62 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE 



tinned to bear until its union with the Philosophical 

 Society on the 2nd of January 1769. 



It is natural to ask, why was Franklin, if a member 

 of the Society-Junto, elected into a continuation of 

 the same association? The solution of this difficulty 

 is thus given by Mr. Du Ponceau. &quot;This (his elec 

 tion into the Society) was probably done, ex ma jo re 

 cautclu, his son Governor Franklin, having been ad 

 mitted without an election, at the preceding meeting, 

 on merely signing the amended rules, on the ground 

 that he had been a member of the ancient Society (the 

 Junto), which rule of admission, they said, was con 

 cluded on, in reviving the Society. But Franklin 

 was in England, and could not sign the amended 

 articles, it was thought best to elect him. The So 

 ciety probably contemplated to make him their Presi 

 dent, and wished to avoid all dispute, particularly if 

 a union should take place, which might not have been 

 quite despaired of.&quot; 



The Committee deem it very unlikely that the mem 

 bership of Franklin in the Society- Junto from its be 

 ginning, if it really existed, should be nowhere no 

 ticed on the Minutes. Such a membership would 

 have been a cherished fact, not to be disregarded in 

 making up the records. Nor will absence in Eng 

 land explain the omission, since a contemporaneous 

 absence of William Franklin did not prevent them 

 from recording him, on numerous occasions, as 

 absent, and sometimes in the express words, &quot;absent 



