DATE OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE SOCIETY. 169 



ruary 6, 1761, there was talk of dissolution. It was 

 finally decided, however, to return to the original plan 

 of organization ; and as the original rules could not be 

 found, it was decided to write them anew from the recol 

 lection of the members. As set down, these rules do not 

 differ materially from those which Franklin records 

 of his Junto. On December 13, 1766, the name of the 

 Junto was changed to the American Society for Pro 

 moting and Propagating Useful Knowledge Held in 

 Philadelphia, and its membership was increased. 



The gap from October 22, 1762, to April 25, 1766, 

 seems to be in part explained by the letter of Philip 

 Syng to Dr. Franklin under date of March 1, 1766, in 

 which he says: &quot;The Junto fainted last summer in the 

 hot weather, and has not yet revived; your presence 

 might reanimate it, without which, I apprehend, it will 

 never recover.&quot; This statement clearly refers to the 

 same Junto which Dr. Franklin mentions in his letter 

 of July 7, 1765, to Hugh Roberts, in which he says: &quot;I 

 wish you would continue to meet the Junto, notwith 

 standing that some effects of our public political mis 

 understanding appear there. It is now perhaps one of 

 the oldest clubs, as I think it was formerly one of the 

 best, in the King s dominions. It wants but about two 

 years of forty since it was established.&quot; Franklin s 

 language here is significant, and it is carefully chosen. 

 He speaks of &quot;the Junto&quot; and does not attempt to dif 

 ferentiate it, which he surely would have done had 

 there existed at this time any other Junto in Phila- 



