1757 - Franklin takes the packet to Falmouth (England)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="040b9c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="70" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="66"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="76" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="66" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Links</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/i"><U><B><IMG SRC="290b22d0.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Autobiography </B></div> <div> <B>by</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/i"><U><B>www.early america</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Falmouth Packet Archives 1688-1850</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Falmouth Packet Archives 16881850"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id169.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1724 Franklins first voyage, to England"><U>1724 - Franklin's first voyage, to England.</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id165.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1726 Diary of Franklins return passage "><U>1726 - Diary of Franklin's return passage to PA</U></A>   |   <B>1757 - Franklin takes the packet to Falmouth (England)</B>   |   <A HREF="id167.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1762 Franklin sails to PA in convoy"><U>1762 - Franklin sails to PA in convoy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id176.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 1775 Franklin Leaves England for "><U>March 1775 - Franklin Leaves England for PA</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id177.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1764 Franklin sails, PA to Portsmouth ("><U>1764 - Franklin sails, PA to Portsmouth (Nov-Dec) </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id178.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nov. 1776: Franklin sails to France on R"><U>Nov. 1776: Franklin sails to France on 'REPRISAL'</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1785 Franklin returns from France to Ph"><U>1785 - Franklin returns from France to Philadelphia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id180.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Franklins correspondence"><U>Franklin's correspondence</U></A></div> <div> 1757 - Franklin takes the packet to Falmouth (England)</div> <div> Exerpts published with consent from Independence Hall Association (IHA) <B>of Philadelphia, owners of</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/index."><U>The Electric Franklin</U></A>.  </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1757 </B></div> <div> <B>Franklin's Autobiography tells us he was certainly very close to the Falmouth postal packet service, which, remember, only started to New York in 1755. He was, though, Joint Postmaster General of North America, and one would have expected him to avail himself of the new "fast sailers." </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > <A NAME="1757___franklin_s_voyage_to_falmouth"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">I had agreed </U></I><I>with </I><I><B>Captain [John] Morris,</B></I><I> of the [</I><I><B>Earl of Halifax</B></I><I>]</I><I><B> paquet at New York</B></I><I>, for my passage, and my stores were put on board, when Lord Loudoun arriv'd at Philadelphia. In the </I><I><B>meantime, the </B></I>[Earl of Halifax]<I><B> paquet had sailed with my sea-stores,</B></I><I> which was some loss to me, and my only recompense was his lordship's thanks for my service, all the credit of obtaining the accommodation falling to his share.</I></div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Another paquet arriv'd; she too was detain'd; and, before we sail'd, a fourth was expected. Ours was the first to be dispatch'd, as having been there longest. Passengers were engag'd in all, and some extremely impatient to be gone, and the </I><I><B>merchants uneasy about their letters, and the orders they had given for insurance </B></I>(it being war time)<I> </I><I><B>for fall goods</B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>! </B></I></FONT></div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">This daily expectation of sailing, and </I><I><B>all the three paquets going down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet there</B></I><I>, the passengers thought it best to be on board, lest by a sudden order the ships should sail, and they be left behind. There, if I remember right, we were about six weeks, consuming our sea-stores, and oblig'd to procure more. </I></div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We were out five days before we got a letter with </I><I><B>leave to part</B></I><I>, and then our ship quitted the fleet and steered for England. </I><I><B>The other two paquets he </B></I>[Loudoun]<I><B> still detained,</B></I><I> carried them with him to Halifax, where he stayed some time to exercise the men in sham attacks upon sham forts, then alter'd his mind as to besieging Louisburg, and </I><I><B>return'd to New York, </B></I><I>with all his troops, together</I><I><B> with the two paquets </B></I><I>above mentioned,</I><I><B> and all their passengers!</B></I><I> </I></div> <div> <I><B>I saw afterwards </B></I><I><B><U>in London </U></B></I><I><B>Captain Bonnell, who commanded one of those paquets. </B></I>[Lady Harriott]<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" >. </FONT><I>He told me that, when he had been detain'd a month, he acquainted his lordship that </I><I><B>his ship was grown foul, to a degree that must necessarily hinder her fast sailing,</B></I><I> a point of consequence for a paquet-boat, and requested an allowance of time to </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><I>heave her down and clean her bottom.*</I></FONT><I> He was asked how long time that would require. He answer'd, three days. The general replied, "If you can do it in one day, I give leave; otherwise not; for you must certainly sail the day after to-morrow." So he never obtain'd leave, though detained afterwards from day to day during full three months.</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B> [A good description of heaving down a vessel can be found in </B></FONT><A HREF="id87_lady_nugent_s_journal.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bringing the era to life!"><U><I><B>Lady Nugent's Journal</B></I></U></A><A HREF="id87_lady_nugent_s_journal.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bringing the era to life!"><U><B>.</B></U></A><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B> (The wife of the Governor of Jamaica from 1801-1805)]</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who was so enrag'd against his lordship for deceiving and detaining him so long at New York, and then carrying him to Halifax and back again, that he swore he would sue for damages. Whether he did or not, I never heard; but, as he represented the injury to his affairs, it was very considerable. On the whole, I wonder'd much how such a man came to be intrusted with so important a business as the conduct of a great army; but, having since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining, and motives for giving places, my wonder is diminished.    </I>       </div> <bR> <div> <I>Our captain of the paquet had boasted much, before we sailed, of the swiftness of his ship; unfortunately, when we came to sea, she proved </I><I><B>the dullest of ninety-six sail,</B></I><I> to his no small mortification. After many conjectures respecting the cause, when we were near another ship almost as dull as ours, which, however, gain'd upon us, the captain ordered all hands to come aft, and stand as near the ensign staff as possible. We were, passengers included, about forty persons. </I></div> <div> <I>While we stood there, the ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbour far behind, which prov'd clearly what our captain suspected, that she was </I><I><B>loaded too much by the head.</B></I><I> The casks of water, it seems, had been all plac'd forward; these he therefore order'd to be mov'd further aft, on which the ship recover'd her character, and proved the sailer in the fleet. </I></div> <div> <I><B>The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thirteen knots</B></I><I>, which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on board, as a passenger, Captain Kennedy, of the Navy, who contended that it was impossible, and that no ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must have been some error in the division of the log-line, or some mistake in heaving the log. A wager ensu'd between the two captains, to be decided when there should be sufficient wind. Kennedy thereupon examin'd rigorously the log-line, and, being satisfi'd with that, he determin'd to throw the log himself. </I><I>Accordingly some days after, </I><I><B>when the wind blew very fair and fresh</B></I><I>, and the captain of the paquet, </I><I><B>Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the rate of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and own'd his wager lost.</B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B> </B></I></FONT></div> <div> <I>The above fact I give for the sake of the following observation. It has been remark'd, as an imperfection in the art of ship-building, that it can never be known, till she is tried, whether a new ship will or will not be a good sailer; for that the model of a good-sailing ship has been exactly follow'd in a new one, which has prov'd, on the contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that this may partly be occasion'd by the different opinions of seamen respecting the modes of lading, rigging, and sailing of a ship; each has his system; and the same vessel, laden by the judgment and orders of one captain, shall sail better or worse than when by the orders of another. Besides, it scarce ever happens that a ship is form'd, fitted for the sea, and sail'd by the same person. One man builds the hull, another rigs her, a third lades and sails her. No one of these has the advantage of knowing all the ideas and experience of the others, and, therefore, can not draw just conclusions from a combination of the whole. </I></div> <div> <I>Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, I have often observ'd different judgments in the officers who commanded the successive watches, the wind being the same. One would have the sails trimm'd sharper or flatter than another, so that they seem'd to have no certain rule to govern by. Yet I think a set of experiments might be instituted, first, to determine the most proper form of the hull for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and properest place for the masts: then the form and quantity of sails, and their position, as the wind may be; and, lastly, the disposition of the lading. </I></div> <div> <I>This is an age of experiments, and I think a set accurately made and combin'd would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, that ere long some ingenious philosopher will undertake it, to whom I wish success. </I></div> <div> <I><B>We were several times chas'd in our passage, </B></I>[ <I>[The </I><I><B>General Wall </B></I><I>was captured in 1758 and had to be ransomed. She was again ransomed  for £2,500 in March 1760, £600 in April 1761, and for 500 guineas in 1762, before being taken out of service.)</I>  ] <I><B>but outsail'd every thing,</B></I><I> and in thirty days had soundings. We had a good observation, and the captain judg'd himself so near our port, Falmouth, that, </I><I><B>if we made a good run in the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor in the morning, and by running in the night might escape the notice of the enemy's privateers, who often crus'd near the entrance of the channel.</B></I><I> Accordingly, all the sail was set that we could possibly make, and the wind being very fresh and fair, we went right before it, and made great way. </I></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1b33c060.jpg" border=0 width="572" height="262" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >The above illustrates the <I>General Wall </I>packet incident of 1757 referred to in the <I>Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</I>. Having stated the packet achieved a speed of 13 knots...</FONT>"<I>when the wind blew very fair and fresh, and the captain of the paquet, Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the rate of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and own'd his wager lost." </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >and </FONT><I><B>in thirty days</B></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" > <A NAME="30_days__soundings_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></FONT><I><B> had soundings</B></I><I>. </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >[Meaning, the lead hit bottom, east of the continental shelf, approximately 120 miles west of Lands End] </FONT><I>We had a good observation, and the captain judg'd himself so near our port, Falmouth, that, </I><I><B>if we made a good run in the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor in the morning,</B></I><I> and by </I><I><B>running in the night</B></I><I> might escape the notice of the enemy's privateers, who often crus'd near the entrance of the channel. Accordingly, </I><I><B>all the sail was set that we could possibly make</B></I><I>, and the wind being very fresh and fair, we went right before it, and made great way. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>[From Franklin's diary, we can deduce approximate distances]</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The captain, after his observation, shap'd his course, as he thought, so as to pass wide of the Scilly Isles; but it seems there is sometimes a strong indraught setting</I> [North-eastwards] <I>up St. George's Channel, which deceives seamen and caused the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron </I>[in 1703].<I> </I><I><B>This indraught was probably the cause of what happened to us.</B></I><I> </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We had </I><I><B>a watchman plac'd in the bow, t</B></I><I>o whom they often called, "Look well out before there," and he as often answered, "Ay ay; " but perhaps had his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time, they sometimes answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not see a light just before us, which had been hid by the studding sails from the man at the helm,</I> [for maximum speed while running before the wind] <I>and from the rest of the watch, but by an accidental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and occasion'd a great alarm, we being very near it, </I><I><B>the light appearing to me as big as a cart-wheel. </B></I></div> <bR> <div> At first, one might think the <I>General Wall</I> was carried into the Scillies, <I>but f</I>rom known dates the light to which Franklin referred seems to be that on the <B>Lizard</B>, 20 miles south of Falmouth. The St. Agnes (Isles of Scilly) light was the only other light likely to have been working in <B><U>1757</U></B>, but it seems too distant (63 miles) from Falmouth to fit Franklin's account;  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>"The captain, after his observation, shap'd his course, </I><I><B>as he thought,</B></I><I> so as to pass wide of the Scilly Isles. It was midnight, and our captain fast asleep; but Captain Kennedy, </I>[R.N., travelling passenger] <I>jumping upon deck, and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all sails standing; an operation dangerous to the masts, but it carried us clear, and we escaped shipwreck, for we were running right upon the rocks on which the light-house was erected.</I></FONT></div> <div> <I><B>This deliverance impressed me strongly with the utility of light-houses, and made me resolve to encourage the building more of them in America, if I should live to return there. </B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>In the morning</B></I><I> it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near our port, but </I><I><B>a thick fog hid the land from our sight</B></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0033" FACE="Arial" ><I>.* </I></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="2b780a40.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="420" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> Not exactly the view Franklin described,  but the <I>General Wall</I> packet was probably well to the left of the (packet?) at anchor.</div> <div> If the above picture is at all accurate, his view of Pendennis while entering Falmouth Harbour would not have changed much in 23 years.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>About nine o'clock the fog began to rise, and seem'd to be lifted up from the water like the curtain at a play-house, discovering underneath, the town of Falmouth, the vessels in its harbor, and the fields that surrounded it. This was a most pleasing spectacle to those who had been so long without any other prospects than the uniform view of a vacant ocean, and it gave us the more pleasure as we were now free from the anxieties which the state of war occasion'd. I set out immediately, with my son, </I>[William] <I>for London. </I>[<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >*</FONT> implies there was fog, and little or no wind] <I>and we only stopt a little by the way to view Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, and Lord Pembroke's house and gardens, with his very curious antiquities at Wilton. </I><I><B>We arrived in London the 27th of July. </B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1757     </B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Lighthouses:</B></FONT> Tomkinson tells us (p.74) "In a thick fog, at about midnight, when the captain and most of the passengers were asleep, the fog suddenly lifted and Franklin saw the lighthouse [<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" >The Lizard</FONT>, first built in 1619, 20 miles south of the entrance to Falmouth Harbour] which told of danger within a few rods of them. Among the passengers was a captain of the Royal Navy, who fortunately was on deck; without a moment's hesitation he sprang to the helm, and shouted to the sailors to <I>wear ship</I>; in other words, to turn her round, and so, at the risk of snapping every mast, he saved the vessel and the people on board." <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >[Franklin's own account does NOT suggest there was fog at <B>midnight</B>]</FONT></div> <div> Tomkinson adds: "<I><B>Franklin knew that there was not a single lighthouse on the American coast*</B></I><I> </I>and he was so deeply impressed by this narrow escape, that he made up his mind to have the shores protected when he returned. "   </div> <bR> <div> <B>This seems at odds with facts which must have then been known to Franklin. </B></div> <div> <B>For example</B> <B>in 1752 the construction of</B>  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id115_sambro_light__1752_59_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lighthouses Navigation"><U>Sambro Lighthouse</U></A> </FONT> <B>commenced, it was completed in 1759, and well-positioned off Halifax Harbour.</B> <B>He may well have been instrumental in having the new lighthouse built at </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id115_sandy_hook_light.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lighthouses Navigation"><U>Sandy Hook</U></A></FONT><B>, off New York, which went into service in 1764, two years after his safe return to America. </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >     </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Lizard Light</B>: </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>