166 KEPOKT OP THE COMMITTEE ON THE 



ciety, which was founded in 1743, "that the evidence 

 before the Committee does not establish the identity 

 of the Junto which was formed by Franklin in 1727, 

 with that which afterwards became the American So- 

 ciety, though they appear to have been the same in 

 many marked particulars" ; and that "dating from the 

 establishment of the elder parent-society, our centen- 

 nial anniversary should be celebrated on the 14th (25th, 

 new style) of May 1843." 



This report of the older committee, apart from their 

 recommendation in regard to the centennial anniver- 

 sary, was designedly inconclusive. "It must be ad- 

 mitted/ 7 they say, "that chasms still remain in our 

 early annals which require to be filled up, that doubts 

 exist upon some points and discrepancies of opinion on 

 others. ' ' In the hope that more facts might be obtained 

 to fill these gaps they recommended that neither Mr. 

 DuPonceau's paper nor Mr. Fisher's be published, 

 and that "both be deposited in the archives as valuable 

 contributions to the early history of the Society. " It 

 is clear that the committee did not regard the year 1743 

 as absolutely fixed for the official date of the founda- 

 tion of the Society ; they simply recommended it as the 

 terminus from which to reckon their centenary, as the 

 date of "the establishment of the elder parent-society." 

 There was no question in regard to that date ; and, as 

 1827 was long passed, the approaching year 1843 

 seemed to the committee to be clearly indicated for the 

 celebration. Their action, therefore, did not finally 



