F 1 .N472 Copy 1 p. . A/472-. THE i;tto €\\Qlm\ii fistorit-dltnmlogical ^odflg MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS: COUNTER HEMONSTRANCE OF SAID SOCIETY Remonstrance or " Memorial of the Massachusetts Historical Society '' against the Petition of the former for A change in its Corporate Name. BOSTON: PRINTED BY DAVID CLAPP, 1858. rC EEMONSTEANCE i^ The New England Historic-Genealogical Society" to the Members of the General Court: The undersigned respectfully represents, that " The New Eng- land Historic-Genealogical Society " was incorporated on the 8th of March, 1845, ■• for tlie purpose of collecting, preserving, and oc- casionally publishing, genealogical and historical matter, relating to early New Endand families, and for the establishment and maintenance of a Cabinet." Said act was accepted, and the boci- ety is now in a flourishing condition, having about two hundred and fiftv resident members. , -,• ^ ,i Some months ago, the Society, by a imanimous vote, direc ed Us Board of Directors to apply to the General Court for a anoe its corporate name, to that of THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL InD GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY. Accordinglv the Directors appointed the undersigned, being one of their number, to take charge of the matter. He therefore pr pared a petition, which was presented to the Senate during the current session. That body referred it to the joint Standing Committee on Education. As the undersigned did not anticipate objections ^-om any quarter, the idea of opposition from the Massachusetts Historica So ietv with many of whose members he has the p ea.ure of being'a qnainted, never crossed his imagination. He find , ho.- L that he was mistaken; for a ^' Memorial;' m the na ure o Tp test against the prayer of the petitioners formally adop ed by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and signed by a number o its members, of the highest character and standing m this com- mn^iitv,has be^n printed and circulated among the members of he General Court; and he cannot permit it to pass nnnoticed. In the outset, the undersigned invites attention to the preamble of the Act of 1794, entitled ^^ An Act to incorporate a Society by the name of The Massachusetts Historical Society,'' as impor- tant to a clear understanding of this case. It is as follows : " Whereas the collection and preservation of materials for a political and natural history of the United States is a desirable object, and the institution of a Society for these purposes will be of public utility." The act then proceeds to incorporate sundry gentlemen '' for the purposes aforesaid." By a subsequent provision, the number of members is limited to sixty. So recent as April 2d, 1857, an act passed authorizing the Society to elect '•' associate or corresponding members resid- ing without the limits of this Commonwealth, or honorary members residing either within or without said limits," and to have " as many as one hundred resident members:" a privilege, by the way, of which, it is understood, the Society has not availed itself, to any appreciable extent. It appears, then, that the Massachusetts Historical Society was created for collecting and preserving materials for apolitical and natural history of the United States. The undersigned marvels that it did not put forth its energies to prevent the incorporation of the Xatural History Society of Boston, that of Lynn, and sundry other Societies chartered to encourage and advance the study of Natural History, and the pursuit of historical investigations, as reprehensible infringements on its corporate rights. The undersigned has been unable to discover any evidence of such opposition to those associations, trenching as they manifestly do upon the jurisdiction assumed by the Massachusetts Histori- cal Society. Possibly it has abandoned the subject of Xatural History, in order to give greater attention to the other subject contemplated in its act of incorporation, " the political history of the United States," Are there not branches or departments of history, other than "political,'' to which a New England Historical Society may direct its inquiries, and publish the results, without interfering with the vested rights of the Massachusetts Historical Society ? No man can hesitate to give an affirmative answer, and to ask, in return, ^' Wherefore this interference with a sister society in pursuit only of its chartered rights ? " But suppose the response is in the negative. Will the opposi- tion of the Massachusetts Historical Society to the application of the Petitioners for a change of name, or even its rejection by the General Court, be of any advantage to the Memorialists ? Not in the least degree, in the judgment of the undersigned. The ^' MeinoriaV states that the Society which the undersign- ed has the honor to represent, was incorporated by " the name of the Historic-Genealogical Society," and that " it proposes to be called the New England Historical and Genealogical Society," and then bases an argument against the petition founded on " these statements " ! At " these statements " the undersigned must be permitted to express his extreme astonishment, as they contain a serious error, on which error or mistake the Memorialists have constructed the most prominent of their arguments against the request of the Petitioners ! The corporate name of the Petitioners is, '' The New England Historic-Genealogical Society," and not ^' the Historic-Genealo- gical Society." Of course, an argument predicated on this fatal mistake is entirely fallacious. The words "New England " are part and parcel of its corporate name. They will remain so, even if the General Court refuse the desired change ; and there- fore the present opposition to it, even if successful, must prove a barren victor^^ Tills unaccountable error deprives the " Memorial " of all vitality; for if the name "New England Historic-Genealogical Society " now jars the sensibilities of the " Massachusetts His- torical Society," it Avill unavoidably continue to do so, for its corporate name is almost identical with that which the Petition- ers solicit, and the Memorialists so much fear. What is the difterence ? Merely the addition of the syllable "aZ" to the word " Historic,'' and the insertion of the conjunc- tion " and " after it ! These minute alterations are all that the Petitioners ask, and they will doubtless continue to ask for the change until it is granted, as they have a perfect right to do. I^ is said m tike -^Memmiml" dat ^ the word Uiai mr it fcas oc- cm^r^iei aiaay iK?o»TeBk«ees to boA Societies.^ TTie vnder- snei v^ n:*! a^izv of ii. B« «ie word - £r»#»r>o>/.'* vkick seMLS !-> 1^ ?<-e Of* ouMMS uipon^ will sot nvhipiT tbem. 4rs3r - i-C"^ a Hide trovble k^ beem cK^ed to o«r Sem^tauries azri Lfr<:^r5£[^~~ s&j i^ Me»- iZri d^- z^ ~ of eoatrilwtioss adbdnessed fro» I '"^- - "----; - _7 ifee vadeisssed is emtirelT saitis- 1 ::Ti: X^^ E^lud Histimc^Geaiealoeieal S-: : riy. s-j ^x^r-si^ely knrTu as am acctM^di^ed and devoted 1^- — - - ^-^T p«t mp WI& Kcse trodUe by reasoa of ^ i!!= fcoMMfiwiBj. 3t s peiiod coBsiderablT to I- ji tbe Xr^ Zz_: i-i Histonic-Geitealo- Ifor tfee 3- ~ -toxical So- ciei7 ^ms Ubrar. 3eer« lare €3£i: r^e^speetire existence- He - rae coatTir J. ^-e w^^ gr^aiiSed at tlie --^ Mait^' - - — ' -inatioB. Ji^ tfcpe Boft^istzas^is save a{»p^»e 1 rial a cata- lo^^^ of tibe wi»i5 pdMi^=fced by tiif 1^ " -torical Society, ^be ^idef^ssed gd b Mllat; a stj. . to die Tr>£iC2L«5s issi^i zj tfc? X-^v Esslaad Historic-Gti 1 Soci- ^y. ^vi^9Q«i ^fee least sfif rfhcmd am^ tbat tbe lattef zer, B liis resard- *'- i — :'tt^ -,-__-._-.- ^---- ;-- ^ _ . .est -T-e Hi^i»kal - is^is i^.stitjz:ei i^ 1790. -Tu^ Massaekasetts jzl-s-^^j^ Sooeiy" ^as ii^irp^^r^&ted ia TokmL ibssadkasetts Historieal Sooety's CoHee- ^^ i^ iBpUet f««»i ia 119± To tbe year 183^ — r - 17^5 — :_- - . --ty bi issaed 27 xotmmes. b«t bad a^ed i_ . r-i r*^j^st^ p"?r«aary a^staaee froai tbe State- 7: n 1 * ! ' 1 ^— — ^ 7^'--'- — dbe Society isaed bat a siissie 1 iiT 1 T ia tbe ktstGvical field. 3^7^:-: rtts Hi5tc»ical Society.. wMA bad beem ^rorwiaf ap for Hdny yeaz?. and vbidb tibat Soci- ety eatffely £st?sarded. 1a 1^I4^ a fev iadividaals, iadndiB^ 99Beabie bisiorieal vTiier^«3Bie to ike coadaaoa. tbat as a vast amount of historical documents; lying in MS., was fast going to destruction, the united efforts of an organization was indispen- sably necessary to rescue them from such fate. This was a prin- cipal incentive to the formation of a new Society. The Xew England Historic- Genealogical Societt was the result. From 1792 to 1858 — 66 years — the Massachusetts Historical Society has printed 33 volumes, in 8vo., each averaging not above, we think. 320 pasres. These pages do not average above 1000 ems each ; hence a volume contains about 320.000 ems. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, published under the authority of the Xew England Historic- Genealogical Society, averages above 400 pages to the volume. and more than 1800 ems to the page; and hence a volume con- tains more than 720.000 ems. or more than double the amount of matter contained in a volume of the Collections of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society. Again. Their volumes are made up of a large proportion of matter from works afready in print : works of sufficient import- ance, in almost every instance, to require new editions in separate volumes, independent of their having been reprinted in those Col- lections, and at no very distant day. Again. On a comparison of the Collections of the Massachu- setts Historical Society with the Xew England Historical and Genealogical Register, it will be seen that the latter is made up of origiual documents, the decaying records of towns, parishes, original letters, burying-ground inscriptions, &c.