From the Congrès International d'Anthropologie et d'Archéologie Préhistorique announcing that the 14th Congress will be held at Geneva in September next. From the Congrès International des Orientalistes to be represented at the 16th session to be held at Athens in April next. Prof. Leslie W. Miller, on behalf of the Curators, reported the receipt of a gift to the Society of some valuable relics of one of its honored presidents, Mr. Peter S. Du Ponceau, whose portrait by Sully is one of the most benevolent of those that look down upon us from our walls. They consist of two crosses, a larger and a smaller, of the order of St. Louis and the gold medal of the Institut de France. The relics were presented to the Society by Miss Aline Garesché, an elderly lady, who has lived for many years in Paris and who states that as the last decendant of Du Ponceau she feels that the Society is the proper custodian of these treasured heirlooms of the family. Mr. Du Ponceau wrote a learned monograph on "The Structure of the Indian Languages" which was printed in the Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of this Society, of which he was secretary, and in May, 1835, the "Prix Linguistique" founded by the Count de Volney was awarded to him by the Institut de France for a memoir on the Indian Languages of North America, which was afterwards published in Paris. The medal is a beautiful example of the work of the distinguished medallist, Rambert Dumarest (1750-1806). Mr. Du Ponceau's attention was also directed, at this time, to the structure of the Chinese languages and in 1838, when he was 78 years old, he published in the Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of this Society a memoir of 375 pages on this subject. The Royal and Military Order of St. Louis (to give it its full title) was instituted by Louis XIV. in the year 1693. It is conferred on naval and military officers who have distinguished themselves in the service. Mr. Samuel Dickson made the following remarks: As more than three quarters of a century have elapsed since the death of Mr. Du Ponceau, and he can be little more than the shadow of a name to most of those present, I have been asked to say something about him. The only source of information now available, is the sketch of his life, read before this Society by his friend, Dr. Dunglison, just after his death in 1844. From this, it appears that he was born June 3, 1760, in the Isle de Ré, a small island off the west coast of France. He early developed an exceptional talent for languages, and having mastered a French and Latin vocabulary before he was six, he was able when twelve years of age to speak and write both English and Italian with fluency and correctness. The death of his father, leaving the family in straitened circumstances, when he was less than fifteen years of age, made it necessary for him to earn his own livelihood, and after an unsuccessful experience as a teacher, he went up to Paris, having as his outfit, "a clean shirt and a copy of Paradise Lost,'" and there supported himself as a translator. This led to an acquaintance with Beaumarchais, known to us as the author of the "Barber of Seville" and the "Marriage of Figaro," but then largely engaged under the firm name of Hortalez & Co., in exporting supplies to the Colonies.-By the way, a very interesting sketch of Beaumarchais is given by Trevelyan in his American Revolution-Beaumarchais introduced Du Ponceau to Baron Steuben, who was about starting for America, and speaking nothing but German, needed a Secretary, as an interpreter, familiar with English and French. They came to this country and landed at Portsmouth in December, 1777, and after going to Yorktown, where the Continental Congress was in session, they went to Valley Forge early in 1778, where Du Ponceau made the acquaintance of Washington and Lafayette. As Secretary of Steuben, he was made a captain, and served as an officer until July, 1781, when he resigned on account of his health and came to Philadelphia. He was soon after appointed secretary to Mr. Livingston, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, upon the recommendation of Judge 66 Peters, who wrote that he was a good Latin scholar, French is his native tongue, English he has acquired perfectly, and he understands German, Italian and Spanish, he can translate Danish and Low Dutch. with the help of a dictionary, and a little application will make him master of these." At the close of the war, he entered the office of William Lewis, then the leader of the Bar, and was admitted in 1785. He soon acquired a large practice, and his command of languages must have contributed to the prominence which he attained as an admiralty lawyer. In the bibliography, printed as an appendix to Dr. Dunglison's discourse, is a long list of his occasional papers and translations. He was especially interested in the study of philological questions, and his contributions upon the Indian and Chinese tongues attracted much attention and gained for him the medal which has been presented this evening. While busily engaged in practice, he found time to take part in the proceedings of professional and literary associations with which he became connected. He was elected vice-president of the American Philosophical Society in 1816, and president in 1827, holding the office until his death in 1844. He was the first president of the Law Academy, and was annually reëlected until his death in 1844. The relations between the members and himself were of a most cordial and affectionate character, and the Law Academy presented to the Law Association of Philadelphia a copy of Sully's portrait. He also became the president of the Historical Society, of the Athenæum, a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania; and in 1836 he was elected Chancellor of the Law Association, and, as in every other case, retained the office until his death in 1844. Upon the occasion of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Law Association, Chief Justice Mitchell delivered an historical address, in the course of which, referring to the office of Chancellor, he said, "the office has justly come to be regarded as the highest honor that the Bar can pay a fellow member." This would naturally be inferred from the names of those who have held the office. Mr. Du Ponceau was preceded by Jared Ingersoll and William Rawle, and was followed by John Sergeant, Horace Binney, Joseph R. Ingersoll, William M. Meredith, and others, each prominent in his own day, until now the office is held by our fellow member, Hampton L. Carson. No formal eulogy could give so adequate a notion of the character of Mr. Du Ponceau, or of the esteem and regard in which he was held, as this list of offices to which he was elected. The members of these institutions represented, if they did not constitute, the leading men in the professional and intellectual life of Philadelphia, and he could not have been elected and reëlected as their presiding officer if he had not been a man of great accomplishment, of sound learning, and of upright character. Prof. John Bassett Moore, of New York, read a paper on Contraband of War" which was discussed by Judge George Gray, of Wilmington, and Mr. Frederick R. Coudert, of New York. Stated Meeting, March 1, 1912. WILLIAM W. KEEN, M.D., LL.D., President, in the Chair. Prof. E. P. Crowell, at Amherst, on March 24, 1911, æt. 81. Dr. W. W. Keen offered some remarks in appreciation of the services to Science of the late Lord Lister. The following papers were read: "The Chestnut Blight," by Dr. Haven Metcalf, of Washington. "The Secular Variation of the Elements of the Orbits of the four Inner Planets," by Mr. Eric Doolittle. "The Validity of the Law of Rational Indices and the Analogy between the Fundamental Laws of Chemistry and Crystallography," by Mr. Austin F. Rodgers. (Introduced by Mr. John C. Branner.) Stated Meeting April 12, 1912. WILLIAM W. KEEN, M.D., LL.D., President, in the Chair. Letters were received From the Committee of Organization of the IV. Congrés International d'Histoire des Religions to be held at Leyden from the 9th to 13th of September, 1912, inviting the Society to be represented at the Congress by a delegate. From the Trustees and Faculty of Princeton University, re questing the presence of a delegate at the inauguration of John Grier Hibben, President of the University, on Saturday, May 11, 1912. From the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, appointing Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch, from The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, appointing Prof. E. Hershey Sneath, from The Washington Academy of Sciences, appointing Dr. L. O. Howard, and from The American Institute of Electrical Engineers, appointing Mr. Harry Archer Hornor, to represent them respectively at the General Meeting of the Society. The decease was announced of the following members: Rear Admiral George W. Melville, U. S. N., at Philadelphia on March 17, 1912, æt. 71. Professor Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr., at Philadelphia on March 19, 1912, æt. 39. Prof. A. Lawrence Rotch, at Boston on April 7, 1912, æt. 51. The following papers were read: "The Roentgen Rays-Principles underlying Production, Development of Apparatus and Usefulness in Medicine and Surgery," by Dr. Willis F. Manges (introduced by Dr. W. W. Keen). Discussed by Doctors Goodspeed, Tyson, Coplin, and Keen. "The Japanese Verb So-Called," by Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman. |