University of Virginia Library

2. CHAP. II.
Containing Observations.

THE institution of the American Philosophical
Society, does great honour
to the founders; and what has been published
by that body, comes not behind what
has appeared from societies of the same
nature elsewhere. But of late years, it
has ceased to be presumptive evidence,
at least what the lawyers call violent presumption,
of philosophical attainments, to
be a member; owing to the spurious brood
of illiterate persons that have been admitted
indiscriminately with the informed; this
again, owing to a political dispute in the
government where this society exists. For
when there are parties in a commonwealth,
they naturally subdivide themselves, and
are found even in the retreats of the muses.
It has become the question with this society,
not whether a man is a philosopher or
not, but what part he had taken in some
question on the carpet. The body conceived

itself to pay a compliment to the person
admitted, as if it could be any honour to
a man to be announced what he is not. The
contrary is the case here. For as honour
is the acknowledgement which the world
makes of a man's respectability, there can
be no honour here; for it has become a
mere matter of moon-shine to be a member.
To be or not be, that is the question;
but so trifling, that it is scarcely ever made.
The way to remedy this, would be to have
an over hauling of the house, and derange
at least three parts in four. As in the case
of Tarquin, and the three remaining books
of the Sybiles, you would receive as much
for the fourth part of that body, should
you set them up at market, as for the
whole at present.

I have often reflected with myself, what
an honour it must be, to be one of the society
of the French academy; forty, of
twenty-four millions of people, are there
selected in consequence of literary characters
already established.

I recollect the time when I had high ideas
of philosophical membership in America.
But it does not appear to me now to
be the highest thing that a man could wish,
since even a common Teague Oregan,

trotting on the high way, has been solicited
to take a seat. It may be said, that this is
an exaggeration of the facts; and can be
considered only as burlesque. I profess it
is not intended as such, but as a fair picture
of what has taken place. Should it
be considered in the light of burlesque, it
must be a very lame one; because where
there is no excess there can be no caricatura.
But omitting all apologies and explanations,
let the matter rest where it is.