12 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE 



which Mr. Sparks tells us in a note was drawn up for 

 the Junto in 1728. 13 In that paper are forty questions 

 to be asked of each member at every meeting. I do 

 not think that they were adopted, or, if they were, 

 they cannot have remained long in use, as it would 

 have taken up the whole time of each meeting for 

 each member to answer them, and they would have 

 led to conversations and perhaps, discussions without 

 end. They related chiefly to the gossip of the day, 

 what strangers had arrived in town, who had failed 

 in business, etc., which questions appear to have been 

 intended more for the worldly advantage than for the 

 mental improvement of the members. 



Franklin candidly admits that the Junto was partly 

 established with a view to promote the success of the 

 members in business, and that he himself profited 

 by it. 14 



But that was not their principal object. In the 

 same papers there are four questions, distinct from 

 the forty above mentioned, which are of a very dif- 

 ferent character, and which truly bear the stamp of 

 the great mind of Franklin. I copy literally from 

 the paper as Mr. Sparks has recorded it. 



"Any person to be qualified (as a member of the 

 Junto) to stand up, and lay his hand upon his breast, 

 and be asked these questions, viz : 



" 1. Have you any particular disrespect to any 

 present members? Answer. I have not. 



13 2 Sparks' " Franklin," 9. " 1 Sparks' " Franklin," 83. 



