48 RISEN B Y PERSE VERANCE. 



Franklin's electrical discoveries did not, on their first 

 announcement, attract much attention in England; and, 

 indeed, he had the mortification of learning that his paper on 

 the similarity of lightning to electricity, when read by a friend 

 to the Royal Society, had been only laughed at by that learned 

 body. In France, however, the account that had been 

 published in London of his experiments, fortunately fell into 

 the hands of the celebrated naturalist Buffbn, who was so 

 much struck with it that he had it translated into French and 

 printed at Paris. This made it immediately known to all 

 Europe ; and versions of it in various other modern languages 

 soon appeared, as well as one in Latin. The theory pro- 

 pounded in it was at first violently opposed in France by the 

 Abbe NoUet, who had one of his own to support, and, as 

 Franklin tells us, could not at first believe that such a work 

 came from America, but said it must have been fabricated 

 by his enemies at Paris. The Abb^ was eventually, however, 

 deserted by all his partisans, and lived to see himself the last 

 of his sect. In England, too, the Franklinian experiments 

 gradually began to be more spoken of; and, at last, even the 

 Royal Society was induced to resume the consideration of the 

 papers that had formerly been read to them. One of their 

 members verified the grand experiment of bringing down 

 lightning from the clouds ; and upon his reading to them an 

 account of his success, ' they soon,' says Franklin, * 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 excused 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 



