79 



addressed to Franklin, dated March 1st, 1766, and 

 which was found among the Franklin papers, in the 

 possession of the Society. His words are "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 " 



This suspension of "the Junto" is referred to the 

 summer of 1765, and the question arises, does Philip 

 Syng refer to the Society- Junto? Unfortunately, 

 the summer of 1765 is within the long period of 

 three and a half years, for which we have no minutes. 

 If it be said that the expression "fainted last sum- 

 mer," implies that the Junto alluded to met im- 

 mediately before that period, the Committee are 

 willing to grant the inference; but the absence of 

 minutes of such meetings is not to be taken as proof 

 that the allusion cannot be to the Society- Junto ; for 

 the Committee have admitted it as probable, that 

 some meetings took place within the period of the 

 great chasm in the minutes, for reasons already 

 given. A passage in a letter of Hugh Roberts to 

 Franklin, dated May 20th, 1765, also found among 

 the Franklin papers, bears upon this point. He 

 says, "I sometimes visit the worthy remains of the 

 ancient Junto, for whom I have a high esteem; but, 

 alas, the political, polemical divisions have, in some 

 measure, contributed to lessen that harmony we 

 there formerly enjoyed." Thus the "Junto" was 

 sometimes visited by Hugh Roberts in the spring of 



