786 
men were members: John Dickinson, Albert Gal- 
latin, De Witt Clinton, Alexander James Dallas, 
Thomas Francis Bayard and Carl Schurz, for 
example. The painters, Benjamin West, Charles 
Wilson Peale and Thomas Sully, belonged to the 
society. Of jurists, John Jay, John Marshall and 
Roger Brooke Taney were members. Among 
others whose names are on the roll of the society 
were: Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain; Louis 
Philippe, King of the French; George Gordon 
Meade, the victor of Gettysburg; Commodore 
Wilkes, Bishop Charles Magnus von Wrangel, of 
the Church of Sweden; the Rev. John Witherspoon, 
of the Church of Scotland and president of 
Princeton. Among publicists, John Stuart Mill 
was a member, as also Noah Webster, de Tocque- 
ville, Henry Wheaton, President Woolsey of Yale, 
Sir Henry Sumner Maine, Henry Charles Lea, 
Dupont de Nemours, Michel Chevalier. The 
writer showed that the society had recognized all 
knowledge in choosing its members. 
The Diary of a Voyage to the United States, by 
Moreau de Saint Méry: Stewart L. Mims. 
Introduced by Mr. J. G. Rosengarten. 
Mr. Mims told the story of his good fortune in 
finding the diary in the Colonial Archives at Paris, 
where it had lain covered with dust, all but un- 
noticed and forgotten, for three generations. The 
author of the diary was born at Fort Royal, Mar- 
tinique, in 1750, went to Paris at nineteen to study 
law and returned to Cap Francais (to-day Cape 
Haiti) in the French colony of St. Domingo, where 
he practised law for eight years and was then 
elected to the Conseil Supérieur. The task of 
codifying the laws of St. Domingo called him 
back to Paris, where he published successively, 
from 1784-1790, the six volumes of his famous 
collection of laws concerning the French West 
Indies. At the outbreak of the French Revolution 
he became an ardent champion of the Revolu- 
tionary cause. He was made one of the electors 
of Paris, who governed France during the space 
of one month. It was as their president that he 
was ‘‘King of Paris during three days.’’ With 
the accession of Robespierre to power Moreau was 
forced to flee from Paris into Normandy and later 
to Havre, whence he took ship for the United 
States on November 9, 17938. Owing to strong 
head winds and many storms, his vessel did not 
reach Norfolk before March 8, 1794. He remained 
as an exile in this country until August, 1798, 
when he returned to France. 
It is of this sojourn in America that the diary 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Von. XXXV. No. 907 
records the story. After calling attention to the 
value of certain passages where the author records 
his impressions of such cities as Norfolk, Balti- 
more, New York and Philadelphia, and to other 
passages containing the author’s comments upon 
such public men as Washington, John Adams and 
Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Mims laid special stress 
upon the interesting material which the diary con- 
tains for Philadelphians. 
Moreau de St. Méry spent no less than three 
years and ten months of his exile in this city, 
maintaining a bookstore and printing shop at 
Front and Walnut Streets. He offered for sale in 
his bookstore a large collection of foreign books 
which attracted many cultured Philadelphians. 
At his printing press were published in French, 
besides other works, three of his own well-known 
books, ‘‘ a Danse,’’ ‘‘ua déscription de la partie 
espagnole de St. Dominique’’ and ‘‘La déserip- 
tion de la partie francaise de St. Dominique.’’ 
Besides, at this same press was published in 
French from October 15, 1795, to March 14, 1796, 
a daily newspaper, entitled ‘‘Le Courrier de la 
France et des Colonies,’’ a most unique publica- 
tion which recorded for the exiles the latest news 
from France and the West Indies, and served as 
an organ for the society of Frenchmen who re- 
sided then in Philadelphia. 
Moreau’s shop became in a sense the place of 
rendezvous for such famous exiles as Talleyrand, 
Beaumetz, Blacon, de Noailles, Talon, la Roche- 
foucauld de Lianecourt, who had taken refuge ‘‘in 
the ark of Noah,’’ which one of them wittily 
called Philadelphia at that time. In this connec- 
tion, the speaker called attention to the very inti- 
mate relations existing between Talleyrand and 
Moreau, stating that the diary contained no less 
than seyenteen unpublished letters from the hand 
of Talleyrand which were written to Moreau. 
One passage was quoted from the diary which gave 
a most striking picture of the famous diplomat, 
sipping away at a glass of good old Madeira and 
chatting with his congenial companions, both ob- 
livious of time, until the good wife of Moreau 
came to drive away the garrulous bishop, remind- 
ing him that he might spend his morning lazily in 
bed, whereas his friend must be up early at the 
daily duties of his shop. It is interesting to add 
that Talleyrand, after he had regained power in 
France, never forgot the friend of his days of 
exile, but succeeded in reopening the doors of 
France for his return and providing for his wel- 
fare in later life. 
