746 
were then carrying on between the Assembly and the 
i pe oa the provinces; and he soon became a 
4 in opposition to the Jatter.. He sel- 
dom spoke in the course of the debates which took 
place ; and when he did rise to address the house, his 
speeches often consisted only of a single sentence or 
a well-told story, and were always expressed in the 
most concise and simple style. But his judgment was 
unusually penetrating ; and he has frequently been 
known by a single observation, delivered in his plain 
manner, to decide the fate of an important question. 
In 1754, when a meeting of commissioners the 
northern provinces was held at Albany, in order to 
concert measures of mutual defence against the French 
settlements and Indian tribes, Franklin attended as 
delegate from Pennsylvania, and produced a plan which 
has generally been called the « Albany plan of Union.” 
Though unanimously approved by the commissioners, 
it was finally rejected both by the provincial Assemblies 
and the king’s council, upon principles which seem to 
establish its excellence as a just medium between poli- 
tical extremes. By the ministry of Great Britain, it 
was considered as giving too much power to the repre- 
-sentatives of the people ; while it was rejected by every 
assembly as giving to the president- general, the repre- 
sentative of the crown, a disproportionate and danger 
_ous influence. In the alarm which followed the defeat 
_of Braddock in 1755, Franklin introduced a bill into 
the Assembly for organizing a kind of voluntary mili- 
tia, and for some time acted as colonel of a regiment 
raised in Philadelphia; and, in 1757, he was chosen 
_agent for the province of Pennsylvania to present a 
ition on the part of the Assembly to his Britannic 
ajesty, against the measures of the rietaries. Af- 
ter much discussion before the Privy Council, the prayer 
‘of the petition was partially ted upon condition 
that Franklin would solemnly engage, that the assess- 
ment should be so levied as to bear equitably upon the 
estates of the proprietaries ; a proposal which testified 
at least the high opinion entertained of his honour and 
integrity. He still remained at the court of Great 
Britain as agent for the province of Pennsylvania ; and, 
in uence of the knowledge and fidelity with 
which he conducted the interests of the colonies, he was 
soon appointed to the same office for the provinces of 
Massachussets, Maryland, and Georgia. e€ was now 
in a situation where his merits were sure of being duly 
appretiated, and where his claim to literary honours 
was fully acknowl 
He was admitted a member of the Royal Society of 
London, and of similar institutions in.other of 
Europe ; and the degree of Doctor of Laws was confer- 
red upon him by the universities of St Andrews, Edin- 
burgh, and Oxford. He was soon en, in a cor- 
respondence with the most eminent philosophers of 
Europe, and never desisted entirely from philosophi- 
cal studies. I was during his residence in London 
that he direated his attention to the electrical proper- 
ties of the tourmalin, the effects of cold produced by 
evaporation, the causes of the north-east storms in 
North America, and the construction of the musical 
glass instrument the harmonica. But his time was 
chiefly occupied with political objects ; and a hlet 
which he published, on the’ importance of to 
Great Britain, is supposed to have suggested the ex- 
pedition under Wolfe for the conquest of that province. 
After his return to America, in 1762, the disputes be- 
tween the proprietaries and the Assembly were again 
FRANKLIN. 
Franklin. was devoted to political pursuits, Keen contentions 
ear, 
the party of the ietaries having gained a ; 
jority in the city of Philadel ia, Dr Franklin lost hie 
seat in the Assembly ; but his ds in that house still 
the expediency of the stamp act; ahd, on that occa- 
sion, Mae iin | roof of the accuracy of his in- 
fointalots, and the r i io 66 
every where 
literature and 
Britain and the 
to the utmost, both in his conversation and correspon- 
dence, to effect a change of measures, and to point out 
the evils which a verance in those that were adopt- 
ed must ultimate all his endea-« 
ce. Finding 
vours to restore |, he re« 
ony entirely i 
turned to America, in the year 1775, i after 
the commencement of hostilities, and continued to bear 
a leading in the memorable struggle, which termi- 
nated in dependence of the colonies. He 
About three years afterw he 
under all the infirmities of age, aggravated by a painful 
the Philadel- 
the miseries of public pri- 
ety for promoting 
livered in the Divan o' girs 
thearguments of the anti-abolitionists, and a striking evi- 
dence of the strength of intellect which he | 
the last. During the concluding twelve months of his 
life, he was confined almost entirely to bed, by a cal- 
culous complaint, which had afflicted him for several 
-years ; but died at last of an i ume in his lungs, 
in April 1790, in the 85th year of his age. 
The life of Dr Franklin affords a striking proof of 
the influence in society of a sound understanding, uni- 
ted with steady industry, and supported by candid in- 
tegrity ; and presents a useful lesson to all young per- 
sons.of unsteady principles and showy accomplishments. 
His wee and, discoveries also, on so many subjects 
of practi utility, produced, without any advantages 
of re; edueation, or literary society, forcibly illus- 
trate how far a vigorous and well-directed mind ma 
carry its possessor, without the minutie of learning, 
and the theories of science. He has distinguished him- 
self in various d ents of knowledge, in natural 
philosophy, in political economy, in general literature, 
and in practical morality. His physical speculations 
were almost uniformly niggested by views of utility, 
and are distinguished by th leled facility with 
which he conducts his reader from one step of the en- 
