332 HISTORY OF SCIENCE. 



The reason that Franklin -did not at first obtain any electrical effects 

 was that the string was dry, and in this state was a very imperfect 

 conductor. When it became damp with the rain it conducted more 

 freely ; and perhaps, had it been thoroughly saturated with moisture, 

 the experiment might have cost the bold philosopher his life. Frank- 

 lin's practical genius perceived the advantages to be gained from this 

 experiment. The identity of lightning and electricity was no longer 

 an hypothesis, and some houses in Philadelphia had actually lightning 

 conductors fixed to them a few years afterwards. 



When Franklin's paper on the identity of lightning and electricity 

 was read before the Royal Society of London, it was received with 

 derision. In France, however, Buffon had a translation of the paper 

 published, and thus it quickly became known, versions of it being 

 issued in various languages. After a time Franklhrs experiment began 

 to be spoken of in England, and the Royal Society thought it would 

 be as'well to reconsider the papers which they had thought unworthy 

 -of a place in their "Transactions." One of the members of the Society 

 verified the fact of the possibility of bringing electricity from the clouds. 

 Thereupon the Society soon made Franklin amends for their former 

 treatment. Without any application on his part he was elected a 

 member, the customary subscription being dispensed with. To him 

 was awarded the Copley medal for 1753, and the presentation was 

 made the occasion of a very laudatory speech by the President of the 

 Society, Lord Macclesfield. Some years afterwards, when Franklin 

 visited England, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was con- 

 ferred on him by the Universities of Oxford, of Edinburgh, and of St. 

 Andrew's, and he was elected a member of all the chief scientific so- 

 cieties of Europe. The whole career of Benjamin Franklin has bio- 

 graphical interest of the highest kind. It gives an example of a man 

 raising himself from an obscure position by the aid of such education 

 only as he gave himself, and, though actively engaged in ordinary busi- 

 ness, achieving a scientific fame which any of the most learned pro- 

 fessors of his time might have envied. Beyond all this, we find 

 Franklin taking his part in statesmanship amongst the most eminent 

 men of that craft. At the beginning of the War of Independence he 

 v/as sent by the United States as ambassador to France to seek an 

 alliance with that country. In 1783, on the conclusion of the war, he 

 signed the treaty of peace in which England recognized the indepen- 

 dence of the United States. It was in allusion to Franklin's twofold 

 fame as a man of science and as a patriot that Turgot composed 

 the well-known line about him : 



Eripuit coelo fulmen sccptrumque tyrannis. 



On his return to America two years afterwards he was chosen to be 

 President of the Supreme Executive Council of the United States. 



