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such a philosophy? America aims at giving to the world not only 
the best machines the world has ever seen, but the best men the 
world has ever seen ; Americans make the best men that civilization 
has yet produced. She is therefore to help the world on to the best 
thought that the world has ever yet beheld. I hope we recognize 
that human thought will not be at its best until scientific thought 
and philosophic thought are wedded together in proper harmony ; 
and shall not this grand old Society, which has so beautifully guided 
America in her thinking and researches of the past, guide and help 
America in the study of that glorious problem which she in the 
future must help the world to solve ? 
Adjourned. 
Wednesday, May 24—3 o'clock p.m. Reception by the 
Board of Directors of Girard College at the College. 
9 o'clock p.m. Reception by the “ Penn Club.” 
PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, May 25, 1893, 11 a.m. 
The Society was called to order by Dr. Ruschenberger, who 
presided over the meeting. 
Dr. Samuel A. Green having been introduced, read a paper 
on “ Benjamin Franklin, Printer, Patriot and Philosopher,” as 
follows: 
At this anniversary meeting of the American Philosophical Soci- 
ety the name of the founder readily suggests itself; and for that 
reason I have taken as the subject of my paper the career of Ben- 
jamin Franklin, who was during his lifetime, with possibly a single 
exception, the most conspicuous character in American history. 
Whether considered as a printer, a patriot, or a philosopher, 
Franklin challenges our highest regard and our deepest admiration. 
Taking him for all in all, in his moral and intellectual proportions, 
he is the most symmetrically developed man that this country has 
produced. In popular phrase he was a great all-round man, able 
to meet any emergency and ever ready to cope with any situation. 
In many ways he has left behind him the imprint of his mind and 
