an order. But what he had previously advanced, he never received.

"This general," says Franklin, "was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a figure as a good officer in some European war. Bnt he had too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of regular troops, and too mean a one of both Americans and Indians. George Croghan, an Indian interpreter, joined him on his march with one hundred of those people, who might have been of great use to his army, as guides and scouts, if he had treated them kindly; but he slighted and neglected them, and they gradually left him.

"In conversation with him one day, he was giving me some account of his intended progress. 'After taking Fort Duquesne,' said he, 'I am to proceed to Niagara; and having taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow time, and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four days, and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara.' Having before resolved in my mind the long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them through the woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, who invaded the Illinois country, I had conceived some trouble and some fears for the event of the campaign. But I ventured to suggest the danger from Indian ambuscades to a slender line, nearly four miles long, exposed to sudden attack on the flank and along its sides.

"He smiled at my ignorance, and replied, 'These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any impression.'

"The boastful general, with Col. George Washington as his aid-de-camp, crossed the mountains for Fort Duquesne, in the month of June, with about two thousand men.

The

terrible defeat which befel him, from his neglect to guard against surprise, need not be minutely described. He himself was slain, more than half his army were killed or wounded, and the rest, panic-stricken, made a precipitate retreat. The fugitives, reaching Col. Dunbar's camp, who had been left some distance behind, to follow later with the heavier baggage, communicated their terror to him and his troops. He had over a thousand men, but so overwhelmed was he with fright, that he ordered all the stores and ammunition to be deserted, in order to facilitate his escape to the settlements. There requests met him from the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontier, to afford some protection to the inhabitants. But, as if fearing that Indians would start out from every tree and bush, he rushed on through the more unsettled country, and never felt himself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could protect him and his valiant army." No wonder Franklin adds, that "this first transaction gave us, Americans, the first suspicion, that our exalted ideas of the power of British regular troops, had not been well founded."

This rout gave Franklin a great deal of trouble, for the owners of the wagons and horses came upon him for the valuation which he had given bond to pay. In the necessary delay of settlement, some of them even sued him, and he would have been ruined, the sum demanded amounting to twenty thousand pounds, had not Gen. Shirley, who was then governor of Massachusetts, and commander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces in America, ordered an examination of the accounts, and immediate payment to be made. But Franklin never received the full amount that was due him.

Franklin loved best the arts of peace, and about this time he was much engaged in a plan for improving the condition of the German population in the colonies. It was proposed to provide missionaries and teachers, and to render such relief as might be needed. The majority of German immigrants at that period were very ignorant, and full of prejudices against the people of English descent. "Few of their children in the country," says Franklin; "know English.'

CHAPTER XXII.

Meanness of the Proprietaries.-Discord between the Governor and the Assembly. Effect of Braddock's Defeat in England. - Defence of the Frontier. Franklin takes the Field. Raises Troops and Builds Forts. The Moravian Settlements. - Indian Massacres. The Moravia Bishop. - The March. - Lloyd's Description. Indian Device. - Letter to His Wife. Summoned to Philadelphia. -Elected Colonel. Effect of a Salute. An Escort. The Proprietor Offended. Letter to His Wife. Description.-Buffon. Franklin's Theory of Electricity assailed in France. - Does not Reply. His Plan of Proving Identity of Electricity and Lightning.—Dolibard. — Lightning from the Clouds. A Kite. - Proves His Theory. - The Royal Society.-A Gold Medal. -Affection for His Relatives. - Letter to Mrs. Benny. Antigua. - Letter to Mrs. Mecom. Jemmy's Dress.

Месот.

MONEY was needed for the defence of the province, but the Assembly would not pass bills for that purpose, with a clause exempting the proprietory estates from their share of the burden. The governor again and again remonstrated

with them, and rejected their money-bills as not made according to his wishes, but they stood firm by their rights and the rights of the people. It was only reasonable, they declared, that all who were to be protected should join in meeting the expense. The meanness and injustice of the proprietaries was loudly proclaimed in England, when the news of Braddock's defeat reached there. It was openly said, If these men obstruct the defence of the province, they forfeit their right to it. This frightened them into sending over an order to add five thousand pounds of their money to what might be given by the Assembly. This was accepted for the time in place of their share in the general tax. Franklin was appointed one of the commissioners for disposing of the money, which amounted to sixty thousand pounds. He also carried through the House a bill for establishing a voluntary militia, to which the Quakers made no great opposition, as they were expressly exempted.

Hitherto Franklin had served the province in a civil capacity, or as counsellor in military affairs; he was now to take the field as a military commander. The northwestern frontier of the province was infested by the enemy, and the governor prevailed on Franklin to take charge of its defence, by raising troops, and building a line of forts. He was invested with the powers of a general, and was authorized to appoint such persons for officers as he thought competent. He soon had five hundred and sixty men under his command, his son acting as aid-de-camp.