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 studdingsails from the man at the
helm, 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, the light appearing to me as big as a cart-wheel. It was midnight,
and our captain fast asleep; but Captain Kennedy, 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. 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.

In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near
our port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. 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, for London, 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. We arrived in London the 27th of July, 1757.[16]

[16] Here terminates the Autobiography, as published by
Wm. Temple Franklin and his successors. What follows
was written in the last year of Dr. Franklin's life,
and was first printed (in English) in Mr. Bigelow's
edition of 1868.--ED.

AS SOON as I was settled in a lodging Mr. Charles had provided for me,
I went to visit Dr. Fothergill, to whom I was strongly recommended, and
whose counsel respecting my proceedings I was advis'd to obtain. He
was against an immediate complaint to government, and thought the
proprietaries should first be personally appli'd to, who might possibly