F 1 
 .N478 
 Copy 2 
 
 ^resilienf s atiDresei to tt)e Council 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW- ENGLAND 
 
 Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 14 JANUARY, 1889 
 
^rcjsiiDcnrjS 9[DDrc)2J)2J to ti^e Council 
 
 OF THE 
 
 new-england 
 Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 14 JANUARY, 1889 
 
^rejJiDent'iS StitircjSjs to tl)c Council 
 
 NEW-ENGLAND 
 
 Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 14 JANUARY, 1889 
 
 'juie 
 
 BOSTON 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
 
 M.DCCC.XCII 
 
 'W.-..: 2, 
 

 IN EXCHANGB 
 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridgi 
 
NOTE. 
 
 By a vote of the Council, passed 11 February, 1889, the Address 
 of the President, to the Council, upon the reorganization of the Society 
 under the new By-Laws, was referred to the Committee on Printing 
 and Stationery, with full powers ; but at the request of the President, 
 who expected that the Committee on Donations would complete his 
 account of the P\inds and Cabinet of the Societ}', the printing has 
 been deferred from time to time. 
 
 No such report, however, having 3'et been presented by the Com- 
 mittee on Donations, and the facts set forth in the Address having 
 been collected with considerable labor, it is now laid before ever}' 
 member of the Society, since it is important that its statements should 
 be preserved, in a convenient form, for future reference. 
 
 HENRY H. EDES, 
 BENJAMIN A. GOULD, 
 
 Committee on Printing and Stationery. 
 
 Boston, May, 1892. 
 
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 For the Year 1889. 
 
 Presitient. 
 
 ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr., A.M., of Salem, Massachusetts. 
 
 UlC£#T£0itimt0. 
 WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jr., A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, A.M., of Belfast, Mauie. 
 JOSEPH BURBEEN WALKER, A.B., of Concord, New Hampshire. 
 JAMES BARRETT, LL.D., of Rutland, Vermont. 
 WILLIAM GAMMELL, LL.D., of Providence, Rhode Island. 
 EDWIN H. BUGBEE, of Killingly, Connecticut. 
 
 Eecartitifl SectEtatg. 
 
 DAVID GREENE HASKINS, Jr., A.M., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 
 Cotrespontiins SectEtatg. 
 
 FRANCIS HENRY BROWN, M.D., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 STreasuvet. 
 
 BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY, of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 3Libi-avian. 
 
 JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M., of Medford, Massachusetts. 
 
 Ci^e CounciL 
 
 Ex Officiis. 
 AT^MFR r roODELL Tr am. WILLIAM ENDICOTT, JR., A.M. 
 
 f^^^0^^^^^l):i^^^,^^.^^-^- FRANCIS HENRY BROWN. M.D. 
 BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY. JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M. 
 
 Term Expires 1892. 
 ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY, D.D., LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP, Jr., A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 Term Expires 1891. 
 WILLIAM CLAFLIN, LL.D., of Newton, Massachusetts. 
 HENRY AUSTIN WHITNEY, A.M., of Milton, Massachusetts. 
 JOHN TYLER HASSAM, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 Term Expires 1890. 
 WILLIAM BLAKE TRASK, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 GRENVILLE HOWLAND NORCROSS, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 FRANK ELIOT BRADISH, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
PRESIDENT'S 
 ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL. 
 
 14 January, 1889. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Council : 
 
 At the outset of a new departure in the career of our 
 Society a review of the main events in our progress to 
 this time would seem to be desirable even for those 
 who have been intimately concerned in its management 
 hitherto, and doubly proper for those of us who now for 
 the first time assume a share of the responsibility of 
 directing its affairs. 
 
 I shall not therefore apologize for calling your atten- 
 tion to the pecuniary and numerical growth and condi- 
 tion of this institution before I proceed to point out the 
 changes which have been effected in our organization by 
 the adoption of a new code of by-laws, and the steps 
 which, in pursuance of my official duty, 1 feel constrained 
 to recommend to you as necessary to be taken by this 
 board in order to execute the will of the Society as ex- 
 pressed in the new code. On this head, however, I shall 
 be brief. 
 
 Starting a little more than forty-four years ago as a ^.^^^^^ ^^ 
 voluntary association of five gentlemen " interested in the Society 
 genealogical inquiries and in family history," for the 
 sole and express object of collecting and preserving " the 
 Genealogy and History of early New England Families," 
 this little company, together with a few associates subse- 
 quently admitted, was incorporated, four months later, 
 
10 
 
 under the name originally adopted by the association and 
 which our Society still bears, for a purpose slightly en- 
 larged from the professed object of the founders ; namely, 
 " of collecting, preserving, and occasionally publishing 
 genealogical and historical matter relating to early New 
 England families, and for the establishment and main- 
 tenance of a cabinet." 
 
 In this corporate form it has continued to grow with- 
 out any change in its organic law (except such as has 
 been effected by two acts enabling it to hold additional 
 property, real and personal) until to-day it embraces a 
 resident membership of more than seven hundred and 
 fifty persons (including three hundred and fifteen life 
 members) besides two hundred and fifty corresponding 
 members in this and foreign countries. 
 
 — its finan- The financial growth of the Society has kept pace with 
 tiMeTr ^ its numerical expansion. For the first year of our cor- 
 porate existence the Treasurer's cash accounts show a 
 total of $110 received, and an expense account of $86.03. 
 The next year the receipts, including sundry cash dona- 
 tions, were $200.97, and the expenses $187.64. Passing 
 over an interval of ten years or more, we find the ex- 
 penses, in 1857, more than doubled, or $382.01. The 
 next year the expenses amounted to $604.44, and in the 
 year following (1859) to $767.04 (including an "old 
 debt" of $158), and again in 1861, to $873.68, includ- 
 ing $180, which had been received from six life members 
 in commutation of their annual assessments and had 
 been improvidently applied to current expenses, but which 
 was now recovered and made the foundation of the Life- 
 membership Fund, of which I shall say more hereafter. 
 
 — to 1871; A leap through another decade brings us to 1871, for 
 
 which year we find the expense account again more than 
 doubled ; or a total of $1,634.70, against an income, from 
 admission fees and assessments and from the Life Fund, 
 of $1,656.02 ; indicating a total paying membership of 
 between five hundred and six hundred. Another decade 
 
n 
 
 passed, and the reports for the year 1881 show the ex- —to 1881; 
 
 pense account again more than doubled ; or $3,411.69 
 
 against an income from all sources (except from the 
 
 Register), for the year, of $3,409.65. The increase of 
 
 receipts and expenses from this last date has not been 
 
 such as to warrant the belief that this geometrical ratio 
 
 is to continue, although the corresponding income for the 
 
 past year has increased, in round numbers, to nearly —to 1889. 
 
 $4,500. 
 
 You may have noticed that from the accounts of 1881 The 
 
 . Register: 
 
 I made special exception of the receipts and expenses on 
 account of the New England Historical and Genealogical 
 Register, and you probably have observed that the finan- 
 cial business of this publication appeared, for the first 
 time, in the Treasurer's annual report of 1887. This 
 may have led some of you to infer that the old arrange- 
 ment, by which all pecuniary responsibility for the publi- 
 cation of our valuable quarterly was assumed by a club 
 voluntarily organized with the consent of the Society, 
 had continued up to the year preceding that report. 
 This, however, is not the case. The Register club was —owned by 
 dissolved by mutual agreement in the autumn of 1874, '^ "^^^ ^' 
 since which time the financial responsibility for the 
 publication of the Register has devolved wholly upon the 
 Society. It is due to our vigilant Treasurer to say that 
 he has invariably held that the important fiscal transac- 
 tions pertaining to this branch of the Society's business 
 should appear in his books and be sliown in the annual 
 statement ; but the complications of that business, and 
 other obstacles which he encountered, were so formidable 
 that, to surmount them, required some considerable per- 
 sistency, and an amount of labor which he could not be- 
 stow in one continuous effort. I am happy to report —its 
 that he has now succeeded in reducing the business to a and earnings 
 system, and, beginning with the year 1886, his books con- f^JJ^^y^Jhe 
 tain all the entries necessary to a proper understanding Treasurer. 
 of the Society's receipts and payments on account of the 
 
12 
 
 Register. The balance of this account appears not to be 
 large either way, at present ; but I think the whole sub- 
 ject worthy of the special attention of the Council, and I 
 shall make some recommendation relative to it. 
 
 Total income While the income for general purposes, exclusive of a 
 donation of $250 from Dr. Tarbox, the year last past, 
 is 84,314.66, including interest on moneys raised by con- 
 tribution for specific purposes but not yet applied, and 
 the profit from investment of funds not devoted to spe- 
 cific objects, we have derived other income from funds 
 given for the promotion of specific objects which swells 
 the total receipts to $5,249.47, — only about one third of 
 whicli is derived from admission fees, annual assessments, 
 and income of the Life-membership Fund. 
 
 History of ^ The growth of these funds (which to-day amount to a 
 
 funds. total of nearly 870,000) I deem sufficiently interesting 
 
 to warrant my dwelling upon it here. Almost from the 
 beginning, small donations appear from time to time 
 entered in the Treasurer's books ; thus, in 1845, I find a 
 gift to the Society of $5 ; and in 1846, a threatened 
 deficiency of $65 was avoided by contributions to that 
 amount among the members. In 1847, $38 appear to 
 have been contributed as a donation ; in 1850, $3 ; in 
 1851, $91.70 ; in 1852, $10 ; in 1855, $73 ; and, in 
 1857, $20, — making a total, for the first fourteen 
 years, of $305.70, if I have read the record correctly. 
 
 Bond Fund. In the year 1859 the Society received a testamentary 
 gift, from Dr. Henry Bond, of Philadelphia, of eight hun- 
 dred copies, in sheets, of his work entitled " Genealo- 
 gies and History of Watertown," together with other 
 manuscripts and printed matter. I have not been able 
 to find any record which shows that this legacy was in 
 any manner qualified. It has always been treated as 
 an unconditional gift, and was set apart as a fund by 
 a vote of the Society, according to which the income of 
 the proceeds of the sales of these sheets bound into 
 volumes is to be applied one eighth to increasing the 
 
10 
 O 
 
 fund, and the remainder to the purchase of books of 
 local history and genealogy, reserving a sufficient amount 
 to defray the expense of binding and preserving the 
 manuscripts bequeathed to the Society by the testator. 
 
 This fund now amounts to $868.46 in money ; besides 
 which we have seven hundred or eight hundred of the 
 volumes remaining in sheets, from which, unfortunately, 
 some fourteen signatures (or 224 sheets) are said to have 
 been lost or destroyed, either during their removal to this 
 house, or since they were placed in the cellar. I have a 
 proposal from a competent printer to supply these miss- 
 ing sheets, and to bind the whole, at an expense not ex- 
 ceeding the amount on hand belonging to the fund ; and 
 since the book is now rare, and is in demand at the price 
 of $9 or 110 per copy, I recommend that you authorize 
 the completion and sale of these volumes, which, at one 
 half the price I have named, would increase the fund to 
 between |3,000 and $4,000.i 
 
 This legacy in point of time was the first of the series 
 of funds from which the Society derives income which it 
 applies to particular uses. 
 
 Next comes the Barstow Fund. This originated in Bamow 
 September, 1860, in a gift from John Barstow, of 
 Providence, K. I., a former vice-president of the So- 
 ciety, of two shares of the Boston and Providence Rail- 
 road Company of the par value of $100 each, from 
 the sale of which we realized |400. A further donation 
 in May, 1862, of $300 cash, and still another of $500 
 cash, in March, 1863, both from the same source, brought 
 the fund up to $1,200, the amount at which it still stands 
 on our books. I have not been able to find any record 
 of the form of this gift ; but I presume that it was uncon- 
 ditional, since it was funded by the vote or acquiescence 
 of the Society, and the income devoted to the binding of 
 books. 
 
 1 On clearing the cellar, in 1889, the missing signatures were found, by 
 which the expense of making up the edition is greatly lessened. 
 
 Fund. 
 
14 
 
 Towne 
 
 Memorial 
 
 Fund. 
 
 Trustees : 
 — legislation 
 desirable. 
 
 The Towne Memorial Fund, wliicli comes next in 
 chronological order, was established by the late William 
 B. Towne, who was for some time Treasurer, and long 
 an active and zealous member of our Society. On the 
 6th of January, 1864, he gave to the Society the sum' 
 of $1,000, in accordance with a previous promise, con- 
 ditioned upon the raising of an equal amount, during 
 the year 1863, by the payment of fees for life-member- 
 ship, — which by a vote of the Society, Oct. 3, 1855, 
 had been fixed at $50, and reduced to $30 by another 
 vote four years later. The tender of this gift was made 
 in a letter to the Corresponding Secretary, dated Dec. 
 31, 1863, in which the wish is expressed that the 
 amount be placed "in the hands of trustees, and kept 
 separate and apart from the ordinary receipts of the 
 Society, and thereby made a permanent fund, the income 
 thereof to be used for the preservation of memoirs of 
 deceased members." To this fund, which was accepted 
 by a vote of the Society upon the terms proposed by 
 the donor, another $1,000 was added by the founder, 
 March 18, 1870. By the addition of accumulated income 
 to the principal, this fund once reached nearly the sum 
 of $5,000. From this it has shrunk at the present time 
 to $4,539.68, after defraying the cost of five volumes of 
 the Memorial Biographies of Deceased Members, printed 
 in accordance with the design of the founder. 
 
 Assuming the wish of Mr. Towne, as expressed in the 
 letter to which I have referred, to be tantamount to a posi- 
 tive direction or injunction, which I think is a fair legal 
 interpretation of the instrument, tlie appointment of trus- 
 tees to succeed those who were originally appointed with 
 the approbation of the founder, would seem to rest with the 
 courts. There is, at least, a doubt of the donor's inten- 
 tion to leave this matter wholly at the discretion of the 
 Society, without supervision. I therefore recommend 
 tills subject to your attention, and suggest that it might 
 perhaps be well to apply to the Legislature for an Act to 
 
15 
 
 enable the Finance Committee, together with the Treas- 
 urer, and tlieir successors in office, to hold, as trustees, this 
 or any other fund given in trust for the benefit of the 
 Society, upon the death of the original trustees, or upon 
 their resignation, and with their consent and the consent 
 of the Society. By this means all the property held for 
 the Society's use will be made to appear on the Treas- 
 urer's books of account. I will add, in passing, that this 
 fund and the Kidder fund, to which I shall refer again, 
 are the only funds which are not clearly to be held and 
 managed by the Society, immediately, without the inter- 
 vention of trustees. 
 
 Some time in the year 1864 (I have not been able to Cushman 
 ascertain precisely when), the Society received as a "" ' 
 legacy from the late Hon. Henry W. Cushman, of 
 Bernardston in this State, the remainder of an edition of 
 the Cushman Genealogy prepared by him and published 
 at his expense. This bequest was coupled with conditions 
 as to arranging and preserving certain memorials, and as 
 to indexing, etc., which I think have not been complied 
 with ; at least, I have received no definite information on 
 that point from the Librarian. These books from time to 
 time have been turned into cash, — the amount of the 
 fund, by the Treasurer's last report, being $120.71. 
 
 Next in order, comes the Bradbury Fund. In March, Bradbury 
 1876, our late associate John M. Bradbury, of Ipswich, 
 bequeathed to us $2,000, in cash, I am informed, and 
 twenty-five shares in the corporate stock of the Austin 
 City Water Co., in the State of Nevada, of the par value 
 of 8500 each, which the Treasurer estimates is now a 
 fair valuation of tlie whole twenty-five shares. This con- 
 stitutes the principal of this fund of $2,500, the income of 
 which has been applied to the general expense account, 
 but whether by the will of the testator or by order of 
 the Directors, can only be certainly ascertained by in- 
 spection of the original will or of an authentic copy. 
 
 The Sever Fund was founded by Mrs. Anne Elizabeth Sever Fund 
 
16 
 
 Parsons Sever, widow of the late Col. James Warren 
 Sever, of this city, a former member of our Society. 
 She bequeathed to this Society 15,000, for the purchase of 
 books, it is said, for our library. This money was paid 
 into the treasury, Oct. 8, 1878 ; and the income has 
 been applied according to what is understood to be the 
 will of the testatrix. 
 Alden Fund. Qn the 7th of June, 1881, the executor of the last will 
 of the late Ebenezer Alden, M.D., of Randolph, in this 
 State, enclosed to the Treasurer of this Society a check 
 for $1,000, dated June 8, 1881, as a bequest from the 
 testator, to constitute "a permanent fund, to be safely 
 invested, the income to be expended for the benefit of 
 the library, especially in preparing catalogues." This 
 bequest was accepted according to its terms ; and the 
 principal of the fund remains intact, though the income 
 appears to have gone into the general income account, 
 instead of being applied to the specific purpose indicated 
 by the testator. I presume this was done by authority 
 of the Board of Directors, but for what reason I am 
 unable to say, — perhaps with the design of ultimately ap- 
 propriating it to the expense of cataloguing, which ex- 
 pense thus far has not been formally distinguished from 
 the ordinary incidental expenses of the Society. 
 Russell Fund. The Russell Fund was established in 1883, under the 
 will of Mary W., wife of Mr. Edward Russell, of Boston. 
 The testatrix died March 28, 1875 ; but there being an 
 intervening beneficiary for life, our Society did not re- 
 ceive the legacy until Aug. 2, 1883, after the termination 
 of this life interest, when the husband and executor 
 paid into our treasury -13,000, *' to constitute," according 
 to the terms of the will, " a fund, the income of which 
 to be used for the purchase of Englisli county histories 
 and genealogies for the library of the Society." This 
 fund still remains at $3,000 ; and the income has been 
 applied from time to time, in accordance with the will of 
 the testatrix. 
 
The Latham Fund dates from 1884, The executor of Latham 
 the last will of Williams Latham, late of Bridgewater, in "" 
 this State, in a letter dated May 13 of that year, com- 
 municated to the Treasurer of the Society the information 
 that his testator had bequeathed to us $1,000, "to be 
 kept as a permanent fund, and the income thereof to be 
 applied as said Society may determine ; also my pamph- 
 lets, bound and unbound." Some time subsequently 
 during the year, this legacy was paid over, and still con- 
 tinues of the original amount, and the income has gone 
 into the general account. 
 
 The three funds last enumerated, I have been enabled 
 to describe definitely by the courtesy of the Treasurer, 
 who since 1876, when he came into full authority in his 
 office, has kept, convenient for referepce, the original 
 correspondence and other papers relating to the moneys 
 that liave come to his hands. 
 
 This concludes the list of funds derived from single 
 benefactors, and immediately possessed by the Society. 
 There yet remains another bequest, which is held by 
 trustees appointed by the testator, and not by the So- 
 ciety : I mean the Kidder Fund, to which I have already Ki^jfj^i. 
 referred, which was bequeathed, in trust, for our benefit, ^""'^• 
 to three trustees, by our late associate Mr. Frederic 
 Kidder, of Melrose. The principal of this fund consists 
 of five shares of the Cabot Manufacturing Company, of 
 the par value of 8500 each ; and though the legal title 
 and the exclusive management of the trust resides in the 
 trustees, the actual custody of the funds has been con- 
 fided to the Treasurer, who attends to the collection of 
 the dividends. The fund was established for the pur- 
 chasing, for our library, by the trustees, of books upon 
 English and American history, biography, and genealogy, 
 to be always kept within the library. 
 
 You will have inferred from what I have said that I 
 have not gathered all the important facts relating to the 
 endowments witli which our Society has been favored, 
 3 
 
18 
 
 and that I have had some difficulty, even, in discovering 
 wliat I have exhibited here. 
 Terms of I need not, therefore, urge upon you the propriety of 
 
 ought to be having the exact language of every instrument under 
 known : which we receive benefactions, whether in trust or other- 
 
 wise, evidenced by transcripts and vouchers duly authen- 
 ticated, and methodically and accurately recorded in a 
 book or books kept for the purpose ; and that this system 
 be applied to past as well as future transactions. 
 — committee A Committee, I think, should take this matter in hand, 
 purpose. and complete, by reference to the proper sources of in- 
 
 formation, the imperfect sketch I have here prepared ; 
 and to such a committee I promise to give all the 
 information at my command. This committee's report 
 should be printed with our proceedings, so as to in- 
 form every member of the Society of the condition of our 
 funds. 
 Other funds. There remain three other considerable funds, upon a 
 foundation quite different from those I have just de- 
 Life-member- scribed. The oldest of these is the Life-membership 
 s p un . ^m^(j^ Qf i\^Q origin of which I have already given an 
 account. This fund now amounts to $11,367.74, and 
 the income derived from it last year was $105. It 
 was a wise policy which directed the setting apart of the 
 sums paid in commutation of annual dues, and investing 
 them for a permanent income. 
 Ohi Building * I" 1870 and 1871, through the exertions of my prede- 
 "^""^' cessor, ably seconded by his friend Mr. George B. Upton, 
 
 and by our late associate the founder of the Towne Memo- 
 rial Fund, and others, subscriptions to the amount of nearly 
 $45,000 were procured for the erection and fitting up 
 of this building. This amount, except a trifling balance, 
 was expended for the purpose for which it was sub- 
 scribed ; and at the annual meeting of 1872 it was 
 resolved to start another subscription, " to establish a 
 Librarian fund the income of which to be appropriated to the 
 payment of a salary of a librarian, and to such otlier 
 
19 
 
 purposes as may be necessary for the efficiency and 
 prosperity of the Society." 
 
 Accordingly, the same book in which subscriptions 
 had been entered to the Building Fund was used for a 
 new subscription, which, I understand, was started with- 
 out a heading (that being subsequently written in), but 
 with the understanding that it was for the general pur- 
 pose declared at the annual meeting. This fund now 
 amounts to $12,763.13 ; and the income derived from it —present 
 
 amount; 
 
 last year, and which was placed to the general expense 
 
 account, was $877.04. Good faith with the contributors —ought 
 
 to this fund requires that it should remain a permanent inveltedV 
 
 investment ; but the large discretion which the Society 
 
 enjoys in the emploj^ment of the income justifies our —income 
 
 continuance of the practice hitherto followed of using used. 
 
 it for the general expenses. 
 
 The last fund which I present to your notice is ^'<^w 
 
 ■r. ., T -n , . 1 Building 
 
 the present Buildnig Fund, which now amounts to Fund : 
 
 $24,930.39. This was procured by subscription from 
 numerous contributors, chiefly during the year 1885. I 
 have not been shown the subscription paper ; ^ but it has 
 been generally understood that the purpose of these con- —object of 
 tributions was to enable this Society to obtain more com- 
 modious quarters, either on this site or elsewhere. At first 
 the late Board of Directors were inclined to favor the ex- 
 tension of our present house, or the purchase of the prop- 
 
 1 Its heading is as follows : — 
 
 NEW-ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 subsckiption for the 
 
 Enlargement of the Society's Hoctse, and other Expenses. 
 
 Boston, May 15, 1884. 
 The rapid growth of tiiis Society, the great increase in the number of 
 its books and historical documents, amounting to nearly twenty thousand 
 bound volumes and sixty thousand pamphlets, in all nearly eigiity thou- 
 sand, imperatively demand the immediate enlargement of our book ac- 
 commodation. The proposed enlargement will nearly double its present 
 capacity, and will cost, it is estimated, twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 We, the undersigneil, therefore agree to pay to the Treasurer of this 
 Society, for the said enlargement, tlie following sums set by us against 
 our respective names. 
 
20 
 
 — doubt 
 about 
 enlarging 
 the present 
 liouse. 
 
 erty adjoining on tlie south ; but after purchasing the 
 stables in the rear, at an expense of |3,500, it was deemed 
 best not to decide in favor of the present location until 
 the effect which the erection of the new Court House 
 would have upon our real estate could be ascertained. 
 
 A reference to the halt to which we were thus brought 
 in the matter of increasing our accommodations was 
 made by my predecessor in his posthumous address ; and 
 since then no serious determination to enlarge the pres- 
 ent building has been evinced by the Directors. This 
 money, therefore, remains unemployed for the purpose 
 for which it was raised. Seeing that it was drawing a 
 very low rate of interest at the bank where it was de- 
 posited, I represented to the Directors the propriety of 
 investing this fund where it would give us better returns. 
 This course, which had been repeatedly recommended by 
 the Treasurer before I held this chair, was agreed to by 
 the Directors ; and $20,000 of the amount was invested 
 by a special committee, in the debenture bonds and 
 mortgages of the Showalter Mortgage Co., — $10,000 in 
 each, at six and seven per cent, respectively. 
 — income The income from this investment, and from the in- 
 
 iiow applied, ^gg^g^j balance deposited at small interest (which to- 
 gether constitute what is known as the Building 
 Fund^), has been applied, as 1 stated in my annual 
 address, " to the general purposes of the Society under a 
 liberal interpretation of the intention of the donors, 
 which has been construed to warrant any necessary 
 outlay for the better arrangement and preservation of 
 our library and cabinets, which are confessedly the only 
 purposes for which a new building or the enlargement of 
 our present house is required." 
 
 While I should not hesitate to use the income of this 
 
 fund for any legitimate purpose of the Society, I deem it 
 
 particularly applicable to such repairs and alterations of 
 
 our real estate, and to tlie rent of such premises tempo- 
 
 1 Since known as the Wilder Subscription Building Fund. 
 
21 
 
 rarily occupied by us under lease, as may be necessary 
 for our better accommodation so long as the question as 
 to the purchase or erection of a new building or the 
 extension of this house remains undetermined. Indeed 
 it would be perfectly proper to apply any part of the 
 principal to either of these objects. Until the expendi- 
 ture of all the income from this fund is demanded by 
 our necessities, however, I recommend that a certain 
 proportion of the income be regularly added to the prin- 
 cipal, to keep the original amount of the subscription 
 good against possible loss or depreciations in the securi- 
 ties, or reduction of the premiums on reinvestment. 
 
 I find that the rule has not been invariably observed Other do- 
 to fund donations received without condition, though I be funded : 
 have not been able to ascertain the reason for this dis- 
 crimination. I have already spoken of several small 
 donations received by the Society, to the year 1859. I 
 find, since that time, several other donations, either of 
 money or of property to be converted into money, of 
 more considerable amounts, which appear to have gone 
 into the current-expense account. Thus, in 1863, Rev. 
 John A. Vinton appears to have given the Society four —Vinton's 
 
 leffacy. 
 
 hundred volumes which were " not to be sold for two 
 years." I have not been able to ascertain the precise 
 terms of this donation, nor whether or not the books 
 have been sold, or, if sold, what has been done with the 
 proceeds, or, indeed, whether the books have or have not 
 actually come into our possession. Eight other money — otiier 
 gifts (including one of $500 and another of $300, in a legacies. 
 total of $1,305.19) appear either in the records of the pro- —total. 
 ceedings of the Society, the Directors' records, or in the 
 Treasurer's books. All these seem to have gone into 
 the general expense account. It may be worth your 
 while to consider tlie propriety of recovering these 
 amounts and turning them into a general fund, to be 
 kept open for increase by future similar gifts, thus serv- 
 ing to perpetuate the names of our benefactors, as well 
 
22 
 
 Our 
 investments. 
 
 Money on 
 deposit : 
 
 — to be 
 invested. 
 
 Better 
 accommo- 
 dations 
 required. 
 
 Uelief liow 
 obtained for 
 tlie present. 
 
 Cost of 
 enlarging 
 tlie cellar, 
 etc. 
 
 as to show the extent of their bounty, and to prevent any 
 mistake as to the amount of our ordinary revenues, to 
 which these do not properly belong. 
 
 As a rule, I believe our investments are safe and un- 
 usually profitable, — none of them, except our stables in the 
 rear of this house, and $3,000 in the bonds of the New Eng- 
 land Mortgage Security Co. (which pays five per cent), 
 bringing less than six per cent. Of our uninvested money, 
 $3,982.59 are in four savings-banks, and $6,938.08 are 
 on deposit in four national banks. I suppose these 
 deposits might be safely invested, so that together with 
 the amount invested at five per cent (which could be 
 reinvested) the new investments would add about $500 to 
 our annual income. There is, however, no urgent occa- 
 sion for acting in this business, which I lay before you 
 for your deliberate consideration, and for your action some 
 time in the future, recommending that the security of our 
 investments be sought, rather than large returns of profit. 
 
 The need of increased accommodations for our library 
 and our cabinets, and for the general work of the Society, 
 is extremely urgent ; but I have no doubt that by a 
 thorough sifting of our collection of books, pamphlets, 
 and newspapers, we shall be able to exclude much 
 material which is not pertinent to the objects which we 
 were incorporated to promote, and that, by a judicious 
 rearrangement and extension of our shelving, and the 
 improvement of our cellar, including the excavating of 
 the earth enclosed between the foundations of our L, 
 or safe, we shall have ample space for the convenient 
 arrangement of our library, and for its accumulations for 
 at least five years to come. 
 
 I have taken pains to ascertain the probable cost of 
 the excavation I have referred to, and the masonry 
 necessary to complete a room in our cellar absolutely 
 fire-proof and of the size of our present safe, and I have 
 found that it will not exceed $500. To this another 
 $150 should be added for shelving, hanging a fire-proof 
 
23 
 
 door, and gas-fitting, and for building a brick parti- 
 tion-wall so as to exclude the dust and danger of fire 
 from the furnace, in a part of the cellar which has 
 hitherto been packed with boxes, pamphlets, unbound 
 sheets of Bond's Watertown, and other valuable publica- 
 tions, which have been literally buried in, and much 
 damaged by, dust and ashes. Upon the completion of 
 the two rooms thus obtained, we shall have so enlarged 
 our accommodations under this roof that we shall no 
 longer need to pay the rent of the room in Pemberton 
 Square, which we felt forced to hire on a two years' 
 lease, as a receptacle for the overflow of our collection of 
 miscellaneous books, pamphlets, newspapers, and manu- 
 scripts. It has been suggested that perhaps these sub- 
 terranean Quarters would be too damp for auy useful No fear of 
 
 . . dampness 
 
 purpose ; but I am satisfied that this fear is entirely 
 groundless. The committee charged with the duty of 
 removing the deposits in the cellar to the room in Pem- 
 berton Square have assured me that the cellar is as dry, 
 at all seasons of the year, as any other part of the build- 
 ing. Indeed, they found the loose papers which for 
 some years had been accumulating on the cellar floor to 
 the depth of several inches, as dry at the bottom as at 
 the top ; and as this rubbish extended over all the sur- 
 face of that portion of the cellar which I recommend 
 should be parted off from the furnace-room proper, we 
 have every reason to believe that no danger need be ap- 
 prehended from dampness. By the proposed excavation, 
 the present cellar will have au air space beyond its 
 western wall instead of a bank of earth as now ; and the 
 rear wall of our building, which will be the western wall 
 of the new compartment, already extends below the level 
 of the proposed excavation, as a bank wall, forming the 
 eastern side of our stable. It is therefore a wall above 
 ground, and no more liable to cause condensation of 
 moisture than either of the walls of our house, which are 
 also of brick and rather more exposed to the weather. I 
 
24 
 
 The 
 foundation 
 
 — liow 
 inspected. 
 
 predict that the temperature of tliis vault or fire-proof 
 
 will be very uniform throughout the j'^ear ; and since it is 
 
 on the side of a hill composed of gravel or clayey drift 
 
 through which the water readily percolates to a lower 
 
 level, will be quite as dry as oiu' cellar and the other 
 
 cellars and basements in the neighborhood, which I am 
 
 informed are remarkably free from damp. 
 
 The foundation of the wall of the L, so far as can be 
 
 judged by outward inspection, is excellent — long granite 
 
 stringers, placed lengtliwise, supporting the brick work, 
 
 which extends four or five feet beneath the level of the 
 
 yard ; and in the centre of the wall a brick arch, now 
 
 filled in, enables the workmen to pierce the wall with 
 
 safety for the removal of the earth, thus avoiding the 
 
 necessity of wheeling it through the cellar, I have 
 
 caused this part of the foundation to be exposed for your 
 
 inspection, by a trench dug at a right angle to the wall. 
 
 To protect this trench from the wash of the rain, and 
 
 from the snow, which usually is pretty deep at this sea- 
 
 — preparation gpn of the vear, I caused a shed to be built over it, an- 
 made. 
 
 ticipating your approval of this stretch of authority, 
 
 which can do no harm since the structure is not a fixture 
 and does not involve any injury to our building ; and if 
 you do not approve of it, it can be removed at my ex- 
 pense. I invite you to examine the exposed foundations ; 
 and if you concur with me in the desirability of the 
 proposed alterations, I would recommend that you take 
 steps, as early as possible, to liave the work begun while 
 contractors are not at their busiest, seeing that this 
 work will not be delayed by any condition of weather, 
 and could probably be done during the winter for consid- 
 erably less than during the warm weather. For this I 
 recommend tlie appropriation of f500 out of the princi- 
 pal of our Building Fund. 
 
 Since the work of reducing our collection for the li- 
 brary and calunet involves the necessity of first ascertain- 
 ing the luimber and nature of the l)ooks, pamphlets, news- 
 
 — expense 
 liow defrayed 
 
 Committees 
 on library 
 and cabinet : 
 
what shall be 
 excluded. 
 
 25 
 
 papers, and articles belonging to the cabinets, etc., which 
 we actually possess, I would recommend an apportion- 
 ment of the labor among several committees. It seems to — to report 
 me proper that a committee should be charged with the newspapers, 
 duty of reporting to the Council, lists, in full detail, of recommend 
 the periodicals and newspapers belonging to the Society, 
 with a recommendation as to which of them should be 
 preserved as part of our library or cabinet, and which 
 of them should be excluded ; and what disposition 
 should be made of the latter. This work is sufficiently 
 onerous for one committee, and therefore I would re- 
 commend that another committee have charge, in like Another 
 manner, of the subject of bound books and pamphlets on books, 
 not published periodically, broadsides, engravings, and ^^'^' 
 manuscripts. 
 
 Upon the report of these committees, respectively, the Council to 
 Council can further commit to them the business of rer-o't of 
 assorting, binding, or otherwise putting together such of eommittees. 
 these books, etc., as shall be deemed worthy of preserva- 
 tion and as are in need of such treatment. 
 
 From the reports of these committees, the Council Rules to he 
 will be enabled to deduce reasonable and practical rules for^the'' 
 for the admission and exclusion of books, which will be ^"'^'"■<^- 
 a permanent guide to the standing committee on the 
 Library, if such a committee should be appointed. 
 
 I surmise that the labor of searching out and bringing The cabinet: 
 together the disjecta membra of the cabinet and the 
 preparation of a complete list of the donations we have 
 received in other things than money and securities will 
 give ample employment to one committee. The report — committee, 
 of such a committee if exhaustive, as it should be, will 
 doubtless prove of the greatest interest, and will lead to 
 further action, perhaps, in regard to the donations of 
 Messrs. Vinton, Cushman, Bond, and others, — the state 
 of wiiich is obscure, both in relation to the terms of the 
 gifts, and our compliance therewith, and the action tliat 
 has been taken by the Society towards putting them 
 4 
 
26 
 
 to profitable use. I therefore recommend tliis further 
 division of duty. 
 
 I have thus laid before you, broadly, the condition of 
 
 this Society, making only such recommendations as 
 
 seemed pertinent to the subjects most important to be 
 
 promptly attended to in the general management of its 
 
 affairs, or which I thought it more convenient to make 
 
 on certain subjects while they were before us, than to 
 
 recur to them later. 
 
 Express By the By-Laws certain duties are expressly imposed 
 
 duties'of'the upon the Council ; whereas others, more numerous and 
 
 Council. equally necessary, are implied in the general authority 
 
 conferred upon the board. 
 Appointment By Chap. IV. Art. 2, of the By-Laws we are required to 
 ographer" appoint, annually, a Historiographer and an Editor of 
 Publications. The former of these officers has hereto- 
 fore been chosen by the general vote of the Society ; and 
 we have been fortunate in having that office ably filled 
 by our late lamented associate Rev. Dr. Tarbox. 
 
 The appointment of a worthy successor has been to 
 me a subject of no little solicitude ; and feeling sure of 
 your approval, I took the liberty to invite our associate 
 — Mr. Hill Mr. Hamilton A. Hill to allow me to propose his name 
 mended. ^^ you for the vacancy. He was then holding the post 
 of Corresponding Secretary, which office he had conducted 
 with conspicuous industry and ability ; and I trust his 
 accession to this board will not be deemed a circum- 
 stance affecting his eligibility to a place for which I 
 think you will agree with me he is pre-eminently qualified. 
 The propriety of filling this vacancy soon must be ap- 
 parent to all, and I beg you will not hold me censurable 
 for the course I have pursued, which I admit was pre- 
 sumptuous. While, unless otherwise ordered, the Presi- 
 dent is required to nominate all committees, I do not 
 understand that he has the like authority with other 
 officers. I disclaim the idea that my action in this 
 
27 
 
 matter is a valid precedent, and only defend it on tbe 
 score of urgency. I have promised, as a condition of 
 his acceptance of this post, that a committee shall be 
 appointed to aid Mr. Hill in collecting materials for the 
 delicate and comparatively laborious work he has under- 
 taken, and which is now considerably in arrears. 
 
 I come now to the second officer to be appointed by Editor of 
 you. In the report of the committee on revision of the ^Publications : 
 By-Laws I find the following paragraph, which I commend 
 to your special consideration : — 
 
 "Your Committee have provided also for the appointment 
 of an Editor to take charge of all the publications of the 
 Societ}', in order to secure uniformity of style and method in 
 editorship. They have made this office distinct from that of 
 the Librarian, in order that the duties of the two ma}' be 
 performed b}^ separate persons, in case at any future time it 
 should appear that these combined duties are too onerous for 
 one person. Under the new Code, however, it is competent 
 for one person to hold both offices, although the accounta- 
 bilit}- for the two will be distinct and separate, as it should 
 be, when the difference in their functions is considered." 
 
 I have given this subject the most earnest and careful — to be 
 consideration, and I cannot avoid the conclusion that from 
 the separation of functions provided for by the commit- ''^'■'^™"- 
 tee should begin at once. Indeed, so thoroughly am I 
 convinced of the wisdom of the policy of starting right, on 
 our new career, especially in this particular, that I should 
 feel that all hope of keeping up the enthusiasm of reform 
 was forever precluded by any other course. 
 
 The consideration which weighs most heavily against Mr. Dean's 
 this purpose is the fact that it will be difficult to find a quaUfica- 
 successor to the present editor equally well qualified for *'°"* ' 
 the duties of that office. Thorouglily equipped as he is 
 with an extensive and accurate knowledge of the biblio- 
 graphy of the subjects treated of in the Register, and 
 familiar as he is with the contents of all the published 
 volumes, he, of all men, it seems to me, is best qualified. 
 
28 
 
 — liis prefer- 
 ence for the 
 Librarian- 
 ship : 
 
 — increased 
 labor of that 
 office tills 
 year: 
 
 — incompati 
 bility of the 
 two oflBces. 
 
 both ill the respects just mentioned and because of his 
 long practice (in this very work) in the art of editing, to 
 carry on the publication with gratification to himself, 
 with profit to the subscribers, and with credit to the 
 Society. Again, no other member of our Society, 
 perhaps, has an equally exact and full knowledge of the 
 personal history of the members, living and dead, who 
 have been or will become the subjects of memorial 
 biography in the work which I believe has now 
 reached its sixth volume. It was therefore with great 
 regret that I learned that Mr. Dean had, after mature 
 deliberation, signified his preference for the office of 
 Librarian, and that the Nominating Committee had 
 presented his name for that office in accordance with his 
 expressed wish. Still, he fully understands the purpose 
 of the Society to regulate the library according to a 
 system which can only be fully developed after the most 
 thorough overhauling and minute investigation, which he 
 is aware cannot be accomplished without great manual 
 labor, that will require the constant supervision or co- 
 operation of the Librarian. He is also aware that prob- 
 ably during the current year the Librarian will be more 
 exercised with perplexing questions and controversies, and 
 have more to think of and act upon, than in any previous 
 year. Notwithstanding this, he has bravely assumed the 
 risk, stipulating for no favors, and no abatement of those 
 exactions that would be insisted upon in dealing with any 
 other man, the most vigorous and enterprising. 
 
 We have therefore to consider his employment for the 
 next year fully assigned in the ofl&ce to which he has 
 been elected. I am so thoroughly convinced that he 
 could not find time to attend to any other duty, while 
 faithfully, steadily, and energetically pursuing the duties 
 of Librarian, that I could not consent to proceed a step 
 further with the work of reform which is expected of us, 
 if, through your indulgence, his willingness to continue 
 the arduous duties of Editor should be made a pretext 
 
29 
 
 for imposing upon him cares and labors beyond his 
 strength. He will freely confess to you, doubtless, as he 
 has to me, that his late serious illness was due to over- 
 work and anxiety ; and I for one should positively refuse 
 to assume the consequences of rendering his situation 
 doubly burdensome. On this matter I feel very earnest 
 and decided, for I know that the librarianship for the 
 next year is all the burden that he or any other man 
 ought to be expected to bear. The march of improve- 
 ment must go on, and it must be attended with all the 
 inevitable incidents. No excuse on account of other Duties^ 
 duties or employments can possibly be accepted for fail- vigorously 
 ure to co-operate cheerfully and with alacrity in the work ^^'' """"'^ ' 
 which will all the sooner come to a satisfactory conclu- 
 sion, by being harmoniously and vigorously conducted. 
 
 Much, therefore, as I regret Mr. Dean's decision, I 
 accept the unwelcome but unavoidable result, tlie ces- 
 sation of his editorial labors, with this solace, — that, 
 knowing what will be expected of him, I assume he has 
 deliberately prepared himself for the encounter, and that 
 we shall find him exercising all his executive powers to 
 carry out the plans of the Council for promoting the 
 usefulness of the library, and for establishing a much- 
 needed system for its conduct and growth. 
 
 I therefore recommend that a committee be appointed Committee 
 
 ^ , , , , to choose 
 
 to report the name of a competent person to take the Editor. 
 office of Editor of Publications, who will manage it with- 
 out performing any other function in the service of the 
 Society. 
 
 I find that the Editor of the first volume of the Regis- Salary of 
 ter received a salary of $1,000, and that in 1857 Mr. ^^■^^'^• 
 Drake, then Editor, received $500 for his services that 
 year. Since the duties of the new office embrace the 
 preparation of all our publications, including the Regis- 
 ter, I think there should be no diminution of the salary 
 originally allowed to the Editor of the Register ; and I 
 therefore recommend that you establish for the new 
 
30 
 
 Librarian's 
 Assistants : 
 
 — should 
 be neat 
 penmen ; 
 
 — to assist 
 tlie Secre- 
 taries : 
 
 — committee 
 to choose. 
 
 — the Treas- 
 urer and His- 
 toriograplier 
 interested. 
 
 Another plan 
 suggested : 
 — a general 
 clerk to be 
 appointed by 
 the Council. 
 
 office a salary of $1,000 per annum, to be paid regularly 
 in equal monthly instalments. 
 
 By Chap. X. Art. 4, of our By-Laws, provision 
 is made for the appointment by the Council of one or 
 more assistants to the Librarian. I recommend that 
 in the selection of these assistants care be taken that 
 in penmanship they be sufficiently neat and expert to 
 be of assistance to the Secretaries. The Recording 
 Secretary's labors are largely increased by the assign- 
 ment to him of the duty of recording the doings of the 
 Council. His books are models of neatness and accu- 
 racy ; and since he cannot be expected to do all the labor 
 of recording, for which, however, he will be solely re- 
 sponsible, it is proper that at least one person in the paid 
 service of the Society should be able to assist him in the 
 mechanical part of his work in a manner satisfactory to 
 him and to the Council. This Avill apply also to the 
 Corresponding Secretary. I would suggest, therefore, 
 that of the committee appointed by you to select a proper 
 assistant, the two Secretaries as well as the Librarian 
 be members, to act with as many others (if any) as you 
 deem it proper to join. The Treasurer and the Historio- 
 grapher, both having need of more or less clerical assist- 
 ance, are also interested in the matter of this selection ; 
 and it might be well, perhaps, to leave the matter with 
 those five gentlemen, with the understanding that the 
 appointment of such a person by the Council upon their 
 recommendation does not release them from responsi- 
 bility for the proper performance of their duties in their 
 respective departments. I have made this recommenda- 
 tion not without some misgiving as to the policy of re- 
 quiring any other duty of the Assistant Librarian than 
 those prescribed in Chap. X. Art. 4, of the By-Laws. 
 I am by no means clear that it would not be the wise 
 course to appoint, under the provision of Chap. XIH. 
 Art. 8, of the By-Laws, a person with the qualifications 
 I have indicated, in which case the appointee could act 
 
31 
 
 independently of all direction, except of the CouncTl (or 
 such officers as the Council should designate), and be 
 restricted to such duties as the Council should assign to 
 him. In such case it is evident that a committee smaller 
 and differently constituted might be intrusted with the 
 choice of such a person, — perhaps a standing committee f^^^^^^^^ 
 
 on the selection of subordinate officers to be appointed on subordi- 
 nate officers, 
 by the Council. 
 
 This whole matter I submit for your present considera- 
 tion, and for your action at some future meeting of the 
 Council. 
 
 By the first article of Chap. XIII. of the By-Laws the Q'^"™^;;!.! 
 Council are required, among other things, first, to " deter- 
 mine their own quorum ; " second, to " fix all salaries ; " 
 third, to " authorize all expenditures of money, drawing 
 upon the Treasurer, from time to time, for such sums as 
 may be required;" fourth, to " provide all engraved or 
 printed blanks, and books of record." 
 
 The first of these directions you have already complied 
 with to-day; and since the Treasurer has some bills 
 which are overdue, it may be well to-day to choose a Finance 
 committee on accounts, or of Finance, with full authority Committee. 
 to approve bills, or report them to the Board, at their 
 discretion, so that we may resume payments, which I 
 understand have been suspended since the annual meet- 
 ing. As to the fourth requirement of this article, it is 
 expedient that we lose no time in complying with it. I 
 therefore recommend the appointment, forthwith, of a 
 committee on Printing and Stationery, whose duty it Coniniittee 
 shall be to provide the articles enumerated in Art. 1, ing and 
 Chap. XIII. of the By-Laws according to their discre- '^'0"^''>- 
 tion as to form and style of execution, as also to provide 
 all postage-stamps, envelopes, paper, and all other articles 
 of stationery used by the Society or any of its officers, 
 and, except as otherwise ordered, to make and control 
 all contracts for printing tlie Society's publications and 
 for procuring the materials therefor ; with the power to 
 
32 
 
 employ such agents and establish such regulations in 
 respect to the use of said articles as they may deem pru- 
 dent and for the interest of the Society, — said commit- 
 tee from time to time making requisition on the Council 
 for the money needed for said purposes, and duly ac- 
 counting to the Treasurer for the expenditure of the 
 same ; and to have the charge and custody of all the 
 stationery of the Society, and of all materials purchased 
 by them or their order ; also of all engravings on steel, 
 copper, or wood, and all lithographic stones and photo- 
 graphic plates or negatives belonging to the Society, — 
 of which they shall cause to be made a perfect inventory, 
 — and shall also cause them to be properly arranged 
 and stored in a convenient receptacle, under lock and 
 key, and shall not suffer them to pass out of their cus- 
 tody, or the custody of some person or persons specially 
 authorized by them or by the Council ; and except in the 
 case of stationery to be used for the purposes of the 
 Society, shall cause a permit to be duly entered for the 
 taking or loan of each article, with name and date, in a 
 book to be kept for that purpose, and a written receipt 
 taken for such article and kept on file until the same is 
 returned ; said Committee also to have exclusive au- 
 thority in relation to the binding of all manuscripts, 
 books, pamphlets, and other matter, whether published 
 by or belonging to the Society. 
 Record I will add that, seeing the obvious necessity of making 
 
 seasonable preparation for recording the proceedings of 
 the Society and the doings of the Council, I took the 
 responsibility of requesting the Recording Secretary to 
 order new books of record uniform in size with those 
 heretofore used, and at the same time gave orders for 
 books of similar shape and binding for the Treasurer. 
 There are many blank forms to be prepared, and station- 
 ery to be procured, which will be required for immediate 
 use; and the adoption of measures to this end ought not 
 to be delayed. 
 
 books 
 
 already 
 
 ordered. 
 
33 
 
 I believe I have now brought to your attention all 
 matters of pressing moment, and have asked your action 
 upon the choice of all officers and agents specially men- 
 tioned in our By-Laws. It must not be assumed, I think, 
 that the Society has intended to change the methods or Former 
 to dispense with the officers and committees heretofore ^omm^ttees 
 employed under the old By-Laws, except in those cases continued, 
 wherein such intention is clearly manifest, either in the 
 report of the committee on the revision of the By-Laws or Committees 
 in the Code itself. It will therefore devolve upon us to Publication, 
 appoint a committee on Publication, a committee on Heraldry 
 
 Memorials ; a committee on Heraldry ; a standing com- Library, 
 
 •^ "^ Papers and 
 
 mittee on the Library ; and a committee on Papers and Essays. 
 Essays. 
 
 These committees, in whole or in part, may be pro- Provisional 
 posed and their respective functions defined by such for^p|p™s" 
 committee or committees as you shall appoint. With ^"^ essays, 
 regard to the last, however, I would recommend that, 
 pending their appointment, you make some provisional 
 arrangement for negotiating with the gentlemen who 
 have been approached, by our late committee on Papers 
 and Essays, to entertain and instruct us at future stated 
 meetings. I have been informed that several gentlemen 
 have been thought of for this purpose, some of whom 
 have agreed to address us. One of these, Hon. Henry Essays 
 Barnard, as I have learned to-day, has in preparation a offered, 
 paper, which cannot fail to be very interesting, on the 
 origin and history of the New England Primer. 
 
 Other committees will be needed, I conceive, for carry- 
 ing out our work methodically, thoroughly, and expedi- 
 tiously. I suggest that a discreet distribution of duties Division of 
 1 • I 11,1, labor among 
 
 among several committees would be the best means of committees. 
 
 effecting this work satisfactorily, and at the same time 
 
 would afford us an opportunity for enlisting the services 
 
 of a larger number of our members, and particularly of ^emE 
 
 the younger men, who I am persuaded need onlv an to be em- 
 
 . . *' ployed and 
 
 invitation, to become eventually most active and valu- encouraged. 
 
34 
 
 able agents in promoting the growth and increasing the 
 usefulness of the Society. 
 
 I would recommend that you appoint the following, 
 besides the committees just enumerated and the special 
 committees on the Library and Cabinet and the com- 
 mittee to assist the Historiographer, which 1 have also 
 proposed : — 
 
 Other 
 committees. 
 
 1. A committee on the Society's House. 
 
 2. ,, ,, Publications. 
 
 3. ,, ,, the Society's Records. 
 
 4. ,, ,, the sale and exchange of books, pam- 
 
 phlets, and papers. 
 
 5. ,, ,, the purchase of library furniture and 
 
 the providing of shelves. 
 
 6. ,, ,, to prepare and report to the Council 
 
 rules for the use of the Library and 
 Cabinet. 
 
 7. ,, ,, the roll of members and the transfer of 
 
 memberships, 
 
 8. ,, ,, the extension of this house, or the 
 
 erection of a new building. 
 
 9. ,, ,, to extend the circulation of the Reg- 
 
 ister. 
 
 Finances of 
 the Register 
 how best 
 managed. 
 
 Committee 
 to increase 
 circulation 
 of the 
 Register. 
 
 I embrace this opportunity to comment further on the 
 publication of the Register in accordance with the prom- 
 ise previously made. It seems to me that the financial 
 affairs of this publication should be managed solely by 
 the Committee on Printing and Stationery, and the 
 Treasurer. 
 
 It will, of course, devolve upon that committee to 
 revise the present list of subscribers and distributees, 
 which, together with the management of the finances of 
 all the publications, will be quite enough work for these 
 gentlemen to perform. 
 
 A systematic endeavor should be made to increase the 
 circulation of the Register ; and this must be effected by 
 the ordinary agencies usually employed for this purpose, 
 including advertising, and regular, persistent, and ear- 
 
nest solicitation. It would seem, therefore, desirable that 
 
 a standing committee be appointed to take charge of this 
 
 business exclusively, and to incur such expense therein 
 
 as the Council may authorize, by appropriation, upon a 
 
 report by this committee of the amount that they may 
 
 deem needful for the purpose. 
 
 The charge of sending out our publications should be One person 
 
 1 1111 • 1 i. to send out 
 
 intrusted to some one person, who should be required to publications 
 
 keep exact entries of the names and directions of the 
 distributees, and of the kind of publication sent, and of 
 the date and manner of delivery. Of this work, which 
 is chiefly manual, the Editor should be relieved, so that 
 he will have nothing to divert him from his strictly edi- 
 torial pursuits. When any publication to be distributed —to pay 
 is irregular, and to be paid for by the taker, the distrib- to the 
 uter should keep an exact list of sales, and promptly treasurer, 
 return the money received by him to the Treasurer, or 
 to such persons as the Treasurer may designate. 
 
 At the last stated meeting of the Society a special Committee 
 
 . . on Town 
 
 committee was provided for, to represent this bociety in Eecords. 
 a movement looking to the printing of town records by 
 the several towns, the duty of appointing which I think 
 devolves upon the Council ; I recommend that you act 
 upon this matter to-day. 
 
 On the subject of the formation of the committees I 
 have enumerated and of defining their several functions, 
 I will not now dwell, but I will cheerfully communicate President 
 my views thereon, at length, at a future meeting of the ^' '"^ ° 
 
 Council, or to any committee that you may choose to ^'^"'^ '^ 
 
 explain his 
 views to 
 Council or 
 intrust with the duty of considering whether any action a committee. 
 
 thereon is desirable, and, if so, what that action shall 
 
 be. 
 
 I have purposely deferred all reference to another very Committee 
 
 important committee which has not hitherto come in the K^eseafclT: 
 
 regular order of appointments. I refer to the Committee 
 
 on English Research, under whose auspices Mr. Waters 
 
 has done very valuable service for American genealogy. 
 
36 
 
 and has thrown new light on the transatlantic origin of 
 the peculiar people who have had such a remarkable 
 career on this new continent, and to whom the atten- 
 tion of the wisest men of the Old World is being directed 
 with an interest more profound and general than ever 
 before. 
 
 — continu- This committee is now fully adopted as a part of the 
 
 ance recom- , . _ <-. • t -n t ,• 
 
 mended. machinery of our bociety, and wdl, I predict, engage 
 
 more of our pride and interest in future. I recommend 
 
 that it be continued as it is at present constituted. 
 
 This covers all that I have to offer to-day, and far more 
 
 than I at first intended. I have been led to be more 
 
 full and particular from the conviction, which has grown 
 
 upon me, that some of those of you who, though long 
 
 enough members of this Society, have had but slight 
 
 acquaintance with its interior workings would feel the 
 
 need of all the information I could impart, and would 
 
 not expect me to assume that they were ready to act 
 
 understandingly on some of the intricate matters which 
 
 I have endeavored to explain to you, without a pretty 
 
 thorough exhibition of our past career, our general aims, 
 
 and the reason for the changes that have been proposed. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 995 065 3 4