ON MR. DU PONCEAU S HISTORY. 81 



days after the date of Syng s letter. Now it may 

 be alleged that the 25th of April 1766 was the date 

 of a revival of the Association which is referred to 

 by Syng, and which, he apprehends, &quot;will never 

 recover.&quot; The dates here give some plausibility 

 to this supposition. But, assuming it for a moment 

 to be well-founded, is it not reasonable to suppose 

 that Syng, rejoiced at its revival, would have given 

 to the Society- Junto the countenance of his presence; 

 or are we to believe that, contrary to the plan of 

 the minutes, he was sometimes present, without his 

 name being recorded? 



While, therefore, the Committee think it a strained 

 inference that the survivors of the Franklin-Junto 

 were members of the Society- Junto, it is remarkable 

 to find that two of them, Syng and Rhoads, are active 

 members of the Philosophical Society before the union, 

 and of the United Society after it. Rhoads, indeed, 

 was an original member of the Philosophical Society, 

 dating from its establishment in 1743. Syng, how 

 ever, was not elected until January 1768. Supposing 

 them to have been members of any kind, irregular 

 or honorary of the Society-Junto, afterwards the 

 American Society, and for that reason never men 

 tioned on the minutes, would they not at least have 

 been included in the list of members handed to the 

 Philosophical Society? Again, if it be alleged as 

 probable that the Secretaries of the American So 

 ciety forgot to insert the name of Syng and Rhoads 



