PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 23 



men who welcomed Priestley to America, though no one will 

 deny that there were unprincipled demagogues in America in 

 the year of grace 1794. Jefferson was undoubtedly sincere when 

 he wrote to him the words quoted elsewhere in this address. 



Another eminent exile,- welcomed by Jefferson, and the writer, 

 at the President's request, of a work on national education in the 

 United States, was M. Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours [b. in 

 Paris, 1799, d. 1S17]. He was a member of the Institute of 

 France, a statesman, diplomatist, and political economist, and 

 author of many important works. He lived in the United States 

 at various times, from i799 to iSi7', wlien he died near 

 Wilmington, Delaware. Like Priestley, he wafe a member of the 

 American Pliilosophical Society, and affiliated with its leading 

 members. 



The gunpowder works near Wilmington, Delaware, founded 

 by his son in 1798, are still of great importance, and the statue 

 of one of his grandsons, an Admiral in the U. S. Navy, adorns 

 one of the principal squares in the National Capital. 



Among other notable names on the roll of the society, in the 

 last century, were those of Gen. Anthony Wayne and Thomas 

 Payne. His Excellency General Washington was also an active 

 member, and seems to have taken sufficient interest in the society 

 to nominate for foreign membership the Earl of Buchan, Presi- 

 dent of the Society of Scottish Antiquarians, and Dr. James An- 

 derson, of Scotland. 



The following note written by Washington is published in the 

 Memoirs of Rittenhouse : 



" The President presents his compliments to Mr. Rittenhouse, 

 and thanks him for the attention he has given to the case of Mr. 

 Anderson and the Earl of Buchan. 



" Sunday Afternoon, loth Aprils i794-" 



Of all the Philadelphia naturalists of those early days, the one 

 who had the most salutary influence upon the progress of science 



