EEPOET OF THE COMMITTEE 



TO WHICH 



MR. DU PONCEAU S HISTORY WAS 

 REFERRED 



KEAD OCTOBER 15 r ra, 1841. 



The Committee, to whom were referred, on the 

 26th of June 1840, the Communications of Mr. Du 

 Ponceau and Mr. Fisher, relating to the early history 

 of the Society, beg leave to present their report: 



The paper of Mr. Du Ponceau was presented on the 

 19th of June, 1840, but read at an adjourned meeting, 

 held a week afterwards, when the Committee was 

 appointed. It is universally admitted that the 

 present Society was formed by the union of two 

 Societies existing prior to 1769, which we shall 

 designate, as the author of the paper has done, by 

 the abridged titles of &quot;Philosophical Society&quot; and 

 &quot;American Society.&quot; In the outset of his paper, 

 Mr. Du Ponceau states that a difference of opinion 

 exists whether the American Society was a continua 

 tion of the Junto instituted by Franklin in 1727, or 

 a different association of more recent date. Among 

 those who hold the latter opinion, Mr. Du Ponceau 

 mentions Mr. Sparks, who expresses it, or at least his 

 doubts on the point, in the first volume of his life 

 of Franklin. As the author of the paper holds this 

 opinion to be erroneous, and as he believes the work 



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