To Thomas Jefferson from William M. Finlay, 18 August 1804
From William M. Finlay
Beaufort S.C.
18th Augt 1804
President and Gentlemen
of the Philosophical Society
This Accompanies a Communication on the Precession of the Equinoxes Signed Julius
I remain Gentlemen with the Most Sincere Respect.—Your Obdt. Servant—
Wm. M. Finlay
RC (PPAmP); addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr President of the Philosophical Society <Philadelphia>”; franked and postmarked; endorsed for the American Philosophical Society. Recorded in SJL as received 6 Sep. with notation “with a paper signed Julius. A.P.S.” Enclosure: “Extract, from an Essay on Matter and Motion, being an attempt to Explain the Reason of the Precession of the Equinoxes,” accompanied by a statement to the “President, and Gentlemen of the Philosophical Society,” both signed “Julius,” who has “been for Some time past Occupied in compiling And Adjusting a system of practical Astronomy and Geography for the Use of Schools”; a page of diagrams is included; the author submits these papers in application for the Magellanic Premium (MS in same; in Finlay’s hand; addressed to the president of the ; endorsed for the society).
William M. Finlay (d. 1805) was a schoolmaster who taught bookkeeping and authored a textbook on practical mathematics for merchants. His obituary referred to him as a “promoter of virtue, the patron of science, and friend of mankind” (William M. Finlay, The Arithmetical Magazine, or, Mercantile Accountant, Adapted to the Commerce of the United States of America [New York, 1803]; New-York Evening Post, 2 Dec. 1801, 1, 23 Apr. 1802; Newark, N.J., Centinel of Freedom, 29 Oct. 1805).
Accompanies a Communication: a gift of 200 guineas to the in the 1780s endowed the Magellanic Premium, a gold medal awarded “to the author of the best Discovery, or most useful Improvements relating to Navigation or Natural Philosophy.” Authors of entries for the award in 1804 used pseudonyms to mask their identities during the selection process. The submission by “Julius,” read at a meeting of the on 21 Sep., did not win the prize (, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 135, 361-2, 369).