Glass \ u_| Book \ iT^ X H^ 7<^ ^C^t^C^^:^ HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO., BOSTON. THE DEDICATION Of Goodnow Memorial Building And Baoo- Hall : Princeton Mass- achusetts : : September 6th : 1887 W O R C F S '^r E R Lucius Paulinus Goddard MDtCCLXXXVIl Fl4 25 il »y07 Prefatory Note III the year 1884, Edward A. Goodnoio by a deed of gift transferred to the Town of Princeton the Memorial Library Jyuilding which he had erected in the Centre. At a later date he gave to the Town for the site of a toion hall a suitahle lot of land adjoining the site of the Memorial BuVding together wdh such a sum of money as insured the construction of the building in its prese}it style and comj^leteness. These enterprises made it desirable that the Congregational church., standing directly in front., shoidd be removed in order to give the neio buildings their full effect. The p>ro2wietors of the churcli hap- pily concurred in this vieto and the edifice was removed and the land which it had occup>ied was made a public p>ossession. When these things had been accomplished., the Toivn at its annual meeting in March 1887 made provision for the dedica- tion of the new buildings ; and all things being in readiness the Dedication took place on the sixth day of September in the same year. The princijml addresses and speeches on the occasion here follou\ tohile an account of the proceedings, pre- liminary and concurrent, will be found loith other matters i?i the Appendix. ^^^^vi^ Prayer I?Y KEV. WILLIAM SlLVEUTIlORNE Almighty God, we have met in tliy great name to conse- crate to thee and to thy service among our fellow citizens and mankind, Goodnow Memorial Hall, and also Bagg Hall. We thank thee for these beautiful Halls ; for this day ; for the bright sunshine ; for the balmy air; for this large assem- bly of intelligent citizens ; for thy favoring providences ; and for all thy blessings given to us. As an interested part of the human race we ask thy blessing upon mankind ; more and more bless the people of these United States; bless thy servants our President and his Cabi- net; bless our Congress, Senators and Representatives, and aid them to make good and wise laws ; bless our Governors and their Councilors; particularly bless the Governor of our Commonwealth wlio cannot be with us at this Dedication ; greatly bless thy servant who gave for the public good so much in tliese noble memorial halls, which do thou, O Lord, fully protect night and day ; bless all this congregation, and particularly the speakers who will address us, so that they will do good to all of us. We commit ourselves fully to thee, our heavenly Father, and pray thee evermore, always, o-nide us to thy glory by the aid of thy Spirit, through Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Amen. DEDICATORY ADDRESSES Introductory Address BY THE PRESIDENT, HON. THOMAS H. RUSSELL It is now about three years since the corner stone was laid of one of the buildings, the erection of all of which mark and constitute, perhaps, the most notable event in the history of this municipality. The munificent purpose of Mr. Edward A. Goodxow, of presenting the town with a Free Library Building, then enter- ing upon its realization, led in its progress to larger plans and unexpected changes. An accidental lire having destroyed the then Town Hall, suggested the change of location of the house of worship of the Congregational Society, the erection of the present very elegant and commodious Town Hall, and the devotion of the large and ample grounds of the Society, now constituting the beautiful lawns in front of the three buildings, to public uses forever, as a jjark. These improve- ments are each and all, in their outward relations, part and parcel one of tlie other. The Library building was comi)leted in 1884; the removal of the Church building and the erection of the Town Hall occupied the years 1885-1886. Owing to some questions as to the manner of grading and ai-ranging the grounds, the final completion of these undertakings was delayed to the opening of the present season. All being now complete, it has seemed to the Town meet that this service of dedication and acknowledgment of its obligation to the 5J 10 GOODNOW LIBRARY AND SCHOOL generosity of the donors be recognized in a formal manner, and the services of this day are in i^ursuance of its vote to this effect. Of the hirge expense incurred in all this, above $40,000 was the gift of Mr. Goodnow : the cost of tlie Library Building fully elace among the people. This fundamental idea is fast comino- to dominate the thought of all English sjtcaking peoj)les, and in lesser degree and less pronounced form, both Frencli and Germanic ; but, alas! alas! for the wide world beyond. The town hall has no place, function or significance aniono- the barbarous and savage, tlic ignorant and illiterate; no place where the law of might makes the law of right. It is the last, and not the first, in the evolution of the hio-hest man- hood ; it is the flower and fruitage of advancing, proo-ressive civilization. It is itself an outgrowth. It must have con- genial soil, root, stalk and branch. These are, and only are, intelligent citizens, thoroughly imbued with the great moral principles and obedient to the laws that underlie and make possible rational social life. In that other l)uilding, yonder — a Free Library we see the type of that which must precede and underlie any public 12 <^OODNO-\V Ur.KARY AND SCHOOl. liberty that is hopeful, or that can be enduring. That stands for intelligence. Intelligence always means j)Ower; intelli- gence with moral qualities means power and blessing. To- day, amid all the din and strife of tongue and pen about labor and capital, and their res])ective rights and duties, in the very front of all combinations of labor for protection or aggran- dizement, stands the fact that skilled labor has rarely been in greater demand or at higher prices, and this at a moment whiiv the purchasing power of money is vastly increased. The skilled, intelligent hand, that can dominate and manipu- late the great forces of nature as one after another is made subject to the needs and wants of man, by an ever and in our day swiftly advancing science, is and ever will be in demand and at the front in the race of life. Pitiable indeed the lot of the ignorant and unskilled laborer. Every machine that ever has been, or ever shall be invented, from simplest to grandest, is and ever will be a conipetitor for his daily bread. Under the oreat laws of our social life no man, save himself, can help him. In this lies the supreme value of a free public Library: it heli>s men to help themselves, the most real help that one being can confer upon another. A Library — the garnered thought of the greatest and best; Frbe — wisdom pouring its treasures into every willing ear, without money and without price, who shall escape just inferiority, that neglects so great oj)portunity ? Who can escape its influence V It is like the rain ; its influ- ence falls on the just and the unjust; like the sun, it shines for the evil and the good. It is always and ever a light shining among men. If some will not use its treasures, others will ; perchance, a friend, a neighbor, a child, will taste and see that it is good ; and lifted, will by the subtle ])Ower of social influence, against which no barrier of prejudice or indLfference can stand, lift others. TitTILrHlSrCT AND r.AGCr HALT, 1^ The public benefactor who plants such an institution need let no ajiparent indifference or lack of appreciation chill for a moment his heart or purpose. The greater the need, the greater the gift. It comes with the potency of untold good within it, and will work it out. One might as soon attempt to bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion, as to restrain or limit this power. Time, with it, is a very small element. It comes to stay. This great gift, in form and proportion a " thing of beauty," " a joy forever," with foundation literally on and of rock ; its walls and towers of solid granite; its l)eams and fittings all of the goodly ash ; this light, literally set on a hill, shall long- endure. Age will come to it, but without diminution or decrease, but with great increase, liringing no feebleness, but strength a thousand-fold. This noble and lasting blessing to tjiis community of today, and the whole long unthinkable future, is the tliought and realized purpose of one heart, perj^etuating in it the memory of the loved and lost, by bestowing its blessings on thousands of living, and upon tens of thousands yet unborn. It comes to you, not from a dead hand, through the official act of a legal representative, but devoted to its high pur2:)ose by pulsa- ting heart, it gracefully passes to you from a living hand. We are now assembled in pursuance of the formal action of this town, in order that for it as a munici])aliiy, and for our- selves, its citizens, its children, its friends, we may, by for- mal words, make record of our full apjjreciation of the great and abiding usefulness of these structures ; may for ourselves and the multitude that shall come after us, make grateful recognition and acknowledgment of the wise and graceful generosity of the donor of this home of letters and learning, and of the liberality of citizens and friends, which supple- menting the generous appropriation by the municipality, has 14 fiOODNOW LIBRARY AND SCHOOt l>rovi