8 
purposes as one great institution, while each would maintain its 
corporate independence and government as perfectly as it does 
now, situated at an inconvenient distance from the others. 
All these societies, though in no respect scholastic in their 
form or nature, alike possess an educational character in their 
efforts to acquire and diffuse knowledge. They are alike in be¬ 
ing without endowment, and in their dependence upon the annual 
contributions and gratuitous labors of their members for main¬ 
tenance. They are alike in yielding no dividend or pecuniary 
profit of any kind to their fellows, and in receiving no subsidy 
or aid from the municipal or state government. There is nothing 
in their general policy or conduct to prevent them from being 
.harmonious and mutually accommodating neighbors. 
The peculiarities of each may be described in a few w T ords. 
The Academy of Fine Arts, in which drawing, painting and 
sculpture are taught, possesses collections of pictures and statuary 
which are exhibited to the public for a small fee. It is hoped, 
however, that some arrangement may be made to permit gratui¬ 
tous admission to its galleries at least one or two days of every 
week. It also has a library, which is freely consulted by mem¬ 
bers and others. 
The Franklin Institute was established for the promotion of 
the mechanic arts. It has a small collection of models of ma¬ 
chinery, and a large library. It publishes a valuable scientific 
journal, and, through the agency of courses of lectures, to which 
any person may be admitted for a small sum, teaches those 
branches of physical science which are applicable to the useful 
arts. The beneficial influence of this institution on the progress 
of these arts is not questioned. 
The Philadelphia Library contains 80,000 volumes on ancient 
and modern science and literature, which may be gratuitously 
consulted. Any person may take books to his home by making 
a deposit to insure their safe return, and paying a trifling com¬ 
pensation for their use. The stockholders enjoy only the same 
privilege on similar terms ; they simply commute by the payment 
of an annual contribution for the use of the books, their share of 
stock being merely a permanent deposit for their return. 
The American Philosophical Society, of which Benjamin 
Franklin was one of the founders, is in correspondence with all 
