“FRANKLIN. 
Evrerrioar Ath Bion and R. pulfien, ene abe Kc. = 
‘ Tun ‘information on. se fubject, yes we cannot fo dae r givi 
F “ranklin 3 difco ving hee 
; fluid was ees from the aera who ees it, to him 
» he deisel the ftate of the latter, by the 
art t of his sane ee 
while slicer ging it is a 
‘He her demonftra ted, by decifive experiments, that the 
nae er ele ee in the charged fide of the phial re- 
fided not in the coating, but in the glafs itfelf; but the moft 
brilliant of his diicoverics was. that w hich proved the identity 
the ae ee of it entirely by 
conceived the 
any ar aber in which lightning and eleGtricity 
ced man acts and reafonings, from 
in the fame = ear — 
ol a part, a dsleend fome feet into the sare 
‘or the wa he effe& of thefe, he concluded, would be 
aie to ore a ftroke by repelling the cloud ici the 
ftriking diftance, or by drawing off the eleCtrical flitid which 
it contained; or, at leaft, c 
their ele face. which. might be ordered ae ae to the 
fenfes by {parks being emitted, when the knuckle or other 
‘conduétor was prefented. to it. While he was waiting for 
the ereGtion of a fpire, it occurred to him,. that hé might 
ee. more meses accefs to the region of clouds by means 
of 4 n kite ; he according] , ? prepared i one = the put- 
cmpen'P 
faftened. With this fimple . aratus, on the a 
a thunder ftorm egiteer ee ie went into the falas, accom- 
“panied by his fon, to whom alone he communicated his in- 
tentions,-dreading, probably, “the ridicule which frequently 
‘awaits unfnecefsfl attémpts in experimental apa 
For fome time-no fign of eletricity appeared ; he w 
ginning to eee of fuccefs, when 
the loofe fibres of the: ftring to ftart forward in an ere€t ‘pofi- 
tions He now a his eameh ie to the keys and 
of behalf. He refum 
n 
-he fuddenly chferted 
received a a aa ae a oe mutt his fenfations 
have bee 
7 knowle ie to the conftruction of fre-places 
co pagel the qu aan ee an open grate wit As aA 
a politician he had been elected a reprefentative of the 
on of Philadelphia to the ee affembly of the province. 
His principles in favour of equality of rights led him always 
to take the popular fide, and he quickly obtained fuch an 
influence that he was regarded as the head of the party. 
The rue) and punctuality which he had ailelaveas in his 
office of poft-matter, caufed him, in 1753, to be raifed to the 
important employ oO puty pott- maiter for the Britifh 
c Suls es. e dea in various other 
rfhare in a tax 
or the public fervice, provided that Franklin would engage 
that the 
affeflment ‘aes be fairly portioned e meds 
ure was accordingly’ carried into Hect, 
the Britifh court as es for his oa oe bis is reputatiol 
caufed him alfo to be entrufted with - like co 
‘Maffachufets, Maryland, and Geor The melettion 
received by the Britifh aie from the French i in Cana 
induced ain to. write a ae 
About this ee his ae as a ane fo 
appreciated in various parts of Europe. - _ 
a ea of the Royal Society of London, and the degree of 
doctor laws was conferred upon him at St. Andrew’s, 
Edinburgh, and Oxford. 
ned to America in 1762, where he a 
the fae of the eae : his fervices, and a remunera- 
tion for his labours under 
diftinguifh himfelf as a friend to the caufe of t 
The active patt which he took againft the proprietary in- 
tereft occafioned the lofs of his eleétion in 1764, but he 
was immediately re-appointed agent for the province, and 
It was at this period that 
to a ae aaa 
the potions a dhe people to 
fubmit 
His span had ac nfiderable effect 
In. the 
vee 
publication of governo wing 
feif to be the peo who obtained thefe ies aud ‘anf ; 
ted 
