him by sending him to the other end of the world; and for that purpose scruple not to recommend him to those they wish should recommend him to others, as un bon sujetplein de merite,' &c. &c. In consequence of my crediting such recommendations, my own are out of credit, and I cannot advise any body to have the least dependence on them. If, after knowing this, you persist in desiring my recommendation for this person, who is known neither to me nor to you, I will give it, though, as I said before, I ought to refuse it. "These applications are my perpetual torment. People will believe (notwithstanding my repeated declarations to the contrary,) that I am sent hither to engage officers. In truth I never had any such orders. It was never so much as intimated to me that it would be agreeable to my constituents. I have even received for what I have done of the kind, not indeed an absolute rebuke, but some pretty strong hints of disapprobation. Not a day passes in which I have not a number of soliciting visits, besides letters. If I could gratify all or any of them it would be a pleasure. I might indeed give them the recommendation, and the promises they desire, and thereby please them for the present; but when the certain disappointment of the expectations with which they will so obstinately flatter themselves shall arrive, they must curse me for complying with their mad requests, and not undeceiving them; and will become so many enemies to our cause and country. You can have no conception how I am harassed. All my friends are sought out and teazed to teaze me. Great officers of all ranks in all departments, ladies great and small, besides professed solicitors, worry me from morning to night. The noise of every coach now that enters my court, terrifies me. I am afraid to accept an invitation to dine abroad, being almost sure of meeting with *For cases of this kind, and where it was absolutely impossible to refuse, Dr. Franklin drew up the follow ing as a model for such letters of recommendation, and actually employed it in some instances, to shame the persons making such indiscreet applications; and to endeavour in some measure to put a stop to them. Model of a Letter of Recommendation of a person you are unacquainted with. PARIS, April 2, 1777. SIR,―The bearer of this, who is going to America, presses me to give him a letter of recommendation, not uncommon here. Sometimes, indeed, one unThis may seem extraordinary, but I assure you it is known person brings another equally unknown to recommend him; and sometimes they recommend one another! As to this gentleman, I must refer you to himself for his character and merits, with which he is certainly better acquainted than I can possibly be; I recommend him however to those civilities which every stranger, of whom one knows no harm, has a right to, and I request you will do him all the good offices and show him all the favour that, on further acquaintance, you shall find him to deserve. I have the honour to be, &c. though I know nothing of him, not even his name. some officer or officer's friend, who as soon as I am put in good humour by a glass or two of champaigne, begins his attack upon me. Luckily I do not often in my sleep dream of these vexatious situations, or I should be afraid of what are now my only hours of comfort. If therefore you have the least remaining kindness for me, if you would not help to drive me out of France, for God's sake, my dear friend, let this your twenty-third application be your last. Yours, &c. "B. FRANKLIN." The following letter, on the same subject, was addressed by Dr. Franklin to an impertinent and unknown applicant; and contains some wholesome advice in a tart and pithy style. "PASSY, near Paris, April 6, 1777. "SIR,-I have just been honoured with a letter from you, dated the 26th past, in which you express yourself as astonished, and appear to be angry that you have no answer to a letter you wrote me of the 11th of December, which you are sure was delivered to me. "In exculpation of myself, I assure you that I never received any letter from you of this date. And indeed, being then but four days landed at Nantes, I think you could scarce have heard so soon of my being in Europe. "But I received one from you of the 8th of January, which I own I did not answer. It may displease you if I give you the reason; but as it may be of use to you in your future correspondences, I will hazard that for a gentleman to whom I feel myself obliged, as an American, on account of his good will to our cause. "Whoever writes to a stranger should observe three points: 1. That what he proposes be practicable. 2. His propositions should be made in explicit terms, so as to be easily understood. 3. What he desires, should be in itself reasonable. Hereby he will give a favourable impression of his understanding, and create a desire of further acquaintance. Now it happened that you were negligent in all these points: for first, you desired to have means procured for you of taking á voyage to America' avec sureté;' which is not possible, as the dangers of the sea subsist always, and at present there is the additional danger of being taken by the English. Then you desire that this may be 'sans trop grandes débe answered, because, not knowing your abipenses,' which is not intelligible enough to lity of bearing expenses, one cannot judge what may be Lastly, you detrop grandes. sire letters of address to the congress and to general Washington; which it is not reasonable to ask of one who knows no more of you than that your name is LITH, and that you live at BAYREUTH. "In your last, you also express yourself in vague terms, when you desire to be informed whether you may expect 'd'étre reçu d'une maniére convenable' in our troops? As it is impossible to know what your ideas are of the maniére convenable, how can one answer this? And then you demand, whether I will support you by my authority in giving you letters of recommendation? I doubt not your being a man of merit; and knowing it yourself, you may forget that it is not known to every body; but reflect a moment, sir, and you will be convinced, that if I were to practise giving letters of recommendation to persons of whose character I knew no more than I do of yours, my recommendations would soon be of no authority at all. "I thank you, however, for your kind desire of being serviceable to my countrymen; and I wish, in return, that I could be of service to you in the scheme you have formed of going to America. But numbers of experienced officers here have offered to go over and join our army, and I could give them no encouragement, because I have no orders for that purpose, and I know it is extremely difficult to place them when they come there. I cannot but think, therefore, that it is best for you not to make so long, so expensive, and so hazardous a voyage, but to take the advice of your friends, and stay in Franconia. 66 I have the honour to be, sir, &c. "B. FRANKLIN.” Before we return to political occurrences, as connected with the memoirs of Dr. Franklin, we have to notice an attempt that was made in 1777, by a soi-disant English philosopher, to detract, if not to annul, the great discovery of the American philosopher, for the protection of buildings and ships from the effects of lightning. Mr. B. Wilson, F. R. S. who had formerly, at a meeting of the Royal Society, protested unsuccessfully against the pointed conductors of Franklin, now endeavoured by certain experiments publicly exhibited at the Pantheon, to prove the superior advantage of knobs to points, or the greater safety to be derived from blunt to sharp lightning conductors. These experiments, it is said, were much countenanced by the king, who attended them, with some of the royal family; but their deception was soon detected, as appears by the following article on the subject, in the London Evening Post of the 16th September, 1777:: 66 Monday, Mr. B. Wilson repeated his experiments at the Pantheon, before several fellows of the Royal Society, and other per sons. Lord Viscount Mahon, F. R. S., being present, had a great dispute with Mr. Wilson concerning his experiments, and showed him that he was wrong in both his assertions: 1st, that knobs are better than points; and 2dly, Afterwards earl Stanhope, since deceased. that low conductors are better than high ones. His lordship proved both those assertions to be false, and showed also that Mr. Wilson had entirely misunderstood, and had consequently misrepresented the philosophical opinions of Dr. Franklin. Lord Mahon repeated several experiments of his own to prove his assertions, and by invariably succeeding in them, at the same time that those of Mr. Wilson failed repeatedly, his lordship proved this to demonstration, and by so doing, gave great satisfaction to the best informed persons present. Mr. Wilson went to the other end of the room, as if to avoid seeing lord Mahon's experiments. He afterwards said that he had not changed his opinions, and would publish his own hypothesis; upon which lord Mahon told Mr. Wilson, in a most candid and gentleman-like manner, that he was very sorry to be obliged to differ in opinion from him, but that as the question about conductors for lightning, was of so great importance to this country, and to society in general, that if Mr. Wilson should publish an erroneous opinion upon this subject, that he would also pledge himself to the public to refute him in print." A few days after, Mr. Wilson's pretended improvement, founded on deceptive experiments, was completely destroyed by the discovery and exposure of the tricks he had employed to obtain a partial success. This took bers of the Royal Society, and other gentleplace on the 2d October, when several memmen conversant in electricity, went to see him repeat his experiments; among these, of the Royal Society, who fully detected and were Mr. Henly and Mr. Nairne, both fellows exposed the frauds and deceptions employed by cal reputation, on the ruins of that of Dr. Wilson, for establishing his own philosophi Franklin. of most of the learned societies of Europe) Another member of the Royal Society (and the ingenious Dr. Ingenhausz, who had assisted at these experiments, and in the detection of the fraud, afterwards wrote a very vehement letter on the subject, addressed to a friend on the continent; giving a full account of what he calls "la charlatanerie du fourbe Wilson décelée." The letter is too long and violent for insertion here; it concludes thus: "Voilà donc toute la tracasserie de Wilson exposée à la connoissance du public; tàchez de le rendre public pour le bien génémontrez ceci à notre ami, (Dr. Franklin,) et ral. Mais ce qu'il y a de plus drôle, c'est qu'on m'a assuré que les conducteurs du palais de la reine à Buckingham house, ont été abattus, depuis que le roi a vu les expériences de Wilson!!* A présent que la char *This was a fact; and they have never since been re-established, notwithstanding the condemnation of the pretended improvement by the Royal Society, in latanerie et la mauvaise foi de ce coquin se | jected them altogether as ineffectual. For it trouve décelée, et reconnue, on voudra pallier is only since he thought himself and family cette absurdité; et quoique Wilson devroit safe from the thunder of heaven, that he dared être puni pour avoir trompé et imposé au roi, to use his own thunder in destroying his inpeut être tâchera-t-on de le soutenir, comme nocent subjects."* un vrai don Quixote, qui a attaqué le philosophe Américain, de même que les héros militaires qui attaquent son pays; (et qui probablement n'auront pas plus de succes) et qu'il sera également récompensé par une nation dupée."* This letter being communicated to Dr. Franklin, and his opinion asked with respect to the propriety of publishing it in Paris, he thus replied: "PASSY, Oct. 4, 1777. found in the PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. During the months of March, April, and July, 1778, various schemes were fallen upon by the English ministry, privately to sound Dr. Franklin on the subject of peace with America. The correspondents or agents employed by them on this occasion, were principally, Mr. Hutton, William Pulteney, and David Hartley, esquires; the two latter members of parliament. A full account of these attempts, and others that took place at subsequent periods of the war, with the view to "SIR,-I am much obliged by your commu- induce America to abandon her alliance with nication of the letter from England. I am of France, or to treat for peace on terms short your opinion, that it is not proper for publica- of her independence, or of the formal acknowtion here. Our friend's expressions concern- ledgment of it by Great Britain; together ing Mr. Wilson, will be thought too angry to with all the letters, memorials, and diplomatic be made use of by one philosopher when speak-documents exhibited on the occasion, will be ing of another, and on a philosophical question. He seems as much heated about this one point, as the Jansenists and Molinists were about the five. As to my writing any thing on the subject, which you seem to desire, I think it not necessary, especially as I have nothing to add to what I have already said upon it in a paper read to the committee,† who ordered the conductors at Purfleet; which paper is printed in the last French edition of my writings. I have never entered into any controversy in defence of my philosophical opinions; I leave them to take their chance in the world. If they are right, truth and experience will support them; if wrong, they ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper, and disturb one's quiet. I have no private interest in the reception of my inventions by the world, having never made nor proposed to make, the least profit by any of them. The king's changing his pointed conductors for blunt ones, is therefore a matter of small importance to me. If I had a wish about it, it would be that he had re their reports in favour of pointed conductors, and their being consequently generally employed for the protec tion of the powder magazines throughout the country. * —— Behold at last the dirty tricks of Wilson are made manifest to the world: show this to our friend, (Dr. Franklin,) and prevail upon him to make it more generally known for the public benefit. But what is more amusing than all is, as I am assured, that one of the conductors at the queen's palace at Buckingham house, has been stricken down by lightning, since the king has seen the experiments of Wilson! Now that the quackery and deception of this rascal are exploded and notorious, they are seeking to escape the derision which they have merited, by saying that Wilson ought to be punished for having imposed upon and deceived the king, notwithstanding he was sustained like a genuine don Quixotte, in his attacks on the philosophical American; as they uphold their military heroes who attack his country, (and who will probably meet a similar fate,) and who are likely to meet a similar recompense from a duped nation. Report on Lightning Conductors for the powder magazines at Purfleet, drawn up by Dr. Franklin, August 21, 1772. The alliance with France was considered in America, as a pledge of the safety and liberty of the country. The immediate fruit of it was the powerful aid sent thither by France, in the squadron of the count d'Estaing, consisting of eleven ships of the line, six frigates, and considerable land forces. Previous to its departure, Dr. Franklin had furnished the French government with a plan for surprising the British fleet and army then in the Delaware; and count d'Estaing was directed to execute this important enterprise. A better choice of a commander could not have been made; he united uncommon ardour and intrepidity, great military knowledge, vigilance, and circumspection, a quick decision, and a perfect command of himself in the most trying moments. The enterprise would in all probability have proved successful, had it not been for an unexampled series of bad weather and contrary winds. The count took his departure from Toulon the 13th April, 1778. In the Mediterranean he had to encounter with such contrary winds, that it was not in his power to pass the straits of Gibraltar till the 17th May. The calms and light winds that afterwards attended him on the ocean, prevented the arrival of his fleet at the mouth of the river Delaware before the 7th July. In consequence of these unforeseen obstacles, the French admiral arrived too late, for the English army had evacuated Phila *The foregoing circumstances, united with the then state of the British nation, gave rise to the following epigram, which possesses more than a common share of point. "While you, great GEORGE! for safety hunt, The empire's out of joint. delphia after their defeat at Monmouth, and the fleet was then riding in perfect safety at Sandy Hook. But fleets and armies were not the only support to the American cause, derived from the alliance with France, through the influence of Dr. Franklin; for military stores and large sums of money were placed at his disposal by the French government, in consequence of his representations and pressing solicitations. These timely succours were of infinite use, and greatly assisted America in sustaining her independence. By means of the pecuniary advances, which were chiefly gifts, Dr. Franklin was enabled for several years to honour bills drawn from America to a large amount, and to pay the interest of a loan the congress had effected, on the stipulation of the interest being paid in cash, in Europe. He also paid the salaries of all the American ministers or agents employed in Europe, and gave considerable assistance to the American prisoners in England, and to those who escaped or were exchanged, to aid their return to the United States. express 66 "To Mr. Hutton, London. 'My dear old friend has here the paper he desired.-We have had a marble monument made at Paris for the brave general Montgomery, which is gone to America. If it should fall into the hands of any of your cruisers, I expect you will exert yourself to get. it restored to us, because I know the generosity of your temper, which likes to do hand-. some things, as well as to make returns. You In June, 1778, Dr. Franklin's old friend, see we are unwilling to rob the hospital, we Mr. Hutton, secretary to the Moravian society, hope your people will be found as averse to applied to him for a protection against Ame-pillaging the dead. Adieu. Yours, rican cruisers, for a vessel the society annually dispatched to their missionaries on the coast of Labrador: this Dr. Franklin, with his usual humanity, readily acquiesced in; and immediately forwarded to Mr. Hutton a pass, which he afterwards annually renewed during the war: the present was accompanied by the following note: To all captains and commanders of vessels of war, privateers and letters of marque, belonging to the United States of America. GENTLEMEN,-The religious society commonly called the Moravian Brethren, having established a mission on the coast of Labrador, for the conversion of the savages there to the Christian religion, which has already had very good effects in turning them from their ancient practices of surprising, plundering, and murdering such white people, Americans and Europeans, as, for the purposes of trade or fishery, happened to come on that coast; and persuading them to lead a life of honest industry, and to treat strangers with humanity and kindness: and it being necessary for the support of this useful mission, that a small vessel should go thither every year to furnish supplies and necessaries for the missionaries and their converts; which vessel for the present year is a of about seventy-five tons, called the whereof is master captain This is to request you, that if the said vessel should happen to fall into your hands, you would not suffer her to be plundered, or hin 66 "B. FRANKLIN. Passy, June 23, 1778." With the same wonted philanthropy, and with a view to the advancement of science, natural history, and navigation, Dr. Franklin, shortly after, as minister plenipotentiary from the United States of America, issued a protection for captain Cooke, his vessel and people, against all American cruisers. 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, and of your own American owners. I have the honour to be, &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. Dr. Kippis, a distinguished literary character, who published a Biographical Dictionary, had asserted, in his Life of captain Cooke, upon what he deemed authority, that Dr. Franklin's orders, as above, were instantly reversed, and that it was directed by congress; to seize captain Cooke, if an opportunity of doing it occurred: but Dr. Kippis finding that the information he had published was false, addressed a letter to the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, in September, 1795, and therein publicly acknowledged his mistake. Indeed the magnanimous proceeding of Dr. Franklin in writing the passport was so well known in England, and the sentiments it manifested so much approved by the British government itself, that, when Cooke's Voyage was printed, the admiralty board sent a copy of the work, in three volumes quarto, to Dr. Franklin, accompanied with the elegant collection of plates, and a very polite letter from lord Howe, signifying, that the present was made with the king'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 these medals was also sent to Dr. Franklin, by order of the society, together with a letter from their president, sir Joseph Banks, expressing likewise, that it was sent with the approbation of the king. Another opportunity occurred some time after, for Dr. Franklin to give an additional proof of his benevolence; in granting a similar protection to a vessel sent with provisions and clothing, as a charitable donation from the citizens of Dublin, to certain sufferers in the West Indies. In short, Dr. Franklin, through life, let no opportunity escape him, either in a public or private situation, in which, by any act of his, he could be useful to his fellow creatures, whether friends or enemies. VOL. I....U No one who did not witness it, can conceive how much his reputation as a philosopher, and his situation as American minister, subjected him to the applications of projectors, speculators, and adventurers of all descriptions. The following memorandums of only one day's annoyance of this nature, taken from a little journal he kept, may tend to give some idea of it. "Passy, Sunday, Dec. 13, 1778, A. M. "A man came to tell me he had invented a machine, which would go of itself, without the help of a spring, weight, air, water, or any of the elements, or the labour of man or beast; and with force sufficient to work four machines for cutting tobacco; that he had experienced it; would show it me if I would come to his house, and would sell the secret of it for two hundred louis. I doubted it, but promised to go to him in order to see it. "A Mons. Coder came with a proposition in writing, to levy 600 men, to be employed in landing on the coast of England and Scotland, to burn and ransack towns and villages, in order to put a stop to the English proceedings in that way in America. I thanked him, and told him I could not approve it, nor had I any it would not be permitted by the government here. money at command for such purposes; moreover that "A man came with a request that I would patronize and recommend to government, an invention he had, whereby a hussar might so conceal his arms and habiliments, with provision for twenty-four hours, as to ap. able body might be admitted into a town, one at a pear a common traveller; by which means a consider. time, unsuspected, and afterwards assembling, surprise it. I told him I was not a military man, of course no judge of such matters, and advised him to apply to the Bureau de la guerre. He said he had no friends, and so could procure no attention.-The number of wild schemes proposed to me is so great, and they have heretofore taken so much of my time, that I begin to reject all, though possibly some of them may be worth notice. who submits to my consideration a memoir on the "Received a parcel from an unknown philosopher,* subject of elementary fire, containing experiments in a dark chamber. It seems to be well written, and is in English, with a little tincture of French idiom. I wish to see the experiments, without which I cannot well judge of it." About the commencement of the year 1781, Dr. Franklin, from his age, infirmities, and the confinement of business, began to be weary of his situation as minister at the court of France, and requested leave to retire; as will appear by the following extract from one of his public dispatches to the president of congress. "To the President of Congress. "PASSY, March 12, 1781. "SIR,-I had the honour of receiving, on the 13th of last month, your excellency's letter of the first of January, together with the instructions of November 28th and December 27th, a copy of those to colonel Laurens, and the letter to the king. I immediately drew up a memorial, enforcing as strongly as I could, the request contained in that letter, and directed by the instructions, and delivered the same with the letter, which were both well received; but the ministry being extremely occupied with other weighty affairs, and I obtaining for some time only general *Afterwards discovered to be Marat, of future notorioùs memory. |