Franklin himself says: "Obliged as we were to Mr. Collinson for the
present of the tube, etc., I thought it right he should be informed of
our success in using it, and wrote him several letters containing
accounts of our experiments. He got them read in the Royal Society,
where they were at first not thought worth so much notice as to be
printed in their _Transactions_. One paper, which I wrote to Mr.
Kinnersley, on the sameness of lightning with electricity, I sent to Mr.
Mitchel, an acquaintance of mine, and one of the members also of that
society, who wrote me word that it had been read, but was laughed at by
the connoisseurs. The papers, however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he
thought them of too much value to be stifled, and advised the printing
of them. Mr. Collinson then gave them to Cave for publication in his
_Gentleman's Magazine_, but he chose to print them separately in a
pamphlet, and Dr. Fothergill wrote the preface. Cave, it seemed, judged
rightly for his profession, for by the additions that arrived afterward
they swelled to a quarto volume, which has had five editions and cost
him nothing for copy-money."
The following is an extract from the preface to the first edition of the
pamphlet published by Cave, as above mentioned:
"It may be necessary to acquaint the reader that the following
observations and experiments were not drawn up with the view to their
being made public, but were communicated at different times, and most of
them in letters, written on various topics, as matter only of private
amusement.
"But some persons to whom they were read, and who had themselves been
conversant in electrical disquisitions, were of opinion they contained
so many curious and interesting particulars relative to this affair,
that it would be doing a kind of injustice to the public to confine them
solely to the limits of a private acquaintance.
"The editor was therefore prevailed upon to commit such extracts of
letters and other detached pieces as were in his hands to the press,
without waiting for the ingenious author's permission so to do; and this
was done with the less hesitation, as it was apprehended the author's
engagements in other affairs would scarce afford him leisure to give
the public his reflections and experiments on the subject, finished with
that care and precision of which the treatise before us shows he is
alike studious and capable."
Dr. Priestley, in his _History of Electricity_, published in the year
1767, gives a full account of Franklin's experiments and discoveries.
"Nothing was ever written upon the subject of electricity," he says,
"which was more generally read and admired in all parts of Europe than
these letters. There is hardly any European language into which they
have not been translated; and, as if this were not sufficient to make
them properly known, a translation of them has lately been made into
Latin. It is not easy to say whether we are most pleased with the
simplicity and perspicuity with which these letters are written, the
modesty with which the author proposes every hypothesis of his own, or
the noble frankness with which he relates his mistakes, when they were
corrected by subsequent experiments.
"Though the English have not been backward in acknowledging the great
merit of this philosopher, he has had the singular good-fortune to be,
perhaps, even more celebrated abroad than at home; so that, to form a
just idea of the great and deserved reputation of Dr. Franklin, we must
read the foreign publications on the subject of electricity, in many of
which the terms Franklinism,' 'Franklinist,' and the 'Franklinian
System' occur in almost every page. In consequence of this, Dr.
Franklin's principles bid fair to be handed down to posterity as equally
expressive of the true principles of electricity, as the Newtonian
philosophy is of the system of nature in general."
The observations and theories of Franklin met with high favor in France,
where his experiments were repeated and the results verified to the
admiration of the scientific world. In the year 1753 his friend Peter
Collinson wrote to him from London: "The King of France strictly
commands the Abbé Mazéas to write a letter in the politest terms to the
Royal Society, to return the King's thanks and compliments, in an
express manner, to Mr. Franklin, of Pennsylvania, for his useful
discoveries in electricity, and the application of pointed rods to
prevent the terrible effect of thunder-storms." And the same Mr.
Collinson wrote as follows to the Reverend Jared Eliot, of Connecticut,
in a letter dated London, November 22, 1753: "Our friend Franklin will
be honored on St. Andrew's Day, the 30th instant, the anniversary of the
Royal Society, when the Right Honorable the Earl of Macclesfield will
make an oration on Mr. Franklin's new discoveries in electricity, and,
as a reward and encouragement, will bestow on him a gold medal." This
ceremony accordingly took place, and the medal was conferred.
"PHILADELPHIA, 28 Mch., 1747.
"_To Peter Collinson_:
"SIR--Your kind present of an electric tube, with directions for
using it, has put several of us on making electrical experiments, in
which we have observed some particular phenomena that we look upon
to be new. I shall therefore communicate them to you in my next,
though possibly they may not be new to you, as among the numbers
daily employed in those experiments on your side of the water, it is
probable some one or other has hit upon the same observations. For
my own part, I never was before engaged in any study that so totally
engrossed my attention and my time as this has lately done; for what
with making experiments when I can be alone, and repeating them to
my friends and acquaintance, who, from the novelty of the thing,
come continually in crowds to see them, I have, during some months
past, had little leisure for anything else.
I am, etc.,
"B. FRANKLIN."
"PHILADELPHIA, 11 July, 1747.
"_To Peter Collinson_:
"SIR--In my last I informed you that in pursuing our electrical
inquiries we had observed some particular phenomena which we looked
upon to be new, and of which I promised to give you some account,
though I apprehended they might not possibly be new to you, as so
many hands are daily employed in electrical experiments on your side
of the water, some or other of which would probably hit on the same
observations.
"The first thing is the wonderful effect of pointed bodies, both in
_drawing off_ and _throwing off_ the electrical fire. For example:
"Place an iron shot of three or four inches diameter on the mouth
of a clean, dry glass bottle. By a fine silken thread from the
ceiling, right over the mouth of the bottle, suspend a small cork
ball about the bigness of a marble, the thread of such a length as
that the cork ball may rest against the side of the shot. Electrify
the shot, and the ball will be repelled to the distance of four or
five inches, more or less, according to the quantity of electricity.
When in this state, if you present to the shot the point of a long,
slender, sharp bodkin, at six or eight inches distance, the
repellency is instantly destroyed, and the cork flies to the shot. A
blunt body must be brought within an inch and draw a spark to
produce the same effect. To prove that the electrical fire is drawn
off by the point, if you take the blade of the bodkin out of the
wooden handle and fix it in a stick of sealing-wax, and then present
it at the distance aforesaid, or if you bring it very near, no such
effect follows; but sliding one finger along the wax till you touch
the blade, the ball flies to the shot immediately. If you present
the point in the dark you will see, sometimes at a foot distance and
more, a light gather upon it, like that of a firefly or glow-worm;
the less sharp the point, the nearer you must bring it to observe
the light; and at whatever distance you see the light you may draw
off the electrical fire and destroy the repellency. If a cork ball
so suspended be repelled by the tube, and a point be presented quick
to it, though at a considerable distance, it is surprising to see
how suddenly it flies back to the tube. Points of wood will do near
as well as those of iron, provided the wood is not dry, for
perfectly dry wood will no more conduct electricity than
sealing-wax.
"To show that points will _throw off_ as well as _draw off_ the
electrical fire, lay a long sharp needle upon the shot, and you
cannot electrize the shot so as to make it repel the cork ball. Or
fix a needle to the end of a suspended gun-barrel or iron rod so as
to point beyond it like a little bayonet, and while it remains there
the gun-barrel or rod cannot, by applying the tube to the other end,
be electrized so as to give a spark, the fire continually running
out silently at the point. In the dark you may see it make the same
appearance as it does in the case before mentioned.
"The repellency between the cork ball and the shot is likewise
destroyed, 1st, by sifting fine sand on it--this does it gradually;
2dly, by breathing on it; 3dly, by making a smoke about it from
burning wood; 4thly, by candle-light, even though the candle is at a
foot distance--these do it suddenly. The light of a bright coal from
a wood fire, and the light of a red-hot iron, do it likewise, but
not at so great a distance. Smoke from dry rosin dropped on hot iron
does not destroy the repellency, but is attracted by both shot and
cork ball, forming proportionable atmospheres round them, making
them look beautifully, somewhat like some of the figures in Burnet's
or Whiston's _Theory of the Earth_.
"N.B.--This experiment should be made in a closet where the air is
very still, or it will be apt to fail.
"The light of the sun thrown strongly upon both cork and shot by a
looking-glass, for a long time together, does not impair the
repellency in the least. This difference between firelight and
sunlight is another thing that seems new and extraordinary to us.
"We had for some time been of opinion that the electrical fire was
not created by friction, but collected, being really an element
diffused among and attracted by other matter, particularly by water
and metals. We had even discovered and demonstrated its afflux to
the electrical sphere, as well as its efflux, by means of little,
light windmill wheels made of stiff paper vanes fixed obliquely, and
turning freely on fine wire axes; also by little wheels of the same
matter, but formed like water-wheels. Of the disposition and
application of which wheels, and the various phenomena resulting, I
could, if I had time, fill you a sheet. The impossibility of
electrizing one's self, though standing on wax, by rubbing the tube,
and drawing the fire from it; and the manner of doing it by passing
it near a person or thing standing on the floor, etc., had also
occurred to us some months before. Mr. Watson's ingenious _Sequel_
came to hand; and these were some of the new things I intended to
have communicated to you. But now I need only mention some
particulars not hinted in that piece, with our reasonings thereupon;
though perhaps the latter might well enough be spared.
"1. A person standing on wax and rubbing the tube, and another
person on wax drawing the fire, they will both of them (provided
they do not stand so as to touch one another) appear to be
electrized to a person standing on the floor; that is, he will
perceive a spark on approaching each of them with his knuckle.
"2. But if the persons on wax touch one another during the exciting
of the tube, neither of them will appear to be electrized.
"3. If they touch one another after exciting the tube, and drawing
the fire as aforesaid, there will be a stronger spark between them
than was between either of them and the person on the floor.
"4. After such strong spark neither of them discover any
electricity.
"These appearances we attempt to account for thus: We suppose, as
aforesaid, that electrical fire is a common element, of which every
one of the three persons above mentioned has his equal share, before
any operation is begun with the tube. _A_, who stands on wax and
rubs the tube, collects the electrical fire from himself into the
glass; and, his communication with the common stock being cut off by
the wax, his body is not again immediately supplied. _B_ (who stands
on wax likewise), passing his knuckle along near the tube, receives
the fire which was collected by the glass from _A_; and his
communication with the common stock being likewise cut off, he
retains the additional quantity received. To _C_, standing on the
floor, both appear to be electrized; for he, having only the middle
quantity of electrical fire, receives a spark upon approaching _B_,
who has an over quantity; but gives one to _A_, who has an under
quantity. If _A_ and _B_ approach to touch each other, the spark is
stronger, because the difference between them is greater. After such
touch there is no spark between either of them and _C_, because the
electrical fire in all is reduced to the original equality. If they
touch while electrizing, the equality is never destroyed, the fire
only circulating. Hence have arisen some new terms among us. We say
_B_ (and bodies like circumstanced) is electrized _positively_; _A_,
_negatively_. Or rather, _B_ is electrized _plus_; _A_, _minus_. And
we daily in our experiments electrize bodies _plus_ or _minus_, as we
think proper. To electrize _plus_ or _minus_ no more needs to be
known than this: that the parts of the tube or sphere that are
rubbed do, in the instant of the friction, attract the electrical
fire, and therefore take it from the thing rubbing; the same parts
immediately, as the friction upon them ceases, are disposed to give
the fire they have received to any body that has less. Thus you may
circulate it as Mr. Watson has shown; you may also accumulate it or
subtract it, upon or from any body, as you connect that body with
the rubber or with the receiver, the communication with the common
stock being cut off. We think that ingenious gentleman was deceived
when he imagined (in his _Sequel_) that the electrical fire came
down the wire from the ceiling to the gun-barrel, thence to the
sphere, and so electrized the machine and the man turning the wheel,
etc. We suppose it was _driven off_, and not brought on through that
wire; and that the machine and man, etc., were electrized
_minus_--that is, had less electrical fire in them than things in
common.
"As the vessel is just upon sailing, I cannot give you so large an
account of American electricity as I intended; I shall only mention
a few particulars more. We find granulated lead better to fill the
vial with than water, being easily warmed, and keeping warm and dry
in damp air. We fire spirits with the wire of the vial. We light
candles, just blown out, by drawing a spark among the smoke between
the wire and snuffers. We represent lightning by passing the wire in
the dark over a China plate that has gilt flowers, or applying it to
gilt frames of looking-glasses, etc. We electrize a person twenty or
more times running, with a touch of the finger on the wire, thus: He
stands on wax. Give him the electrized bottle in his hand. Touch the
wire with your finger and then touch his hand or face; there are
sparks every time. We increase the force of the electrical kiss
vastly, thus: Let _A_ and _B_ stand on wax, or _A_ on wax and _B_ on
the floor; give one of them the electrized vial in hand; let the
other take hold of the wire; there will be a small spark; but when
their lips approach they will be struck and shocked. The same if
another gentleman and lady, _C_ and _D_, standing also on wax, and
joining hands with _A_ and _B_, salute or shake hands. We suspend by
fine silk thread a counterfeit spider made of a small piece of burnt
cork, with legs of linen thread, and a grain or two of lead stuck in
him to give him more weight. Upon the table, over which he hangs, we
stick a wire upright, as high as the vial and wire, four or five
inches from the spider; then we animate him by setting the
electrical vial at the same distance on the other side of him; he
will immediately fly to the wire of the vial, bend his legs in
touching it, then spring off and fly to the wire of the vial,
playing with his legs against both, in a very entertaining manner,
appearing perfectly alive to the persons unacquainted. He will
continue this motion an hour or more in dry weather. We electrify,
upon wax in the dark, a book that has a double line of gold round
upon the covers, and then apply a knuckle to the gilding; the fire
appears everywhere upon the gold like a flash of lightning; not upon
the leather, nor if you touch the leather instead of the gold. We
rub our tubes with buckskin and observe always to keep the same side
to the tube and never to sully the tube by handling; thus they work
readily and easily without the least fatigue, especially if kept in
tight pasteboard cases lined with flannel, and sitting close to the
tube. This I mention because the European papers on electricity
frequently speak of rubbing the tubes as a fatiguing exercise. Our
spheres are fixed on iron axes which pass through them. At one end
of the axes there is a small handle with which you turn the sphere
like a common grindstone. This we find very commodious, as the
machine takes up but little room, is portable, and may be enclosed
in a tight box when not in use. It is true the sphere does not turn
so swift as when the great wheel is used; but swiftness we think of
little importance, since a few turns will charge the vial, etc.,
sufficiently.
I am, etc.,
"B. FRANKLIN."
(Read before the Royal Society, December 21, 1752.)
"PHILADELPHIA, 19 October, 1752.
"_To Peter Collinson_:
SIR--As frequent mention is made in publick papers from Europe of
the success of the Philadelphia Experiment for drawing the electric
fire from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high
buildings, etc., it may be agreeable to the curious to be informed
that the same experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia, though made
in a different and more easy manner, which is as follows: Make a
small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as to
reach to the four corners of a large thin silk handkerchief when
extended; tie the corners of the handkerchief to the extremities of
the cross, so you have the body of a kite; which, being properly
accommodated with a tail, loop, and string, will rise in the air,
like those made of paper; but this being of silk is fitter to bear
the wet and wind of a thunder-gust without tearing. To the top of
the upright stick of the cross is to be fixed a very sharp-pointed
wire, rising a foot or more above the wood. To the end of the twine,
next the hand, is to be tied a silk ribbon; and where the silk and
twine join, a key may be fastened. This kite is to be raised when a
thunder-gust appears to be coming on, and the person who holds the
string must stand within a door or window, or under some cover, so
that the silk ribbon may not be wet; and care must be taken that the
twine does not touch the frame of the door or window. As soon as any
of the thunder-clouds come over the kite, the pointed wire will draw
the electric fire from them, and the kite, with all the twine, will
be electrified, and the loose filaments of the twine will stand out
every way, and be attracted by an approaching finger. And when the
rain has wetted the kite and twine, so that it can conduct the
electric fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from
the key on the approach of your knuckle. At this key the vial may be
charged; and from electric fire thus obtained spirits may be
kindled, and all the other electric experiments be performed which
are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube, and
thereby the sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning
completely demonstrated.
"B. FRANKLIN."
VOLTAIRE DIRECTS EUROPEAN THOUGHT FROM GENEVA
A.D. 1755
JOHN MORLEY GEORGE W. KITCHIN
To set an exact date as marking the culmination of the vast
influence of Voltaire upon the world is not easy. He was the chief
leader, the most prominent and central figure, of that widespread
intellectual revolt which extended from France over Europe during
the middle of the eighteenth century. The spirit of doubt,
questioning all ancient institutions, challenging them to prove
their truth, arose everywhere, at times mocking, bitter, and
superficial, or again earnest, thoughtful, deep as the deepest
springs of human being. It has become almost a commonplace to say
that Voltaire and his chief successor, Rousseau, caused the French
Revolution.
François Marie Arouet, who himself assumed his literary name,
Voltaire, was born in 1694. He was recognized as among the foremost
writers of France at least as early as 1723, and Frederick the Great
of Prussia established a friendship with him which resulted in
Voltaire's living at the Prussian court as king's chamberlain for
nearly three years (1750-1753). It was largely due to Voltaire's
influence that the celebrated French _Encyclopædia_, the first
volume of which appeared in 1751, took its tone of scepticism, of
cold, scientific criticism. It preached heresy and revolution. The
publication was repeatedly stopped by the government, but was
encouraged by Madame Pompadour and others, and finally finished in
1765.
Meanwhile Voltaire, who had been repeatedly exiled from the French
court for the daring of his writings, settled near Geneva in 1755
and resided there during his active and fiery old age. The beginning
of this residence has, therefore, been selected as marking the acme
of his power. From his mountain château his writings poured like a
torrent over the surrounding countries. Wherever there was
oppression, his voice was raised in protest; wherever there was
falsity, his rapier wit assailed it. He held correspondence with and
influenced most of the crowned heads of Europe. He became the hero
of his countrymen. Christianity, and especially Catholicism, served
only too often as his subjects of assault, but he was never, as his
enemies called him, an atheist.
In 1778, an old man of eighty-three, he ventured to return to Paris
to see the production of his last tragedy, _Irene_. Tremendous was
the enthusiasm. Paris, grown more Voltairean than Voltaire himself,
went mad in its reception of its teacher. The excitement proved too
much for his feeble frame, and he died in the full tide of his
triumph.
JOHN MORLEY
When the right sense of historical proportion is more fully developed in
men's minds, the name of Voltaire will stand out like the names of the
great decisive movements in the European advance, like the Revival of
Learning or the Reformation. The existence, character, and career of
this extraordinary person constituted in themselves a new and prodigious
era. The peculiarities of his individual genius changed the mind and
spiritual conformation of France, and in a less degree of the whole of
the West, with as far-spreading and invincible an effect as if the work
had been wholly done, as it was actually aided, by the sweep of
deep-lying collective forces. A new type of belief, and of its shadow,
disbelief, was stamped by the impression of his character and work into
the intelligence and feeling of his own and the following times. We may
think of Voltairism in France somewhat as we think of Catholicism or the
Renaissance or Calvinism. It was one of the cardinal liberations of the
growing race, one of the emphatic manifestations of some portion of the
minds of men, which an immediately foregoing system and creed had either
ignored or outraged.