Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

B >> Benjamin Franklin >> Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

We acted in concert to supply Braddock's army with provisions; and,
when the shocking news arrived of his defeat, the governor sent in
haste for me, to consult with him on measures for preventing the
desertion of the back counties. I forget now the advice I gave; but I
think it was, that Dunbar should be written to, and prevail'd with, if
possible, to post his troops on the frontiers for their protection,
till, by reinforcements from the colonies, he might be able to proceed
on the expedition. And, after my return from the frontier, he would
have had me undertake the conduct of such an expedition with
provincial troops, for the reduction of Fort Duquesne, Dunbar and his
men being otherwise employed; and he proposed to commission me as
general. I had not so good an opinion of my military abilities as he
profess'd to have, and I believe his professions must have exceeded
his real sentiments; but probably he might think that my popularity
would facilitate the raising of the men, and my influence in Assembly,
the grant of money to pay them, and that, perhaps, without taxing the
proprietary estate. Finding me not so forward to engage as he
expected, the project was dropt, and he soon after left the
government, being superseded by Captain Denny.

XVIII

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

Before I proceed in relating the part I had in public affairs under
this new governor's administration, it may not be amiss here to give
some account of the rise and progress of my philosophical reputation.

In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. Spence, who was
lately arrived from Scotland, and show'd me some electric experiments.
They were imperfectly perform'd, as he was not very expert; but, being
on a subject quite new to me, they equally surpris'd and pleased me.
Soon after my return to Philadelphia, our library company receiv'd
from Mr. P. Collinson, Fellow of the Royal Society[106] of London, a
present of a glass tube, with some account of the use of it in making
such experiments. I eagerly seized the opportunity of repeating what I
had seen at Boston; and, by much practice, acquired great readiness in
performing those, also, which we had an account of from England,
adding a number of new ones. I say much practice, for my house was
continually full, for some time, with people who came to see these new
wonders.

[106] The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural
Knowledge was founded in 1660 and holds the foremost
place among English societies for the advancement of
science.

To divide a little this incumbrance among my friends, I caused a
number of similar tubes to be blown at our glass-house, with which
they furnish'd themselves, so that we had at length several
performers. Among these, the principal was Mr. Kinnersley, an
ingenious neighbour, who, being out of business, I encouraged to
undertake showing the experiments for money, and drew up for him two
lectures, in which the experiments were rang'd in such order, and
accompanied with such explanations in such method, as that the
foregoing should assist in comprehending the following. He procur'd an
elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which all the little machines
that I had roughly made for myself were nicely form'd by
instrument-makers. His lectures were well attended, and gave great
satisfaction; and after some time he went thro' the colonies,
exhibiting them in every capital town, and pick'd up some money. In
the West India islands, indeed, it was with difficulty the experiments
could be made, from the general moisture of the air.

Oblig'd as we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of the tube, etc.,
I thought it right he should be inform'd of our success in using it,
and wrote him several letters containing accounts of our experiments.
He got them read in the Royal Society, where they were not at first
thought worth so much notice as to be printed in their Transactions.
One paper, which I wrote for Mr. Kinnersley, on the sameness of
lightning with electricity,[107] I sent to Dr. Mitchel, an acquaintance
of mine, and one of the members also of that society, who wrote me
word that it had been read, but was laughed at by the connoisseurs.
The papers, however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he thought them of
too much value to be stifled, and advis'd the printing of them. Mr.
Collinson then gave them to _Cave_ for publication in his Gentleman's
Magazine; but he chose to print them separately in a pamphlet, and Dr.
Fothergill wrote the preface. Cave, it seems, judged rightly for his
profit, for by the additions that arrived afterward, they swell'd to a
quarto volume, which has had five editions, and cost him nothing for
copy-money.

[107] See page 327.

It was, however, some time before those papers were much taken notice
of in England. A copy of them happening to fall into the hands of the
Count de Buffon,[108] a philosopher deservedly of great reputation in
France, and, indeed, all over Europe, he prevailed with M. Dalibard[109]
to translate them into French, and they were printed at Paris. The
publication offended the Abbe Nollet, preceptor in Natural Philosophy
to the royal family, and an able experimenter, who had form'd and
publish'd a theory of electricity, which then had the general vogue.
He could not at first believe that such a work came from America, and
said it must have been fabricated by his enemies at Paris, to decry
his system. Afterwards, having been assur'd that there really existed
such a person as Franklin at Philadelphia, which he had doubted, he
wrote and published a volume of Letters, chiefly address'd to me,
defending his theory, and denying the verity of my experiments, and of
the positions deduc'd from them.

[108] A celebrated French naturalist (1707-1788).

[109] Dalibard, who had translated Franklin's letters to
Collinson into French, was the first to demonstrate, in
a practical application of Franklin's experiment, that
lightning and electricity are the same. "This was May
10th, 1752, one month before Franklin flew his famous
kite at Philadelphia and proved the fact
himself."--McMaster.

I once purpos'd answering the abbe, and actually began the answer;
but, on consideration that my writings contained a description of
experiments which anyone might repeat and verify, and if not to be
verifi'd, could not be defended; or of observations offer'd as
conjectures, and not delivered dogmatically, therefore not laying me
under any obligation to defend them; and reflecting that a dispute
between two persons, writing in different languages, might be
lengthened greatly by mistranslations, and thence misconceptions of
one another's meaning, much of one of the abbe's letters being founded
on an error in the translation, I concluded to let my papers shift for
themselves, believing it was better to spend what time I could spare
from public business in making new experiments, than in disputing
about those already made. I therefore never answered M. Nollet, and
the event gave me no cause to repent my silence; for my friend M. le
Roy, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, took up my cause and refuted
him; my book was translated into the Italian, German, and Latin
languages; and the doctrine it contain'd was by degrees universally
adopted by the philosophers of Europe, in preference to that of the
abbe; so that he lived to see himself the last of his sect, except
Monsieur B----, of Paris, his _eleve_ and immediate disciple.

What gave my book the more sudden and general celebrity, was the
success of one of its proposed experiments, made by Messrs. Dalibard
and De Lor at Marly, for drawing lightning from the clouds. This
engag'd the public attention everywhere. M. de Lor, who had an
apparatus for experimental philosophy, and lectur'd in that branch of
science, undertook to repeat what he called the _Philadelphia
Experiments_; and, after they were performed before the king and
court, all the curious of Paris flocked to see them. I will not swell
this narrative with an account of that capital experiment, nor of the
infinite pleasure I receiv'd in the success of a similar one I made
soon after with a kite at Philadelphia, as both are to be found in the
histories of electricity.

Dr. Wright, an English physician, when at Paris, wrote to a friend,
who was of the Royal Society, an account of the high esteem my
experiments were in among the learned abroad, and of their wonder that
my writings had been so little noticed in England. The society, on
this, resum'd the consideration of the letters that had been read to
them; and the celebrated Dr. Watson drew up a summary account of them,
and of all I had afterwards sent to England on the subject, which he
accompanied with some praise of the writer. This summary was then
printed in their Transactions; and some members of the society in
London, particularly the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having verified
the experiment of procuring lightning from the clouds by a pointed
rod, and acquainting them with the success, they soon made me more
than amends for the slight with which they had before treated me.
Without my having made any application for that honour, they chose me
a member, and voted that I should be excus'd the customary payments,
which would have amounted to twenty-five guineas; and ever since have
given me their Transactions gratis. They also presented me with the
gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley[110] for the year 1753, the delivery of
which was accompanied by a very handsome speech of the president, Lord
Macclesfield, wherein I was highly honoured.

[110] An English baronet (died in 1709), donator of a fund
of L100, "in trust for the Royal Society of London for
improving natural knowledge."

[Illustration: Gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley.]

XIX

AGENT OF PENNSYLVANIA IN
LONDON

Our new governor, Captain Denny, brought over for me the
before mentioned medal from the Royal Society, which he presented to
me at an entertainment given him by the city. He accompanied it with
very polite expressions of his esteem for me, having, as he said, been
long acquainted with my character. After dinner, when the company, as
was customary at that time, were engag'd in drinking, he took me aside
into another room, and acquainted me that he had been advis'd by his
friends in England to cultivate a friendship with me, as one who was
capable of giving him the best advice, and of contributing most
effectually to the making his administration easy; that he therefore
desired of all things to have a good understanding with me, and he
begged me to be assured of his readiness on all occasions to render me
every service that might be in his power. He said much to me, also, of
the proprietor's good disposition towards the province, and of the
advantage it might be to us all, and to me in particular, if the
opposition that had been so long continu'd to his measures was dropt,
and harmony restor'd between him and the people; in effecting which,
it was thought no one could be more serviceable than myself; and I
might depend on adequate acknowledgments and recompenses, etc., etc.
The drinkers, finding we did not return immediately to the table, sent
us a decanter of Madeira, which the governor made liberal use of, and
in proportion became more profuse of his solicitations and promises.

My answers were to this purpose: that my circumstances, thanks to God,
were such as to make proprietary favours unnecessary to me; and that,
being a member of the Assembly, I could not possibly accept of any;
that, however, I had no personal enmity to the proprietary, and that,
whenever the public measures he propos'd should appear to be for the
good of the people, no one should espouse and forward them more
zealously than myself; my past opposition having been founded on this,
that the measures which had been urged were evidently intended to
serve the proprietary interest, with great prejudice to that of the
people; that I was much obliged to him (the governor) for his
professions of regard to me, and that he might rely on everything in
my power to make his administration as easy as possible, hoping at the
same time that he had not brought with him the same unfortunate
instruction his predecessor had been hampered with.

On this he did not then explain himself; but when he afterwards came
to do business with the Assembly, they appear'd again, the disputes
were renewed, and I was as active as ever in the opposition, being the
penman, first, of the request to have a communication of the
instructions, and then of the remarks upon them, which may be found in
the votes of the time, and in the Historical Review I afterward
publish'd. But between us personally no enmity arose; we were often
together; he was a man of letters, had seen much of the world, and was
very entertaining and pleasing in conversation. He gave me the first
information that my old friend Jas. Ralph was still alive; that he was
esteem'd one of the best political writers in England; had been
employed in the dispute[111] between Prince Frederic and the king, and
had obtain'd a pension of three hundred a year; that his reputation
was indeed small as a poet, Pope having damned his poetry in the
_Dunciad_,[112] but his prose was thought as good as any man's.

[111] Quarrel between George II and his son, Frederick,
Prince of Wales, who died before his father.

[112] A satirical poem by Alexander Pope directed against
various contemporary writers.

The Assembly finally finding the proprietary obstinately persisted in
manacling their deputies with instructions inconsistent not only with
the privileges of the people, but with the service of the crown,
resolv'd to petition the king against them, and appointed me their
agent to go over to England, to present and support the petition. The
House had sent up a bill to the governor, granting a sum of sixty
thousand pounds for the king's use (ten thousand pounds of which was
subjected to the orders of the then general, Lord Loudoun), which the
governor absolutely refus'd to pass, in compliance with his
instructions.

I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the packet at New York, for my
passage, and my stores were put on board, when Lord Loudoun arriv'd at
Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to endeavour an accommodation
between the governor and Assembly, that his majesty's service might
not be obstructed by their dissensions. Accordingly, he desir'd the
governor and myself to meet him, that he might hear what was to be
said on both sides. We met and discussed the business. In behalf of
the Assembly, I urged all the various arguments that may be found in
the public papers of that time, which were of my writing, and are
printed with the minutes of the Assembly; and the governor pleaded his
instructions, the bond he had given to observe them, and his ruin if
he disobey'd, yet seemed not unwilling to hazard himself if Lord
Loudoun would advise it. This his lordship did not chuse to do, though
I once thought I had nearly prevail'd with him to do it; but finally
he rather chose to urge the compliance of the Assembly; and he
entreated me to use my endeavours with them for that purpose,
declaring that he would spare none of the king's troops for the
defense of our frontiers, and that, if we did not continue to provide
for that defense ourselves, they must remain expos'd to the enemy.

I acquainted the House with what had pass'd, and, presenting them with
a set of resolutions I had drawn up, declaring our rights, and that we
did not relinquish our claim to those rights, but only suspended the
exercise of them on this occasion thro' _force_, against which we
protested, they at length agreed to drop that bill, and frame another
conformable to the proprietary instructions. This of course the
governor pass'd, and I was then at liberty to proceed on my voyage.
But, in the meantime, the packet had sailed with my sea-stores, which
was some loss to me, and my only recompense was his lordship's thanks
for my service, all the credit of obtaining the accommodation falling
to his share.

He set out for New York before me; and, as the time for dispatching
the packet-boats was at his disposition, and there were two then
remaining there, one of which, he said, was to sail very soon, I
requested to know the precise time, that I might not miss her by any
delay of mine. His answer was, "I have given out that she is to sail
on Saturday next; but I may let you know, _entre nous_, that if you
are there by Monday morning, you will be in time, but do not delay
longer." By some accidental hindrance at a ferry, it was Monday noon
before I arrived, and I was much afraid she might have sailed, as the
wind was fair; but I was soon made easy by the information that she
was still in the harbor, and would not move till the next day. One
would imagine that I was now on the very point of departing for
Europe. I thought so; but I was not then so well acquainted with his
lordship's character, of which _indecision_ was one of the strongest
features. I shall give some instances. It was about the beginning of
April that I came to New York, and I think it was near the end of June
before we sail'd. There were then two of the packet-boats, which had
been long in port, but were detained for the general's letters, which
were always to be ready to-morrow. Another packet arriv'd; she too was
detain'd; and, before we sail'd, a fourth was expected. Ours was the
first to be dispatch'd, as having been there longest. Passengers were
engaged in all, and some extremely impatient to be gone, and the
merchants uneasy about their letters, and the orders they had given
for insurance (it being war time) for fall goods; but their anxiety
avail'd nothing; his lordship's letters were not ready; and yet
whoever waited on him found him always at his desk, pen in hand, and
concluded he must needs write abundantly.

Going myself one morning to pay my respects, I found in his
antechamber one Innis, a messenger of Philadelphia, who had come from
thence express with a packet from Governor Denny for the general. He
delivered to me some letters from my friends there, which occasion'd
my inquiring when he was to return, and where he lodg'd, that I might
send some letters by him. He told me he was order'd to call to-morrow
at nine for the general's answer to the governor, and should set off
immediately. I put my letters into his hands the same day. A fortnight
after I met him again in the same place. "So, you are soon return'd,
Innis?" "_Return'd_! no, I am not _gone_ yet." "How so?" "I have
called here by order every morning these two weeks past for his
lordship's letter, and it is not yet ready." "Is it possible, when he
is so great a writer? for I see him constantly at his escritoire."
"Yes," says Innis, "but he is like St. George on the signs, _always on
horseback, and never rides on_." This observation of the messenger
was, it seems, well founded; for, when in England, I understood that
Mr. Pitt[113] gave it as one reason for removing this general, and
sending Generals Amherst and Wolfe, _that the minister never heard
from him, and could not know what he was doing_.

[113] William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), a
great English statesman and orator. Under his able
administration, England won Canada from France. He was a
friend of America at the time of our Revolution.

This daily expectation of sailing, and all the three packets going
down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet there, the passengers thought it
best to be on board, lest by a sudden order the ships should sail, and
they be left behind. There, if I remember right, we were about six
weeks, consuming our sea-stores, and oblig'd to procure more. At
length the fleet sail'd, the general and all his army on board, bound
to Louisburg, with the intent to besiege and take that fortress; all
the packet-boats in company ordered to attend the general's ship,
ready to receive his dispatches when they should be ready. We were out
five days before we got a letter with leave to part, and then our ship
quitted the fleet and steered for England. The other two packets he
still detained, carried them with him to Halifax, where he stayed some
time to exercise the men in sham attacks upon sham forts, then altered
his mind as to besieging Louisburg, and returned to New York, with all
his troops, together with the two packets above mentioned, and all
their passengers! During his absence the French and savages had taken
Fort George, on the frontier of that province, and the savages had
massacred many of the garrison after capitulation.

I saw afterwards in London Captain Bonnell, who commanded one of those
packets. He told me that, when he had been detain'd a month, he
acquainted his lordship that his ship was grown foul, to a degree that
must necessarily hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a
packet-boat, and requested an allowance of time to heave her down and
clean her bottom. He was asked how long time that would require. He
answered, three days. The general replied, "If you can do it in one
day, I give leave; otherwise not; for you must certainly sail the day
after to-morrow." So he never obtain'd leave, though detained
afterwards from day to day during full three months.

I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who was so enrag'd
against his lordship for deceiving and detaining him so long at New
York, and then carrying him to Halifax and back again, that he swore
he would sue him for damages. Whether he did or not, I never heard;
but, as he represented the injury to his affairs, it was very
considerable.

On the whole, I wonder'd much how such a man came to be intrusted[114]
with so important a business as the conduct of a great army; but,
having since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining,
and motives for giving places, my wonder is diminished. General
Shirley, on whom the command of the army devolved upon the death of
Braddock, would, in my opinion, if continued in place, have made a
much better campaign than that of Loudoun in 1757, which was
frivolous, expensive, and disgraceful to our nation beyond conception;
for, tho' Shirley was not a bred soldier, he was sensible and
sagacious in himself, and attentive to good advice from others,
capable of forming judicious plans, and quick and active in carrying
them into execution. Loudoun, instead of defending the colonies with
his great army, left them totally expos'd while he paraded idly at
Halifax, by which means Fort George was lost, besides, he derang'd all
our mercantile operations, and distress'd our trade, by a long embargo
on the exportation of provisions, on pretence of keeping supplies from
being obtain'd by the enemy, but in reality for beating down their
price in favour of the contractors, in whose profits, it was said,
perhaps from suspicion only, he had a share. And, when at length the
embargo was taken off, by neglecting to send notice of it to
Charlestown, the Carolina fleet was detain'd near three months longer,
whereby their bottoms were so much damaged by the worm that a great
part of them foundered in their passage home.

[114] This relation illustrates the corruption that
characterized English public life in the eighteenth
century. (See page 308). It was gradually overcome in
the early part of the next century.

Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being relieved from so
burdensome a charge as the conduct of an army must be to a man
unacquainted with military business. I was at the entertainment given
by the city of New York to Lord Loudoun, on his taking upon him the
command. Shirley, tho' thereby superseded, was present also. There was
a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers, and, some chairs
having been borrowed in the neighborhood, there was one among them
very low, which fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. Perceiving it as I sat
by him, I said, "They have given you, sir, too low a seat." "No
matter," says he, "Mr. Franklin, I find _a low seat_ the easiest."

While I was, as afore mention'd, detain'd at New York, I receiv'd all
the accounts of the provisions, etc., that I had furnish'd to
Braddock, some of which accounts could not sooner be obtain'd from the
different persons I had employ'd to assist in the business. I
presented them to Lord Loudoun, desiring to be paid the balance. He
caus'd them to be regularly examined by the proper officer, who, after
comparing every article with its voucher, certified them to be right;
and the balance due for which his lordship promis'd to give me an
order on the paymaster. This was, however, put off from time to time;
and tho' I call'd often for it by appointment, I did not get it. At
length, just before my departure, he told me he had, on better
consideration, concluded not to mix his accounts with those of his
predecessors. "And you," says he, "when in England, have only to
exhibit your accounts at the treasury, and you will be paid
immediately."

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18