AMERICAN ACADEMIES. An academy in America, similar to those in Europe, had been in contemplation before the commencement of the American war, but it was not carried into effect till the end of the year 1779. At that time, notwithstanding the pressure of war, a number of gentlemen applied to the legislature, and ob tained its sanction, fur the establishment of a society, with ample pi ivileges, under the name of The A m erica a Academy of Arts and Sciences. T'it: object of the aca demy was to promote the various branches of know ledge. The first volume of its Transactions, •sting of the communications that were received from le.
blishment till the end of the year 1787,, was puulished at Boston, in 1785, in 4to.
The American Editors, not having before them the entire plan of this work, arc at a loss to understand the reason of the distinction here made between Academies expressly so called, and those learned institutions which have adopted the less determinate appellation of Socie ties. Unless, perhaps, they should conceive the latter name to be more properly applicable to those, which, like the Royal Society of London and the American Phi losophical Societs , devote themselves exclusively to the investigation of the Physical and Mathematical Sciences. This distinction, however, is not, and probably never will be, universally adopted. On the continents of Ame rica and Europe, learned institutions have indifferently assumed the name of .icarle my or that of Society, whether their object was to promote the Physical or the Moral Sciences. Thus the Economical Society of Berne had merely in view the promotion and improvement of agri culture and other similar practical pursuits, while the scientific Academies of Paris, Petersburgh, and Berlin, devoted their learned researches to the higher branches of astronomy, natural philosophy, and the mathematics. In the United States, the same indiscriminate application is made of those different denominations. Hence, if we could have taken upon ourselves to alter in the least the distribution of the different articles which compose this work, we would have considered this as the proper place to give an account of the American Philosophical Society. But, being willing to adhere to our determi
nation to give the original text to our readers in all its integrity, we shall leave him to look for that article in the proper place which has been allotted to it, and shall content ourselves under this head to give a short notice of other American learned institutions on which the original edition of this work is silent.
The Connecticut Academy of Sciences incorporated by an act of the legislature of that state, was instituted in the year 1799. Its object is the promotion of every branch of useful knowledge. We have as yet only seen one volume of their Transactions, printed at New-Haven, in 1810 in octavo.
The New York Society for the tromotion of useful Arts was at first established for mere agricultural pur poses, under the name of the New York Agricultural Society. In the year 1807, it extended the sphere of its pursuits and assumed its present denomination. It consists of the most respectable scientific and literary characters in that state, under the patronage and presi dency of the venerable Robert R. Livingston. It has not yet obtained a charter from the legislature of the state, which will, no doubt, be granted, whenever it is applied for. The first volume of its Transactions, under its new organization, was printed at Albany in 1807. 8vo.
The Historical Society of Massachusetts deserves to be mentioned in this place. It was instituted in 1791 ; and its object is to collect and preserve all documents either manuscript or printed, which have a tendency to throw light on the history of America. It has published several volumes of interesting memoirs ; of which it has been observed with too much truth that the greatest part of their contents relate to the local his tory of that portion of the United States, which is com monly called New England. A similar institution, on a more enlarged scale, which perhaps would be best established either at the seat of the federal government or at the city of Philadelphia, is much wished for, and would probably preserve many important but fugitive documents which otherwise will be lost to our pos terity.