Addresses from Sister Societies 267 



Smithsonian Institution congratulates the Society on its 

 long and prosperous existence and on the achievements 

 of its membership in the fields of philosophy and natural 

 science 



Philosophy " the mother and nurse of all sciences," 

 has had no more devoted student than Benjamin Frank- 

 lin. Honored by learned societies and universities, by 

 his fellow citizens, by potentates, philosophers, and the 

 populace of Europe, his name will ever stand among 

 the highest of eminent Americans. The results of his 

 researches in philosophical subjects and in electrical 

 science are clear and convincing — the work of a strong, 

 original, comprehensive intellect. His conciliatory 

 methods and independence of character, and his genial 

 disposition in his efforts, with the aid of Chatham, Pitt, 

 and Burke, to avert the political separation of England 

 and America, his service in the negotiation of treaties 

 of commerce and alliance with France, and of the treaty 

 of peace with Great Britain, place him in the front rank 

 of American diplomatists. The deliberations of the 

 Continental Congress on the Declaration of Independ- 

 ence, and the debates of the Constitutional Convention 

 were guided largely by his keenness of perception and 

 his sound common sense 



The Smithsonian Institution congratulates itself that 

 one of its first Regents Richard Rush, of Philadelphia, 



