Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with his essays and will . ws would be injurious to theproprietaries, he refused his assent to them;and the Assembly broke up without passing amilitia law. The situation of the provincewas at this time truly alarming ; exposed tothe continual inroad of an enemy, destituteof every means of defense. At this crisisFranklin stepped forth, and proposed to ameeting of the citizens of Philadelphia, aplan of a voluntary association for the de-fense of the province. This was approvedof, and signed by twelve hundred persons im-mediately. Copies were instantly circulate
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with his essays and will . ws would be injurious to theproprietaries, he refused his assent to them;and the Assembly broke up without passing amilitia law. The situation of the provincewas at this time truly alarming ; exposed tothe continual inroad of an enemy, destituteof every means of defense. At this crisisFranklin stepped forth, and proposed to ameeting of the citizens of Philadelphia, aplan of a voluntary association for the de-fense of the province. This was approvedof, and signed by twelve hundred persons im-mediately. Copies were instantly circulatedthroughout the province ; and in a short timethe number of signers amounted to ten thou-sand. Franklin was chosen colonel of thePhiladelphia regiment; but he did not thinkproper to accept of the honor. Pursuits of a different nature now occupiedthe greatest part of his attention for someyears. He engaged in a course of electricalexperiments, with all the ardor and thirst fordiscovery which characterized the philoso-phers of that day. Of all the branches of. A common library of our collections. —Page 150, Autobiography of Benjaniiu Franklin. LIFE OF DR. FRANKLIN. 161 experimental philosopliy, electricity had beenleast explored. The attractive power of am-ber is mentioned by Theophrastus and Pliny,and from them by later naturalists. In theyear 1600, Gilbert, an English physician,enlarged considerably the catalogue of sub-stances which have the property of attractinglight bodies. Boyle, Otto Guericke, a burgo-master of Magdeburg, celebrated as the in-venter of the airpump, Dr. Wall, and SirIsaac Newton, added some facts. Guerickefirst observed tlie repulsive power of electric-ity, and the light and noise produced by 1709, Havresbec communicated some im-portant observations and experiments to theworld. For several years electricity wasentirely neglected, until Mr. Grey appliedhimself to it in 1728, with great and his friend Mr. Wheeler made a greatvariety of e
Size: 1182px × 2114px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidauto, booksubjectstatesmen
