As a philosopher Franklin certainly showed great peñéträtion, and the few experiments which he performed are ingenious and convincing. His theory of positive and negative electricity is undoubtedly the best that has yet been offered of these extraordinary phenomena; but it is not entitled to all the praises which have been heaped upon it by Dr. Stuber. It is not that immaculate and irrefragable explanation which he imagines, and is far from affording a complete and satisfactory account of all the operations of electricity. Yet if Dr. Franklin had done no more, we are willing to admit that his name would have ranked high among the philosophers of his times, and he must still have been regarded as the greatest man of science, of whom the northern continent of America can boast as its own. Nor is it to be denied that the proof which he gave of the real nature of thunder by means of the electrical kite is not only, positive and important, but extraordinary in its kind and ingenious in its invention. The whole of Dr. Franklin's papers on this and every other phiJosophical subject, or at least by far the greatest part of them, are contained in the first of these volumes. From the perusal of them the reader will derive more pleasure than he can fairly expect to experience from the majority of philosophical papers of equal excellence and antiquity. It was one of Franklin's peculiar merits to bring down every thing of which he treated to the plainest and most uneducated understanding. Instead of involving simple truths in pompous and perplexed language, he divested the most abstruse of half their obscurity 'by the clearness of his expressions, and added the most agreeable naïveté of style to the strongest and soundest sense. With these qualifications we do not doubt that the philoso phical writings of Franklin will long continue to be read, and the present collection of them is likely to prove a welcome present to many who might find the access difficult to the original publication.

The second division of the contents of this work contains the political papers of Dr. Franklin, consisting of letters, memorials, examinations, and short essays. The active and intelligent mind of this author was early noticed by his countrymen, and long before the separation of the American colonies from England he was a considerable political chaAs a member of the assembly of Pennsylvania, he was distinguished, according to Dr. Stuber, by short pithy speeches, where often in a few plain sentences, with half a dozen apt proverbs, and a well told story, he was able to undo the effect of the most flowery and eloqueat harangues produced in those days on the other side of the Atlantic. Of this taleut the following speech is an example:

MR. PRESIDENT,

'I confess that I do not entirely approve of this constitution at preSent: but, sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is, therefore, that, the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that whenever others differ from them, it is so far error. Steel, a protestant, in a dedication, tells the pope, that "the only difference between our two churches, in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Romish church is infallible, and the church of England never in the wrong." But, though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express it so naturally as a cer tain French lady, who, in a little dispute with her sister, said I don't know how it happens, sister, but I meet with nobody but myself that is always in the right. Il n'y a que moi qui a tou jours raison. In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this constitu tion, with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing, if well administered; and I believe farther, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too, whether any other convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better con stitution. For when you assemble a number of men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear, that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of Babylon, and that our states are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting each other's throats.

Thus I consent, sir, to this constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that this is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favour among foreign nations as well as among ourselves from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing happiness to the people, CRIT. REV. Vol. 9. December, 1806.

A a

depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of that government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its go

vernors.

'I hope therefore that for our own sakes as part of the people, and for the sake of our posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this constitution wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it well administered.

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish, that every member of the convention, who may still have objections, would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instru ment.'

[The motion was then made for adding the last formula,viz. 'Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent, &c. which was agreed to, and added accordingly.]'

In consequence of this political eminence, Dr. Franklin was appointed agent for several of the states at the court of England, and accordingly for a long series of years he resided in London to watch over their interests and present their remonstrances, which were neither few nor feeble. Upon the whole, though the conduct of Franklin was not always friendly to the interests of England, we believe him to have endeavoured, as far as his influence reached, to promote conciliatory measures between the colonies and the mother country as long as there was any probability of their success. The lapse of thirty years has rooted men's passions and cleared their understandings, and it is now the opinion of most politicians that, if the conduct of Britain was not on the occasion, of the unfortunate quarrel tyrannical and unjust, it was at least most unwise and imprudent. When the members of a family dispute, strangers are the gainers,and harmony, goodwill and affection are as eminently useful in the government of men in public as in private life.Considering the very great share which Franklin had in all the transactions whichr preceded the era of American independence, or accompanied the first years of its existence, it must be allowed that posterity is likely to peruse with great interest, such documents as are here collected. The letters and speeches given in various parts of these volumes, in which the future events between Britain and America are foretold, afford many examples of the justest foresight, though, as Dr. Franklin remarks himself in a letter to Lord Home, he had the fate of Cassandra, not to be believed till the predictions were verified by the event. The following letter shows how sincerely he was disposed to promote a reconciliation between America and England:

I received your obliging favour of the 12th instant. Your sen timents of the importance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the colonies, appear to me extremely just. There is nothing I wish for more than to see it amicably and equitably settled.

'But Providence will bring about its own ends by its own means, and if it intends the downfall of a nation that nation will be so blinded by its pride, and other passions, as not to see its danger, or how its fall may be prevented.

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Being born and bred in one of the countries, and having lived long and made many agreeable connexions of friendship in the other, I wish all prosperity to both: but I have talked and written so much and so long on the subject, that my acquaintance are weary of hearing, and the public of reading any more of it, which begins to make me weary of talking and writing; especially as I do not find that I have gained any point, in either country, except that of rendering myself suspected, by my impartiality; in England, of being too much an American, and in America of being too much an Englishman. Your opinion, however, weighs with me, and encourages me to try one effort more, in a full, though concise state of facts, accompanied with arguments drawn from those facts; to be published about the meeting of parliament, after the holidays.

Ifany good may be done I shall rejoice; but at present I almost despair.'

This is followed by another letter from Mr. Strahan the king's printer, to Dr. Franklin, containing some queries on the subject of the differences between the two countries. A long friendship had united Dr. Franklin to Mr. Strahan, and though the latter appears evidently to be against the cause of the Americans, the discordance of opinion is mildly borne by the former. But after the rupture took place, the doctor's patience and good nature were exhausted, and he abjured the friendship of Strahan in the following terms:

'Mr. Strahan,

'You are a member of that parliament, and have formed part of that majority, which has condemned my native country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and to destroy their inha bitants!

'Look at your hands!-they are stained with the blood of your relations and your acquaintances.

'You and I were long friends; you are at present my enemy and I am yours.

B. FRANKLIN.'

We do not pretend to determine whether an enraged politician may be indulged in these sallies of passion, but at least we may safely assert that such violence is not very phi

losophical, and in plain language approaches somewhat to the absurd.

The last, the least, and perhaps the best part of Dr. Franklin's works consists of his moral papers. Of these a series of essays, called the Busy Body, were written by the author, when he was a tradesman at Philadelphia, and were published in a weekly newspaper. Franklin was in those days a devoted admirer of the Spectator, and like his great predecessor, he sets himself up as the censor of morals, and the correcter of the minor iniquities of the age. The sermon is suited to the congregation, and frugality, sobriety, and industry are the virtues chiefly inculcated. The style is, as usual, plain and engaging; perhaps occasionally somewhat low. The wit too is not always successful; and on the whole, though a certain class of our country-people might be much benefited by the perusal of these papers, we do not think they are likely to raise the literary reputation of the author to any extraordinary height. Indeed, in some places, both the thoughts and expressions are actually vulgar and dirty.

A number of detached little essays follow the Busy Body. Some of these have great merit. We may specify a very Jively and humorous dialogue between Franklin and the gout, which we regret extremely that we cannot quote entire, on account of its length, and we are unwilling to garble it by excerption. The same objection does not apply to the following new mode of lending money:

'I send you herewith a bill for ten louis d'ors. I do not pretend to give such a sum. I only lend it to you. When you shall return to your country, you cannot fail getting into some business that will in time enable you to pay all your debts. In that case, when you meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending this sum to him, enjoining him, to discharge the debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with such another opportunity. I hope it may thus go through many hands before it meet with a knave to stop its progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a good deal with a little money. I am not rich enough to afford much in good works, and so am obliged to be cunning and make the most of a little.

Dr. Franklin appears to have borne his old age well. He never degraded his character by that captious querulousness so frequent amongst those of advanced years. He contemplated futurity without horror, and reflected on the past with a mixture of satisfaction and pride. Perhaps an excellent constitution and habits of uncommon temperance contributed in no small degree to the health of his body,