While working for Keimer, Franklin formed a club, which was destined to exert considerable influence on American politics. The club met on Friday evenings, and was called the Junto. It was essentially a debating society, the subject for each evening's discussion being proposed at the preceding meeting. One of the rules was that the existence of the club should remain a secret, and that its members should be limited to twelve. Afterwards other similar clubs were formed by its members; but the existence of the Junto was kept a secret from them. The club lasted for about forty years, and became the nucleus of the American Philosophical Society, of which Franklin was the first president. This, and the fact that many of the great questions that arose previously to the Declaration of Independence were discussed in the Junto in the first instance, give to the club a special importance. The following are specimens of subjects discussed by the club:-- "Is sound an entity or body?" "How may the phenomena of vapours be explained?" "Is self-interest the rudder that steers mankind, the universal monarch to whom all are tributaries?" "Which is the best form of government? and what was that form which first prevailed among mankind?" "Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind?" "What is the reason that the tides rise higher in the Bay of Fundy than the Bay of Delaware?" "Is the emission of paper money safe?" "What is the reason that men of the greatest knowledge are not the most happy?" "How may the possessions of the Lakes be improved to our advantage?" "Why are tumultuous, uneasy sensations united with our desires?" "Whether it ought to be the aim of philosophy to eradicate the passions." "How may smoky chimneys be best cured?" "Why does the flame of a candle tend upwards in a spire?" "Which is least criminal--a bad action joined with a good intention, or a good action with a bad intention?" "Is it consistent with the principles of liberty in a free government to punish a man as a libeller when he speaks the truth?"