limestone specimens are found to be impregnated with magnesia, an element which entered it while it was being heated in this volcanic crucible. In fig. 20, you see how the vent of a crater passes through various beds of rock, such as A, B, C, D, E, F, some of which are fossiliferous, and others are of the more ancient class. The upper stratum, A B, is formed by the ejected matter which has been thrown up on all sides from the volcano. Besides stones, it is found that volcanoes discharge a vast quantity of ASHES, which darken the air for hours, and sometimes for many days, and which in their fall occasion great damage to agriculture, and to villages and towns. These dry and hot ashes are A a b kind of bladdered f froth which may have once rested on the surface of the incandescent matter while cool gist in accounting for the bones and skeletons of extinct species of animals which are found in the ashes of ancient volcanoes, such as are found in Avergne, in France. Many naturalists think that it was by such a shower of ashes that Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed, and that this accounts for the perfect preservation of even the most fragile articles found amid those fossil cities. Some remarkable facts connected with the structure of these ashes deserve to be noticed. When Graham Island rose in the MediterFig. 20. ranean, in 1831, Dr. Davy mentions a shower of ashes which fell. In the substance of these ashes, he found fibres like vegetable fibre, and which had the smell of a burning sea weed. This has led to the conjecture that as sea-water entered the submarine The vent of a volcano passing through various strata, and wearing away fragments ing under diminished pressure. volcano, fibres of Danish ship was sailing in 61 north lautuve, a thick cloud was seen to approach the vessel from the N. W. in the direction of Iceland. The sails and the deck were immediately covered with ashes. These ashes had come from the volcano, Mount Hecla, which was in a state of eruption on that day. This volcano was 533 miles from the ship, so that the ashes must have travelled at the rate of 46 miles per hour. The Fig. 21. These ashes are sometimes like impalpable powder, but, in other instances, very heavy as a mass. During the eruption of Tomboro, in Sumbawa, in 1815, the ashes which fell, were so heavy as to crush and destroy several houses even at forty miles distance from the crater. Also at sea, to the west of Sumatra, some thousand miles off from Tomboro, the ashes and cinders fell so thick as to float two feet deep on the surface of the sea, and render the passage of ships extremely difficult. In other instances, the ashes were so light and subtile as that, notwithstanding an awning made to cover the deck, they lay in heaps of a foot in depth on many parts of the vessel, and several tons were thrown overboard. The quantity of ashes discharged by volcanoes must be immense. In 1835 there was an eruption of Cosiguiana, a volcano in the gulf of Fonseca, on the shores of the Pacific. During that eruption, ashes fell at Truxillo, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Portions of this shower of Mud volcanoes, as seen by Humboldt at Turbaco, in New Grenada. ashes fell on board a ship twelve hundred miles westward of the volcano, and four days later at Kingston, in Jamaica, 700 miles eastward of it, having travelled in the air by an upper current of west wind, at the rate of 170 miles a day. For about 30 miles to the south of this volcano, ashes covered the ground three yards and a half deep. Thousands of cattle, wild animals, and birds perished under the ashes. This fact assists the geolo famous Professor Ehrenberg examined this dust under a powerful microscope, and discovered that it abounded in wellknown siliceous organic bodies, and in well preserved shells or cases of infusoria. This is a fact of great importance, as it helps us to account for certain volcanic dust found near extinct volcanoes such as the Eifel, on the Rhine. There are volcanoes which eject WATER, or whose craters are filled with it. The greates part of the vapour discharged by volcanoes is purely aqueous. It is this vapour when condensed by cold air that forms the springs which are on the sides of volcanic mountains. But, besides this aqueous vapour, there are cases in which water is a volcanic pro duct. It has been argued by many that water acts an important part in the eruptions of volcanoes, since, of 300 volcanoes on the globe, two-thirds are situated in islands, and the greater part of the other third are either on the borders of the sea, or not far from the coast. There are, however, some volcanoes, such as those in Mexico and in Central Asia, which are very far from the sea, Near Seminara, in Calabria, an earthquake opened a chasm in which a lake was formed 1785 feet long, and 937 broad. It was called Lago del Tolfilo. The inhabitants of the district, from fear that the miasma from such a lake would be prejodicial to their health, tried to drain off its waters by means of canals. Their work proved vain, for the lake was found to be constantly filling from springs which issued at the bottom of the chasm. In 1811 the volcanic island, afterwards called the Sabrina, was observed to rise from the sea near St. Michael, at the Azores. Its crater shot up cinders 700 or 800 feet above the level of the sea. These cinders were followed by an immense column of smoke. It began to rise in June. On the 4th of July it was high enough above the sea to form an island about a mile round. In its centre was a crater full of hot water, which discharged itself over one of the edges into the sea. One of the most singular products of a volcano is MUD. When the aqueous vapours from the crater are condensed by the cold atmosphere, heavy rains are produced, which fall upon the volcanic dust on the sides of the mountain, and form a current of mud called by the Italians "lava d' aqua," or aqueous lava, an enemy much more dreaded than a stream of melted lava. It is disputed by some geologists whether it was not by such a flood of volcanic mud, rather than by volcanic showers, that Pompeii was destroyed. This, r, is only mud on the surface of volcanoes. In some volcanic districts mud is found to ooze occasionally from the ground. Near Laureana in Calabria, the swampy soil of two ravines became filled with calcareous matter, which oozed out of their respective sides just before the shock of an earthquake was felt in that district. This mud flowing downward from both ravines, at last became united, formed one stream, increased in force, and was a mud river 225 feet wide and 15 feet deep. In its progress it overflowed a flock of goats, and tore up trees, which it carried on its bosom like the masts of small boats. When the mud became dry it was reduced in depth to about seven feet, and it was found to contain frag ments of earth of iron colour. I have now to call your attention to a real mud volcano, as represented by Von Humboldt, see fig. 21. Near Carthagena, in New Grenada, South America, there is a high hill called Popa. To the south-west of this hill there is a village district called Turbaco. In the midst of a thicket of palms is a marshy ground called Los Volcancitos. The tradition of the inhabitants is, that this ground was once all in flames, but that the fire had been extinguished by a monk who sprinkled the place with holy water. Since then the fire volcano has become a watery one. The volcancitos are about 15 or 20 in number, stand in cones from 19 to 25 feet high, and measure around their bases from 78 to 85 feet each. On the top of each of these volcancitos is an aperture or depression from 15 to 30 inches in diameter, and filled with water, through which air-bubbles are constantly escaping, as seen in fig. 21. In other parts of the ground there are apertures for such escape of air, but which are not surrounded by cones. The cones have, no doubt, been raised by the clayey mud contained in the fluids, and the dull sound, which precedes every ebullition in the water of the cone, indicates that the ground is hollow. It seems that each crater receives its supply of air and gas from separate channels. These little craters are always filled with water, even in the driest seasons. The temperature of the water is not higher than that of the atmosphere. These mud volcanoes originate with earthquakes, and their rise is accompanied with subterranean detonations and with jets of flame. Their diminished action supplies us with a specimen of the perpetual though subdued activity of the interior of the earth. The muddy water seems at the first ebullition to have been of a high temperature, but afterwards the temperature becomes lower. This fact implies that the vents, which at first communicated with deep-lying strata of great heat, have, by some means, become obstructed or choked up, and that the vents of the cooler water do not rise from any great depth below the surface. These mud volcanoes are found in different parts of the globe. In the Caspian Sea, on the peninsula of Abscheron, is situated the mud volcano of Jokmali. It was formed November 27, 1827. At first flames sprang up from the soil, and blazed to a great height for three hours. Then, for about twenty-four hours, they continued to burn about three feet above the crater from which the mud was ejected. Near a village called Baklichi the flame rose so high as to be seen twenty-four miles off. Large fragments of rock were thrown to a great distance round. These, as we have seen in fig. 20, must have been torn from the cavities of the strata beneath. At Damak, in the province of Samarang, in the island of Java, there is a similar mud volcano, where the mud is of high temperature. At Girgenti, in Sicily, and at Sassueto, in Northern Italy, they are also found under the name of Salses. LESSONS IN ENGLISH.-No. XI. a common error. BEFORE proceeding further with these prefixes we may now expose root. Carew. "Where our prevention ends, danger begins." "Which though it be a natural preventive to some evils, yet without either stop or moderation, must needs exhaust his spirits."-Reliq. Wottonianae. which preventeth sickness in the healthy."-Brown, "Vulgar Errors.” "Physick is either curative or preventive; preventive we call that "Prevent us, O Lord, by thy grace," means "aid us forward." "Preventive of sickness," signifies that which causes sickness not to come. There is the contrariety. Now for the explanation. Prevent is made up of two Latin words,-namely, prae, before, and venio, I come or go. Now, you may go before a person for two opposite purposes. You may go before him in order to guide, aid, and conduct him onward; or you may go before him to bar up his way, to hold him back, to prevent his advance. And as either of these two purposes is prominent in the mind of the speaker, so the word is used by him to signify, to guide, or to hinder. The proper meaning, then, of prevent is, to come before: hence, 1, to guide, or, as a natural consequence, 2, to aid; or again, I, to ob struct, and as a natural con-equence, 2, to stop, &c. And how the moral and spiritual imports come out of the phy-ical, is also seen in the diverse applications of the word; for, as we have just read of preventive medicine, so in divinity you may read of “ “provenient grace." These remarks, illustrations of which occur in what has just preceded, and will occur in what is about to follow, may serve to show you that language must be studied genealogically. Indeed every word has a history; and in the dictionaries, every account given of a word ought to be a complete history of the word; a history of its origin, uses, and applications, the one traced from the other logically, or according to the laws of thought, and philologically, or agreeably, to the laws of language. Very different, and very inferior is the character of most dictionaries. To resume the subject. ENGLISH PREFIXES (continued). E, of Latin, or rather Greek origin, in the forms e, ef, ex, denotes out of, as in egress (e and gradior, Lat. I walk), a walking out; excess (ex and cedo, Lat. I go), a going beyond, that is, too far; effect (ef and facio, Lat. I do), a thing made out, produced; a esult. that a disease is in-born, native to the soil; epidemic that it is very ,, Donne, E. "All occasions must be taken of sending forth pious heavenly against either scale; who committed treason enough in God's sake, yet "Faith-here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scales ejaculations to God."-Bishop Hall. could not equivocate to heaven; oh, come in equivocator."-Shaks ErThe ecclesias ical courts possessed the power of pronounc-peare," Macbeth." ing excommunication; and that sentence, besides the spiritual consequences supposed to follow from it, was attended with immediate effects of the most important nature. The person excommunicated was shunned by every one as profane and impious; and his whole estate, during his lifet me, and all his moveables, forever were forfeited to the crown."-Hume," History of England." Ef "Two white sparry incrustations, with efflorescencies in form of shrubs, formed by the trickling of water."-Woodward," On Fossils" En is a prefix found in the English, the French, and the Greek languages. Into the English it appears to have come from the Latin, through the French. Many words of Latin origin have passed through the French into the English. En is the form in Greek. In Latin, en becomes in. In French both on and in are used. The same is the case with the English. Though en and in are the same particle, it may be advisable to handle them separately, in order that their respective usages may become apparent. En is found in the forms en, em. The prefix signifies in or into. e. g., Es, of French origin (Lat. e, ex), is in English found in words borrowed from the French, as in escalade (es and scala, Lat. a ladder), a scaling (of a city), escape (Fr. eschapper, to get away), escheat (Fr. escheoir, to fall due), a forfeit, eschew (Fr. eschever, to shun), escutcheon (es and scutum, Lat. a shield). "Hence without blushing (say whate'er we can) Cawthorn. Eu, of Greek origin, signifying well, occurs in euphony (eu and phoné, Gr. a sound), euthanasia (eu and thanatos, Gr. death), a happy death; the eu in eunuch is a part of the word; eunuch being from euné, in Greek, a bed; eunuchs were chamberlains. Men were made eunuchs by the jealousy of Eastern despots. They were also made so, in order to give them a contro-alto voice. The latter fact is well alluded to in this quotation: "Our present writers, for the most part, seem to lay the whole stress in their endeavours upon the harmony of words; but then, like eunuchs, "He (Samson) rises and carries away the gates wherein they thought they sacrifice their manhood for a voice, and reduce our poetry to be like to have encaged him."-Bishop Hall. So in encamp, encase, enchain, enchant, enclose (or inclose), en- "Encumber'd soon with many a painful wound, Rowe, "Pharsalia." There is a tendency to substitute i for e in many words. This tendency deserves encouragement, if only for the sake of uniformity. Enter, coming from the Latin (intra, within) through the French (entre, between, among), is found in enterprise (enter and Fr. prendre, Lat. prehendere, to take, to take hold of), an undertaking; also in enterment (in and terra, Lat. the earth), now more common as interment. It is found also in entertain (Fr. entretemir, Lat. inter and tenere, to hold). "His office was to give entertainment And lodging unto all that came and went, And double quite for that he on them spent ; But such as want of harbour did constraine, Epi, a prefix of Greek origin, signifying upon, as epidemic, upon or ove: (widely spread over) a people. Endemic declares echo, nothing but a sound."-Lansdown, "Peleus and Thetis." "Some lands, either because they were in the hands of irreligious and careless owners, or were situate in forest and desert places, or for other now unsearchable reasons, were never united to any parish, and therefore, continue to this day extra-parochial."-Blackstone, "Commentaries." For, of Saxon origin, whose original is probably found in the German ver, which denies and reverses the action expressed in the verb, occurs in forbid (not to bid, that is to bid not). "Rather how hast thou yielded to transgress The strict forbiddance, how to violate The sacred fruit forbidd'n." Milton," Paradise Lost." For is found also in forbear, not to bear or take; to abstam. Phidias, when he had made the statue of Minerva, could not forbear to engrave his own name, as author of the piece."-Dryden. Fore, a different word from the preceding, of Saxon origin (vor, Germ. in advance; vorwarts, Germ. forwards), appears in foretell, forecast, forefathers, forehead. "The foreknower is not the cause of all that are foreknown."-Hammond. In forgive (Germ. vergeben), the idea seems to be that of giving away, giving without a return, giving freely, and hence to pardon (Fr. pardonner; in low Lat. perdonare). Seeds naked, never more than four. The common bugle is so hardy a plant that its blue blossoms will sometimes venture to unfold themselves amidst the dreariness of January, though not with the vigour of a more genial season. In May it may readily be found in woods and moist pastures, and varies with a pale lilac or even white blossom. The stem is erect, but the creeping shoots issuing from it distinguish the species, Among the old names of this plant is that of the sicklewort, or carpenter's herb; it being supposed that when the labourer or the workman was cut by a sickle or any other sharp instrument, the plant would tend to heal the wound In France they associated with it another plant as similarly efficacious: "He needs neither physician nor surgeon who hath bugle and sanicle." But the proverb of our continental neighbours is wrong, as the latter flower is absolutely injurious. There are three other species of the bugle: the pyramidal bugle, growing in dry heathy pastures in the highlands of Scotland, and flowering in June; the Alpine bugle, growing on mountains in Carnarvonshire, Derbyshire, and Durham, and flowering in July; and the yellow bugle, which flowers in April and May, and grows in sandy fields in England. The latter is often called the ground pine, and is not uncommon in Kent and Surrey. The stem of the wood germander is about a foot and a half high, the leaves are wrinkled, and the corolla of a pale yellow. The plant grows in woods, and also in the clefts of rocks and among rubbish, and flowers in July. So bitter is the whole plant, that it is said it might be used instead of hops, in making beer. Very bitter also is the water germander, with its branched stems, its hoary leaves, and its pale-purple corolla. It grows in wet meadows, and flowers in July and August. Nor less bitter is the wall germander. Its stems are nearly erect, about a foot high, with rounded corners, leaves fringed, and crimson flowers. This plant grows on old buildings, and flowers in July. In July and August the flowers of the common cat-mint may be observed in hedges and waste places growing in spikes. They are white, and have the lower lip dotted with crimson. The leaves are stalked, and heart-shaped; the stems are two or three feet high; and the whole plant is soft and downy. Of its smell cats are extravagantly fond. Of mint, a different plant, there are not fewer than ten kinds. Horse-mint grows in moist, waste ground, and has pale purple flowers in August and September. The spear-mint is so called on account of its leaf being narrower, and more like a spear or spike than the other varieties. It grows in watery places. Its stems are two or three feet high; its whorls of pale purple flowers appear in August. Peppermint is said by the French botanists to have been found only in this country. It has a smooth purple stalk, and purple flowers which appear in August and September. This plant cannot be mistaken, from its penetrating smell, and more pungent glowing taste, sinking, as it were, on the tongue, which is followed by a very agreeable sensation of coldness. The distilled water and essential oil of peppermint are used in a variety of cordial and medicinal preparations. Pennyroyal was likewise considered very effective. Gerard says, "If this herb be dried and taken to sea it will purify corrupt water without hurting those who drink it." It has been regarded as very useful when water is not good, on land. The old herbalist describes it also as a valuable medicine. This plant grows in moist heaths and pastures in England, and the south of Ireland; has a light purple corolla, externally hairy, and flowers in September. One plant has been thus poetically and graphically described:- Its anther's cross-like form of white." Ground-ivy grows by old wails, hedges, and road-sides, and flowers in April and May, but frequently before these months, the leaves may be found clustering, though the aromatic odour which they emit when spring comes, is scarcely sensible. The ground-ivy may be easily recognised by one peculiarity: its flowers grow in threes between the stalk and the leaf. Few animals, except impelled by hunger, will touch this plant, and to horses it is said to be injurious. The white dead-nettle, or white archangel, stands about a foot high, its stems being covered with short deflected hairs; the leaves are veiny and hairy, and the flowers, which appear in May and June, large, white, and hairy; but individual flowers may be procured at all seasons. The plant grows among rubbish, and by hedges, walls, and road-sides. It is something like the true nettle, but its rings of white flowers at once distinguish it, as the blosodour; but it is said to be used as a table-vegetable in Sweden. soms of the true nettles are all green. the spotted dead-nettle; and besides this, there is the red, the cutThere is a variety with purple flowers and spotted leaves, called leaved, and the hen-bit dead-nettle. It has a very disagreeable nettle has a stem about a foot high, with opposite branches; its roseOf the hemp-nettle there are several kinds. The red hempcoloured flowers, spotted with crimson and white, and growing in dense whorls, and appearing in August and September. The plant The pale yellow grows in gravelly fields, and among rubbish. flowers, with a large, cleft, upper-lip, or the downy-hemp nettle, are found in sandy corn-fields in July and August. The common hemp-nettle, growing in cultivated grounds, hedges, and waste places, has flowers in June and July, with a purple upper-lip, and a nearly equal three-lobed lower one, variegated with white and purple; while in the latter month, the large-flowered hempnettle, with its yellow corolla, grows among corn. adorn the hedge woundwort, which grows among rubbish and by Whorls of six dull-red flowers, appearing in July and August, hedge-walls, and sometimes rises to the height of three feet, with leaves veined and hairy. The hair or down of this and other plants serves to protect them from heat and cold, and is also of use state that one species of wild bee knew what materials would slowly to some insects. Kirby and Spence, the eminent entomologists, conduct heat long before the celebrated experiments made as to them by Count Rumford. It goes to the species called the downy woundwort, and to plants of similar structure, scraping off the wool, rolling it into a ball, and then sticking it to the plaster that stems are two feet high, and its corolla of a light purple. We covers its cells. This plant grows in hedges and by roadsides; its have altogether six native species of woundwort: the name applied to them being descriptive of the healing power which they were supposed to have. Gerard mentions applying the marsh woundwort in more than one instance with good effect. ORDER II. ANGIOSPERMIA. Seeds in a capsule. There are no fewer than seven species of broom-rape. The greater broom-rape grows on gravelly soil, on the roots of broom and furze. Its stem, about a foot high, is erect, dusky, fleshy, covered with short glandular, hairs, and scattered lance-shaped erect scales. It has a spike of about twenty flowers, with a purplish-brown corolla, which appears in June and July. The broomrape looks at a glance like a withered plant. One of the most elegant and showy of our native plants is the foxglove. Its numerous large, pendulous, crimson flowers, or elegantly-mottled bells, and hairy within, appear in dry hilly pastures, on the steep banks of rivers, and in rocky and other places, in June and July. The leaves, when carefully dried and powdered, or made into an infusion or a tincture, is used in medicine. It is dangerous when used ignorantly, but in small and repeated doses it is very useful, lowering the pulse in an extraordinary manner. Many an artist has selected this showy plant as a special ornament to his picture. The toad-flax, like many other plants, partakes of great variety. Six kinds of it are well known to botanists. The flowers of the ivy-leaved toad-flax, of a pale purple with a small portion of yellow, appear from May to November, growing on old walls. The stems of the plant are round, smooth, and leafy; the leaves alternate, stalked, and shining. It is often hung up in a flowerpot from the ceiling of a cottage, while the long stems hang down all around it. In hedges and on the borders of cornfields, a stem may be frequently observed in August and September, with large sulphur-coloured blossoms; it is the yellow toad-flax. Its hue leads country people to call it "butter and eggs:" while the foliage of the plant has on it that seagreen bloom which is known as the glaucous tint. BIOGRAPHY.-No. VI. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: THE PRINTER, EDITOR, PHILOSOPHER, AND STATESMAN. sure to find him apparelled in an excellent suit of clothes, with a good silver watch, and about five pounds sterling in his pockets. His father was not a little surprised on being informed of the object of his visit, and even more astonished at the contents of governor Keith's epistle. After long deliberation, he came to the resolution of refusing his assistance to the scheme, judging his son as at present too young for the management of such a business; adding, moreover, that he thought the governor had evinced anything but discretion in proposing it. Franklin therefore returned back to Philadelphia, and on waiting on the governor to communicate the result of his journey, Sir William observed that his father was too prudent;" and added, "since he will not do it, I will do it myself." It was then ultimately arranged that Franklin should proceed personally to London to purchase everything necessary for the proposed establishment, the governor undertaking to provide him with a letter of credit to the amount of £100, for the expenses, and to furnish him with recommendations to "various people of HAVING passed his first night in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin, When Franklin had been at Philadelphia for several months, he received a letter from a brother-in-law, who was the captain or master of a vessel, pressing him urgently to return home again to his family. Franklin declined to comply with the request, it being, as he said, his particular desire at the time to forget Boston as much as possible. The letter containing this reply, happened to reach his brother-inlaw when in company with Sir William Keith, governor of the province. Its composition and penmanship appearing to his relative much superior to those of the ordinary style of letterwriting, he showed it to his "excellency." The governor expressed himself extremely pleased with it, and manifested a good deal of surprise on being told the age and circumstances of the writer. He also condescendingly observed, that the young man was evidently a person of very promising talents, and added: "If he is disposed to set up in business on his own account, at Philadelphia, I will undertake to procure him the printing of all the public papers, and do him every other service in my power." Franklin received no immediate information of this gentleman's praiseworthy intentions, his brother-in-law having, for reasons of his own, neglected to communicate with him on the subject. One day, however, while he and his master were at work in the printingoffice, they observed through the window, two smartly attired gentlemen, one of whom was recognised to be governor Keith, and the other (as it afterwards appeared) was Colonel French, of Newcastle, in the province of Delaware. They were crossing the street in the direction of the office, and presently knocked, with dignity and official consequence, at the door. Keimer ran down in high expectation of some government patronage; but his excellency inquired for Mr. Benjamin Franklin, entered, went up stairs, and, as Franklin says, " with a politeness to which I had never been accustomed, paid me many compliments, desired to be acquainted with me, obligingly reproached me for not having made myself known to him on my arrival in the town, and wished me to accompany him to a tavern, where he and Colonel French were going to taste some excellent Madeira wine!" Franklin was very much surprised, and Keimer was positively thunderstruck. He went, however, with the governor and the colonel to a tavern; for the first time in his life, tasted of Madeira, and while engaged in drinking it, was favoured by proposals from Sir William for the establishment of a printing-house. The probabilities of success were flatteringly represented; and when Franklin expressed a doubt whether his father would assist him, the governor volunteered to write a letter, exhibiting the advantages of the scheme in such a light as would undoubtedly persuade the old gentleman to concur in the speculation. It was accordingly concluded that Franklin should return to Boston by the first vessel sailing thither, carrying with him the governor's letter of recommendation to his father. His excellency several times subsequently invited him to dinner, an honour which Franklin esteemed very highly, the more especially as the governor always conversed with him in a most affable, friendly, and familiar manner. In pursuance of the above arrangement, Franklin returned home at the close of April, 1724. He had been seven months absent, and during the whole time, had never heard from, or communicated with, his parents. He was not the less heartily welcomed back, all his family, with the exception of his brother James, being greatly delighted on seeing him again. It was an additional plea He Franklin was to go to England in the ordinary packet-ship; and as the time of sailing drew near, he naturally became importunate for the governor's letters of credit and recommendation. His excellency, however, always put him off under some plausible pretence. At last, when the vessel was on the point of starting, he was sent on board, with the assurance that Colonel French would bring the letters to him immediately. That gentleman, subsequently came on board with a packet of despatches, which were put into the captain's bag, Franklin being informed that those intended for himself were tied up with the rest, and would be delivered to him before landing in England. The voyage was successfully performed, and on arriving in the Thames, Franklin was allowed to search the bag for his expected letters, but could find none either directed to himself, or in any shape addressed as being intrusted to his care. however selected six or seven, which, from the addresses, he conceived must have been intended for his service. One of these was to the king's printer; Franklin accordingly waited upon that gentleman to present it, hoping that something useful might turn up; but no sooner had the latter opened it than he exclaimed, "Oh, this is from Riddlesden!--(the said Riddlesden being a rascally attorney at Philadelphia); I have lately discovered him to be an arrant knave, and wish to have nothing more to do with him, or with his letters." So saying, he turned upon his heel, and resumed his occupation. In short, it turned out that none of the letters were from the governor; so that Franklin found himself in a most awkward situation. This he took occasion to explain to a gentle. man named Denham, who had been a fellow-passenger in the packet, and he was then informed that the governor was a complete cheat, deceiving people, from vanity and a love of self-importance, with promises which he neither intended nor was able to fulfil. So far from being competent to give a letter of credit for a hundred pounds, it seems the man had not a sixpence worth of credit for himself. Here, as Franklin was therefore once more a citizen of the world, with the capital city of " foggy Babylon" to roam about in, seeking provender. Luckily for him, daily bread was more readily obtainable in his days than it is now. He was not long ere he got employment in the office of the "celebrated Mr. Palmer." usual, he distinguished himself by his diligence and ability. Among the books which he was set to work upon, was an edition of Wollaston's "Religion of Nature;" some of the positions assumed in which appearing to him feeble and erroneous, he prepared and published a small metaphysical treatise designed as a refutation. This pamphlet acquired him credit with his employer, as a man of talent, though that gentleman strongly reprobated the doctrines which it maintained. It inculcated the customary material notions which distinguished the fashionable "freethinking" gentry of the eighteenth century, and was therefore in nowise profitable for doctrine, and was utterly adverse to sound philosophy. We are informed that the publication "procured him the countenance of various eminent individuals." In this circumstance, however, we perceive nothing remarkable, there being scarcely any philosophical absurdity or gay frivolity proposed by man which "various eminent individuals" have not been found to countenance at some period or other. Franklin's transactions with Sir Hans Sloane seem more worthy of our passing notice: it appears that he sold Sir Hans some "American curiosities;" and amongst others an asbestos purse, for a high price in hard money. From Mr. Palmer's office he subsequently removed to that of |