94 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



we fondly think, in the Philosophical Society, that they were 

 elected presidents because they were members of the Philo- 

 sophical Society. (Laughter.) 



And, I might remark that the recent election of President 

 Wilson has left all of the other members of the society in a very 

 receptive mood. (Applause.) 



In 1906 we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of 

 Franklin, a very notable celebration, when addresses were made 

 by the most distinguished men of our own and other countries, 

 including the Ambassador who, unfortunately, has just left us. 

 There were also three other things that occurred at that time 

 that are rather notable. We published the calendar of Franklin 

 papers edited by our accomplished Secretary, Dr. Hayes. Con- 

 gress struck a medal commemorative of the event, of which a gold 

 duplicate was presented to the Republic of France, and also a 

 portrait of Benjamin Franklin, which, by the casualties of war, 

 had become the property of Earl Grey, then Governor General 

 of Canada, was restored by Earl Grey in the most generous 

 manner to the United States and hangs today in the White House. 



We possess of the writings of Franklin, eighty large scrap 

 book volumes which contain seventy-eight per cent of all the 

 Franklin known correspondence and documents. 



We have also the only copy preserved of the two that were 

 made of the Charter of Privileges of the Colony of Pennsylvania, 

 the one belonging to the State having disappeared; and this 

 copy, that belonged to the family of Penn, has found its home in 

 the Philosophical Society. We have also the instruments that 

 were used by these distinguished engineers at that time to trace 

 the boundary line between the states of Maryland and Pennsyl- 

 vania — the well known Mason & Dixon Line, which, I am glad 

 to say has been wiped off the political map, though it were by the 

 bloody sponge of war. 



We have a number of the earliest explorations also among our 

 archives: Dunbar's exploration of the Red River in 1804- 1805; 

 the original field notes of the Lewis & Clark celebrated expedi- 

 tion into the great Northwest, the first that ever penetrated to the 

 Pacific Coast, deposited with the society at the request of Jeffer- 



