Chapter XXIV: Appendix: , No. II (1)

CONTAINING LETTERS, BY SEVERAL EMINENT PERSONS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF DR. FRANKLIN'S MANNERS AND CHARACTER.

_Letter from the late Dr. Price to a Gentleman in America._

_Hackney, June 19, 1790._

DEAR SIR,

I am hardly able to tell you how kindly I take the letters with which you favour me. Your last, containing an account of the death of our excellent friend, Dr. Franklin, and the circumstances attending it, deserves my particular gratitude. The account which he has left of his life will show, in a striking example, how a man, by talents, industry, and integrity, may rise from obscurity to the first eminence and consequence in the world; but it brings his history no lower than the year 1757, and I understand, that since he sent over the copy, which I have read, he has been able to make no additions to it. It is with a melancholy regret I think of his death; but to death we are all bound by the irreversible order of nature, and in looking forward to it, there is comfort in being able to reflect--that we have not lived in vain, and that all the useful and virtuous shall meet in a better country beyond the grave.

Dr. Franklin, in the last letter I received from him, after mentioning his age and infirmities, observes, that it has been kindly ordered by the author of nature, that, as we draw nearer the conclusion of life, we are furnished with more helps to wean us from it, among which one of the strongest is the loss of dear friends. I was delighted with the account you gave in your letter of the honour shown to his memory at Philadelphia, and by congress; and yesterday I received a high additional pleasure, by being informed, that the national assembly of France had determined to go into mourning for him[203].--What a glorious scene is opened there! The annals of the world furnish no parallel to it. One of the honours of our departed friend is, that he has contributed much to it.

I am, with great respect,

Your obliged and very

humble servant,

RICHARD PRICE.

FOOTNOTE:

[203] Congress ordered a general mourning throughout the United States for a month: the national assembly of France decreed, that the assembly do wear mourning for three days, that a funeral oration be delivered by M. Mirabeau, the elder, and that the president write a letter of condolence to congress: and the common-council of Paris paid the extraordinary tribute, of attending in a body at a funeral oration, delivered by the Abbe Fauchet, in the Rotunda of the market-place, which was hung with black, illuminated with chandeliers and rows of lamps, and decorated with suitable devices. _Editor._

_Letter from Mr. Thomas Jefferson to the late Dr. William Smith, of
Philadelphia[204]._

I feel both the wish and the duty to communicate, in compliance with your request, whatever, within my knowledge, might render justice to the memory of our great countryman, Dr. Franklin, in whom philosophy has to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But my opportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his life have not been equal to my desire of making them known.

I can only, therefore, testify in general, that there appeared to me more respect and veneration attached to the character of Dr. Franklin in France, than to that of any other person in the same country, foreign or native. I had opportunities of knowing particularly, how far these sentiments were felt by the foreign ambassadors and ministers at the court of Versailles. The fable of his capture by the Algerines, propagated by the English newspapers, excited no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up to please certain readers; but nothing could exceed the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren on a subsequent report of his death, which, although premature, bore some marks of authenticity.

I found the ministers of France equally impressed with his talents and integrity. The count de Vergennes, particularly, gave me repeated and unequivocal demonstrations of his entire confidence in him.

When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its patriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the king ordered him to be handsomely complimented, and furnished him with a litter and mules of his own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his health could bear.

The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the court of France, was an excellent school of humility to me. On being presented to any one, as the minister of America, the common-place question was, "_c'est vous Monsieur, qui remplacez le Docteur Franklin?_"--is it you, sir, who replace Dr. Franklin? I generally answered--"No one can replace him, sir; I am only his successor."

I could here relate a number of those _bon mots_, with which he was used to charm every society, as having heard many of them; but these are not your object. Particulars of greater dignity happened not to occur, during his stay of nine months after my arrival in France.

A little before that time, Argand had invented his celebrated lamp, in which the flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, and thus brought into contact with the air, within as well as without. Dr. Franklin had been on the point of the same discovery. The idea had occurred to him; but he had tried a bullrush as a wick, which did not succeed. His occupations did not permit him to repeat and extend his trials to the introduction of a larger column of air, than could pass through the stem of a bullrush.

About that time, also, the king of France gave him a signal testimony of respect, by joining him with some of the most illustrious men of the nation to examine that ignis-fatuus of philosophy, the animal magnetism of the maniac, Mesmer; the pretended effects of which had astonished all Paris. From Dr. Franklin's hand, in conjunction with his brethren of the learned committee, that compound of fraud and folly was unveiled, and received its death-wound. After this nothing very interesting was before the public, either in philosophy or politics, during his stay; and he was principally occupied in winding up his affairs, and preparing for his return to America.

These small offerings to the memory of our great and dear friend (whom time will be making still greater, while it is spunging us from its records) must be accepted by you, sir, in that spirit of love and veneration for him, in which they are made; and not according to their insignificancy in the eyes of a world, which did not want this mite to fill up the measure of his worth.

His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at some time or other. We have reason to be thankful he was so long spared; that the most useful life should be the longest also; that it was protracted so far beyond the ordinary span allotted to humanity, as to avail us of his wisdom and virtue, in the establishment of our freedom in the west; and to bless him with a view of its dawn in the east, where men seemed till now to have learned every thing--but _how to be free_.

FOOTNOTE:

[204] Extracted from the Eulogium on Dr. Franklin, delivered by Dr. W. Smith, before the American philosophical society. _Editor._

_Letter from the late Dr. Joseph Priestley to the Editor of the
Monthly Magazine[205]._

SIR,

I have just read in the Monthly Review, vol. 36, p. 357, that the late Mr. Pennant said of Dr. Franklin, that, "living under the protection of our mild government, he was secretly playing the incendiary, and too successfully inflaming the minds of our fellow subjects in America, till that great explosion happened, which for ever disunited us from our once happy colonies."

As it is in my power, as far as my testimony will be regarded, to refute this charge, I think it due to our friendship to do it. It is probable, that no person now living was better acquainted with Dr. Franklin and his sentiments on all subjects of importance, than myself, for several years before the American war. I think I knew him as well as one man can generally know another. At that time I spent the winters in London, in the family of the Marquis of Lansdown, and few days passed without my seeing more or less of Dr. Franklin; and the last day that he passed in England, having given out that he should depart the day before, we spent together, without any interruption, from morning till night.

Now he was so far from wishing for a rupture with the colonies, that he did more than most men would have done, to prevent it. His constant advice to his countrymen, he always said, was "to bear every thing from England, however unjust;" saying, that "it could not last long, as they would soon outgrow all their hardships." On this account Dr. Price, who then corresponded with some of the principal persons in America, said, he began to be very unpopular there. He always said, "If there must be a war, it will be a war of ten years, and I shall not live to see the end of it." This I have heard him say many times.

It was at his request, enforced by that of Dr. Fothergil, that I wrote an anonymous pamphlet, calculated to show the injustice and impolicy of a war with the colonies, previous to the meeting of a new parliament. As I then lived at Leeds, he corrected the press himself, and, to a passage, in which I lamented the attempt to establish arbitrary power in so large a part of the British empire, he added the following clause, "to the imminent danger of our most valuable commerce, and of that national strength, security, and felicity, which depend on union and on liberty."

The unity of the British empire, in all its parts, was a favourite idea of his. He used to compare it to a beautiful China vase, which, if once broken, could never be put together again: and so great an admirer was he at the time of the British constitution, that he said he saw no inconvenience from its being extended over a great part of the globe. With these sentiments he left England; but when, on his arrival in America, he found the war begun, and that there was no receding, no man entered more warmly into the interests of what he then considered as _his country_, in opposition to that of Great Britain. Three of his letters to me, one written immediately on his landing, and published in the collection of his Miscellaneous Works, p. 365, 552, and 555[206], will prove this.

By many persons, Dr. Franklin is considered as having been a cold-hearted man, so callous to every feeling of humanity, that the prospect of all the horrors of a civil war could not affect him. This was far from being the case. A great part of the day abovementioned that we spent together, he was looking over a number of American newspapers, directing me what to extract from them for the English ones; and, in reading them, he was frequently not able to proceed for the tears literally running down his cheeks. To strangers he was cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged to more pleasantry and good humour. By this he was the delight of a club, to which he alludes in one of the letters above referred to, called the _whig-club_, that met at the London coffee-house, of which Dr. Price, Dr. Kippis, Mr. John Lee, and others of the same stamp, were members.

Hoping that this vindication of Dr. Franklin will give pleasure to many of your readers, I shall proceed to relate some particulars relating to his behaviour, when lord Loughborough, then Mr. Wedderburn, pronounced his violent invective against him at the privy-council, on his presenting the complaints of the province of Massachusetts (I think it was) against their governor. Some of the particulars may be thought amusing.

On the morning of the day on which the cause was to be heard, I met Mr. Burke, in Parliament-street, accompanied by Dr. Douglas, afterwards bishop of Carlisle; and after introducing us to each other, as men of letters, he asked me whither I was going? I said I could tell him where I _wished_ to go. He then asking me where that was, I said to the privy-council, but that I was afraid I could not get admission. He then desired me to go along with him. Accordingly I did; but when we got into the anti-room, we found it quite filled with persons as desirous of getting admission as ourselves. Seeing this, I said, we should never get through the crowd. He said, "Give me your arm;" and locking it fast in his, he soon made his way to the door of the privy-council. I then said, Mr. Burke, you are an excellent leader; he replied, "I wish other persons thought so too."

After waiting a short time, the door of the privy-council opened, and we entered the first, when Mr. Burke took his stand behind the first chair next to the president, and I behind that the next to his. When the business was opened, it was sufficiently evident, from the speech of Mr. Wedderburn, who was counsel for the governor, that the real object of the court was to insult Dr. Franklin. All this time he stood in a corner of the room, not far from me, without the least apparent emotion.

Mr. Dunning, who was the leading counsel on the part of the colony, was so hoarse, that he could hardly make himself heard; and Mr. Lee, who was the second, spoke but feebly in reply; so that Mr. Wedderburn had a complete triumph. At the sallies of his sarcastic wit, all the members of the council, the president himself (Lord Gower) not excepted, frequently laughed outright. No person belonging to the council behaved with decent gravity, except Lord North, who, coming late, took his stand behind the chair opposite to me.

When the business was over, Dr. Franklin, in going out, took me by the hand, in a manner that indicated some feeling. I soon followed him, and going through the anti-room, saw Mr. Wedderburn there surrounded with a circle of his friends and admirers. Being known to him, he stepped forwards as if to speak to me; but I turned aside, and made what haste I could out of the place.

The next morning I breakfasted with the doctor, when he said, "He had never before been so sensible of the power of a good conscience; for that if he had not considered the thing for which he had been so much insulted, as one of the best actions of his life, and what he should certainly do again in the same circumstances, he could not have supported it." He was accused of clandestinely procuring certain letters, containing complaints against the governor, and sending them to America, with a view to excite their animosity against him, and thus to embroil the two countries. But he assured me, that he did not even know that such letters existed, till they were brought to him as agent for the colony, in order to be sent to his constituents; and the cover of the letters on which the direction had been written, being lost, he only guessed at the person to whom they were addressed, by the contents.

That Dr. Franklin, notwithstanding he did not show it at the time, was much impressed by the business of the privy council, appeared from this circumstance: when he attended there, he was dressed in a suit of Manchester velvet; and Silas Dean told me, that, when they met at Paris to sign the treaty between France and America, he purposely put on that suit.

Hoping that this communication will be of some service to the memory of Dr. Franklin, and gratify his friends,

I am, sir, your's, &c.

J. PRIESTLEY.

_Northumberland, Nov. 10, 1802._

FOOTNOTES:

[205] Inserted in the number for February, 1803. _Editor._

[206] Answering to page [___] of the present volume. _Editor._

FINIS.

JAMES CUNDEE, PRINTER,

_Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row_.

INDEX.

A.

_Accent_, or emphasis, wrong placing of, a fault in modern tunes, ii. 345.

_Accidents_ at sea, how to guard against, ii. 172.

_Adams_, Mr. Matthew, offers the use of his library to Franklin, i. 16.

_Addison_, Franklin an assiduous imitator of, in his youth, i. 13.

_Advice_ to youth in reading, ii. 378.
to emigrants to America, iii. 398.
to a crafty statesman, 430.
to a young tradesman, 463.
to a young married man, 477.
to players at chess, 490.

_Æpinus_, his hypothesis of magnetism, i. 412.

_Agriculture_ takes place of manufactures till a country is fully settled,
iii. 107.
the great business of America, 393.

_Air_, some of the properties of, ii. 226.
its properties with respect to electricity, i. 204.
properties of its particles, 205. ii. 1.
its currents over the globe, i. 207.
resists the electric fluid and confines it to bodies, 241.
its effects in electrical experiments, 253.
its elasticity not affected by electricity, 254.
its friction against trees, 270, 323.
has its share of electricity, 333.
its electricity denser above than below, 335.
in rooms, electrified positively and negatively, 353.
attracts water, ii. 1.
when saturated with water precipitates it, 2.
dissolves water, and, when dry, oil, 4.
why suffocating, when impregnated with oil or grease, _ibid._
supports water, 5, 46, 49.
why less heated in the higher regions than near the earth's surface,
6.
how it creates hurricanes, _ibid._
winds, 8.
whirlwinds, 10.
effects of heat upon, 50.
its effects on the barometer, 92.
condensed, supposed to form the centre of the earth, 119, 127.
noxious, corrected by vegetation, 129.
observations on the free use of, 213.
rare, no bad conductor of sound, 337.
fresh, beneficial effects of, in bed-rooms, iii. 495.

_Air-thermometer_, electrical, experiments with, i. 336.

_Albany_ plan of union, short account of, i. 127.
its singular fate, 129.
papers relating to, iii. 3.
motives on which formed, 4.
rejects partial unions, 6.
its president and grand council, 9.
election of members, 12.
place of first meeting, 13.
new election, _ibid._
proportion of members after three years, 15.
meetings of the grand council and call, 16.
allowance to members, 17.
power of president and his duty, 18.
treaties of peace and war, _ibid._
Indian trade and purchases, 19.
new settlements, 21.
military establishments, 23.
laws and taxes, 24, 26.
issuing of money, 25.
appointment of officers, 27.
rejected in England, 29.

_Almanack._ _See Poor Richard._

_Alphabet_, a new one proposed, ii. 357.
examples of writing in it, 360.
correspondence on its merits, 361.

_Amber_, electrical experiments on, i. 403.

_America_, North, air of, drier than that of England and France, ii. 140.
why marriages are more frequent there than in Europe, 385.
why labour will long continue dear there, _ibid._
argument against the union of the colonies of, under one government,
401.
state of toleration there, 457.
reflections on the scheme of imposing taxes on, without its consent,
iii. 30.
thoughts on the representation of, in the British parliament, 37.
interest of Great Britain with regard to, 39.
forts in the back settlements of, no security against France, 99.
wars carried on there against the French, not merely in the cause of
the colonies, 105.
preference of the colonies of, to the West Indian colonies, 113.
great navigable rivers of, favourable to inland trade, 118.
what commodities the inland parts of, are fitted to produce, 119.
the productions of, do not interfere with those of Britain, 123.
union of the colonies of, in a revolt against Britain, impossible but
from grievous oppression, 132.
reasons given for restraining paper-bills of credit there, 144.
intended scheme of a bank there, described, 155.
attempts of Franklin for conciliation of Britain with, 286.
feeling of, as to Britain, in May 1775, 346.
conciliation of Britain with, hopeless, 355.
account of the first campaign of the British forces against, 357.
application of, to foreign courts, for aid in its independence, 360.
credit of, with that of Britain, in 1777, compared, 372.
true description of the interest and policy of, 391.
information to those emigrating thither, 398.
terms on which land may be obtained for new settlements there, 409.

_Americans_, their prejudices for whatever is English, i. 144.

_Anchor_, a swimming one proposed, ii. 181, 185.

_Ancients_, their experimental learning too often slighted, ii. 146.

_Anecdote_ of Franklin's early spirit of enterprise, i. 11.
of a Swedish clergyman among the Indians, iii. 386.
of an Indian who went to church, 389.

_Animal_ food, Franklin's abstinence from, i. 20.
return to, 47.
humorous instance of abstinence from, 49.
heat, whence it arises, ii. 79, 125.
magnetism, detected and exposed, i. 150.

_Animalcules_, supposed to cause the luminous appearance of sea-water,
ii. 89.

_Animals_, how to kill them by electricity, i. 415.

_Antifederalists_ of America, comparison of, to the ancient Jews,
iii. 410.

_Apprentices_ easier placed out in America than in Europe, iii. 407.
indentures of, how made in America, 408.

_Argumentation_, bad effects of, as a habit, i. 17.
best method of, 22.

_Armies_, best means of supporting them, ii. 400.

_Armonica_, musical instrument so called, described, ii. 330.
manner of playing on it, 334.

_Asbestos_, specimen of, sold by Franklin to Sir Hans Sloane, i. 60.
letter relating to it, iii. 513.

_Astrology_, letter to the Busy-body on, iii. 448.

_Atmosphere_ sometimes denser above than below, ii. 6.
electrical, its properties, i. 294.

_Aurora borealis_ explained, i. 212.
conjectures respecting, 257, ii. 69.
query concerning, i. 293.

B.

_Badoin_, Mr. letters from, i. 314, 324.

_Ballads_, two, written by Franklin in his youth, i. 16.

_Balls_ of fire in the air, remark concerning, ii. 337.

_Barometer_, how acted on by air, ii. 92.

_Barrels_ for gunpowder, new sort proposed, i. 376.

_Bass_, unnecessary in some tunes, ii. 343.

_Bathing_ relieves thirst, ii. 104.
observations on, 211.

_Battery_, electrical, its construction, i. 193.

_Baxter_, Mr. observations on his enquiry into the nature of the soul,
ii. 110.

_Beccaria_, character of his book on electricity, i. 310.

_Beer_, not conducive to bodily strength, i. 62.

_Bells_, form in consecrating them at Paris, i. 384.

_Belly-ache_, dry, lead a cause of, ii. 220.

_Bermuda_, little thunder there, i. 216.

_Bermudian_ sloops, advantages of their construction, ii. 173.

_Bernoulli_, Mr. his plan for moving boats, ii. 179.

_Bevis_, Dr. draws electricity from the clouds, i. 429.

_Bible_, anecdote of its concealment in the reign of Mary, i. 7.
travestied by Dr. Brown, 31.

_Bills_ of mortality, reasonings, formed on those for capital cities,
not applicable to the country, ii. 383.

_Birth_, noble, no qualification in America, iii. 400.

_Bishops_, none in America, and why, ii. 456, 458.

_Black clothes_ heat more and dry sooner than white, ii. 108.
not fit for hot climates, 109.

_Blacksmith_, trade of, hereditary in Franklin's family, i. 4.

_Blindness_ occasioned both by lightning and electricity, i. 228.

_Boats_, difference of their sailing in shoal and deep water, ii. 160.
management of, best understood by savages, 176.
how rowed by the Chinese, 177.
methods of moving them by machinery, _ibid._
improvement of Mr. Bernoulli's plan for moving them, 179.
proposal for a new mode of moving them, _ibid._
double, advantage of, 173, 174.
one built by Sir W. Petty, _ibid._

_Bodies_, electrified negatively, repel each other, ii. 294.
effect of blunt, compared with pointed ones, i. 172, 223.

_Body_, human, specifically lighter than water, ii. 208.
political and human, compared, iii. 115.

_Boerhaave_, his opinion of the propagation of heat, ii. 58.
of steam from fermenting liquors, 59.

_Boiling_ water, experiments with, i. 332, 344, 345.
pot, bottom of, why cold, 387.

_Bolton_, Mr. experiment by, i. 346.

_Books_ read by Franklin in his youth, i. 15, 18, 20, 21.

_Boston_, the birth-place of Franklin, i. 8.
why quitted by him in his youth, 27,
its inhabitants decrease, ii. 210.
preface to proceedings of the town meeting of, iii. 317.

_Boyle's_ lectures, effect of, on Franklin, i. 79.

_Braddock_, general, defeat of, i. 131.

_Bradford_, printer at Philadelphia, i. 34, 102.

_Brass_, hot, yields unwholesome steams, ii. 249

_Brientnal_, Joseph, a member of the Junto club, i. 83.

_Brimstone_, when fluid, will conduct electricity, i. 256.

_Bristol waters_, an alledged fact concerning, ii. 95.

_Britain_, incapacity of, to supply the colonies with manufactures,
ii. 386.

_British empire_, an union of several states, iii. 310.

_Brown_, Dr. acquaintance of Franklin's, i. 30.
travestied the bible, 31.

_Bubbles_ on the surface of water, hypothesis respecting, ii. 48.

_Buchan_, earl of, letter to, on the price of land for new settlements
in America, iii. 409.

_Buildings_, what kind safest from lightning, i. 379.

_Bullion_, causes of its variation in price, iii. 153.

_Bunyan's_ Voyages, a book early read by Franklin, i. 15, 28.

_Bur_, cause of, round a hole struck through pasteboard, i. 280.

_Burnet_, governor, his attention to Franklin in his youth, i. 44.

_Busy-body_, essays under the title of, i. 86. iii. 422.

C.

_Cabinet-work_, veneered in England, shrinks and flies in America,
ii. 140.

_Cables_, why apt to part when weighing anchor in a swell, ii. 167.
this defect of, remedied, 168.

_Cabot_, Sebastian, his commission from Henry VII., iii. 348.

_Calvinism_, Franklin educated in the principles of, i. 79.

_Campaign_ in America, account of the first, iii. 357.

_Canals_, observations on their depth, ii. 159.

_Canada_, importance of, to England, i. 136.
visited by Franklin, 147.
its extent, iii. 20.
pamphlet on the importance of, 89.
easily peopled without draining Britain, 139.

_Cancers_, specific for, i. 260, 261.

_Candles_ lighted by electricity, i. 176.
distance at which the flame of, may be seen, ii. 90.

_Cann_, silver, a singular experiment on, i. 307.

_Canoes_ of the American Indians, their advantages, ii. 176.

_Canton_, Mr. John, experiments by, i. 286, 346.
draws electricity from the clouds, 428.

_Capitals_, their use in printing, ii. 352.

_Caribbees_, possession of, only a temporary benefit, iii. 142.

_Carolina_, South, see _Lightning_.

_Cavendish_, lord Charles, his electrical experiments, i. 348.

_Cayenne_ would be a great acquisition to Britain, iii. 140.

_Centre_ of the earth, hypothesis concerning, ii. 119, 127.

_Cessions_ from an enemy, on what grounds may be demanded, iii. 93.

_Chapel_, nickname for a printing house, i. 63.

_Character_, remarks on the delineation of, iii. 445.

_Charcoal-fires_, hurtful, ii. 235.

_Charging_ and discharging, in electricity, explained, i. 190.
a number of bottles at once, how done, _ibid._

_Charters_ of the colonies could not be altered by parliament, iii. 332.

_Chess_, morals of, iii. 488.
not an idle amusement, _ibid._
teaches various virtues, 489.
advice to those who play, 490.
too intense an application to, injurious, 500.

_Chimnies_, different kinds of, enumerated, ii. 228.
inconvenience of the old-fashioned ones, 229.
defect of more modern ones, 230.
have not long been in use in England, 277.
Staffordshire, described, 285.
have a draft of air up and down, 289.
may be used for keeping provisions in summer, 290.
may be of use to miners, 291.
funnels to, what the best, 292, 295.
method of contracting them, 317.
smoky. See _Smoky_.

_China_, provision made there against famine, ii. 407.

_Chinese_ wisely divide the holds of their vessels by partitions, ii. 171.
how they row their boats, 177.
their method of warming ground floors, 292.
improvement in this method suggested, 293.
their method of making large paper, 349.

_Circle_, magical, account of, ii. 327, 328.

_Cities_, spring water gradually deteriorates in, i. 163.
do not supply themselves with inhabitants, ii. 384.

_Clark_, Dr. of Boston, quoted, on the instigation of the American
Indians against the English, iii. 95, 100, 102.

_Clothes_, wet, may preserve from lightning, i. 213.
will relieve thirst, ii. 104.
do not give colds, _ibid._
imbibe heat according to their colour, 108.
white, most suitable for hot climates, _ibid._

_Clothing_ does not give, but preserves, warmth, ii. 81.

_Clouds_, at land and at sea, difference between, i. 207.
formed at sea, how brought to rain on land, 208.
driven against mountains, form springs and rivers, 209.
passing different ways, accounted for, 211.
electrical, attracted by trees, spires, &c. 213.
manner in which they become electrised, 257, 305.
are electrised sometimes negatively and sometimes positively, 274,
277, 284, 292.
electricity drawn from them, at Marly, 420.
by Mr. Cauton, 428.
by Dr. Bevis, 429,
by Mr. Wilson, _ibid._
how supported in air, ii. 5.
how formed, 7.
whether winds are generated or can be confined in them, 57.
have little more solidity than fogs, _ibid._

_Club_, called the Junto, instituted by Franklin, i. 82.
rules of, ii. 366, 369.
questions discussed in, 369.

_Coal_, sea, letter on the nature of, ii. 128.

_Cold_, why seemingly greater in metals than in wood, ii. 56, 77.
sensation of, how produced, 57.
only the absence of heat, 81.
produced by chemical mixtures, _ibid._
evaporation. See _Evaporation_.

_Colden_, Mr. his remarks on Abbé Nollet's letters, i. 430.
meteorological observations, ii. 51.
observations on water-spouts, 53.

_Colds_, causes of, ii. 214, 230.

_Coleman_, William, a member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.

_Colica pictorum_, caused by lead, ii. 219.

_Collins_, John, an early friend of Franklin's, i. 17, 27, 41, 43, 44.

_Collinson_, Mr. some account of, iii. 514.

_Colonial_ governments in America of three kinds, iii. 50.

_Colonies_, the settlement of, does not diminish national numbers,
ii. 391.
their prosperity beneficial to the mother country, iii. 113.
are intitled to distinct governments, 303.
American, preferable to the West Indies, _ibid._
not dangerous to Britain, 132.
aids to government, how given by, 225, 226.
originally governed by the crown, independent of Parliament,
291.
not settled at the expence of Britain, 348.

_Colonists_ in America, double their number in 25 years, iii. 113.
from Britain, their rights, 299.

_Colours._ See _Clothes_.

_Comazants_, or corposants, are electrical appearances, i. 248.

_Commerce_, influence of, on the manners of a people, ii. 400.
is best encouraged by being left free, 415.
should not be prohibited in time of war, 417.
by inland carriage, how supported, iii. 116.

_Common-sense_, by Paine, Franklin supposed to have contributed to,
i. 148.

_Compass_, instances of its losing its virtue by lightning, i. 248.
how to remedy the want of, at sea, ii. 191.

_Conductors_ of lightning, very common in America, i. 113.
first suggestion of the utility of, 227.
construction of, 358.
particulars relating to, 377.
of electricity, difference in the action of, 200, 303.
which the most perfect, 253, 256.
and non-conductors, other terms substituted for, _ibid._
of common fire, their properties and differences, ii. 76, 77.
experiments on, ii. 77.

_Congress_, Franklin appointed a delegate to, i. 146.
proposed overture from, in 1775, iii. 347.

_Consecration_ of bells in France, form of, i. 384.

_Conspirators_, electrical, meaning of the term, i. 196.

_Controversy_, benefit of, iii. 92.

_Conversation_, advantage of useful topics of, at dinner, i. 12.

_Cook_, captain, circular letter concerning, iii. 515.
copy of the voyages of, presented to Franklin, by the Admiralty, 517.

Cookery, at sea, generally bad, ii. 194.

_Copper_, manner of covering houses with, ii. 318, 320, 322.

_Copper_ plate printing-press, the first in America, constructed by
Franklin, i. 77.

_Corn_, ill policy of laying restraints on the exportation of, ii. 413,
418.

_Countries_, distant and unprovided, a plan for benefiting, ii. 403.

_Creation_, conjectures as to, ii. 118.

_Credit_, that of America and Britain in 1777, compared, iii. 372.
depends on payment of loans, 373.
industry and frugality, 374.
public spirit, 375.
income and security, 376.
prospects of future ability, _ibid._
prudence, 377.
character for honesty, 378.
is money to a tradesman, 464.

_Criminal_ laws, reflections on, ii. 439.

_Crooked_ direction of lightning explained, i. 316.

_Cutler_, circumstance that prevented Franklin's being apprenticed to
one, i. 14.

_Currents_ at sea, often not perceivable, ii. 185.

_Cyder_, the best quencher of thirst, ii. 195.

D.

_Dalrymple_, Mr. scheme of a voyage under his command to benefit remote
regions, ii. 403.

_Damp_ air, why more chilling than dry air that is colder, ii. 56, 77.

_Dampier_, account of a water-spout by, ii. 33.
references to his voyage, on the subject of water-spouts, 58.

_Dampness_ on walls, cause of, ii. 50.

_Day-light_, proposal to use it instead of candle-light, iii. 470.

_Deacon_, Isaac, from an underling to a surveyor, becomes inspector-
general of America, i. 78.
prognosticates the future eminence in life of Franklin, _ib._

_Death_ of Franklin, i. 153.
letter from Dr. Price on, iii. 541.
of relatives, reflections on, 507.

_Deism_, effects on Franklin of books written against, i. 79.

_Deluge_, accounted for, ii. 127.

_Denham_, a quaker, a friend of Franklin's, i. 54.
extraordinary trait of honesty of, to his creditors, 67.
Franklin's engagement with, as a clerk, 68, 70.

_Denmark_, the people of, not subject to colds, ii. 244.

_Denny_, governor, remarks on his official conduct in Pensylvania,
iii. 170.

_Desaquiliers_, his experiment on the vapour of hot iron, ii. 249.

_Dew_, how produced, i. 207.

_Dialogue_, between Franklin and the gout, iii. 499.

_Dickenson_, Mr. his remarks on the views of England in framing laws
over the colonies, iii. 234.
remarks on his conduct, 192.
on his protest, 202.

_Discontented_ dispositions satirized, iii. 485.

_Discontents_ in America before 1768, causes of, iii. 225.

_Dissentions_ between England and America, letter on, iii. 310.

_Dissertation_, early one of Franklin's, that he repented having written,
i. 58.

_Disputation_, modesty in, recommended, i. 21. ii. 317.

_Disputes_ between Franklin and his brother, to whom he was apprenticed,
i. 24.

_Domien_, a traveller, short account of, i. 302.

_Drawling_, a defect in modern tunes, ii. 345.

_Dreams_, art of procuring pleasant ones, iii. 493.

_Dumas_, Monsieur, letter to, on the aid wanted by America in her struggle
for independence, iii. 360.

_Duna_ river, not to be confounded with the Dwina, iii. 119, note.

_Dust_, how raised and carried up into the air, ii. 3.

_Duties_, moral, the knowledge of, more important than the knowledge of
nature, ii. 95.

_Dutch_ iron stove, advantages and defects of, ii. 233.

E.

_Early_ impressions, lasting effect of, on the mind, iii. 478.

_Earth_ will dissolve in air, ii. 2.
dry, will not conduct electricity, i. 206.
the, sometimes strikes lightning into the clouds, 274.
grows no hotter under the summer sun, why, ii. 86.
different strata of, 116.
theory of, 117.

_Earthquakes_, general good arising from, ii. 116.
how occasioned, 120, 128.

_Eaton_, in Northamptonshire, residence of Franklin's family, i. 3.

_Ebb_ and flood, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.

_Economical_ project, iii. 469.

_Edinburgh_, an ordinance there against the purchase of prize-goods,
ii. 447.

_Education_ of women, controversy respecting, i. 17.

_Eel_, electrical, of Surinam, i. 408, 409.

_Effluvia_ of drugs, &c. will not pass through glass, i. 243.

_Electrical_ air-thermometer described, i. 336, _et seq._
atmosphere, how produced, 221.
how drawn off, 222.
atmospheres repel each other, 294.
repel electric matter in other bodies, _ib._
battery, its construction, 193.
clouds, experiment regarding, 229.
death, the easiest, 307.
experiments, Franklin's eager pursuit of, 104.
made in France, 109.
various, 182, 229, 254, 255, 261, 271, 278, 286, 294, 307, 327,
337, 348, 371, 434.
fire, not created by friction, but collected, 173.
passes through water, 202.
loves water and subsists in it, 203.
diffused through all matter, 205
visible on the surface of the sea, _ibid._
its properties and uses, 214, _et seq._
produces common fire, 214, 238, 356.
has the same crooked direction as lightning, 315.
fluid, its beneficial uses, 219.
is strongly attracted by glass, 236.
manner of its acting through glass hermetically sealed, 241.
a certain quantity of, in all kinds of matter, 275.
nature of its explosion, 280.
chooses the best conductor, 281, 378.
force, may be unboundedly increased, 251.
horse-race, 334.
jack for roasting, 197.
kiss, its force increased, 177.
kite, described, 268.
machine; simple and portable one, described, 178.
matter, its properties, 217, 294.
party of pleasure, 202.
phial, or Leyden bottle, its phenomena explained, 179.
shock, observations on, 182.
effects of a strong one on the human body, 297, 306.
spark, perforates a quire of paper, 195.
wheel, its construction, 196.
self-moving one, 198.

_Electricity_, summary of its progress, i. 104.
positive and negative, discovered, 106.
distinguished, 175.
in a tourmalin, 370.
does not affect the elasticity of the air, 254.
its similarity to lightning, 288.
its effects on paralysis, 401.
of fogs in Ireland, 405.
supposed affinity between, and magnetism, 410.

_Electrics per se_ and non-electrics, difference between, i. 242, 258.

_Electrified_ bumpers described, i. 203.

_Electrisation_, what constitutes the state of, i. 218.
various appearances of, 175.
variety of, 176.

_Electrising_ one's self, manner of, i. 174.

_Elocution_, how best taught, ii. 374.

_Embassador_ from the United States to France, Franklin appointed to the
office of, i. 148.

_Emblematical_ design illustrative of the American troubles, iii. 371.

_Emigrants_ to America, advice to, iii. 398.

_Empire_, rules for reducing a great one, iii. 334.

_England_, Franklin's first arrival in, i. 55.
second arrival in, as agent for the province of Pensylvania, 134.
third arrival in, as agent for the same province, 141.
its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
decrease of population in, doubtful, 296.

_English_, effect of the ancient manners of, ii. 399.
language, innovations in, 351.

_Enterprises_, public, Franklin's early disposition for, i. 10.

_Ephemera_, an emblem of human life, iii. 508.

_Epitaph_ on Franklin's parents, i. 13.
on himself, 155.

_Episcopalians_, conduct of the American legislature towards, ii. 455.

_Errors_ of Franklin's early life, i. 45, 58, 61, 80, 97.

_Ether_, what, ii. 59.

_Evaporation_, cold produced by, i. 344, ii. 76, 83, 85.
of rivers, effects of, 106.

_Examination_ of Franklin before the house of commons, i. 142, iii. 245.
before the privy council, 328.
further particulars of, 551.

_Exchange_, rate of, between Philadelphia and Britain, iii. 252.

_Exercise_, should precede meals, iii. 493.

_Experiments_, to show the electrical effect of points, i. 171, 172.
to prove the electrical state of the Leyden phial, 182.
of firing spirits by a spark sent through a river, 202.
to show how thunder-storms produce rain, 209.
on the clouds, proposed, 228.
on drugs electrified, 243.
on the elasticity of the air, 254.
on the electric fluid, 255.
by Mr. Kennersley, 261.
on the electricity of the clouds, 271.
for increasing electricity, 278.
by Mr. Canton, 286.
in pursuance of those of Mr. Canton, 294.
on a silver cann, 307.
on the velocity of the electric fluid, 327, 329, 330.
for producing cold by evaporation, 344.
on the different effects of electricity, 357.
by lord Charles Cavendish, 348.
on the tourmalin, 371.
to show the utility of long pointed rods to houses, 389.
on amber, 403 _et seq._
on the Leyden phial, 434.
on different coloured cloths, ii. 108, 109.
on the sailing of boats, 160.

_Exportation_ of gold and silver, observations on, ii. 416.

_Exports_ to North America and the West Indies, iii. 127, 128.
to Pensylvania, 129, 250.
from ditto, 250.

_Eye_, retains the images of luminous objects, ii. 340.

F.

_Facts_, should be ascertained before we attempt to account for them,
ii. 96.

_Family_ of Franklin, account of, i. 5. _et seq._

_Famine_, how provided against in China, ii. 407.

_Fanning_, how it cools, ii. 87.

_Farmers_, remonstrance in behalf of, ii. 420.

_Federal_ constitution, speech on, iii. 416.

_Felons_, transportation of, to America, highly disagreeable to the
inhabitants, iii. 235.

_Fermenting_ liquors, their steam deleterious, ii. 59.

Fire, not destroyed by water, but dispersed, i. 172.
makes air specifically lighter, 206.
exists in all bodies, 214.
common and electrical, exist together, _ibid._
a region of, above our atmosphere, 257, ii. 124.
many ways of kindling it, i. 356.
exists in a solid or quiescent state in substances, _ibid._ ii. 80,
122.
recovers its fluidity by combustion, _ibid._
is a fluid permeating all bodies, 76.
conductors of, are also best conductors of the electric fluid, _ibid._
difference between, and electrical conductors, 77.
how diffused through substances, 78.
how generated in animated bodies, 79.
theory of, 122.
a fixed and permanent quantity of, in the universe, 123.
its properties, 227.
electrical, see _Electrical_.

_Fire-companies_, numerous at Philadelphia, i. 103.

_Fire-places_, Pensylvanian, account of, ii. 225.
large and open, inconvenient, 228.
hollow backed, by Gauger, 232.
Staffordshire, 285.
an ingenious one for serving two rooms, 296.

_Fires_, at sea, how often produced, ii. 174.
great and bright, damage the eyes and skin, 230.

_Fisheries_, value of those of Newfoundland, iii. 452.

_Flame_, preserves bodies from being consumed while surrounding them,
ii. 310, 311.

_Flaxseed_, amount of the exportation of from America to Ireland,
iii. 270.

_Flesh_, of animals, made tender by lightning and by electricity, i. 359,
414.

_Flies_, drowned in America, brought to life in England, ii. 223.

_Flood_ and ebb, explanation of the terms, ii. 100.

_Florence_ flask, when filled with boiling water, not chargeable with
electricity, i. 332, 345.

_Fog_, great, in 1783, ii. 68.
conjectures as to its cause, _ibid._

_Fogs_, how supported in air, ii. 5.
electricity of, in Ireland, i. 405.

_Folger_, family-name of Franklin's mother, i. 8.

_Foreigners_, the importation of, not necessary to fill up occasional
vacancies in population, ii. 390.

_Forts_ in the back settlements, not approved of, iii. 99.

_Foster_, judge, notes on his argument for the impress of seamen, ii. 437.

_Foundering_ at sea, accidents that occasion it, ii. 169, 170.

_Fountain_, when electrified, its stream separates, i. 206.

_Fowls_, improperly treated at sea, ii. 193.

_Fragments_, political, ii. 411.

_France_, its air moister than that of America, ii. 140.
effects of its military manners, 399.

_Franklin_, derivation of the name, i. 4.
genealogy of the family of, 5.

_Franks_, the improper use of, reprobated, ii. 435.

_Freezing_ to death in summer, possibility of, ii. 84.

_French_ language, its general use, ii. 353.

_Frontiers_, in America, the attack of, the common cause of the state,
iii. 109.

_Frugality_, advantages of, ii. 397.
observance of, in America, iii. 374

_Fruit-walls_, blacking them recommended, ii. 110.

_Fuel_, scarce in Philadelphia, ii. 225.

_Fulling-mills_ in America, iii. 270.

_Fusion_, cold, of metals, supposed, i. 215.
proves a mistake, 339.
error respecting it acknowledged, 355.

G.

_Galloway_, Mr, preface to his speech, iii. 163.

_Garnish-money_, practice among printers of demanding it, i. 63.

_Gauger_, M. his invention for fire-places, ii. 232.

_Genealogy_ of the Franklin family, i. 5.

_German_ stoves, advantages and disadvantages of, ii. 234.

_Germany_, why the several states of, encourage foreign manufactures in
preference to those of each other, iii. 118. note.

_Gilding_, its properties as a conductor, i. 201.
the effects of lightning and of electricity on, 229.
fails as a conductor after a few shocks, 231.

_Glass_, has always the same quantity of electrical fire, i. 191.
possesses the whole power of giving a shock, 192, 247.
in panes, when first used in an electrical experiment, 193, 194.
great force in small portions of, 199.
impermeable to the electric fluid, 234, 310.
strongly attracts the electric fluid, 236.
cannot be electrified negatively, _ibid._
its opposite surfaces, how affected, _ibid._
its component parts and pores extremely fine, 237.
manner of its operation in producing electricity, _ibid._
its elasticity, to what owing, 239.
thick, resists a change of the quantity of electricity of its
different sides, 242.
rod of, will not conduct a shock, _ibid._
when fluid, or red hot, will conduct electricity, 256.
difference in its qualities, 301.
error as to its pores, 302.
will admit the electric fluid, when moderately heated, 345, 347.
when cold retains the electric fluid, 346.
experiments on warm and cold, 348.
singular tube and ball of, 386.

_Glasses_, musical, described, ii. 330, _et seq._

_God_, saying in America respecting, iii. 401.

_Godfrey_, Thomas, a lodger with Franklin, i. 81.
a member of the Junto, 83.
inventor of Hadley's quadrant, _ibid._
wishes Franklin to marry a relation of his, 95.

_Gold_ and silver, remarks on exportation of, ii. 416.

_Golden_ fish, an electrical device, i. 233.

_Government_, free, only destroyed by corruption of manners, ii. 397.

_Gout_, dialogue with that disease, iii. 499.

_Grace_, Robert, member of the Junto club, i. 84, 89.

_Gratitude_ of America, letter on, iii. 239.

_Greasing_ the bottoms of ships, gives them more swiftness, ii. 180.

_Greece_, causes of its superiority over Persia, ii. 397.

_Greek_ empire, the destruction of, dispersed manufacturers over Europe,
iii. 122.

_Green_ and red, relation between the colours of, ii. 341.

_Greenlanders_, their boats best for rowing, ii. 176.

_Guadaloupe_, its value to Britain over-rated, iii. 139.

_Gulph-stream_, observations on, ii. 186.
whalers frequent its edges, _ibid._
long unknown to any but the American fishermen, _ibid._
how generated, 187.
its properties, _ibid._
tornadoes and water-spouts attending it, accounted for, 188.
how to avoid it, 197.
Nantucket whalers best acquainted with it, 198.
thermometrical observations on, 199.
journal of a voyage across, _ibid._

_Gunpowder_, fired by electricity, i. 250.
magazines of, how to secure them from lightning, 375.
proposal for keeping it dry, 376.

H.

_Habits_, effects of, on population, ii. 393. 394.

_Hadley's_ quadrant, by whom invented, i. 83, 95.

_Hail_, brings down electrical fire, i. 292.
how formed, ii. 66.

_Hamilton_, Mr. a friend of Franklin's, i. 54, 88.

_Handel_, criticism on one of his compositions, ii. 345.

_Harmony_, in music, what, ii. 339.

_Harp_, effect of, on the ancient Scotch tunes, ii. 340.

_Harry_, David, companion of Franklin's, i. 72, 93.

_Hats_, summer, should be white, ii. 109.
the manufacture of, in New England, in 1760, iii. 131.

_Health_ of seamen, Captain Cook's method of preserving it recommended,
ii. 190.

_Heat_, produced by electricity and by lightning, i. 338, 339.
better conducted by some substances than others, ii. 56, 58.
how propagated, 58.
the pain it occasions, how produced, 78.
in animals, how generated, 79, 125.
in fermentation, the same as that of the human body, 80.
great, at Philadelphia, in 1750, 85.
general theory of, 122.

_Herrings_, shoals of, perceived by the smoothness of the sea, ii. 150.

_Hints_ to those that would be rich, iii. 466.

_Holmes_, Robert, brother-in-law to Franklin, i. 37, 71.

_Honesty_, often a very partial principle of conduct, ii. 430.

_Honours_, all descending ones absurd, iii. 550.

_Hopkins_, governor, his report of the number of inhabitants in Rhode
Island, iii. 129.

_Horse-race_, electrical, i. 335.

_Hospital_, one founded by the exertions of Franklin, i. 126.

_Hospitals_, foundling, state of in England and France, iii. 544*, 548*.

_Hospitality_, a virtue of barbarians, iii. 391.

_Houses_, remarks on covering them with copper, ii. 318, 320.
many in Russia covered with iron plates, 319.
their construction in Paris renders them little liable to fires, 321.

_Howe_, lord, letter from, to Franklin, iii. 365.
Franklin's answer to, 367.

_Hudson's_ river, winds there, ii. 52, 59.

_Hunters_, require much land to subsist on, ii. 384.

_Hurricanes_, how produced, ii. 7.
why cold in hot climates, _ibid._

_Hutchinson_, governor, cause of the application for his removal,
iii. 323.
account of the letters of, 331, 551.

_Hygrometer_, best substances for forming one, ii. 136.
mahogany recommended for forming one, 141.

I. J.

_Jackson_, Mr. remarks on population by, ii. 392.

_Jamaica_, its vacant lands not easily made sugar lands, iii. 140.

_Javelle_, his machinery for moving boats, ii. 177.

_Ice_ will not conduct an electric shock, i. 201.

_Ice-islands_, dangerous to shipping, ii. 176.

_Idleness_, the heaviest tax on mankind, ii. 411, iii. 454.
encouraged by charity, ii. 422.
reflections on, iii. 428.

_Jefferson_, Mr. letter from, on the character of Franklin, iii. 545.

_Jesuits_, hostility of the Indians in America excited by, iii. 95.

_Ignorance_, a frank acknowledgment of, commendable, i. 308.

_Imports_ into Pensylvania from Britain before 1766, iii. 250.

_Impress_ of seamen, notes on Judge Foster's argument in favour of,
ii. 437.

_Inarticulation_ in modern singing, censured, ii. 348.

_Increase_ of mankind, observations on, ii. 383, and _seq._
what prevented by, 386, 387.
how promoted, 388, 389.
further observations on, 393.

_Indemnification_, just ground for requiring cessions from an enemy,
iii. 93.

_Independence_, soon acquired in America, iii. 402.

_Indian trade_ and affairs, remarks on a plan for the future management
of, iii. 216.
spirituous liquors the great encouragement of, 219.
the debts from, must be left to honour, 220.
not an American but a British interest, 275.

_Indians_, of North America, a number of, murdered, i. 139.
often excited by the French against the English, iii. 95.
list of fighting men in the different nations of, 221.
difference of their warfare from that of Europeans, 100.
remarks concerning, 383.
their mode of life, 384.
public councils, 385.
politeness in conversation, 386.
rules in visiting, 388.

_Industry_, effects of Franklin's, i. 85.
the cause of plenty, ii. 396.
essential to the welfare of a people, 411.
relaxed by cheapness of provisions, 415.
a greater portion of, in every nation, than of idleness, 396, 429,
iii. 396.
its prevalence in America, iii. 373.

_Inflammability_ of the surface of rivers, ii. 130.

_Inland_ commerce, instances of, iii. 120.

_Innovations_ in language and printing, ii. 351.

_Inoculation_, letter on the deaths occasioned by, ii. 215.
success of, in Philadelphia, 216, 217.

_Insects_, utility of the study of, ii. 93.

_Interrogation_, the mark of, how to be placed, ii. 356.

_Invention_, the faculty of, its inconveniences, i. 308.

_Inventions_, new, generally scouted, _ibid._

_Journal_ of a voyage, crossing the gulph-stream, ii. 199.
from Philadelphia to France, 200, 201.
from the channel to America, 202, _et seq._

_Iron_ contained in the globe, renders it a great magnet, ii. 119.
query whether it existed at the creation, 126.
hot, gives no bad smell, 247.
yields no bad vapours, 248.
rods, erected for experiments on the clouds, i. 270.
conduct more lightning in proportion to their thickness, 282.

_Islands_ far from a continent have little thunder, i. 216.

_Italic_ types, use of, in printing, ii. 355.

_Judges_, mode of their appointment in America, in 1768, iii. 23.

_Junto._ See _Club_.

K.

_Keimer_, a connection of Franklin's, some account of, i. 35, 70, 93.

_Keith_, sir William, Franklin patronized by, i. 39.
deceived by, 54.
character of, 57.

_Kinnersley_, Mr. electrical experiments by, i. 261, _et seq._, 331.

_Kiss_, electrical, i. 177.

_Kite_ used to draw electricity from the clouds, i. 108.
electrical, described, i. 268.

_Knobs_, not so proper as points, for conducting lightning, i. 359.

L.

_Labour_, why it will long continue dear in America, ii. 385.
its advantages, 427, 428.

_Land_, terms on which it may be obtained in America, by settlers,
iii. 409.

_Landing_ in a surf, supposed practicable, how, ii. 154.
tried without success, 155.

_Language_, remarks on innovations in, ii. 351, _et seq._

_Laughers_, satyrized, iii. 425.

_Law_, the old courts of, in the colonies, as ample in their powers, as
those in England, iii. 304.

_Law-expenses_, no discouragement to law-suits, iii. 270.

_Law-stamps_, a tax on the poor, iii. 269.

_Lead_, effects of, on the human constitution, ii. 219.

_Leaks_ in ships, why water enters by them most rapidly at first, ii. 109.
means to prevent their being fatal, 170.

_Leather_ globe, proposed, instead of glass, for electrical experiments,
i. 267.

_Left_ hand, a petition from, iii. 483.

_Leg_, handsome and deformed, humourous anecdote of, iii. 437.

_Legal_ tender of paper-money, its advantages, iii. 150.
further remarks on, 151.

_Lending_ money, new mode of, iii. 463.

_Letter-founding_ effected by Franklin in America, i. 74.

_Leutmann_, J. G. extract from his vulcanus famulans, ii. 298.

_Leyden_ bottle, its phenomena explained, i. 179.
analysed, 192.
experiment to prove its qualities, 245.
when sealed hermetically, retains long its electricity, 345.

_Liberty_ of the press, observations on, ii. 463.
abused, 465.
of the cudgel, should be allowed in return, 467.

_Libraries_, public, the first in America set on foot by Franklin, i. 99.
are now numerous in America, 100.
advantages of, to liberty, 101.

_Life_ and death, observations on the doctrines of, ii. 222.

_Light_, difference between that from the sun and that from a fire in
electrical experiments, i. 173.
difficulties in the doctrines of, i. 253.
queries concerning, _ibid._
visibility of its infinitely small particles computed, ii. 90.
new theory of, 122.

_Lighthouse-tragedy_, an early poem of Franklin's, i. 16.

_Lightning_, represented by electricity, i. 176.
drawn from the clouds, by a kite, 268.
by an iron rod, _ibid._
reasons for proposing the experiment on, 304.
its effects at Newbury, 310.
will leave other substances, to pass through metals, 312.
communicates magnetism to iron, 314.
objections to the hypothesis of its being collected from the sea,
318, 323.
effects of, on a wire at New York, 326.
on Mr. West's pointed rod, 340, _et seq._
how it shivers trees, 359.
effects of, on conductors in Carolina, 361, 362, 364.
does not enter through openings, 368.
should be distinguished from its light, 369.
an explosion always accompanies it, _ibid._
observations on its effects on St. Bride's church, 374, 382.
how to preserve buildings from, 377.
personal danger from, how best avoided, 381.
brought down by a pointed rod, in a large quantity, 389.
how to prevent a stroke of, at sea, ii. 175.

_Linnæus_, instance of public benefit arising from his knowledge
of insects, ii. 94.

_London_, atmosphere of, moister than that of the country, ii. 139.

_Loyalty_ of America before the troubles, iii. 237.

_Luxury_, beneficial when not too common, ii. 389.
definition of, 395, 425.
extinguishes families, 395.
not to be extirpated by laws, 401.
further observations on, 425.

_Lying-to_, the only mode yet used for stopping a vessel at sea, ii. 181.

M.

_Maddeson_, Mr. death of, lamented, iii. 544*.

_Magazine_ of powder, how to secure it from lightning, i. 375.