions of _right_ will give them very little
concern, if they are never attempted to be carried into practice. The
colonies will probably consider themselves in the same situation, in
that respect, with Ireland: they know you claim the same right with
regard to Ireland, but you never exercise it. And they may believe
you never will exercise it in the colonies, any more than in Ireland,
unless on some very extraordinary occasion.
_Q._ But who are to be the judges of that extraordinary occasion? Is
not the parliament?
_A._ Though the parliament may judge of the occasion, the people will
think it can never exercise such right, till representatives from
the colonies are admitted into parliament; and that, whenever the
occasion arises, representatives _will_ be ordered.
_Q._ Did you never hear that Maryland, during the last war, had
refused to furnish a quota towards the common defence?
_A._ Maryland has been much misrepresented in that matter. Maryland,
to my knowledge, never refused to contribute, or grant aids to the
crown. The assemblies, every year during the war, voted considerable
sums, and formed bills to raise them. The bills were, according
to the constitution of that province, sent up to the council, or
upper house, for concurrence, that they might be presented to the
governor, in order to be enacted into laws. Unhappy disputes between
the two houses--arising from the defects of that constitution
principally--rendered all the bills but one or two abortive. The
proprietary's council rejected them. It is true, Maryland did
contribute its proportion; but it was, in my opinion, the fault of
the government, not of the people.
_Q._ Was it not talked of in the other provinces as a proper measure,
to apply to parliament to compel them?
_A._ I have heard such discourse; but as it was well known, that the
people were not to blame, no such application was ever made, nor any
step taken towards it.
_Q._ Was it not proposed at a public meeting?
_A._ Not that I know of.
_Q._ Do you remember the abolishing of the paper-currency in New
England, by act of assembly?
_A._ I do remember its being abolished in the Massachusett's Bay.
_Q._ Was not lieutenant-governor Hutchinson principally concerned in
that transaction?
_A._ I have heard so.
_Q._ Was it not at that time a very unpopular law?
_A._ I believe it might, though I can say little about it, as I lived
at a distance from that province.
_Q._ Was not the _scarcity of gold and silver_ an argument used
against abolishing the paper?
_A._ I suppose it was[90].
_Q._ What is the present opinion there of that law? Is it as
unpopular as it was at first?
_A._ I think it is not.
_Q._ Have not instructions from hence been sometimes sent over to
governors, highly oppressive and unpolitical?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Have not some governors dispensed with them for that reason?
_A._ Yes, I have heard so.
_Q._ Did the Americans ever dispute the controling power of
parliament to regulate the commerce?
_A._ No.
_Q._ Can any thing less than a military force carry the stamp act
into execution?
_A._ I do not see how a military force can be applied to that purpose.
_Q._ Why may it not?
_A._ Suppose a military force sent into America, they will find
nobody in arms; what are they then to do? They cannot force a man
to take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will not find a
rebellion: they may indeed make one.
_Q._ If the act is not repealed, what do you think will be the
consequences?
_A._ A total loss of the respect and affection the people of America
bear to this country, and of all the commerce that depends on that
respect and affection.
_Q._ How can the commerce be affected?
_A._ You will find, that if the act is not repealed, they will take
very little of your manufactures in a short time.
_Q._ Is it in their power to do without them?
_A._ I think they may very well do without them.
_Q._ Is it their interest not to take them?
_A._ The goods they take from Britain are either necessaries,
mere conveniences, or superfluities. The first, as cloth, &c.
with a little industry they can make at home; the second they can
do without, till they are able to provide them among themselves;
and the last, which are much the greatest part, they will strike
off immediately. They are mere articles of fashion, purchased and
consumed, because the fashion in a respected country; but will now be
detested and rejected. The people have already struck off, by general
agreement, the use of all goods fashionable in mournings, and many
thousand pounds worth are sent back as unsaleable.
_Q._ Is it their interest to make cloth at home?
_A._ I think they may at present get it cheaper from Britain, I mean
of the same fineness and neatness of workmanship: but when one
considers other circumstances, the restraints on their trade, and the
difficulty of making remittances, it is their interest to make every
thing.
_Q._ Suppose an act of internal regulations connected with a tax, how
would they receive it?
_A._ I think it would be objected to.
_Q._ Then no regulation with a tax would be submitted to?
_A._ Their opinion is, that when aids to the crown are wanted, they
are to be asked of the several assemblies, according to the old
established usage; who will, as they always have done, grant them
freely. And that their money ought not to be given away, without
their consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted with their
circumstances and abilities. The granting aids to the crown is the
only means they have of recommending themselves to their sovereign;
and they think it extremely hard and unjust, that a body of men, in
which they have no representatives, should make a merit to itself of
giving and granting what is not its own, but theirs; and deprive them
of a right they esteem of the utmost value and importance, as it is
the security of all their other rights.
_Q._ But is not the post-office, which they have long received, a tax
as well as a regulation?
_A._ No; the money paid for the postage of a letter is not of the
nature of a tax; it is merely a _quantum meruit_ for a service done;
no person is compellable to pay the money, if he does not choose to
receive the service. A man may still, as before the act, send his
letter by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thinks
it cheaper and safer.
_Q._ But do they not consider the regulations of the post-office, by
the act of last year, as a tax?
_A._ By the regulations of last year the rate of postage was
generally abated near thirty per cent through all America; they
certainly cannot consider such abatement _as a tax_.
_Q._ If an excise was laid by parliament, which they might likewise
avoid paying, by not consuming the articles excised, would they then
not object to it?
_A._ They would certainly object to it, as an excise is unconnected
with any service done, and is merely an aid, which they think ought
to be asked of them, and granted by them, if they are to pay it; and
can be granted for them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not
impowered for that purpose.
_Q._ You say, they do not object to the right of parliament, in
laying duties on goods to be paid on their importation: now, is there
any kind of difference between a duty on the _importation_ of goods,
and an excise on their _consumption_?
_A._ Yes; a very material one: an excise, for the reasons I have
just mentioned, they think you can have no right to lay within their
country. But _the sea_ is yours; you maintain, by your fleets, the
safety of navigation in it, and keep it clear of pirates; you may
have therefore a natural and equitable right to some _toll_ or duty
on merchandizes carried through that part of your dominions, towards
defraying the expence you are at in ships to maintain the safety of
that carriage.
_Q._ Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty laid on the
produce of their lands _exported_? And would they not then object to
such a duty?
_A._ If it tended to make the produce so much dearer abroad, as to
lessen the demand for it, to be sure they would object to such a
duty; not to your right of laying it, but they would complain of it
as a burthen, and petition you to lighten it.
_Q._ Is not the duty paid on the tobacco exported, a duty of that
kind?
_A._ That, I think, is only on tobacco carried coast-wise, from one
colony to another, and appropriated as a fund for supporting the
college at Williamsburgh, in Virginia.
_Q._ Have not the assemblies in the West Indies the same natural
rights with those in North America?
_A._ Undoubtedly.
_Q._ And is there not a tax laid there on their sugars exported?
_A._ I am not much acquainted with the West Indies; but the duty of
four and a half per cent on sugars exported was, I believe, granted
by their own assemblies.[91]
_Q._ How much is the poll-tax in your province laid on unmarried men?
_A._ It is, I think, fifteen shillings, to be paid by every single
freeman, upwards of twenty-one years old.
_Q._ What is the annual amount of _all_ the taxes in Pensylvania?
_A._ I suppose about 20,000_l._ sterling.
_Q._ Supposing the stamp act continued and enforced, do you imagine
that ill-humour will induce the Americans to give as much for worse
manufactures of their own, and use them, preferably to better of ours?
_A._ Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely to gratify one
passion as another, their resentment as their pride.
_Q._ Would the people at Boston discontinue their trade?
_A._ The merchants are a very small number compared with the body
of the people, and must discontinue their trade, if nobody will buy
their goods.
_Q._ What are the body of the people in the colonies?
_A._ They are farmers, husbandmen, or planters.
_Q._ Would they suffer the produce of their lands to rot?
_A._ No; but they would not raise so much. They would manufacture
more, and plow less.
_Q._ Would they live without the administration of justice in civil
matters, and suffer all the inconveniencies of such a situation for
any considerable time, rather than take the stamps, supposing the
stamps were protected by a sufficient force, where every one might
have them?
_A._ I think the supposition impracticable, that the stamps should
be so protected as that every one might have them. The act requires
sub-distributors to be appointed in every county town, district,
and village, and they would be necessary. But the _principal_
distributors, who were to have had a considerable profit on the
whole, have not thought it worth while to continue in the office; and
I think it impossible to find sub-distributors fit to be trusted,
who, for the trifling profit that must come to their share, would
incur the odium, and run the hazard that would attend it; and if they
could be found, I think it impracticable to protect the stamps in so
many distant and remote places.
_Q._ But in places where they could be protected, would not the
people use them, rather than remain in such a situation, unable to
obtain any right, or recover, by law, any debt?
_A._ It is hard to say what they would do. I can only judge what
other people will think, and how they will act, by what I feel within
myself. I have a great many debts due to me in America, and I had
rather they should remain unrecoverable by any law, than submit to
the stamp act. They will be debts of honour. It is my opinion the
people will either continue in that situation, or find some way to
extricate themselves, perhaps by generally agreeing to proceed in the
courts without stamps.
_Q._ What do you think a sufficient military force to protect the
distribution of the stamps in every part of America?
_A._ A very great force, I can't say what, if the disposition of
America is for a general resistance.
_Q._ What is the number of men in America able to bear arms, or of
disciplined militia?
_A._ There are, I suppose, at least----
[_Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in again._]
_Q._ Is the American stamp act an equal tax on the country?
_A._ I think not.
_Q._ Why so?
_A._ The greatest part of the money must arise from law-suits for the
recovery of debts, and be paid by the lower sort of people, who were
too poor easily to pay their debts. It is therefore a heavy tax on
the poor, and a tax upon them for being poor.
_Q._ But will not this increase of expence be a means of lessening
the number of law-suits?
_A._ I think not; for as the costs all fall upon the debtor, and are
to be paid by him, they would be no discouragement to the creditor to
bring his action.
_Q._ Would it not have the effect of excessive usury?
_A._ Yes, as an oppression of the debtor.
_Q._ How many ships are there laden annually in North America with
_flax-seed_ for Ireland?
_A._ I cannot speak to the number of ships, but I know, that in 1752
ten thousand hogsheads of flax-seed, each containing seven bushels,
were exported from Philadelphia to Ireland. I suppose the quantity
is greatly increased since that time, and it is understood, that the
exportation from New York is equal to that from Philadelphia.
_Q._ What becomes of the flax that grows with that flax-seed?
_A._ They manufacture some into coarse, and some into a middling kind
of linen.
_Q._ Are there any _slitting-mills_ in America?[92]
_A._ I think there are three, but I believe only one at present
employed. I suppose they will all be set to work, if the interruption
of the trade continues.
_Q._ Are there any _fulling-mills_ there?
_A._ A great many.
_Q._ Did you never hear, that a great quantity of stockings were
contracted for, for the army, during the war, and manufactured in
Philadelphia?
_A._ I have heard so.
_Q._ If the stamp-act should be repealed, would not the Americans
think they could oblige the parliament to repeal every external
tax-law now in force?
_A._ It is hard to answer questions of what people at such a distance
will think.
_Q._ But what do you imagine they will think were the motives of
repealing the act?
_A._ I suppose they will think, that it was repealed from a
conviction of its inexpediency; and they will rely upon it, that
while the same inexpediency subsists, you will never attempt to make
such another.
_Q._ What do you mean by its inexpediency?
_A._ I mean its inexpediency on several accounts, the poverty and
inability of those who were to pay the tax, the general discontent it
has occasioned, and the impracticability of enforcing it.
_Q._ If the act should be repealed, and the legislature should show
its resentment to the opposers of the stamp-act, would the colonies
acquiesce in the authority of the legislature? What is your opinion
they would do?
_A._ I don't doubt at all, that if the legislature repeal the
stamp-act, the colonies will acquiesce in the authority.
_Q._ But if the legislature should think fit to ascertain its right
to lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, contrary to their
opinion, would they submit to pay the tax?
_A._ The proceedings of the people in America have been considered
too much together. The proceedings of the assemblies have been very
different from those of the mobs, and should be distinguished, as
having no connection with each other. The _assemblies_ have only
peaceably resolved what they take to be their rights: they have
taken no measures for opposition by force, they have not built a
fort, raised a man, or provided a grain of ammunition, in order to
such opposition. The ring-leaders of riots, they think ought to be
punished; they would punish them themselves, if they could. Every
sober, sensible man would wish to see rioters punished, as otherwise
peaceable people have no security of person or estate.--But as to an
internal tax, how small soever, laid by the legislature here on the
people there, while they have no representatives in this legislature,
I think it will never be submitted to: they will oppose it to the
last.--They do not consider it as at all necessary for you to raise
money on them by your taxes; because they are, and always have been,
ready to raise money by taxes among themselves, and to grant large
sums, equal to their abilities, upon requisition from the crown. They
have not only granted equal to their abilities, but, during all the
last war, they granted far beyond their abilities, and beyond their
proportion with this country (you yourselves being judges) to the
amount of many hundred thousand pounds; and this they did freely and
readily, only on a sort of promise, from the secretary of state, that
it should be recommended to parliament to make them compensation. It
was accordingly recommended to parliament, in the most honourable
manner for them. America has been greatly misrepresented and abused
here, in papers, and pamphlets, and speeches, as ungrateful, and
unreasonable, and unjust; in having put this nation to immense
expence for their defence, and refusing to bear any part of that
expence. The colonies raised, paid, and clothed, near twenty-five
thousand men during the last war; a number equal to those sent from
Britain, and far beyond their proportion; they went deeply into debt
in doing this, and all their taxes and estates are mortgaged, for
many years to come, for discharging that debt. Government here was
at that time very sensible of this. The colonies were recommended
to parliament. Every year the king sent down to the house a written
message to this purpose, "that his majesty, being highly sensible
of the zeal and vigour with which his faithful subjects in North
America had exerted themselves, in defence of his majesty's just
rights and possessions; recommended it to the house to take the
same into consideration, and enable him to give them a proper
compensation." You will find those messages on your own journals
every year of the war to the very last; and you did accordingly
give 200,000_l._ annually to the crown, to be distributed in such
compensation to the colonies. This is the strongest of all proofs
that the colonies, far from being unwilling to bear a share of the
burthen, did exceed their proportion; for if they had done less, or
had only equalled their proportion, there would have been no room or
reason for compensation. Indeed the sums, reimbursed them, were by no
means adequate to the expence they incurred beyond their proportion:
but they never murmured at that; they esteemed their sovereign's
approbation of their zeal and fidelity, and the approbation of this
house, far beyond any other kind of compensation, therefore there
was no occasion for this act, to force money from a willing people:
they had not refused giving money for the _purposes_ of the act, no
requisition had been made, they were always willing and ready to do
what could reasonably be expected from them, and in this light they
wish to be considered.
_Q._ But suppose Great Britain should be engaged in a _war in
Europe_, would North America contribute to the support of it?
_A._ I do think they would, as far as their circumstances would
permit. They consider themselves as a part of the British empire,
and as having one common interest with it: they may be looked on
here as foreigners, but they do not consider themselves as such.
They are zealous for the honour and prosperity of this nation; and,
while they are well used, will always be ready to support it, as far
as their little power goes.--In 1739 they were called upon to assist
in the expedition against Carthagena, and they sent three thousand
men to join your army.[93] It is true Carthagena is in America, but
as remote from the northern colonies, as if it had been in Europe.
They make no distinction of wars, as to their duty of assisting in
them. I know the _last war_ is commonly spoken of here as entered
into for the defence, or for the sake of the people in America. I
think it is quite misunderstood. It began about the limits between
Canada and Nova Scotia; about territories to which the _crown_ indeed
laid claim, but [which] were not claimed by any British _colony_;
none of the lands had been granted to any colonist, we had therefore
no particular concern or interest in that dispute.--As to the Ohio,
the contest there began about your right of trading in the Indian
country, a right you had by the treaty of Utretcht, which the French
infringed; they seized the traders and their goods, which were your
manufactures; they took a fort which a company of your merchants, and
their factors and correspondents had erected there, to secure that
trade. Braddock was sent with an army to re-take that fort (which
was looked on here as another incroachment on the king's territory)
and to protect your trade. It was not till after his defeat that the
colonies were attacked.[94] They were before in perfect peace with
both French and Indians; the troops were not therefore sent for their
defence. The trade with the Indians, though carried on in America, is
not an _American interest_. The people of America are chiefly farmers
and planters, scarce any thing that they raise or produce is an
article of commerce with the Indians. The Indian trade is a _British
interest_; it is carried on with British manufactures, for the profit
of British merchants and manufacturers; therefore the war, as it
commenced for the defence of territories of the crown (the property
of no American) and for the defence of a trade purely British, was
really a British war--and yet the people of America made no scruple
of contributing their utmost towards carrying it on, and bringing it
to a happy conclusion.
_Q._ Do you think then that the taking possession of the king's
territorial rights, and _strengthening the frontiers_, is not an
American interest?
_A._ Not particularly, but conjointly a British and an American
interest.
_Q._ You will not deny that the preceding war, the _war with Spain_,
was entered into for the sake of America; was it not _occasioned by
captures made in the American_ seas?
_A._ Yes; captures of ships carrying on the British trade there with
British manufactures.
_Q._ Was not the _late war with the_ Indians, _since the peace with
France_, a war for America only?
_A._ Yes; it was more particularly for America than the former; but
it was rather a consequence or remains of the former war, the Indians
not having been thoroughly pacified; and the Americans bore by much
the greatest share of the expence. It was put an end to by the army
under General Bouquet; there were not above three hundred regulars in
that army, and above one thousand Pensylvanians.
_Q._ Is it not necessary to send troops to America, to defend the
Americans against the Indians?
_A._ No, by no means; it never was necessary. They defended
themselves when they were but an handful, and the Indians much more
numerous. They continually gained ground, and have driven the Indians
over the mountains, without any troops sent to their assistance from
this country. And can it be thought necessary now to send troops for
their defence from those diminished Indian tribes, when the colonies
are become so populous, and so strong? There is not the least
occasion for it, they are very able to defend themselves.
_Q._ Do you say there were no more than three hundred regular troops
employed in the late Indian war?
_A._ Not on the Ohio, or the frontiers of Pensylvania, which was
the chief part of the war that affected the colonies. There were
garrisons at Niagara, Fort Detroit, and those remote posts kept for
the sake of your trade; I did not reckon them; but I believe that on
the whole the number of Americans, or provincial troops, employed in
the war, was greater than that of the regulars. I am not certain, but
I think so.
_Q._ Do you think the assemblies have a right to levy money on the
subject there, to grant _to the crown_?
_A._ I certainly think so, they have always done it.
_Q._ Are they acquainted with the declaration of rights? And do they
know that, by that statute, money is not to be raised on the subject
but by consent of parliament?
_A._ They are very well acquainted with it.
_Q._ How then can they think they have a right to levy money for the
crown, or for any other than local purposes?
_A._ They understand that clause to relate to subjects only within
the realm; that no money can be levied on them for the crown, but
by consent of parliament. _The colonies_ are not supposed to be
within the realm; they have assemblies of their own, which are their
parliaments, and they are, in that respect, in the same situation
with Ireland. When money is to be raised for the crown upon the
subject in Ireland, or in the colonies, the consent is given in
the parliament of Ireland, or in the assemblies of the colonies.
They think the parliament of Great Britain cannot properly give
that consent, till it has representatives from America; for the
petition of right expressly says, it is to be by _common consent in
parliament_; and the people of America have no representatives in
parliament, to make a part of that common consent.
_Q._ If the stamp act should be repealed, and an act should pass,
ordering the assemblies of the colonies to indemnify the sufferers by
the riots, would they obey it?
_A._ That is a question I cannot answer.
_Q._ Suppose the king should require the colonies to grant a revenue,
and the parliament should be against their doing it, do they think
they can grant a revenue to the king, _without_ the consent of the
parliament of Great Britain?
_A._ That is a deep question. As to my own opinion, I should think
myself at liberty to do it, and should do it, if I liked the occasion.
_Q._ When money has been raised in the colonies, upon requisitions,
has it not been granted to the king?
_A._ Yes, always; but the requisitions have generally been for some
service expressed, as to raise, clothe, and pay troops, and not for
money only.
_Q._ If the act should pass, requiring the American assemblies to
make compensation to the sufferers, and they should disobey it, and
then the parliament should, by another act, lay an internal tax,
would they then obey it?
_A._ The people will pay no internal tax; and I think an act to
oblige the assemblies to make compensation is unnecessary; for I am
of opinion, that as soon as the present heats are abated, they will
take the matter into consideration, and if it is right to be done,
they will do it of themselves.
_Q._ Do not letters often come into the post-offices in America
directed to some inland town where no post goes?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Can any private person take up those letters and carry them as
directed?
_A._ Yes; any friend of the person may do it, paying the postage that
has accrued.
_Q._ But must not he pay an additional postage for the distance to
such inland town?
_A._ No.
_Q._ Can the post-master answer delivering the letter, without being
paid such additional postage?
_A._ Certainly he can demand nothing, where he does no service.
_Q._ Suppose a person, being far from home, finds a letter in a
post-office directed to him, and he lives in a place to which the
post generally goes, and the letter is directed to that place, will
the post-master deliver him the letter, without his paying the
postage receivable at the place to which the letter is directed?
_A._ Yes; the office cannot demand postage for a letter that it does
not carry, or farther than it does carry it.
_Q._ Are not ferrymen in America obliged, by act of parliament, to
carry over the posts without pay?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Is not this a tax on the ferrymen?
_A._ They do not consider it as such, as they have an advantage from
persons travelling with the post.
_Q._ If the stamp-act should be repealed, and the crown should make a
requisition to the colonies for a sum of money, would they grant it?
_A._ I believe they would.
_Q._ Why do you think so?
_A._ I can speak for the colony I live in; I had it in _instruction_
from the assembly to assure the ministry, that as they always had
done, so they should always think it their duty, to grant such aids
to the crown as were suitable to their circumstances and abilities,
whenever called upon for that purpose, in the usual constitutional
manner; and I had the honour of communicating this instruction to
that honourable gentleman then minister.[95]
_Q._ Would they do this for a British concern, as suppose a war in
some part of Europe, that did not affect them?
_A._ Yes, for any thing that concerned the general interest. They
consider themselves as part of the whole.
_Q._ What is the usual constitutional manner of calling on the
colonies for aids?
_A._ A letter from the secretary of state.
_Q._ Is this all you mean; a letter from the secretary of state?
_A._ I mean the usual way of requisition, in a circular letter from
the secretary of state, by his majesty's command, reciting the
occasion, and recommending it to the colonies to grant such aids as
became their loyalty, and were suitable to their abilities.
_Q._ Did the secretary of state ever write for _money_ for the crown?
_A._ The requisitions have been to raise, clothe, and pay men, which
cannot be done without money.
_Q._ Would they grant money alone, if called on?
_A._ In my opinion they would, money as well as men, when they have
money, or can make it.
_Q._ If the parliament should repeal the stamp act, will the assembly
of Pensylvania rescind their resolutions?
_A._ I think not.
_Q._ Before there was any thought of the stamp act, did they wish for
a representation in parliament?
_A._ No.
_Q._ Don't you know that there is, in the Pensylvanian charter, an
express reservation of the right of parliament to lay taxes there?
_A._ I know there is a clause in the charter, by which the king
grants that he will levy no taxes on the inhabitants, unless it be
with the consent of the assembly, or by act of parliament.
_Q._ How then could the assembly of Pensylvania assert, that laying a
tax on them by the stamp act was an infringement of their rights?
_A._ They understand it thus: by the same charter, and otherwise,
they are intitled to all the privileges and liberties of Englishmen;
they find in the great charters, and the petition and declaration
of rights, that one of the privileges of English subjects is, that
they are not to be taxed but by their _common consent_; they have
therefore relied upon it, from the first settlement of the province,
that the parliament never would, nor could, by colour of that
clause in the charter, assume a right of taxing them, _till_ it had
qualified itself to exercise such right, by admitting representatives
from the people to be taxed, who ought to make a part of that common
consent.
_Q._ Are there any words in the charter that justify that
construction?
_A._ The common rights of Englishmen, as declared by Magna Charta,
and the petition of right, all justify it.
_Q._ Does the distinction between internal and external taxes exist
in the words of the charter?
_A._ No, I believe not.
_Q._ Then may they not, by the same interpretation, object to the
parliament's right of external taxation?
_A._ They never _have_ hitherto. Many arguments have been lately
used here to show them that there is no difference, and that if you
have no right to tax them internally, you have none to tax them
externally, or make any other law to bind them. At present they do
not reason so; but in time they may possibly be convinced by these
arguments.
_Q._ Do not the resolutions of the Pensylvania assembly say--all
taxes?
_A._ If they do, they mean only internal taxes; the same words have
not always the same meaning here and in the colonies. By taxes they
mean internal taxes; by duties they mean customs; these are their
ideas of the language.
_Q._ Have you not seen the resolutions of the Massachusett's Bay
assembly?
_A._ I have.
_Q._ Do they not say, that neither external nor internal taxes can be
laid on them by parliament?
_A._ I don't know that they do; I believe not.
_Q._ If the same colony should say, neither tax nor imposition could
be laid, does not that province hold the power of parliament can lay
neither?
_A._ I suppose that by the word imposition, they do not intend to
express duties to be laid on goods imported, as _regulations of
commerce_.
_Q._ What can the colonies mean then by imposition as distinct from
taxes?
_A._ They may mean many things, as impressing of men, or of
carriages, quartering troops on private houses, and the like; there
may be great impositions that are not properly taxes.
_Q._ Is not the post-office rate an internal tax laid by act of
parliament?
_A._ I have answered that.
_Q._ Are all parts of the colonies equally able to pay taxes?
_A._ No, certainly; the frontier parts, which have been ravaged by
the enemy, are greatly disabled by that means; and therefore, in such
cases, are usually favoured in our tax-laws.
_Q._ Can we, at this distance, be competent judges of what favours
are necessary?
_A._ The parliament have supposed it, by claiming a right to make
tax-laws for America; I think it impossible.
_Q._ Would the repeal of the stamp act be any discouragement of your
manufactures? Will the people that have begun to manufacture decline
it?
_A._ Yes, I think they will; especially if, at the same time, the
trade is opened again, so that remittances can be easily made. I have
known several instances that make it probable. In the war before
last, tobacco being low, and making little remittance, the people of
Virginia went generally into family-manufactures. Afterwards, when
tobacco bore a better price, they returned to the use of British
manufactures. So fulling-mills were very much disused in the last war
in Pensylvania, because bills were then plenty, and remittances could
easily be made to Britain for English cloth and other goods.
_Q._ If the stamp act should be repealed, would it induce the
assemblies of America to acknowledge the rights of parliament to tax
them, and would they erase their resolutions?
_A._ No, never.
_Q._ Are there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?
_A._ None that I know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by
force of arms.
_Q._ Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?
_A._ No power, how great soever, can force men to change their
opinions.
_Q._ Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or as a regulation?
_A._ Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency; _every
assembly_ encouraged it, and supported it in its infancy, by grants
of money, which they would not otherwise have done; and the people
have always paid the postage.
_Q._ When did you receive the instructions you mentioned?
_A._ I brought them with me, when I came to England, about fifteen
months since.
_Q._ When did you communicate that instruction to the minister?
_A._ Soon after my arrival,--while the stamping of America was under
consideration, and _before_ the bill was brought in.
_Q._ Would it be most for the interest of Great Britain, to employ
the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in manufactures?
_A._ In tobacco, to be sure.
_Q._ What used to be the pride of the Americans?
_A._ To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.
_Q._ What is now their pride?
_A._ To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new
ones.
_Withdrew._
FOOTNOTES:
[83] 1766. Feb. 3. Benjamin Franklin, Esq. and a number of other
persons were "ordered to attend the committee of the whole house [of
commons] to whom it was referred, to consider farther the several
papers [relative to America] which were presented to the house by Mr.
Secretary Conway, &c."
Feb. 13. Benjamin Franklin, Esq. having passed through his
examination, was exempted from farther attendance.
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 240 votes to 133. (See
the Journals of the House of Commons.)
This examination of Dr. Franklin was printed in the year 1767, under
the form of a shilling pamphlet. It is prior in point of date to some
of the foregoing pieces; but I readily submitted to this derangement,
thinking by this means to provide the reader with a knowledge of the
proceedings on which the examination was grounded. B. V.
[84] "The stamp act says, that the Americans shall have no commerce,
make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase nor
grant nor recover debts; they shall neither marry nor make their
wills, unless they pay such and such sums" in _specie_ for the stamps
which must give validity to the proceedings. The operation of such a
tax, had it obtained the consent of the people, appeared inevitable;
and its annual productiveness, if I recollect well, was estimated
by its proposer in the house of commons at the committee for
supplies, at 100,000_l._ sterling. The colonies being already reduced
to the necessity of having _paper_-money, by sending to Britain the
specie they collected in foreign trade, in order to make up for the
deficiency of their other returns for Britain's manufactures; there
were doubts where could remain the _specie_ sufficient to answer the
tax. B. V.
[85] The stamp act provides that a double duty should be laid "where
the instrument, proceedings, &c. shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, within the said colonies and plantations, in any other
than the English language." This measure, I presume, appeared to be
suggested by motives of convenience, and the policy of assimilating
persons of foreign to those of British descent, and preventing their
interference in the conduct of law business till this change should
be effected. It seems however to have been deemed too precipitate,
immediately to extend this clause to newly-conquered countries. An
exemption therefore was granted, in this particular, with respect to
Canada and Grenada, for the space of five years, to be reckoned from
the commencement of the duty. (See the Stamp Act.) B. V.
[86] Strangers excluded, some parts of the northern colonies double
their numbers in fifteen or sixteen years; to the southward they are
longer, but, taking one with another, they have doubled by natural
generation only, once in twenty-five years. Pensylvania, I believe,
_including strangers_, has doubled in about sixteen years. The
calculation for February 1766 will not then suit 1779. B. V.
[87] In the year 1733--"for the welfare and prosperity of our
sugar colonies in America," and "for remedying discouragements of
planters;" duties were "_given and granted_" to George the Second
upon all rum, spirits, molasses, syrups, sugar, and paneles of
foreign growth, produce, and manufacture, imported into our colonies.
This _regulation of trade_, for the benefit of the general empire
was acquiesced in, notwithstanding the introduction of the novel
terms "give and grant." But the act, which was made only for the
term of five years, and had been several times renewed in the
reign of George the Second, and once in the reign of George the
Third; was renewed again in the year 1763, in the reign of George
the Third, and _extended to other articles, upon new and altered
grounds_. It was stated in the preamble to this act, "that it was
expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established
for _improving the revenue of this kingdom_;" "that it was just and
necessary that a revenue should be raised in America for defending,
protecting, and securing the same;" "and that the commons of Great
Britain ... desirous of making some provision ... towards _raising
the said revenue_ in America, have resolved to give and grant to
his majesty the several rates and duties, &c." Mr. Mauduit, agent
for Massachusett's Bay, tells us, that he was instructed in the
following terms to oppose Mr. Grenville's taxing system.--"You are
to remonstrate against these measures, and, if possible, to obtain a
repeal of the sugar act, and prevent the imposition of any further
duties or taxes on the colonies. Measures will be taken that you may
be joined by all the other agents. _Boston, June 14, 1764._"
The question proposed to Dr. Franklin alludes to this sugar act in
1763. Dr. Franklin's answer appears to deserve the best attention of
the reader. B. V.
[88] Some of the colonies have been reduced to the necessity of
bartering, from the want of a medium of traffic. See p. 146. B. V.
[89] Afterwards expressed in the Declaratory-Act. B. V.
[90] See the answer to the report of the board of trade, p. 144. B. V.
[91] See the note to Lord Howe's letter to our author. B. V.
[92] i. e. Mills for the slitting of iron. B. V.
[93] Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth commanded this expedition;
with what success, is well known. B. V.
[94] When this army was in the utmost distress from the want of
waggons, &c. our author and his son voluntarily traversed the
country, in order to collect a sufficient quantity; and they had zeal
and address enough to effect their purpose, upon pledging themselves,
to the amount of many thousand pounds, for payment. It was but just
before Dr. Franklin's last return to America, that the accounts in
this transaction were passed at home. B. V.
[95] I take the following to be the history of this transaction.
Until 1763, and the years following, whenever Great Britain wanted
supplies directly from the colonies, the secretary of state, in his
majesty's name, sent them a letter of requisition, in which the
occasion for the supplies was expressed; and the colonies returned
a _free gift_, the mode of levying which _they_ wholly prescribed.
At this period, a chancellor of the exchequer (Mr. George Grenville)
steps forth and says to the house of commons: _We must call for money
from the colonies in the way of a tax_;--and to the colony-agents,
_write to your several colonies, and tell them, if they dislike a
duty upon stamps, and prefer any other method of raising the money
themselves, I shall be content, provided the_ amount _be but raised_.
"That is," observed the colonies, when commenting upon his terms, "if
we will not tax ourselves, _as we may be directed_, the parliament
will tax us," Dr. Franklin's instructions, spoken of above, related
to this gracious option. As the colonies could not choose "_another_
tax," while they disclaimed _every_ tax; the parliament passed the
stamp-act.
It seems that the only part of the offer which bore a show of favour,
was the grant of the _mode of levying_--and this was the only
circumstance which was _not new_.
See Mr. Mauduit's account of Mr. Grenville's conference with the
agents, confirmed by the agents for Georgia and Virginia, and Mr.
Burke's speech, in 1774, p. 55. B. V.
_Attempts of Dr. Franklin for Conciliation of Great Britain with
the Colonies[96]._
_London, Nov. 28, 1768._
DEAR SIR,
I received your obliging favour of the 12th instant. Your sentiments
of the importance of the present dispute between Great Britain and
the colonies, appear to me extremely just. There is nothing I wish
for more than to see it amicably and equitably settled.
But Providence will bring about its own ends by its own means; and if
it intends the downfal of a nation, that nation will be so blinded by
its pride, and other passions, as not to see its danger, or how its
fall may be prevented.
Being born and bred in one of the countries, and having lived long
and made many agreeable connexions of friendship in the other, I wish
all prosperity to both: but I have talked, and written so much and
so long on the subject, that my acquaintance are weary of hearing,
and the public of reading any more of it, which begins to make me
weary of talking and writing; especially as I do not find that I
have gained any point, in either country, except that of rendering
myself suspected, by my impartiality; in England, of being too much
an American, and in America of being too much an Englishman. Your
opinion, however, weighs with me, and encourages me to try one
effort more, in a full, though concise state of facts, accompanied
with arguments drawn from those facts; to be published about the
meeting of parliament, after the holidays.
If any good may be done I shall rejoice; but at present I almost
despair.
Have you ever seen the barometer so low as of late?
The 22d instant mine was at 28, 41, and yet the weather fine and fair.
With sincere esteem, I am, dear friend,
Yours, affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[96] I cannot pretend to say what is the publication promised in this
letter; unless it alludes to the one given above at p. 225; in which
case there is a mistake in the date of the year. B. V.
_Queries from Mr. Strahan._
TO DR. FRANKLIN[97].
_Nov. 21, 1769._
DEAR SIR,
In the many conversations we have had together about our present
disputes with North America, we perfectly agreed in wishing they may
be brought to a speedy and happy conclusion. How this is to be done,
is not so easily ascertained.
_Two objects_, I humbly apprehend, his majesty's servants have now in
contemplation. 1st. To relieve the colonies from the taxes complained
of, which they certainly had no hand in imposing. 2dly, To preserve
the honour, the dignity, and the supremacy of the British legislature
over all his majesty's dominions.
As I know your singular knowledge of the subject in question, and
am as fully convinced of your cordial attachment to his majesty,
and your sincere desire to promote the happiness equally of all his
subjects, I beg you would in your own clear, brief, and explicit
manner, send me an answer to the following questions: I make this
request now, because this matter is of the utmost importance, and
must very quickly be agitated. And I do it with the more freedom,
as you know me and my motives too well to entertain the most remote
suspicion that I will make an improper use of any information you
shall hereby convey to me.
1st. Will not a repeal of all the duties (that on tea excepted, which
was before paid here on exportation, and of course no new imposition)
fully satisfy the colonists[98]? If you answer in the negative,
2d. Your reasons for that opinion?
3d. Do you think the only effectual way of composing the present
differences is to put the Americans precisely in the situation they
were in before the passing of the late stamp-act?--If that is your
opinion,
4th. Your reasons for that opinion?
5th. If this last method is deemed by the legislature, and his
majesty's ministers, to be repugnant to their duty, as guardians of
the just rights of the crown and of their fellow-subjects; can you
suggest any other way of terminating these disputes, consistent with
the ideas of justice and propriety conceived by the king's subjects
on both sides of the Atlantic?
6. And if this method was actually followed, do you not think it
would actually encourage the violent and factious part of the
colonists to aim at still farther concessions from the mother-country?
7th. If they are relieved in part only, what do you, as a reasonable
and dispassionate man, and an equal friend to both sides, imagine
will be the probable consequences?
The answers to these questions, I humbly conceive, will include all
the information I want; and I beg you will favour me with them as
soon as may be. Every well-wisher to the peace and prosperity of the
British empire, and every friend to our truly happy constitution,
must be desirous of seeing even the most trivial causes of dissention
among our fellow-subjects removed. Our domestic squabbles, in my
mind, are nothing to what I am speaking of. This you know much
better than I do, and therefore I need add nothing farther to
recommend this subject to your serious consideration. I am, with
the most cordial esteem and attachment, dear sir, your faithful and
affectionate humble servant,
W. S.
FOOTNOTES:
[97] These letters have often been copied into our public prints.
Mr. Strahan, the correspondent, is printer to the king, and now
representative in parliament for Malmsbury in Wiltshire. An intimacy
of long standing had subsisted between him and Dr. Franklin. B. V.
It was the father of the present Mr. Strahan, who is also
king's-printer, and member of parliament. The friendship, which so
long subsisted between Mr. Strahan and Dr. Franklin, the latter, in
1775, formally abjured, in a letter addressed to Mr. Strahan, which
will be found in the order of its date, in a subsequent part of this
work. _Editor._
[98] In the year 1767, for the express purpose of raising a revenue
in America, glass, red-lead, white-lead, painters' colours,
paper, and _tea_ (which last article was subject to various
_home_-impositions) became charged by act of parliament, with new
_permanent_ duties payable in the American ports. Soon after, in the
same sessions, (the East-India Company promising indemnification
for the experiment) a _temporary_ alteration was made with respect
to the _home_ customs or excise upon certain teas, in the hope
that a deduction in the nominal imposition, by producing a more
extended consumption, would give an increased sum to the exchequer.
Mr. Strahan, comparing only the _amounts_ of the imposed American
duty, and the deducted home duty, determines that the Americans
had suffered no new imposition. The Americans it seems, thought
otherwise. Had we established this precedent for a revenue, we
thought we had every thing to hope; yet we affect surprise, when the
colonies avoided an acquiescence which by parity of reasoning gave
_them_ every thing to fear. B. V.
_Answer to the preceding Queries._
_Craven Street, Nov. 29, 1769._
DEAR SIR,
Being just returned to town from a little excursion, I find yours
of the 21st, containing a number of queries, that would require
a pamphlet to answer them fully. You, however, desire only brief
answers, which I shall endeavour to give.
Previous to your queries, you tell me, that "you apprehend his
majesty's servants have now in contemplation, 1st, To relieve the
colonists from the taxes complained of; 2d, To preserve the honour,
the dignity, and the supremacy of the British legislature over
all his majesty's dominions." I hope your information is good;
and that what you suppose to be in contemplation will be carried
into execution, by repealing all the laws, that have been made for
raising a revenue in America by authority of parliament without
the consent of the people there. The honour and dignity of the
British legislature will not be hurt by such an act of justice and
wisdom. The wisest councils are liable to be misled, especially in
matters remote from their inspection. It is the persisting in an
error, not the correcting it, that lessens the honour of any man
or body of men. The supremacy of that legislature, I believe, will
be best preserved by making a very sparing use of it; never but
for the evident good of the colonies themselves, or of the whole
British empire; never for the partial advantage of Britain to their
prejudice. By such prudent conduct, I imagine, that supremacy may
be gradually strengthened, and in time fully established; but
otherwise, I apprehend it will be disputed, and lost in the dispute.
At present the colonies consent and submit to it, for the regulations
of general commerce; but a submission to acts of parliament was no
part of their original constitution. Our former kings governed their
colonies, as they had governed their dominions in France, without
the participation of British parliaments. The parliament of England
never presumed to interfere in that prerogative, till the time of the
great rebellion, when they usurped the government of all the king's
other dominions, Ireland, Scotland, &c. The colonies that held for
the king, they conquered by force of arms, and governed afterwards
as conquered countries; but New England, having not opposed the
parliament, was considered and treated as a sister-kingdom, in amity
with England (as appears by the Journals, _March 10, 1642_.)
1st. "Will not a repeal of all the duties (that on tea excepted,
which was before paid here on exportation, and of course no new
imposition) fully satisfy the colonists?"
_Answer_, I think not.
2d. "Your reasons for that opinion?"
_A._ Because it is not the sum paid in that duty on tea that is
complained of as a burden, but the principle of the act, expressed
in the preamble, viz. That those duties were laid for the better
support of government, and the administration of justice in the
colonies[99]. This the colonists think unnecessary, unjust, and
dangerous to their most important rights. _Unnecessary_, because in
all the colonies (two or three new ones excepted[100]) government
and the administration of justice were, and always had been, well
supported without any charge to Britain: _unjust_, as it has made
such colonies liable to pay such charge for others, in which they had
no concern or interest: _dangerous_, as such mode of raising money
for those purposes tended to render their assemblies useless; for
if a revenue could be raised in the colonies for all the purposes
of government by act of parliament, without grants from the people
there, governors, who do not generally love assemblies, would never
call them; they would be laid aside; and when nothing should depend
on the people's good-will to government, their rights would be
trampled on; they would be treated with contempt. Another reason,
why I think they would not be satisfied with such a partial repeal,
is that their agreements, not to import till the repeal takes place,
include the whole; which shows, that they object to the whole; and
those agreements will continue binding on them, if the whole is not
repealed.
3d. "Do you think the only effectual way of composing the present
differences is to put the Americans precisely in the situation they
were in before the passing of the late stamp act?"
_A._ I think so.
4th. "Your reasons for that opinion?"
_A._ Other methods have been tried. They have been refused or rebuked
in angry letters. Their petitions have been refused or rejected by
parliament. They have been threatened with the punishments of treason
by resolves of both houses. Their assemblies have been dissolved
and troops have been sent among them: but all these ways have only
exasperated their minds and widened the breach. Their agreements to
use no more British manufactures have been strengthened; and these
measures, instead of composing differences, and promoting a good
correspondence, have almost annihilated your commerce with those
countries, and greatly endanger the national peace and general
welfare.
5th. "If this last method is deemed by the legislature, and his
majesty's ministers, to be repugnant to their duty as guardians of
the just rights of the crown, and of their fellow-subjects; can you
suggest any other way of terminating these disputes, consistent with
the ideas of justice and propriety conceived by the king's subjects
on _both_ sides the Atlantic?"
_A._ I do not see how that method can be deemed repugnant to the
rights of the crown. If the Americans are put into their former
situation, it must be an act of parliament; in the passing of which
by the king, the rights of the crown are exercised, not infringed. It
is indifferent to the crown, whether the aids received from America
are granted by parliament here, or by the assemblies there, provided
the quantum be the same; and it is my opinion, that more will be
generally granted there voluntarily, than can ever be exacted or
collected from thence by authority of parliament. As to the rights
of fellow-subjects (I suppose you mean the people of Britain) I
cannot conceive how those will be infringed by that method. They will
still enjoy the right of granting their own money, and may still, if
it pleases them, keep up their claim to the right of granting ours;
a right they can never exercise properly, for want of a sufficient
knowledge of us, our circumstances and abilities (to say nothing of
the little likelihood there is that we should ever submit to it)
therefore a right that can be of no good use to them; and we shall
continue to enjoy in fact the right of granting our money, with
the opinion, now universally prevailing among us, that we are free
subjects of the king, and that fellow-subjects of one part of his
dominions are not sovereigns over fellow-subjects in any other part.
If the subjects on the different sides of the Atlantic have different
and opposite ideas of "justice and propriety," no one "method" can
possibly be consistent with both. The best will be, to let each
enjoy their own opinions, without disturbing them, when they do not
interfere with the common good.
6th. "And if this method were actually allowed, do you not think it
would encourage the violent and factious part of the colonists, to
aim at still farther concessions from the mother-country?"
_A._ I do not think it would. There may be a few among them that
deserve the name of factious and violent, as there are in all
countries; but these would have little influence, if the great
majority of sober reasonable people were satisfied. If any colony
should happen to think, that some of your regulations of trade are
inconvenient to the general interest of the empire, or prejudicial
to them without being beneficial to you, they will state these
matters to parliament in petitions as heretofore; but will, I
believe, take no violent steps to obtain what they may hope for in
time from the wisdom of government here. I know of nothing else they
can have in view: the notion that prevails here, of their being
desirous to set up a kingdom or commonwealth of their own, is to
my certain knowledge entirely groundless. I therefore think, that
on a total repeal of all duties, laid expressly for the purpose of
raising a revenue on the people of America without their consent,
the present uneasiness would subside; the agreements not to import
would be dissolved; and the commerce flourish as heretofore; and I
am confirmed in this sentiment by all the letters I have received
from America, and by the opinions of all the sensible people who have
lately come from thence, crown-officers excepted. I know, indeed,
that the people of Boston are grievously offended by the quartering
of troops among them, as they think, contrary to law, and are very
angry with the board of commissioners, who have calumniated them to
government; but as I suppose the withdrawing of those troops may be
a consequence of reconciliating measures taking place; and that the
commission also will be either dissolved, if found useless, or filled
with more temperate and prudent men, if still deemed useful and
necessary; I do not imagine these particulars would prevent a return
of the harmony so much to be wished[101].
7th. "If they are relieved in part only, what do you, as a reasonable
and dispassionate man, and an equal friend to both sides, imagine
will be the probable consequence?"
_A._ I imagine, that repealing the offensive duties in part will
answer no end to this country; the commerce will remain obstructed,
and the Americans go on with their schemes of frugality, industry,
and manufactures, to their own great advantage. How much that may
tend to the prejudice of Britain, I cannot say; perhaps not so much
as some apprehend, since she may in time find new markets. But I
think, if the union of the two countries continues to subsist, it
will not hurt the general interest; for whatever wealth Britain loses
by the failing of its trade with the colonies, America will gain; and
the crown will receive equal aids from its subjects upon the whole,
if not greater.
And now I have answered your questions, as to what may be, in my
opinion, the consequences of this or that supposed measure, I will
go a little further, and tell you, what I fear is more likely to
come to pass in _reality_. I apprehend, that the ministry, at least
the American part of it, being fully persuaded of the right of
parliament, think it ought to be enforced, whatever may be the
consequences; and at the same time do not believe, there is even now
any abatement of the trade between the two countries on account of
these disputes; or that if there is, it is small, and cannot long
continue. They are assured by the crown-officers in America, that
manufactures are impossible there; that the discontented are few,
and persons of little consequence; that almost all the people of
property and importance are satisfied, and disposed to submit quietly
to the taxing power of parliament; and that, if the revenue-acts are
continued, and those duties only that are called anti-commercial be
repealed, and others perhaps laid in their stead, the power ere long
will be patiently submitted to, and the agreements not to import be
broken, when they are found to produce no change of measures here.
From these and similar misinformations, which seem to be credited,
I think it likely, that no thorough redress of grievances will be
afforded to America this session. This may inflame matters still
more in that country; farther rash measures there may create more
resentment here, that may produce not merely ill-advised dissolutions
of their assemblies, as last year, but attempts to dissolve their
constitution[102]; more troops may be sent over, which will create
more uneasiness; to justify the measures of government, your writers
will revile the Americans in your newspapers, as they have already
begun to do, treating them as miscreants, rogues, dastards, rebels,
&c. to alienate the minds of the people here from them, and which
will tend farther to diminish their affections to this country.
Possibly too, some of their warm patriots may be distracted enough
to expose themselves by some mad action to be sent for hither, and
government here be indiscreet enough to hang them, on the act of
Henry VIII[103]. Mutual provocations will thus go on to complete the
separation; and instead of that cordial affection, that once and so
long existed, and that harmony, so suitable to the circumstances,
and so necessary to the happiness, strength, safety, and welfare of
both countries, an implacable malice and mutual hatred, such as we
now see subsisting between the Spaniards and Portuguese, the Genoese
and Corsicans, from the same original misconduct in the superior
governments, will take place: the sameness of nation, the similarity
of religion, manners, and language not in the least preventing in
our case, more than it did in theirs.--I hope, however, that this
may all prove false prophecy, and that you and I may live to see as
sincere and perfect a friendship established between our respective
countries, as has so many years subsisted between Mr. Strahan, and
his truly affectionate old friend,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[99] "Men may lose little property by an act which takes away all
their freedom. When a man is robbed of a trifle on the highway, it is
not the two-pence lost that makes the capital outrage." "Would twenty
shillings have ruined Mr. Hampden's fortune? No! but the payment of
half twenty shillings, on the principle it was demanded, would have
made him a slave." See Mr. Burke's speeches in 1774 and 1775. B. V.
[100] Nova Scotia, Georgia, the Floridas, and Canada. B. V.
[101] "The opposition [to Lord Rockingham's administration]" says
Lord Chesterfield, "are for taking vigorous, as they call them, but
I call them violent measures; not less than _les dragonades_; and to
have the tax collected by the troops we have there. For my part, I
never saw a forward child mended by whipping: and I would not have
the mother become a step-mother." Letter, No. 360.
"Is it a certain maxim," pleads Mr. Burke, "that the fewer causes of
dissatisfaction are left by government, the more the subject will be
inclined to resist and rebel?" "I confess I do not feel the least
alarm from the discontents which are to arise from putting people at
their ease. Nor do I apprehend the destruction of this empire, from
giving, by an act of free grace and indulgence, to two millions of my
fellow-citizens, some share of those rights, upon which I have always
been taught to value myself." Speeches in 1774 and 1775. B. V.
[102] This was afterwards attempted by the British legislature, in
the case of the Massachusett's Bay. B. V.
[103] The lords and commons very prudently concurred in an address
for this purpose, and the king graciously assured them of his
compliance with their wishes. B. V.
_State of the Constitution of the Colonies, by Governor
Pownall[104]; with Remarks by Dr. Franklin._
[PRINCIPLES.]
1. Wherever any Englishmen go forth without the realm, and make
settlements in partibus exteris, "These settlements as English
settlements, and these inhabitants as English subjects (carrying with
them the laws of the land wherever they form colonies, and receiving
his majesty's protection by virtue of his royal charter[105]"
or commissions of government) "have and enjoy all liberties and
immunities of free and natural subjects, to all intents constructions
and purposes whatsoever, as if they and every of them were born
within the realm[106];" and are bound by the like allegiance as every
other subject of the realm.
Remarks. _The settlers of colonies in America did not carry with them
the_ laws of the land, _as being bound by them wherever they should
settle. They left the realm to avoid the inconveniences and hardships
they were under, where some of those laws were in force, particularly
ecclesiastical laws, those for payment of tythes and others. Had it
been understood, that they were to carry these laws with them, they
had better have staid at home among their friends, unexposed to
the risques and toils of a new settlement. They carried with them,
a right to_ such parts _of the_ laws of the land, _as they should
judge advantageous or useful to them; a right to be free from those
they thought hurtful; and a right to make such others, as they should
think necessary, not infringing the general rights of Englishmen: and
such_ new _laws they were to form, as agreeable as might be to the
laws of England_. B. F.
2. Therefore the _common law of England_, and all _such statutes_ as
were enacted and in force at _the time_ in which such settlers went
forth, and such colonies and plantations were established, (except as
hereafter excepted) together with all such alterations and amendments
as the said common law may have received, is from time to time, and
at all times, the law of those colonies and plantations.
Rem. _So far as they adopt it, by express laws or by practice._ B. F.
3. Therefore all statutes, touching the _right of the succession_,
and settlement of the crown, with the statutes of treason relating
thereto[107]; all statutes, _regulating_ or limiting the general
powers and _authority of the crown_, and the exercise of the
jurisdiction thereof; all statutes, _declaratory of the rights and
liberty of the subject_, do extend to all British subjects in the
colonies and plantations as of common right, and as if they and every
of them were born within the realm.
Rem. _It is doubted, whether any settlement of the crown by
parliament, takes place in the colonies, otherwise than by consent
of the assemblies there. Had the rebellion in 1745 succeeded so
far as to settle the Stuart family again on the throne, by act of
parliament, I think the colonies would not have thought themselves
bound by such act. They would still have adhered to the present
family as long as they could._ B. F.
Observation in reply. _They are bound to the king and his successors,
and we know no succession but by act of parliament._ T. P.
4. All statutes enacted _since_ the establishment of colonies and
plantations do extend to and operate within the said colonies and
plantations, in which statutes the same _are specially named_.
Rem. _It is doubted, whether any act of parliament should_ of right
_operate in the colonies_: in fact _several of than have and do
operate_. B. F.
5. Statutes and customs, which respect only the _special and local
circumstances_ of the realm, do not extend to and operate within
said colonies and plantations, where no such special and local
circumstances are found.--(Thus the _ecclesiastical and canon_ law,
and all _statutes respecting tythes_, the laws respecting _courts
baron and copyholds_, the _game acts_, the statutes _respecting
the poor_ and settlements, and all other laws and statutes,
having special reference to special and local circumstances and
establishments within the realm, do not extend to and operate within
these settlements, in partibus exteris, where no such circumstances
or establishments exist.)
Rem. _These laws have no force in America: not merely because local
circumstances differ, but because they have never been adopted, or
brought over by acts of assembly or by practice in the courts._ B. F.
6. No statutes made _since_ the establishment of said colonies and
plantations (_except_ as above described in articles 3 and 4) do
extend to and operate within said colonies and plantations.
Query.--Would any statute made since the establishment of said
colonies and plantations, which statute imported, to _annul_
and abolish the powers and jurisdictions of their respective
constitutions of government, where the same was not contrary to
the laws, or any otherwise forfeited or abated; or which statute
imported, to take away, or did take away, the rights and privileges
of the settlers, as British subjects: would such statute, as of
right, extend to and operate within said colonies and plantations?
Answer. _No. The parliament has no such power. The charters cannot be
altered but by consent of both parties--the king and the colonies._
B. F.
[COROLLARIES FROM THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES.]
Upon the matters of fact, right and law, as above stated, it is, that
the British subjects thus settled in partibus exteris without the
realm, so long as they are excluded from an intire union with the
realm as parts of and within the same, have a right to have (as they
have) and to be governed by (as they are) a _distinct intire civil
government_, of the like powers, pre-eminences and jurisdictions
(conformable to the like rights, privileges, immunities, franchises,
and civil liberties) as are to be found and are established in the
British government, respecting the British subject within the realm.
Rem. _Right._ B. F.
Hence also it is, that the _rights of the subject_, as declared
in the petition of right, that the _limitation of prerogative_ by
the act for abolishing the star-chamber and for regulating the
privy-council, &c. that the habeas corpus act, the statute of frauds,
the bill of rights, do of common right extend to and are in force
within said colonies and plantations.
Rem. _Several of these rights are established by special colony laws.
If any are not yet so established, the colonies have right to such
laws: and the covenant having been made in the charters by the king,
for himself and his successors, such laws ought to receive the royal
assent_ as of right. B. F.
Hence it is, that the _freeholders_ within the precincts of these
jurisdictions have (as of right they ought to have) a _share in the
power of making those laws_ which they are to be governed by, by the
right which they have of sending their representatives to act for
them and to consent for them in all matters of legislation, which
representatives, when met in general assembly, have, together with
the crown, a right to perform and do all the like acts respecting
the matters, things and rights within the precincts of their
jurisdiction, as the parliament hath respecting the realm and British
dominions.
Hence also it is, that all the _executive offices_ (from the supreme
civil magistrate, as locum tenens to the king, down to that of
constable and head-borough) must of right be established with all
and the like powers, neither more nor less than as defined by the
constitution and law, as in fact they are established.
Hence it is, that the _judicial offices and courts of justice_,
established within the precincts of said jurisdictions, have, as
they ought of right to have, all those jurisdictions and powers "as
fully and amply to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as the courts
of king's bench, common pleas, and exchequer, within his majesty's
kingdom of England, have, and ought to have, and are empowered to
give judgment and award execution thereupon[108]."
Hence it is, that by the possession enjoyment and exercise of his
majesty's _great seal_, delivered to his majesty's governor, there
is established within the precincts of the respective jurisdictions
all the same and like _powers of chancery_ (except where by charters
specially excluded) as his majesty's chancellor within his majesty's
kingdom of England hath, and of right ought to have, by delivery
of the great seal of England.--And hence it is, that all the like
rights, privileges and powers, follow the use, exercise and
application of the great seal of each colony and plantation within
the precincts of said jurisdiction, as doth, and ought of right to
follow the use, exercise, and application of the great seal.
Hence also it is, that _appeals in real actions_, "whereby the lands,
tenements, and hereditaments of British subjects may be drawn into
question and disposed of[109]," do not lie, as of right and by law
they ought not to lie, to the king in council.
Hence also it is, that there is _not_ any law now in being,
whereby _the subject_ within said colonies and plantations can be
_removed[110] from the jurisdiction to which he is amenable_ in
all his right, and through which his service and allegiance must
be derived to the crown, and from which no appeal lies in criminal
causes, so as that such subject may become amenable to a jurisdiction
foreign to his natural and legal resiancy; to which he may be thereby
transported, and under which he may be brought to trial and receive
judgment, contrary to the rights and privileges of the subject, as
declared by the spirit and intent and especially by the 16th § of
the habeas corpus act. And if the person of any subject within the
said colonies and plantations _should_ be seized or detained by any
power issuing from any court, without the jurisdiction of the colony
where he then had his legal resiancy, it would become the duty of the
courts of justice _within_ such colony (it is undoubtedly of their
jurisdiction so to do) to issue the writ of _habeas corpus_[111].
Hence also it is, that in like manner as "the _command and
disposition of the militia, and of all forces by sea and land_,
and of all forts and places of strength, is, and by the laws of
England ever was, the undoubted right of his majesty and his royal
predecessors, kings and queens of England, within all his majesty's
realms and dominions[112]," in like manner as the supreme military
power and command (so far as the constitution knows of and will
justify its establishment) is inseparably annexed to, and forms
an essential part of the office of supreme civil magistrate, the
office of king: in like manner, in all _governments under the king_,
where the constituents are British subjects and of full and perfect
right entitled to the British laws and constitution, the supreme
military command within the precincts of such jurisdictions must
be inseparably annexed to the office of supreme civil magistrate,
(his majesty's regent, vice-regent, lieutenant, or locum tenens, in
what form soever established) so that the king cannot, by any[113]
commission of regency, by any commission or charter of government,
separate or withdraw the supreme command of the military from the
office of supreme civil magistrate--either by reserving this command
in his own hands, to be exercised and executed independent of the
civil power; or by granting a distinct commission to any military
commander in chief, so to be exercised and executed; but more
especially not within such jurisdictions where such supreme military
power (so far as the constitution knows and will justify the same)
is _already_ annexed and granted to the office of supreme civil
magistrate.--And hence it is, that the king cannot erect or establish
any law martial or military command, by any commission which may
supersede and not be subject to the supreme civil magistrate,
within the respective precincts of the civil jurisdictions of said
colonies and plantations, otherwise than in such manner as the said
law martial and military commissions are annexed or subject to the
supreme civil jurisdiction within his majesty's realms and dominions
of Great Britain and Ireland; and hence it is, that the establishment
and exercise of such commands and commissions would be illegal[114].
Rem. _The king has the command of all military force in his
dominions: but in every distinct state of his dominions there should
be the consent of the parliament or assembly (the representative
body) to the_ raising and keeping up _such military force. He cannot
even raise troops and quarter them in another, without the consent
of that other. He cannot_ of right _bring troops raised in Ireland
and quarter them in Britain, but with the consent of the parliament
of Britain: nor carry to Ireland and quarter there, soldiers raised
in Britain, without the consent of the Irish parliament, unless in
time of war and cases of extreme exigency.--In 1756, when the Speaker
went up to present the money-bills, he said among other things,
that "England was capable of fighting her own battles and defending
herself; and although ever attached to your majesty's person, ever at
ease under your just government, they cannot forbear taking notice
of some circumstances in the present situation of affairs, which
nothing but the confidence in your justice could hinder from alarming
their most serious apprehensions. Subsidies to foreign princes, when
already burthened with a debt scarce to be borne, cannot but be
severely felt._ An army of foreign troops, a thing unprecedented,
unheard of, unknown, brought into England, _cannot but alarm, &c.
&c._" (_See the Speech._)
_N. B. These_ foreign troops _were part of the king's subjects,
Hanoverians, and all in _his_ service, which the same thing as_**** B.
F.
FOOTNOTES:
[104] This State of the Constitution of the Colonies was printed
at the close of 1769, and communicated to various persons, with a
view to prevent mischief, from the misunderstandings between the
government of Great Britain and the people of America. I have taken
the liberty of ascribing it to governor Pownall, as his name could
have been no secret at the time. Dr. Franklin's remarks (which from
their early date are the more curious) are in manuscript, and from an
observation in reply signed T. P. appear to have been communicated to
governor Pownall. B. V.
[105] Pratt and York.
[106] General words in all charters.
[107] [i. e.] All statutes respecting the general relation between
the crown and the subject, not such as respect any particular or
peculiar establishment of the realm of England. As for instance: by
the 13th and 14th of Car. II. c. 2, the supreme military power is
declared to be in general, without limitation, in his majesty, and to
have always been of right annexed to the office of king of England,
throughout all his majesty's realms and dominions; yet the enacting
clause, which respects only the peculiar establishment of the militia
of England, extends to the realm of England only: so that the supreme
military power of the crown in all other his majesty's realms and
dominions stands, _as to this statute_, on the basis of its general
power, unlimited. However, the several legislatures of his majesty's
kingdom of Ireland, of his dominions of Virginia, and of the several
colonies and plantations in America, have, by laws to which the king
hath given his consent, operating within the precincts of their
several jurisdictions, limited the powers of it and regulated the
exercise thereof.
[108] Law in New England, confirmed by the crown, Oct. 22, 1700.
[109] 16th Car. I. c. 10.
[110] The case of the court erected by act of parliament 11 and
12th of William III. c. 7, (since the enacting of the habeas corpus
act) for the trial of piracies, felonies and robberies committed in
or upon the sea, or in any haven, river, creek or place _where the
admiral has jurisdiction_, does no way affect this position: nor doth
the 14 § of the said statute, directing that the commissioners, of
whom such court consists, may issue their warrant for apprehending
such pirates, &c. in order to their being tried in the colonies,
or _sent into England_, any way militate with the doctrine here
laid down: nor can it be applied as _the case of a jurisdiction
actually existing_, which supersedes the jurisdictions of the courts
in the colonies and plantations, and as what authorises the taking
the accused of such piracies &c. _from those jurisdictions_, and
the sending such _so taken_ to England for trial.--It cannot be
applied as a case similar and in point to the application of an act
of parliament (passed in the 35th of Henry VIII. concerning the
_trial of treasons_) lately recommended in order to the sending
persons accused of committing crimes in the plantations to England
for trial: because this act of the 11th and 12th of William, c.
7, respects _crimes_ committed in places, "_where the admiral has
jurisdiction_," and _cases_ to which the jurisdiction of those
provincial courts _do not extend_. In the _case of treasons committed
within the jurisdiction of the colonies and plantations_, there are
courts competent to try such crimes and to give judgment thereupon,
where the trials of such are regulated by laws to which the king
hath given his consent: from which there lies no appeal, and wherein
the king hath given power and instruction to his governor as to
execution or respite of judgment. The said act of Henry VIII, which
provides remedy for a case which supposes _the want_ of due legal
jurisdiction, cannot be any way, or by any rule, applied to a case
where there _is_ due legal and competent jurisdiction.
[111] [The] referring to an old act made for the trial of treasons
committed out of the realm, by such persons as had no legal resiancy
but within the realm, and who were of the realm, applying the purview
of that statute, which was made to bring subjects of the realm who
had committed treason out of the realm (where there was _no criminal
jurisdiction to which they could be amenable_) to trial within the
realm, under that criminal jurisdiction to which alone by their
legal resiancy and allegiance they were amenable; applying this to
the case of subjects whose _legal_ resiancy is _without_ the realm,
and who are by that resiancy and their allegiance amenable to a
jurisdiction authorized and empowered to try and give judgment upon
all capital offences whatsoever without appeal; thus applying this
statute so as to take up a proceeding, for which there is no legal
process either by common or statute law as now established, but in
defiance of which there is a legal process established by the habeas
corpus act;----would be, to disfranchise the subject in America of
those rights and liberties which by statute and common law he is now
entitled to.
[112] 13th and 14th Car. II. c. 2.
[113] If the king was to absent himself for a time from the realm,
and did as usual leave a regency in his place, (his locum tenens
as supreme civil magistrate) could he authorize and commission any
military commander in chief to command the militia forts and forces,
_independent of such regency_? Could he do this in Ireland? Could
he do this in the colonies and plantations, where the governor is
already, by commission or charter or both under the great seal,
military commander in chief, as part of (and inseparably annexed
to) the office of supreme civil magistrate, his majesty's locum
tenens within said jurisdictions? If he could, then, while openly,
by patent according to law, he appeared to establish a free British
constitution, he might by a fallacy establish a military power and
government.
[114] Governor P. accompanied this paper to Dr. F. with a sort
of prophetic remark. After stating, that these theorems, and
their application to existing cases, were intended to remedy the
prejudice, indigestion, indecision and errors, then prevailing
either in opinions or conduct; he adds, "the very attention to the
investigation may lead to the discovery of _some truths respecting
the whole British empire_, then little thought of and scarce even
suspected, and which perhaps it would not be _prudent_ at this time
to mark and point out."--The minister however judged the _discussion_
of _dubious_ rights over growing states, a better policy than
possession, discretion and silence; he turned civilian, and lost an
empire. B. V.
TO MR. DUBOURG.
_Concerning the Dissentions between England and America._[115]
_London, October 2, 1770._
I see with pleasure that we think pretty much alike on the subjects
of English America. We of the colonies have never insisted, that we
ought to be exempt from contributing to the common expences necessary
to support the prosperity of the empire. We only assert, that having
parliaments of our own, and not having representatives in that of
Great Britain, our parliaments are the only judges of what we can
and what we ought to contribute in this case; and that the English
parliament has no right to take our money without our consent. In
fact, the British empire is not a single state; it comprehends many;
and though the parliament of Great Britain has arrogated to itself
the power of taxing the colonies, it has no more right to do so,
than it has to tax Hanover. We have the same king, but not the same
legislatures.
The dispute between the two countries has already cost England many
millions sterling, which it has lost in its commerce, and America has
in this respect been a proportionable gainer. This commerce consisted
principally of superfluities; objects of luxury and fashion, which we
can well do without; and the resolution we have formed, of importing
no more till our grievances are redressed, has enabled many of our
infant manufactures to take root; and it will not be easy to make our
people abandon them in future, even should a connection more cordial
than ever succeed the present troubles. I have indeed no doubt,
that the parliament of England will finally abandon its present
pretensions, and leave us to the peaceable enjoyment of our rights
and privileges.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[115] Re-translated from the French edition of Dr. Franklin's works.
_Editor._
_A Prussian Edict, assuming Claims over Britain._
_Dantzick, Sept. 5, 1773._[116]
We have long wondered here at the supineness of the English nation,
under the Prussian impositions upon its trade entering our port. We
did not, till lately, know the claims, ancient and modern, that hang
over that nation, and therefore could not suspect, that it might
submit to those impositions from a sense of duty, or from principles
of equity. The following edict, just made public, may, if serious,
throw some light upon this matter:
"FREDERICK, by the grace of God, king of Prussia &c. &c. &c. to all
present and to come,[117] health. The peace now enjoyed throughout
our dominions, having afforded us leisure to apply ourselves to the
regulation of commerce, the improvement of our finances, and at the
same time the easing our _domestic_ subjects in their taxes: for
these causes, and other good considerations us thereunto moving, we
hereby make known, that, after having deliberated these affairs in
our council, present our dear brothers, and other great officers of
the state, members of the same; we, of our certain knowledge, full
power, and authority royal, have made and issued this present edict,
viz.
"Whereas it is well known to all the world, that the first German
settlements made in the island of Britain, were by colonies of
people, subjects to our renowned ducal ancestors, and drawn from
their dominions, under the conduct of Hengist, Horsa, Hella, Uffa,
Cerdicus, Ida, and others; and that the said colonies have flourished
under the protection of our august house, for ages past, have never
been emancipated therefrom, and yet have hitherto yielded little
profit to the same: and whereas we ourself have in the last war
fought for and defended the said colonies, against the power of
France, and thereby enabled them to make conquests from the said
power in America, for which we have not yet received adequate
compensation: and whereas it is just and expedient that a revenue
should be raised from the said colonies in Britain towards our
indemnification; and that those who are descendants of our ancient
subjects, and thence still owe us due obedience, should contribute to
the replenishing of our royal coffers: (as they must have done, had
their ancestors remained in the territories now to us appertaining)
we do therefore hereby ordain and command, that, from and after
the date of these presents, there shall be levied and paid to our
officers of the _customs_, on all goods, wares, and merchandizes,
and on all grain and other produce of the earth, exported from the
said island of Britain, and on all goods of whatever kind imported
into the same, a duty of four and a half per cent ad valorem, for
the use of us and our successors.--And that the said duty may more
effectually be collected, we do hereby ordain, that all ships or
vessels bound from Great Britain to any other part of the world, or
from any other part of the world to Great Britain, shall in their
respective voyages touch at our port of Koningsberg, there to be
unladen, searched, and charged with the said duties.
"And whereas there hath been from time to time discovered in the
said island of Great Britain, by our colonists there, many mines or
beds of _iron_-stone; and sundry subjects of our ancient dominion,
skilful in converting the said stone into metal, have in time past
transported themselves thither, carrying with them and communicating
that art; and the inhabitants of the said island, presuming that
they had a natural right to make the best use they could of the
natural productions of their country, for their own benefit, have
not only built furnaces for smelting the said stone into iron, but
have erected plating-forges, slitting-mills, and steel-furnaces, for
the more convenient manufacturing of the same, thereby endangering
a diminution of the said manufacture in our ancient dominion; we
do therefore hereby farther ordain, that, from and after the date
hereof, no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or
any plating-forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any furnace for
making steel, shall be erected or continued in the said island of
Great Britain: and the lord lieutenant of every county in the said
island is hereby commanded, on information of any such erection
within his county, to order, and by force to cause the same to be
abated and destroyed, as he shall answer the neglect thereof to us
at his peril. But we are nevertheless graciously pleased to permit
the inhabitants of the said island to transport their iron into
Prussia, there to be manufactured, and to them returned, they paying
our Prussian subjects for the workmanship, with all the costs of
commission, freight, and risk, coming and returning; any thing herein
contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
"We do not, however, think fit to extend this our indulgence to
the article of _wool_; but meaning to encourage not only the
manufacturing of woollen cloth, but also the raising of wool in
our ancient dominions, and to prevent both, as much as may be, in
our said island, we do hereby absolutely forbid the transportation
of wool from thence even to the mother-country, Prussia: and that
those islanders may be farther and more effectually restrained in
making any advantage of their own wool, in the way of manufacture,
we command, that none shall be carried out of one country into
another; nor shall any worsted, bay, or woollen-yarn, cloth, says,
bays, kerseys, serges, frizes, druggets, cloth-serges, shalloons, or
any other drapery stuffs or woollen manufactures whatsoever, made
up or mixed with wool in any of the said counties, be carried into
any other county, or be water-borne even across the smallest river
or creek, on penalty of forfeiture of the same, together, with the
boats, carriages, horses, &c. that shall be employed in removing
them.--Nevertheless, our loving subjects there are hereby permitted
(if they think proper) to use all their wool as manure, for the
improvement of their lands.
"And whereas the art and mystery of making _hats_ hath arrived at
great perfection in Prussia, and the making of hats by our remoter
subjects ought to be as much as possible restrained: and forasmuch
as the islanders before mentioned, being in possession of wool,
beaver, and other furs, have presumptuously conceived they had a
right to make some advantage thereof, by manufacturing the same into
hats, to the prejudice of our domestic manufacture: we do therefore
hereby strictly command and ordain, that no hats or felts whatsoever,
dyed or undyed, finished or unfinished, shall be loaden or put into
or upon any vessel, cart, carriage, or horse, to be transported or
conveyed out of one county in the said island into another county, or
to any other place whatsoever, by any person or persons whatsoever,
on pain of forfeiting the same, with a penalty of five hundred
pounds sterling for every offence. Nor shall any hat-maker in any
of the said counties employ more than two apprentices, on penalty
of five pounds sterling per month: we intending hereby that such
hat-makers, being so restrained, both in the production and sale of
their commodity, may find no advantage in continuing their business.
But, lest the said islanders should suffer inconveniency by the want
of hats, we are farther graciously pleased to permit them to send
their beaver furs to Prussia, and we also permit hats made thereof to
be exported from Prussia to Britain; the people thus favored to pay
all costs and charges of manufacturing, interest, commission to our
merchants, insurance and freight going and returning, as in the case
of iron.
"And lastly, being willing farther to favour our said colonies
in Britain, we do hereby also ordain and command, that all the
_thieves_, highway and street robbers, housebreakers, forgerers,
murderers, s--d--tes, and villains of every denomination, who have
forfeited their lives to the law in Prussia, but whom we, in our
great clemency, do not think fit here to hang, shall be emptied out
of our gaols into the said island of Great Britain, for the better
peopling of that country.
"We flatter ourselves, that these our royal regulations and commands
will be thought _just and reasonable_ by our much-favoured colonists
in England; the said regulations being copied from their statutes
of 10 and 11 Will. III. c. 10.--5 Geo. II. c. 22.--23 Geo. II. c.
29.--4 Geo. I. c. 11. and from other equitable laws made by their
parliaments, or from instructions given by their princes, or from
resolutions of both houses, entered into for the good government of
their _own colonies in Ireland and America_.
"And all persons in the said island are hereby cautioned, not to
oppose in any wise the execution of this our edict, or any part
thereof, such opposition being high-treason; of which all who are
suspected shall be transported in fetters from Britain to Prussia,
there to be tried and executed according to the Prussian law.
"Such is our pleasure.
"Given at Potsdam, this twenty-fifth day of the month of August,
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the
thirty-third year of our reign.
"By the king, in his council.
"RECHTMÆSSIG, Sec."
Some take this edict to be merely one of the king's _jeux d'esprit_:
others suppose it serious, and that he means a quarrel with England:
but all here think the assertion it concludes with, "that these
regulations are copied from acts of the English parliament respecting
their colonies," a very injurious one; it being impossible to
believe, that a people distinguished for their love of liberty; a
nation so wise, so liberal in its sentiments, so just and equitable
towards its neighbours, should, from mean and injudicious views
of petty immediate profit, treat its own children in a manner so
arbitrary and tyrannical!
FOOTNOTES:
[116] This _intelligence extraordinary_, I believe, first appeared in
the Public Advertiser. I have reprinted it from a copy which I found
in the Gentleman's Magazine. B. V.
[117] _A tous presens et à venir._ ORIGINAL.
_Preface by the British Editor [Dr. Franklin] to "The Votes and
Proceedings of the Freeholders, and other Inhabitants of the Town
of Boston, in Town-Meeting assembled according to Law (published by
Order of the Town), &c[118]._"
All accounts of the discontent, so general in our colonies, have
of late years been industriously smothered and concealed here, it
seeming to suit the views of the American minister[119] to have it
understood, that by his great abilities, all faction was subdued,
all opposition suppressed, and the whole country quieted. That the
true state of affairs there may be known, and the true causes of that
discontent well understood, the following piece (not the production
of a private writer, but the unanimous act of a large American city)
lately printed in New England, is republished here. This nation, and
the other nations of Europe, may thereby learn, with more certainty,
the grounds of a dissention, that possibly may, sooner or later, have
consequences interesting to them all.
The colonies had, from their first settlement, been governed with
more ease than perhaps can be equalled by any instance in history
of dominions so distant. Their affection and respect for this
country, while they were treated with kindness, produced an almost
implicit obedience to the instructions of the prince, and even to
acts of the British parliament, though the right of binding them by
a legislature, in which they were unrepresented, was never clearly
understood. That respect and affection produced a partiality in
favour of every thing that was English; whence their preference of
English modes and manufactures; their submission to restraints on
the importation of foreign goods, which they had but little desire
to use; and the monopoly we so long enjoyed of their commerce, to
the great enriching of our merchants and artificers. The mistaken
policy of the stamp act first disturbed this happy situation; but the
flame thereby raised was soon extinguished by its repeal, and the old
harmony restored, with all its concomitant advantage to our commerce.
The subsequent act of another administration, which, not content
with an established exclusion of foreign manufactures, began to make
our own merchandize dearer to the consumers there by heavy duties,
revived it again; and combinations were entered into throughout the
continent, to stop trading with Britain till those duties should be
repealed. All were accordingly repealed but one--_the duty on tea_.
This was reserved (professedly so) as a standing claim and exercise
of the right, assumed by parliament, of laying such duties[120].
The colonies, on this repeal, retracted their agreement, so far
as related to all other goods, except that on which the duty was
retained. This was trumpeted here by the minister for the colonies
as a triumph; there it was considered only as a decent and equitable
measure, showing a willingness to meet the mother-country in
every advance towards a reconciliation; and this disposition to
a good understanding was so prevalent, that possibly they might
soon have relaxed in the article of tea also. But the system of
commissioners of customs, officers without end, with fleets and
armies for collecting and enforcing those duties, being continued;
and these acting with much indiscretion and rashness (giving great
and unnecessary trouble and obstruction to business, commencing
unjust and vexatious suits, and harassing commerce in all its
branches, while that minister kept the people in a constant state of
irritation by instructions which appeared to have no other end than
the gratifying his private resentment[121]) occasioned a persevering
adherence to their resolutions in that particular; and the event
should be a lesson to ministers, not to risque, through pique, the
obstructing any one branch of trade; since the course and connection
of general business may be thereby disturbed to a degree, impossible
to be foreseen or imagined. For it appears, that the colonies,
finding their humble petitions to have this duty repealed were
rejected and treated with contempt, and that the produce of the duty
was applied to the rewarding, with undeserved salaries and pensions,
every one of their enemies; the duty itself became more odious, and
their resolution to starve it more vigorous and obstinate. The Dutch,
the Danes, and French, took this opportunity, thus offered them by
our imprudence, and began to smuggle their teas into the plantations.
At first this was something difficult; but at length, as all business
is improved by practice, it became easy. A coast fifteen hundred
miles in length could not in all parts be guarded, even by the whole
navy of England; especially where their restraining authority was
by all the inhabitants deemed unconstitutional, the smuggling of
course considered as patriotism. The needy wretches too, who, with
small salaries, were trusted to watch the ports day and night, in all
weathers, found it easier and more profitable, not only to wink, but
to sleep in their beds; the merchants' pay being more generous than
the king's. Other India goods also, which, by themselves, would not
have made a smuggling voyage sufficiently profitable, accompanied
tea to advantage; and it is feared the cheap French silks, formerly
rejected as not to the taste of the colonies, may have found their
way with the wares of India, and now established themselves in the
popular use and opinion.
It is supposed, that at least a million of Americans drink tea
twice a day, which, at the first cost here, can scarce be reckoned
at less than half-a-guinea a head per annum. This market, that,
in the five years which have run on since the act passed, would
have paid 2,500,000 guineas for tea alone into the coffers of the
company, we have wantonly lost to foreigners. Meanwhile it is said
the duties have so diminished, that the whole remittance of the
last year amounted to no more than the pitiful sum of 85_l._[122]
for the expence of some hundred thousands, in armed ships and
soldiers to support the officers. Hence the tea, and other India
goods, which might have been sold in America, remain rotting in the
company's warehouses[123]; while those of foreign ports are known
to be cleared by the American demand. Hence, in some degree, the
company's inability to pay their bills; the sinking of their stock,
by which millions of property have been annihilated; the lowering
of their dividend, whereby so many must be distressed; the loss to
government of the stipulated 400,000_l._ a year[124], which must
make a proportionable reduction in our savings towards the discharge
of our enormous debt: and hence in part the severe blow suffered by
credit in general[125], to the ruin of many families; the stagnation
of business in Spitalfields and at Manchester, through want of vent
for their goods; with other future evils, which, as they cannot, from
the numerous and secret connections in general commerce, easily be
foreseen, can hardly be avoided.
FOOTNOTES:
[118] "Boston printed: London reprinted, and sold by J. Wilkie, in
St. Paul's Church-yard. 1773."--I have given the reader _only the
preface_.
It is said, that this little piece very much irritated the ministry.
It was their determination, that the Americans should receive teas
only from Great Britain. And accordingly the East-India company
sent out large cargoes under their protection. The colonists every
where refused, either entrance, or else permission of sale, except
at Boston, where, the force of government preventing more moderate
measures, certain persons in disguise threw it into the sea.
The preamble of the stamp act produced the tea act; the tea act
produced violence; violence, acts of parliament; acts of parliament,
a revolt.
----"A little neglect," says _poor Richard_, "may breed great
mischief: for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe
the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost; being
overtaken and slain by the _enemy_; all for want of a little care
about a horse-shoe nail." B. V.
[119] Lord Hilsborough.--This nobleman, already first lord of trade,
was introduced in 1768 into the _new-titled office_ of secretary of
state for the colonies. B. V.
[120] Mr. Burke tells us (in his speech in 1774) that this
preambulary tax had lost us at once the benefit of the west and of
the east; had thrown open folding-doors to contraband; and would be
the means of giving the profits of the colony-trade to every nation
but ourselves. He adds in the same place, "It is indeed a tax of
sophistry, a tax of pedantry, a tax of disputation, a tax of war
and rebellion, a tax for any thing but benefit to the imposers, or
satisfaction to the subject." B. V.
[121] Some of his circular letters had been criticised, and exposed
by one or two of the American assemblies.
[122] "Eighty-five pounds I am assured, my lords, is the whole
equivalent, we have received for all the hatred and mischief, and
all the infinite losses this kingdom has suffered during that year,
in her disputes with North America." See the bishop of St. Asaph's
intended speech. B. V.
[123] At this time they contained many millions of pounds of tea,
including the usual stock on hand. Mr. Burke, in his speech in 1774,
supposes, that America might have given a vent for ten millions
of pounds. This seems to have been the greater part of the whole
quantity. B. V.
[124] On account of a temporary compromise of certain disputes with
government. B. V.
[125] Seen in certain memorable mercantile failures in the year 1772.
B. V.
_Account of Governor Hutchinson's Letters[126]._
TO THE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL IN WAITING.
(Copy.)
_Whitehall, Dec. 3, 1773._
SIR,
The agent for the house of representatives of the province of
Massachusett's Bay [Dr. Franklin] having delivered to lord
Dartmouth, an address of that house to the king, signed by their
speaker; complaining of the conduct of the governor [Hutchinson] and
lieutenant governor [Andrew Oliver] of that province, in respect to
certain private letters written by them to their correspondent in
England, and praying that they may be removed from their posts in
that government; his lordship hath presented the said address to his
majesty, and his majesty having signified his pleasure, that the said
address should be laid before his majesty in his privy council, I am
directed by lord Dartmouth to transmit the same accordingly, together
with a copy of the agent's letter to his lordship, accompanying the
said address.
I am, sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
(Signed) J. POWNALL.
TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH.
(Copy.)
_London, Aug. 21, 1773._
MY LORD,
I have just received from the house of representatives of the
Massachusett's Bay, their address to the king, which I now inclose,
and send to your lordship, with my humble request in their behalf,
that you would be pleased to present it to his majesty the first
convenient opportunity.
I have the pleasure of hearing from that province by my late letters,
that a sincere disposition prevails in the people there to be on good
terms with the mother-country; that the assembly have declared their
desire only to be put into the situation they were in before the
stamp act: _They aim at no novelties_. And it is said, that having
lately discovered, as they think, the authors of their grievances
to be some of their own people, their resentment against Britain is
thence much abated.
This good disposition of theirs (will your lordship permit me to say)
may be cultivated by a favourable answer to this address, which I
therefore hope your goodness will endeavour to obtain.
With the greatest respect,
I have the honour to be, my lord, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
_Agent for the House of Representatives_.
THE PETITION.
TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,
We your majesty's loyal subjects, the representatives of your ancient
colony of Massachusett's Bay, in general court legally assembled,
by virtue of your majesty's writ under the hand and seal of the
governor, beg leave to lay this our humble petition before your
majesty.
Nothing but the sense of duty we owe to our sovereign, and the
obligation we are under to consult the peace and safety of the
province, could induce us to remonstrate to your majesty [concerning]
the mal-conduct of persons, who have heretofore had the confidence
and esteem of this people; and whom your majesty has been pleased,
from the purest motives of rendering your subjects happy, to advance
to the highest places of trust and authority in the province.
Your majesty's humble petitioners, with the deepest concern and
anxiety, have seen the discords and animosities which have too long
subsisted between your subjects of the parent-state and those of the
American colonies. And we have trembled with apprehensions, that the
consequences, naturally arising therefrom, would at length prove
fatal to both countries.
Permit us humbly to suggest to your majesty, that your subjects here
have been inclined to believe, that the grievances which they have
suffered, and still continue to suffer, have been occasioned by your
majesty's ministers and principal servants being, unfortunately for
us, _misinformed_ in certain facts of very interesting importance to
us. It is for this reason that former assemblies have, from time to
time, prepared a true state of facts to be laid before your majesty;
but their humble remonstrances and petitions, it is presumed, have by
some means been prevented from reaching your royal hand.
Your majesty's petitioners have very lately had before them _certain
papers_, from which they humbly conceive, it is most reasonable
to suppose, that there has been long a conspiracy of evil men in
this province, who have contemplated measures and formed a plan
to advance themselves to power, and raise their own fortunes, by
means destructive of the charter of the province, at the expence of
the quiet of the nation, and to the annihilating of the rights and
liberties of the American colonies.
And we do with all due submission to your majesty beg leave
particularly to complain of the conduct of his excellency Thomas
Hutchinson, Esq. governor, and the honourable Andrew Oliver, Esq.
lieutenant-governor of this your majesty's province, as having a
natural and efficacious tendency to interrupt and alienate the
affections of your majesty, our rightful sovereign, from this your
loyal province; to destroy that harmony and good-will between Great
Britain and this colony, which every honest subject should strive to
establish; to excite the resentment of the British administration
against this province; to defeat the endeavours of our agents and
friends to serve us by a fair representation of our state of facts;
to prevent our humble and repeated petitions from reaching the ear
of your majesty, or having their desired effect. And finally, that
the said Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver have been among the
chief instruments in introducing a fleet and army into this province,
to establish and perpetuate their plans, whereby they have been not
only greatly instrumental [in] disturbing the peace and harmony
of the government, and causing unnatural and hateful discords and
animosities between the several parts of your majesty's extensive
dominions; but are justly chargeable with all that corruption of
morals, and all that confusion, misery, and bloodshed, which have
been the natural effects of posting an army in a populous town.
Wherefore we most humbly pray, that your majesty would be pleased
to remove from their posts in this government the said Thomas
Hutchinson, Esquire, and Andrew Oliver, Esquire; who have, by
their above-mentioned conduct, and otherwise, rendered themselves
justly obnoxious to your loving subjects, and entirely lost their
confidence; and place such good and faithful men in their stead, as
your majesty in your wisdom shall think fit.
In the name and by order of the house of
representatives,
THOMAS CUSHING, _Speaker_.
TO THE LORDS COMMITTEE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRIVY COUNCIL FOR PLANTATION
AFFAIRS.
THE PETITION OF ISRAEL MAUDUIT,
_Humbly sheweth unto your lordships_,
That having been informed, that an address, in the name of
the house of representatives of his majesty's colony of
Massachusett's Bay, has been presented to his majesty by Benjamin
Franklin, Esquire, praying the removal of his majesty's governor
and lieutenant-governor, which is appointed to be taken into
consideration on Thursday next; your petitioner, on the behalf of the
said governor and lieutenant governor, humbly prays, that he may be
heard by counsel in relation to the same, before your lordships shall
make any report on the said address.
ISRAEL MAUDUIT.
_Clement's Lane, Jan. 10, 1775._
_The Examination of Dr. Franklin, at the Council Chamber, Jan. 17,
1774[127]. Present, Lord President, the Secretaries of State, and
many other Lords; Dr. Franklin and Mr. Bollan; Mr. Mauduit and Mr.
Wedderburn._
Dr. Franklin's Letter and the Address, Mr. Pownall's Letter, and
Mr. Mauduit's Petition, were read.
_Mr. Wedderburn._ The address mentions certain papers: I could wish
to be informed what are those papers?
_Dr. Franklin._ They are the letters of Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver.
_Court._ Have you brought them?
_Dr. Franklin._ No, but here are attested copies.
_Court._ Do you mean to found a charge upon them? if you do, you must
produce the letters.
_Dr. Franklin._ These copies are attested by several gentlemen at
Boston, and a notary public.
_Mr. Wedderburn._ My lords, we shall not take advantage of any
imperfection in the proof. We admit that the letters are Mr.
Hutchinson's and Mr. Oliver's hand writing: reserving to ourselves
the right of inquiring how they were obtained.
_Dr. Franklin._ I did not expect that counsel would have been
employed on this occasion.
_Court._ Had you not notice sent you of Mr. Mauduit's having
petitioned to be heard by counsel on behalf of the governor and
lieutenant governor.
_Dr. Franklin._ I did receive such notice; but I thought this had
been a matter of _politics_, not of law, and have not brought my
counsel.
_Court._ Where a charge is brought, the parties have a right to be
heard by counsel or not, as they choose.
_Mr. Mauduit._ My lords, I am not a native of that country, as these
gentlemen are. I know well Dr. Franklin's abilities, and wish to
put the defence of my friends more upon a parity with the attack;
he will not therefore wonder that I choose to appear before your
lordships with the assistance of counsel. My friends, in their
letters to me, have desired (if any proceedings, as they say, should
be had upon this address) that they may have a hearing in their own
justification, that their innocence may be fully cleared, and their
honour vindicated, and have made provision accordingly. I do not
think myself at liberty therefore to give up the assistance of my
counsel, in defending them against this unjust accusation.
_Court._ Dr. Franklin may have the assistance of counsel, or go on
without it, as he shall choose.
_Dr. Franklin._ I desire to have counsel.
_Court._ What time do you want?
_Dr. Franklin._ Three weeks.
_Ordered_ that the further proceedings be on Saturday 29th
instant[128].
_To the Printer of the Public Advertiser._[129]
SIR,
Finding that two gentlemen have been unfortunately engaged in a duel
about a transaction and its circumstances, of which both of them
are totally ignorant and innocent, I think it incumbent upon me to
declare (for the prevention of farther mischief, as far as such a
declaration may contribute to prevent it) that I alone am the person,
who obtained and transmitted to Boston the letters in question.
Mr. W. could not communicate them, because they were never in his
possession; and for the same reason they could not be taken from him
by Mr. T. They were not of the nature of _private_ letters between
friends. They were written by public officers to persons in public
stations, on public affairs, and intended to procure public measures;
they were therefore handed to other public persons, who might be
influenced by them to produce those measures. Their tendency was to
incense the mother-country against her colonies, and, by the steps
recommended, to widen the breach, which they effected. The chief
caution expressed with regard to privacy was, to keep their contents
from the colony agents, who, the writers apprehended, might return
them, or copies of them, to America. That apprehension was, it seems,
well founded, for the first agent who laid his hands on them thought
it his duty to transmit them to his constituents[130].
_Craven Street, Dec. 25, 1773._
B. FRANKLIN,
_Agent for the House of Representatives
of the Massachusett's Bay_.
FOOTNOTES:
[126] Governor Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor Andrew Oliver,
Charles Paxton, Esq. Nathaniel Rogers, Esq. and Mr. G. Roome,
having sent from Boston certain representations and informations
to Thomas Whately, Esq. member of parliament, private secretary to
Mr. George Grenville (the father of the stamp act) when in office,
and afterwards one of the lords of trade; these letters were, by a
particular channel, conveyed back to Boston. The assembly of the
province were so much exasperated, that they returned home attested
copies of the letters, accompanied with a petition and remonstrance,
for the removal of governor Hutchinson, and lieutenant-governor
Andrew Oliver, from their posts. The council of the province
likewise, on their part, entered into thirteen resolves, in tendency
and import similar to the petition of the assembly; five of which
resolves were unanimous, and only one of them had so many as three
dissentients. In consequence of the assembly's petition, the above
proceedings and examination took place.
Dr. Franklin having naturally a large share in these transactions,
made still larger by the impolitic and indecent persecution of his
character, I have exhibited the whole more at length, than I should
otherwise have thought proper. B. V.
[127] The editor has taken this examination from Mr. Mauduit's copy
of the Letters of Governor Hutchinson, &c. second edition, 1774,
p. 17. He has Mr. Mauduit's authority for supposing it faithfully
represented. B. V.
[128] The privy council accordingly met on the 29th of January,
1774, when Mr. Dunning and Mr. John Lee appeared as counsel for
the assembly, and Mr. Wedderburn as counsel for the governor and
lieutenant governor. Mr. Wedderburn was very long in his answer,
which chiefly related to the mode of obtaining and sending away Mr.
Whately's letters; and spoke of Dr. Franklin in terms of abuse, which
never escape from one gentleman towards another. In the event, the
committee of the privy council made a report, in which was expressed
the following opinion: "The lords of the committee do agree humbly
to report, as their opinion to your majesty, that the petition is
founded upon resolutions formed on false and erroneous allegations;
and is groundless, vexatious, and scandalous, and calculated only
for the seditious purposes of keeping up a spirit of clamour and
discontent in the said province. And the lords of the committee do
further humbly report to your majesty, that nothing has been laid
before them which does or can, in their opinion, in any manner, or
in any degree, impeach the honour, integrity, or conduct of the said
governor or lieutenant-governor; and their lordships are humbly of
opinion, that the said petition ought to be dismissed."
Feb. 7th, 1774. "His majesty, taking the said report into
consideration, was pleased, with the advice of his privy-council, to
approve thereof; and to order, that the said petition of the house of
representatives of the province of Massachusett's Bay be dismissed
the board--as groundless, vexatious, and scandalous; and calculated
only for the seditious purpose of keeping up a spirit of clamour and
discontent in the said province."--A former petition against governor
Bernard met with a dismission couched in similar terms. B. V.
[129] Some letters had passed in the public prints between Mr. Thomas
Whately's brother and Mr. John Temple, concerning the manner in which
the letters of Governor Hutchinson &c. had escaped from among the
papers of Mr. Thomas Whately, at this time deceased.
The one gentleman wished to avoid the charge of having given them,
the other of having taken them. At length the dispute became so
personal and pointed, that Mr. Temple thought it necessary to call
the brother into the field. The letter of provocation appeared in
the morning, and the parties met in the afternoon. Dr. Franklin, was
not then in town; it was after some interval that he received the
intelligence. What had passed he could not foresee; he endeavoured to
prevent what still might follow. B. V.
[130] It was in consequence of this letter that Mr. Wedderburn
ventured to make the most odious personal applications. Mr. Mauduit
has prudently omitted part of them in his account of the proceedings
before the privy-council. They are given here altogether however (as
well as they could be collected) to mark the politics of the times,
and the nature of the censures passed in England upon Dr. Franklin's
character.
"The letters could not have come to Dr. Franklin," said Mr.
Wedderburn, "by fair means. The writers did not give them to him, nor
yet did the deceased correspondent, who, from our intimacy, would
otherwise have told me of it: nothing then will acquit Dr. Franklin
of the charge of obtaining them by fraudulent or corrupt means, for
the most malignant of purposes; unless he stole them, from the person
who stole them. This argument is irrefragable."----
"I hope, my lords, you will mark [and brand] the man, for the honour
of this country, of Europe, and of mankind. Private correspondence
has hitherto been held sacred in times of the greatest party
rage, not only in politics but religion."--"He has forfeited all
the respect of societies and of men. Into what companies will he
hereafter go with an unembarassed face, or the honest intrepidity of
virtue. Men will watch him with a jealous eye, they will hide their
papers from him, and lock up their escrutoires. He will henceforth
esteem it a libel to be called a _man of letters, homo_ trium[131]
_literarum_!
"But he not only took away the letters from one brother, but kept
himself concealed till he nearly occasioned the murder of the other.
It is impossible to read his account, expressive of the coolest and
most deliberate malice, without horror." [_Here he read the letter
above, Dr. Franklin being all the time present._]--Amidst these
tragical events, of one person nearly murdered, of another answerable
for the issue, of a worthy governor hurt in his dearest interests,
the fate of America in suspense; here is a man, who, with the utmost
insensibility of remorse, stands up and avows himself the author of
all. I can compare it only to Zanga in Dr. Young's _Revenge_.[132]
"Know then 'twas----I:
I forged the letter, I disposed the picture;
I hated, I despised, and I destroy.
"I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper, attributed by poetic
fiction only to the bloody African, is not surpassed by the coolness
and apathy of the wily American?"
These pleadings for a time worked great effect: the lords
assented, the town was convinced, Dr. Franklin was disgraced[133],
and Mr. Wedderburn seemed in the road for every kind of
advancement.--Unfortunately for Mr. Wedderburn, the events of the
war did not correspond with his systems. Unfortunately too for his
"irrefragable argument," Dr. Franklin afterwards took an oath in
chancery[134], that at the time that he transmitted the letters he
was ignorant of the party to whom they had been addressed, having
himself received them from a third person, and for the express
purpose of their being conveyed to America. Unfortunately also for
Mr. Wedderburn's "worthy governor," that governor himself, _before_
the arrival of Dr Franklin's packet in Boston, sent over one of
Dr. Franklin's own "private" letters to England, expressing some
little coyness indeed upon the occasion, but desiring secrecy, lest
he should be prevented procuring _more_ useful intelligence from
the same source[135]. Whether Mr. Wedderburn in his speech intended
to draw a particular case and portraiture, for the purpose only of
injuring Dr. Franklin, or meant that his language and epithets should
apply generally to all, whether friends or foes, whose practice
should be found similar to it, is a matter that must be left to be
adjusted between governor Hutchinson and Mr. Wedderburn.
But to return to Dr. Franklin. It was not singular perhaps, that,
as a man of honour, he should surrender his name to public scrutiny
in order to prevent mischief to others, and yet not betray his
coadjutor (even to the present moment) to relieve his own fame from
the severest obloquy; but perhaps it belonged to few besides Dr.
Franklin, to possess mildness and magnanimity enough to refrain from
intemperate expressions and measures against Mr. Wedderburn and his
supporters, after all that had passed. B. V.
[131] i. e. Fur (or _thief_).
[132] Act Vth.
[133] He was dismissed from his place in the post-office.
[134] A copy of the proceedings in chancery has been in my
possession, but being at present mislaid I speak only from memory
here.
[135] See the Remembrancer for the year 1776, part 2d. p. 61 col.
1st, and 2d.
_Rules for reducing a Great Empire to a small one, presented to a
late Minister, when he entered upon his Administration._[136]
An ancient sage valued himself upon this, that though he could
not fiddle, he knew how to make a great city of a little one. The
science, that I, a modern, simpleton, am about to communicate, is the
very reverse.
I address myself to all ministers, who have the management of
extensive dominions, which, from their very greatness, are become
troublesome to govern--because the multiplicity of their affairs
leaves no time for fiddling.
I. In the first place, gentlemen, you are to consider, that a great
empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.
Turn your attention therefore first to your _remotest_ provinces;
that, as you get rid of them, the next may follow in order.
II. That the possibility of this separation may always exist,
take special care the provinces are _never incorporated with the
mother-country_; that they do not enjoy the same common rights, the
same privileges in commerce, and that they are governed by severer
laws, all of your enacting, without allowing them any share in the
choice of the legislators. By carefully making and preserving such
distinctions, you will (to keep to my simile of the cake) act like a
wise gingerbread-baker; who, to facilitate a division, cuts his dough
half through in those places, where, when baked, he would have it
broken to pieces.
III. Those remote provinces have perhaps been acquired, purchased, or
conquered, at the sole expence of the settlers or their ancestors,
without the aid of the mother-country. If this should happen to
increase her strength, by their growing numbers, ready to join in her
wars; her commerce, by their growing demand for her manufactures; or
her naval power, by greater employment for her ships and seamen, they
may probably suppose some merit in this, and that it entitles them
to some favour: you are therefore to _forget it all, or resent it_,
as if they had done you injury. If they happen to be zealous whigs,
friends of liberty, nurtured in revolution principles; remember
all that to their prejudice, and contrive to punish it: for such
principles, after a revolution is thoroughly established, are of no
more use; they are even odious and abominable.
IV. However peaceably your colonies have submitted to your
government, shown their affection to your interests, and patiently
borne their grievances, you are to suppose them _always inclined
to revolt_, and treat them accordingly. Quarter troops among them,
who, by their insolence, may provoke the rising of mobs, and by their
bullets and bayonets suppress them. By this means, like the husband
who uses his wife ill from suspicion, you may in time convert your
suspicions into realities.
V. Remote provinces must have governors and judges, to represent
the royal person and execute every where the delegated parts of his
office and authority. You, ministers, know, that much of the strength
of government depends on the opinion of the people, and much of that
opinion on the _choice of rulers_ placed immediately over them. If
you send them wise and good men for governors, who study the interest
of the colonists, and advance their prosperity; they will think their
king wise and good, and that he wishes the welfare of his subjects.
If you send them learned and upright men for judges, they will think
him a lover of justice. This may attach your provinces more to his
government. You are therefore to be careful who you recommend for
those offices.--If you can find prodigals, who have ruined their
fortunes, broken gamesters or stock-jobbers, these may do well as
governors, for they will probably be rapacious, and provoke the
people by their extortions. Wrangling proctors and pettyfogging
lawyers too are not amiss, for they will be for ever disputing and
quarrelling with their little parliaments. If withal they should be
ignorant, wrong-headed and insolent, so much the better. Attorneys
clerks and Newgate solicitors will do for chief justices, especially
if they hold their places during your pleasure:--and all will
contribute to impress those ideas of your government, that are
proper for a people you would wish to renounce it.
VI. To confirm these impressions, and strike them deeper,
whenever the injured come to the capital with complaints of
mal-administration, oppression, or injustice, _punish such suitors_
with long delay, enormous expence, and a final judgment in favour
of the oppressor. This will have an admirable effect every way.
The trouble of future complaints will be prevented, and governors
and judges will be encouraged to farther acts of oppression and
injustice, and thence the people may become more disaffected, and at
length desperate.
VII. When such governors have crammed their coffers, and made
themselves so odious to the people, that they can no longer remain
among them with safety to their persons, _recal and reward_ them with
pensions. You may make them baronets too, if that respectable order
should not think fit to resent it. All will contribute to encourage
new governors in the same practice, and make the supreme government
detestable.
VIII. If, when you are engaged in war, your colonies should vie in
liberal aids of men and money against the common enemy upon your
simple requisition, and give far beyond their abilities,--reflect,
that a penny, taken from them by your power, is more honourable to
you, than a pound presented by their benevolence; _despise therefore
their voluntary grants_, and resolve to harass them with _novel
taxes_.--They will probably complain to your parliament, that they
are taxed by a body in which they have no representative, and that
this is contrary to common right. They will petition for redress. Let
the parliament flout their claims, reject their petitions, refuse
even to suffer the reading of them, and treat the petitioners with
the utmost contempt. Nothing can have a better effect in producing
the alienation proposed; for though many can forgive injuries, none
ever forgave contempt.
IX. In laying these taxes, _never regard the heavy burthens_ those
remote people already undergo, in defending their own frontiers,
supporting their own provincial government, making new roads,
building bridges, churches, and other public edifices, which in
old countries have been done to your hands, by your ancestors, but
which occasion constant calls and demands on the purses of a new
people.--Forget the restraint you lay on their trade for your own
benefit, and the advantage a monopoly of this trade gives your
exacting merchants. Think nothing of the wealth those merchants and
your manufacturers acquire by the colony commerce, their increased
ability thereby to pay taxes at home, their accumulating, in the
price of their commodities, most of those taxes, and so levying them
from their consuming customers: all this, and the employment and
support of thousands of your poor by the colonists, you are entirely
to forget. But remember to make your arbitrary tax more grievous to
your provinces, by public declarations, importing, that your power of
taxing them has _no limits_, so that when you take from them without
their consent a shilling in the pound, you have a clear right to the
other nineteen. This will probably weaken every idea of security
in their property, and convince them, that under such a government
they have nothing they can call their own; which can scarce fail of
producing the happiest consequences!
X. Possibly indeed some of them might still comfort themselves and
say, "though we have no property, we have yet something left that
is valuable, we have constitutional _liberty, both of person and of
conscience_. This king, these lords, and these commons, who it seems
are too remote from us to know us and feel for us, cannot take from
us our habeas corpus right, or our right of trial by a jury of our
neighbours: they cannot deprive us of the exercise of our religion,
alter our ecclesiastical constitution, and compel us to be papists,
if they please, or Mahometans." To annihilate this comfort, begin by
laws to perplex their commerce with infinite regulations, impossible
to be remembered and observed: ordain seizures of their property for
every failure, take away the trial of such property by jury, and give
it to arbitrary judges of your own appointing, and of the lowest
characters in the country, whose salaries and emoluments are to arise
out of the duties or condemnations, and whose appointments are during
pleasure. Then let there be a formal declaration of both houses, that
opposition to your edicts is treason, and that persons suspected of
treason in the provinces may, according to some obsolete law, be
seized and sent to the metropolis of the empire for trial; and pass
an act, that those there charged with certain other offences shall
be sent away in chains from their friends and country, to be tried
in the same manner for felony. Then erect a new court of inquisition
among them, accompanied by an armed force, with instructions to
transport all such suspected persons, to be ruined by the expence,
if they bring over evidences to prove their innocence, or be found
guilty and hanged, if they cannot afford it. And lest the people
should think you cannot possibly go any farther, pass another solemn
declaratory act, "that king, lords, and commons had, have, and of
right ought to have, full power and authority to make statutes of
sufficient force and validity to bind the unrepresented provinces _in
all cases whatsoever_." This will include spiritual with temporal,
and taken together must operate wonderfully to your purpose, by
convincing them, that they are at present under a power, something
like that spoken of in the Scriptures, which can not only kill their
bodies, but damn their souls to all eternity, by compelling them, if
it pleases, to worship the devil.
XI. To make your taxes more odious, and more likely to procure
resistance, send from the capital a _board of officers_ to
superintend the collection, _composed of the most indiscreet_,
ill-bred, and insolent you can find. Let these have large salaries
out of the extorted revenue, and live in open grating luxury upon
the sweat and blood of the industrious, whom they are to worry
continually with groundless and expensive prosecutions, before the
above-mentioned arbitrary revenue-judges; all at the cost of the
party prosecuted, though acquitted, because the king is to pay no
costs. Let these men, by your order, be exempted from all the common
taxes and burthens of the province, though they and their property
are protected by its laws. If any revenue officers are suspected of
the least tenderness for the people, discard them. If others are
justly complained of, protect and reward them. If any of the under
officers behave so as to provoke the people to drub them, promote
those to better offices: this will encourage others to procure for
themselves such profitable drubbings, by multiplying and enlarging
such provocations, and all will work towards the end you aim at.
XII. Another way to make your tax odious is, to _misapply the
produce of it_. If it was originally appropriated for the defence
of the provinces, and the better support of government, and
the administration of justice, where it may be necessary; then
apply none of it to that defence, but bestow it, where it is not
necessary, in augmenting salaries or pensions to every governor,
who has distinguished himself by his enmity to the people, and by
calumniating them to their sovereign. This will make them pay it more
unwillingly, and be more apt to quarrel with those that collect it,
and those that imposed it, who will quarrel again with them, and all
shall contribute to your own purpose, of making them weary of your
government.
XIII. If the people of any province have been accustomed to _support
their own governors and judges_ to satisfaction, you are to
apprehend, that such governors and judges may be thereby influenced
to treat the people kindly, and to do them justice. This is another
reason for applying part of that revenue in larger salaries to such
governors and judges, given, as their commissions are, during _your_
pleasure only, forbidding them to take any salaries from their
provinces; that thus the people may no longer hope any kindness from
their governors, or (in crown cases) any justice from their judges.
And as the money, thus misapplied in one province, is extorted from
all, probably all will resent the misapplication.
XIV. If the parliaments of your provinces should dare to claim
rights, or complain of your administration, order them to be harassed
with _repeated dissolutions_. If the same men are continually
returned by new elections, adjourn their meetings to some country
village, where they cannot be accommodated, and there keep them
during pleasure; for this, you know, is your prerogative, and an
excellent one it is, as you may manage it, to promote discontents
among the people, diminish their respect, and increase their
disaffection.
XV. Convert the brave honest officers of your _navy_ into pimping
tide-waiters and colony officers of the _customs_. Let those, who
in time of war fought gallantly in defence of the commerce of their
countrymen, in peace be taught to prey upon it. Let them learn
to be corrupted by great and real smugglers; but (to show their
diligence) scour with armed boats every bay, harbour, river, creek,
cove or nook, throughout the coast of your colonies; stop and detain
every coaster, every wood-boat, every fisherman, tumble their
cargoes and even their ballast inside out, and upside down; and if
a pennyworth of pins is found un-entered, let the whole be seized
and confiscated. Thus shall the trade of your colonists suffer more
from their friends in time of peace, than it did from their enemies
in war. Then let these boats' crews land upon every farm in their
way, rob their orchards, steal their pigs and poultry, and insult
the inhabitants. If the injured and exasperated farmers, unable to
procure other justice, should attack the aggressors, drub them, and
burn their boats, you are to call this _high treason and rebellion_,
order fleets and armies into their country, and threaten to carry
all the offenders three thousand miles to be hanged, drawn, and
quartered.--O! this will work admirably!
XVI. If you are told of _discontents_ in your colonies, never
believe that they are general, or that you have given occasion for
them; therefore do not think of applying any remedy, or of changing
any offensive measure. Redress no grievance, lest they should be
encouraged to demand the redress of some other grievance. Grant no
request, that is just and reasonable, lest they should make another,
that is unreasonable. Take all your informations of the state of
the colonies from your governors and officers in enmity with them.
Encourage and reward these leasing-makers, secrete their lying
accusations, lest they should be confuted, but act upon them as the
clearest evidence; and believe nothing you hear from the friends
of the people. Suppose all _their_ complaints to be invented and
promoted by a few factious demagogues, whom if you could catch and
hang, all would be quiet. Catch and hang a few of them accordingly,
and the blood of the martyrs shall work miracles in favour of your
purpose[137].
XVII. If you see _rival nations_ rejoicing at the prospect of your
disunion with your provinces, and endeavouring to promote it, if
they translate, publish and applaud all the complaints of your
discontented colonists, at the same time privately stimulating you to
severer measures, let not that alarm or offend you. Why should it?
since you all mean the same thing?
XVIII. If any colony should _at their own charge erect a fortress_,
to secure their _port_ against the fleets of a foreign enemy, get
your governor to betray that fortress into your hands. Never think
of paying what it cost the country, for that would look, at least,
like some regard for justice; but turn it into a citadel, to awe
the inhabitants and curb their commerce. If they should have lodged
in such fortress the very arms they bought and used to aid you in
your conquests, seize them all; it will provoke like ingratitude
added to robbery. One admirable effect of these operations will be,
to discourage every other colony from erecting such defences, and
so their and your enemies may more easily invade them, to the great
disgrace of your government, and of course the furtherance of your
project.
XIX. Send armies into their country, under pretence of protecting the
inhabitants; but, instead of garrisoning the forts on their frontiers
with those troops, to prevent incursions, demolish those forts, and
order the troops into the heart of the country, that the savages may
be encouraged to attack the frontiers[138], and that the troops may
be protected by the inhabitants: this will seem to proceed from your
_ill-will or your ignorance_, and contribute farther to produce
and strengthen an opinion among them, that you are no longer fit to
govern them[139].
XX. Lastly, invest the _general of your army in the provinces_ with
great and unconstitutional powers, and free him from the controul of
even your own civil governors. Let him have troops enow under his
command, with all the fortresses in his possession, and who knows but
(like some provincial generals in the Roman empire, and encouraged
by the universal discontent you have produced) he may take it into
his head to set up for himself? If he should, and you have carefully
practised these few excellent rules of mine, take my word for it,
all the provinces will immediately join him--and you will that day
(if you have not done it sooner) get rid of the trouble of governing
them, and all the plagues attending their commerce and connection
from thenceforth and for ever.
FOOTNOTES:
[136] These rules first appeared in a London newspaper about the
beginning of the year 1774, and have several times since been
introduced into our public prints.--The minister alluded to is
supposed to be the Earl of Hillsborough.
"The causes and motions of seditions (says Lord Bacon) are,
innovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws and customs,
breaking of privileges, general oppression, advancement of unworthy
persons, strangers, dearths, disbanded soldiers, factions grown
desperate, and whatsoever in offending people joineth and knitteth
them in a common cause." B. V.
[137] One of the American writers affirms, "That there has not been
a single instance in which _they_ have complained, without being
rebuked, or in which they have been complained _against_, without
being punished."--A fundamental mistake in the minister occasioned
this. Every individual in New England (the peccant country) was held
a coward or a knave, and the disorders, which spread abroad there,
were treated as the result of the _too great lenity_ of Britain! By
the aid of this short and benevolent rule, judgment was ever wisely
predetermined, to the shutting out redress on the one hand, and
inforcing every rigour of punishment on the other. B. V.
[138] I am not versed in Indian affairs, but I find, that in April,
1773, the assembled chiefs of the western nations told one of our
Indian agents, "that they remembered their father, the king of Great
Britain's message, delivered to them last fall, of demolishing
Fort Pittsburg (on the Ohio) and removing the soldiers with their
sharp-edged weapons out of the country:--this gave them great
pleasure, as it was a strong proof of his paternal kindness towards
them." (See Considerations on the Agreement with Mr. T. Walpole for
Lands upon the Ohio, p. 9). This is general history: I attempt no
application of facts, personally invidious. B. V.
[139] As the reader may be inclined to divide his belief between
the wisdom of ministry and the candor and veracity of Dr. Franklin,
I shall inform him that two contrary objections may be made to the
truth of this representation. The first is, that the conduct of Great
Britain is made _too_ absurd for possibility, and the second, that
it is not made absurd _enough_ for fact. If we consider that this
piece does not include the measures subsequent to 1773, the latter
difficulty is easily set aside. The former I can only solve by the
many instances in history, where the infatuation of individuals has
brought the heaviest calamities upon nations. B. V.
_State of America on Dr. Franklin's Arrival there._
_Philadelphia, May 16, 1775._
DEAR FRIEND[140],
You will have heard before this reaches you, of a march stolen by the
regulars into the country by night, and of their _expedition_ back
again. They retreated 20 miles in [6] hours.
The governor had called the assembly to propose Lord North's pacific
plan, but, before the time of their meeting, began cutting of
throats.--You know it was said he carried the sword in one hand, and
the olive branch in the other; and it seems he chose to give them a
taste of the sword first.
He is doubling his fortifications at Boston, and hopes to secure
his troops till succour arrives. The place indeed is naturally so
defensible, that I think them in no danger.
All America is exasperated by his conduct, and more firmly united
than ever. The breach between the two countries is grown wider, and
in danger of becoming irreparable.
I had a passage of six weeks, the weather constantly so moderate that
a London wherry might have accompanied us all the way. I got home
in the evening, and the next morning was unanimously chosen by the
assembly a delegate to the congress, now sitting.
In coming over, I made a valuable philosophical discovery, which I
shall communicate to you when I can get a little time. At present am
extremely hurried.
* * * * *
Yours most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[140] I run much risque in the publication of the three following
letters[141]; but I think they contain such valuable facts, and
show so well the nature of Dr. Franklin's temper, that I ought to
encounter some difficulty, rather than suffer them to be lost. B. V.
[141] The other two letters will be found in the order of their
dates, July 7, and Oct. 3, 1775. _Editor._
_Proposed Vindication and Offer from Congress to Parliament, in
1775[142]._
Forasmuch as the enemies of America, in the parliament of Great
Britain, to render us odious to the nation, and give an ill
impression of us in the minds of other European powers, have
represented us as unjust and ungrateful in the highest degree;
asserting on every occasion, that the colonies were settled at the
expence of Britain; that they were, at the expence of the same,
protected in their infancy; that they now ungratefully and unjustly
refuse to contribute to their own protection, and the common defence
of the nation; that they aim at independence; that they intend an
abolition of the navigation acts; and that they are fraudulent in
their commercial dealings, and purpose to cheat their creditors in
Britain, by avoiding the payment of their just debts:--
[And] as, by frequent repetition, these groundless assertions and
malicious calumnies may, if not contradicted and refuted, obtain
farther credit, and be injurious throughout Europe to the reputation
and interest of the confederate colonies, it seems proper and
necessary to examine them in our own just vindication.
With regard to the first, _that the colonies were_ settled _at
the expence of Britain_, it is a known fact, that none of the
twelve united colonies were settled, or even discovered, at the
expence of England. Henry the VIIth indeed granted a commission to
Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian, and his sons, to sail into the western
seas for the discovery of new countries; but it was to be "_suis_
eorum propriis sumptibus et expensis," at their _own_ costs and
charges[143]. They discovered, but soon slighted and neglected, these
northern territories; which were, after more than a hundred years
dereliction, purchased of the natives, and settled at the charge
and by the labour of private men and bodies of men, our ancestors,
who came over hither for that purpose. But our adversaries have
never been able to produce any record, that ever the _parliament_ or
government of England was at the smallest expence on these accounts:
on the contrary, there exists on the journals of parliament a
solemn declaration in 1642, (only twenty-two years after the first
settlement of the Massachusetts, when, if such expence had ever been
incurred, some of the members must have known and remembered it)
"That these colonies had been planted and established _without any
expence to the state_.[144]" _New-York_ is the only colony in the
founding of which England can pretend to have been at any expence,
and that was only the charge of a small armament to take it from the
Dutch, who planted it. But to retain this colony at peace, another at
that time, full as valuable, planted by private countrymen of _ours_,
was given up by the crown to the Dutch in exchange, viz. Surinam, now
a wealthy sugar-colony in Guiana, and which, but for that cession,
might still have remained in our possession. Of late, indeed, Britain
has been at some expence in planting two colonies, _Georgia_[145]
and _Nova Scotia_; but those are not in our confederacy; and the
expence she has been at in their name, has chiefly been in grants of
sums unnecessarily large, by way of salaries to officers sent from
England, and in jobs to friends, whereby dependants might be provided
for; those excessive grants not being requisite to the welfare and
good government of the colonies; which good government (as experience
in many instances of other colonies has taught us) may be much more
frugally, and full as effectually provided for, and supported.
With regard to the second assertion, _that these colonies were_
protected _in their infant state by England_, it is a notorious fact,
that in none of the many wars with the Indian natives, sustained
by our infant settlements for a century after our first arrival,
were ever any troops or forces of any kind sent from England to
assist us; nor were any forts built at her expence to secure our
sea-ports from foreign invaders; nor any ships of war sent to protect
our trade, till many years after our first settlement, when our
commerce became an object of revenue, or of advantage to British
merchants, and then it was thought necessary to have a frigate in
some of our ports, during peace, to give weight to the authority of
custom-house officers, who were to restrain that commerce for the
benefit of England. Our own arms, with our poverty, and the care of
a kind providence, were all this time our only protection, while
we were neglected by the English government; which either thought
us not worth its care, or, having no good will to some of us, on
account of our different sentiments in religion and politics, was
indifferent what became of us. On the other hand, the colonies have
not been wanting to do what they could in every war for annoying the
enemies of Britain. They formerly assisted her in the conquest of
Nova Scotia. In the war before last they took Louisbourg, and put
it into her hands. She made her peace with that strong fortress, by
restoring it to France, greatly to their detriment. In the last war,
it is true, Britain sent a fleet and army, who acted with an equal
army of ours, in the reduction of Canada; and perhaps thereby did
more for us, than we in the preceding wars had done for her. Let it
be remembered however, that she rejected the plan we formed in the
congress at Albany, in 1754, for our own defence, by an union of the
colonies; an union she was jealous of, and therefore chose to send
her own forces; otherwise her aid to protect us was not wanted. And
from our first settlement to that time, her military operations in
our favour were small, compared with the advantages she drew from
her exclusive commerce with us. We are however willing to give full
weight to this obligation; and as we are daily growing stronger, and
our assistance to her becomes of more importance, we should with
pleasure embrace the first opportunity of showing our gratitude, by
returning the favour in kind. But when Britain values herself as
affording us protection, we desire it may be considered, that we
have followed _her_ in all _her_ wars, and joined with her at our
own expence against all she thought fit to quarrel with. This she
has required of us, and would never permit us to keep peace with any
power she declared her enemy, though by separate treaties we might
well have done it. Under such circumstances, when, at her instance,
we made nations our enemies, whom we might otherwise have retained
our friends; we submit it to the common sense of mankind, whether
her protection of us in these wars was not our _just due_, and to
be claimed of _right_, instead of being received as a _favour_?
And whether, when all the parts of an empire exert themselves to
the utmost in their common defence, and in annoying the common
enemy, it is not as well the _parts_ that protect the _whole_, as
the _whole_ that protects the _parts_? The protection then has
been proportionably mutual. And whenever the time shall come, that
our abilities may as far exceed hers, as hers have exceeded ours,
we hope we shall be reasonable enough to rest satisfied with her
proportionable exertions, and not think we do too much for a part of
the empire, when that part does as much as it can for the whole.
The charge against us, _that we refuse to_ contribute _to our own
protection_, appears from the above to be groundless: but we farther
declare it to be absolutely false; for it is well known, that we ever
held it as our duty to grant aids to the crown, upon requisition,
towards carrying on its wars; which duty we have cheerfully complied
with, to the utmost of our abilities; insomuch that frequent and
grateful acknowledgments thereof by king and parliament appear
on their records[146]. But as Britain has enjoyed a most gainful
monopoly of our commerce, the same, with our maintaining the dignity
of the king's representative in each colony, and all our own separate
establishments of government, civil and military, has ever hitherto
been deemed an equivalent for such aids, as might otherwise be
expected from us in time of peace. And we hereby declare, that on a
reconciliation with Britain, we shall _not only_ continue _to grant
aids in time of war_, as aforesaid; but, whenever she shall think fit
to abolish her monopoly, and give us the same privileges of trade as
Scotland received at the union, and allow us a free commerce with
all the rest of the world, we shall willingly agree (and we doubt
not it will be ratified by our constituents) to _give and pay_ into
the sinking fund [100,000_l._] sterling per annum for the term of one
hundred years, which, duly, faithfully, and inviolably applied to
that purpose, is demonstrably more than sufficient to extinguish _all
her present national_ debt, since it will in that time amount, at
legal British interest, to more than 230,000,000_l._[147]
But if Britain does not think fit to accept this proposition, we,
in order to remove her groundless jealousies, _that we aim at
independence, and an abolition of the navigation act_, (which hath
in truth never been our intention) and to avoid all future disputes
about the right of making that and other acts for regulating our
commerce, do hereby declare ourselves ready and willing to enter
into a _covenant with Britain_, that she shall fully possess,
enjoy, and exercise that right, for an hundred years to come, the
same being _bonâ fide_ used for the common benefit; and in case of
such agreement, that every assembly be advised by us, to confirm it
solemnly, by laws of their own, which, once made, cannot be repealed
without the assent of the crown.
The last charge, _that we are dishonest traders, and aim at
defrauding our creditors in Britain_, is sufficiently and
authentically refuted by the solemn declarations of the British
merchants to parliament, (both at the time of the stamp-act and in
the last session) who bore ample testimony to the general good faith
and fair dealing of the Americans, and declared their confidence in
our integrity, for which we refer to their petitions on the journals
of the house of commons. And we presume we may safely call on the
body of the British tradesmen, who have had experience of both, to
say, whether they have not received much more punctual payment from
us than they generally have from the members of their own two houses
of parliament.
On the whole of the above it appears, that the charge of
_ingratitude_ towards the mother country, brought with so much
confidence against the colonies, is totally without foundation; and
that there is much more reason for retorting that charge on Britain,
who not only never contributes any aid, nor affords, by an exclusive
commerce, any advantages to Saxony, _her_ mother country; but no
longer since than in the last war, without the least provocation,
subsidized the king of Prussia while he ravaged that _mother
country_, and carried fire and sword into its capital, the fine city
of Dresden. An example we hope no provocation will induce us to
imitate.
FOOTNOTES:
[142] The following paper was drawn up in a committee of congress,
June 25, 1775, but does not appear on their minutes, a severe act of
parliament, which arrived about that time, having determined them not
to give the sum proposed in it.--[It was first printed in the Public
Advertiser for July 18, 1777. B. V.]
[143] See the Commission in the Appendix to Pownall's Administration
of the Colonies. Edit. 1775.
[144] "Veneris, 10 March, 1642. Whereas the plantations in New
England have, by the blessing of the Almighty, had good and
prosperous success, _without any public charge to this state_, and
are now likely to prove very happy for the propagation of the gospel
in those parts, and very beneficial and commodious to this kingdom
and nation: the commons, now assembled in parliament, &c. &c. &c."
See Governor Hutchinson's History. B. V.
[145] Georgia has since acceded, July, 1775.
[146] Supposed to allude to certain passages in the Journals of the
house of commons on the 4th of April, 1748, 28th January, 1756, 3d
February, 1756, 16th and 19th of May, 1757, 1st of June, 1758, 26th
and 30th of April, 1759, 26th and 31st of March, and 28th of April,
1760, 9th and 20th January, 1761, 22d and 26th January, 1762, and
14th and 17th March, 1763. B. V.
[147] See Dr. Price's Appeal on the National Debt. B. V.
_Reprobation of Mr. Strahan's parliamentary Conduct._[148]
_Philadelphia, July 5, 1775._
MR. STRAHAN,
You are a member of that parliament, and have formed part of that
majority, which has condemned my native country to destruction.
You have begun to burn our towns, and to destroy their inhabitants!
Look at your hands!--they are stained with the blood of your
relations and your acquaintances.
You and I were long friends; you are at present my enemy, and I am
yours.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[148] This letter appeared, shortly after the period of its date,
in most of the public papers. We extract it from the Gentleman's
Magazine. _Editor._
_Conciliation hopeless from the Conduct of Great Britain to
America._
_Philadelphia, July 7, 1775._
DEAR FRIEND[149],
* * * * *
The congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the
perfidy of general Gage, and his attack on the country people, that
propositions of attempting an accomodation were not much relished;
and it has been with difficulty that we have carried another
humble petition to the crown, to give Britain one more chance, one
opportunity more of recovering the friendship of the colonies;
which however I think she has not sense enough to embrace, and so I
conclude she has lost them for ever.
She has begun to burn our sea-port towns; secure, I suppose, that we
shall never be able to return the outrage in kind. She may doubtless
destroy them all; but if she wishes to recover our commerce, are
these the probable means? She must certainly be distracted; for no
tradesman out of Bedlam ever thought of encreasing the number of his
customers by knocking them [on] the head; or of enabling them to pay
their debts by burning their houses.
If she wishes to have us subjects and that we should submit to her as
our compound sovereign, she is now giving us such miserable specimens
of her government, that we shall ever detest and avoid it, as a
complication of robbery, murder, famine, fire and pestilence.
You will have heard, before this reaches you, of the treacherous
conduct * * * to the remaining people in Boston, in detaining their
goods, after stipulating to let them go out with their effects, on
pretence that merchants' goods were not effects; the defeat of a
great body of his troops by the country people at Lexington; some
other small advantages gained in skirmishes with their troops; and
the action at Bunker's-hill, in which they were twice repulsed, and
the third time gained a dear victory. Enough has happened, one would
think, to convince your ministers, that the Americans will fight, and
that this is a harder nut to crack than they imagined.
We have not yet applied to any foreign power for assistance, nor
offered our commerce for their friendship. Perhaps we never may: yet
it is natural to think of it, if we are pressed.
We have now an army on the establishment which still holds yours
besieged.
My time was never more fully employed. In the morning at six, I am
at the committee of safety, appointed by the assembly to put the
province in a state of defence; which committee holds till near nine,
when I am at the congress, and that sits till after four in the
afternoon. Both these bodies proceed with the greatest unanimity,
and their meetings are well attended. It will scarce be credited in
Britain, that men can be as diligent with us from zeal for the public
good, as with you for thousands per annum. Such is the difference
between uncorrupted new states, and corrupted old ones.
Great frugality and great industry are now become fashionable here:
gentlemen, who used to entertain with two or three courses, pride
themselves now in treating with simple beef and pudding. By these
means, and the stoppage of our consumptive trade with Britain, we
shall be better able to pay our voluntary taxes for the support of
our troops. Our savings in the article of trade amount to near five
million sterling per annum.
I shall communicate your letter to Mr. Winthrop, but the camp is at
Cambridge, and he has as little leisure for philosophy as myself. * *
* Believe me ever, with sincere esteem, my dear friend,
Yours most affectionately.
FOOTNOTE:
[149] This and the two following letters were addressed to Dr.
Priestley, as appears by a letter from that gentleman to the editor
of the Monthly Magazine, which will be found in the appendix to the
present volume. _Editor._
_Account of the first Campaign made by the British Forces in
America[150]._
_Philadelphia, Oct. 3, 1775._
DEAR SIR,
I am to set out to-morrow for the camp[151], and having but just
heard of this opportunity, can only write a line to say that I am
well and hearty.--Tell our dear good friend * * *, who sometimes has
his doubts and despondencies about our firmness, that America is
determined and unanimous; a very few tories and place-men excepted,
who will probably soon export themselves.--Britain, at the expence
of three millions, has killed one hundred and fifty Yankies this
campaign, which is 20,000_l._ a head; and at Bunker's Hill she gained
a mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking post on
Ploughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand children have been
born in America. From these _data_ his mathematical head will easily
calculate the time and expence necessary to kill us all, and conquer
our whole territory. My sincere respects to * * * *, and to the club
of honest whigs at * * * * *. Adieu. I am ever
Yours most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[150] This letter has been several times very incorrectly printed: it
is here given from a genuine copy. B. V.
[151] Dr. Franklin, col. Harrison, and Mr. Lynch, were at this time
appointed by congress (of which they were members) to confer on
certain subjects with gen. Washington. The American army was then
employed in blocking up gen. Howe in Boston; and I believe it was
during this visit, that gen. Washington communicated the following
memorable anecdote to Dr. Franklin; _viz._ "that there had been a
time, when this army had been so destitute of military stores, as
not to have powder enough in all its magazines, to furnish more than
_five_ rounds per man for their small arms." Great guns were out
of the question; they were fired now and then, only to show that
they had them. Yet this secret was kept with so much address and
good countenance from both armies, that gen. Washington was enabled
effectually to continue the blockade. B. V.
_Probability of a Separation._
_Philadelphia, Oct. 3, 1775._
I wish as ardently as you can do for peace, and should rejoice
exceedingly in co-operating with you to that end. But every ship from
Britain brings some intelligence of new measures, that tend more and
more to exasperate: and it seems to me, that until you have found
by dear experience the reducing us by force impracticable, you will
think of nothing fair and reasonable. We have as yet resolved only on
defensive measures. If you would recal your forces and stay at home,
we should meditate nothing to injure you. A little time so given for
cooling on both sides would have excellent effects. But you will goad
and provoke us. You despise us too much; and you are insensible of
the Italian adage, that _there is no little enemy_. I am persuaded
the body of the British people are our friends; but they are
changeable, and by your lying gazettes may soon be made our enemies.
Our respect for them will proportionally diminish; and I see clearly
we are on the high road to mutual enmity, hatred, and detestation. A
separation will of course be inevitable. It is a million of pities
so fair a plan, as we have hitherto been engaged in for increasing
strength and empire with _public felicity_, should be destroyed by
the mangling hands of a few blundering ministers. It will not be
destroyed: God will protect and prosper it: you will only exclude
yourselves from any share in it. We hear, that more ships and troops
are coming out. We know you may do us a great deal of mischief, but
we are determined to bear it patiently as long as we can; but if you
flatter yourselves with beating us into submission, you know neither
the people nor the country.
The congress is still sitting, and will wait the result of their
_last_ petition.
_Letter to Monsieur Dumas, urging him to sound the several Courts
of Europe, by Means of their Ambassadors at the Hague, as to any
Assistance they may be disposed to afford America in her Struggle
for Independence[152]._
_Philadelphia, Dec. 9, 1775._
DEAR SIR,
I received your several favours, of May 18, June 30, and July 8,
by Messrs. Vaillant and Pochard; whom, if I could serve upon your
recommendation, it would give me great pleasure. Their total want of
English is at present an obstruction to their getting any employment
among us; but I hope they will soon obtain some knowledge of it. This
is a good country for artificers or farmers, but gentlemen of mere
science in _les belles lettres_ cannot so easily subsist here, there
being little demand for their assistance among an industrious people,
who, as yet, have not much leisure for studies of that kind.
I am much obliged by the kind present you have made us of your
edition of _Vattel_. It came to us in good season, when the
circumstances of a rising state make it necessary frequently to
consult the law of nations. Accordingly that copy which I kept
(after depositing one in our own public library here, and sending
the other to the college of Massachusett's Bay, as you directed) has
been continually in the hands of the members of our congress, now
sitting, who are much pleased with your notes and preface, and have
entertained a high and just esteem for their author. Your manuscript
_Idée sur le government et la royauté_, is also well relished, and
may, in time, have its effect. I thank you, likewise, for the other
smaller pieces, which accompanied Vattel. _Le court exposé de ce qui
s'est passé entre la cour Br. et les colonies, &c._ being a very
concise and clear statement of facts, will be reprinted here for the
use of our new friends in Canada. The translations of the proceedings
of our congress are very acceptable. I send you herewith what of them
has been farther published here, together with a few newspapers,
containing accounts of some of the successes providence has favoured
us with. We are threatened from England with a very powerful force,
to come next year against us. We are making all the provision in our
power here to oppose that force, and we hope we shall be able to
defend ourselves. But, as the events of war are always uncertain,
possibly, after another campaign, we may find it necessary to ask
aid of some foreign power. It gives us great pleasure to learn from
you, that _toute l'Europe nous souhaite le plus heureux succes pour
le maintien de nos libertés_. But we wish to know, whether any one
of them, from principles of humanity, is disposed magnanimously to
step in for the relief of an oppressed people, or whether, if, as
it seems likely to happen, we should be obliged to break off all
connection with Britain, and declare ourselves an independent people,
there is any state or power in Europe, who would be willing to enter
into an alliance with us for the benefit of our commerce, which
amounted, before the war, to near seven millions sterling per annum,
and must continually increase, as our people increase most rapidly.
Confiding, my dear friend, in your good will to us and our cause,
and in your sagacity and abilities for business, the committee of
congress, appointed for the purpose of establishing and conducting
a correspondence with our friends in Europe, of which committee
I have the honour to be a member, have directed me to request of
you, that, as you are situated at the Hague, where ambassadors from
all the courts reside, you would make use of the opportunity that
situation affords you, of discovering, if possible, the disposition
of the several courts with respect to such assistance or alliance,
if we should apply for the one, or propose the other. As it may
possibly be necessary, in particular instances, that you should, for
this purpose, confer directly with some great ministers, and show
them this letter as your credential, we only recommend it to your
discretion, that you proceed therein with such caution, as to keep
the same from the knowledge of the English ambassador, and prevent
any public appearance, at present, of your being employed in any such
business, as thereby, we imagine, many inconveniences may be avoided,
and your means of rendering us service, increased.
That you may be better able to answer some questions, which will
probably be put to you, concerning our present situation, we inform
you--that the whole continent is very firmly united--the party for
the measures of the British ministry being very small, and much
dispersed--that we have had on foot, the last campaign, an army of
near twenty-five thousand men, wherewith we have been able, not only
to block up the king's army in Boston, but to spare considerable
detachments for the invasion of Canada, where we have met with
great success, as the printed papers sent herewith will inform
you, and have now reason to expect the whole province may be soon
in our possession--that we purpose greatly to increase our force
for the ensuing year; and thereby we hope, with the assistance
of well-disciplined militia, to be able to defend our coast,
notwithstanding its great extent--that we have already a small
squadron of armed vessels, to protect our coasting trade, who have
had some success in taking several of the enemy's cruisers, and some
of their transport vessels and store-ships. This little naval force
we are about to augment, and expect it may be more considerable in
the next summer.
We have hitherto applied to no foreign power. We are using the
utmost industry in endeavouring to make salt-petre, and with daily
increasing success. Our artificers are also every where busy in
fabricating small arms, casting cannon, &c. yet both arms and
ammunition are much wanted. Any merchants, who would venture to send
ships, laden with those articles, might make great profit; such is
the demand in every colony, and such generous prices are and will be
given; of which, and of the manner of conducting such a voyage, the
bearer, Mr. Storey, can more fully inform you: and whoever brings in
those articles, is allowed to carry off the value in provisions, to
our West Indies, where they will probably fetch a very high price,
the general exportation from North America being stopped. This you
will see more particularly in a printed resolution of the congress.
We are in great want of good engineers, and wish you could engage,
and send us two able ones, in time for the next campaign, one
acquainted with field service, sieges, &c. and the other with
fortifying of sea-ports. They will, if well recommended, be made
very welcome, and have honourable appointments, besides the expences
of their voyage hither, in which Mr. Storey can also advise them. As
what we now request of you, besides taking up your time, may put you
to some expense, we send you for the present, enclosed, a bill for
one hundred pounds sterling, to defray such expences, and desire you
to be assured that your services will be considered, and honourably
rewarded by the congress.
We desire, also, that you would take the trouble of receiving from
Arthur Lee, esquire, agent for the congress in England, such letters
as may be sent by him to your care, and of forwarding them to us with
your dispatches. When you have occasion to write to him to inform
him of any thing, which it may be of importance that our friends
there should be acquainted with, please to send your letters to him,
under cover, directed to Mr. Alderman Lee, merchant, on Tower-hill,
London; and do not send it by post, but by some trusty shipper, or
other prudent person, who will deliver it with his own hand. And
when you send to us, if you have not a direct safe opportunity, we
recommend sending by way of St. Eustatia, to the care of Messrs.
Robert and Cornelius Stevenson, merchants there, who will forward
your dispatches to me.
With sincere and great esteem and respect,
I am, sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
Mons. Dumas.
FOOTNOTE:
[152] This letter is taken from an American periodical publication
entitled The Port Folio, in which it appeared July 31, 1802. _Editor._
_Letter from Lord Howe to Dr. Franklin[153]._
_Eagle, June the 20th, 1776._
I cannot, my worthy friend, permit the letters and parcels, which I
have sent (in the state I received them) to be landed, without adding
a word upon the subject of the injurious extremities in which our
unhappy disputes have engaged us.
You will learn the nature of my mission, from the official
dispatches which I have recommended to be forwarded by the same
conveyance. Retaining all the earnestness I ever expressed, to see
our differences accommodated; I shall conceive, if I meet with the
disposition in the colonies which I was once taught to expect, the
most flattering hopes of proving serviceable in the objects of
the king's paternal solicitude, by promoting the establishment of
lasting peace and union with the colonies. But if the deep-rooted
prejudices of America, and the necessity of preventing her trade from
passing into foreign channels, must keep us still a divided people;
I shall, from every private as well as public motive, most heartily
lament, that this is not the moment wherein those great objects of my
ambition are to be attained; and that I am to be longer deprived of
an opportunity, to assure you personally of the regard with which I am
Your sincere and faithful
humble servant,
HOWE.
P. S. I was disappointed of the opportunity I expected for sending
this letter, at the time it was dated; and have ever since been
prevented by calms and contrary winds from getting here, to inform
general Howe of the commission with which I have the satisfaction to
be charged, and of his being joined in it.
_Off of Sandy Hook, 12th of July._
Superscribed, HOWE.
_To Benjamin Franklin, Esq.
Philadelphia._
FOOTNOTE:
[153] In the year 1776 an act of parliament passed, to prohibit
and restrain, on the one hand, the trade and intercourse of the
refractory colonies respectively during the revolt; and on the other
hand, to enable persons appointed by the crown to grant _pardons_
and declare any particular district at the _king's peace, &c._ Lord
Howe (who had been previously appointed commander of the fleet in
North America) was, on May 3, declared joint _commissioner_ with his
brother gen. Howe, for the latter purposes of the act. He sailed May
12; and while off the Massachusett's coast prepared a declaration
announcing this commission, and accompanied it with circular letters.
July 4, independence had been declared; but nevertheless congress
(invited by various attempts made to procure a conference) resolved
to send Messieurs Franklin, J. Adams, and E. Rutledge, to learn
the propositions of the commissioners, by whom authorized, and to
whom addressed. The commissioners having no power to treat with
congress in its public capacity, and congress not being impowered
by their representatives to rescind the act of independence, the
conference was broken off. It remains only to add, that, on Sept.
19, the commissioners declared themselves ready to confer with any
of the well-affected, on the means of restoring peace and permanent
union with every colony as part of the British empire; and promised
a _revision_ of the several royal _instructions_ supposed to lay
improper restraints on colony-legislation, and also the king's
_concurrence_ in a revision of the objectionable acts of parliament:
which seemed the ultimatum of the commission.--Parliament however,
by a subsequent act (which, among other things, formally renounced
taxation in North America and the West Indies) authorized five
commissioners to treat, settle, and agree, even with congress; but
subject to the farther confirmation of parliament. Lord Carlisle, and
Messieurs Johnson and Eden, with the commanders in chief of the land
and sea forces, were the commissioners appointed by the crown under
this act; and Dr. Adam Ferguson was made secretary to the commission.
Mr. Henry Strachey had been secretary to the _first_ commission,
attended with the following singular circumstance, as stated in the
house of lords. In this commission for restoring peace to America,
"(or _in other words_ to induce America at once to put a confidence
in the crown, and to believe that the parliament of England is a
sufficiently powerful and honest barrier for them to trust to) the
secretary (Mr. Strachey) had 500_l._ granted for life out of the _four
and a half_ per cent. duty, filched by the crown from the West-India
Islands, and in opposition to a solemn address of parliament desiring
that it might be applied to the original purposes for which it was
granted by the respective assemblies of the islands."--What these
original purposes of the grants were, I meant very briefly to have
stated: but have not been able to procure the proper documents in
time. B. V.
_Dr. Franklin's Answer to Lord Howe._
_Philadelphia, July 30, 1776._
MY LORD,
I received safe the letters your lordship so kindly forwarded to me,
and beg you to accept _my_ thanks.
The official dispatches to which you refer me, contain nothing more
than what we had seen in the act of parliament, viz. "Offers of
pardon upon submission;" which I was sorry to find; as it must give
your lordship pain to be sent so far on so hopeless a business.
Directing pardons to be offered to the colonies, who are the very
parties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our ignorance,
baseness, and insensibility, which your uninformed and proud nation
has long been pleased to entertain of us; but it can have no other
effect than that of encreasing our resentments.----It is impossible
we should think of submission to a government, that has, with the
most wanton barbarity and cruelty, burned our defenceless towns in
the midst of winter; excited the savages to massacre our (peaceful)
farmers; and our slaves to murder their masters; and is even now[154]
bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood.
These atrocious injuries have extinguished every spark of affection
for that parent country we once held so dear: but were it possible
for _us_ to forget and forgive them, it is not possible for _you_ (I
mean the British nation) to forgive the people you have so heavily
injured; you can never confide again in those as fellow-subjects, and
permit them to enjoy equal freedom, to whom you know you have given
such just causes of lasting enmity; and this must impel you, were we
again under your government, to endeavour the breaking our spirit by
the severest tyranny, and obstructing by every means in your power
our growing strength and prosperity.
But your lordship mentions "the king's paternal solicitude for
promoting the establishment of lasting peace and union with the
colonies." If by _peace_ is here meant, a peace to be entered into
by distinct states, now at war; and his majesty has given your
lordship powers to treat with us of such a peace, I may venture to
say, though without authority, that I think a treaty for that purpose
not quite impracticable, before we enter into foreign alliances.
But I am persuaded you have no such powers. Your nation, though, by
punishing those American governors who have fomented the discord,
rebuilding our burnt towns, and repairing as far as possible the
mischiefs done us, she might recover a great share of our regard; and
the greatest share of our growing commerce, with all the advantages
of that additional strength, to be derived from a friendship with
us; yet I know too well her abounding pride and deficient wisdom, to
believe she will ever take such salutary measures. Her fondness for
conquest as a warlike nation; her lust of dominion as an ambitious
one; and her thirst for a gainful monopoly as a commercial one (none
of them legitimate causes of war) will join to hide from her eyes
every view of her true interest, and continually goad her on in these
ruinous distant expeditions, so destructive both of lives and of
treasure, that they must prove as pernicious to her in the end, as
the Croisades formerly were to most of the nations of Europe.
I have not the vanity, my lord, to think of intimidating, by thus
predicting the effects of this war; for I know it will in England
have the fate of all my former predictions; not to be believed till
the event shall verify it.
Long did I endeavour, with unfeigned and unwearied zeal, to preserve
from breaking that fine and noble porcelaine vase----the British
empire; for I knew that being once broken, the separate parts could
not retain even their _share_ of the strength and value that existed
in the whole; and that a perfect _re-union_ of those parts could
scarce ever be hoped for. Your lordship may possibly remember the
tears of joy that wetted my cheek, when, at your good sister's in
London, you once gave me expectations, that a reconciliation might
soon take place. I had the misfortune to find these expectations
disappointed, and to be treated as the cause of the mischief I was
labouring to prevent. My consolation under that groundless and
malevolent treatment was, that I retained the friendship of many wise
and good men in that country; and among the rest, some share in the
regard of lord Howe.
The well-founded esteem, and permit me to say affection, which I
shall always have for your lordship, make it painful to me to see you
engaged in conducting a war, the great ground of which (as described
in your letter) is "the necessity of preventing the American _trade_
from passing into foreign channels." To me it seems, that neither the
obtaining or retaining any trade, how valuable soever, is an object
for which men may justly spill each other's blood; that the true
and sure means of extending and securing commerce are the goodness
and cheapness of commodities; and that the profits of no trade can
ever be equal to the expence of compelling it, and holding it by
fleets and armies. I consider this war against us, therefore, as both
unjust and unwise; and I am persuaded, that cool and dispassionate
posterity will condemn to infamy those who advised it; and that even
success will not save from some degree of dishonour, those who have
voluntarily engaged to conduct it.
I know your great motive in coming hither, was the hope of being
instrumental in a reconciliation; and I believe, when you find that
to be impossible, on any terms given you to propose, you will then
relinquish so odious a command, and return to a more honourable
private station.
With the greatest and most sincere respect, I have the honour to be,
My lord,
Your lordship's most obedient, humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN[155].
FOOTNOTES:
[154] About this time the Hessians, &c. had just arrived from Europe,
at Staten Island and New York. B. V.
[155] It occurs to me to mention that Dr. Franklin was supposed to
have been the inventor of a little _emblematical design_ at the
commencement of our disputes, representing the state of Great Britain
and her colonies, should the former persist in restraining the
latter's trade, destroying their currency, and taxing their people by
laws made by a legislature in which they were not represented.--Great
Britain was supposed to have been placed upon the globe: but the
colonies, her limbs, being severed from her, she was seen lifting
her eyes and mangled stumps to heaven; her shield, which she was
unable to wield, lay useless by her side; her lance had pierced New
England; the laurel branch was fallen from the hand of Pensylvania;
the English oak had lost its head, and stood a bare trunk with a few
withered branches; briars and thorns were on the ground beneath it;
our ships had brooms at their topmast heads, denoting their being
upon sale; and Britannia herself was seen sliding off the world, no
longer able to hold its balance; her fragments overspread with the
label _date obolum Belisario_.--This in short, was the fable of the
belly and the members reversed. But I tell the story chiefly for the
sake of the _moral_, which has the air of having been suggested by
Dr. Franklin[156]; and is as follows.--"The political moral of this
picture is now easily discovered. History affords us many instances
of the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures ill suited
to the temper and genius of its people. The ordaining of laws in
favour of _one_ part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression
of _another_, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy.
An _equal_ dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and
advantages, is what every part is intitled to, and ought to enjoy;
it being a matter of no moment to the state, whether a subject
grows rich and flourishing on the Thames or the Ohio, in Edinburgh
or Dublin. These measures never fail to create great and violent
jealousies and animosities between the people favoured and the people
oppressed: from whence a total separation of affections, interests,
political obligations, and all manners of connections, necessarily
ensues; by which the whole state is weakened and perhaps ruined for
ever."
This language is part of the same system with the following fragment
of a sentence, which Dr. Franklin inserted in a political publication
of one of his friends. "The attempts to establish _arbitrary power_
over so great a part of the British empire, [are] to the imminent
hazard of our most valuable commerce, and of that national strength,
security, and felicity, which depend on _union_ and _liberty_;"--The
preservation of which, I am told, he used to say, had been the great
object and labour of his life; the whole being such a thing _as the
world before never saw_. B. V.
[156] This design was printed on a _card_, and Dr. Franklin at the
time I believe occasionally used to write his notes on such cards.
It was also printed on a _half sheet of paper_, with an explanation
by some other person, and the moral given above. The drawing was but
moderately executed.
_Comparison of Great Britain and America as to Credit, in
1777[157]._
In borrowing money a man's credit depends on some or all of the
following particulars.
First, His known conduct respecting former loans, and his punctuality
in discharging them.
Secondly, His industry.
Thirdly, His frugality.
Fourthly, The amount and the certainty of his income, and the freedom
of his estate from the incumbrances of prior debts.
Fifthly, His well founded prospects of greater future ability, by the
improvement of his estate in value, and by aids from others.
Sixthly, His known prudence in managing his general affairs, and the
advantage they will probably receive from the loan which he desires.
Seventhly, His known probity and honest character, manifested by
his voluntary discharge of debts, which he could not have been
legally compelled to pay. The circumstances which give credit to an
_individual_ ought to have, and will have, their weight upon the
lenders of money to _public bodies_ or nations. If then we consider
and compare Britain and America, in these several particulars, upon
the question, "To which is it safest to lend money?" We shall find,
1. Respecting _former loans_, that America, which borrowed ten
millions during the last war for the maintenance of her army of
25,000 men and other charges, had faithfully discharged and paid
that debt, and all her other debts, in 1772. Whereas Britain, during
those ten years of peace and profitable commerce, had made little or
no reduction of her debt; but on the contrary, from time to time,
diminished the hopes of her creditors, by a wanton diversion and
misapplication of the sinking fund destined for discharging it.
2. Respecting _industry_; every man [in America] is employed, the
greater part in cultivating their own lands, the rest in handicrafts,
navigation, and commerce. An idle man there is a rarity, idleness
and inutility are disgraceful. In England, the number of that
character is immense, fashion has spread it far and wide; hence
the embarrassments of private fortunes, and the daily bankruptcies
arising from an universal fondness for appearance and expensive
pleasures; and hence, in some degree, the mismanagement of public
business; for habits of business, and ability in it, are acquired
only by practice; and where universal dissipation, and the perpetual
pursuit of amusement are the mode, the youth, educated in it,
can rarely afterwards acquire that patient attention and close
application to affairs, which are so necessary to a statesman charged
with the care of national welfare. _Hence_ their frequent errors in
policy, and hence the weariness at public councils, and backwardness
in going to them, the constant unwillingness to engage in any measure
that requires thought and consideration, and the readiness for
postponing every new proposition; which postponing is therefore the
only part of business that they come to be expert in, an expertness
produced necessarily by so much daily practice. Whereas in America,
men bred to close employment in their private affairs, attend with
ease to those of the public, when engaged in them, and nothing fails
through negligence.
3. Respecting _frugality_; the manner of living in America is more
simple and less expensive than that in England: plain tables, plain
clothing, and plain furniture in houses prevail, with few carriages
of pleasure; there, an expensive appearance hurts credit, and
is avoided: in England, it is often assumed to gain credit, and
continued to ruin. Respecting _public_ affairs, the difference is
still greater. In England, the salaries of officers, and emoluments
of office are enormous. The king has a million sterling per annum,
and yet cannot maintain his family free of debt: secretaries of
state, lords of treasury, admiralty, &c. have vast appointments: an
auditor of the exchequer has sixpence in the pound, or a fortieth
part of all the public money expended by the nation; so that when a
war costs forty millions one million is paid to him: an inspector
of the mint, in the last new coinage, received as his fee 65,000_l._
sterling per annum; to all which rewards no service these gentlemen
can render the public is by any means equivalent. All this is paid
by the people, who are oppressed by taxes so occasioned, and thereby
rendered less able to contribute to the payment of necessary national
debts. In America, salaries, where indispensible, are extremely
low; but much of the public business is done gratis. The honour of
serving the public ably and faithfully is deemed sufficient. _Public
spirit_ really exists there, and has great effects. In England it
is universally deemed a non-entity, and whoever pretends to it is
laughed at as a fool, or suspected as a knave. The committees of
congress which form the board of war, the board of treasury, the
board of foreign affairs, the naval board, that for accounts, &c. all
attend the business of their respective functions, without any salary
or emolument whatever, though they spend in it much more of their
time than any lord of treasury or admiralty in England can spare from
his amusements. A British minister lately computed, that the whole
expence of the Americans, in their _civil_ government over three
millions of people amounted to but 70,000_l._ sterling, and drew from
thence a conclusion, that they ought to be taxed, until their expence
was equal in proportion to that which it costs Britain to govern
eight millions. He had no idea of a contrary conclusion, that if
three millions may be well governed for 70,000_l._ eight millions may
be as well governed for three times that sum, and that therefore the
expence of his own government should be diminished. In that corrupted
nation no man is ashamed of being concerned in lucrative _government
jobs_, in which the public money is egregiously misapplied and
squandered, the treasury pillaged, and more numerous and heavy taxes
accumulated, to the great oppression of the people. But the prospect
of a greater number of such jobs by a war is an inducement with
many, to cry out for war upon all occasions, and to oppose every
proposition of peace. Hence the constant increase of the national
debt, and the absolute improbability of its ever being discharged.
4. Respecting the _amount and certainty of income, and solidity of
security_; the _whole_ thirteen states of America are engaged for
the payment of every debt contracted by the congress, and the debt
to be contracted by the present war is the _only_ debt they will
have to pay; all, or nearly all, the former debts of particular
colonies being already discharged. Whereas England will have to pay
not only the enormous debt this war must occasion, but all their
vast preceding debt, or the interest of it,--and while America is
enriching itself by prizes made upon the British commerce, more than
it ever did by any commerce of its own, under the restraints of a
British monopoly; Britain is growing poorer by the loss of that
monopoly, and the diminution of its revenues, and of course less able
to discharge the present indiscreet increase of its expences.
5. Respecting prospects of greater future ability, Britain has none
such. Her islands are circumscribed by the ocean; and excepting a
few parks or forests, she has no new land to cultivate, and cannot
therefore extend her improvements. Her numbers too, instead of
increasing from increased subsistence, are continually diminishing
from growing luxury, and the increasing difficulties of maintaining
families, which of course discourage early marriages. Thus she
will have fewer people to assist in paying her debts, and that
diminished number will be poorer. America, on the contrary, has,
besides her lands already cultivated, a vast territory yet to be
cultivated; which, being cultivated, continually increases in value
with the increase of people; and the people, who double themselves
by a _natural propagation_ every twenty-five years, will double yet
faster, by the accession of _strangers_, as long as lands are to be
had for new families; so that every twenty years there will be a
double number of inhabitants obliged to discharge the public debts;
and those inhabitants, being more opulent, may pay their shares with
greater ease.
6. Respecting _prudence_ in general affairs, and the advantages to
be expected from the loan desired; the Americans are cultivators of
land; those engaged in fishery and commerce are few, compared with
the others. They have ever conducted their several governments with
wisdom, avoiding wars, and vain expensive projects, delighting only
in their peaceable occupations, which must, considering the extent of
their uncultivated territory, find them employment still for ages.
Whereas England, ever unquiet, ambitious, avaricious, imprudent,
and quarrelsome, is half of the time engaged in war, always at an
expence infinitely greater than the advantage to be obtained by it,
if successful. Thus they made war against Spain in 1739, for a claim
of about 95,000_l._ (scarce a groat for each individual of the nation)
and spent forty millions sterling in the war, and the lives of fifty
thousand men; and finally made peace without obtaining satisfaction
for the sum claimed. Indeed, there is scarce a nation in Europe,
against which she has not made war on some frivolous pretext or
other, and thereby imprudently accumulated a debt, that has brought
her on the verge of bankruptcy. But the most indiscreet of all her
wars, is the present against America, with whom she might, for ages,
have preserved her profitable connection only by a just and equitable
conduct. She is now acting like a mad shop-keeper, who, by beating
those that pass his doors, attempts to make them come in and be his
customers. America cannot submit to such treatment, without being
first ruined, and, being ruined, her custom will be worth nothing.
England, to effect this, is increasing her debt, and irretrievably
ruining herself. America, on the other hand, aims only to establish
her liberty, and that freedom of commerce which will be advantageous
to all Europe; and by abolishing that monopoly which she laboured
under, she will profit infinitely more than enough to repay any debt,
which she may contract to accomplish it.
7. Respecting _character in the honest payment of debts_; the
punctuality with which America has discharged her public debts was
shown under the first head. And the general good disposition of the
people to such punctuality has been manifested in their faithful
payment of _private_ debts to England, since the commencement of
this war. There were not wanting some politicians [in America] who
proposed _stopping that payment_, until peace should be restored,
alleging, that in the usual course of commerce, and of the credit
given, there was always a debt existing equal to the trade of
eighteen months: that the trade amounting to five millions sterling
per annum, the debt must be seven millions and an half; that this sum
paid to the British merchants would operate to prevent that distress,
intended to be brought upon Britain, by our stoppage of commerce
with her; for the merchants, receiving this money, and no orders
with it for farther supplies, would either lay it out in the public
funds, or in employing manufacturers to accumulate goods for a future
hungry market in America upon an expected accommodation, by which
means the funds would be kept up and the manufacturers prevented
from murmuring. But _against this it was alleged_, that injuries
from ministers should not be revenged on merchants; that the credit
was in consequence of private contracts, made in confidence of good
faith; that these ought to be held sacred and faithfully complied
with; for that, whatever public utility might be supposed to arise
from a breach of private faith, it was unjust, and would in the end
be found unwise--honesty being in truth the best policy. On this
principle the proposition was universally rejected; and though the
English prosecuted the war with unexampled barbarity, burning our
defenceless towns in the midst of winter, and arming savages against
us; the debt was punctually paid; and the merchants of London have
testified to the parliament, and will testify to all the world, that
from their experience in dealing with us they had, before the war, no
apprehension of our unfairness; and that since the war they have been
convinced, that their good opinion of us was well founded. England,
on the contrary, an old, corrupt, extravagant, and profligate nation,
sees herself deep in debt, which she is in no condition to pay; and
yet is madly, and dishonestly running deeper, without any possibility
of discharging her debt, but by a public bankruptcy.
It appears, therefore, from the general industry, frugality,
ability, prudence, and virtue of America, that she is a much safer
debtor than Britain;--to say nothing of the satisfaction generous
minds must have in reflecting, that by loans to America they are
opposing tyranny, and aiding the cause of liberty, which is the cause
of all mankind.
FOOTNOTE:
[157] This paper was written, translated, printed, and circulated,
while Dr. Franklin was at the court of Paris, for the purpose of
inducing foreigners to lend money to America in preference to Great
Britain.
PAPERS,
DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA,
OR
RELATING TO THAT COUNTRY,
WRITTEN
_SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION_.
PAPERS,
DESCRIPTIVE OF AMERICA,
OR
RELATING TO THAT COUNTRY,
WRITTEN
_SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION_.
_Remarks concerning the Savages of North-America[158]._
Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which
we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs.
Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with
impartiality, we should find no people so rude, as to be without any
rules of politeness; nor any so polite, as not to have some remains
of rudeness.
The Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors; when old,
counsellors; for all their government is by the council or advice
of the sages; there is no force, there are no prisons, no officers
to compel obedience, or inflict punishment. Hence they generally
study oratory, the best speaker having the most influence. The
Indian women till the ground, dress the food, nurse and bring up
the children, and preserve and hand down to posterity the memory
of public transactions. These employments of men and women are
accounted natural and honourable. Having few artificial wants, they
have abundance of leisure for improvement by conversation. Our
laborious manner of life, compared with theirs, they esteem slavish
and base; and the learning on which we value ourselves, they regard
as frivolous and useless. An instance of this occurred at the treaty
of Lancaster, in Pensylvania, anno 1744, between the government
of Virginia and the six nations. After the principal business was
settled, the commissioners from Virginia acquainted the Indians by a
speech, that there was at Williamsburg a college, with a fund, for
educating Indian youth; and that if the chiefs of the Six Nations
would send down half a dozen of their sons to that college, the
government would take care that they should be well provided for,
and instructed in all the learning of the white people. It is one of
the Indian rules of politeness, not to answer a public proposition
the same day that it is made; they think it would be treating it
as a light matter, and that they show it respect by taking time
to consider it, as of a matter important. They therefore deferred
their answer till the day following; when their speaker began,
by expressing their deep sense of the kindness of the Virginia
government, in making them that offer; "for we know," says he, "that
you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those colleges, and
that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very
expensive to you. We are convinced therefore, that you mean to do us
good by your proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are
wise, must know, that different nations have different conceptions
of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of
this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have
had some experience of it: several of our young people were formerly
brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were
instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they
were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods,
unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a
cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly,
were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellors;
they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less
obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it: and to
show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send
us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education,
instruct them in all we know, and make _men_ of them."
Having frequent occasions to hold public councils, they have acquired
great order and decency in conducting them. The old men sit in the
foremost ranks, the warriors in the next, and the women and children
in the hindmost. The business of the women is to take exact notice of
what passes, imprint it in their memories, for they have no writing,
and communicate it to their children. They are the records of the
council, and they preserve tradition of the stipulations in treaties
a hundred years back; which, when we compare with our writings, we
always find exact. He that would speak, rises. The rest observe a
profound silence. When he has finished and sits down, they leave him
five or six minutes to recollect, that, if he has omitted any thing
he intended to say, or has any thing to add, he may rise again and
deliver it. To interrupt another, even in common conversation, is
reckoned highly indecent. How different this is from the conduct of
a polite British house of commons, where scarce a day passes without
some confusion, that makes the speaker hoarse in calling _to order_;
and how different from the mode of conversation in many polite
companies of Europe, where, if you do not deliver your sentence with
great rapidity, you are cut off in the middle of it by the impatient
loquacity of those you converse with, and never suffered to finish it!
The politeness of these savages in conversation is indeed carried to
excess, since it does not permit them to contradict or deny the truth
of what is asserted in their presence. By this means they indeed
avoid disputes; but then it becomes difficult to know their minds,
or what impression you make upon them. The missionaries who have
attempted to convert them to christianity, all complain of this as
one of the great difficulties of their mission. The Indians hear with
patience the truths of the gospel explained to them, and give their
usual tokens of assent and approbation: you would think they were
convinced. No such matter. It is mere civility.
A Swedish minister, having assembled the chiefs of the Sasquehannah
Indians, made a sermon to them, acquainting them with the principal
historical facts on which our religion is founded; such as the fall
of our first parents by eating an apple, the coming of Christ to
repair the mischief, his miracles and suffering, &c.--When he had
finished, an Indian orator stood up to thank him. "What you have told
us," says he, "is all very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It
is better to make them all into cyder. We are much obliged by your
kindness in coming so far, to tell us those things which you have
heard from your mothers. In return, I will tell you some of those we
have heard from ours.
"In the beginning, our fathers had only the flesh of animals to
subsist on, and if their hunting was unsuccessful, they were
starving. Two of our young hunters having killed a deer, made a fire
in the woods to broil some parts of it. When they were about to
satisfy their hunger, they beheld a beautiful young woman descend
from the clouds, and seat herself on that hill which you see yonder
among the Blue Mountains. They said to each other, it is a spirit
that perhaps has smelt our broiling venison, and wishes to eat of
it: let us offer some to her. They presented her with the tongue:
she was pleased with the taste of it, and said, Your kindness shall
be rewarded. Come to this place after thirteen moons, and you shall
find something that will be of great benefit in nourishing you and
your children to the latest generations. They did so, and to their
surprise, found plants they had never seen before; but which, from
that ancient time, have been constantly cultivated among us, to
our great advantage. Where her right hand had touched the ground,
they found maize; where her left hand had touched it, they found
kidney-beans; and where her backside had sat on it, they found
tobacco." The good missionary, disgusted with this idle tale, said,
"What I delivered to you were sacred truths, but what you tell me is
mere fable, fiction, and falsehood." The Indian, offended, replied,
"My brother, it seems your friends have not done you justice in your
education; they have not well instructed you in the rules of common
civility. You saw that we, who understand and practice those rules,
believed all your stories, why do you refuse to believe ours?"
When any of them come into our towns, our people are apt to crowd
round them, gaze upon them, and incommode them where they desire to
be private; this they esteem great rudeness, and the effect of the
want of instruction in the rules of civility and good manners. "We
have," say they, "as much curiosity as you, and when you come into
our towns, we wish for opportunities of looking at you; but for this
purpose we hide ourselves behind bushes, where you are to pass, and
never intrude ourselves into your company."
Their manner of entering one another's villages has likewise its
rules. It is reckoned uncivil in travelling strangers, to enter a
village abruptly, without giving notice of their approach. Therefore,
as soon as they arrive within hearing, they stop and hollow,
remaining there till invited to enter. Two old men usually come
out to them, and lead them in. There is in every village a vacant
dwelling, called the strangers' house. Here they are placed, while
the old men go round from hut to hut, acquainting the inhabitants,
that strangers are arrived, who are probably hungry and weary;
and every one sends them what he can spare of victuals, and skins
to repose on. When the strangers are refreshed, pipes and tobacco
are brought; and then, but not before, conversation begins, with
enquiries who they are, whither bound, what news, &c. and it usually
ends with offers of service, if the strangers have occasion for
guides, or any necessaries for continuing their journey; and nothing
is exacted for the entertainment.
The same hospitality, esteemed among them as a principal virtue,
is practised by private persons; of which _Conrad Weiser_, our
interpreter, gave me the following instance. He had been naturalized
among the Six Nations, and spoke well the Mohuck language. In going
through the Indian country, to carry a message from our governor to
the council at Onondaga, he called at the habitation of Canassetego,
an old acquaintance, who embraced him, spread furs for him to sit
on, and placed before him some boiled beans and venison, and mixed
some rum and water for his drink. When he was well refreshed, and
had lit his pipe, Canassetego began to converse with him: asked how
he had fared the many years since they had seen each other, whence
he then came, what occasioned the journey, &c. Conrad answered all
his questions; and when the discourse began to flag, the Indian,
to continue it, said, "Conrad, you have lived long among the white
people, and know something of their customs; I have been sometimes
at Albany, and have observed, that once in seven days they shut up
their shops, and assemble all in the great house; tell me what it
is for? What do they do there?" "They meet there," says Conrad, "to
hear and learn _good things_." "I do not doubt," says the Indian,
"that they tell you so; they have told me the same: but I doubt the
truth of what they say, and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately
to Albany to sell my skins and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum,
&c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson; but I was a
little inclined this time to try some other merchants. However, I
called first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver.
He said he could not give more than four shillings a pound: but,
says he, I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet
together to learn _good things_, and I am going to the meeting. So
I thought to myself, since I cannot do any business to-day, I may
as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up
a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did
not understand what he said; but perceiving that he looked much at
me, and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so
I went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe,
waiting till the meeting should break up. I thought too, that the
man had mentioned something of beaver, and I suspected it might be
the subject of their meeting. So when they came out I accosted my
merchant. Well, Hans, says I, I hope you have agreed to give more
than four shillings a pound? No, says he, I cannot give so much, I
cannot give more than three shillings and sixpence. I then spoke
to several other dealers, but they all sung the same song, three
and sixpence, three and sixpence. This made it clear to me that my
suspicion was right; and that whatever they pretended of meeting to
learn _good things_, the real purpose was to consult how to cheat
Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and
you must be of my opinion. If they met so often to learn _good
things_, they would certainly have learned some before this time.
But they are still ignorant. You know our practice. If a white man,
in travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all
treat him as I do you; we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is
cold, and give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirst and
hunger; and we spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on: we
demand nothing in return[159]. But if I go into a white man's house
at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, Where is your
money? and if I have none, they say, Get out you Indian dog. You see
they have not yet learned those little _good things_, that we need
no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them
to us when we were children; and therefore it is impossible their
meetings should be, as they say, for any such purpose, or have any
such effect; they are only to contrive _the cheating of Indians in
the price of beaver_."
FOOTNOTES:
[158] This paper and the two next in order were published in separate
pamphlets in this country, in the year 1784, and afterwards, in 1787,
formed part of a small collection of our author's papers, printed for
Dilly. It is from this collection we extract them. _Editor._
[159] It is remarkable, that in all ages and countries, hospitality
has been allowed as the virtue of those, whom the civilized were
pleased to call Barbarians. The Greeks celebrated the Scythians for
it, the Saracens possessed it eminently; and it is to this day the
reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul too, in the relation
of his voyage and shipwreck, on the island of Melita, says, "The
barbarous people shewed us no little kindness; for they kindled a
fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and
because of the cold."
_The internal State of America; being a true Description of the
Interest and Policy of that vast Continent._
There is a tradition, that, in the planting of New-England, the
first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships; as is
generally the case when a civilized people attempt establishing
themselves in a wilderness country. Being piously disposed, they
sought relief from Heaven, by laying their wants and distresses
before the Lord, in frequent set days of fasting and prayer. Constant
meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy
and discontented; and, like the children of Israel, there were many
disposed to return to that Egypt, which persecution had induced
them to abandon. At length, when it was proposed in the assembly to
proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose, and remarked,
that the inconveniences they suffered, and concerning which they had
so often wearied heaven with their complaints, were not so great
as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the
colony strengthened; that the earth began to reward their labour, and
to furnish liberally for their subsistence; that the seas and rivers
were found full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy; and,
above all, that they were there in the full enjoyment of liberty,
civil and religious: he therefore thought, that reflecting and
conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable, as tending
more to make them contented with their situation; and that it would
be more becoming the gratitude they owed to the Divine Being, if,
instead of a fast, they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice
was taken; and from that day to this they have, in every year,
observed circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish
employment for a thanksgiving day; which is therefore constantly
ordered and religiously observed.
I see in the public newspapers of different states frequent
complaints of _hard times, deadness of trade, scarcity of money,
&c. &c._ It is not my intention to assert or maintain, that these
complaints are entirely without foundation. There can be no country
or nation existing, in which there will not be some people so
circumstanced, as to find it hard to gain a livelihood; people who
are not in the way of any profitable trade, and with whom money is
scarce, because they have nothing to give in exchange for it; and
it is always in the power of a small number to make a great clamour.
But let us take a cool view of the general state of our affairs, and
perhaps the prospect will appear less gloomy than has been imagined.
The great business of the continent is agriculture. For one artisan,
or merchant, I suppose, we have at least one hundred farmers, by
far the greatest part cultivators of their own fertile lands,
from whence many of them draw not only food necessary for their
subsistence, but the materials of their clothing, so as to need very
few foreign supplies; while they have a surplus of productions to
dispose of, whereby wealth is gradually accumulated. Such has been
the goodness of Divine Providence to these regions, and so favourable
the climate, that, since the three or four years of hardship in the
first settlement of our fathers here, a famine or scarcity has never
been heard of amongst us; on the contrary, though some years may have
been more, and others less plentiful, there has always been provision
enough for ourselves, and a quantity to spare for exportation. And
although the crops of last year were generally good, never was
the farmer better paid for the part he can spare commerce, as the
published price currents abundantly testify. The lands he possesses
are also continually rising in value with the increase of population;
and, on the whole, he is enabled to give such good wages to those who
work for him, that all who are acquainted with the old world must
agree, that in no part of it are the labouring poor so generally
well fed, well clothed, well lodged, and well paid, as in the United
States of America.
If we enter the cities, we find, that, since the revolution, the
owners of houses and lots of ground have had their interest vastly
augmented in value; rents have risen to an astonishing height, and
thence encouragement to increase building, which gives employment
to an abundance of workmen, as does also the increased luxury and
splendour of living of the inhabitants, thus made richer. These
workmen all demand and obtain much higher wages than any other part
of the world would afford them, and are paid in ready money. This
rank of people therefore do not, or ought not, to complain of hard
times; and they make a very considerable part of the city inhabitants.
At the distance I live from our American fisheries, I cannot speak
of them with any degree of certainty; but I have not heard, that the
labour of the valuable race of men employed in them is worse paid,
or that they meet with less success, than before the revolution. The
whale-men indeed have been deprived of one market for their oil;
but another, I hear, is opening for them, which it is hoped may be
equally advantageous; and the demand is constantly increasing for
their spermaceti candles, which therefore bear a much higher price
than formerly.
There remain the merchants and shopkeepers. Of these, though
they make but a small part of the whole nation, the number is
considerable, too great indeed for the business they are employed
in; for the consumption of goods in every country has its limits;
the faculties of the people, that is, their ability to buy and pay,
being equal only to a certain quantity of merchandize. If merchants
calculate amiss on this proportion, and import too much, they will
of course find the sale dull for the overplus, and some of them will
say, that trade languishes. They should, and doubtless will, grow
wiser by experience, and import less. If too many artificers in
town, and farmers from the country, flattering themselves with the
idea of leading easier lives, turn shopkeepers, the whole natural
quantity of that business divided among them all may afford too small
a share for each, and occasion complaints, that trading is dead;
these may also suppose, that it is owing to scarcity of money, while,
in fact, it is not so much from the fewness of buyers, as from the
excessive number of sellers, that the mischief arises; and, if every
shopkeeping farmer and mechanic would return to the use of his plough
and working tools, there would remain of widows, and other women,
shopkeepers sufficient for the business, which might then afford them
a comfortable maintenance.
Whoever has travelled through the various parts of Europe, and
observed how small is the proportion of people in affluence or easy
circumstances there, compared with those in poverty and misery;
the few rich and haughty landlords, the multitude of poor, abject,
rack-rented, tythe-paying tenants, and half-paid and half-starved
ragged labourers; and views here the happy mediocrity, that so
generally prevails throughout these states, where the cultivator
works for himself, and supports his family in decent plenty, will,
methinks, see abundant reason to bless Divine Providence for the
evident and great difference in our favour, and be convinced, that no
nation known to us enjoys a greater share of human felicity.
It is true, that in some of the states there are parties and
discords; but let us look back, and ask if we were ever without them?
Such will exist wherever there is liberty; and perhaps they help
to preserve it. By the collision of different sentiments, sparks of
truth are struck out, and political light is obtained. The different
factions, which at present divide us, aim all at the public good: the
differences are only about the various modes of promoting it. Things,
actions, measures, and objects of all kinds, present themselves to
the minds of men in such a variety of lights, that it is not possible
we should all think alike at the same time on every subject, when
hardly the same man retains at all times the same ideas of it.
Parties are therefore the common lot of humanity; and ours are by
no means more mischievous or less beneficial than those of other
countries, nations, and ages, enjoying in the same degree the great
blessing of political liberty.
Some indeed among us are not so much grieved for the present state
of our affairs, as apprehensive for the future. The growth of luxury
alarms them, and they think we are from that alone in the high road
to ruin. They observe, that no revenue is sufficient without economy,
and that the most plentiful income of a whole people from the natural
productions of their country may be dissipated in vain and needless
expences, and poverty be introduced in the place of affluence. This
may be possible. It however rarely happens: for there seems to be in
every nation a greater proportion of industry and frugality, which
tend to enrich, than of idleness and prodigality, which occasion
poverty; so that upon the whole there is a continual accumulation.
Reflect what Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain were in the time of
the Romans, inhabited by people little richer than our savages, and
consider the wealth they at present possess, in numerous well-built
cities, improved farms, rich moveables, magazines stocked with
valuable manufactures, to say nothing of plate jewels, and coined
money; and all this, notwithstanding their bad, wasteful, plundering
governments, and their mad destructive wars; and yet luxury and
extravagant living has never suffered much restraint in those
countries. Then consider the great proportion of industrious frugal
farmers inhabiting the interior parts of these American states,
and of whom the body of our nation consists, and judge whether it
is possible, that the luxury of our sea-ports can be sufficient to
ruin such a country.--If the importation of foreign luxuries could
ruin a people, we should probably have been ruined long ago; for the
British nation claimed a right, and practised it, of importing among
us not only the superfluities of their own production, but those of
every nation under heaven; we bought and consumed them, and yet we
flourished and grew rich. At present our independent governments may
do what we could not then do, discourage by heavy duties, or prevent
by heavy prohibitions, such importations, and thereby grow richer;
if, indeed, which may admit of dispute, the desire of adorning
ourselves with fine clothes, possessing fine furniture, with elegant
houses, &c. is not, by strongly inciting to labour and industry,
the occasion of producing a greater value, than is consumed in the
gratification of that desire.
The agriculture and fisheries of the United States are the great
sources of our increasing wealth. He that puts a seed into the earth
is recompensed, perhaps, by receiving forty out of it; and he who
draws a fish out of our water, draws up a piece of silver.
Let us (and there is no doubt but we shall) be attentive to these,
and then the power of rivals, with all their restraining and
prohibiting acts, cannot much hurt us. We are sons of the earth
and seas, and, like Antæus in the fable, if, in wrestling with a
Hercules, we now and then receive a fall, the touch of our parents
will communicate to us fresh strength and vigour to renew the contest.
_Information to those who would remove to America._
Many persons in Europe having directly or by letters, expressed to
the writer of this, who is well acquainted with North-America, their
desire of transporting and establishing themselves in that country;
but who appear to him to have formed, through ignorance, mistaken
ideas and expectations of what is to be obtained there; he thinks it
may be useful, and prevent inconvenient, expensive, and fruitless
removals and voyages of improper persons, if he gives some clearer
and truer notions of that part of the world, than appear to have
hitherto prevailed.
He finds it is imagined by numbers, that the inhabitants of North
America are rich, capable of rewarding, and disposed to reward, all
sorts of ingenuity; that they are at the same time ignorant of all
the sciences, and consequently, that strangers, possessing talents in
the belles-lettres, fine arts, &c. must be highly esteemed, and so
well paid, as to become easily rich themselves; that there are also
abundance of profitable offices to be disposed of, which the natives
are not qualified to fill; and that, having few persons of family
among them, strangers of birth must be greatly respected, and of
course easily obtain the best of those offices, which will make all
their fortunes: that the governments too, to encourage emigrations
from Europe, not only pay the expence of personal transportation,
but give lands gratis to strangers, with negroes to work for them,
utensils of husbandry, and stocks of cattle. These are all wild
imaginations; and those who go to America with expectations founded
upon them will surely find themselves disappointed.
The truth is, that though there are in that country few people so
miserable as the poor of Europe, there are also very few that in
Europe would be called rich; it is rather a general happy mediocrity
that prevails. There are few great proprietors of the soil, and
few tenants; most people cultivate their own lands, or follow some
handicraft or merchandise; very few rich enough to live idly upon
their rents or incomes, or to pay the high prices given in Europe
for painting, statues, architecture, and the other works of art,
that are more curious than useful. Hence the natural geniuses, that
have arisen in America with such talents, have uniformly quitted
that country for Europe, where they can be more suitably rewarded.
It is true, that letters and mathematical knowledge are in esteem
there, but they are at the same time more common than is apprehended;
there being already existing nine colleges or universities, viz.
four in New England, and one in each of the provinces of New York,
New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all furnished with
learned professors; besides a number of smaller academies: these
educate many of their youth in the languages, and those sciences
that qualify men for the professions of divinity, law, or physic.
Strangers indeed are by no means excluded from exercising those
professions; and the quick increase of inhabitants every where gives
them a chance of employ, which they have in common with the natives.
Of civil offices, or employments, there are few; no superfluous ones,
as in Europe; and it is a rule established in some of the states,
that no office should be so profitable as to make it desirable.
The thirty-sixth article of the constitution of Pensylvania runs
expressly in these words: "As every freeman, to preserve his
independence (if he has not a sufficient estate) ought to have some
profession, calling, trade, or farm, whereby he may honestly subsist,
there can be no necessity for, nor use in, establishing offices of
profit; the usual effects of which are dependence and servility,
unbecoming freemen, in the possessors and expectants; faction,
contention, corruption, and disorder among the people. Wherefore,
whenever an office, through increase of fees or otherwise, becomes so
profitable, as to occasion many to apply for it, the profits ought to
be lessened by the legislature."
These ideas prevailing more or less in all the United States, it
cannot be worth any man's while, who has a means of living at home,
to expatriate himself, in hopes of obtaining a profitable civil
office in America; and as to military offices, they are at an end
with the war, the armies being disbanded. Much less is it adviseable
for a person to go thither, who has no other quality to recommend
him but his birth. In Europe it has indeed its value; but it is a
commodity that cannot be carried to a worse market than to that of
America, where people do not enquire concerning a stranger, _What is
he?_ but _What can he do?_ If he has any useful art, he is welcome;
and if he exercises it, and behaves well, he will be respected by all
that know him; but a mere man of quality, who on that account wants
to live upon the public by some office or salary, will be despised
and disregarded. The husbandman is in honour there, and even the
mechanic, because their employments are useful. The people have a
saying, that God Almighty is himself a mechanic, the greatest in
the universe; and he is respected and admired more for the variety,
ingenuity, and utility of his handiworks, than for the antiquity of
his family. They are pleased with the observation of a negro, and
frequently mention it, that Boccarora (meaning the white man) make de
black man workee, make de horse workee, make de ox workee, make ebery
ting workee; only de hog. He de hog, no workee; he eat, he drink, he
walk about, he go to sleep when he please, he libb like a gentleman.
According to these opinions of the Americans, one of them would think
himself more obliged to a genealogist, who could prove for him that
his ancestors and relations for ten generations had been ploughmen,
smiths, carpenters, turners, weavers, tanners, or even shoemakers,
and consequently that they were useful members of society; than if he
could only prove that they were gentlemen, doing nothing of value,
but living idly on the labour of others, mere _fruges consumere
nati_[160], and otherwise _good for nothing_, till by their death
their estates, like the carcase of the negro's gentleman-hog, come to
be _cut up_.
With regard to encouragements for strangers from government, they are
really only what are derived from good laws and liberty. Strangers
are welcome, because there is room enough for them all, and therefore
the old inhabitants are not jealous of them; the laws protect them
sufficiently, so that they have no need of the patronage of great
men; and every one will enjoy securely the profits of his industry.
But if he does not bring a fortune with him, he must work and be
industrious to live. One or two years residence give him all the
rights of a citizen; but the government does not at present, whatever
it may have done in former times, hire people to become settlers, by
paying their passages, giving land, negroes, utensils, stock, or any
other kind of emolument whatsoever. In short, America is the land of
labour, and by no means what the English call Lubberland, and the
French Pays de Cocagne, where the streets are said to be paved with
half-peck loaves, the houses tiled with pancakes, and where the fowls
fly about ready roasted, crying, _Come eat me!_
Who then are the kind of persons to whom an emigration to America
may be advantageous? And what are the advantages they may reasonably
expect?
Land being cheap in that country, from the vast forests still void
of inhabitants, and not likely to be occupied in an age to come,
insomuch that the propriety of an hundred acres of fertile soil full
of wood may be obtained near the frontiers, in many places, for
eight or ten guineas, hearty young labouring men, who understand
the husbandry of corn and cattle, which is nearly the same in that
country as in Europe, may easily establish themselves there. A little
money saved of the good wages they receive there, while they work
for others, enables them to buy the land and begin their plantation,
in which they are assisted by the good-will of their neighbours,
and some credit. Multitudes of poor people from England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Germany, have by this means in a few years become
wealthy farmers, who, in their own countries, where all the lands are
fully occupied, and the wages of labour low, could never have emerged
from the mean condition wherein they were born.
From the salubrity of the air, the healthiness of the climate, the
plenty of good provisions, and the encouragement to early marriages,
by the certainty of subsistence in cultivating the earth, the
increase of inhabitants by natural generation is very rapid in
America, and becomes still more so by the accession of strangers;
hence there is a continual demand for more artisans of all the
necessary and useful kinds, to supply those cultivators of the
earth with houses, and with furniture and utensils of the grosser
sorts, which cannot so well be brought from Europe. Tolerably good
workmen in any of those mechanic arts are sure to find employ, and
to be well paid for their work, there being no restraints preventing
strangers from exercising any art they understand, nor any permission
necessary. If they are poor, they begin first as servants or
journeymen; and if they are sober, industrious, and frugal, they
soon become masters, establish themselves in business, marry, raise
families, and become respectable citizens.
Also, persons of moderate fortunes and capitals, who, having a
number of children to provide for, are desirous of bringing them
up to industry, and to secure estates for their posterity, have
opportunities of doing it in America, which Europe does not afford.
There they may be taught and practise profitable mechanic arts,
without incurring disgrace on that account, but on the contrary
acquiring respect by such abilities. There small capitals laid
out in lands, which daily become more valuable by the increase of
people, afford a solid prospect of ample fortunes thereafter for
those children. The writer of this has known several instances of
large tracts of land, bought, on what was then the frontier of
Pennsylvania, for ten pounds per hundred acres, which, when the
settlements had been extended far beyond them, sold readily, without
any improvement made upon them, for three pounds per acre. The acre
in America is the same with the English acre, or the acre of Normandy.
Those, who desire to understand the state of government in America,
would do well to read the constitutions of the several states,
and the articles of confederation that bind the whole together
for general purposes, under the direction of one assembly, called
the congress. These constitutions have been printed, by order of
congress, in America; two editions of them have also been printed in
London; and a good translation of them into French has lately been
published at Paris.
Several of the princes of Europe of late, from an opinion of
advantage to arise by producing all commodities and manufactures
within their own dominions, so as to diminish or render useless
their importations, have endeavoured to entice workmen from other
countries, by high salaries, privileges, &c. Many persons, pretending
to be skilled in various great manufactures, imagining, that America
must be in want of them, and that the congress would probably be
disposed to imitate the princes above mentioned, have proposed to
go over, on condition of having their passages paid, lands given,
salaries appointed, exclusive privileges for terms of years, &c.
Such persons, on reading the articles of confederation, will find,
that the congress have no power committed to them, or money put into
their hands, for such purposes; and that if any such encouragement
is given, it must be by the government of some separate state. This,
however, has rarely been done in America; and when it has been done,
it has rarely succeeded, so as to establish a manufacture, which the
country was not yet so ripe for as to encourage private persons to
set it up; labour being generally too dear there, and hands difficult
to be kept together, every one desiring to be a master, and the
cheapness of land inclining many to leave trades for agriculture.
Some indeed have met with success, and are carried on to advantage;
but they are generally such as require only a few hands, or wherein
great part of the work is performed by machines. Goods that are
bulky, and of so small value as not well to bear the expence of
freight, may often be made cheaper in the country than they can
be imported; and the manufacture of such goods will be profitable
wherever there is a sufficient demand. The farmers in America produce
indeed a good deal of wool and flax; and none is exported, it is
all worked up; but it is in the way of domestic manufacture, for
the use of the family. The buying up quantities of wool and flax,
with the design to employ spinners, weavers, &c. and form great
establishments, producing quantities of linen and woollen goods for
sale, has been several times attempted in different provinces; but
those projects have generally failed, goods of equal value being
imported cheaper. And when the governments have been solicited to
support such schemes by encouragements, in money, or by imposing
duties on importation of such goods, it has been generally refused,
on this principle, that if the country is ripe for the manufacture,
it may be carried on by private persons to advantage; and if not,
it is a folly to think of forcing nature. Great establishments of
manufacture require great numbers of poor to do the work for small
wages; those poor are to be found in Europe, but will not be found
in America, till the lands are all taken up and cultivated, and
the excess of people, who cannot get land, want employment. The
manufacture of silk, they say, is natural in France, as that of
cloth in England, because each country produces in plenty the first
material: but if England will have a manufacture of silk as well as
that of cloth, and France of cloth as well as that of silk, these
unnatural operations must be supported by mutual prohibitions, or
high duties on the importation of each other's goods; by which means
the workmen are enabled to tax the home consumer by greater prices,
while the higher wages they receive makes them neither happier nor
richer, since they only drink more and work less. Therefore the
governments in America do nothing to encourage such projects. The
people, by this means, are not imposed on either by the merchant or
mechanic: if the merchant demands too much profit on imported shoes,
they buy of the shoe-maker; and if he asks too high a price, they
take them of the merchant: thus the two professions are checks on
each other. The shoemaker, however, has, on the whole, a considerable
profit upon his labour in America, beyond what he had in Europe, as
he can add to his price a sum nearly equal to all the expences of
freight and commission, risque or insurance, &c. necessarily charged
by the merchant. And the case is the same with the workmen in every
other mechanic art. Hence it is, that artisans generally live
better and more easily in America than in Europe; and such as are
good economists make a comfortable provision for age, and for their
children. Such may, therefore, remove with advantage to America.
In the old long-settled countries of Europe, all arts, trades,
professions, farms, &c. are so full, that it is difficult for a poor
man who has children to place them where they may gain, or learn to
gain, a decent livelihood. The artisans, who fear creating future
rivals in business, refuse to take apprentices, but upon conditions
of money, maintenance, or the like, which the parents are unable to
comply with. Hence the youth are dragged up in ignorance of every
gainful art, and obliged to become soldiers, or servants, or thieves,
for a subsistence. In America, the rapid increase of inhabitants
takes away that fear of rivalship, and artisans willingly receive
apprentices from the hope of profit by their labour, during the
remainder of the time stipulated, after they shall be instructed.
Hence it is easy for poor families to get their children instructed;
for the artisans are so desirous of apprentices, that many of them
will even give money to the parents, to have boys from ten to fifteen
years of age bound apprentices to them, till the age of twenty-one;
and many poor parents have, by that means, on their arrival in the
country, raised money enough to buy land sufficient to establish
themselves, and to subsist the rest of their family by agriculture.
These contracts for apprentices are made before a magistrate, who
regulates the agreement according to reason and justice, and, having
in view the formation of a future useful citizen, obliges the master
to engage by a written indenture, not only that, during the time
of service stipulated, the apprentice shall be duly provided with
meat, drink, apparel, washing, and lodging, and at its expiration
with a complete new suit of clothes, but also, that he shall be
taught to read, write, and cast accounts; and that he shall be well
instructed in the art or profession of his master, or some other, by
which he may afterwards gain a livelihood, and be able in his turn to
raise a family. A copy of this indenture is given to the apprentice
or his friends, and the magistrate keeps a record of it, to which
recourse may be had, in case of failure by the master in any point
of performance. This desire among the masters, to have more hands
employed in working for them, induces them to pay the passages of
young persons, of both sexes, who, on their arrival, agree to serve
them one, two, three, or four years; those who have already learned a
trade, agreeing for a shorter term, in proportion to their skill, and
the consequent immediate value of their service; and those who have
none, agreeing for a longer term, in consideration of being taught
an art their poverty would not permit them to acquire in their own
country.
The almost general mediocrity of fortune that prevails in America,
obliging its people to follow some business for subsistence, those
vices, that arise usually from idleness, are in a great measure
prevented. Industry and constant employment are great preservatives
of the morals and virtue of a nation. Hence bad examples to youth
are more rare in America, which must be a comfortable consideration
to parents. To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under
its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and
practised. Atheism is unknown there; infidelity rare and secret; so
that persons may live to a great age in that country, without having
their piety shocked by meeting with either an atheist or an infidel.
And the Divine Being seems to have manifested his approbation of
the mutual forbearance and kindness with which the different sects
treat each other, by the remarkable prosperity with which he has been
pleased to favour the whole country.
FOOTNOTE:
[160]
... born
Merely to eat up the corn. WATTS.
TO THE EARL OF BUCHAN[161].
_Concerning new Settlements in America._
_Passy, March 17, 1783._
MY LORD,
I received the letter your lordship did me the honour of writing to
me the 18th past, and am much obliged by your kind congratulations on
the return of peace, which I hope will be lasting.
With regard to the terms on which lands may be acquired in America,
and the manner of beginning new settlements on them, I cannot give
better information than may be found in a book lately printed at
London, under some such title as--_Letters from a Pensylvanian
Farmer_, by Hector St. John. The only encouragement we hold out to
strangers are, _a good climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and
water, plenty of provisions and food, good pay for labour, kind
neighbours, good laws, and a hearty welcome_. The rest depends on a
man's own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be
bought. All settlements are undertaken at private expence; the public
contributes nothing but defence and justice. I have long observed of
your people, that their sobriety, frugality, industry and honesty,
seldom fail of success in America, and of procuring them a good
establishment among us.
I do not recollect the circumstance you are pleased to mention, of
my having saved a citizen at St. Andrew's by giving a turn to his
disorder; and I am curious to know, what the disorder was, and what
the advice I gave, that proved so salutary[162]. With great regard
I have the honour to be, my lord, your lordship's most obedient and
most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[161] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for July, 1794, to which it was
communicated by the nobleman to whom it is addressed. _Editor._
[162] It was a fever in which the Earl of Buchan, then lord Cadross,
lay sick at St. Andrew's; and the advice was, not to blister,
according to the old practice and the opinion of the learned Dr.
Simson, brother of the celebrated geometrician at Glasgow. B.
_A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews, and of the
Antifederalists in the United States of America[163]._
A zealous advocate for the proposed federal constitution in a certain
public assembly said, that "the repugnance of a great part of mankind
to good government was such, that he believed, that if an angel from
heaven was to bring down a constitution, formed there for our use, it
would nevertheless meet with violent opposition." He was reproved for
the supposed extravagance of the sentiment, and he did not justify
it. Probably it might not have immediately occurred to him, that the
experiment had been tried, and that the event was recorded in the
most faithful of all histories, the Holy Bible; otherwise he might,
as it seems to me, have supported his opinion by that unexceptionable
authority.
The Supreme Being had been pleased to nourish up a single family,
by continued acts of his attentive providence, till it became a
great people: and having rescued them from bondage by many miracles,
performed by his servant Moses, he personally delivered to that
chosen servant, in presence of the whole nation, a constitution and
code of laws for their observance, accompanied and sanctioned with
promises of great rewards, and threats of severe punishments, as the
consequence of their obedience or disobedience.
This constitution, though the Deity himself was to be at its head
(and it is therefore called by political writers a theocracy) could
not be carried into execution but by the means of his ministers;
Aaron and his sons were therefore commissioned to be, with Moses, the
first established ministry of the new government.
One would have thought, that the appointment of men, who had
distinguished themselves in procuring the liberty of their nation,
and had hazarded their lives in openly opposing the will of a
powerful monarch, who would have retained that nation in slavery,
might have been an appointment acceptable to a grateful people; and
that a constitution, framed for them by the Deity himself, might on
that account have been secure of an universal welcome reception. Yet
there were, in every one of the thirteen tribes, some discontented,
restless spirits, who were continually exciting them to reject the
proposed new government, and this from various motives.
Many still retained an affection for Egypt, the land of their
nativity, and these, whenever they felt any inconvenience or
hardship, though the natural and unavoidable effect of their change
of situation, exclaimed against their leaders as the authors of
their trouble: and were not only for returning into Egypt, but for
stoning their deliverers[164]. Those inclined to idolatry were
displeased that their golden calf was destroyed. Many of the chiefs
thought the new constitution might be injurious to their particular
interests, that the profitable places would be _engrossed by the
families and friends of Moses and Aaron_, and others, equally well
born, excluded.[165]--In Josephus, and the Talmud, we learn some
particulars, not so fully narrated in the scripture. We are there
told, that Corah was ambitious of the priesthood, and offended that
it was conferred on Aaron; and this, as he said, by the authority of
Moses only, _without the consent of the people_. He accused Moses of
having, by various artifices, fraudulently obtained the government,
and deprived the people of their liberties, and of conspiring with
Aaron to perpetuate the tyranny in their family. Thus, though
Corah's real motive was the supplanting of Aaron, he persuaded the
people, that he meant only the public good; and they, moved by his
insinuations, began to cry out, "Let us maintain the common liberty
of our _respective tribes_; we have freed ourselves from the slavery
imposed upon us by the Egyptians, and shall we suffer ourselves to
be made slaves by Moses? If we must have a master, it were better to
return to Pharaoh, who at least fed us with bread and onions, than
to serve this new tyrant, who, by his operations, has brought us
into danger of famine." Then they called in question the _reality
of his conference_ with God, and objected to the privacy of the
meetings, and the preventing any of the people from being present at
the colloquies, or even approaching the place, as grounds of great
suspicion. They accused Moses also of _peculation_, as embezzling
part of the golden spoons and the silver chargers, that the princes
had offered at the dedication of the altar[166], and the offerings
of gold by the common people[167], as well as most of the poll
tax[168]; and Aaron they accused of pocketing much of the gold of
which he pretended to have made a molten calf. Besides peculation,
they charged Moses with _ambition_; to gratify which passion, he had,
they said, deceived the people, by promising to bring them to a land
flowing with milk and honey; instead of doing which, he had brought
them _from_ such a land; and that he thought light of all this
mischief, provided he could make himself an _absolute prince_[169].
That, to support the new dignity with splendour in his family, the
partial poll tax, already levied and given to Aaron[170], was to be
followed by a general one[171], which would probably be augmented
from time to time, if he were suffered to go on promulgating new
laws, on pretence of new occasional revelations of the divine will,
till their whole fortunes were devoured by that aristocracy.
Moses denied the charge of peculation, and his accusers were
destitute of proofs to support it; though _facts_, if real, are in
their nature capable of proof. "I have not," said he (with holy
confidence in the presence of God), "I have not taken from this
people the value of an ass, nor done them any other injury." But
his enemies had made the charge, and with some success among the
populace; for no kind of accusation is so readily made, or easily
believed, by knaves, as the accusation of knavery.
In fine, no less than two hundred and fifty of the principal men
"famous in the congregation, men of renown[172]," heading and
exciting the mob, worked them up to such a pitch of phrenzy, that
they called out, stone 'em, stone 'em, and thereby secure our
liberties; and let us choose other captains, that may lead us back
into Egypt, in case we do not succeed in reducing the Canaanites.
On the whole, it appears, that the Israelites were a people jealous
of their newly acquired liberty, which jealousy was in itself
no fault; but that, when they suffered it to be worked upon by
artful men, pretending public good, with nothing really in view
but private interest, they were led to oppose the establishment of
the new constitution, whereby they brought upon themselves much
inconvenience and misfortune. It farther appears, from the same
inestimable history, that when, after many ages, the constitution
had become old and much abused, and an amendment of it was proposed,
the populace, as they had accused Moses of the ambition of making
himself a prince, and cried out, stone him, stone him; so, excited by
their high-priests and scribes, they exclaimed against the Messiah,
that he aimed at becoming king of the Jews, and cried, crucify him,
crucify him. From all which we may gather, that popular opposition
to a public measure is no proof of its impropriety, even though the
opposition be excited and headed by men of distinction.
To conclude, I beg I may not be understood to infer, that our general
convention was divinely inspired when it formed the new federal
constitution, merely because that constitution has been unreasonably
and vehemently opposed: yet, I must own, I have so much faith in the
general government of the world by Providence, that I can hardly
conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare
of millions now existing, and to exist in the posterity of a great
nation, should be suffered to pass without being in some degree
influenced, guided and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent and
beneficent ruler, in whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and
have their being.
FOOTNOTES:
[163] From the Repository, vol. II. p. 313. _Editor._
[164] Numbers, chap. xiv.
[165] Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 3. "And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, ye
take too much upon you, seeing all the congregations are holy,
every one of them,--wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the
congregation."
[166] Numbers, chap. vii.
[167] Exodus, chapter xxxv. ver. 22.
[168] Numbers, chap. iii. and Exodus, chap. xxx.
[169] Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 13. "Is it a small thing that thou
hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill
us in this wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince
over us?"
[170] Numbers, chap. iii.
[171] Exodus, chap. xxx.
[172] Numbers, chap. xvi.
_Final Speech of Dr. Franklin in the late Federal Convention[173]._
MR. PRESIDENT,
I confess that I do not entirely approve of this constitution at
present: but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for having
lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by
better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even
on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be
otherwise. It is, therefore, that, the older I grow, the more apt I
am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment
of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think
themselves in possession of all truth, and that whenever others
differ from them, it is so far error. Steel, a protestant, in a
dedication, tells the pope, that "the only difference between our two
churches, in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is,
the Romish church is infallible, and the church of England never in
the wrong." But, though many private persons think almost as highly
of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express
it so naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a little dispute
with her sister, said, I don't know how it happens, sister, but I
meet with nobody but myself that is always in the right. _Il n'y a
que moi qui a toujours raison._ In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to
this constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I
think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of
government but what may be a blessing, if well administered; and
I believe farther, that this is likely to be well administered for
a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms
have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted
as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I
doubt too, whether any other convention we can obtain, may be able
to make a better constitution. For when you assemble a number of
men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably
assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions,
their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish
views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected?
It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching
so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our
enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear, that our councils
are confounded, like those of the builders of Babylon, and that our
states are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the
purpose of cutting each other's throats.
Thus I consent, sir, to this constitution, because I expect no
better, and because I am not sure, that this is not the best. The
opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.
I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these
walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us,
in returning to our constituents, were to report the objections he
has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans in support of them,
we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all
the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our
favour among foreign nations, as well as among ourselves, from our
real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of
any government, in procuring and securing happiness to the people,
depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of that
government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors.
I hope therefore, that for our own sakes, as part of the people, and
for the sake of our posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously
in recommending this constitution, wherever our influence may extend,
and turn our future thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it
well administered.
On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish, that every member
of the convention, who may still have objections, would with me, on
this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make
manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.
[The motion was then made for adding the last formula, viz.
Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent, &c. which was agreed
to, and added accordingly.]
FOOTNOTE:
[173] From the American Museum, vol. II. p. 558. _Editor._
PAPERS
ON
MORAL SUBJECTS
AND
_THE ECONOMY OF LIFE_.
PAPERS
ON
MORAL SUBJECTS
AND
_THE ECONOMY OF LIFE_.
_The Busy-Body._--No. I[174].
FROM THE AMERICAN WEEKLY MERCURY, FROM TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, TO
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1728,--9.
MR. ANDREW BRADFORD,
I design this to acquaint you, that I, who have long been one of your
courteous readers, have lately entertained some thought of setting up
for an author myself; not out of the least vanity, I assure you, or
desire of showing my parts, but purely for the good of my country.
I have often observed with concern, that your Mercury is not always
equally entertaining. The delay of ships expected in, and want of
fresh advices from Europe, make it frequently very dull; and I find
the freezing of our river has the same effect on news as trade.--With
more concern have I continually observed the growing vices and
follies of my country folk: and though reformation is properly the
concern of every man, that is, every one ought to mend one; yet it
is too true in this case, that what is every body's business is no
body's business, and the business is done accordingly. I therefore,
upon mature deliberation, think fit to take no body's business wholly
into my own hands; and, out of zeal for the public good, design
to erect myself into a kind of censor morum; purposing, with your
allowance, to make use of the Weekly Mercury as a vehicle, in which
my remonstrances shall be conveyed to the world.
I am sensible I have, in this particular, undertaken a very
unthankful office, and expect little besides my labour for my pains.
Nay, it is probable, I may displease a great number of your readers,
who will not very well like to pay ten shillings a year for being
told of their faults. But as most people delight in censure, when
they themselves are not the objects of it, if any are offended at my
publicly exposing their private vices, I promise they shall have the
satisfaction, in a very little time, of seeing their good friends and
neighbours in the same circumstances.
However, let the fair sex be assured, that I shall always treat them
and their affairs with the utmost decency and respect. I intend now
and then to dedicate a chapter wholly to their service; and if my
lectures any way contribute to the embellishment of their minds, and
brightening of their understandings, without offending their modesty,
I doubt not of having their favour and encouragement.
It is certain, that no country in the world produces naturally finer
spirits than ours, men of genius for every kind of science, and
capable of acquiring to perfection every qualification, that is in
esteem among mankind. But as few here have the advantage of good
books, for want of which, good conversation is still more scarce,
it would, doubtless, have been very acceptable to your readers,
if, instead of an old out-of-date article from Muscovy or Hungary,
you had entertained them with some well chosen extract from a good
author. This I shall sometimes do, when I happen to have nothing
of my own to say that I think of more consequence. Sometimes, I
purpose to deliver lectures of morality of philosophy, and (because
I am naturally inclined to be meddling with things that do not
concern me) perhaps I may sometimes talk politics. And if I can by
any means furnish out a weekly entertainment for the public, that
will give a rational diversion, and at the same time be instructive
to the readers, I shall think my leisure hours well employed: and
if you publish this, I hereby invite all ingenious gentlemen and
others (that approve of such an undertaking) to my assistance and
correspondence.
It is like, by this time, you have a curiosity to be acquainted with
my name and character. As I do not aim at public praise, I design
to remain concealed: and there are such numbers of our family and
relations at this time in the country, that, though I have signed my
name at full length, I am not under the least apprehension of being
distinguished and discovered by it. My character indeed, I would
favour you with, but that I am cautious of praising myself, lest I
should be told my trumpeter's dead: and I cannot find in my heart, at
present, to say any thing to my own disadvantage.
It is very common with authors in their first performances, to talk
to their readers thus, If this meets with a suitable reception,
or, if this should meet with due encouragement, I shall hereafter
publish, &c.--This only manifests the value they put on their
own writings, since they think to frighten the public into their
applause, by threatening, that unless you approve what they have
already wrote, they intend never to write again; when perhaps it
may not be a pin matter, whether they ever do or no. As I have not
observ'd the critics to be more favourable on this account, I shall
always avoid saying any thing of the kind; and conclude with telling
you, that if you send me a bottle of ink and a quire of paper by the
bearer, you may depend on hearing further from,
Sir,
Your most humble servant,
THE BUSY-BODY.
_The Busy-Body._--No. II.
FROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1728,--9.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.--POPE.
Monsieur Rochefocault tells us somewhere in his Memoirs, that the
Prince of Condé delighted much in ridicule, and used frequently
to shut himself up for half a day together, in his chamber, with
a gentleman, that was his favourite, purposely to divert himself
with examining what was the foible, or ridiculous side, of every
noted person in the court. That gentleman said afterwards in some
company, that he thought nothing was more ridiculous in any body,
than this same humour in the prince; and I am somewhat inclined to
be of this opinion. The general tendency there is among us to this
embellishment (which I fear has too often grossly imposed upon my
loving countrymen instead of wit) and the applause it meets with
from a rising generation, fill me with fearful apprehensions for the
future reputation of my country: a young man of modesty (which is the
most certain indication of large capacities) is hereby discouraged
from attempting to make any figure in life: his apprehensions of
being outlaughed, will force him to continue in a restless obscurity,
without having an opportunity of knowing his own merit himself, or
discovering it to the world, rather than venture to expose himself in
a place, where a pun or a sneer shall pass for wit, noise for reason,
and the strength of the argument be judged by that of the lungs.
Among these witty gentlemen let us take a view of Ridentius: what a
contemptible figure does he make with his train of paltry admirers?
This wight shall give himself an hour's diversion with the cock of
a man's hat, the heels of his shoes, an unguarded expression in his
discourse, or even some personal defect; and the height of his low
ambition is to put some one of the company to the blush, who perhaps
must pay an equal share of the reckoning with himself. If such a
fellow makes laughing the sole end and purpose of his life, if it is
necessary to his constitution, or if he has a great desire of growing
suddenly fat, let him eat; let him give public notice where any dull
stupid rogues may get a quart of four-penny for being laugh'd at; but
it is barbarously unhandsome, when friends meet for the benefit of
conversation, and a proper relaxation from business, that one should
be the butt of the company, and four men made merry at the cost of
the fifth.
How different from this character is that of the good-natured, gay
Eugenius? who never spoke yet but with a design to divert and please;
and who was never yet baulked in his intention. Eugenius takes more
delight in applying the wit of his friends, than in being admired
himself: and if any one of the company is so unfortunate as to be
touched a little too nearly, he will make use of some ingenious
artifice to turn the edge of ridicule another way, chusing rather to
make himself a public jest, than be at the pain of seeing his friend
in confusion.
Among the tribe of laughers I reckon the pretty gentlemen, that
write satyrs, and carry them about in their pockets, reading them
themselves in all company they happen into; taking an advantage of
the ill taste of the town, to make themselves famous for a pack of
paltry, low nonsense, for which they deserve to be kicked, rather
than admired, by all who have the least tincture of politeness. These
I take to be the most incorrigible of all my readers; nay, I expect
they will be squibbing at the Busy-Body himself. However, the only
favour he begs of them is this, that if they cannot controul their
overbearing itch of scribbling, let him be attacked in downright
biting lyricks; for there is no satyr he dreads half so much, as an
attempt towards a panegyrick.
_The Busy-Body._--No. III.
FROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1728,--9.
Non vultus instantis Tyranni
Mente quatit solida, nec auster,
Dux inquieti turbidus Adriæ,
Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus.--HOR.
It is said, that the Persians, in their ancient constitution, had
public schools, in which virtue was taught as a liberal art or
science: and it is certainly of more consequence to a man, that he
has learnt to govern his passions; in spite of temptation, to be just
in his dealings, to be temperate in his pleasures, to support himself
with fortitude under his misfortunes, to behave with prudence in all
his affairs, and in every circumstance of life; I say, it is of much
more real advantage to him to be thus qualified, than to be a master
of all the arts and sciences in the world beside.
Virtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glorious, and
happy.--He that is acquainted with Cato, as I am, cannot help
thinking as I do now, and will acknowledge he deserves the name,
without being honoured by it. Cato is a man whom fortune has placed
in the most obscure part of the country. His circumstances are
such, as only put him above necessity, without affording him many
superfluities: yet who is greater than Cato? I happened but the
other day to be at a house in town, where, among others, were met,
men of the most note in this place; Cato had business with some of
them, and knocked at the door. The most trifling actions of a man,
in my opinion, as well as the smallest features and lineaments of
the face, give a nice observer some notion of his mind. Methought
he rapped in such a peculiar manner, as seemed of itself to express
there was one who deserved as well as desired admission. He appeared
in the plainest country garb; his great coat was coarse, and looked
old and thread bare; his linen was homespun; his beard, perhaps, of
seven days growth; his shoes thick and heavy; and every part of his
dress corresponding. Why was this man received with such concurring
respect from every person in the room, even from those, who had never
known him or seen him before? It was not an exquisite form of person
or grandeur of dress, that struck us with admiration. I believe long
habits of virtue have a sensible effect on the countenance: there was
something in the air of his face, that manifested the true greatness
of his mind; which likewise appeared in all he said, and in every
part of his behaviour, obliging us to regard him with a kind of
veneration. His aspect is sweetened with humanity and benevolence,
and at the same time emboldened with resolution, equally free from
diffident bashfulness and an unbecoming assurance. The consciousness
of his own innate worth and unshaken integrity renders him calm
and undaunted in the presence of the most great and powerful, and
upon the most extraordinary occasions. His strict justice and known
impartiality make him the arbitrator and decider of all differences,
that arise for many miles around him, without putting his neighbours
to the charge, perplexity, and uncertainty of law-suits. He always
speaks the thing he means, which he is never afraid or ashamed to
do, because he knows he always means well; and therefore is never
obliged to blush, and feel the confusion of finding himself detected
in the meanness of a falshood. He never contrives ill against his
neighbour, and therefore is never seen with a lowring, suspicious
aspect. A mixture of innocence and wisdom makes him ever seriously
chearful. His generous hospitality to strangers, according to his
ability, his goodness, his charity, his courage in the cause of the
oppressed, his fidelity in friendship, his humility, his honesty and
sincerity, his moderation and his loyalty to the government, his
piety, his temperance, his love to mankind, his magnanimity, his
public spiritedness, and, in fine, his consummate virtue, make him
justly deserve to be esteemed the glory of his country.
The brave do never shun the light,
Just are their thoughts, and open are their tempers;
Freely without disguise they love and hate;
Still are they found in the fair face of day,
And heaven and men are judges of their actions.--ROWE.
Who would not rather choose, if it were in his choice, to merit the
above character, than be the richest, the most learned, or the most
powerful man in the province without it?
Almost every man has a strong natural desire of being valued and
esteemed by the rest of his species; but I am concerned and grieved
to see how few fall into the right and only infallible method of
becoming so. That laudable ambition is too commonly misapply'd and
often ill employed. Some, to make themselves considerable, pursue
learning; others grasp at wealth; some aim at being thought witty;
and others are only careful to make the most of an handsome person:
but what is wit, or wealth, or form, or learning, when compared with
virtue? It is true, we love the handsome, we applaud the learned,
and we fear the rich and powerful; but we even worship and adore
the virtuous. Nor is it strange; since men of virtue are so rare,
so very rare to be found. If we were as industrious to become good,
as to make ourselves great, we should become really great by being
good, and the number of valuable men would be much increased; but it
is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness; and I
pronounce it as certain, that there was never yet a truly great man,
that was not at the same time truly virtuous.
O Cretico! thou sour philosopher! thou cunning statesman! thou
art crafty, but far from being wise. When wilt thou be esteemed,
regarded, and beloved like Cato? When wilt thou, among thy creatures,
meet with that unfeigned respect and warm good-will that all men
have for him? Wilt thou never understand, that the cringing, mean,
submissive deportment of thy dependants, is (like the worship paid
by Indians to the devil) rather through fear of the harm thou mayst
do them, than out of gratitude for the favours they have received of
thee? Thou art not wholly void of virtue; there are many good things
in thee, and many good actions reported of thee. Be advised by thy
friend: neglect those musty authors; let them be covered with dust,
and moulder on their proper shelves; and do thou apply thyself to a
study much more profitable, the knowledge of mankind and of thyself.
This is to give notice, that the Busy-Body strictly forbids all
persons, from this time forward, of what age, sex, rank, quality,
degree, or denomination soever, on any pretence, to inquire who is
the author of this paper, on pain of his displeasure (his own near
and dear relations only excepted).
It is to be observed, that if any bad characters happen to be drawn
in the course of these papers, they mean no particular person, if
they are not particularly applied.
Likewise, that the author is no party-man, but a general meddler.
N. B. Cretico lives in a neighbouring province.
_The Busy-Body._--No. IV.
FROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, TO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1728,--9.
Nequid nimis.
In my first paper, I invited the learned and the ingenious to join
with me in this undertaking; and I now repeat that invitation. I
would have such gentlemen take this opportunity (by trying their
talent in writing) of diverting themselves and friends, and improving
the taste of the town. And because I would encourage all wit of our
own growth and produce, I hereby promise, that whoever shall send
me a little essay on some moral or other subject, that is fit for
public view in this manner, (and not basely borrowed from any other
author) I shall receive it with candour, and take care to place it to
the best advantage. It will be hard, if we cannot muster up in the
whole country a sufficient stock of sense to supply the Busy-Body at
least for a twelve-month. For my own part, I have already professed,
that I have the good of my country wholly at heart in this design,
without the least sinister view; my chief purpose being to inculcate
the noble principles of virtue, and depreciate vice of every kind.
But as I know the mob hate instruction, and the generality would
never read beyond the first line of my lectures, if they were
actually filled with nothing but wholesome precepts and advice, I
must therefore sometimes humour them in their own way. There are a
set of great names in the province, who are the common objects of
popular dislike. If I can now and then overcome my reluctance, and
prevail with myself to satirize a little, one of these gentlemen,
the expectation of meeting with such a gratification will induce
many to read me through, who would otherwise proceed immediately
to the foreign news. As I am very well assured the greatest men
among us have a sincere love for their country, notwithstanding its
ingratitude, and the insinuations of the envious and malicious to the
contrary, so I doubt not but they will cheerfully tolerate me in the
liberty I design to take for the end abovementioned.
As yet I have but few correspondents, though they begin now to
increase. The following letter, left for me at the printer's, is one
of the first I have received, which I regard the more for that it
comes from one of the fair sex, and because I have myself oftentimes
suffered under the grievance therein complained of.
_To the Busy-Body._
SIR,
You having set yourself up for a censuror morum (as I think you call
it) which is said to mean a reformer of manners, I know no person
more proper to be applied to for redress in all the grievances we
suffer from want of manners in some people. You must know, I am a
single woman, and keep a shop in this town for a livelihood. There
is a certain neighbour of mine, who is really agreeable company
enough, and with whom I have had an intimacy of some time standing;
but of late she makes her visits so exceedingly often, and stays so
very long every visit, that I am tired out of all patience. I have
no manner of time at all to myself; and you, who seem to be a wise
man, must needs be sensible, that every person has little secrets
and privacies, that are not proper to be exposed even to the nearest
friend. Now I cannot do the least thing in the world, but she must
know about it; and it is a wonder I have found an opportunity to
write you this letter. My misfortune is, that I respect her very
well, and know not how to disoblige her so much as to tell her, I
should be glad to have less of her company; for if I should once
hint such a thing, I am afraid she would resent it so as never to
darken my door again.--But alas, Sir, I have not yet told you half
my affliction. She has two children that are just big enough to
run about and do pretty mischief: these are continually along with
mamma, either in my room or shop, if I have ever so many customers
or people with me about business. Sometimes they pull the goods off
my low shelves down to the ground, and perhaps where one of them has
just been making water. My friend takes up the stuff, and cries,
"Oh! thou little wicked mischievous rogue!" But however, it has done
no great damage; it is only wet a little, and so puts it up upon
the shelf again. Sometimes they get to my cask of nails behind the
counter, and divert themselves, to my great vexation, with mixing my
ten-penny and eight-penny and four-penny together. I endeavour to
conceal my uneasiness as much as possible, and with a grave look
go to sorting them out. She cries, "Don't thee trouble thyself,
neighbour. Let them play a little; I'll put all to rights before I
go." But things are never so put to rights but that I find a great
deal of work to do after they are gone. Thus, Sir, I have all the
trouble and pesterment of children, without the pleasure of calling
them my own; and they are now so used to being here that they will
be content no where else. If she would have been so kind as to have
moderated her visits to ten times a day, and staid but half an hour
at a time, I should have been contented, and I believe never have
given you this trouble. But this very morning they have so tormented
me that I could bear no longer; for while the mother was asking me
twenty impertinent questions, the youngest got to my nails, and with
great delight rattled them by handfuls all over the floor; and the
other at the same time made such a terrible din upon my counter with
a hammer, that I grew half distracted. I was just then about to make
myself a new suit of pinners, but in the fret and confusion I cut it
quite out of all manner of shape, and utterly spoiled a piece of the
first muslin. Pray, sir, tell me what I shall do. And talk a little
against such unreasonable visiting in your next paper: though I would
not have her affronted with me for a great deal, for sincerely I love
her and her children, as well, I think, as a neighbour can, and she
buys a great many things in a year at my shop. But I would beg her
to consider, that she uses me unmercifully, though I believe it is
only for want of thought. But I have twenty things more to tell you
besides all this: there is a handsome gentleman that has a mind (I
don't question) to make love to me; but he can't get the opportunity
to----O dear, here she comes again; I must conclude
"Your's, &c.
"PATIENCE."
Indeed, it is well enough, as it happens, that she is come to shorten
this complaint, which I think is full long enough already, and
probably would otherwise have been as long again. However, I must
confess, I cannot help pitying my correspondent's case, and in her
behalf, exhort the visitor to remember and consider the words of the
wise man, withdraw thy foot from the house of thy neighbour, lest
he grow weary of thee and so hate thee. It is, I believe, a nice
thing and very difficult, to regulate our visits in such a manner,
as never to give offence by coming too seldom, or too often, or
departing too abruptly, or staying too long. However, in my opinion,
it is safest for most people, in a general way, who are unwilling to
disoblige, to visit seldom, and tarry but a little while in a place;
notwithstanding pressing invitations, which are many times insincere.
And though more of your company should be really desired; yet in this
case, too much reservedness is a fault more easily excused than the
contrary.
Men are subject to various inconveniencies merely through lack of
a small share of courage, which is a quality very necessary in
the common occurrences of life, as well as in a battle. How many
impertinencies do we daily suffer with great uneasiness, because we
have not courage enough to discover our dislike? And why may not
a man use the boldness and freedom of telling his friends, that
their long visits sometimes incommode him? On this occasion, it may
be entertaining to some of my readers, if I acquaint them with the
Turkish manner of entertaining visitors, which I have from an author
of unquestionable veracity; who assures us, that even the Turks are
not so ignorant of civility and the arts of endearment, but that
they can practise them with as much exactness as any other nation,
whenever they have a mind to show themselves obliging.
"When you visit a person of quality (says he) and have talked over
your business, or the compliments, or whatever concern brought
you thither, he makes a sign to have things served in for the
entertainment, which is generally a little sweetmeat, a dish of
sherbet, and another of coffee; all which are immediately brought in
by the servants, and tendered to all the guests in order, with the
greatest care and awfulness imaginable. At last comes the finishing
part of your entertainment, which is, perfuming the beards of the
company; a ceremony which is performed in this manner. They have for
the purpose a small silver chaffing dish, covered with a lid full of
holes, and fixed upon a handsome plate. In this they put some fresh
coals, and upon them a piece of lignum aloes, and shutting it up, the
smoke immediately ascends with a grateful odour through the holes of
the cover. This smoke is held under every one's chin, and offered as
it were a sacrifice to his beard. The bristly idol soon receives the
reverence done to it, and so greedily takes in and incorporates the
gummy steam, that it retains the savour of it, and may serve for a
nosegay a good while after.
"This ceremony may perhaps seem ridiculous at first hearing; but it
passes among the Turks for an high gratification. And I will say this
in its vindication, that its design is very wise and useful. For it
is understood to give a civil dismission to the visitants, intimating
to them, that the master of the house has business to do, or some
other avocation, that permits them to go away as soon as they please;
and the sooner after this ceremony the better. By this means you may,
at any time, without offence, deliver yourself from being detained
from your affairs by tedious and unseasonable visits; and from being
constrained to use that piece of hypocrisy, so common in the world,
of pressing those to stay longer with you, whom perhaps in your heart
you wish a great way off for having troubled you so long already."
Thus far my author. For my own part, I have taken such a fancy to
this Turkish custom, that for the future I shall put something like
it in practice. I have provided a bottle of right French brandy for
the men, and citron water for the ladies. After I have treated with
a dram, and presented a pinch of my best snuff, I expect all company
will retire, and leave me to pursue my studies for the good of the
public.
_Advertisement._
I give notice, that I am now actually compiling, and design to
publish in a short time, the true history of the rise, growth, and
progress of the renowned Tiff Club. All persons who are acquainted
with any facts, circumstances, characters, transactions, &c. which
will be requisite to the perfecting and embellishment of the said
work, are desired to communicate the same to the author, and direct
their letters to be left with the printer hereof.
The letter signed Would-be-something is come to hand.
_The Busy-Body._--No. V.
FROM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, TO TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 1728,--9.
Vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est,
Occipiti cæco, posticæ occurrite sannæ. PERSIUS.
This paper being design'd for a terror to evil doers, as well as a
praise to them that do well, I am lifted up with secret joy to find,
that my undertaking is approved, and encourag'd by the just and good,
and that few are against me but those who have reason to fear me.
There are little follies in the behaviour of most men, which their
best friends are too tender to acquaint them with; there are little
vices and small crimes which the law has no regard to or remedy for:
there are likewise great pieces of villany sometimes so craftily
accomplished, and so circumspectly guarded, that the law can take
no hold of the actors. All these things, and all things of this
nature, come within my province as Censor, and I am determined not to
be negligent of the trust I have reposed in myself, but resolve to
execute my office diligently and faithfully.
And that all the world may judge with how much humanity, as well as
justice, I shall behave in this office; and that even my enemies
may be convinced I take no delight to rake into the dunghill lives
of vicious men; and to the end that certain persons may be a little
eased of their fears, and relieved from the terrible palpitations
they have lately felt and suffered, and do still suffer; I hereby
graciously pass an act of general oblivion, for all offences, crimes,
and misdemeanors of what kind soever, committed from the beginning
of the year 1681, until the day of the date of my first paper, and
promise only to concern myself with such as have been since and shall
hereafter be committed. I shall take no notice who has (heretofore)
raised a fortune by fraud and oppression, nor who by deceit and
hypocrisy; what woman has been false to her good husband's bed, nor
what man has, by barbarous usage or neglect, broke the heart of a
faithful wife, and wasted his health and substance in debauchery;
what base wretch has betrayed his friend, and sold his honesty for
gold, nor what baser wretch first corrupted him, and then bought the
bargain: all this, and much more of the same kind, I shall forget,
and pass over in silence; but then it is to be observed, that I
expect and require a sudden and general amendment.
These threatenings of mine, I hope will have a good effect, and, if
regarded, may prevent abundance of folly and wickedness in others,
and, at the same time, save me abundance of trouble: and that people
may not flatter themselves with the hopes of concealing their loose
misdemeanors from my knowledge, and in that view persist in evil
doing, I must acquaint them, that I have lately entered into an
intimacy with the extraordinary person, who some time since wrote
me the following letter; and who, having a wonderful faculty, that
enables him to discover the most secret iniquity, is capable of
giving me great assistance in my designed work of reformation.
"MR. BUSY-BODY,
"I rejoice, sir, at the opportunity you have given me to be
serviceable to you, and, by your means, to this province. You must
know, that such have been the circumstances of my life, and such
were the marvellous concurrences of my birth, that I have not only
a faculty of discovering the actions of persons, that are absent
or asleep, but even of the devil himself, in many of his secret
workings, in the various shapes, habits, and names of men and women:
and having travelled and conversed much, and met but with a very few
of the same perceptions and qualifications, I can recommend myself
to you as the most useful man you can correspond with. My father's
father's father (for we had no grandfathers in our family) was
the same John Bunyan that writ that memorable book, The Pilgrim's
Progress, who had, in some degree, a natural faculty of second sight.
This faculty (how derived to him our family memoirs are not very
clear) was enjoyed by all his descendants, but not by equal talents.
It was very dim in several of my first cousins, and probably had
been nearly extinct in our particular branch, had not my father
been a traveller. He lived, in his youthful days, in New England.
There he married, and there was born my elder brother, who had so
much of this faculty, as to discover witches in some of their occult
performances. My parents transporting themselves to Great Britain,
my second brother's birth was in that kingdom. He shared but a small
portion of this virtue, being only able to discern transactions about
the time of, and for the most part after, their happening. My good
father, who delighted in the Pilgrim's Progress, and mountainous
places, took shipping, with his wife, for Scotland, and inhabited in
the Highlands, where myself was born; and whether the soil, climate,
or astral influences, of which are preserved divers prognosticks,
restored our ancestor's natural faculty of second sight, in a greater
lustre to me, than it had shined in through several generations, I
will not here discuss. But so it is, that I am possessed largely
of it, and design, if you encourage the proposal, to take this
opportunity of doing good with it, which I question not will be
accepted of in a grateful way by many of your honest readers, though
the discovery of my extraction bodes me no deference from your great
scholars and modern philosophers. This my father was long ago aware
of, and lest the name alone should hurt the fortunes of his children,
he, in his shiftings from one country to another, wisely changed it.
"Sir, I have only this further to say, how I may be useful to you,
and as a reason for my not making myself more known in the world:
by virtue of this great gift of nature, second-sightedness, I do
continually see numbers of men, women, and children, of all ranks,
and what they are doing, while I am sitting in my closet; which is
too great a burthen for the mind, and makes me also conceit, even
against reason, that all this host of people can see and observe me,
which strongly inclines me to solitude, and an obscure living; and,
on the other hand, it will be an ease to me to disburthen my thoughts
and observations in the way proposed to you, by sir, your friend and
humble servant."
I conceal this correspondent's name, in my care for his life
and safety, and cannot but approve his prudence, in chusing to
live obscurely. I remember the fate of my poor monkey: he had an
illnatured trick of grinning and chattering at every thing he saw
in peticoats: my ignorant country neighbours got a notion, that pug
snarled by instinct at every female who had lost her virginity. This
was no sooner generally believed, than he was condemned to death:
by whom I could never learn, but he was assassinated in the night,
barbarously stabbed and mangled in a thousand places, and left
hanging dead on one of my gate posts, where I found him the next
morning.
The Censor observing, that the itch of scribbling begins to spread
exceedingly, and being carefully tender of the reputation of his
country, in point of wit and good sense, has determined to take all
manner of writings in verse or prose, that pretend to either, under
his immediate cognizance; and accordingly, hereby prohibits the
publishing any such for the future, till they have first passed his
examination, and received his imprimatur: for which he demands as a
fee only sixpence per sheet.
N. B. He nevertheless permits to be published, all satirical remarks
on the Busy-Body, the above prohibition notwithstanding, and without
examination, or requiring the said fees; which indulgence the small
wits, in and about this city, are advised gratefully to accept and
acknowledge.
The gentleman, who calls himself Sirronio, is directed, on receipt of
this, to burn his great book of Crudities.
P. S. In compassion to that young man, on account of the great pains
he has taken, in consideration of the character I have just received
of him, that he is really good natured, and on condition he shows it
to no foreigner, or stranger of sense, I have thought fit to reprieve
his said great book of Crudities from the flames, till further order.
Noli me tangere
I had resolved, when I first commenced this design, on no account to
enter into a public dispute with any man; for I judged it would be
equally unpleasant to me and my readers, to see this paper filled
with contentious wrangling, answers, replies, &c. which is a way
of writing that is endless, and, at the same time, seldom contains
any thing that is either edifying or entertaining. Yet, when such a
considerable man as Mr. ---- finds himself concerned so warmly to
accuse and condemn me, as he has done in Keimer's last Instructor,
I cannot forbear endeavouring to say something in my own defence,
from one of the worst of characters that could be given me by a man
of worth. But as I have many things of more consequence to offer the
public, I declare, that I will never, after this time, take notice
of any accusations, not better supported with truth and reason; much
less may every little scribbler, that shall attack me, expect an
answer from the Busy-Body.
The sum of the charge delivered against me, either directly or
indirectly, in the said paper, is this: not to mention the first
weighty sentence concerning vanity and ill-nature, and the shrewd
intimation, that I am without charity, and therefore can have no
pretence to religion, I am represented as guilty of defamation and
scandal, the odiousness of which is apparent to every good man,
and the practice of it opposite to christianity, morality, and
common justice, and, in some cases, so far below all these, as to be
inhuman; as a blaster of reputations; as attempting, by a pretence,
to screen myself from the imputation of malice and prejudice; as
using a weapon, which the wiser and better part of mankind hold in
abhorrence; and as giving treatment which the wiser and better part
of mankind dislike on the same principles, and for the same reason,
as they do assassination, &c.; and all this is inferred and concluded
from a character I have wrote in my Number III.
In order to examine the justice and truth of this heavy charge, let
us recur to that character. And here we may be surprized to find
what a trifle has raised this mighty clamour and complaint, this
grievous accusation!--The worst thing said of the person, in what is
called my gross description (be he who he will to whom my accuser has
applied the character of Cretico) is, that he is a sour philosopher,
crafty, but not wise. Few humane characters can be drawn that will
not fit some body, in so large a country as this; but one would
think, supposing I meant Cretico a real person, I had sufficiently
manifested my impartiality, when I said, in that very paragraph,
that Cretico is not without virtue; that there are many good things
in him, and many good actions reported of him; which must be allowed
in all reason, very much to overbalance in his favour those worst
words, sour tempered, and cunning. Nay, my very enemy and accuser
must have been sensible of this, when he freely acknowledges, that he
has been seriously considering, and cannot yet determine, which he
would choose to be, the Cato or Cretico of that paper; since my Cato
is one of the best of characters. Thus much in my own vindication. As
to the only reasons there given, why I ought not to continue drawing
characters, viz. Why should any man's picture be published which he
never sat for; or his good name taken from him any more than his
money or possessions, at the arbitrary will of another, &c. I have
but this to answer: the money or possessions, I presume, are nothing
to the purpose; since no man can claim a right either to those or a
good name, if he has acted so as to forfeit them. And are not the
public the only judges what share of reputation they think proper
to allow any man? Supposing I was capable, and had an inclination,
to draw all the good and bad characters in America, why should a
good man be offended with me for drawing good characters? And if I
draw ill ones, can they fit any but those that deserve them? And
ought any but such to be concerned that they have their deserts? I
have as great an aversion and abhorrence for defamation and scandal
as any man, and would, with the utmost care, avoid being guilty of
such base things: besides I am very sensible and certain, that if I
should make use of this paper to defame any person, my reputation
would be sooner hurt by it than his; and the Busy-Body would quickly
become detestable; because, in such a case, as is justly observed,
the pleasure arising from a tale of wit and novelty soon dies away
in generous and honest minds, and is followed with a secret grief,
to see their neighbours calumniated. But if I myself was actually
the worst man in the province, and any one should draw my true
character, would it not be ridiculous in me to say, he had defamed
and scandalized me, unless he had added in a matter of truth? If any
thing is meant by asking, why any man's picture should be published
which he never sat for? it must be, that we should give no character
without the owner's consent. If I discern the wolf disguised in
harmless wool, and contriving the destruction of my neighbour's
sheep, must I have his permission, before I am allowed to discover
and prevent him? If I know a man to be a designing knave, must I
ask his consent, to bid my friends beware of him? If so, then, by
the same rule, supposing the Busy-Body had really merited all his
enemy had charged him with, his consent likewise ought to have been
obtained, before so terrible an accusation was published against him.
I shall conclude with observing, that in the last paragraph save one
of the piece now examined, much ill nature and some good sense are
co-inhabitants (as he expresses it). The ill nature appears, in his
endeavouring to discover satire, where I intended no such thing, but
quite the reverse: the good sense is this, that drawing too good a
character of any one is a refined manner of satire, that may be as
injurious to him as the contrary, by bringing on an examination that
undresses the person, and in the haste of doing it, he may happen
to be stript of what he really owns and deserves. As I am Censor, I
might punish the first, but I forgive it. Yet I will not leave the
latter unrewarded; but assure my adversary, that in consideration of
the merit of those four lines, I am resolved to forbear injuring him
on any account in that refined manner.
I thank my neighbour P---- W----l for his kind letter.
The lions complained of shall be muzzled.
_The Busy-Body._--No. VIII.
FROM TUESDAY, MARCH 20, TO THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1729.
Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames?----VIRGIL.
One of the greatest pleasures an author can have, is, certainly, the
hearing his works applauded. The hiding from the world our names,
while we publish our thoughts, is so absolutely necessary to this
self-gratification, that I hope my well-wishers will congratulate
me on my escape from the many diligent, but fruitless enquiries,
that have of late been made after me. Every man will own, that an
author, as such, ought to be hid by the merit of his productions
only; but pride, party, and prejudice, at this time, run so very
high, that experience shows we form our notions of a piece by the
character of the author. Nay, there are some very humble politicians
in and about this city, who will ask, on which side the writer is,
before they presume to give their opinion of the thing wrote. This
ungenerous way of proceeding I was well aware of before I published
my first speculation; and therefore concealed my name. And I appeal
to the more generous part of the world, if I have, since I appeared
in the character of the Busy-Body, given an instance of my siding
with any party more than another, in the unhappy divisions of my
country; and I have, above all, this satisfaction in myself, that
neither affection, aversion, or interest, have biassed me to use any
partiality towards any man, or set of men; but whatsoever I find
nonsensical, ridiculous, or immorally dishonest, I have, and shall
continue openly to attack, with the freedom of an honest man, and a
lover of my country.
I profess I can hardly contain myself, or preserve the gravity and
dignity that should attend the censorial office, when I hear the odd
and unaccountable expositions, that are put upon some of my works,
through the malicious ignorance of some, and the vain pride of more
than ordinary penetration in others; one instance of which many of
my readers are acquainted with. A certain gentleman has taken a
great deal of pains to write a key to the letter in my Number IV,
wherein he has ingeniously converted a gentle satyr upon tedious
and impertinent visitants, into a libel on some of the government.
This I mention only as a specimen of the taste of the gentleman; I
am, forsooth, bound to please in my speculations, not that I suppose
my impartiality will ever be called in question on that account.
Injustices of this nature I could complain of in many instances; but
I am at present diverted by the reception of a letter, which, though
it regards me only in my private capacity, as an adept, yet I venture
to publish it for the entertainment of my readers.
"_To Censor Morum, Esq. Busy-Body General of the Province of
Pennsylvania, and the Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex upon
Delaware._
"HONOURABLE SIR,
"I judge by your lucubrations, that you are not only a lover of truth
and equity, but a man of parts and learning, and a master of science;
as such I honour you. Know then, most profound sir, that I have,
from my youth up, been a very indefatigable student in, and admirer
of, that divine science, astrology. I have read over Scot, Albertus
Magnus, and Cornelius Agrippa, above three hundred times; and was
in hopes, by my knowledge and industry, to gain enough to have
recompensed me for my money expended, and time lost in the pursuit
of this learning. You cannot be ignorant, sir, (for your intimate
second-sighted correspondent knows all things) that there are large
sums of money hidden under ground in divers places about this town,
and in many parts of the country: but alas, sir, notwithstanding I
have used all the means laid down in the immortal authors before
mentioned, and when they failed the ingenious Mr. P--d--l, with his
mercurial wand and magnet, I have still failed in my purpose. This,
therefore, I send, to propose and desire an acquaintance with you,
and I do not doubt, notwithstanding my repeated ill fortune, but we
may be exceedingly serviceable to each other in our discoveries; and
that if we use our united endeavours, the time will come, when the
Busy-Body, his second-sighted correspondent, and your very humble
servant, will be three of the richest men in the province: and then,
sir, what may we not do? A word to the wise is sufficient.
"I conclude with all demonstrable respect,
"Yours and Urania's Votary,
"TITAN PLEIADES."
In the evening after I had received this letter, I made a visit to
my second-sighted friend, and communicated to him the proposal.
When he had read it, he assured me, that to his certain knowledge,
there is not at this time so much as one ounce of silver or gold
hid under ground in any part of this province; for that the late
and present scarcity of money had obliged those, who were living,
and knew where they had formerly hid any, to take it up, and use it
in their own necessary affairs: and as to all the rest, which was
buried by pirates and others in old times, who were never like to
come for it, he himself had long since dug it all up, and applied it
to charitable uses; and this he desired me to publish for the general
good. For, as he acquainted me, there are among us great numbers of
honest artificers and labouring people, who, fed with a vain hope
of growing suddenly rich, neglect their business, almost to the
ruining of themselves and families, and voluntarily endure abundance
of fatigue in a fruitless search after imaginary hidden treasure.
They wander through the woods and bushes by day, to discover the
marks and signs; at midnight they repair to the hopeful spots with
spades and pickaxes; full of expectation, they labour violently,
trembling at the same time in every joint, through fear of certain
malicious demons, who are said to haunt and guard such places. At
length a mighty hole is dug, and perhaps several cartloads of earth
thrown out; but, alas, no cag or iron pot is found! no seaman's chest
crammed with Spanish pistoles, or weighty pieces of eight! Then they
conclude, that through some mistake in the procedure, some rash word
spoke, or some rule of art neglected, the guardian spirit had power
to sink it deeper into the earth, and convey it out of their reach.
Yet, when a man is once thus infatuated, he is so far from being
discouraged by ill success, that he is rather animated to double his
industry, and will try again and again in a hundred different places,
in hopes at last of meeting with some lucky hit, that shall at once
sufficiently reward him for all his expense of time and labour.
This odd humour of digging for money through a belief, that much
has been hid by pirates formerly frequenting the river, has for
several years been mighty prevalent among us; insomuch that you
can hardly walk half a mile out of the town on any side, without
observing several pits dug with that design, and perhaps some lately
opened. Men, otherwise of very good sense, have been drawn into this
practice, through an overweening desire of sudden wealth, and an easy
credulity of what they so earnestly wished might be true. While the
rational and almost certain methods of acquiring riches by industry
and frugality are neglected or forgotten. There seems to be some
peculiar charm in the conceit of finding money; and if the sands of
Schuylkil were so much mixed with small grains of gold, that a man
might in a day's time, with care and application, get together to the
value of half a crown, I make no question but we should find several
people employed there, that can with ease earn five shillings a day
at their proper trades.
Many are the idle stories told of the private success of some people,
by which others are encouraged to proceed; and the astrologers,
with whom the country swarms at this time, are either in the belief
of these things themselves, or find their advantage in persuading
others to believe them; for they are often consulted about the
critical times for digging, the methods of laying the spirit, and the
like whimsies, which renders them very necessary to, and very much
caressed by, the poor deluded money-hunters.
There is certainly something very bewitching in the pursuit after
mines of gold and silver and other valuable metals, and many have
been ruined by it. A sea-captain of my acquaintance used to blame
the English for envying Spain their mines of silver, and too much
despising or overlooking the advantages of their own industry
and manufactures. For my part, says he, I esteem the banks of
Newfoundland to be a more valuable possession than the mountains
of Potosi; and when I have been there on the fishing account, have
looked upon every cod pulled up into the vessel as a certain quantity
of silver ore, which required only carrying to the next Spanish port
to be coined into pieces of eight; not to mention the national profit
of fitting out and employing such a number of ships and seamen. Let
honest Peter Buckram, who has long, without success, been a searcher
after hidden money, reflect on this, and be reclaimed from that
unaccountable folly. Let him consider, that every stitch he takes
when he is on his shop board is picking up part of a grain of gold,
that will in a few days time amount to a pistole; and let Faber think
the same of every nail he drives, or every stroke with his plane.
Such thoughts may make them industrious, and of consequence in time
they may be wealthy. But how absurd is it to neglect a certain profit
for such a ridiculous whimsey: to spend whole days at the George, in
company with an idle pretender to astrology, contriving schemes to
discover what was never hidden, and forgetful how carelessly business
is managed at home in their absence: to leave their wives and a
warm bed at midnight (no matter if it rain, hail, snow, or blow a
hurricane, provided that be the critical hour) and fatigue themselves
with the violent exercise of digging for what they shall never find,
and perhaps getting a cold that may cost their lives, or at least
disordering themselves so as to be fit for no business beside for
some days after. Surely this is nothing less than the most egregious
folly and madness.
I shall conclude with the words of my discreet friend, Agricola, of
Chester County, when he gave his son a good plantation:--"My son,"
says he, "I give thee now a valuable parcel of land; I assure thee
I have found a considerable quantity of gold by digging there; thee
mayst do the same; but thee must carefully observe this, Never to dig
more than plow-deep."
FOOTNOTE:
[174] These are the "humorous pieces" mentioned by Dr. Franklin
in his Memoirs, page 86. We are indebted for them to an American
correspondent, who obtained a copy with great difficulty, some
depredating hand having torn from the file of the Mercury, in the
Philadelphia Library, several of the numbers containing the pieces in
question. _Editor._
_The Way to Wealth, as clearly shown in the Preface of an old
Pensylvania Almanack, intitled, Poor Richard Improved[175]._
COURTEOUS READER,
I have heard, that nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to
find his works respectfully quoted by others. Judge, then, how much
I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to
you. I stopped my horse lately, where a great number of people were
collected, at an auction of merchants goods. The hour of the sale not
being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times; and
one of the company called to a plain clean old man, with white locks,
'Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these
heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay
them? What would you advise us to?'--Father Abraham stood up, and
replied, 'If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short,
"for a word to the wise is enough," as Poor Richard says.' They
joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him, he
proceeded as follows:
'Friends, says he, the taxes are, indeed, very heavy, and, if
those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay,
we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and
much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our
idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much
by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or
deliver us, by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good
advice, and something may be done for us; "God helps them that help
themselves," as poor Richard says.
'I. It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people
one tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service: but
idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases,
absolutely shortens life. "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than
labour wears, while the used key is always bright," as poor Richard
says. "But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for
that is the stuff life is made of," as poor Richard says. How much
more than is necessary do we spend in sleep! forgetting, that "the
sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping
enough in the grave," as poor Richard says.
'"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must
be," as poor Richard says, "the greatest prodigality;" since, as
he elsewhere tells us, "lost time is never found again; and what
we call time enough always proves little enough:" let us then up
and be doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do
more with less perplexity. "Sloth makes all things difficult, but
industry all easy; and he that riseth late, must trot all day, and
shall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels
so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let
not that drive thee; and early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy, and wise," as poor Richard says.
'So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We may make
these times better, if we bestir ourselves. "Industry need not wish,
and he that lives upon hope will die fasting. There are no gains
without pains; then help hands, for I have no lands," or, if I have,
they are smartly taxed. "He, that hath a trade, hath an estate; and
he, that hath a calling, hath an office of profit and honour," as
poor Richard says; but then the trade must be worked at, and the
calling well followed, or neither the estate nor the office will
enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious, we shall never
starve; for, "at the working man's house, hunger looks in, but
dares not enter." Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for
"industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them." What though you
have found no treasure, nor has any rich relation left you a legacy,
"diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to
industry. Then plow deep, while sluggards sleep, and you shall have
corn to sell and to keep." Work while it is called to-day, for you
know not how much you may be hindered to-morrow. "One to-day is worth
two to-morrows," as poor Richard says; and farther, "never leave that
till to-morrow, which you can do to-day." If you were a servant,
would you not be ashamed that a good master should catch you idle?
Are you then your own master? Be ashamed to catch yourself idle, when
there is so much to be done for yourself, your family, your country,
and your king. Handle your tools without mittens; remember, that
"the cat in gloves catches no mice," as poor Richard says. It is
true, there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed; but
stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for "constant
dropping wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse
ate in two the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks."
'Methinks I hear some of you say, "must a man afford himself no
leisure?" I will tell thee, my friend, what poor Richard says;
"employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since
thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour." Leisure is
time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will
obtain, but the lazy man never; for "a life of leisure and a life of
laziness are two things. Many, without labour, would live by their
wits only, but they break for want of stock;" whereas industry gives
comfort, and plenty, and respect. "Fly pleasures, and they will
follow you. The diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a
sheep and a cow, every body bids me good-morrow."
'II. But with our industry we must likewise be steady, settled, and
careful, and oversee our own affairs with our own eyes, and not trust
too much to others; for, as poor Richard says,
"I never saw an oft-removed tree,
Nor yet an oft-removed family,
That throve so well as those that settled be."
And again, "three removes is as bad as a fire;" and again, "keep thy
shop, and thy shop will keep thee;" and again, "if you would have
your business done, go, if not, send." And again,
"He that by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive."
And again, "the eye of a master will do more work than both his
hands;" and again, "want of care does us more damage than want of
knowledge;" and again, "not to oversee workmen, is to leave them your
purse open." Trusting too much to other's care is the ruin of many;
for, "in the affairs of this world, men are saved, not by faith, but
by the want of it;" but a man's own care is profitable; for, "if you
would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself.
A little neglect may breed great mischief; for want of a nail the
shoe was lost, and for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for
want of a horse the rider was lost," being overtaken and slain by the
enemy; all for want of a little care about a horse-shoe nail.
'III. So much for industry, my friends, and attention to ones own
business; but to these we must add frugality, if we would make our
industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to
save as he gets, "keep his nose all his life to the grind-stone, and
die not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will;" and
"Many estates are spent in the getting,
Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting,
And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting."
"If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting. The
Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than
her incomes."
'Away then, with your expensive follies, and you will not then have
so much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes, and chargeable
families; for
"Women and wine, game and deceit,
Make the wealth small, and the want great."
And farther, "what maintains one vice, would bring up two children."
You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or a little punch now and
then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little
entertainment now and then, can be no great matter; but remember,
"many a little makes a mickle." Beware of little expences; "a small
leak will sink a great ship," as poor Richard says; and again, "who
dainties love, shall beggars prove;" and moreover, "fools make
feasts, and wise men eat them."
'Here you are all got together to this sale of fineries and
nick-nacks. You call them _goods_, but if you do not take care, they
will prove _evils_ to some of you. You expect they will be sold
cheap, and perhaps they may, for less than they cost; but, if you
have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what
poor Richard says, "buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou
shalt sell thy necessaries." And again, "at a great penny-worth pause
a while." He means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only,
and not real; or the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business,
may do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, "many
have been ruined by buying good pennyworths." Again, "it is foolish
to lay out money in a purchase of repentance;" and yet this folly is
practised every day at auctions, for want of minding the almanack.
Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a
hungry belly, and half starved their families; "silks and satins,
scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire," as poor Richard says.
These are not the necessaries of life, they can scarcely be called
the conveniences; and yet, only because they look pretty, how many
want to have them? By these and other extravagancies, the genteel are
reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly
despised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained
their standing; in which case it appears plainly, that "a ploughman
on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees," as poor Richard
says. Perhaps they have had a small estate left them, which they knew
not the getting of; they think "it is day, and will never be night;"
that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but
"always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in soon comes
to the bottom," as poor Richard says; and then, "when the well is
dry, they know the worth of water." But this they might have known
before, if they had taken his advice: "if you would know the value of
money go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a borrowing goes a
sorrowing," as poor Richard says; and indeed so does he that lends
to such people, when he goes to get it in again. Poor Dick farther
advises, and says,
"Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse,
Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse."
And again, "pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more
saucy." When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more,
that your appearance may be all of a piece; but poor Dick says, "it
is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that
follow it:" and it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as
for the frog to swell, in order to equal the ox.
"Vessels large may venture more,
But little boats should keep near shore."
It is, however, a folly soon punished; for, as poor Richard says,
"pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt; pride breakfasted with
plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy." And, after all,
of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked,
so much is suffered? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it
makes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy, it hastens
misfortune.
'But what madness must it be to _run in debt_ for these
superfluities! We are offered, by the terms of this sale, six months
credit; and that, perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it,
because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine
without it. But ah! think what you do when you run in debt; you give
to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time,
you will be ashamed to see your creditor, you will be in fear when
you speak to him, you will make poor pitiful sneaking excuses, and,
by degrees, come to lose your veracity, and sink into base, downright
lying; for, "the second vice is lying, the _first_ is running in
debt," as poor Richard says; and again, to the same purpose, "lying
rides upon debt's back;" whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to
be ashamed nor afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty
often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. "It is hard for an
empty bag to stand upright." What would you think of that prince,
or of that government, who should issue an edict, forbidding you to
dress like a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or
servitude? Would you not say, that you were free, have a right to
dress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your
privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about
to put yourself under that tyranny, when you run in debt for such
dress! your creditor has authority, at his pleasure, to deprive you
of your liberty, by confining you in gaol for life, or by selling you
for a servant, if you should not be able to pay him. When you have
got your bargain, you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but,
as poor Richard says, "creditors have better memories than debtors;
creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set-days and
times." The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is
made before you are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you bear your
debt in mind, the term, which at first seemed so long, will, as it
lessens, appear extremely short: time will seem to have added wings
to his heels as well as his shoulders. "Those have a short lent, who
owe money to be paid at Easter." At present, perhaps, you may think
yourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little
extravagance without injury; but
"For age and want save while you may,
No morning sun lasts a whole day."
Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever, while you live,
expence is constant and certain; and, "it is easier to build two
chimneys than to keep one in fuel," as poor Richard says: so "rather
go to bed supperless than rise in debt."
"Get what you can, and what you get hold,
'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold."
And when you have got the philosopher's stone, sure you will no
longer complain of bad times, or the difficulty of paying taxes.
'IV. This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom: but, after
all, do not depend too much upon your own industry, and frugality,
and prudence, though excellent things; for they may all be blasted,
without the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing
humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to
want it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered, and was
afterwards prosperous.
'And now, to conclude, "experience keeps a dear school, but fools
will learn in no other," as poor Richard says, and scarce in that;
for, it is true, "we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct:"
however, remember this, "they that will not be counselled cannot be
helped;" and farther, that "if you will not hear reason she will
surely rap your knuckles," as poor Richard says.'
Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it and
approved the doctrine; and immediately practised the contrary, just
as if it had been a common sermon, for the auction opened and they
began to buy extravagantly.--I found the good man had thoroughly
studied my almanacks, and digested all I had dropt on those topics
during the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made
of me must have tired any one else; but my vanity was wonderfully
delighted with it, though I was conscious, that not a tenth part
of the wisdom was my own, which he ascribed to me, but rather the
gleanings that I had made of the sense of all ages and nations.
However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and, though
I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away,
resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do
the same, thy profit will be as great as mine.
I am, as ever,
Thine to serve thee,
RICHARD SAUNDERS.
FOOTNOTE:
[175] Dr. Franklin, as I have been made to understand, for many years
published the Pensylvania Almanack, called _Poor Richard [Saunders]_,
and furnished it with various sentences and proverbs, which had
principal relation to the topics of "industry, attention to one's
own business, and frugality." The whole or chief of these sentences
and proverbs he at last collected and digested in the above general
preface, which his countrymen read with much avidity and profit. B. V.
_Advice to a Young Tradesman[176]._
Written Anno 1748.
TO MY FRIEND A. B.
As you have desired it of me, I write the following hints, which have
been of service to me, and may, if observed, be so to you.
Remember, that _time_ is money. He, that can earn ten shillings a day
by his labour, and goes abroad, or sits idle one half of that day,
though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought
not to reckon _that_ the only expence; he has really spent, or rather
thrown away, five shillings besides.
Remember, that _credit_ is money. If a man lets his money lie in my
hands after it is due, he gives me the interest, or so much as I can
make of it, during that time. This amounts to a considerable sum
where a man has good and large credit, and makes good use of it.
Remember, that money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can
beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five
shillings turned is six, turned again it is seven and three-pence,
and so on till it becomes an hundred pounds. The more there is of it,
the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker
and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow destroys all her offspring
to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown destroys all
that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.
Remember, that six pounds a year is but a groat a day. For this
little sum (which may be daily wasted either in time or expence
unperceived) a man of credit may, on his own security, have the
constant possession and use of an hundred pounds. So much in stock,
briskly turned by an industrious man, produces great advantage.
Remember this saying, "the good paymaster is lord of another man's
purse." He that is known to pay punctually and exactly to the time he
promises may at any time, and on any occasion, raise all the money
his friends can spare. This is sometimes of great use. After industry
and frugality, nothing contributes more to the raising of a young
man in the world than punctuality and justice in all his dealings:
therefore, never keep borrowed money an hour beyond the time you
promised, lest a disappointment shut up your friend's purse for ever.
The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be
regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine
at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer: but
if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your voice at a tavern,
when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day;
demands it before he can receive it in a lump.
It shows, besides, that you are mindful of what you owe; it makes you
appear a careful as well as an honest man, and that still increases
your credit.
Beware of thinking all your own that you possess, and of living
accordingly. It is a mistake that many people who have credit fall
into. To prevent this, keep an exact account for some time, both of
your expences and your income. If you take the pains at first to
mention particulars, it will have this good effect: you will discover
how wonderfully small trifling expences mount up to large sums, and
will discern what might have been, and may for the future be saved,
without occasioning any great inconvenience.
In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the
way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, _industry_ and
_frugality_; that is, waste neither _time_ nor _money_, but make the
best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing will do, and
with them every thing. He, that gets all he can honestly, and saves
all he gets (necessary expences excepted), will certainly become
_rich_--if that Being who governs the world, to whom all should look
for a blessing on their honest endeavours, doth not, in his wise
providence, otherwise determine.
AN OLD TRADESMAN.
FOOTNOTE:
[176] This paper and the hints that follow it are from the
Repository, vol. II. p. 169 and 171, where, as they are placed under
the head of original articles, we presume they first appeared.
_Editor._
_Necessary Hints to those that would be Rich._
Written Anno 1736.
The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money.
For six pounds a year you may have the use of one hundred pounds,
provided you are a man of known prudence and honesty.
He, that spends a groat a day idly, spends idly above six pounds a
year, which is the price for the use of one hundred pounds.
He, that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, one day
with another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each
day.
He, that idly loses five shillings worth of time, loses five
shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the sea.
He, that loses five shillings, not only loses that sum, but all the
advantage that might be made by turning it in dealing, which, by the
time that a young man becomes old, will amount to a considerable sum
of money.
Again: he, that sells upon credit, asks a price for what he sells
equivalent to the principal and interest of his money for the time he
is to be kept out of it; therefore, he, that buys upon credit, pays
interest for what he buys, and he, that pays ready money, might let
that money out to use: so that he, that possesses any thing he has
bought, pays interest for the use of it.
Yet, in buying goods, it is best to pay ready money, because he,
that sells upon credit, expects to lose five per cent by bad debts;
therefore he charges, on all he sells upon credit, an advance, that
shall make up that deficiency.
Those, who pay for what they buy upon credit, pay their share of this
advance.
He, that pays ready money, escapes, or may escape, that charge.
A penny sav'd is two-pence clear,
A pin a day's a groat a year.
_The way to make Money Plenty in every Man's Pocket[177]._
At this time, when the general complaint is, that "money is scarce,"
it will be an act of kindness to inform the moneyless how they may
reinforce their pockets. I will acquaint them with the true secret
of money-catching, the certain way to fill empty purses, and how to
keep them always full. Two simple rules, well observed, will do the
business.
First, let honesty and industry be thy constant companions; and
Secondly, spend one penny less than thy clear gains.
Then shall thy hide-bound pocket soon begin to thrive, and will
never again cry with the empty belly-ach: neither will creditors
insult thee, nor want oppress, nor hunger bite, nor nakedness freeze
thee. The whole hemisphere will shine brighter, and pleasure spring
up in every corner of thy heart. Now, therefore, embrace these rules
and be happy. Banish the bleak winds of sorrow from thy mind, and
live independent. Then shalt thou be a man, and not hide thy face at
the approach of the rich, nor suffer the pain of feeling little when
the sons of fortune walk at thy right hand: for independency, whether
with little or much, is good fortune, and placeth thee on even ground
with the proudest of the golden fleece. Oh, then, be wise, and let
industry walk with thee in the morning, and attend thee until thou
reachest the evening hour for rest. Let honesty be as the breath of
thy soul, and never forget to have a penny when all thy expences are
enumerated and paid: then shalt thou reach the point of happiness,
and independence shall be thy shield and buckler, thy helmet and
crown; then shall thy soul walk upright, nor stoop to the silken
wretch because he hath riches, nor pocket an abuse because the hand
which offers it wears a ring set with diamonds.
FOOTNOTE:
[177] From the American Museum, vol. II. p. 86. _Editor._
_New Mode of Lending Money[178]._
_Paris, April 22, 1784._
I send you herewith a bill for ten louis d'ors. I do not pretend to
give such a sum. I only _lend_ it to you. When you shall return to
your country, you cannot fail getting into some business, that will
in time enable you to pay all your debts. In that case, when you
meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must _pay me_
by lending this sum to him, enjoining him, to _discharge the debt_
by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with such
another opportunity. I hope it may thus go through many hands before
it meet with a _knave_ to stop its progress. This is a trick of mine
for doing a good deal with a little money. I am not rich enough to
afford _much_ in good works, and so am obliged to be cunning and make
the most of a _little_.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[178] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for September, 1797;
communicated by the gentleman who received it. _Editor._
_An Economical Project[179]._
TO THE AUTHORS OF THE JOURNAL.
MESSIEURS,
You often entertain us with accounts of new discoveries. Permit me to
communicate to the public, through your paper, one, that has lately
been made by myself, and which I conceive may be of great utility.
I was the other evening in a grand company, where the new lamp of
Messrs. Quinquet and Lange was introduced, and much admired for
its splendor; but a general enquiry was made, whether the oil it
consumed was not in proportion to the light it afforded, in which
case there would be no saving in the use of it. No one present could
satisfy us in that point, which all agreed ought to be known, it
being a very desirable thing to lessen, if possible, the expence of
lighting our apartments, when every other article of family expence
was so much augmented.
I was pleased to see this general concern for economy, for I love
economy exceedingly.
I went home, and to bed, three or four hours after midnight, with my
head full of the subject. An accidental sudden noise waked me about
six in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with
light; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been
brought into it: but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came
in at the windows. I got up and looked out to see what might be the
occasion of it, when I saw the sun just rising above the horison,
from whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my
domestic having negligently omitted the preceding evening to close
the shutters.
I looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found that it was
but six o'clock; and still thinking it something extraordinary, that
the sun should rise so early, I looked into the almanack, where I
found it to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked
forward too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till
towards the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded
his rising so long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me
have never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard
the astronomical part of the almanack, will be as much astonished
as I was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially
when I assure them, _that he gives light as soon as he rises_. I
am convinced of this. I am certain of my fact. One cannot be more
certain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And, having repeated
this observation the three following mornings, I found always
precisely the same result.
Yet so it happens, that when I speak of this discovery to others,
I can easily perceive by their countenances, though they forbear
expressing it in words, that they do not quite believe me. One,
indeed, who is a learned natural philosopher, has assured me, that I
must certainly be mistaken as to the circumstance of the light coming
into my room; for it being well known, as he says, that there could
be no light abroad at that hour, it follows that none could enter
from without; and that of consequence, my windows being accidentally
left open, instead of letting in the light, had only served to let
out the darkness: and he used many ingenious arguments to shew me how
I might, by that means, have been deceived. I own, that he puzzled me
a little, but he did not satisfy me; and the subsequent observations
I made, as above mentioned, confirmed me in my first opinion.
This event has given rise in my mind to several serious and important
reflections. I considered that, if I had not been awakened so early
in the morning, I should have slept six hours longer by the light of
the sun, and in exchange have lived six 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 muster up what little
arithmetic I was master of, and to make some calculations, which I
shall give you, after observing that utility is, in my opinion, the
test of value in matters of invention, and that a discovery which
can be applied to no use, or is not good for something, is good for
nothing.
I took for the basis of my calculation the supposition that there
are 100,000 families in Paris, and that these families consume 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 some consume less, I know that many consume a great deal
more. Then estimating seven hours per day, as the medium quantity
between the time of the sun's rising and ours, he rising during the
six following months from six to eight hours before noon, and there
being seven hours of course per night in which we burn candles, the
account will stand thus:--
In the six months between the twentieth of March and the twentieth of
September, there are
Nights 183
Hours of each night in which we burn
candles 7
-------
Multiplication gives for the total number
of hours 1,281
These 1,281 hours multiplied by 100,000,
the number of inhabitants give 128,100,000
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 64,050,000
Sixty-four millions and fifty thousand of
pounds, which, estimating the whole
at the medium price of thirty sols the
pound, makes the sum of ninety-six
millions and seventy-five thousand
livres tournois 96,075,000
An immense sum! that the city of Paris might save every year, by the
economy of using sunshine instead of candles.
If it should be said, that people are apt to be obstinately attached
to old customs, and that it will be difficult to induce them to
rise before noon, consequently my discovery can be of little use: I
answer, _Nil desperandum_. I believe all who have common sense, as
soon as they have learnt from this paper that it is day-light when
the sun rises, will contrive to rise with him; and, to compel the
rest, I would propose 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 sun.
Second. Let the same salutary operation of police be made use of to
prevent our burning candles, that inclined us last winter to be more
economical in burning wood; that is, let guards be placed in the
shops of the wax and tallow chandlers, and no family be permitted to
be supplied with more than one pound of candles per week.
Third. Let guards also be posted to stop all the coaches, &c. that
would pass the streets after sun-set, except those of physicians,
surgeons, and midwives.
Fourth. Every morning, as soon as the run rises, let all the bells
in every church be set ringing; and if that is not sufficient, let
cannon be fired in every street, to wake the sluggards 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 present
irregularity: for, _ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute_. Oblige a
man to rise 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 sleep, he will rise more willingly at four the morning
following. But this sum of ninety-six millions and seventy-five
thousand livres is not the whole of what may be saved by my
economical project. You may observe, that I have calculated upon only
one half of the year, and much may be saved in the other, though the
days are shorter. Besides, the immense stock of wax and tallow left
unconsumed during the summer will probably make candles much cheaper
for the ensuing winter, and continue them cheaper as long as the
proposed reformation shall be supported.
For the great benefit of this discovery, thus freely communicated
and bestowed by me on the public, I demand neither place, pension,
exclusive 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 usual, deny me this, and say, 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 dispute with these people,
that the ancients knew not the sun would rise at certain hours; they
possibly had, as we have, almanacks that predicted it: but it does
not follow from thence, that they knew _he gave light as soon as he
rose_. This is what I claim as my discovery. If the antients knew
it, it might have been long since forgotten, for it certainly was
unknown to the moderns, at least to the Parisians, which to prove, I
need use but one plain simple argument. They are as well-instructed,
judicious and prudent a people as exist any where in the world, all
professing, like myself, to be lovers of economy; and, from the many
heavy taxes required from them by the necessities of the state, have
surely an abundant reason to be economical. I say it is impossible,
that so sensible a people, under such circumstances, should have
lived so long by the smoaky, unwholesome and enormously expensive
light of candles, if they had really known, that they might have had
as much pure light of the sun for nothing.
I am, &c.
An ABONNE.
FOOTNOTE:
[179] "A translation of this letter appeared in one of the daily
papers of Paris about the year 1784. The following is the original
piece, with some additions and corrections made in it by the author."
Note by the editor of the Repository, from which we extract the
letter. _Editor._
TO JOHN ALLEYNE, ESQ.[180]
_On early Marriages._
_Craven Street, Aug. 9, 1768_.
DEAR JACK,
You desire, you say, my impartial thoughts on the subject of an early
marriage, by way of answer to the numberless objections, that have
been made by numberless persons, to your own. You may remember, when
you consulted me on the occasion, that I thought youth on both sides
to be no objection. Indeed, from the marriages that have fallen under
my observation, I am rather inclined to think, that early ones stand
the best chance of happiness. The temper and habits of the young are
not yet become so stiff and uncomplying, as when more advanced in
life; they form more easily to each other, and hence many occasions
of disgust are removed. And if youth has less of that prudence, which
is necessary to manage a family, yet the parents and elder friends of
young married persons are generally at hand to afford their advice,
which amply supplies that defect; and by early marriage, youth is
sooner formed to regular and useful life; and possibly some of those
accidents or connections, that might have injured the constitution,
or reputation, or both, are thereby happily prevented. Particular
circumstances of particular persons may possibly sometimes make it
prudent to delay entering into that state; but in general, when
nature has rendered our bodies fit for it, the presumption is in
nature's favour, that she has not judged amiss in making us desire
it. Late marriages are often attended, too, with this further
inconvenience, that there is not the same chance that the parents
shall live to see their offspring educated. "Late children," says
the Spanish proverb, "are early orphans." A melancholy reflection
to those whose case it may be! With us in America, marriages are
generally in the morning of life; our children are therefore educated
and settled in the world by noon; and thus, our business being done,
we have an afternoon and evening of cheerful leisure to ourselves,
such as our friend at present enjoys. By these early marriages we
are blessed with more children; and from the mode among us, founded
by nature, of every mother suckling and nursing her own child, more
of them are raised. Thence the swift progress of population among
us, unparalleled in Europe. In fine, I am glad you are married, and
congratulate you most cordially upon it. You are now in the way of
becoming a useful citizen; and you have escaped the unnatural state
of celibacy for life--the fate of many here, who never intended it,
but who, having too long postponed the change of their condition,
find, at length, that it is too late to think of it, and so live all
their lives in a situation, that greatly lessens a man's value. An
odd volume of a set of books bears not the value of its proportion
to the set: what think you of the odd half of a pair of scissars? it
cannot well cut any thing; it may possibly serve to scrape a trencher.
Pray make my compliments and best wishes acceptable to your bride.
I am old and heavy, or I should ere this have presented them in
person. I shall make but small use of the old man's privilege, that
of giving advice to younger friends. Treat your wife always with
respect; it will procure respect to you, not only from her, but from
all that observe it. Never use a slighting expression to her, even
in jest; for slights in jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to
end in angry earnest. Be studious in your profession, and you will be
learned. Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober
and temperate, and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and
you will be happy. At least, you will, by such conduct, stand the
best chance for such consequences. I pray God to bless you both!
being ever your affectionate friend,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[180] From the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1789. _Editor._
TO DOCTOR MATHER OF BOSTON[181].
_Effect of early Impressions on the Mind._
REV. SIR,
I received your kind letter, with your excellent advice to the people
of the United States, which I read with great pleasure, and hope it
will be duly regarded. Such writings, though they may be lightly
passed over by many readers, yet, if they make a deep impression on
one active mind in a hundred, the effects may be considerable.
Permit me to mention one little instance, which, though it relates
to myself, will not be quite uninteresting to you. When I was a boy,
I met with a book entitled, "Essays to do good," which I think was
written by your father. It had been so little regarded by a former
possessor, that several leaves of it were torn out; but the remainder
gave me such a turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my
conduct through life: for I have always set a greater value on the
character of a doer of good, than any other kind of reputation; and
if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the public
owes the advantage of it to that book.
You mention your being in your seventy-eighth year. I am in my
seventy ninth. We are grown old together. It is now more than sixty
years since I left Boston; but I remember well both your father and
grandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them in
their houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning
of 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pensylvania. He
received me in his library; and, on my taking leave, showed me a
shorter way out of the house, through a narrow passage, which was
crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew,
he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when
he said hastily, "Stoop, stoop!" I did not understand him, till I
felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man who never missed any
occasion of giving instruction; and upon this he said to me: "You
are young, and have the world before you: stoop as you go through
it, and you will miss many hard thumps." This advice, thus beat into
my heart, has frequently been of use to me: and I often think of it,
when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by
their carrying their heads too high.
I long much to see again my native place; and once hoped to lay my
bones there. I left it in 1723. I visited it in 1733, 1743, 1753, and
1763; and in 1773 I was in England. In 1775 I had a sight of it, but
could not enter, it being in possession of the enemy. I did hope to
have been there in 1783, but could not obtain my dismission from this
employment here; and now I fear I shall never have that happiness. My
best wishes however attend my dear country, "_esto perpetua_." It is
now blessed with an excellent constitution: may it last for ever!
This powerful monarchy continues its friendship for the United
States. It is a friendship of the utmost importance to our security,
and should be carefully cultivated. Britain has not yet well digested
the loss of its dominion over us; and has still at times some
flattering hopes of recovering it. Accidents may increase those
hopes, and encourage dangerous attempts. A breach between us and
France would infallibly bring the English again upon our backs:
and yet we have some wild beasts among our countrymen, who are
endeavouring to weaken that connection.
Let us preserve our reputation, by performing our engagements; our
credit, by fulfilling our contracts; and our friends, by gratitude
and kindness: for we know not how soon we may again have occasion for
all of them.
With great and sincere esteem,
I have the honour to be,
Reverend Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Passy, May 12, 1784._
FOOTNOTE:
[181] From the American Museum, Vol. VII. p. 100. _Editor._
_The Whistle[182]._
_Passy, Nov. 10, 1779._
I received my dear friend's two letters, one for Wednesday, and one
for Saturday. This is again Wednesday. I do not deserve one for to
day, because I have not answered the former. But indolent as I am,
and averse to writing, the fear of having no more of your pleasing
epistles, if I do not contribute to the correspondence, obliges me to
take up my pen: and as Mr. B. has kindly sent me word, that he sets
out to-morrow to see you; instead of spending this Wednesday evening,
as I have done its name-sakes, in your delightful company, I sit down
to spend it in thinking of you, in writing to you, and in reading
over and over again your letters.
I am charmed with your description of Paradise, and with your plan
of living there; and I approve much of your conclusion, that in
the mean time, we should draw all the good we can from this world.
In my opinion, we might all draw more good from it than we do, and
suffer less evil, if we would but take care not to give too much for
_whistles_. For to me it seems, that most of the unhappy people we
meet with, are become so by neglect of that caution.
You ask, what I mean? You love stories, and will excuse my telling
one of myself.
When I was a child, at seven years old, my friends, on a holiday,
filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where
they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of
a _whistle_, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I
voluntarily offered him all my money for it. I then came home, and
went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my _whistle_,
but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins,
understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times
as much for it as it was worth. This put me in mind what good things
I might have bought with the rest of the money; and they laughed
at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the
reflection gave me more chagrin, than the _whistle_ gave me pleasure.
This however was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing
on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary
thing, I said to myself, _Don't give too much for the whistle_; and
so I saved my money.
As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men,
I thought I met with many, very many, who _gave too much for the
whistle_.
When I saw any one too ambitious of court favours, sacrificing his
time in attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue,
and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, _This
man gives too much for his whistle_.
When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself
in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by
that neglect, _He pays, indeed_, says I, _too much for his whistle_.
If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living,
all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his
fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake
of accumulating wealth, _Poor man_, says I, _you pay too much for
your whistle_.
When I meet a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement
of the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and
ruining his health in their pursuit, _Mistaken man_, says I, _you are
providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure: you give too much
for your whistle_.
If I see one fond of appearance, of fine clothes, fine houses, fine
furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he
contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, _Alas_, says I, _he
has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle_.
When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl, married to an
ill-natured brute of a husband, _What a pity it is_, says I, _that
she has paid so much for a whistle_!
In short, I conceived, that great part of the miseries of mankind
were brought upon them by the false estimates they had made of the
value of things, and by their giving too much for their _whistles_.
Yet I ought to have charity for these unhappy people, when I
consider, that with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there
are certain things in the world so tempting, for example, the apples
of king John, which happily are not to be bought; for if they were
put to sale by auction, I might very easily be led to ruin myself in
the purchase, and find, that I had once more given too much for the
_whistle_.
Adieu, my dearest friend, and believe me ever yours very sincerely
and with unalterable affection,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[182] This story has generally been supposed to have been written
by Dr. Franklin for his nephew: but it seems, by the introductory
paragraphs, which we have no where seen prefixed to the story but
in a small collection of our author's works printed at Paris, to
have been addressed to some female relative. The two concluding
paragraphs, which are from the same source, are equally new to us.
_Editor._
_A Petition to those who have the Superintendency of
Education[183]._
I address myself to all the friends of youth, and conjure them to
direct their compassionate regards to my unhappy fate, in order
to remove the prejudices of which I am the victim. There are twin
sisters of us: and the two eyes of man do not more resemble, nor are
capable of being upon better terms with each other, than my sister
and myself, were it not for the partiality of our parents, who make
the most injurious distinctions between us. From my infancy, I have
been led to consider my sister as a being of a more elevated rank. I
was suffered to grow up without the least instruction, while nothing
was spared in her education. She had masters to teach her writing,
drawing, music, and other accomplishments; but if by chance I touched
a pencil, a pen, or a needle, I was bitterly rebuked: and more than
once I have been beaten for being aukward, and wanting a graceful
manner. It is true, my sister associated me with her upon some
occasions; but she always made a point of taking the lead, calling
upon me only from necessity, or to figure by her side.
But conceive not, sirs, that my complaints are instigated merely
by vanity--No; my uneasiness is occasioned by an object much more
serious. It is the practice in our family, that the whole business of
providing for its subsistence falls upon my sister and myself. If any
indisposition should attack my sister--and I mention it in confidence
upon this occasion, that she is subject to the gout, the rheumatism
and cramp, without making mention of other accidents--what would be
the fate of our poor family? Must not the regret of our parents be
excessive, at having placed so great a difference between sisters,
who are so perfectly equal? Alas! we must perish from distress: for
it would not be in my power even to scrawl a suppliant petition
for relief, having been obliged to employ the hand of another in
transcribing the request, which I have now the honour to prefer to
you.
Condescend, sirs, to make my parents sensible of the injustice of an
exclusive tenderness, and of the necessity of distributing their care
and affection among all their children equally.
I am, with a profound respect,
Sirs,
Your obedient servant,
THE LEFT HAND.
FOOTNOTE:
[183] From the American Museum, Vol. VII. p. 265. _Editor._
_The handsome and deformed Leg[184]._
There are two sorts of people in the world, who, with equal degrees
of health and wealth, and the other comforts of life, become, the
one happy, and the other miserable. This arises very much from the
different views in which they consider things, persons, and events;
and the effect of those different views upon their own minds.
In whatever situation men can be placed, they may find conveniences
and inconveniences; in whatever company, they may find persons and
conversation more or less pleasing: at whatever table, they may
meet with meats and drinks of better and worse taste, dishes better
and worse dressed; in whatever climate, they will find good and bad
weather: under whatever government, they may find good and bad laws,
and good and bad administration of those laws; in whatever poem, or
work of genius, they may see faults and beauties; in almost every
face, and every person, they may discover fine features and defects,
good and bad qualities.
Under these circumstances, the two sorts of people above mentioned
fix their attention, those, who are disposed to be happy, on the
conveniences of things, the pleasant parts of conversation, the
well-dressed dishes, the goodness of the wines, the fine weather,
&c. and enjoy all with cheerfulness. Those, who are to be unhappy,
think and speak only of the contraries. Hence they are continually
discontented themselves, and, by their remarks, sour the pleasures
of society, offend personally many people, and make themselves every
where disagreeable. If this turn of mind was founded in nature,
such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. But as the
disposition to criticise, and to be disgusted, is, perhaps, taken up
originally by imitation, and is, unawares, grown into a habit, which,
though at present strong, may nevertheless be cured, when those who
have it are convinced of its bad effects on their felicity; I hope
this little admonition may be of service to them, and put them on
changing a habit, which, though in the exercise it is chiefly an
act of imagination, yet has serious consequences in life, as it
brings on real griefs and misfortunes. For, as many are offended by,
and nobody loves, this sort of people, no one shows them more than
the most common civility and respect, and scarcely that; and this
frequently puts them out of humour, and draws them into disputes
and contentions. If they aim at obtaining some advantage in rank or
fortune, nobody wishes them success, or will stir a step, or speak a
word, to favour their pretensions. If they incur public censure or
disgrace, no one will defend or excuse, and many join to aggravate
their misconduct, and render them completely odious. If these people
will not change this bad habit, and condescend to be pleased with
what is pleasing, without fretting themselves and others about the
contraries, it is good for others to avoid an acquaintance with
them; which is always disagreeable, and sometimes very inconvenient,
especially when one finds oneself entangled in their quarrels.
An old philosophical friend of mine was grown, from experience, very
cautious in this particular, and carefully avoided any intimacy
with such people. He had, like other philosophers, a thermometer,
to show him the heat of the weather, and a barometer, to mark when
it was likely to prove good or bad; but there being no instrument
invented to discover, at first sight, this unpleasing disposition
in a person, he, for that purpose, made use of his legs; one of
which was remarkably handsome, the other, by some accident, crooked
and deformed. If a stranger, at the first interview, regarded his
ugly leg more than his handsome one, he doubted him. If he spoke
of it, and took no notice of the handsome leg, that was sufficient
to determine my philosopher to have no further acquaintance with
him. Every body has not this two-legged instrument; but every
one, with a little attention, may observe signs of that carping,
fault-finding disposition, and take the same resolution of avoiding
the acquaintance of those infected with it, I therefore advise those
critical querulous, discontented, unhappy people, that, if they wish
to be respected and beloved by others, and happy in themselves, they
should _leave off looking at the ugly leg_.
FOOTNOTE:
[184] From the Columbian Magazine, Vol. I. p. 61. _Editor._
_Morals of Chess[185]._
Playing at chess is the most ancient and most universal game known
among men; for its original is beyond the memory of history, and it
has, for numberless ages, been the amusement of all the civilized
nations of Asia, the Persians, the Indians, and the Chinese. Europe
has had it above a thousand years; the Spaniards have spread it over
their part of America, and it begins lately to make its appearance
in these states. It is so interesting in itself, as not to need the
view of gain to induce engaging in it; and thence it is never played
for money. Those, therefore, who have leisure for such diversions,
cannot find one that is more innocent; and the following piece,
written with a view to correct (among a few young friends) some
little improprieties in the practice of it, shows, at the same time,
that it may, in its effects on the mind, be not merely innocent, but
advantageous, to the vanquished as well as the victor.
The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very
valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life,
are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits,
ready on all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we have
often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with,
and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that
are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it. By
playing at chess, then, we may learn,
I. _Foresight_, which looks a little into futurity, and considers
the consequences that may attend an action: for it is continually
occurring to the player, "If I move this piece, what will be the
advantage of my new situation? What use can my adversary make of it
to annoy me? What other moves can I make to support it, and to defend
myself from his attacks?"
II. _Circumspection_, which surveys the whole chess-board, or scene
of action, the relations of the several pieces and situations, the
dangers they are respectively exposed to, the several possibilities
of their aiding each other, the probabilities that the adversary
may take this or that move, and attack this or the other piece, and
what different means can be used to avoid his stroke, or turn its
consequences against him.
III. _Caution_, not to make our moves too hastily. This habit is best
acquired by observing strictly the laws of the game, such as, "If you
touch a piece, you must move it somewhere: if you set it down, you
must let it stand:" and it is therefore best that these rules should
be observed, as the game thereby becomes more the image of human
life, and particularly of war; in which, if you have incautiously put
yourself into a bad and dangerous position, you cannot obtain your
enemy's leave to withdraw your troops, and place them more securely,
but you must abide all the consequences of your rashness.
And, lastly, we learn by chess the habit of _not being discouraged
by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs_, the habit
of _hoping for a favourable change_, and that of _persevering in the
search of resources_. The game is so full of events, there is such
a variety of turns in it, the fortune of it is so subject to sudden
vicissitudes, and one so frequently, after long contemplation,
discovers the means of extricating oneself from a supposed
insurmountable difficulty, that one is encouraged to continue the
contest to the last, in hopes of victory by our own skill, or at
least of getting a stale mate, by the negligence of our adversary.
And whoever considers, what in chess he often sees instances of,
that particular pieces of success are apt to produce presumption,
and its consequent inattention, by which the loss may be recovered,
will learn not to be too much discouraged by the present success of
his adversary, nor to despair of final good fortune upon every little
check he receives in the pursuit of it.
That we may, therefore, be induced more frequently to choose this
beneficial amusement, in preference to others, which are not attended
with the same advantages, every circumstance which may increase the
pleasures of it should be regarded; and every action or word that
is unfair, disrespectful, or that in any way may give uneasiness,
should be avoided, as contrary to the immediate intention of both the
players, which is to pass the time agreeably.
Therefore, first, if it is agreed, to play according to the strict
rules; then those rules are to be exactly observed by both parties,
and should not be insisted on for one side, while deviated from by
the other--for this is not equitable.
Secondly, if it is agreed, not to observe the rules exactly, but one
party demands indulgencies, he should then be as willing to allow
them to the other.
Thirdly, no false move should ever be made to extricate yourself out
of difficulty, or to gain an advantage. There can be no pleasure in
playing with a person once detected in such unfair practice.
Fourthly, if your adversary is long in playing you ought not to hurry
him, or express any uneasiness at his delay. You should not sing, nor
whistle, nor look at your watch, nor take up a book to read, nor make
a tapping with your feet on the floor, or with your fingers on the
table, nor do any thing that may disturb his attention. For all these
things displease; and they do not show your skill in playing, but
your craftiness or your rudeness.
Fifthly, you ought not to endeavour to amuse and deceive your
adversary, by pretending to have made bad moves, and saying, that you
have now lost the game, in order to make him secure and careless, and
inattentive to your schemes: for this is fraud and deceit, not skill
in the game.
Sixthly, you must not, when you have gained a victory, use any
triumphing or insulting expression, nor show too much pleasure; but
endeavour to console your adversary, and make him less dissatisfied
with himself, by every kind of civil expression, that may be used
with truth, such as, "you understand the game better than I, but you
are a little inattentive;" or, "you play too fast;" or, "you had the
best of the game, but something happened to divert your thoughts, and
that turned it in my favour."
Seventhly, if you are a spectator while others play, observe the most
perfect silence. For if you give advice, you offend both parties,
him against whom you give it, because it may cause the loss of his
game, him in whose favour you give it, because, though it be good
and he follows it, he loses the pleasure he might have had, if you
had permitted him to think until it had occurred to himself. Even
after a move or moves, you must not, by replacing the pieces, show
how it might have been placed better: for that displeases, and may
occasion disputes and doubts about their true situation. All talking
to the players lessens or diverts their attention, and is therefore
unpleasing. Nor should you give the least hint to either party, by
any kind of noise or motion. If you do, you are unworthy to be a
spectator. If you have a mind to exercise or show your judgment, do
it in playing your own game, when you have an opportunity, not in
criticising, or meddling with, or counselling the play of others.
Lastly, if the game is not to be played rigorously, according to the
rules above mentioned, then moderate your desire of victory over your
adversary, and be pleased with one over yourself. Snatch not eagerly
at every advantage offered by his unskilfulness or inattention; but
point out to him kindly, that by such a move he places or leaves a
piece in danger and unsupported; that by another he will put his
king in a perilous situation, &c. By this generous civility (so
opposite to the unfairness above forbidden) you may, indeed, happen
to lose the game to your opponent, but you will win what is better,
his esteem, his respect, and his affection, together with the silent
approbation and good-will of impartial spectators.
FOOTNOTE:
[185] This letter has appeared in too many forms in this country,
and is too well known to be Dr. Franklin's, to require being
authenticated. _Editor._
_The Art of procuring Pleasant Dreams[186]._
INSCRIBED TO MISS ****,
Being written at her request.
As a great part of our life is spent in sleep, during which we have
sometimes pleasing, and sometimes painful dreams, it becomes of some
consequence to obtain the one kind, and avoid the other; for, whether
real or imaginary, pain is pain, and pleasure is pleasure. If we can
sleep without dreaming, it is well that painful dreams are avoided.
If, while we sleep, we can have any pleasing dreams, it is, as the
French say, _tant gagné_, so much added to the pleasure of life.
To this end, it is, in the first place, necessary, to be careful in
preserving health, by due exercise, and great temperance; for, in
sickness, the imagination is disturbed; and disagreeable, sometimes
terrible, ideas are apt to present themselves. Exercise should
precede meals, not immediately follow them: the first promotes, the
latter, unless moderate, obstructs digestion. If, after exercise,
we feed sparingly, the digestion will be easy and good, the body
lightsome, the temper cheerful, and all the animal functions
performed agreeably. Sleep, when it follows, will be natural and
undisturbed, while indolence, with full feeding, occasions nightmares
and horrors inexpressible: we fall from precipices, are assaulted
by wild beasts, murderers, and demons, and experience every variety
of distress. Observe, however, that the quantities of food and
exercise are relative things: those who move much may, and indeed
ought, to eat more; those who use little exercise should eat little.
In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eat about
twice as much as nature requires. Suppers are not bad, if we have not
dined; but restless nights naturally follow hearty suppers, after
full dinners. Indeed, as there is a difference in constitutions, some
rest well after these meals; it costs them only a frightful dream,
and an apoplexy, after which they sleep till doomsday. Nothing is
more common in the newspapers, than instances of people, who, after
eating a hearty supper, are found dead a-bed in the morning.
Another means of preserving health, to be attended to, is the having
a constant supply of fresh air in your bed-chamber. It has been a
great mistake, the sleeping in rooms exactly closed, and in beds
surrounded by curtains. No outward air that may come into you is
so unwholesome, as the unchanged air, often breathed, of a close
chamber. As boiling water does not grow hotter by longer boiling, if
the particles that receive greater heat can escape; so living bodies
do not putrify, if the particles, as fast as they become putrid, can
be thrown off. Nature expels them by the pores of the skin and the
lungs, and in a free open air they are carried off; but, in a close
room, we receive them again and again, though they become more and
more corrupt. A number of persons crowded into a small room thus
spoil the air in a few minutes, and even render it mortal, as in
the Black Hole at Calcutta. A single person is said to spoil only a
gallon of air per minute, and therefore requires a longer time to
spoil a chamber full; but it is done, however, in proportion, and
many putrid disorders hence have their origin. It is recorded of
Methusalem, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have
best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for,
when he had lived five hundred years, an angel said to him: "Arise,
Methusalem, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live yet five
hundred years longer." But Methusalem answered and said, "If I am to
live but five hundred years longer it is not worth while to build
me an house--I will sleep in the air, as I have been used to do."
Physicians, after having for ages contended, that the sick should
not be indulged with fresh air, have at length discovered, that it
may do them good. It is therefore to be hoped, that they may in
time discover likewise, that it is not hurtful to those who are in
health, and that we may be then cured of the _aërophobia_, that at
present distresses weak minds, and make them choose to be stifled and
poisoned, rather than leave open the window of a bed-chamber, or put
down the glass of a coach.
Confined air, when saturated with perspirable matter[187], will
not receive more; and that matter must remain in our bodies, and
occasion diseases: but it gives some previous notice of its being
about to be hurtful, by producing certain uneasinesses, slight
indeed at first, such as, with regard to the lungs, is a trifling
sensation, and to the pores of the skin a kind of restlessness,
which is difficult to describe, and few that feel it know the
cause of it. But we may recollect, that sometimes, on waking in
the night, we have, if warmly covered, found it difficult to get
asleep again. We turn often without finding repose in any position.
This figettiness, to use a vulgar expression for want of a better,
is occasioned wholly by an uneasiness in the skin, owing to the
retension of the perspirable matter--the bed-clothes having received
their quantity, and, being saturated, refusing to take any more.
To become sensible of this by an experiment, let a person keep his
position in the bed, but throw off the bed-clothes, and suffer fresh
air to approach the part uncovered of his body; he will then feel
that part suddenly refreshed; for the air will immediately relieve
the skin, by receiving, licking up, and carrying off, the load of
perspirable matter that incommoded it. For every portion of cool air,
that approaches the warm skin, in receiving its part of that vapour,
receives therewith a degree of heat, that rarifies and renders it
lighter, when it will be pushed away, with its burthen, by cooler
and therefore heavier fresh air; which, for a moment, supplies its
place, and then, being likewise changed and warmed, gives way to a
succeeding quantity. This is the order of nature, to prevent animals
being infected by their own perspiration. He will now be sensible of
the difference between the part exposed to the air, and that which,
remaining sunk in the bed, denies the air access: for this part now
manifests its uneasiness more distinctly by the comparison, and the
seat of the uneasiness is more plainly perceived, than when the whole
surface of the body was affected by it.
Here, then, is one great and general cause of unpleasing dreams.
For when the body is uneasy, the mind will be disturbed by it, and
disagreeable ideas of various kinds will, in sleep, be the natural
consequences. The remedies, preventative and curative, follow:
1. By eating moderately (as before advised for health's sake) less
perspirable matter is produced in a given time; hence the bed-clothes
receive it longer before they are saturated; and we may, therefore,
sleep longer, before we are made uneasy by their refusing to receive
any more.
2. By using thinner and more porous bed-clothes, which will suffer
the perspirable matter more easily to pass through them, we are less
incommoded, such being longer tolerable.
3. When you are awakened by this uneasiness, and find you cannot
easily sleep again, get out of bed, beat up and turn your pillow,
shake the bed-clothes well, with at least twenty shakes, then throw
the bed open, and leave it to cool; in the meanwhile, continuing
undrest, walk about your chamber, till your skin has had time to
discharge its load, which it will do sooner as the air may be drier
and colder. When you begin to feel the cold air unpleasant, then
return to your bed, and you will soon fall asleep, and your sleep
will be sweet and pleasant. All the scenes presented to your fancy
will be of the pleasing kind. I am often as agreeably entertained
with them, as by the scenery of an opera. If you happen to be too
indolent to get out of bed, you may, instead of it, lift up your
bed-clothes with one arm and leg, so as to draw in a good deal of
fresh air, and, by letting them fall, force it out again. This,
repeated twenty times, will so clear them of the perspirable matter
they have imbibed, as to permit your sleeping well for some time
afterwards. But this latter method is not equal to the former.
Those who do not love trouble, and can afford to have two beds, will
find great luxury in rising, when they wake in a hot bed, and going
into the cool one. Such shifting of beds would also be of great
service to persons ill of a fever, as it refreshes and frequently
procures sleep. A very large bed, that will admit a removal so
distant from the first situation as to be cool and sweet, may in a
degree answer the same end.
One or two observations more will conclude this little piece. Care
must be taken when you lie down, to dispose your pillow so as to
suit your manner of placing your head, and to be perfectly easy;
then place your limbs so as not to bear inconveniently hard upon one
another, as, for instance, the joints of your ancles: for though a
bad position may at first give but little pain and be hardly noticed,
yet a continuance will render it less tolerable, and the uneasiness
may come on while you are asleep, and disturb your imagination.
These are the rules of the art. But though they will generally prove
effectual in producing the end intended, there is a case in which the
most punctual observance of them will be totally fruitless. I need
not mention the case to you, my dear friend, but my account of the
art would be imperfect without it. The case is, when the person, who
desires to have pleasant dreams, has not taken care to preserve, what
is necessary above all things,
A GOOD CONSCIENCE.
FOOTNOTES:
[186] From the Columbian Magazine, vol. I. p. 64. _Editor._
[187] What physicians call the perspirable matter, is that vapour
which passes off from our bodies, from the lungs, and through the
pores of the skin. The quantity of this is said to be five-eighths of
what we eat.
_Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout[188]._
_Midnight, October 22, 1780._
_Franklin._--Eh! Oh! Eh! What have I done to merit these cruel
sufferings?
_Gout._--Many things; you have ate and drank too freely, and too much
indulged those legs of yours in their indolence.
_Franklin._--Who is it that accuses me?
_Gout._--It is I, even I, the gout.
_Franklin._--What! my enemy in person?
_Gout._--No, not your enemy.
_Franklin._--I repeat it; my enemy: for you would not only torment my
body to death, but ruin my good name: you reproach me as a glutton
and a tipler; now all the world that knows me will allow, that I am
neither the one nor the other.
_Gout._--The world may think as it pleases: it is always very
complaisant to itself, and sometimes to its friends; but I very well
know, that the quantity of meat and drink proper for a man, who takes
a reasonable degree of exercise, would be too much for another, who
never takes any.
_Franklin._--I take--Eh! Oh!--as much exercise--Eh!--as I can, Madam
Gout. You know my sedentary state, and on that account, it would
seem, Madam Gout, as if you might spare me a little, seeing it is
not altogether my own fault.
_Gout._--Not a jot: your rhetoric and your politeness are thrown
away; your apology avails nothing. If your situation in life is a
sedentary one, your amusements, your recreations, at least, should be
active. You ought to walk or ride; or, if the weather prevents that,
play at billiards. But let us examine your course of life. While the
mornings are long, and you have leisure to go abroad, what do you
do? Why, instead of gaining an appetite for breakfast, by salutary
exercise, you amuse yourself with books, pamphlets, or newspapers,
which commonly are not worth the reading. Yet you eat an inordinate
breakfast, four dishes of tea, with cream, and one or two buttered
toasts, with slices of hung beef, which I fancy are not things the
most easily digested. Immediately afterward you sit down to write at
your desk, or converse with persons who apply to you on business.
Thus the time passes till one, without any kind of bodily exercise.
But all this I could pardon, in regard, as you say, to your sedentary
condition. But what is your practice after dinner. Walking in the
beautiful gardens of those friends with whom you have dined would be
the choice of men of sense: yours is to be fixed down to chess, where
you are found engaged for two or three hours! This is your perpetual
recreation, which is the least eligible of any for a sedentary man,
because, instead of accelerating the motion of the fluids, the rigid
attention it requires helps to retard the circulation and obstruct
internal secretions. Wrapt in the speculations of this wretched
game, you destroy your constitution. What can be expected from such
a course of living, but a body replete with stagnant humours, ready
to fall a prey to all kinds of dangerous maladies, if I, the gout,
did not occasionally bring you relief by agitating these humours, and
so purifying or dissipating them. If it was in some nook or alley
in Paris, deprived of walks, that you played awhile at chess after
dinner, this might be excusable, but the same taste prevails with
you in Passey, Auteuil, Montmartre, or Sanoy, places where there are
the finest gardens and walks, a pure air, beautiful women, and most
agreeable and instructive conversation; all which you might enjoy by
frequenting the walks! But these are rejected for this abominable
game of chess. Fie, then, Mr. Franklin! But amidst my instructions, I
had almost forgot to administer my wholsome corrections: so take that
twinge--and that.
_Franklin._--Oh! Eh! Oh!--Ohhh! As much instruction as you please,
Madam Gout, and as many reproaches, but pray, Madam, a truce with
your corrections!
_Gout._--No, sir, no--I will not abate a particle of what is so much
for your good--therefore--
_Franklin._--Oh! Ehhh!--It is not fair to say I take no exercise,
when I do very often, going out to dine, and returning in my carriage.
_Gout._--That of all imaginable exercise is the most slight and
insignificant, if you allude to the motion of a carriage suspended
on springs. By observing the degree of heat obtained by different
kinds of motion we may form an estimate of the quantity of exercise
given by each. Thus, for example, if you turn out to walk in winter
with cold feet, in an hour's time you will be in a glow all over;
ride on horseback, the same effect will scarcely be perceived by
four hours round trotting: but if you loll in a carriage, such as you
have mentioned, you may travel all day, and gladly enter the last
inn to warm your feet by a fire. Flatter yourself then no longer,
that half an hour's airing in your carriage deserves the name of
exercise. Providence has appointed few to roll in carriages, while
he has given to all a pair of legs, which are machines infinitely
more commodious and serviceable. Be grateful, then, and make a proper
use of yours. Would you know, how they forward the circulation of
your fluids, in the very action of transporting you from place to
place? observe when you walk, that all your weight is alternately
thrown from one leg to the other; this occasions a great pressure on
the vessels of the foot, and repels their contents. When relieved,
by the weight being thrown on the other foot, the vessels of the
first are allowed to replenish, and by a return of this weight, this
repulsion again succeeds; thus accelerating the circulation of the
blood. The heat produced in any given time depends on the degree of
this acceleration: the fluids are shaken, the humours attenuated, the
secretions facilitated, and all goes well; the cheeks are ruddy, and
health is established. Behold your fair friend at Auteuil: a lady
who received from bounteous nature more really useful science, than
half a dozen such pretenders to philosophy, as you, have been able to
extract from all your books. When she honours you with a visit, it is
on foot. She walks all hours of the day, and leaves indolence and its
concomitant maladies to be endured by her horses. In this see at once
the preservative of her health and personal charms. But you, when
you go to Auteuil, must have your carriage, though it is no farther
from Passy to Auteuil, than from Auteuil to Passy.
_Franklin._--Your reasonings grow very tiresome.
_Gout._--I stand corrected. I will be silent and continue my office:
take that, and that.
_Franklin._--Oh! Ohh! Talk on, I pray you!
_Gout._--No, no; I have a good number of twinges for you to-night,
and you may be sure of some more to-morrow.
_Franklin._--What, with such a fever! I shall go distracted. Oh! Eh!
Can no one bear it for me?
_Gout._--Ask that of your horses; they have served you faithfully.
_Franklin._--How can you so cruelly sport with my torments?
_Gout._--Sport? I am very serious. I have here a list of your
offences against your own health distinctly written, and can justify
every stroke inflicted on you.
_Franklin._--Read it then.
_Gout._--It is too long a detail; but I will briefly mention some
particulars.
_Franklin._--Proceed--I am all attention.
_Gout._--Do you remember how often you have promised yourself, the
following morning, a walk in the grove of Boulogne, in the garden de
la Muette, or in your own garden, and have violated your promise,
alledging, at one time, it was too cold, at another too warm, too
windy, too moist, or what else you pleased; when in truth it was too
nothing, but your insuperable love of ease?
_Franklin._--That I confess may have happened occasionally, probably
ten times in a year.
_Gout._--Your confession is very far short of the truth; the gross
amount is one hundred and ninety-nine times.
_Franklin._--Is it possible?
_Gout._--So possible that it is fact; you may rely on the accuracy
of my statement. You know Mr. B----'s gardens, and what fine walks
they contain; you know the handsome flight of an hundred steps, which
lead from the terrace above to the lawn below. You have been in the
practice of visiting this amiable family twice a week after dinner,
and as it is a maxim of your own, that "a man may take as much
exercise in walking a mile up and down stairs, as in ten on level
ground," what an opportunity was here for you to have had exercise in
both these ways? Did you embrace it, and how often?
_Franklin._--I cannot immediately answer that question.
_Gout._--I will do it for you; not once.
_Franklin._--Not once?
_Gout._--Even so. During the summer you went there at six o'clock.
You found the charming lady, with her lovely children and friends,
eager to walk with you, and entertain you with their agreeable
conversation: and what has been your choice? Why to sit on the
terrace, satisfying yourself with the fine prospect, and passing
your eye over the beauties of the garden below, without taking one
step to descend and walk about in them. On the contrary, you call
for tea, and the chess-board; and lo! you are occupied in your seat
till nine o'clock, and that beside two hours play after dinner;
and then, instead of walking home, which would have bestirred you
a little, you step into your carriage. How absurd to suppose, that
all this carelessness can be reconcileable with health, without my
interposition!
_Franklin._--I am convinced now of the justness of poor Richard's
remark, that, "Our debts and our sins are always greater than we
think for."
_Gout._--So it is! you philosophers are sages in your maxims, and
fools in your conduct.
_Franklin._--But do you charge among my crimes, that I return in a
carriage from Mr. B----'s?
_Gout._--Certainly: for having been seated all the while, you cannot
object the fatigue of the day, and cannot want therefore the relief
of a carriage.
_Franklin._--What then would you have me do with my carriage?
_Gout._--Burn it, if you choose; you would at least get heat out of
it once in this way; or if you dislike that proposal, here's another
for you: observe the poor peasants who work in the vineyards and
grounds about the villages of Passy, Anteuil, Chaillois, &c.; you may
find every day among these deserving creatures, four or five old men
and women, bent and perhaps crippled by weight of years, and too long
and too great labour. After a most fatiguing day, these people have
to trudge a mile or two to their smoky huts. Order your coachmen to
set them down. That is an act that will be good for your soul; and
at the same time, after your visit to the B----'s, if you return on
foot, that will be good for your body.
_Franklin._--Ah! how tiresome you are.
_Gout._--Well then, to my office; it should not be forgotten, that I
am your physician. There.
_Franklin._--Ohhh! what a devil of a physician!
_Gout._--How ungrateful are you to say so! Is it not I, who, in the
character of your physician, have saved you from the palsy, dropsy,
and apoplexy? one or other of which would have done for you long ago,
but for me.
_Franklin._--I submit, and thank you for the past, but intreat the
discontinuance of your visits for the future: for in my mind one had
better die, than be cured so dolefully. Permit me just to hint, that
I have also not been unfriendly to _you_. I never feed physician, or
quack of any kind, to enter the list against you; if then you do not
leave me to my repose, it may be said you are ungrateful too.
_Gout._--I can scarcely acknowledge that as any objection. As to
quacks, I despise them: they may kill you, indeed, but cannot injure
me. And as to regular physicians, they are at last convinced, that
the gout, in such a subject as you are, is no disease, but a remedy;
and wherefore cure a remedy?--but to our business--There.--
_Franklin._--Oh! Oh!--for heaven's sake leave me; and I promise
faithfully never more to play at chess, but to take exercise daily,
and live temperately.
_Gout._--I know you too well. You promise fair; but, after a few
months of good health, you will return to your old habits; your fine
promises will be forgotten like the forms of the last year's clouds.
Let us then finish the account and I will go. But I leave you with an
assurance, of visiting you again at a proper time and place; for my
object is your good, and you are sensible now, that I am your real
friend.
FOOTNOTE:
[188] We have no authority for ascribing this paper to Dr. Franklin,
but its appearance, with his name, in a small collection of his works
printed a few years ago at Paris, and cited before, page 480. As the
rest of the papers in that collection are genuine, this probably is
also genuine. What we give is a translation. _Editor._
TO MISS HUBBARD.
_On the Death of Relatives[189]._
_Philadelphia, Feb. 22, 1756._
I condole with you. We have lost a most dear and valuable
relation[190]. But it is the will of God and nature, that these
mortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is to enter into real
life. This is rather an embryo state, a preparation for living. A man
is not completely born until he be dead. Why then should we grieve,
that a new child is born among the immortals, a new member added to
their happy society? We are spirits. That bodies should be lent us,
while they can afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge,
or doing good to our fellow-creatures, is a kind and benevolent act
of God. When they become unfit for these purposes, and afford us
pain instead of pleasure, instead of an aid become an incumbrance,
and answer none of the intentions for which they were given, it is
equally kind and benevolent, that a way is provided by which we may
get rid of them. Death is that way. We ourselves, in some cases,
prudently choose a partial death. A mangled painful limb, which
cannot be restored, we willingly cut off. He, who plucks out a tooth,
parts with it freely, since the pain goes with it: and he, who quits
the whole body, parts at once with all pains, and possibilities of
pains and diseases, it was liable to, or capable of making him suffer.
Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party of pleasure, which
is to last for ever. His chair was ready first, and he is gone before
us. We could not all conveniently start together: and why should you
and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know where
to find him?
Adieu.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[189] From the Columbian Magazine, Vol. I, p. 208. _Editor._
[190] Dr. Franklin's brother, Mr. John Franklin.
TO MADAME BRILLIANT.
_The Ephemera an Emblem of human Life[191]._
You may remember, my dear friend, that when we lately spent that
happy day, in the delightful garden and sweet society of the Moulin
Joly, I stopt a little in one of our walks, and staid some time
behind the company. We had been shown numberless skeletons of a kind
of little fly, called an ephemera, whose successive generations,
we were told, were bred and expired within the day. I happened to
see a living company of them on a leaf, who appeared to be engaged
in conversation. You know I understand all the inferior animal
tongues: my too great application to the study of them is the best
excuse I can give for the little progress I have made in your
charming language. I listened through curiosity to the discourse of
these little creatures; but as they, in their national vivacity,
spoke three or four together, I could make but little of their
conversation. I found, however, by some broken expressions that
I heard now and then, they were disputing warmly on the merit of
two foreign musicians, one a _cousin_, the other a _muscheto_; in
which dispute they spent their time, seemingly as regardless of the
shortness of life, as if they had been sure of living a month. Happy
people! thought I, you live certainly under a wise, just, and mild
government, since you have no public grievances to complain of, nor
any subject of contention, but the perfections or imperfections of
foreign music. I turned my head from them to an old grey-headed
one, who was single on another leaf, and talking to himself. Being
amused with his soliloquy, I put it down in writing, in hopes it
will likewise amuse her to whom I am so much indebted for the most
pleasing of all amusements, her delicious company, and heavenly
harmony.
"It was," says he, "the opinion of learned philosophers of our race,
who lived and flourished long before my time, that this vast world,
the Moulin Joly, could not itself subsist more than eighteen hours:
and I think there was some foundation for that opinion; since, by
the apparent motion of the great luminary, that gives life to all
nature, and which in my time has evidently declined considerably
towards the ocean at the end of our earth, it must then finish its
course, be extinguished in the waters that surround us, and leave the
world in cold and darkness, necessarily producing universal death and
destruction. I have lived seven of those hours; a great age, being
no less than four hundred and twenty minutes of time. How very few
of us continue so long? I have seen generations born, flourish, and
expire. My present friends are the children and grand-children of
the friends of my youth, who are now, alas no more! And I must soon
follow them; for, by the course of nature, though still in health,
I cannot expect to live above seven or eight minutes longer. What
now avails all my toil and labour, in amassing honey-dew on this
leaf, which I cannot live to enjoy! What the political struggles I
have been engaged in, for the good of my com-patriot inhabitants of
this bush, or my philosophical studies, for the benefit of our race
in general! for in politics (what can laws do without morals?) our
present race of ephemeræ will in a course of minutes become corrupt,
like those of other and older bushes, and consequently as wretched:
and in philosophy how small our progress! Alas! art is long, and life
is short! My friends would comfort me with the idea of a name, they
say, I shall leave behind me; and they tell me, I have lived long
enough to nature and to glory. But what will fame be to an ephemera,
who no longer exists? and what will become of all history in the
eighteenth hour, when the world itself, even the whole Moulin Joly,
shall come to its end, and be buried in universal ruin?"----
To me, after all my eager pursuits, no solid pleasures now remain,
but the reflection of a long life spent in meaning well, the sensible
conversation of a few good lady ephemeræ, and now and then a kind
smile and a tune from the ever amiable Brilliant.
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[191] From the American Museum, Vol. VIII. p. 183. It was written
during the author's residence at Passy, and a translation of it at
that time appeared in one of the Parisian periodical publications.
This appears to be the original piece. _Editor._
APPENDIX:
CONTAINING
1. PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION, BUT OMITTED,
IN THE PRECEDING VOLUMES:
AND
2. LETTERS BY SEVERAL EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE
OF DR. FRANKLIN'S MANNERS
AND CHARACTER.
APPENDIX, No. I.
CONTAINING PAPERS PROPER FOR INSERTION, BUT OMITTED, IN THE PRECEDING
VOLUMES.
_Letter to Sir Hans Sloane[192]._
_June 2, 1725._
SIR,
Having lately been in the northern parts of America, I have brought
from thence a purse made of the _asbestos_, a piece of the stone, and
a piece of the wood, the pithy part of which is of the same nature,
and called by the inhabitants salamander cotton. As you are noted
to be a lover of curiosities, I have informed you of these: and if
you have any inclination to purchase or see them, let me know your
pleasure, by a line directed for me at the Golden Fan in Little
Britain, and I will wait upon you with them.
I am, sir,
Your most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. I expect to be out of town in two or three days, and therefore
beg an immediate answer.
FOOTNOTE:
[192] From the Gentleman's Magazine, for [___], 1780, where it
appears among other original letters to Sir Hans Sloane, from
different persons. _Editor._
_Letter to Michael Collinson, Esq[193]._
[No date.]
DEAR SIR,
Understanding that an account of our dear departed friend, Mr. Peter
Collinson, is intended to be given to the public, I cannot omit
expressing my approbation of the design. The characters of good men
are exemplary, and often stimulate the well disposed to an imitation,
beneficial to mankind, and honourable to themselves. And as you
may be unacquainted with the following instances of his zeal and
usefulness in promoting knowledge, which fell within my observation,
I take the liberty of informing you, that in 1730, a subscription
library being set on foot at Philadelphia, he encouraged the design
by making several very valuable presents to it, and procuring others
from his friends: and as the library company had a considerable sum
arising annually to be laid out in books, and needed a judicious
friend in London to transact the business for them, he voluntarily
and cheerfully undertook that service, and executed it for more
than thirty years successively, assisting in the choice of books,
and taking the whole care of collecting and shipping them, without
ever charging or accepting any consideration for his trouble. The
success of this library (greatly owing to his kind countenance and
good advice) encouraged the erecting others in different places on
the same plan; and it is supposed, there are now upwards of thirty
subsisting in the several colonies, which have contributed greatly
to the spreading of useful knowledge in that part of the world; the
books he recommended being all of that kind, and the catalogue
of this first library being much respected and followed by those
libraries that succeeded.
During the same time he transmitted to the directors of the
library the earliest accounts of every new European improvement in
agriculture and the arts, and every philosophical discovery; among
which, in 1745, he sent over an account of the new German experiments
in electricity, together with a glass tube, and some directions for
using it so as to repeat those experiments. This was the first notice
I had of that curious subject, which I afterwards prosecuted with
some diligence, being encouraged by the friendly reception he gave
to the letters I wrote to him upon it. Please to accept this small
testimony of mine to his memory, for which I shall ever have the
utmost respect; and believe me, with sincere esteem, dear sir,
Your most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
FOOTNOTE:
[193] From the London Magazine, for April, 1776. _Editor._
_Letter respecting Captain Cook._
To all captains and commanders of armed ships, acting by commission
from the congress of the United States of America, now in war with
Great Britain.
GENTLEMEN,
A ship having been fitted out from England, before the commencement
of this war, to make discoveries of new countries in unknown seas,
under the conduct of that most celebrated navigator, Captain
Cook,--an undertaking truly laudable in itself, as the increase of
geographical knowledge facilitates the communication between distant
nations, in the exchange of useful products and manufactures, and the
extension of arts whereby the common enjoyments of human life are
multiplied and augmented, and science of other kinds increased, to
the benefit of mankind in general.--This is therefore most earnestly
to recommend to every one of you, that in case the said ship, which
is now expected to be soon in the European seas on her return, should
happen to fall into your hands, you would not consider her as an
enemy, nor suffer any plunder to be made of the effects contained in
her, nor obstruct her immediate return to England, by detaining her
or sending her into any other part of Europe or America, but that you
would treat the said captain Cook and his people with all civility
and kindness, affording them, as common friends to mankind, all the
assistance in your power, which they may happen to stand in need of.
In so doing, you will not only gratify the generosity of your own
dispositions, but there is no doubt of your obtaining the approbation
of the congress[194], and your own American owners.
I have the honour to be, gentlemen,
Your most obedient, &c.
B. FRANKLIN,
Minister plenipotentiary from the congress of the
United States to the court of France.
_At Passy, near Paris,
this 10th day of March, 1779._
FOOTNOTE:
[194] Dr. Kippis, in his Life of Captain Cook, had asserted, upon
what he deemed unquestionable authority, that Dr. Franklin's orders
were instantly reversed, and that it was directed by congress, to
seize captain Cook, if an opportunity of doing it occurred: but,
finding that the information was false, he addressed a letter to the
editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, in September, 1795, publicly
acknowledging his mistake.
In the American Museum, from which we have taken Dr. Franklin's
letter, the correspondent who communicated the letter says, that "the
generous proceeding of Dr. Franklin in writing it was so well known
in England, and the sentiments it manifested so much approved by the
government there, that, when Cook's Voyage was printed, the admiralty
sent to Dr. Franklin a copy of the same in three volumes quarto,
accompanied with the elegant collection of plates, and a very polite
letter from lord Howe, signifying, that the present was made with
his majesty's express approbation; and the royal society having, in
honour of that illustrious navigator, one of their members, struck
some gold medals to be distributed among his friends and the friends
of his voyage, one of those medals, was also sent to Dr. Franklin,
by order of the society, together with a letter from their worthy
president, sir Joseph Banks, expressing likewise, that it was sent
with the approbation of his majesty." _Editor._
_An Address to the Public, from the Pensylvania Society for
promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of free Negroes,
unlawfully held in Bondage[195]._
It is with peculiar satisfaction, we assure the friends of humanity,
that, in prosecuting the design of our association, our endeavours
have proved successful, far beyond our most sanguine expectations.
Encouraged by this success, and by the daily progress of that
luminous and benign spirit of liberty, which is diffusing itself
throughout the world, and humbly hoping for the continuance of the
divine blessing on our labours, we have ventured to make an important
addition to our original plan, and do, therefore, earnestly solicit
the support and assistance of all, who can feel the tender emotions
of sympathy and compassion, or relish the exalted pleasure of
beneficence.
Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that
its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may
sometimes open a source of serious evils.
The unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal,
too frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human
species. The galling chains, that bind his body, do also fetter his
intellectual faculties, and impair the social affections of his
heart. Accustomed to move like a mere machine, by the will of a
master, reflection is suspended; he has not the power of choice; and
reason and conscience have but little influence over his conduct,
because he is chiefly governed by the passion of fear. He is poor and
friendless--perhaps worn out by extreme labour, age, and disease.
Under such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune to
himself, and prejudicial to society.
Attention to emancipated black people, it is therefore to be
hoped, will become a branch of our national police; but as far as
we contribute to promote this emancipation, so far that attention
is evidently a serious duty incumbent on us, and which we mean to
discharge to the best of our judgment and abilities.
To instruct, to advise, to qualify those, who have been restored to
freedom, for the exercise and enjoyment of civil liberty, to promote
in them habits of industry, to furnish them with employments suited
to their age, sex, talents, and other circumstances, and to procure
their children an education calculated for their future situation
in life; these are the great outlines of the annexed plan, which
we have adopted, and which we conceive will essentially promote
the public good, and the happiness of these our hitherto too much
neglected fellow-creatures.
A plan so extensive cannot be carried into execution without
considerable pecuniary resources, beyond the present ordinary funds
of the society. We hope much from the generosity of enlightened and
benevolent freemen, and will gratefully receive any donations or
subscriptions for this purpose, which may be made to our treasurer,
James Starr, or to James Pemberton, chairman of our committee of
correspondence.
Signed by order of the society,
B. FRANKLIN, PRESIDENT.
_Philadelphia,
9th of November, 1789._
FOOTNOTE:
[195] In an American periodical publication, this address and the
plan that follows it are ascribed to the pen of Dr. Franklin, which
induces us to give them a place here. _Editor._
_Plan for improving the Condition of the Free Blacks._
The business relative to free blacks shall be transacted by a
committee of twenty-four persons, annually elected by ballot, at the
meeting of this society, in the month called April; and in order
to perform the different services with expedition, regularity, and
energy, this committee shall resolve itself into the following
sub-committees, viz:
I.
A committee of inspection, who shall superintend the morals, general
conduct, and ordinary situation of the free negroes, and afford them
advice and instruction, protection from wrongs, and other friendly
offices.
II.
A committee of guardians, who shall place out children and young
people with suitable persons, that they may (during a moderate time
of apprenticeship, or servitude) learn some trade or other business
of subsistence. The committee may effect this partly by a persuasive
influence on parents and the persons concerned; and partly by
co-operating with the laws, which are, or may be enacted for this,
and similar purposes: in forming contracts on these occasions, the
committee shall secure to the society, as far as may be practicable,
the right of guardianship over the persons so bound.
III.
A committee of education, who shall superintend the
school-instruction of the children and youth of the free blacks; they
may either influence them to attend regularly the schools, already
established in this city, or form others with this view; they shall,
in either case, provide, that the pupils may receive such learning,
as is necessary for their future situation in life; and especially
a deep impression of the most important, and generally acknowledged
moral and religious principles. They shall also procure and preserve
a regular record of the marriages, births, and manumissions of all
free blacks.
IV.
A committee of employ, who shall endeavour to procure constant
employment for those free negroes who are able to work: as the want
of this would occasion poverty, idleness, and many vicious habits.
This committee will, by sedulous enquiry, be enabled to find common
labour for a great number; they will also provide, that such, as
indicate proper talents, may learn various trades, which may be
done by prevailing upon them to bind themselves for such a term
of years, as shall compensate their masters for the expence and
trouble of instruction and maintenance. The committee may attempt the
institution of some useful and simple manufactures, which require but
little skill, and also may assist, in commencing business, such as
appear to be qualified for it.
Whenever the committee of inspection shall find persons of any
particular description requiring attention, they shall immediately
direct them to the committee, of whose care they are the proper
objects.
In matters of a mixed nature, the committees shall confer, and, if
necessary, act in concert. Affairs of great importance shall be
referred to the whole committee.
The expence, incurred by the prosecution of this plan, shall be
defrayed by a fund, to be formed by donations, or subscriptions, for
these particular purposes, and to be kept separate from the other
funds of this society.
The committee shall make a report of their proceedings, and of the
state of their stock, to the society, at their quarterly meetings, in
the months called April and October.
_Philadelphia,
26th October, 1789._
_Paper: a Poem[196]._
Some wit of old--such wits of old there were--
Whose hints show'd meaning, whose allusions care,
By one brave stroke to mark all human kind,
Call'd clear blank paper ev'ry infant mind;
When still, as opening sense her dictates wrote,
Fair virtue put a seal, or vice a blot.
The thought was happy, pertinent, and true;
Methinks a genius might the plan pursue.
I (can you pardon my presumption), I--
No wit, no genius, yet for once will try.
Various the papers various wants produce,
The wants of fashion, elegance, and use.
Men are as various: and, if right I scan,
Each sort of _paper_ represents some _man_.
Pray note the fop--half powder and half lace--
Nice, as a bandbox were his dwelling-place:
He's the _gilt-paper_, which apart you store,
And lock from vulgar hands in the 'scrutoire.
Mechanics, servants, farmers, and so forth,
Are _copy-paper_, of inferior worth;
Less priz'd, more useful, for your desk decreed,
Free to all pens, and prompt at ev'ry need.
The wretch, whom av'rice bids to pinch and spare,
Starve, cheat, and pilfer, to enrich an heir,
Is coarse _brown-paper_; such as pedlars choose
To wrap up wares, which better men will use.
Take next the miser's contrast, who destroys
Health, fame, and fortune, in a round of joys.
Will any paper match him? Yes, throughout,
He's a true _sinking-paper_, past all doubt.
The retail politician's anxious thought
Deems _this_ side always right, and _that_ stark nought;
He foams with censure; with applause he raves--
A dupe to rumours, and a tool of knaves;
He'll want no type his weakness to proclaim,
While such a thing as _fools-cap_ has a name.
The hasty gentleman, whose blood runs high,
Who picks a quarrel, if you step awry,
Who can't a jest, or hint, or look endure:
What's he? What? _Touch-paper_ to be sure.
What are our poets, take them as they fall,
Good, bad, rich, poor, much read, not read at all?
Them and their works in the same class you'll find;
They are the mere _waste-paper_ of mankind.
Observe the maiden, innocently sweet,
She's fair _white-paper_, an unsullied sheet;
On which the happy man, whom fate ordains,
May write his _name_, and take her for his pains.
One instance more, and only one I'll bring;
'Tis the _great man_ who scorns a little thing,
Whose thoughts, whose deeds, whose maxims are his own,
Form'd on the feelings of his heart alone:
True genuine _royal-paper_ is his breast;
Of all the kinds most precious, purest, best.
FOOTNOTE:
[196] We have been told, that this poem is not Franklin's, and the
name of some other person was at the time mentioned to us as the
author; but as we have forgotten both the name and the authority, and
as the poem has been ascribed to Dr. Franklin in the American Museum,
we think it not right to omit it. _Editor._
_Plain Truth; or serious Considerations on the present State of the
City of Philadelphia, and Province of Pensylvania:_
BY A TRADESMAN OF PHILADELPHIA[197].
Capta urbe, nihil fit reliqui victis. Sed, per deos immortales,
vos ego appello, qui semper domos, villas, signa, tabulas vestras,
tantæ æstimationis fecistis; si ista, cujuscumque modi sint, quæ
amplexamini, retinere, si voluptatibus vestris otium præbere
vultis; expergiscimini aliquando, & capessite rempublicam. Non
agitur nunc de sociorum injuriis; _libertas & anima_ nostra in
dubio est. Dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est. Vos cunctamini
etiam nunc, & dubitatis quid faciatis? Scilicet, res ipsa aspera
est, sed vos non timetis eam. Imo vero maxime; sed inertiâ &
mollitiâ animi, alius alium expectantes, cunctamini; videlicit,
diis immortalibus confisi, qui hanc rempublicam in maximis
periculis servavere _non votis, neque suppliciis muliebribus,
auxilia deorum parantur_: vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo,
prospere omnia cedunt. Ubi socordiæ tete atque ignaviæ tradideris,
nequicquam deos implores; irati, infestique sunt.
M. POR. CAT. IN SALUST.
It is said, the wise Italians make this proverbial remark on our
nation, viz. The English _feel_, but they do not _see_. That is,
they are sensible of inconveniences when they are present, but do
not take sufficient care to prevent them: their natural courage
makes them too little apprehensive of danger, so that they are often
surprised by it, unprovided of the proper means of security. When
it is too late, they are sensible of their imprudence: after great
fires, they provide buckets and engines: after a pestilence, they
think of keeping clean their streets and common sewers: and when a
town has been sacked by their enemies, they provide for its defence,
&c. This kind of _after-wisdom_ is indeed so common with us, as to
occasion the vulgar, though very insignificant saying, _When the
steed is stolen, you shut the stable door_.
But the more insensible we generally are of public danger and
indifferent when warned of it, so much the more freely, openly, and
earnestly, ought such as apprehend it to speak their sentiments;
that, if possible, those who seem to sleep may be awakened, to think
of some means of avoiding or preventing the mischief, before it be
too late.
Believing therefore, that it is my _duty_, I shall honestly speak my
mind in the following paper.
War, at this time, rages over a great part of the known world; our
newspapers are weekly filled with fresh accounts of the destruction
it every where occasions. Pensylvania, indeed, situate in the centre
of the colonies, has hitherto enjoyed profound repose; and though
our nation is engaged in a bloody war, with two great and powerful
kingdoms, yet, defended, in a great degree, from the French, on the
one hand, by the northern provinces, and from the Spaniards, on the
other, by the southern, at no small expence to each, our people have,
till lately, slept securely in their habitations.
There is no British colony, excepting this, but has made some kind
of provision for its defence; many of them have therefore never been
attempted by an enemy; and others, that were attacked, have generally
defended themselves with success. The length and difficulty of our
bay and river have been thought so effectual a security to us, that
hitherto no means have been entered into, that might discourage an
attempt upon us, or prevent its succeeding.
But whatever security this might have been while both country and
city were poor, and the advantage to be expected scarce worth the
hazard of an attempt, it is now doubted, whether we can any longer
safely depend upon it. Our wealth, of late years much encreased,
is one strong temptation, our defenceless state another, to induce
an enemy to attack us; while the acquaintance they have lately
gained with our Bay and river, by means of the prisoners and flags
of truce they have had among us; by spies which they almost every
where maintain, and perhaps from traitors among ourselves; with
the facility of getting pilots to conduct them; and the known
absence of ships of war, during the greatest part of the year, from
both Virginia and New York, ever since the war began, render the
appearance of success to the enemy far more promising, and therefore
highly encrease our danger.
That our enemies may have spies abroad, and some even in these
colonies, will not be made much doubt of, when it is considered, that
such has been the practice of all nations in all ages, whenever
they were engaged, or intended to engage, in war. Of this we have
an early example in the book of Judges (too pertinent to our case,
and therefore I must beg leave a little to enlarge upon it) where
we are told, _Chap._ xviii, v. 2. That _the children of Dan sent of
their family five men from their coasts to spie out the land, and
search it, saying, Go, search the land_. These Danites it seems were
at this time not very orthodox in their religion, and their spies
met with a certain idolatrous priest of their own persuasion, v. 3,
and they said to him, _Who brought thee hither? What makest thou in
this place? And what hast thou here?_ [Would to God no such priests
were to be found among us]. And they said unto him, v. 5. _Ask
counsel of God, that we may know, whether our way which we go shall
be prosperous: and the priest said unto them, Go in peace; before
the Lord is your way wherein you go._ [Are there no priests among
us, think you, that might, in the like case, give an enemy as good
encouragement? It is well known, that we have numbers of the same
religion with those, who of late encouraged the French to invade our
Mother Country.] _And they came_, verse 7, _to Laish, and saw the
people that were therein, how they dwelt_ CARELESS, _after the manner
of the Zidonians_, QUIET _and_ SECURE. They _thought_ themselves
secure, no doubt; and as they _never had been_ disturbed, vainly
imagined they _never should_. It is not unlikely, that some might see
the danger they were exposed to by living in that _careless_ manner;
but that, if these publicly expressed their apprehensions, the rest
reproached them as timorous persons, wanting courage or confidence in
their gods, who (they might say) had hitherto protected them. But
the spies, verse 8, returned, and said to their countrymen, verse 9,
_Arise, that we may go up against them; for we have seen the land,
and behold it is very good! And are ye still? Be not slothful to go._
Verse 10, _when ye go, ye shall come to a people_ SECURE; [that is, a
people that apprehend no danger, and therefore have made no provision
against it; great encouragement this!] _and to a large land, and a
place where there is no want of any thing_. What could they desire
more? Accordingly we find, in the following verses, that _six hundred
men_ only, _appointed with weapons of war_, undertook the conquest of
this _large land_; knowing that 600 men, armed and disciplined, would
be an over-match perhaps for 60,000, unarmed, undisciplined, and off
their guard. And when they went against it, the idolatrous priest,
verse 17, _with his graven image, and his ephod, and his seraphim,
and his molten image_, [plenty of superstitious trinkets] joined with
them, and, no doubt, gave them all the intelligence and assistance in
his power; his heart, as the text assures us, _being glad_, perhaps
for reasons more than one. And now, what was the fate of poor Laish!
The 600 men being arrived, found, as the spies had reported, a people
QUIET and SECURE, verse 20, 21, _And they smote them with the edge
of the sword, and burnt the city with_ FIRE; _and there was no_
DELIVERER, _because it was far from Zidon_.--Not so far from Zidon,
however, as Pensylvania is from Britain; and yet we are, if possible,
more _careless_ than the people of Laish! As the scriptures are given
for our reproof, instruction and warning, may we make a due use of
this example, before it be too late!
And is our _country_, any more than our city, altogether free from
danger? Perhaps not. We have, it is true, had a long peace with the
Indians: but it is a long peace indeed, as well as a long lane, that
has no ending. The French know the power and importance of the Six
Nations, and spare no artifice, pains or expence, to gain them to
their interest. By their priests they have converted many to their
religion, and these[198] have openly espoused their cause. The rest
appear irresolute what part to take; no persuasions, though enforced
with costly presents, having yet been able to engage them generally
on our side, though we had numerous forces on their borders, ready
to second and support them. What then may be expected, now those
forces are, by orders from the crown, to be disbanded, when our
boasted expedition is laid aside, through want (as it may appear to
them) either of strength or courage; when they see, that the French
and their Indians, boldly, and with impunity, ravage the frontiers
of New York, and scalp the inhabitants; when those few Indians,
that engaged with us against the French, are left exposed to their
resentment: when they consider these things, is there no danger that,
through disgust at our usage, joined with fear of the French power,
and greater confidence in their promises and protection than in ours,
they may be wholly gained over by our enemies, and join in the war
against us? If such should be the case, which God forbid, how soon
may the mischief spread to our frontier countries? And what may we
expect to be the consequence, but desertion of plantations, ruin,
bloodshed and confusion!
Perhaps some in the city, towns, and plantations near the river,
may say to themselves, "An Indian war on the frontiers will not
affect us; the enemy will never come near our habitations; let
those concerned take care of themselves." And others who live in
the country, when they are told of the danger the city is in from
attempts by sea, may say, "What is that to us? The enemy will be
satisfied with the plunder of the town, and never think it worth
his while to visit our plantations: let the town take care of
itself."--These are not mere suppositions, for I have heard some
talk in this strange manner. But are these the sentiments of true
Pensylvanians, of fellow-countrymen, or even of men, that have common
sense or goodness? Is not the whole province one body, united by
living under the same laws, and enjoying the same privileges? Are not
the people of city and country connected as relations, both by blood
and marriage, and in friendships equally dear? Are they not likewise
united in interest, and mutually useful and necessary to each other?
When the feet are wounded, shall the head say, it is not me; I will
not trouble myself to contrive relief! Or if the head is in danger,
shall the hands say, we are not affected, and therefore will lend
no assistance! No. For so would the body be easily destroyed: but
when all parts join their endeavours for its security, it is often
preserved. And such should be the union between the country and the
town; and such their mutual endeavours for the safety of the whole.
When New England, a distant colony, involved itself in a grievous
debt to reduce Cape Breton, we freely gave four thousand pounds for
_their_ relief. And at another time, remembering that Great Britain,
still more distant, groaned under heavy taxes in supporting the war,
we threw in our mite to their assistance, by a free gift of three
thousand pounds: and shall country and town join in helping strangers
(as those comparatively are) and yet refuse to assist each other?
But whatever different opinions we have of our security in other
respects, our TRADE, all seem to agree, is in danger of being ruined
in another year. The great success of our enemies, in two different
cruizes this last summer in our bay, must give them the greatest
encouragement to repeat more frequently their visits, the profit
being almost certain, and the risk next to nothing. Will not the
first effect of this be, an enhancing of the price of all foreign
goods to the tradesman and farmer, who use or consume them? For
the rate of insurance will increase, in proportion to the hazard
of importing them; and in the same proportion will the price of
those goods increase. If the price of the tradesman's work, and the
farmer's produce, would increase equally with the price of foreign
commodities, the damage would not be so great: but the direct
contrary must happen. For the same hazard or rate of insurance,
that raises the price of what is imported, must be deducted out of,
and lower the price of what is exported. Without this addition and
deduction, as long as the enemy cruize at our capes, and take those
vessels that attempt to _go out_, as well as those that endeavour to
_come in_, none can afford to trade, and business must be soon at a
stand. And will not the consequences be, a discouragement of many
of the vessels that used to come from other places to purchase our
produce, and thereby a turning of the trade to ports that can be
entered with less danger, and capable of furnishing them with the
same commodities, as New York, &c.; a lessening of business to every
shopkeeper, together with multitudes of bad debts, the high rate of
goods discouraging the buyers, and the low rates of their labour
and produce, rendering them unable to pay for what they had bought;
loss of employment to the tradesman, and bad pay for what little he
does; and lastly, loss of many inhabitants, who will retire to other
provinces not subject to the like inconveniences; whence a lowering
of the value of lands, lots, and houses.
The enemy, no doubt, have been told, that the people of Pensylvania
are Quakers, and against all defence, from a principle of conscience;
this, though true of a part, and that a small part only of the
inhabitants, is commonly said of the whole; and what may make it
look probable to strangers is, that in fact, nothing is done by any
part of the people towards their defence. But to refuse defending
one's self, or one's country, is so unusual a thing among mankind,
that possibly they may not believe it, till by experience, they find
they can come higher and higher up our river, seize our vessels,
land and plunder our plantations and villages, and retire with their
booty unmolested. Will not this confirm the report, and give them the
greatest encouragement to strike one bold stroke for the city, and
for the whole plunder of the river?
It is said by some, that the expence of a vessel, to guard our trade,
would be very heavy, greater than perhaps all the enemy can be
supposed to take from us at sea would amount to; and that it would
be cheaper for the government to open an insurance office, and pay
all losses. But is this right reasoning? I think not; for what the
enemy takes is clear loss to us, and gain to him; increasing his
riches and strength, as much as it diminishes ours, so making the
difference double; whereas the money, paid our own tradesmen for
building and fitting out a vessel of defence, remains in the country,
and circulates among us; what is paid to the officers and seamen,
that navigate her, is also spent ashore, and soon gets into other
hands; the farmer receives the money for her provisions, and, on the
whole, nothing is clearly lost to the country but her wear and tear,
or so much as she sells for at the end of the war less than her first
cost. This loss, and a trifling one it is, is all the inconvenience;
but how many and how great are the conveniences and advantages! and
should the enemy, through our supineness and neglect to provide for
the defence both of our trade and country, be encouraged to attempt
this city, and after plundering us of our goods, either _burn it_,
or put it to ransom, how great would that loss be! besides the
confusion, terror, and distress, so many hundreds of families would
be involved in!
The thought of this latter circumstance so much affects me, that
I cannot forbear expatiating somewhat more upon it. You have, my
dear countrymen and fellow citizens, riches to tempt a considerable
force to unite and attack you, but are under no ties or engagements
to unite for your defence. Hence, on the first alarm, _terror_ will
spread over all; and as no man can with certainty depend that another
will stand by him, beyond doubt very many will seek safety by a
speedy flight. Those, that are reputed rich, will flee, through fear
of torture, to make them produce more than they are able. The man,
that has a wife and children, will find them hanging on his neck,
beseeching him with tears to quit the city, and save his life, to
guide and protect them in that time of general desolation and ruin.
All will run into confusion, amidst cries and lamentations, and the
hurry and disorder of departers, carrying away their effects. The
few that remain will be unable to resist. _Sacking_ the city will
be the first, and _burning_ it, in all probability, the last act of
the enemy. This, I believe, will be the case, if you have timely
notice. But what must be your condition, if suddenly surprized,
without previous alarm, perhaps in the night! Confined to your
houses, you will have nothing to trust to but the enemy's mercy.
Your best fortune will be, to fall under the power of commanders of
king's ships, able to controul the mariners; and not into the hands
of _licentious privateers_. Who can, without the utmost horror,
conceive the miseries of the latter! when your persons, fortunes,
wives, and daughters, shall be subject to the wanton and unbridled
rage, rapine, and lust, of negroes, mulattoes, and others, the vilest
and most abandoned of mankind[199]. A dreadful scene! which some may
represent as exaggerated. I think it my duty to warn you: judge for
yourselves.
It is true, with very little notice, the rich may shift for
themselves. The means of speedy flight are ready in their hands;
and with some previous care to lodge money and effects in distant
and secure places, though they should lose much, yet enough may be
left them, and to spare. But most unhappily circumstanced indeed are
we, the middling people, the tradesmen, shopkeepers, and farmers of
this province and city! We cannot all fly with our families; and if
we could, how shall we subsist? No; we and they, and what little we
have gained by hard labour and industry, must bear the brunt: the
weight of contributions, extorted by the enemy (as it is of taxes
among ourselves) must be surely borne by us. Nor can it be avoided,
as we stand at present; for though we are numerous, we are quite
defenceless, having neither forts, arms, union, nor discipline. And
though it were true, that our trade might be protected at no great
expence, and our country and our city easily defended, if proper
measures were but taken; yet, who shall take these measures? Who
shall pay that expence? On whom may we fix our eyes with the least
expectation, that they will do any thing for our security? Should
we address that wealthy and powerful body of people, who have ever
since the war governed our elections, and filled almost every seat
in our assembly; should we intreat them to consider, if not as
friends, at least as legislators, that _protection_ is as truly due
from the government to the people, as _obedience_ from the people to
the government; and that if, on account of their religious scruples,
they themselves could do no act for our defence, yet they might
retire, relinquish their power for a season, quit the helm to freer
hands during the present tempest, to hands, chosen by their own
interest too, whose prudence and moderation, with regard to them,
they might safely confide in; secure, from their own native strength,
of resuming again their present station, whenever it shall please
them: should we remind them, that the public money, raised _from
all_, belongs _to all_; that since they have, for their own ease,
and to secure themselves in the quiet enjoyment of their religious
principles (and may they long enjoy them) expended such large sums
to oppose petitions, and engage favourable representations of their
conduct, if they themselves could by no means be free to appropriate
any part of the public money for our defence; yet it would be no
more than justice, to spare us a reasonable sum for that purpose,
which they might easily give to the king's use as heretofore,
leaving all the appropriation to others, who would faithfully apply
it as we desired: should we tell them, that though the treasury be
at present empty, it may soon be filled by the outstanding public
debts collected; or at least credit might be had for such a sum, on
a single vote of the assembly: that though _they_ themselves may
be resigned and easy under this naked, defenceless state of the
country, it is far otherwise with a very great part of the people;
with _us_, who can have no confidence that God will protect those,
that neglect the use of rational means for their security; nor have
any reason to hope, that our losses, if we should suffer any, may
be made up by collections in our favour at home. Should we conjure
them by all the ties of neighbourhood, friendship, justice, and
humanity, to consider these things; and what distraction, misery, and
confusion, what desolation and distress, may possibly be the effect
of their _unseasonable_ predominancy and perseverance; yet all would
be in vain: for they have already been, by great numbers of the
people, petitioned in vain. Our late governor did for years solicit,
request, and even threaten them in vain. The council have since twice
remonstrated to them in vain. Their religious prepossessions are
unchangeable, their obstinacy invincible. Is there then the least
hope remaining, that from that quarter any thing should arise for our
security?
And is our prospect better, if we turn our eyes to the strength of
the opposite party, those great and rich men, merchants and others,
who are ever railing at Quakers for doing what their principles
seem to require, and what in charity we ought to believe they think
their duty, but take no one step themselves for the public safety.
They have so much wealth and influence, if they would use it, that
they might easily, by their endeavours and example, raise a military
spirit among us, make us fond, studious of, and expert in, martial
discipline, and affect every thing that is necessary, under God, for
our protection. But _envy_ seems to have taken possession of their
hearts, and to have eaten out and destroyed every generous, noble,
public-spirited sentiment. _Rage_ at the disappointment of their
little schemes for power, gnaws their souls, and fills them with
such cordial hatred to their opponents, that every proposal, by the
execution of which _those_ may receive benefit as well as themselves,
is rejected with indignation. "What," say they, "shall we lay out
our money to protect the trade of Quakers? Shall we fight to defend
Quakers? No; let the trade perish, and the city burn; let what will
happen, we shall never lift a finger to prevent it." Yet the Quakers
have _conscience_ to plead for their resolution not to fight, which
these gentlemen have not. Conscience with you, gentlemen, is on the
other side of the question: conscience enjoins it as a _duty_ on you
(and indeed I think it such on every man) to defend your country,
your friends, your aged parents, your wives, and helpless children:
and yet you resolve not to perform this duty, but act contrary to
your own consciences, because the Quakers act according to theirs.
Till of late, I could scarce believe the story of him, who refused
to pump in a sinking ship, because one on board, whom he hated,
would be saved by it as well as himself. But such, it seems, is the
unhappiness of human nature, that our passions, when violent, often
are too hard for the united force of reason, duty, and religion.
Thus unfortunately are we circumstanced at this time, my dear
countrymen and fellow-citizens; we, I mean, the middling people;
the farmers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen of this city and country.
Through the dissensions of our leaders, through mistaken principles
of religion, joined with a love of worldly power, on the one hand;
through pride, envy, and implacable resentment on the other;
our lives, our families, and little fortunes, dear to us as any
great man's can be to him, are to remain continually exposed to
destruction, from an enterprising, cruel, now well-informed, and
by success encouraged, enemy. It seems as if heaven, justly
displeased at our growing wickedness, and determined to punish[200]
this once-favoured land, had suffered our chiefs to engage in these
foolish and mischievous contentions, for _little posts_ and _paltry
distinctions_, that our hands might be bound up, our understandings
darkened and misled, and every means of our security neglected. It
seems as if our greatest men, our _cives nobilissimi_[201] of both
parties, had sworn the ruin of the country, and invited the French,
our most inveterate enemy to destroy it. Where then shall we seek
for succour and protection? The government we are immediately under
denies it to us; and if the enemy comes, we are _far from Zidon, and
there is no deliverer near_. Our case is dangerously bad; but perhaps
there is yet a remedy, if we have but the prudence and the spirit to
apply it.
If this new flourishing city, and greatly improving colony, is
destroyed and ruined, it will not be for want of numbers of
inhabitants able to bear arms in its defence. It is computed, that we
have at least (exclusive of the Quakers) sixty thousand fighting men,
acquainted with fire arms, many of them hunters and marksmen, hardy
and bold. All we want is order, discipline, and a few cannon. At
present we are like the separate filaments of flax before the thread
is formed, without strength, because without connection; but UNION
would make us strong, and even formidable. Though the _great_ should
neither help nor join us; though they should even oppose our uniting,
from some mean views of their own, yet, if we resolve upon it, and it
please God to inspire us with the necessary prudence and vigour, it
_may_ be effected. Great numbers of our people are of British race,
and though the fierce fighting animals of those happy islands are
said to abate their native fire and intrepidity, when removed to a
foreign clime, yet with the people it is not so; our neighbours of
New England afford the world a convincing proof, that Britons, though
a hundred years transplanted, and to the remotest part of the earth,
may yet retain, even to the third and fourth descent, that zeal for
the public good, that military prowess, and that undaunted spirit,
which has in every age distinguished their nation. What numbers
have we likewise of _those brave people_, whose fathers in the last
age made so glorious a stand for our religion and liberties, when
invaded by a powerful French army, joined by Irish Catholics, under
a bigotted popish king! Let the memorable siege of Londonderry, and
the signal actions of the Iniskillingers, by which the heart of that
prince's schemes was broken, be perpetual testimonies of the courage
and conduct of those noble warriors! Nor are there wanting amongst
us, thousands of _that warlike_ nation, whose sons have ever since
the time of Cæsar maintained the character he gave their fathers,
of joining the most _obstinate courage_ to all the other military
virtues: I mean the brave and steady Germans. Numbers of whom have
actually borne arms in the service of their respective princes; and
if they fought well for their tyrants and oppressors, would they
refuse to unite with us in defence of their newly acquired and most
precious liberty and property? Were this union formed, were we once
united, thoroughly armed and disciplined, was every thing in our
power done for our security, as far as human means and foresight
could provide, we might then, with more propriety, humbly ask the
assistance of Heaven, and a blessing on our lawful endeavours.
The very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of
discouraging our enemies; for it is a wise and true saying, that _one
sword often keeps another in the scabbard_. The way to secure peace
is to be prepared for war. They, that are on their guard, and appear
ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being
attacked, than the supine, secure and negligent. We have yet a winter
before us, which may afford a good and almost sufficient opportunity
for this, if we seize and improve it with a becoming vigour. And if
the hints contained in this paper are so happy as to meet with a
suitable disposition of mind in his countrymen and fellow-citizens,
the writer of it will, in a few days, lay before them a form of
an ASSOCIATION for the purposes herein mentioned, together with a
practicable scheme for raising the money necessary for the defence of
our trade, city, and country, without laying a burthen on any man.
_May the God of wisdom, strength, and power, the Lord of the armies
of Israel, inspire us with prudence in this time of danger, take
away from us all the seeds of contention and division, and unite the
hearts and counsels of all of us, of whatever sect or nation, in one
bond of peace, brotherly love, and generous public spirit; may he
give us strength and resolution to amend our lives, and remove from
among us every thing that is displeasing to him; afford us his most
gracious protection, confound the designs of our enemies, and give
peace in all our borders, is the sincere prayer of_
A TRADESMAN of Philadelphia.
FOOTNOTES:
[197] For this pamphlet we are indebted to the same American
correspondent, who furnished us with the papers intitled The
Busy-Body: but it came too late for insertion in its proper place,
which, agreeably to its date, is at the commencement of the present
volume. Dr. W. Smith, in his eulogium on our author, delivered before
the American philosophical society, speaks of this production as
follows: "In 1744, a Spanish privateer, having entered the Bay of
Delaware, ascended as high as Newcastle, to the great terror of the
citizens of Philadelphia. On this occasion Franklin wrote his first
political pamphlet called Plain Truth, to exhort his fellow-citizens
to the bearing of arms; which laid the foundation of those military
associations, which followed, at different times, for the defence of
the country." We presume that Dr. Smith is correct in his date, but
the copy sent us by our correspondent, which is the second edition,
was printed in 1747. _Editor._
[198] The praying Indians.
[199] By accounts, the ragged crew of the Spanish privateer that
plundered Mr. Liston's, and another plantation, a little below
Newcastle, was composed of such as these. The _honour_ and _humanity_
of their officers may be judged of, by the treatment they gave
poor captain Brown, whom they took with Martin's ship in returning
from their cruize. Because he bravely defended himself and vessel
longer than they expected, for which every generous enemy would
have esteemed him, did they, after he had struck and submitted,
barbarously _stab_ and _murder_ him, though on his knees begging
quarter!
[200] When God determined to punish his chosen people, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, though breakers of his other laws,
were scrupulous observers of that ONE, which required keeping holy
the Sabbath-day; he suffered even the strict observation of that
command to be their ruin: for Pompey, observing that they then
obstinately refused to fight, made a general assault on that day,
took the town, and butchered them with as little mercy as he found
resistance.
JOSEPHUS.
[201] Conjuravere cives nobilissimi patriam incendere; GALLORUM
GENTEM, infestissimam nomini Romano, ad bellum arcessunt.
CAT. IN SALUST.
_Four Letters[202] to George Whatley, Esq. Treasurer of the
Foundling Hospital, London._
Letter I.
_Passy, near Paris, Aug. 21, 1784._
MY DEAR OLD FRIEND,
I received your kind letter of May 3, 1783. I am ashamed that it
has been so long unanswered. The indolence of old age, frequent
indisposition, and too much business, are my only excuses. I had
great pleasure in reading it, as it informed me of your welfare.
Your excellent little work, "The Principles of Trade," is too
little known. I wish you would send me a copy of it by the bearer,
my grandson and secretary, whom I beg leave to recommend to your
civilities. I would get it translated and printed here, and if your
bookseller has any quantity of them left, I should be glad he would
send them to America. The ideas of our people there, though rather
better than those that prevail in Europe, are not so good as they
should be: and that piece might be of service among them.
Since and soon after the date of your letter, we lost, unaccountably
as well as unfortunately, that worthy, valuable young man you
mention, your namesake Maddeson. He was infinitely regretted by all
that knew him.
I am sorry your favourite charity does not go on as you could wish
it. It is shrunk indeed by your admitting only 60 children in a year.
What you have told your brethren respecting America is true. If you
find it difficult to dispose of your children in England, it looks
as if you had too many people. And yet you are afraid of emigration.
A subscription is lately set on foot here to encourage and assist
mothers in nursing their infants themselves at home; the practice of
sending them to the _Enfans Trouvés_ having risen here to a monstrous
excess, as by the annual bills it appears they amount to near one
third of the children born in Paris. This subscription is likely to
succeed, and may do a great deal of good, though it cannot answer all
the purposes of a foundling hospital.
Your eyes must continue very good, since you are able to write so
small a hand without spectacles. I cannot distinguish a letter even
of large print, but am happy in the invention of double spectacles,
which, serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my
eyes as useful to me as ever they were. If all the other defects and
infirmities of old age could be as easily and cheaply remedied, it
would be worth while, my friend, to live a good deal longer. But I
look upon death to be as necessary to our constitutions as sleep. We
shall rise refreshed in the morning.--Adieu, and believe me ever,
Your's most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
Letter II.
_Passy, May 19, 1785._
DEAR OLD FRIEND,
I received the very good letter you sent me by my grandson, together
with your resemblance, which is placed in my chamber and gives me
great pleasure: there is no trade, they say, without returns, and
therefore I am punctual in making those you have ordered. I intended
this should have been a long epistle, but I am interrupted, and can
only add, that I am ever,
Yours, most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
My grandson presents his most affectionate respects.
Letter III.
_Passy, May 23, 1785._
DEAR OLD FRIEND,
I sent you a few lines the other day with the medallion, when I
should have written more, but was prevented by the coming in of a
_bavard_, who worried me till evening. I bore with him, and now you
are to bear with me, for I shall probably _bavarder_ in answering
your letter.
I am not acquainted with the saying of Alphonsus, which you allude to
as a sanctification of your rigidity in refusing to allow me the plea
of old age as an excuse for my want of exactitude in correspondence.
What was that saying?--You do not, it seems, feel any occasion for
such an excuse, though you are, as you say, rising 75, but I am
rising (perhaps more properly falling) 80--and I leave the excuse
with you till you arrive at that age; perhaps you may then be more
sensible of its validity, and see fit to use it for yourself.
I must agree with you, that the gout is bad, and that the stone is
worse. I am happy in not having them both together, and I join in
your prayer, that you may live till you die without either. But I
doubt the author of the epitaph you sent me is a little mistaken,
when, speaking of the world, he says, that
----------------He ne'er car'd a pin
What they said or may say of the mortal within.
It is so natural to wish to be well spoken of, whether alive or dead,
that I imagine he could not be quite exempt from that desire, and
that at least he wished to be thought a wit, or he would not have
given himself the trouble of writing so good an epitaph to leave
behind him. Was it not worthy of his care, that the world should
say he was an honest and a good man? I like better the concluding
sentiment in the old song, called the old man's wish, wherein, after
wishing for a warm house in a country town, an easy horse, some good
old authors, ingenious and cheerful companions, pudding on Sundays,
with stout ale and a bottle of burgundy, &c. &c. in separate
stanzas, each ending with this burden,
May I govern my passions with absolute sway,
And grow wiser and better as strength wears away,
Without gout or stone by a gentle decay--
he adds for the last stanza,
With courage undaunted may I face my last day,
And when I am gone may the better sort say,
In the morning when sober, in the evening when mellow,
He's gone--and not left behind him his fellow.
For he govern'd his passions, &c.
What signifies our wishing? Things happen after all as they will
happen. I have sung that _wishing song_ a thousand times when I was
young, and now find at fourscore, that the three contraries have
befallen me, being subject to the gout, and the stone, and not being
yet master of all my passions. Like the proud girl in my country,
who wished and resolved not to marry a parson, nor a presbyterian,
nor an Irishman, and at length found herself married to an Irish
presbyterian parson! You see I have some reason to wish that in a
future state I may not only be _as well as I was_, but a little
better. And I hope it: for I too, with your poet, _trust in God_. And
when I observe, that there is great frugality as well as wisdom in
his works, since he has been evidently sparing, both of labour and
materials; for by the various wonderful inventions of propagation,
he has provided for the continual peopling his world with plants and
animals without being at the trouble of repeated new creations; and
by the natural reduction of compound substances to their original
elements, capable of being employed in new compositions, he has
prevented the necessity of creating new matter; for that the earth,
water, air, and perhaps fire, which being compounded, form wood, do,
when the wood is dissolved, return, and again become air, earth, fire
and water:--I say, that when I see nothing annihilated, and not even
a drop of water wasted, I cannot suspect the annihilation of souls,
or believe that he will suffer the daily waste of millions of minds
ready made that now exist, and put himself to the continual trouble
of making new ones. Thus finding myself to exist in the world, I
believe I shall in some shape or other always exist. And with all the
inconveniences human _life_ is liable to, I shall not object to a new
edition of mine; hoping, however, that the errata of the last may be
corrected.
I return your note of children received in the foundling hospital
at Paris, from 1741 to 1755 inclusive, and I have added the
years preceding, as far back as 1710, together with the general
christenings of the city; and the years succeeding, down to 1770.
Those since that period I have not been able to obtain. I have noted
in the margin the gradual increase, viz. from every tenth child so
thrown upon the public, till it comes to every third. Fifteen years
have passed since the last account, and probably it may now amount
to one half. Is it right to encourage this monstrous deficiency of
natural affection? A surgeon I met with here excused the women of
Paris, by saying seriously, that they _could not_ give suck, _Car,
dit-il, ils n'ont point de tetons_. He assured me it was a fact, and
bade me look at them, and observe how flat they were on the breast;
they have nothing more there, says he, than I have upon the back
of my hand. I have since thought that there might be some truth in
his observation, and that possibly Nature finding they made no use
of bubbies, has left off giving them any. Yet since Rousseau, with
admirable eloquence pleaded for the rights of children to their
mother's milk, the mode has changed a little, and some ladies of
quality now suckle their infants and find milk enough. May the mode
descend to the lower ranks, till it becomes no longer the custom to
pack their infants away, as soon as born, to the _Enfants Trouvés_,
with the careless observation, that the king is better able to
maintain them. I am credibly informed, that nine-tenths of them
die there pretty soon; which is said to be a great relief to the
institution, whose funds would not otherwise be sufficient to bring
up the remainder. Except the few persons of quality above-mentioned,
and the multitude who send to the hospital, the practice is to hire
nurses in the country, to carry out the children and take care of
them there. Here is an office for examining the health of nurses and
giving them licences. They come to town on certain days of the week
in companies to receive the children, and we often meet trains of
them on the road returning to the neighbouring villages with each
a child in arms. But those who are good enough to try this way of
raising their children are often not able to pay the expence, so that
the prisons of Paris are crouded with wretched fathers and mothers
confined _pour mois de nourice_; though it is laudably a favourite
charity to pay for them, and set such prisoners at liberty. I wish
success to the new project of assisting the poor to keep their
children at home, because I think there is no nurse like a mother (or
not many) and that if parents did not immediately send their infants
out of their sight, they would in a few days begin to love them, and
thence be spurred to greater industry for their maintenance. This is
a subject you understand better than I, and therefore, having perhaps
said too much, I drop it. I only add to the notes a remark from the
history of the Academy of Sciences, much in favour of the foundling
institution.
The Philadelphia bank goes on, as I hear, very well. What you call
the Cincinnati institution is no institution of our government, but
a private convention among the officers of our late army, and so
universally disliked by the people, that it is supposed it will be
dropped. It was considered as an attempt to establish something like
an hereditary rank or nobility. I hold with you that it was wrong;
may I add, that all descending honours are wrong and absurd; that
the honour of virtuous actions appertains only to him that performs
them, and is in its nature incommunicable. If it were communicable
by descent, it must also be divisible among the descendants, and
the more ancient the family the less would be found existing in any
one branch of it; to say nothing of the greater chance of unlucky
interruptions.
Our constitution seems not to be well understood with you. If the
congress were a permanent body, there would be more reason in being
jealous of giving it powers. But its members are chosen annually, and
cannot be chosen more than three years successively, nor more than
three years in seven, and any of them may be recalled at any time,
whenever their constituents shall be dissatisfied with their conduct.
They are of the people, and return again to mix with the people,
having no more durable pre-eminence than the different grains of sand
in an hour-glass. Such an assembly cannot easily become dangerous
to liberty. They are the servants of the people, sent together to do
the people's business and promote the public welfare; their powers
must be sufficient, or their duties cannot be performed. They have
no profitable appointments, but a mere payment of daily wages, such
as are scarcely equivalent to their expences, so that having no
chance for great places and enormous salaries or pensions, as in some
countries, there is no briguing or bribing for elections. I wish old
England were as happy in its government, but I do not see it. Your
people, however, think their constitution the best in the world, and
affect to despise ours. It is comfortable to have a good opinion of
one's self, and of every thing that belongs to us, to think one's own
religion, king, and wife, the best of all possible wives, kings, and
religions. I remember three Greenlanders, who had travelled two years
in Europe, under the care of some Moravian missionaries, and had
visited Germany, Denmark, Holland and England, when I asked them at
Philadelphia (when they were in their way home) whether, now they had
seen how much more commodiously the white people lived by the help of
the arts, they would not chuse to remain among us--their answer was,
that they were pleased with having had an opportunity of seeing many
fine things, _but they chose to live in their own country_: which
country, by the way, consisted of rock only, for the Moravians were
obliged to carry earth in their ship from New York, for the purpose
of making there a cabbage garden!
By Mr. Dollond's saying, that my double spectacles could only serve
particular eyes, I doubt he has not been rightly informed of their
construction, I imagine it will be found pretty generally true, that
the same convexity of glass through which a man sees clearest and
best at the distance proper for reading, is not the best for greater
distances. I therefore had formerly two pair of spectacles, which I
shifted occasionally, as in travelling I sometimes read and often
want to regard the prospects. Finding this change troublesome, and
not always sufficiently ready, I had the glasses cut out and half
of each kind associated in the same circle, the least convex, for
distant objects the upper half, and the most convex, for reading,
the lower half: by this means, as I wear my spectacles constantly,
I have only to move my eyes up or down, as I want to see distinctly
far or near, the proper glasses being always ready. This I find more
particularly convenient since my being in France; the glasses that
serve me best at table to see what I eat, being the best to see the
faces of those on the other side of the table who speak to me, and
when one's ears are not well accustomed to the sounds of a language,
a sight of the movements in the features of him that speaks helps
to explain; so that I understand French better by the help of my
spectacles.
My intended translator of your piece, the only one I know who
understands _the subject_ as well as the two languages, which a
translator ought to do, or he cannot make so good a translation, is
at present occupied in an affair that prevents his undertaking it;
but that will soon be over.--I thank you for the notes. I should be
glad to have another of the printed pamphlets.
We shall always be ready to take your children, if you send them to
us; I only wonder, that since London draws to itself and consumes
such numbers of your country people, your country should not, to
supply their places, want and willingly receive the children you have
to dispose of. That circumstance, together with the multitude who
voluntarily part with their freedom as men, to serve for a time as
lacqueys, or for life as soldiers in consideration of small wages,
seems to me a proof that your island is over-peopled, and yet it is
afraid of emigrations! Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever,
Yours, very affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
Letter IV.
_Philadelphia, May 18, 1787._
I received duly my good old friend's letter of the 19th of February,
with a copy of one from Mr. Williams, to whom I shall communicate it
when I see him, which I expect soon to do. He is generally a punctual
correspondent, and I am surprised you have not heard from him.
I thank you much for your notes on banks; they are just and
solid, as far as I can judge of them. Our bank here has met with
great opposition, partly from envy, and partly from those who
wish an emission of more paper-money, which they think the bank
influence prevents. But it has stood all attacks, and went on well
notwithstanding the assembly repealed its charter; a new assembly has
restored it; and the management is so prudent, that I have no doubt
of its continuing to go on well. The dividend has never been less
than 6 per cent, nor will that be augmented for some time, as the
surplus profit is reserved to face accidents. The dividend of 11 per
cent, which was once made, was from a circumstance scarce avoidable.
A new company was proposed, and prevented only by admitting a number
of new partners. As many of the first set were averse to this, and
chose to withdraw; it was necessary to settle their accounts; so all
were adjusted, the profits shared that had been accumulated, and the
new and old proprietors jointly began on a new and equal footing.
Their notes are always instantly paid on demand, and pass on all
occasions as readily as silver, because they will always produce
silver.
Your medallion is in good company, it is placed with those of Lord
Chatham, Lord Camden, Marquis of Rockingham, Sir George Savil, and
some others, who honoured me with a share of friendly regard when in
England. I believe I have thanked you for it, but I thank you again.
I believe with you, that if our plenipotentiary is desirous of
concluding a treaty of commerce, he may need patience. But if I were
in his place, and not otherwise instructed, I should be apt to say,
Take your own time, gentlemen. If the treaty cannot be made as much
to your advantage as to ours, don't make it. I am sure the want of it
is not more to our disadvantage than to yours. Let the merchants on
both sides treat with one another. _Laissez les faire._
I have never considered attentively the congress scheme for coining,
and I have it not now at hand, so that at present I can say nothing
to it. The chief uses of coining seem to be ascertaining the fineness
of the metals, and saving the time that would otherwise be spent in
weighing to ascertain the quantity. But the convenience of fixed
values to pieces is so great as to force the currency of some whose
stamp is worn off, that should have assured their fineness, and which
are evidently not of half their due weight; this is the case at
present with the sixpences in England, which one with another do not
weigh three-pence.
You are now 78, and I am 82. You tread fast upon my heels: but,
though you have more strength and spirit, you cannot come up with
me till I stop; which must now be soon; for I am grown so old as to
have buried most of the friends of my youth; and I now often hear
persons, whom I knew when children, called _old_ Mr. such a one, to
distinguish them from their sons now men grown, and in business; so
that by living twelve years beyond _David's_ period, I seem to have
intruded myself into the company of posterity, when I ought to have
been a-bed and asleep. Yet had I gone at 70, it would have cut off 12
of the most active years of my life, employed too in matters of the
greatest importance; but whether I have been doing good or mischief,
is for time to discover. I only know that I intended well, and I hope
all will end well.
Be so good as to present my affectionate respects to Dr. Rowley. I
am under great obligations to him, and shall write to him shortly.
It will be a pleasure to him to hear that my malady does not grow
sensibly worse, and that is a great point: for it has always been so
tolerable, as not to prevent my enjoying the pleasures of society,
and being cheerful in conversation. I owe this in a great measure to
his good counsels.
Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever,
Yours, most affectionately,
B. FRANKLIN.
_Geo. Whatley, Esq._
FOOTNOTE:
[202] These letters did not come into our possession till the
preceding sheets and even the subsequent appendix were printed. We
are indebted for them to Mr. I. T. Rutt, the originals of which were
put into his hands about twelve years ago by a relation of his, the
nephew of the gentleman to whom they were addressed. "Mr. Whatley,
the friend of Dr. Franklin," Mr. Rutt informs us, "had engaged in
mercantile pursuits, and was for some time a British consul in the
Mediterranean. During the latter years of his life, he devoted his
time to various objects of public utility, for which he was well
qualified, and particularly attached himself to the interests of
the Foundling Hospital, of which he was the treasurer. He died in
1791, aged 82, having survived his correspondent not quite a year."
_Editor._
APPENDIX, No. II.
CONTAINING LETTERS, BY SEVERAL EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF DR.
FRANKLIN'S MANNERS AND CHARACTER.
_Letter from the late Dr. Price to a Gentleman in America._
_Hackney, June 19, 1790._
DEAR SIR,
I am hardly able to tell you how kindly I take the letters with which
you favour me. Your last, containing an account of the death of our
excellent friend, Dr. Franklin, and the circumstances attending it,
deserves my particular gratitude. The account which he has left of
his life will show, in a striking example, how a man, by talents,
industry, and integrity, may rise from obscurity to the first
eminence and consequence in the world; but it brings his history no
lower than the year 1757, and I understand, that since he sent over
the copy, which I have read, he has been able to make no additions to
it. It is with a melancholy regret I think of his death; but to death
we are all bound by the irreversible order of nature, and in looking
forward to it, there is comfort in being able to reflect--that we
have not lived in vain, and that all the useful and virtuous shall
meet in a better country beyond the grave.
Dr. Franklin, in the last letter I received from him, after
mentioning his age and infirmities, observes, that it has been
kindly ordered by the author of nature, that, as we draw nearer the
conclusion of life, we are furnished with more helps to wean us from
it, among which one of the strongest is the loss of dear friends. I
was delighted with the account you gave in your letter of the honour
shown to his memory at Philadelphia, and by congress; and yesterday
I received a high additional pleasure, by being informed, that the
national assembly of France had determined to go into mourning for
him[203].--What a glorious scene is opened there! The annals of the
world furnish no parallel to it. One of the honours of our departed
friend is, that he has contributed much to it.
I am, with great respect,
Your obliged and very
humble servant,
RICHARD PRICE.
FOOTNOTE:
[203] Congress ordered a general mourning throughout the United
States for a month: the national assembly of France decreed, that
the assembly do wear mourning for three days, that a funeral oration
be delivered by M. Mirabeau, the elder, and that the president
write a letter of condolence to congress: and the common-council of
Paris paid the extraordinary tribute, of attending in a body at a
funeral oration, delivered by the Abbe Fauchet, in the Rotunda of the
market-place, which was hung with black, illuminated with chandeliers
and rows of lamps, and decorated with suitable devices. _Editor._
_Letter from Mr. Thomas Jefferson to the late Dr. William Smith, of
Philadelphia[204]._
I feel both the wish and the duty to communicate, in compliance with
your request, whatever, within my knowledge, might render justice to
the memory of our great countryman, Dr. Franklin, in whom philosophy
has to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But my
opportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his life have not
been equal to my desire of making them known.
I can only, therefore, testify in general, that there appeared
to me more respect and veneration attached to the character of
Dr. Franklin in France, than to that of any other person in the
same country, foreign or native. I had opportunities of knowing
particularly, how far these sentiments were felt by the foreign
ambassadors and ministers at the court of Versailles. The fable of
his capture by the Algerines, propagated by the English newspapers,
excited no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up
to please certain readers; but nothing could exceed the anxiety of
his diplomatic brethren on a subsequent report of his death, which,
although premature, bore some marks of authenticity.
I found the ministers of France equally impressed with his talents
and integrity. The count de Vergennes, particularly, gave me repeated
and unequivocal demonstrations of his entire confidence in him.
When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its
patriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the
king ordered him to be handsomely complimented, and furnished him
with a litter and mules of his own, the only kind of conveyance the
state of his health could bear.
The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the court of France, was an
excellent school of humility to me. On being presented to any one, as
the minister of America, the common-place question was, "_c'est vous
Monsieur, qui remplacez le Docteur Franklin?_"--is it you, sir, who
replace Dr. Franklin? I generally answered--"No one can replace him,
sir; I am only his successor."
I could here relate a number of those _bon mots_, with which he was
used to charm every society, as having heard many of them; but these
are not your object. Particulars of greater dignity happened not to
occur, during his stay of nine months after my arrival in France.
A little before that time, Argand had invented his celebrated lamp,
in which the flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, and thus brought
into contact with the air, within as well as without. Dr. Franklin
had been on the point of the same discovery. The idea had occurred to
him; but he had tried a bullrush as a wick, which did not succeed.
His occupations did not permit him to repeat and extend his trials to
the introduction of a larger column of air, than could pass through
the stem of a bullrush.
About that time, also, the king of France gave him a signal testimony
of respect, by joining him with some of the most illustrious men of
the nation to examine that ignis-fatuus of philosophy, the animal
magnetism of the maniac, Mesmer; the pretended effects of which had
astonished all Paris. From Dr. Franklin's hand, in conjunction with
his brethren of the learned committee, that compound of fraud and
folly was unveiled, and received its death-wound. After this nothing
very interesting was before the public, either in philosophy or
politics, during his stay; and he was principally occupied in winding
up his affairs, and preparing for his return to America.
These small offerings to the memory of our great and dear friend
(whom time will be making still greater, while it is spunging us from
its records) must be accepted by you, sir, in that spirit of love
and veneration for him, in which they are made; and not according to
their insignificancy in the eyes of a world, which did not want this
mite to fill up the measure of his worth.
His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at some time or
other. We have reason to be thankful he was so long spared; that the
most useful life should be the longest also; that it was protracted
so far beyond the ordinary span allotted to humanity, as to avail us
of his wisdom and virtue, in the establishment of our freedom in the
west; and to bless him with a view of its dawn in the east, where men
seemed till now to have learned every thing--but _how to be free_.
FOOTNOTE:
[204] Extracted from the Eulogium on Dr. Franklin, delivered by Dr.
W. Smith, before the American philosophical society. _Editor._
_Letter from the late Dr. Joseph Priestley to the Editor of the
Monthly Magazine[205]._
SIR,
I have just read in the Monthly Review, vol. 36, p. 357, that the
late Mr. Pennant said of Dr. Franklin, that, "living under the
protection of our mild government, he was secretly playing the
incendiary, and too successfully inflaming the minds of our fellow
subjects in America, till that great explosion happened, which for
ever disunited us from our once happy colonies."
As it is in my power, as far as my testimony will be regarded, to
refute this charge, I think it due to our friendship to do it. It
is probable, that no person now living was better acquainted with
Dr. Franklin and his sentiments on all subjects of importance, than
myself, for several years before the American war. I think I knew him
as well as one man can generally know another. At that time I spent
the winters in London, in the family of the Marquis of Lansdown,
and few days passed without my seeing more or less of Dr. Franklin;
and the last day that he passed in England, having given out that
he should depart the day before, we spent together, without any
interruption, from morning till night.
Now he was so far from wishing for a rupture with the colonies,
that he did more than most men would have done, to prevent it. His
constant advice to his countrymen, he always said, was "to bear every
thing from England, however unjust;" saying, that "it could not
last long, as they would soon outgrow all their hardships." On this
account Dr. Price, who then corresponded with some of the principal
persons in America, said, he began to be very unpopular there. He
always said, "If there must be a war, it will be a war of ten years,
and I shall not live to see the end of it." This I have heard him say
many times.
It was at his request, enforced by that of Dr. Fothergil, that I
wrote an anonymous pamphlet, calculated to show the injustice and
impolicy of a war with the colonies, previous to the meeting of a new
parliament. As I then lived at Leeds, he corrected the press himself,
and, to a passage, in which I lamented the attempt to establish
arbitrary power in so large a part of the British empire, he added
the following clause, "to the imminent danger of our most valuable
commerce, and of that national strength, security, and felicity,
which depend on union and on liberty."
The unity of the British empire, in all its parts, was a favourite
idea of his. He used to compare it to a beautiful China vase, which,
if once broken, could never be put together again: and so great an
admirer was he at the time of the British constitution, that he said
he saw no inconvenience from its being extended over a great part
of the globe. With these sentiments he left England; but when, on
his arrival in America, he found the war begun, and that there was
no receding, no man entered more warmly into the interests of what
he then considered as _his country_, in opposition to that of Great
Britain. Three of his letters to me, one written immediately on his
landing, and published in the collection of his Miscellaneous Works,
p. 365, 552, and 555[206], will prove this.
By many persons, Dr. Franklin is considered as having been a
cold-hearted man, so callous to every feeling of humanity, that the
prospect of all the horrors of a civil war could not affect him. This
was far from being the case. A great part of the day abovementioned
that we spent together, he was looking over a number of American
newspapers, directing me what to extract from them for the English
ones; and, in reading them, he was frequently not able to proceed
for the tears literally running down his cheeks. To strangers he was
cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged to more
pleasantry and good humour. By this he was the delight of a club, to
which he alludes in one of the letters above referred to, called the
_whig-club_, that met at the London coffee-house, of which Dr. Price,
Dr. Kippis, Mr. John Lee, and others of the same stamp, were members.
Hoping that this vindication of Dr. Franklin will give pleasure to
many of your readers, I shall proceed to relate some particulars
relating to his behaviour, when lord Loughborough, then Mr.
Wedderburn, pronounced his violent invective against him at the
privy-council, on his presenting the complaints of the province of
Massachusetts (I think it was) against their governor. Some of the
particulars may be thought amusing.
On the morning of the day on which the cause was to be heard, I
met Mr. Burke, in Parliament-street, accompanied by Dr. Douglas,
afterwards bishop of Carlisle; and after introducing us to each
other, as men of letters, he asked me whither I was going? I said I
could tell him where I _wished_ to go. He then asking me where that
was, I said to the privy-council, but that I was afraid I could not
get admission. He then desired me to go along with him. Accordingly
I did; but when we got into the anti-room, we found it quite filled
with persons as desirous of getting admission as ourselves. Seeing
this, I said, we should never get through the crowd. He said, "Give
me your arm;" and locking it fast in his, he soon made his way to
the door of the privy-council. I then said, Mr. Burke, you are an
excellent leader; he replied, "I wish other persons thought so too."
After waiting a short time, the door of the privy-council opened,
and we entered the first, when Mr. Burke took his stand behind the
first chair next to the president, and I behind that the next to his.
When the business was opened, it was sufficiently evident, from the
speech of Mr. Wedderburn, who was counsel for the governor, that the
real object of the court was to insult Dr. Franklin. All this time
he stood in a corner of the room, not far from me, without the least
apparent emotion.
Mr. Dunning, who was the leading counsel on the part of the colony,
was so hoarse, that he could hardly make himself heard; and Mr. Lee,
who was the second, spoke but feebly in reply; so that Mr. Wedderburn
had a complete triumph. At the sallies of his sarcastic wit, all
the members of the council, the president himself (Lord Gower) not
excepted, frequently laughed outright. No person belonging to the
council behaved with decent gravity, except Lord North, who, coming
late, took his stand behind the chair opposite to me.
When the business was over, Dr. Franklin, in going out, took me by
the hand, in a manner that indicated some feeling. I soon followed
him, and going through the anti-room, saw Mr. Wedderburn there
surrounded with a circle of his friends and admirers. Being known to
him, he stepped forwards as if to speak to me; but I turned aside,
and made what haste I could out of the place.
The next morning I breakfasted with the doctor, when he said, "He
had never before been so sensible of the power of a good conscience;
for that if he had not considered the thing for which he had been
so much insulted, as one of the best actions of his life, and what
he should certainly do again in the same circumstances, he could not
have supported it." He was accused of clandestinely procuring certain
letters, containing complaints against the governor, and sending them
to America, with a view to excite their animosity against him, and
thus to embroil the two countries. But he assured me, that he did not
even know that such letters existed, till they were brought to him
as agent for the colony, in order to be sent to his constituents;
and the cover of the letters on which the direction had been
written, being lost, he only guessed at the person to whom they were
addressed, by the contents.
That Dr. Franklin, notwithstanding he did not show it at the time,
was much impressed by the business of the privy council, appeared
from this circumstance: when he attended there, he was dressed in
a suit of Manchester velvet; and Silas Dean told me, that, when
they met at Paris to sign the treaty between France and America, he
purposely put on that suit.
Hoping that this communication will be of some service to the memory
of Dr. Franklin, and gratify his friends,
I am, sir, your's, &c.
J. PRIESTLEY.
_Northumberland, Nov. 10, 1802._
FOOTNOTES:
[205] Inserted in the number for February, 1803. _Editor._
[206] Answering to page [___] of the present volume. _Editor._
FINIS.
JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,
_Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row_.
INDEX.
A.
_Accent_, or emphasis, wrong placing of, a fault in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Accidents_ at sea, how to guard against, ii. 172.
_Adams_, Mr. Matthew, offers the use of his library to Franklin, i. 16.
_Addison_, Franklin an assiduous imitator of, in his youth, i. 13.
_Advice_ to youth in reading, ii. 378.
to emigrants to America, iii. 398.
to a crafty statesman, 430.
to a young tradesman, 463.
to a young married man, 477.
to players at chess, 490.
_Æpinus_, his hypothesis of magnetism, i. 412.
_Agriculture_ takes place of manufactures till a country is fully settled,
iii. 107.
the great business of America, 393.
_Air_, some of the properties of, ii. 226.
its properties with respect to electricity, i. 204.
properties of its particles, 205. ii. 1.
its currents over the globe, i. 207.
resists the electric fluid and confines it to bodies, 241.
its effects in electrical experiments, 253.
its elasticity not affected by electricity, 254.
its friction against trees, 270, 323.
has its share of electricity, 333.
its electricity denser above than below, 335.
in rooms, electrified positively and negatively, 353.
attracts water, ii. 1.
when saturated with water precipitates it, 2.
dissolves water, and, when dry, oil, 4.
why suffocating, when impregnated with oil or grease, _ibid._
supports water, 5, 46, 49.
why less heated in the higher regions than near the earth's surface,
6.
how it creates hurricanes, _ibid._
winds, 8.
whirlwinds, 10.
effects of heat upon, 50.
its effects on the barometer, 92.
condensed, supposed to form the centre of the earth, 119, 127.
noxious, corrected by vegetation, 129.
observations on the free use of, 213.
rare, no bad conductor of sound, 337.
fresh, beneficial effects of, in bed-rooms, iii. 495.
_Air-thermometer_, electrical, experiments with, i. 336.
_Albany_ plan of union, short account of, i. 127.
its singular fate, 129.
papers relating to, iii. 3.
motives on which formed, 4.
rejects partial unions, 6.
its president and grand council, 9.
election of members, 12.
place of first meeting, 13.
new election, _ibid._
proportion of members after three years, 15.
meetings of the grand council and call, 16.
allowance to members, 17.
power of president and his duty, 18.
treaties of peace and war, _ibid._
Indian trade and purchases, 19.
new settlements, 21.
military establishments, 23.
laws and taxes, 24, 26.
issuing of money, 25.
appointment of officers, 27.
rejected in England, 29.
_Almanack._ _See Poor Richard._
_Alphabet_, a new one proposed, ii. 357.
examples of writing in it, 360.
correspondence on its merits, 361.
_Amber_, electrical experiments on, i. 403.
_America_, North, air of, drier than that of England and France, ii. 140.
why marriages are more frequent there than in Europe, 385.
why labour will long continue dear there, _ibid._
argument against the union of the colonies of, under one government,
401.
state of toleration there, 457.
reflections on the scheme of imposing taxes on, without its consent,
iii. 30.
thoughts on the representation of, in the British parliament, 37.
interest of Great Britain with regard to, 39.
forts in the back settlements of, no security against France, 99.
wars carried on there against the French, not merely in the cause of
the colonies, 105.
preference of the colonies of, to the West Indian colonies, 113.
great navigable rivers of, favourable to inland trade, 118.
what commodities the inland parts of, are fitted to produce, 119.
the productions of, do not interfere with those of Britain, 123.
union of the colonies of, in a revolt against Britain, impossible but
from grievous oppression, 132.
reasons given for restraining paper-bills of credit there, 144.
intended scheme of a bank there, described, 155.
attempts of Franklin for conciliation of Britain with, 286.
feeling of, as to Britain, in May 1775, 346.
conciliation of Britain with, hopeless, 355.
account of the first campaign of the British forces against, 357.
application of, to foreign courts, for aid in its independence, 360.
credit of, with that of Britain, in 1777, compared, 372.
true description of the interest and policy of, 391.
information to those emigrating thither, 398.
terms on which land may be obtained for new settlements there, 409.
_Americans_, their prejudices for whatever is English, i. 144.
_Anchor_, a swimming one proposed, ii. 181, 185.
_Ancients_, their experimental learning too often slighted, ii. 146.
_Anecdote_ of Franklin's early spirit of enterprise, i. 11.
of a Swedish clergyman among the Indians, iii. 386.
of an Indian who went to church, 389.
_Animal_ food, Franklin's abstinence from, i. 20.
return to, 47.
humorous instance of abstinence from, 49.
heat, whence it arises, ii. 79, 125.
magnetism, detected and exposed, i. 150.
_Animalcules_, supposed to cause the luminous appearance of sea-water,
ii. 89.
_Animals_, how to kill them by electricity, i. 415.
_Antifederalists_ of America, comparison of, to the ancient Jews,
iii. 410.
_Apprentices_ easier placed out in America than in Europe, iii. 407.
indentures of, how made in America, 408.
_Argumentation_, bad effects of, as a habit, i. 17.
best method of, 22.
_Armies_, best means of supporting them, ii. 400.
_Armonica_, musical instrument so called, described, ii. 330.
manner of playing on it, 334.
_Asbestos_, specimen of, sold by Franklin to Sir Hans Sloane, i. 60.
letter relating to it, iii. 513.
_Astrology_, letter to the Busy-body on, iii. 448.
_Atmosphere_ sometimes denser above than below, ii. 6.
electrical, its properties, i. 294.
_Aurora borealis_ explained, i. 212.
conjectures respecting, 257, ii. 69.
query concerning, i. 293.
B.
_Badoin_, Mr. letters from, i. 314, 324.
_Ballads_, two, written by Franklin in his youth, i. 16.
_Balls_ of fire in the air, remark concerning, ii. 337.
_Barometer_, how acted on by air, ii. 92.
_Barrels_ for gunpowder, new sort proposed, i. 376.
_Bass_, unnecessary in some tunes, ii. 343.
_Bathing_ relieves thirst, ii. 104.
observations on, 211.
_Battery_, electrical, its construction, i. 193.
_Baxter_, Mr. observations on his enquiry into the nature of the soul,
ii. 110.
_Beccaria_, character of his book on electricity, i. 310.
_Beer_, not conducive to bodily strength, i. 62.
_Bells_, form in consecrating them at Paris, i. 384.
_Belly-ache_, dry, lead a cause of, ii. 220.
_Bermuda_, little thunder there, i. 216.
_Bermudian_ sloops, advantages of their construction, ii. 173.
_Bernoulli_, Mr. his plan for moving boats, ii. 179.
_Bevis_, Dr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Bible_, anecdote of its concealment in the reign of Mary, i. 7.
travestied by Dr. Brown, 31.
_Bills_ of mortality, reasonings, formed on those for capital cities,
not applicable to the country, ii. 383.
_Birth_, noble, no qualification in America, iii. 400.
_Bishops_, none in America, and why, ii. 456, 458.
_Black clothes_ heat more and dry sooner than white, ii. 108.
not fit for hot climates, 109.
_Blacksmith_, trade of, hereditary in Franklin's family, i. 4.
_Blindness_ occasioned both by lightning and electricity, i. 228.
_Boats_, difference of their sailing in shoal and deep water, ii. 160.
management of, best understood by savages, 176.
how rowed by the Chinese, 177.
methods of moving them by machinery, _ibid._
improvement of Mr. Bernoulli's plan for moving them, 179.
proposal for a new mode of moving them, _ibid._
double, advantage of, 173, 174.
one built by Sir W. Petty, _ibid._
_Bodies_, electrified negatively, repel each other, ii. 294.
effect of blunt, compared with pointed ones, i. 172, 223.
_Body_, human, specifically lighter than water, ii. 208.
political and human, compared, iii. 115.
_Boerhaave_, his opinion of the propagation of heat, ii. 58.
of steam from fermenting liquors, 59.
_Boiling_ water, experiments with, i. 332, 344, 345.
pot, bottom of, why cold, 387.
_Bolton_, Mr. experiment by, i. 346.
_Books_ read by Franklin in his youth, i. 15, 18, 20, 21.
_Boston_, the birth-place of Franklin, i. 8.
why quitted by him in his youth, 27,
its inhabitants decrease, ii. 210.
preface to proceedings of the town meeting of, iii. 317.
_Boyle's_ lectures, effect of, on Franklin, i. 79.
_Braddock_, general, defeat of, i. 131.
_Bradford_, printer at Philadelphia, i. 34, 102.
_Brass_, hot, yields unwholesome steams, ii. 249
_Brientnal_, Joseph, a member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Brimstone_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Bristol waters_, an alledged fact concerning, ii. 95.
_Britain_, incapacity of, to supply the colonies with manufactures,
ii. 386.
_British empire_, an union of several states, iii. 310.
_Brown_, Dr. acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 30.
travestied the bible, 31.
_Bubbles_ on the surface of water, hypothesis respecting, ii. 48.
_Buchan_, earl of, letter to, on the price of land for new settlements
in America, iii. 409.
_Buildings_, what kind safest from lightning, i. 379.
_Bullion_, causes of its variation in price, iii. 153.
_Bunyan's_ Voyages, a book early read by Franklin, i. 15, 28.
_Bur_, cause of, round a hole struck through pasteboard, i. 280.
_Burnet_, governor, his attention to Franklin in his youth, i. 44.
_Busy-body_, essays under the title of, i. 86. iii. 422.
C.
_Cabinet-work_, veneered in England, shrinks and flies in America,
ii. 140.
_Cables_, why apt to part when weighing anchor in a swell, ii. 167.
this defect of, remedied, 168.
_Cabot_, Sebastian, his commission from Henry VII., iii. 348.
_Calvinism_, Franklin educated in the principles of, i. 79.
_Campaign_ in America, account of the first, iii. 357.
_Canals_, observations on their depth, ii. 159.
_Canada_, importance of, to England, i. 136.
visited by Franklin, 147.
its extent, iii. 20.
pamphlet on the importance of, 89.
easily peopled without draining Britain, 139.
_Cancers_, specific for, i. 260, 261.
_Candles_ lighted by electricity, i. 176.
distance at which the flame of, may be seen, ii. 90.
_Cann_, silver, a singular experiment on, i. 307.
_Canoes_ of the American Indians, their advantages, ii. 176.
_Canton_, Mr. John, experiments by, i. 286, 346.
draws electricity from the clouds, 428.
_Capitals_, their use in printing, ii. 352.
_Caribbees_, possession of, only a temporary benefit, iii. 142.
_Carolina_, South, see _Lightning_.
_Cavendish_, lord Charles, his electrical experiments, i. 348.
_Cayenne_ would be a great acquisition to Britain, iii. 140.
_Centre_ of the earth, hypothesis concerning, ii. 119, 127.
_Cessions_ from an enemy, on what grounds may be demanded, iii. 93.
_Chapel_, nickname for a printing house, i. 63.
_Character_, remarks on the delineation of, iii. 445.
_Charcoal-fires_, hurtful, ii. 235.
_Charging_ and discharging, in electricity, explained, i. 190.
a number of bottles at once, how done, _ibid._
_Charters_ of the colonies could not be altered by parliament, iii. 332.
_Chess_, morals of, iii. 488.
not an idle amusement, _ibid._
teaches various virtues, 489.
advice to those who play, 490.
too intense an application to, injurious, 500.
_Chimnies_, different kinds of, enumerated, ii. 228.
inconvenience of the old-fashioned ones, 229.
defect of more modern ones, 230.
have not long been in use in England, 277.
Staffordshire, described, 285.
have a draft of air up and down, 289.
may be used for keeping provisions in summer, 290.
may be of use to miners, 291.
funnels to, what the best, 292, 295.
method of contracting them, 317.
smoky. See _Smoky_.
_China_, provision made there against famine, ii. 407.
_Chinese_ wisely divide the holds of their vessels by partitions, ii. 171.
how they row their boats, 177.
their method of warming ground floors, 292.
improvement in this method suggested, 293.
their method of making large paper, 349.
_Circle_, magical, account of, ii. 327, 328.
_Cities_, spring water gradually deteriorates in, i. 163.
do not supply themselves with inhabitants, ii. 384.
_Clark_, Dr. of Boston, quoted, on the instigation of the American
Indians against the English, iii. 95, 100, 102.
_Clothes_, wet, may preserve from lightning, i. 213.
will relieve thirst, ii. 104.
do not give colds, _ibid._
imbibe heat according to their colour, 108.
white, most suitable for hot climates, _ibid._
_Clothing_ does not give, but preserves, warmth, ii. 81.
_Clouds_, at land and at sea, difference between, i. 207.
formed at sea, how brought to rain on land, 208.
driven against mountains, form springs and rivers, 209.
passing different ways, accounted for, 211.
electrical, attracted by trees, spires, &c. 213.
manner in which they become electrised, 257, 305.
are electrised sometimes negatively and sometimes positively, 274,
277, 284, 292.
electricity drawn from them, at Marly, 420.
by Mr. Cauton, 428.
by Dr. Bevis, 429,
by Mr. Wilson, _ibid._
how supported in air, ii. 5.
how formed, 7.
whether winds are generated or can be confined in them, 57.
have little more solidity than fogs, _ibid._
_Club_, called the Junto, instituted by Franklin, i. 82.
rules of, ii. 366, 369.
questions discussed in, 369.
_Coal_, sea, letter on the nature of, ii. 128.
_Cold_, why seemingly greater in metals than in wood, ii. 56, 77.
sensation of, how produced, 57.
only the absence of heat, 81.
produced by chemical mixtures, _ibid._
evaporation. See _Evaporation_.
_Colden_, Mr. his remarks on Abbé Nollet's letters, i. 430.
meteorological observations, ii. 51.
observations on water-spouts, 53.
_Colds_, causes of, ii. 214, 230.
_Coleman_, William, a member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Colica pictorum_, caused by lead, ii. 219.
_Collins_, John, an early friend of Franklin's, i. 17, 27, 41, 43, 44.
_Collinson_, Mr. some account of, iii. 514.
_Colonial_ governments in America of three kinds, iii. 50.
_Colonies_, the settlement of, does not diminish national numbers,
ii. 391.
their prosperity beneficial to the mother country, iii. 113.
are intitled to distinct governments, 303.
American, preferable to the West Indies, _ibid._
not dangerous to Britain, 132.
aids to government, how given by, 225, 226.
originally governed by the crown, independent of Parliament,
291.
not settled at the expence of Britain, 348.
_Colonists_ in America, double their number in 25 years, iii. 113.
from Britain, their rights, 299.
_Colours._ See _Clothes_.
_Comazants_, or corposants, are electrical appearances, i. 248.
_Commerce_, influence of, on the manners of a people, ii. 400.
is best encouraged by being left free, 415.
should not be prohibited in time of war, 417.
by inland carriage, how supported, iii. 116.
_Common-sense_, by Paine, Franklin supposed to have contributed to,
i. 148.
_Compass_, instances of its losing its virtue by lightning, i. 248.
how to remedy the want of, at sea, ii. 191.
_Conductors_ of lightning, very common in America, i. 113.
first suggestion of the utility of, 227.
construction of, 358.
particulars relating to, 377.
of electricity, difference in the action of, 200, 303.
which the most perfect, 253, 256.
and non-conductors, other terms substituted for, _ibid._
of common fire, their properties and differences, ii. 76, 77.
experiments on, ii. 77.
_Congress_, Franklin appointed a delegate to, i. 146.
proposed overture from, in 1775, iii. 347.
_Consecration_ of bells in France, form of, i. 384.
_Conspirators_, electrical, meaning of the term, i. 196.
_Controversy_, benefit of, iii. 92.
_Conversation_, advantage of useful topics of, at dinner, i. 12.
_Cook_, captain, circular letter concerning, iii. 515.
copy of the voyages of, presented to Franklin, by the Admiralty, 517.
Cookery, at sea, generally bad, ii. 194.
_Copper_, manner of covering houses with, ii. 318, 320, 322.
_Copper_ plate printing-press, the first in America, constructed by
Franklin, i. 77.
_Corn_, ill policy of laying restraints on the exportation of, ii. 413,
418.
_Countries_, distant and unprovided, a plan for benefiting, ii. 403.
_Creation_, conjectures as to, ii. 118.
_Credit_, that of America and Britain in 1777, compared, iii. 372.
depends on payment of loans, 373.
industry and frugality, 374.
public spirit, 375.
income and security, 376.
prospects of future ability, _ibid._
prudence, 377.
character for honesty, 378.
is money to a tradesman, 464.
_Criminal_ laws, reflections on, ii. 439.
_Crooked_ direction of lightning explained, i. 316.
_Cutler_, circumstance that prevented Franklin's being apprenticed to
one, i. 14.
_Currents_ at sea, often not perceivable, ii. 185.
_Cyder_, the best quencher of thirst, ii. 195.
D.
_Dalrymple_, Mr. scheme of a voyage under his command to benefit remote
regions, ii. 403.
_Damp_ air, why more chilling than dry air that is colder, ii. 56, 77.
_Dampier_, account of a water-spout by, ii. 33.
references to his voyage, on the subject of water-spouts, 58.
_Dampness_ on walls, cause of, ii. 50.
_Day-light_, proposal to use it instead of candle-light, iii. 470.
_Deacon_, Isaac, from an underling to a surveyor, becomes inspector-
general of America, i. 78.
prognosticates the future eminence in life of Franklin, _ib._
_Death_ of Franklin, i. 153.
letter from Dr. Price on, iii. 541.
of relatives, reflections on, 507.
_Deism_, effects on Franklin of books written against, i. 79.
_Deluge_, accounted for, ii. 127.
_Denham_, a quaker, a friend of Franklin's, i. 54.
extraordinary trait of honesty of, to his creditors, 67.
Franklin's engagement with, as a clerk, 68, 70.
_Denmark_, the people of, not subject to colds, ii. 244.
_Denny_, governor, remarks on his official conduct in Pensylvania,
iii. 170.
_Desaquiliers_, his experiment on the vapour of hot iron, ii. 249.
_Dew_, how produced, i. 207.
_Dialogue_, between Franklin and the gout, iii. 499.
_Dickenson_, Mr. his remarks on the views of England in framing laws
over the colonies, iii. 234.
remarks on his conduct, 192.
on his protest, 202.
_Discontented_ dispositions satirized, iii. 485.
_Discontents_ in America before 1768, causes of, iii. 225.
_Dissentions_ between England and America, letter on, iii. 310.
_Dissertation_, early one of Franklin's, that he repented having written,
i. 58.
_Disputation_, modesty in, recommended, i. 21. ii. 317.
_Disputes_ between Franklin and his brother, to whom he was apprenticed,
i. 24.
_Domien_, a traveller, short account of, i. 302.
_Drawling_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Dreams_, art of procuring pleasant ones, iii. 493.
_Dumas_, Monsieur, letter to, on the aid wanted by America in her struggle
for independence, iii. 360.
_Duna_ river, not to be confounded with the Dwina, iii. 119, note.
_Dust_, how raised and carried up into the air, ii. 3.
_Duties_, moral, the knowledge of, more important than the knowledge of
nature, ii. 95.
_Dutch_ iron stove, advantages and defects of, ii. 233.
E.
_Early_ impressions, lasting effect of, on the mind, iii. 478.
_Earth_ will dissolve in air, ii. 2.
dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 206.
the, sometimes strikes lightning into the clouds, 274.
grows no hotter under the summer sun, why, ii. 86.
different strata of, 116.
theory of, 117.
_Earthquakes_, general good arising from, ii. 116.
how occasioned, 120, 128.
_Eaton_, in Northamptonshire, residence of Franklin's family, i. 3.
_Ebb_ and flood, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Economical_ project, iii. 469.
_Edinburgh_, an ordinance there against the purchase of prize-goods,
ii. 447.
_Education_ of women, controversy respecting, i. 17.
_Eel_, electrical, of Surinam, i. 408, 409.
_Effluvia_ of drugs, &c. will not pass through glass, i. 243.
_Electrical_ air-thermometer described, i. 336, _et seq._
atmosphere, how produced, 221.
how drawn off, 222.
atmospheres repel each other, 294.
repel electric matter in other bodies, _ib._
battery, its construction, 193.
clouds, experiment regarding, 229.
death, the easiest, 307.
experiments, Franklin's eager pursuit of, 104.
made in France, 109.
various, 182, 229, 254, 255, 261, 271, 278, 286, 294, 307, 327,
337, 348, 371, 434.
fire, not created by friction, but collected, 173.
passes through water, 202.
loves water and subsists in it, 203.
diffused through all matter, 205
visible on the surface of the sea, _ibid._
its properties and uses, 214, _et seq._
produces common fire, 214, 238, 356.
has the same crooked direction as lightning, 315.
fluid, its beneficial uses, 219.
is strongly attracted by glass, 236.
manner of its acting through glass hermetically sealed, 241.
a certain quantity of, in all kinds of matter, 275.
nature of its explosion, 280.
chooses the best conductor, 281, 378.
force, may be unboundedly increased, 251.
horse-race, 334.
jack for roasting, 197.
kiss, its force increased, 177.
kite, described, 268.
machine; simple and portable one, described, 178.
matter, its properties, 217, 294.
party of pleasure, 202.
phial, or Leyden bottle, its phenomena explained, 179.
shock, observations on, 182.
effects of a strong one on the human body, 297, 306.
spark, perforates a quire of paper, 195.
wheel, its construction, 196.
self-moving one, 198.
_Electricity_, summary of its progress, i. 104.
positive and negative, discovered, 106.
distinguished, 175.
in a tourmalin, 370.
does not affect the elasticity of the air, 254.
its similarity to lightning, 288.
its effects on paralysis, 401.
of fogs in Ireland, 405.
supposed affinity between, and magnetism, 410.
_Electrics per se_ and non-electrics, difference between, i. 242, 258.
_Electrified_ bumpers described, i. 203.
_Electrisation_, what constitutes the state of, i. 218.
various appearances of, 175.
variety of, 176.
_Electrising_ one's self, manner of, i. 174.
_Elocution_, how best taught, ii. 374.
_Embassador_ from the United States to France, Franklin appointed to the
office of, i. 148.
_Emblematical_ design illustrative of the American troubles, iii. 371.
_Emigrants_ to America, advice to, iii. 398.
_Empire_, rules for reducing a great one, iii. 334.
_England_, Franklin's first arrival in, i. 55.
second arrival in, as agent for the province of Pensylvania, 134.
third arrival in, as agent for the same province, 141.
its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
decrease of population in, doubtful, 296.
_English_, effect of the ancient manners of, ii. 399.
language, innovations in, 351.
_Enterprises_, public, Franklin's early disposition for, i. 10.
_Ephemera_, an emblem of human life, iii. 508.
_Epitaph_ on Franklin's parents, i. 13.
on himself, 155.
_Episcopalians_, conduct of the American legislature towards, ii. 455.
_Errors_ of Franklin's early life, i. 45, 58, 61, 80, 97.
_Ether_, what, ii. 59.
_Evaporation_, cold produced by, i. 344, ii. 76, 83, 85.
of rivers, effects of, 106.
_Examination_ of Franklin before the house of commons, i. 142, iii. 245.
before the privy council, 328.
further particulars of, 551.
_Exchange_, rate of, between Philadelphia and Britain, iii. 252.
_Exercise_, should precede meals, iii. 493.
_Experiments_, to show the electrical effect of points, i. 171, 172.
to prove the electrical state of the Leyden phial, 182.
of firing spirits by a spark sent through a river, 202.
to show how thunder-storms produce rain, 209.
on the clouds, proposed, 228.
on drugs electrified, 243.
on the elasticity of the air, 254.
on the electric fluid, 255.
by Mr. Kennersley, 261.
on the electricity of the clouds, 271.
for increasing electricity, 278.
by Mr. Canton, 286.
in pursuance of those of Mr. Canton, 294.
on a silver cann, 307.
on the velocity of the electric fluid, 327, 329, 330.
for producing cold by evaporation, 344.
on the different effects of electricity, 357.
by lord Charles Cavendish, 348.
on the tourmalin, 371.
to show the utility of long pointed rods to houses, 389.
on amber, 403 _et seq._
on the Leyden phial, 434.
on different coloured cloths, ii. 108, 109.
on the sailing of boats, 160.
_Exportation_ of gold and silver, observations on, ii. 416.
_Exports_ to North America and the West Indies, iii. 127, 128.
to Pensylvania, 129, 250.
from ditto, 250.
_Eye_, retains the images of luminous objects, ii. 340.
F.
_Facts_, should be ascertained before we attempt to account for them,
ii. 96.
_Family_ of Franklin, account of, i. 5. _et seq._
_Famine_, how provided against in China, ii. 407.
_Fanning_, how it cools, ii. 87.
_Farmers_, remonstrance in behalf of, ii. 420.
_Federal_ constitution, speech on, iii. 416.
_Felons_, transportation of, to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants, iii. 235.
_Fermenting_ liquors, their steam deleterious, ii. 59.
Fire, not destroyed by water, but dispersed, i. 172.
makes air specifically lighter, 206.
exists in all bodies, 214.
common and electrical, exist together, _ibid._
a region of, above our atmosphere, 257, ii. 124.
many ways of kindling it, i. 356.
exists in a solid or quiescent state in substances, _ibid._ ii. 80,
122.
recovers its fluidity by combustion, _ibid._
is a fluid permeating all bodies, 76.
conductors of, are also best conductors of the electric fluid, _ibid._
difference between, and electrical conductors, 77.
how diffused through substances, 78.
how generated in animated bodies, 79.
theory of, 122.
a fixed and permanent quantity of, in the universe, 123.
its properties, 227.
electrical, see _Electrical_.
_Fire-companies_, numerous at Philadelphia, i. 103.
_Fire-places_, Pensylvanian, account of, ii. 225.
large and open, inconvenient, 228.
hollow backed, by Gauger, 232.
Staffordshire, 285.
an ingenious one for serving two rooms, 296.
_Fires_, at sea, how often produced, ii. 174.
great and bright, damage the eyes and skin, 230.
_Fisheries_, value of those of Newfoundland, iii. 452.
_Flame_, preserves bodies from being consumed while surrounding them,
ii. 310, 311.
_Flaxseed_, amount of the exportation of from America to Ireland,
iii. 270.
_Flesh_, of animals, made tender by lightning and by electricity, i. 359,
414.
_Flies_, drowned in America, brought to life in England, ii. 223.
_Flood_ and ebb, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.
_Florence_ flask, when filled with boiling water, not chargeable with
electricity, i. 332, 345.
_Fog_, great, in 1783, ii. 68.
conjectures as to its cause, _ibid._
_Fogs_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
electricity of, in Ireland, i. 405.
_Folger_, family-name of Franklin's mother, i. 8.
_Foreigners_, the importation of, not necessary to fill up occasional
vacancies in population, ii. 390.
_Forts_ in the back settlements, not approved of, iii. 99.
_Foster_, judge, notes on his argument for the impress of seamen, ii. 437.
_Foundering_ at sea, accidents that occasion it, ii. 169, 170.
_Fountain_, when electrified, its stream separates, i. 206.
_Fowls_, improperly treated at sea, ii. 193.
_Fragments_, political, ii. 411.
_France_, its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
effects of its military manners, 399.
_Franklin_, derivation of the name, i. 4.
genealogy of the family of, 5.
_Franks_, the improper use of, reprobated, ii. 435.
_Freezing_ to death in summer, possibility of, ii. 84.
_French_ language, its general use, ii. 353.
_Frontiers_, in America, the attack of, the common cause of the state,
iii. 109.
_Frugality_, advantages of, ii. 397.
observance of, in America, iii. 374
_Fruit-walls_, blacking them recommended, ii. 110.
_Fuel_, scarce in Philadelphia, ii. 225.
_Fulling-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Fusion_, cold, of metals, supposed, i. 215.
proves a mistake, 339.
error respecting it acknowledged, 355.
G.
_Galloway_, Mr, preface to his speech, iii. 163.
_Garnish-money_, practice among printers of demanding it, i. 63.
_Gauger_, M. his invention for fire-places, ii. 232.
_Genealogy_ of the Franklin family, i. 5.
_German_ stoves, advantages and disadvantages of, ii. 234.
_Germany_, why the several states of, encourage foreign manufactures in
preference to those of each other, iii. 118. note.
_Gilding_, its properties as a conductor, i. 201.
the effects of lightning and of electricity on, 229.
fails as a conductor after a few shocks, 231.
_Glass_, has always the same quantity of electrical fire, i. 191.
possesses the whole power of giving a shock, 192, 247.
in panes, when first used in an electrical experiment, 193, 194.
great force in small portions of, 199.
impermeable to the electric fluid, 234, 310.
strongly attracts the electric fluid, 236.
cannot be electrified negatively, _ibid._
its opposite surfaces, how affected, _ibid._
its component parts and pores extremely fine, 237.
manner of its operation in producing electricity, _ibid._
its elasticity, to what owing, 239.
thick, resists a change of the quantity of electricity of its
different sides, 242.
rod of, will not conduct a shock, _ibid._
when fluid, or red hot, will conduct electricity, 256.
difference in its qualities, 301.
error as to its pores, 302.
will admit the electric fluid, when moderately heated, 345, 347.
when cold retains the electric fluid, 346.
experiments on warm and cold, 348.
singular tube and ball of, 386.
_Glasses_, musical, described, ii. 330, _et seq._
_God_, saying in America respecting, iii. 401.
_Godfrey_, Thomas, a lodger with Franklin, i. 81.
a member of the Junto, 83.
inventor of Hadley's quadrant, _ibid._
wishes Franklin to marry a relation of his, 95.
_Gold_ and silver, remarks on exportation of, ii. 416.
_Golden_ fish, an electrical device, i. 233.
_Government_, free, only destroyed by corruption of manners, ii. 397.
_Gout_, dialogue with that disease, iii. 499.
_Grace_, Robert, member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.
_Gratitude_ of America, letter on, iii. 239.
_Greasing_ the bottoms of ships, gives them more swiftness, ii. 180.
_Greece_, causes of its superiority over Persia, ii. 397.
_Greek_ empire, the destruction of, dispersed manufacturers over Europe,
iii. 122.
_Green_ and red, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Greenlanders_, their boats best for rowing, ii. 176.
_Guadaloupe_, its value to Britain over-rated, iii. 139.
_Gulph-stream_, observations on, ii. 186.
whalers frequent its edges, _ibid._
long unknown to any but the American fishermen, _ibid._
how generated, 187.
its properties, _ibid._
tornadoes and water-spouts attending it, accounted for, 188.
how to avoid it, 197.
Nantucket whalers best acquainted with it, 198.
thermometrical observations on, 199.
journal of a voyage across, _ibid._
_Gunpowder_, fired by electricity, i. 250.
magazines of, how to secure them from lightning, 375.
proposal for keeping it dry, 376.
H.
_Habits_, effects of, on population, ii. 393. 394.
_Hadley's_ quadrant, by whom invented, i. 83, 95.
_Hail_, brings down electrical fire, i. 292.
how formed, ii. 66.
_Hamilton_, Mr. a friend of Franklin's, i. 54, 88.
_Handel_, criticism on one of his compositions, ii. 345.
_Harmony_, in music, what, ii. 339.
_Harp_, effect of, on the ancient Scotch tunes, ii. 340.
_Harry_, David, companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 93.
_Hats_, summer, should be white, ii. 109.
the manufacture of, in New England, in 1760, iii. 131.
_Health_ of seamen, Captain Cook's method of preserving it recommended,
ii. 190.
_Heat_, produced by electricity and by lightning, i. 338, 339.
better conducted by some substances than others, ii. 56, 58.
how propagated, 58.
the pain it occasions, how produced, 78.
in animals, how generated, 79, 125.
in fermentation, the same as that of the human body, 80.
great, at Philadelphia, in 1750, 85.
general theory of, 122.
_Herrings_, shoals of, perceived by the smoothness of the sea, ii. 150.
_Hints_ to those that would be rich, iii. 466.
_Holmes_, Robert, brother-in-law to Franklin, i. 37, 71.
_Honesty_, often a very partial principle of conduct, ii. 430.
_Honours_, all descending ones absurd, iii. 550.
_Hopkins_, governor, his report of the number of inhabitants in Rhode
Island, iii. 129.
_Horse-race_, electrical, i. 335.
_Hospital_, one founded by the exertions of Franklin, i. 126.
_Hospitals_, foundling, state of in England and France, iii. 544*, 548*.
_Hospitality_, a virtue of barbarians, iii. 391.
_Houses_, remarks on covering them with copper, ii. 318, 320.
many in Russia covered with iron plates, 319.
their construction in Paris renders them little liable to fires, 321.
_Howe_, lord, letter from, to Franklin, iii. 365.
Franklin's answer to, 367.
_Hudson's_ river, winds there, ii. 52, 59.
_Hunters_, require much land to subsist on, ii. 384.
_Hurricanes_, how produced, ii. 7.
why cold in hot climates, _ibid._
_Hutchinson_, governor, cause of the application for his removal,
iii. 323.
account of the letters of, 331, 551.
_Hygrometer_, best substances for forming one, ii. 136.
mahogany recommended for forming one, 141.
I. J.
_Jackson_, Mr. remarks on population by, ii. 392.
_Jamaica_, its vacant lands not easily made sugar lands, iii. 140.
_Javelle_, his machinery for moving boats, ii. 177.
_Ice_ will not conduct an electric shock, i. 201.
_Ice-islands_, dangerous to shipping, ii. 176.
_Idleness_, the heaviest tax on mankind, ii. 411, iii. 454.
encouraged by charity, ii. 422.
reflections on, iii. 428.
_Jefferson_, Mr. letter from, on the character of Franklin, iii. 545.
_Jesuits_, hostility of the Indians in America excited by, iii. 95.
_Ignorance_, a frank acknowledgment of, commendable, i. 308.
_Imports_ into Pensylvania from Britain before 1766, iii. 250.
_Impress_ of seamen, notes on Judge Foster's argument in favour of,
ii. 437.
_Inarticulation_ in modern singing, censured, ii. 348.
_Increase_ of mankind, observations on, ii. 383, and _seq._
what prevented by, 386, 387.
how promoted, 388, 389.
further observations on, 393.
_Indemnification_, just ground for requiring cessions from an enemy,
iii. 93.
_Independence_, soon acquired in America, iii. 402.
_Indian trade_ and affairs, remarks on a plan for the future management
of, iii. 216.
spirituous liquors the great encouragement of, 219.
the debts from, must be left to honour, 220.
not an American but a British interest, 275.
_Indians_, of North America, a number of, murdered, i. 139.
often excited by the French against the English, iii. 95.
list of fighting men in the different nations of, 221.
difference of their warfare from that of Europeans, 100.
remarks concerning, 383.
their mode of life, 384.
public councils, 385.
politeness in conversation, 386.
rules in visiting, 388.
_Industry_, effects of Franklin's, i. 85.
the cause of plenty, ii. 396.
essential to the welfare of a people, 411.
relaxed by cheapness of provisions, 415.
a greater portion of, in every nation, than of idleness, 396, 429,
iii. 396.
its prevalence in America, iii. 373.
_Inflammability_ of the surface of rivers, ii. 130.
_Inland_ commerce, instances of, iii. 120.
_Innovations_ in language and printing, ii. 351.
_Inoculation_, letter on the deaths occasioned by, ii. 215.
success of, in Philadelphia, 216, 217.
_Insects_, utility of the study of, ii. 93.
_Interrogation_, the mark of, how to be placed, ii. 356.
_Invention_, the faculty of, its inconveniences, i. 308.
_Inventions_, new, generally scouted, _ibid._
_Journal_ of a voyage, crossing the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202, _et seq._
_Iron_ contained in the globe, renders it a great magnet, ii. 119.
query whether it existed at the creation, 126.
hot, gives no bad smell, 247.
yields no bad vapours, 248.
rods, erected for experiments on the clouds, i. 270.
conduct more lightning in proportion to their thickness, 282.
_Islands_ far from a continent have little thunder, i. 216.
_Italic_ types, use of, in printing, ii. 355.
_Judges_, mode of their appointment in America, in 1768, iii. 23.
_Junto._ See _Club_.
K.
_Keimer_, a connection of Franklin's, some account of, i. 35, 70, 93.
_Keith_, sir William, Franklin patronized by, i. 39.
deceived by, 54.
character of, 57.
_Kinnersley_, Mr. electrical experiments by, i. 261, _et seq._, 331.
_Kiss_, electrical, i. 177.
_Kite_ used to draw electricity from the clouds, i. 108.
electrical, described, i. 268.
_Knobs_, not so proper as points, for conducting lightning, i. 359.
L.
_Labour_, why it will long continue dear in America, ii. 385.
its advantages, 427, 428.
_Land_, terms on which it may be obtained in America, by settlers,
iii. 409.
_Landing_ in a surf, supposed practicable, how, ii. 154.
tried without success, 155.
_Language_, remarks on innovations in, ii. 351, _et seq._
_Laughers_, satyrized, iii. 425.
_Law_, the old courts of, in the colonies, as ample in their powers, as
those in England, iii. 304.
_Law-expenses_, no discouragement to law-suits, iii. 270.
_Law-stamps_, a tax on the poor, iii. 269.
_Lead_, effects of, on the human constitution, ii. 219.
_Leaks_ in ships, why water enters by them most rapidly at first, ii. 109.
means to prevent their being fatal, 170.
_Leather_ globe, proposed, instead of glass, for electrical experiments,
i. 267.
_Left_ hand, a petition from, iii. 483.
_Leg_, handsome and deformed, humourous anecdote of, iii. 437.
_Legal_ tender of paper-money, its advantages, iii. 150.
further remarks on, 151.
_Lending_ money, new mode of, iii. 463.
_Letter-founding_ effected by Franklin in America, i. 74.
_Leutmann_, J. G. extract from his vulcanus famulans, ii. 298.
_Leyden_ bottle, its phenomena explained, i. 179.
analysed, 192.
experiment to prove its qualities, 245.
when sealed hermetically, retains long its electricity, 345.
_Liberty_ of the press, observations on, ii. 463.
abused, 465.
of the cudgel, should be allowed in return, 467.
_Libraries_, public, the first in America set on foot by Franklin, i. 99.
are now numerous in America, 100.
advantages of, to liberty, 101.
_Life_ and death, observations on the doctrines of, ii. 222.
_Light_, difference between that from the sun and that from a fire in
electrical experiments, i. 173.
difficulties in the doctrines of, i. 253.
queries concerning, _ibid._
visibility of its infinitely small particles computed, ii. 90.
new theory of, 122.
_Lighthouse-tragedy_, an early poem of Franklin's, i. 16.
_Lightning_, represented by electricity, i. 176.
drawn from the clouds, by a kite, 268.
by an iron rod, _ibid._
reasons for proposing the experiment on, 304.
its effects at Newbury, 310.
will leave other substances, to pass through metals, 312.
communicates magnetism to iron, 314.
objections to the hypothesis of its being collected from the sea,
318, 323.
effects of, on a wire at New York, 326.
on Mr. West's pointed rod, 340, _et seq._
how it shivers trees, 359.
effects of, on conductors in Carolina, 361, 362, 364.
does not enter through openings, 368.
should be distinguished from its light, 369.
an explosion always accompanies it, _ibid._
observations on its effects on St. Bride's church, 374, 382.
how to preserve buildings from, 377.
personal danger from, how best avoided, 381.
brought down by a pointed rod, in a large quantity, 389.
how to prevent a stroke of, at sea, ii. 175.
_Linnæus_, instance of public benefit arising from his knowledge
of insects, ii. 94.
_London_, atmosphere of, moister than that of the country, ii. 139.
_Loyalty_ of America before the troubles, iii. 237.
_Luxury_, beneficial when not too common, ii. 389.
definition of, 395, 425.
extinguishes families, 395.
not to be extirpated by laws, 401.
further observations on, 425.
_Lying-to_, the only mode yet used for stopping a vessel at sea, ii. 181.
M.
_Maddeson_, Mr. death of, lamented, iii. 544*.
_Magazine_ of powder, how to secure it from lightning, i. 375.
_Magical_ circle of circles, ii. 327.
picture, i. 195.
square of squares, ii. 324.
_Magnetism_, animal, detected and exposed, i. 150.
given by electricity, 248, 314.
and electricity, affinity between, 410.
supposed to exist in all space, ii. 119, 126.
conjectures as to its effects on the globe, 120.
enquiry how it first came to exist, 126.
_Mahogany_, expands and shrinks, according to climate, ii. 138.
recommended for an hygrometer, 141.
_Mandeville_, Franklin's acquaintance with, i. 39.
_Manners_, effects of, on population, ii. 393, _et seq._
letter to the Busy-body on the want of, iii. 432.
_Manufactures_, produce greater proportionate returns than raw materials,
ii. 410.
founded in the want of land for the poor, iii. 107.
are with difficulty transplanted from one country to another, 121.
hardly ever lost but by foreign conquest, 122.
probability of their establishment in America, 260.
want no encouragement from the government, if a country be ripe for
them, 405.
_Maritime_ observations, ii. 162.
_Marly_, experiments made at, for drawing lightning from the clouds,
i. 421.
_Marriage_ of Franklin, i. 97.
_Marriages_, where the greatest number take place, ii. 383.
why frequent and early in America, 385. iii. 113, 403.
early, letter on, iii. 475.
_Maryland_, account of a whirlwind there, ii. 61.
of paper bills formerly issued there, iii. 155.
its conduct in a French war, previous to the American troubles,
defended, 262.
_Massachusets_ bay, petition of the inhabitants of, to the king, iii. 325.
_Matter_, enquiry into the supposed vis inertiæ of, ii. 110.
man can neither create nor annihilate it, 123.
_Mawgridge_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 84.
_Maxims_, prudential, from poor Richard's almanack, iii. 453.
_Mazeas_, abbe, letter from, i. 420.
_Meal_, grain, &c. manner of preserving them good for ages, i. 376.
ii. 190.
_Mechanics_, advantages of an early attention to, i. 14.
_Mediocrity_, prevalence of, in America, iii. 399.
_Melody_ in music, what, ii. 340.
_Men_, six, struck down by an electric shock, i. 306.
_Mercer_, Dr. letter from, on a water-spout, ii. 34.
_Merchants_ and shopkeepers in America, iii. 394.
_Meredith_, Hugh, companion of Franklin, short account of, i. 72, 76, 89.
_Metalline_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 281.
either prevent or conduct a stroke, 310.
_Metals_, melted by electricity and by lightning, i. 215, 229.
when melted by electricity, stain glass, 232.
polished, spotted by electrical sparks, 253.
feel colder than wood, why, ii. 56.
_Meteorological_ observations, ii. 1, 45, 66.
_Methusalem_ slept always in the open air, iii. 495.
_Mickle_, Samuel, a prognosticator of evil, i. 81.
_Military_ manners, effects of, ii. 398, 399.
power of the king, remarks on, iii. 307.
_Militia_ bill, Franklin the author of one, i. 132.
particular one, rejected by the governor of Pensylvania, 100.
iii. 157.
_Mines_, method of changing air in them, ii. 291.
of rock salt, conjectures as to their formation, 92.
_Mists_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
_Modesty_ in disputation recommended, ii. 317.
_Money_, how to make it plenty, iii. 467.
new mode of lending, 468.
_Moral_ principles, state of Franklin's mind respecting, on his entering
into business, i. 79.
_Morals_ of chess, iii. 488.
_Motion_, the communication and effects of, ii. 7, 8.
of vessels at sea, how to be stopped, 181.
_Mountains_, use of, in producing rain and rivers, i. 208.
why the summits of, are cold, ii. 6.
conjecture how they became so high, 91.
_Music_, harmony and melody of the old Scotish, ii. 338.
modern, defects of, 343.
_Musical_ glasses described, ii. 330.
N.
_Nantucket_ whalers best acquainted with the gulph-stream, ii. 198.
_National_ wealth, data for reasoning on, ii. 408.
three ways of acquiring, 410.
_Navigation_, difference of, in shoal and deep water, ii. 158.
observations on, 195, 196.
from Newfoundland to New York, 197.
inland, in America, iii. 118.
_Needle_ of a compass, its polarity reversed by lightning, i. 248, 325.
of wood, circular motion of, by electricity, 332, 351.
_Needles_, magnetised by electricity, i. 148.
and pins, melted by electricity, 249.
_Negatively_ electrised bodies repel each other, i. 294.
_Negroes_ bear heat better, and cold worse, than whites, ii. 86.
_Newbury_, effects of a stroke of lightning there, i. 310.
_New-England_, former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper money,
iii. 145.
circumstances which rendered the restriction of paper money there not
injurious, 148.
abolition of paper currency there, 263.
_Newfoundland_ fisheries, more valuable than the mines of Peru, iii. 452.
_Newspaper_, one sufficient for all America, in 1721, i. 23.
instance of one set up by Franklin at Philadelphia, 86.
_New-York_, effects of lightning there, i. 326.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, iii. 146.
sentiments of the colonists on the act for abolishing the legislature
of, 232.
obtained in exchange for Surinam, 349.
_Nollet_, Abbé, Franklin's theory of electricity opposed by, i. 113.
remarks on his letters, 430.
_Non-conductors_ of electricity, i. 378.
_Non-electric_, its property in receiving or giving electrical fire,
i. 193.
_North-east_ storms in America, account of, ii. 68.
_Nurses_, office at Paris for examining the health of, iii. 549*.
O.
_Oak_ best for flooring and stair-cases, ii. 321.
_Ohio_, distance of its fort from the sea, iii. 119, note.
_Oil_, effect of heat on, ii. 4.
evaporates only in dry air, _ibid._
renders air unfit to take up water, _ibid._
curious instance of its effects on water in a lamp, 142.
stilling of waves by means of, 144, 145, 148, 150, 151, 154.
_Old_ man's wish, song so called quoted, iii. 546*.
_Onslow_, Arthur, dedication of a work to, by Franklin, iii. 59.
_Opinions_, vulgar ones too much slighted, ii. 146.
regard to established ones, thought wisdom in a government, iii. 226.
_Orthography_, a new mode of, ii. 359.
_Osborne_, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53
_Oversetting_ at sea, how it occurs, ii. 172.
how to be prevented, _ibid._, 173.
_Outriggers_ to boats, advantages of, ii. 173.
P.
_Packthread_, though wet, not a good conductor, i. 200.
_Paine's_ Common Sense, Franklin supposed to have contributed to, i. 148.
_Paper_, how to make large sheets, in the Chinese way, ii. 349.
a poem, iii. 522.
_Paper-credit_, cannot be circumscribed by law, ii. 418.
_Paper-money_, pamphlet written by Franklin on, i. 91.
American, remarks and facts relative to, iii. 144.
advantages of, over gold and silver, iii. 152.
_Papers_ on philosophical subjects, i. 169, _et seq._ ii. 1, _et seq._
on general politics, ii. 383, _et seq._
on American subjects, before the revolution, iii. 3, _et seq._
during the revolution, iii. 225, _et seq._
subsequent to the revolution, iii. 383, _et seq._
on moral subjects, iii. 421, _et seq._
_Parable_ against persecution, ii. 450.
_Paradoxes_ inferred from some experiments, i. 262.
_Paralysis_, effects of electricity on, i. 401.
_Parliament_ of England, opinions in America, in 1766, concerning,
iii. 254.
_Parsons_, William, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Parties_, their use in republics, iii. 396.
_Party_ of pleasure, electrical, i. 202.
_Passages_ to and from America, how to be shortened, ii. 138.
why shorter from, than to, America, 189.
_Passengers_ by sea, instructions to, ii. 192.
_Patriotism_, spirit of, catching, iii. 90.
_Peace_, the victorious party may insist on adequate securities in the
terms of, iii. 96.
_Penn_, governor, remarks on his administration, iii. 183.
sold his legislative right in Pensylvania, but did not complete the
bargain, 189.
_Pensylvania_, Franklin appointed clerk to the general assembly of,
i. 102.
forms a plan of association for the defence of, 104.
becomes a member of the general assembly of, 114.
aggrievances of, iii. 50.
infraction of its charter, 52.
review of the constitution of, 59.
former flourishing state of, from the issue of paper-money, 146.
rate of exchange there, 154.
letter on the militia bill of, 157.
settled by English and Germans, 162.
English and German, its provincial languages, _ib._
pecuniary bargains between the governors and assembly of, 165.
taxes there, 246, 251.
number of its inhabitants, 249.
proportion of quakers, and of Germans, _ibid._
exports and imports, 250.
assembly of, in 1766, how composed, 252.
_Pensylvanian_ fire-places, account of, ii. 223.
particularly described, 235.
effects of, 239.
manner of using them, 241.
advantages of, 243.
objections to, answered, 247.
directions to bricklayers respecting, 251.
_Peopling_ of countries, observations on, ii. 383, _et seq._
_Perkins_, Dr. letter from, on water-spouts, ii. 11.
on shooting stars, 36.
_Persecution_, parable against, ii. 450.
of dissenters, letter on, 452.
of quakers in New England, 454.
_Perspirable_ matter, pernicious, if retained, ii. 50.
_Perspiration_, necessary to be kept up, in hot climates, ii. 86.
difference of, in persons when naked and clothed, 214.
_Petition_ from the colonists of Massachusets bay, iii. 325.
of the left hand, 483.
_Petty_, sir William, a double vessel built by, ii. 174.
_Philadelphia_, Franklin's first arrival at, i. 32.
account of a seminary there, instituted by Franklin, 116 to 127.
state of the public bank at, iii. 551*.
_Phytolacca_, or poke weed, a specific for cancers, i. 261.
_Picture_, magical, described, i. 195.
_Plain_ truth, Franklin's first political pamphlet, iii. 524.
_Plan_ for benefiting distant countries, ii. 403.
for settling two western colonies, iii. 41.
for the management of Indian affairs, remarks on, 216.
for improving the condition of the free blacks, 519.
_Planking_ of ships, improvement in, ii. 189.
_Pleurisy_, Franklin attacked by, i. 71, 154.
_Plus_ and minus electricity, in the Leyden bottle, i. 181.
in other bodies, 185.
_Pointed_ rods, secure buildings from lightning, i. 283, 381.
experiments and observations on, 388.
objections to, answered, 395, 396.
_Points_, their effects, i. 170.
property of, explained, 223.
experiment showing the effect of, on the clouds, 283.
mistake respecting, 310.
_Poke-weed_, a cure for cancers, i. 260, 261.
_Polarity_ given to needles by electricity, i. 248.
_Poles_ of the earth, if changed, would produce a deluge, ii. 127.
_Political_ fragments, ii. 411.
_Polypus_, a nation compared to, ii. 391.
_Poor_, remarks on the management of, ii. 418.
the better provided for, the more idle, 422.
_Poor_ Richard, maxims of, iii. 453.
_Pope_, criticism on two of his lines, i. 23.
_Population_, observations on, ii. 383.
causes which diminish it, 386.
occasional vacancies in, soon filled by natural generation, 390.
rate of its increase in America, 385. iii. 113, 250, 254.
why it increases faster there, than in England, iii. 255.
_Positions_ concerning national wealth, ii. 408.
_Positiveness_, impropriety of, ii. 318.
_Postage_, not a tax, but payment for a service, iii. 265.
state of, in America, in 1766, 279.
_Post-master_, and deputy post-master general, Franklin appointed to the
offices of, i. 102, 127.
_Potts_, Stephen, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84.
_Poultry_, not good at sea, ii. 193.
_Powder-magazines_, how secured from lightning, i. 375.
_Power_ to move a heavy body, how to be augmented, ii. 191.
_Pownall_, governor, memorial of, to the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 41.
letter from, on an equal communication of rights to America, 243.
constitution of the colonies by, 299.
_Preface_ to Mr. Galloway's speech, iii. 163.
to proceedings of the inhabitants of Boston, 317.
_Presbyterianism_, established religion in New England, ii. 454.
_Press_, account of the court of, ii. 463.
liberty of, abused, 465.
_Pressing_ of seamen, animadversions on, ii. 437.
_Price_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's death, iii. 541.
_Priestley_, Dr. letter from, on Franklin's character, iii. 547.
_Printers_ at Philadelphia before Franklin, i. 36.
_Printing_, Franklin apprenticed to the business of, i. 15.
works at it as a journeymen in England, 58, 62.
in America, 35, 71.
enters on the business of, as master, 78.
observations on fashions in, ii. 355.
_Prison_, society for relieving the misery of, i. 151.
not known among the Indians of America, iii. 220.
_Privateering_, reprobated, ii. 436.
further observations on, 446.
article to prevent it, recommended in national treaties, 448.
inserted in a treaty between America and Prussia, 449.
_Proas_, of the pacific ocean, safety of, ii. 173.
flying, superior to any of our sailing boats, 176.
_Produce_ of the inland parts of America, iii. 119.
_Products_ of America, do not interfere with those of Britain, iii. 124.
_Prose-writing_, method of acquiring excellence in, i. 18.
_Protest_ against Franklin's appointment as colonial agent, remarks on,
iii. 203.
_Provisions_, cheapness of, encourages idleness, ii. 415.
_Prussian_ edict, assuming claims over Britain, iii. 311.
_Public_ services and functions of Franklin, i. 125.
spirit, manifest in England, iii. 91.
different opinion respecting it expressed, 375.
_Punctuality_ of America in the payment of public debts, iii. 373.
_Puckridge_, Mr. inventor of musical glasses, i. 136.
Q.
_Quaker-lady_, good advice of one to Franklin in his youth, i. 42.
_Quakers_, persecution of, in New England, ii. 454.
proportion of, in Pensylvania, iii. 249.
_Quebec_, remarks on the enlargement of the province of, iii. 20, note.
_Queries_ concerning light, i. 258.
proposed at the Junto club, ii. 366.
from Mr. Strahan, on the American disputes, iii. 287.
_Questions_ discussed by the Junto club, ii. 369.
R.
_Rain_, how produced, i. 207.
generally brings down electricity, 292.
why never salt, ii. 32.
different quantities of, falling at different heights, 133.
_Ralph_, James, a friend of Franklin's, i. 50, 53, 54, 57, 60.
_Rarefaction_ of the air, why greater in the upper regions, ii. 6.
_Read_, maiden name of Franklin's wife, i. 33, 37, 49, 54, 59, 70, 96.
_Reading_, Franklin's early passion for, i. 15, 16.
how best taught, ii. 372.
advice to youth respecting, 378.
_Recluse_, a Roman Catholic one, in London, i. 65.
_Red_ and green, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.
_Regimen_, sudden alterations of, not prejudicial, i. 49.
_Religious_ sect, new one, intended establishment of, i. 48.
_Repellency_, electrical, how destroyed, i. 172.
_Representation_, American, in the British parliament, thoughts on,
iii. 37, 243.
_Repulsion_, electrical, the doctrine of, doubted, i. 333.
considerations in support of, 349.
_Revelation_, doubted by Franklin in his youth, i. 79.
_Rhode-Island_, purchased for a pair of spectacles, iii. 21.
its population at three periods, iii. 129.
_Rich_, hints to those that would be, iii. 466.
_Ridicule_, delight of the prince of Condé in, iii. 424.
_Rivers_, from the Andes, how formed, i. 209.
motion of the tides in, explained, ii. 96, 102.
do not run into the sea, 105.
evaporate before they reach the sea, 106.
inflammability of the surface of, 130.
_Rods_, utility of long pointed ones, to secure buildings from lightning,
i. 388.
See farther. _Iron._ _Lightning._ _Metalline._
_Rome_, causes of its decline enquired into, ii. 398.
political government of its provinces, iii. 136.
_Rooms_, warm, advantages of, ii. 249.
do not give colds, ibid.
_Roots_, edible, might be dried and preserved for sea-store, ii. 190.
_Rosin_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.
_Rousseau_, his opinion of tunes in parts, ii. 342.
_Rowing_ of boats, Chinese method of, ii. 177.
_Rowley_, Dr. Franklin's obligations to, iii. 555*.
S.
_Sailing_, observations on, ii. 163.
_Sails_, proposed improvements in, ii. 164, 166.
_Saint_ Bride's church, stroke of lightning on, i. 374.
_Salt_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 258.
rock, conjectures as to its origin, ii. 91.
_Saltness_ of the sea-water considered, _ib._
_Savage_, John, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72.
_Savages_ of North America, remarks on, iii. 383, _et seq._
_School_, sketch of one, for Philadelphia, ii. 370.
_Scotch_ tunes, harmony of, and melody, ii. 338.
_Screaming_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.
_Scull_, Nicholas, member of the Junto club, i. 83.
_Sea_, electrical qualities of its component parts, i. 205.
opinion, that it is the source of lightning, considered, 269, 321,
322.
supposed cause of its luminous appearance, ii. 88.
from what cause, salt, 91.
has formerly covered the mountains, _ib._
_Sea-coal_, has a vegetable origin, ii. 128.
prejudices against the use of, at Paris, 278.
_Sea-water_, soon loses its luminous quality, i. 269.
considerations on the distillation of, ii. 103.
how to quench thirst with, 104.
thermometrical observation on, 199, _et seq._
_Security_, a just ground to demand cessions from an enemy, iii. 93.
_Separation_ of the colonies from Britain, probability of, in 1775,
iii. 356.
_Servants_ in England, the most barren parts of the people, ii. 395.
_Settlements_, new, in America, letter concerning, iii. 409.
_Settlers_ of British colonies, their rights, iii. 299.
_Sheep_, a whole flock killed by lightning, i. 415.
_Ships_, abandoned at sea, often saved, ii. 169.
may be nicely balanced, 170.
accidents to, at sea, how guarded against, 172.
_Shirley_, governor, letters to, on the taxation of the colonies, iii. 30.
on American representation in the British parliament, 37.
_Shooting-stars_, letter on, ii. 36.
_Shop-keepers_ in America, iii. 394.
_Sides_ of vessels, the best construction of, ii. 172.
_Silver_ cann, experiment with, i. 307.
vessels, not so easily handled as glass, when filled with hot liquors,
ii. 57.
_Slavery_, society for the abolition of, i. 151.
address to the public on the abolition of, iii. 517.
_Slaves_, not profitable labourers, ii. 386.
diminish population, ii. 387.
_Slave-trade_, sentiment of a French moralist respecting, ii. 195.
parody on the arguments in favour of, 450.
_Sliding-plates_ for smoky chimnies described, ii. 287.
_Slitting-mills_ in America, iii. 270.
_Small_, Mr. Alexander, letter from, i. 374.
_Smell_ of electricity, how produced, i. 244.
_Smoke_, principle by which it ascends, ii. 257.
stove that consumes it, 296.
the burning of, useful in hot-houses, 316.
_Smoky_ chimnies, observation on the causes and cure of, ii. 256.
remedy for, if by want of air, 261, 262.
if by too large openings in the room, 266, 268.
if by too short a funnel, 269.
if by overpowering each other, 270, 271.
if by being overtopped, 271, 272.
if by improper situation of a door, 273.
if by smoke drawn down their funnels, 274, 275.
if by strong winds, 275, 276.
difficult sometimes to discover the cause of, 282.
_Smuggling_, reflections on, ii. 430.
encouragement of, not honest, 432.
_Snow_, singular instance of its giving electricity, i. 373.
_Soap-boiler_, part of Franklin's early life devoted to the business of,
i. 10, 14.
_Societies_, of which Franklin was president, i. 151.
learned, of which he was a member, 135.
_Socrates_, his mode of disputation, i. 21.
_Songs_, ancient, give more pleasure than modern, ii. 342.
modern, composed of all the defects of speech, 344.
_Soul_, argument against the annihilation of, iii. 548*.
_Sound_, best mediums for conveying, ii. 335.
observations on, 336.
queries concerning, 337.
_Sounds_ just past, we have a perfect idea of their pitch, ii. 340.
_Soup-dishes_ at sea, how to be made more convenient, ii. 195.
_Spain_, what has thinned its population, ii. 390.
_Specific_ weight, what, ii. 226.
_Spectacles_, double, advantages of, iii. 544*, 551*.
_Speech_, at Algiers, on slavery and piracy, ii. 450.
of Mr. Galloway, preface to, iii. 163.
last of Franklin, on the federal constitution, 416.
_Spelling_, a new mode of, recommended, ii. 359.
_Spheres_, electric, commodious ones, i. 178.
_Spider_, artificial, described, i. 177.
_Spirits_, fired without heating, i. 214, 245.
linen wetted with, cooling in inflammations, ii. 87.
should always be taken to sea in bottles, 175.
_Spots_ in the sun, how formed, i. 260.
_Squares_, magical square of, ii. 324.
_Staffordshire_ chimney, description of, ii. 285.
_Stamp-act_ in America stigmatized, iii. 228.
letter on the repeal of, iii. 239.
examination of Franklin on, 245.
_Stars._ See _Shooting_.
_State_, internal, of America, iii. 291.
_Storms_, causes of, ii. 65.
_Stove_, Dutch, its advantages and defects, ii. 233.
German, ditto, 234.
to draw downwards, by J. G. Leutmann, 298.
for burning pit-coal and consuming its smoke, 301, 304, 308.
_Strata_ of the earth, letter on, ii. 116.
_Strahan_, Mr. queries by, on American politics, iii. 287.
answer to the queries, 290.
letter to, disclaiming his friendship, iii. 354.
_Stuber_, Dr. continuator of Franklin's life, i. 98.
_Studies_ of trifles, should be moderate, ii. 95.
_Stuttering_, one of the affected beauties of modern tunes, ii. 245.
_Sugar_, cruelties exercised in producing it, ii. 196.
_Sulphur_ globe, its electricity different from that of the glass globe,
i. 265.
_Sun_, supplies vapour with fire, i. 207.
why not wasted by expense of light, 259.
effect of its rays on different coloured clothes, ii. 108.
light of, proposed to be used instead of candlelight, iii. 470, 473.
discovered to give light as soon as it rises, 471.
_Surfaces_ of glass, different state of its opposite ones, when
electrised, i. 191, 238.
_Swimming_, skill of Franklin in, i. 66.
art of, how to be acquired, ii. 206
how a person unacquainted with it may avoid sinking, 208.
a delightful and wholesome exercise, ii. 209, 211.
advantage of, to soldiers, 210.
inventions to improve it, _ibid._ 212.
medical effects of, _ibid._
T.
_Tariffs_, not easily settled in Indian trade, iii. 218.
_Tautology_, an affected beauty of modern songs, ii. 345.
_Taxation_, American, letters to governor Shirley on, iii. 30.
American, Dr. Franklin's examination on, iii. 246, 256.
internal and external, distinguished, 259.
on importation of goods and consumption, difference between, 266.
_Tea-act_, the duty on, in America, how considered there, iii. 261, 317,
319.
characterized by Mr. Burke, 319, _note_.
_Teach_, or Blackbeard, name of a ballad written by Franklin in his youth,
i. 16.
_Thanks_ of the assembly of Pensylvania to Franklin, iii. 214.
_Thanksgiving-days_ appointed in New England instead of fasts, iii. 392.
_Theory_ of the earth, ii. 117.
of light and heat, 122.
_Thermometer_, not cooled by blowing on, when dry, ii. 87.
electrical, described, and experiments with, ii. 336.
_Thermometrical_ observations on the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
on the warmth of sea-water, 200.
_Thirst_, may be relieved by sea-water, how, ii. 105.
_Thunder_ and lightning, how caused, i. 209.
seldom heard far from land, 216.
comparatively little at Bermuda, _ibid._
defined, 378.
_Thunder-gusts_, what, i. 203.
hypothesis to explain them, 203, _et seq._
_Tides_ in rivers, motion of, explained, ii. 96, 102.
_Time_, occasional fragments of, how to be collected, ii. 412.
is money to a tradesman, iii. 463.
_Toads_ live long without nourishment, ii. 223.
_Toleration_ in Old and New England compared, ii. 457.
_Torpedo_, how to determine its electricity, i. 408, 409.
_Tourmalin_, its singular electrical properties, i. 370.
experiments on it, 371, 372.
_Trade_, pleasure attending the first earnings in, i. 81.
should be under no restrictions, ii. 415.
exchanges in, may be advantageous to each party, 418.
inland carriage no obstruction, to, iii. 116.
great rivers in America, favourable to, 118.
bills of credit, in lieu of money, the best medium of, 156.
will find and make its own rates, 219.
_Tradesman_, advice to a young one, iii. 463.
_Transportation_ of felons to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants there, iii. 235.
_Treaty_ between America and Prussia, humane article of, ii. 449.
_Treasures_, hidden, search after, ridiculed, iii. 450.
_Trees_, dangerous to be under, in thunder-storms, i. 213.
the shivering of, by lightning, explained, 359.
why cool in the sun, ii. 87.
_Tubes_ of glass, electrical, manner of rubbing, i. 178.
lined with a non-electric, experiment with, 240.
exhausted, electric fire moves freely in, 241.
_Tunes_, ancient Scotch, why give general pleasure, ii. 338.
composed to the wire-harp, 341.
in parts, Rousseau's opinion of, 342.
modern, absurdities of, 344, _et seq._
_Turkey_ killed by electricity, i. 299.
_Turks_, ceremony observed by, in visiting, iii. 436.
V. U.
_Vacuum_, Torricellian, experiment with, i. 291.
electrical experiment in, 317.
_Vapour_, electrical experiment on, i. 343.
_Vapours_ from moist hay, &c. easily fired by lightning, i. 215.
cause of their rising considered, ii. 46, 49.
_Vanity_, observation on, i. 2.
_Varnish_, dry, burnt by electric sparks, i. 199.
_Vattel's_ Law of Nations, greatly consulted by the American congress,
iii. 360.
_Vegetable_ diet, observed by Franklin, i. 20.
abandoned by Franklin, why, 47.
_Vegetation_, effects of, on noxious air, ii. 129.
_Velocity_ of the electric fire, i. 319.
_Virtue_ in private life exemplified, iii. 427.
_Vernon_, Mr. reposes a trust in Franklin, which he violates, i. 44.
_Vis_ inertiæ of matter, observations on, ii. 110.
_Visits_, unseasonable and importunate, letter on, iii. 432.
_Unintelligibleness_, a fault of modern singing, ii. 345.
_Union_, Albany plan of. See _Albany_.
_Union_ of America with Britain, letter on, iii. 239.
_United_ states of America, nature of the congress of, iii. 550*.
_Voyage_, from Boston to New York, i. 27.
from New York to Philadelphia, 28.
from Newfoundland to New York, remarks on, ii. 197.
crossing the gulph stream, journal of, 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202.
to benefit distant countries, proposed, 403.
_Vulgar_ opinions, too much slighted, ii. 146.
W.
_Waggons_, number of, supplied by Franklin, on a military emergency,
i. 131.
_War_, civil, whether it strengthens a country considered, ii. 399.
observations on, 435.
laws of, gradually humanized, _ib._
humane article respecting, in a treaty between Prussia and America,
ii. 449.
French, of 1757, its origin, iii. 274.
_Warm_ rooms do not make people tender, or give colds, ii. 249.
_Washington_, early military talents of, i. 130.
Franklin's bequest to, 164.
_Water_, a perfect conductor of electricity, i. 201.
strongly electrified, rises in vapour, 204.
particles of, in rising, are attached to particles of air, 205.
and air, attract each other, 206.
exploded like gunpowder, by electricity, 358.
expansion of, when reduced to vapour, _ib._
saturated with salt, precipitates the overplus, ii. 2.
will dissolve in air, _ib._
expands when boiling, _ib._
how supported in air, 45.
bubbles on the surface of, hypothesis respecting, 48.
agitated, does not produce heat, 49, 96.
supposed originally all salt, 91.
fresh, produce of distillation only, _ib._
curious effects of oil on, 142.
_Water-casks_, how to dispose of, in leaky vessels, ii. 170.
_Water-spouts_, observations on, ii. 11.
whether they descend or ascend, 14, 23, 38.
various appearances of, 16.
winds blow from all points towards them, 21.
are whirlwinds at sea, _ib._
effect of one on the coast of Guinea, 33.
account of one at Antigua, 34.
various instances of, 38.
Mr. Colden's observations on, 53.
_Watson_, Mr. William, letter by, on thunder-clouds, i. 427.
_Waves_, stilled by oil, ii. 144, 145, 148.
greasy water, 146.
_Wax_, when fluid will conduct electricity, i. 256.
may be electrised positively and negatively, 291.
_Wealth_, way to, iii. 453.
national, positions to be examined concerning, ii. 408.
but three ways of acquiring it, 410.
_Webb_, George, a companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 84, 86.
_Wedderburn_, Mr. remarks on his treatment of Franklin before the privy
council, iii. 330, 332, notes; 550.
_West_, Mr. his conductor struck by lightning, i. 340.
_Western_ colonies, plan for settling them, iii. 41.
_Whatley_, Mr. four letters to, iii. 543*.
_Wheels_, electrical, described, i. 196.
_Whirlwinds_, how formed, ii. 10.
observations on, 20.
a remarkable one at Rome, 24.
account of one in Maryland, 61.
_Whistle_, a story, iii. 480.
_White_, fittest colour for clothes in hot climates, ii. 109.
_Will_, extracts from Franklin's, i. 155.
_Wilson_, Mr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.
_Wind_ generated by fermentation, ii. 59.
_Winds_ explained, ii. 8, 9, 48.
the explanation objected to, 50, 51.
observations on, by Mr. Colden, 52.
whether confined to, or generated in, clouds, 57.
raise the surface of the sea above its level, 188.
effect of, on sound, 337.
_Winters_, hard, causes of, ii. 68.
_Winthrop_, professor, letters from, i. 373, 382.
_Wire_ conducts a great stroke of lightning, though destroyed itself,
i. 282.
_Wolfe_, general, i. 136.
_Women_ of Paris, singular saying respecting, as mothers, iii. 548*.
_Wood_, dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 172.
why does not feel so cold as metals, ii. 56.
_Woods_, not unhealthy to inhabit, ii. 130.
_Woollen_, why warmer than linen, ii. 57, 81.
_Words_, to modern songs, only a pretence for singing, ii. 348.
_Wygate_, an acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 66.
_Wyndham_, sir William, applies to Franklin to teach his sons swimming,
i. 69.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
For consistency and clarity, the pound abbreviation 'l.' has been
italicized, so for example '123,321l.' has been replaced by
'123,321_l._' in the etext.
For consistency, the date and salutation at the beginning of each
letter, and the closing and name at the end of each letter,
have been put on separate lines (they were sometimes placed on the
same line in the original printed text).
Three or more asterisks, sometimes spaced, were used by the editor
to indicate omitted text, and sometimes '-- -- --' or '----' were used.
Missing names were indicated by '----' or by '****'. For this reason
thought breaks in the text are indicated by two blank lines, not by
a line of asterisks.
A deliberate blank space in the text is indicated by [___].
All the changes noted in the Errata (pg vi) have been applied to the
text.
Many Footnotes have the signature 'B. V.' rather than 'Editor'. This is
explained in Vol 1 p 399 Footnote [90], and is copied below for the
reader's convenience:-
Wherever this signature occurs, the note is taken from a volume of
Dr. Franklin's writings, entitled Political, Miscellaneous, and
Philosophical Pieces, printed for Johnson, 1779. The editor of that
volume, though a young man at the time, had already evinced
extraordinary talents, and was the friend and correspondent of our
author. As he has chosen to withhold his name, we conceive ourselves
not entitled to disclose it: but we shall take the freedom of an
acquaintance to use the notes occasionally, deeming them in many
instances valuable historical records. Editor.
Except for those changes noted below, misspelling in the text, and
inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, compleat;
controul; inclose; smoaky; Pensylvania; Massachussets; New-England,
New England; shopkeeper, shop-keeper.
In addition:
Pg vi Errata. Page '59' replaced by '39'.
Pg 11. 'infringment' replaced by 'infringement'.
Pg 23. 'would he' replaced by 'would be'.
Pg 29. 'and slso to' replaced by 'and also to'.
Pg 31. 'problably give' replaced by 'probably give'.
Pg 39. 'iron mafacture' replaced by 'iron manufacture'.
Pg 47. 'thesettlers;' replaced by 'the settlers;'.
Pg 59 FN [16] 'our anthor' replaced by 'our author'.
Pg 70. 'provice for' replaced by 'province for'.
Pg 71. 'Twightwee' replaced by 'Twigtwee'.
Pg 74. 'in theuse' replaced by 'in the use'.
Pg 81. 'poll-tax of sen' replaced by 'poll-tax of ten'.
Pg 84. 'Lower Countries' replaced by 'Lower Counties'.
Pg 90. 'msy inspire' replaced by 'may inspire'.
Pg 95 FN [26] 'Observatious' replaced by 'Observations'.
Pg 104. 'meer names' replaced by 'mere names'.
Pg 126 FN [44] '3,353,337' replaced by the correct total '3,363,337'.
Pg 129 FN [46] 'those swo' replaced by 'those two'.
Pg 131. 'Londom' replaced by 'London'.
Pg 188. 'satisfacton' replaced by 'satisfaction'.
Pg 196. 'farewel-speech' replaced by 'farewell speech'.
Pg 204. 'sauction' replaced by 'sanction'.
Pg 234 FN [78] 'Great Britian' replaced by 'Great Britain'.
Pg 235. 'cruel idsult' replaced by 'cruel insult'.
Pg 238 FN [79] 'trroops' replaced by 'troops'.
Pg 253 FN [87] 'repeal or' replaced by 'repeal of'.
Pg 267. 'Snpposing' replaced by 'Supposing'.
Pg 267 et seq. Seventeen instances of '2.' replaced by 'Q.'
Pg 281. 'T. In my opinion' replaced by 'A. In my opinion'.
Pg 283. 'Q. I suppose' replaced by 'A. I suppose'.
Pg 292 FN [99] ' slave' replaced by 'a slave.'.
Pg 295 FN [101] 'froward child' replaced by 'forward child'.
Pg 307. 'vice-gerent' replaced by 'vice-regent'.
Pg 315. 'adn villains' replaced by 'and villains'.
Pg 319 FN [120] 'wolud be' replaced by 'would be'.
Pg 332 FN [130] 'Wedderburne' replaced by 'Wedderburn'.
Pg 354. Missing anchor for Footnote [148] added.
Pg 361. 'la royanté' replaced by 'la royauté'.
Pg 361. 'send yon' replaced by 'send you'.
Pg 389. 'our intrepreter' replaced by 'our interpreter'.
Pg 399. 'genuises' replaced by 'geniuses'.
Pg 475. Missing anchor for Footnote [180] added.
Pg 524 FN [197] 'who furnised' replaced by 'who furnished'.
Pg 537. 'sentimeat' replaced by 'sentiment'.
Pg 550*. 'oo muc h' replaced by 'too much'.
Index Pg 4i. 'Animalcnles' replaced by 'Animalcules'.
Index Pg 29i. 'relation batween' replaced by 'relation between'.
The Index covers all three volumes and was originally printed
at the end of Volume 1 only. It has been copied to the end of
Volume 2 and 3 as a convenience for the reader.
The Index had no page numbers in the original text; page numbers from
1i to 36i have been added for completeness. For clarity, some volume
identifiers (i. or ii. or iii.) have been added, or removed, in the
Index. Only references within this volume have been hyperlinked.
The Index has some references to page numbers with a *, eg 551*. These
are valid references; the book printer inserted pages 543*-556* between
pages 542 and 543 in Vol iii.
