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MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS PEABODY, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES W. UPHAM. 
 
 SALEM, MASS. 
 
 ESSEX INSTITUTE PKESS. 
 
 1868. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 At a meeting of the Essex Institute, Nov. 2, 1867, 
 the honorable duty was assigned to me of preparing a 
 Eulogy on Francis Peabody, then recently deceased. The 
 Body before whom it is to be read, and the topics to 
 be presented, will give to what I am no^r to offer the 
 form of a Memoir. The details embraced in the life and 
 character of our late President will be found to be the 
 highest Eulogy. 
 
 In order that we may do justice to an occasion, in 
 which a distinguished society, like this, renders its tribute 
 to such an example as his, it becomes necessary, in the 
 first place, to detect and bring to view the influences that 
 made them and him what they have been, and brought 
 him into the relation he sustained, as their chosen leader 
 and head. The institution, and the individual, alike are 
 phenomena that demand explanation ; and you will permit 
 me, by way of introduction, to illustrate, at some length, 
 the causes that have led to the formation and development 
 of the Essex Institute, and, as a consequence, of such a 
 character as we have met to commemorate. 
 
 It may safely be said that an uncommon degree of 
 intellectual activity is noticeable in the people of this 
 place, and of the section of country constituting the 
 county of Essex, from the very beginning. In the review. 
 
now to be presented, the limits upon the occasion confine 
 attention mainly to the immediate locality. 
 
 The natural effect of the presence of persons of marked 
 impressiveness of mental traits among the first settlers 
 and their associates, is, of course, the primal and general 
 cause to which results, of this sort, are to be traced. The 
 influence of every individual upon those around him, and 
 upon those coming after him, is an absolute force, greater 
 than is itnagined or suspected. It cannot be measured, 
 traced, or estimated. Its invisible, unlimited, perpetual 
 momentum constitutes the dread responsibility of human 
 life— the incalculable contribution we are all always 
 making to the aggregate of good or ill, m the condition 
 and progress of the race. This power was brought to 
 bear, in stimulating the intelligence of the community 
 established here, in a remarkable manner, at its earliest 
 
 pei'iod. 
 
 Roger Williams and Hugh Peters, more, perhaps, than 
 any others that can be named, were of the kind to set 
 men thinkiug, to start speculations and enquiries that 
 would call forth the exercise of mental faculties, and of a 
 nature to retain their hold upon the general interest, and 
 be transmitted as a permanent social element. There is 
 evidence that several others of the first settlers here were 
 persons of uncommonly inquisitive minds, addicted to 
 experiments and enterprises, in mining operations, and 
 various forms of mechanical ingenuity. In proof of the 
 prevalence of this feature in the character of the people, 
 after the lapse of several generations, the following cir- 
 cumstance particularly arrests our attention : 
 
 About the middle of the laat century, a social evening 
 club, designed to promote literature and philosophy, was 
 in existence in Salem, composed of its most eminent, 
 
 
sasion confine 
 
 ns of marked 
 first settlers 
 I and general 
 traced. The 
 und him, and 
 force, greater 
 be measured, 
 cd, perpetual 
 iity of human 
 e all always 
 the condition 
 IS brought to 
 le community 
 at its earliest 
 
 perhaps, than 
 e kind to set 
 inquiries that 
 Ities, and of a 
 I interest, and 
 snt. There is 
 lers here were 
 I, addicted to 
 perations, and 
 a proof of the 
 of the people, 
 following cir- 
 
 I : 
 
 social evening 
 hilosophy, was 
 most eminent, 
 
 cultivated and intellectual citizens. The following are 
 understood to have been among its members : Benjamin 
 Lynde and Nathaniel Ropes, both of the Bench of the 
 Supreme Court of the Province, the former, as his father 
 had been, its Chief Justice ; William Browne, Judge of 
 the Superior Court ; Andrew Oliver, Judge of the Court 
 of Common Pleas ; the Rev. William McGilchrist, of the 
 Episcopal Church; the Rev. Thomas Barnard, of the 
 First Church ; and Edward Augustus Holyoke, then a 
 young physician. When it is considered that the entire 
 population of the whole territory of Salem could hardly 
 have amounted, at that time, to more than 4,000, it must 
 be conceded to be proved by these names, to have 
 embraced an extraordinary proportion of persons of 
 eminent position and culture. 
 
 The result of conversations and discussions, in that 
 club, is seen to-day in operations within these walls, and 
 in the formation of such characters as that of him to 
 whose memory we are to devote the hour. A taste for 
 literature and knowledge, a zeal in the prosecution of 
 scientific studies, was imparted to the community, of 
 which we can distinctly trace the imprints and monu- 
 ments through all our subsequent history. The first 
 organized movement towards establishing permanent 
 institutions, to this effect, was as follows : On the even- 
 ing of Monday, March 31st, 1760, a meeting was held 
 at the Tavern House of Mrs. Pratt, for the purpose, as 
 stated in the notice calling it, of "founding, in the town 
 of Salem, a handsome Library of valuable books, appre- 
 hending the same may be of very considerable use and 
 benefit, under proper regulations." The poster calling the 
 meeting was signed by the following persons, all, it is 
 believed, members of the club: Benjamin Pickman, 
 
Ichabod Plai8ted, Thomas Barnard, Samuel Cnrwen, 
 Nathaniel Rope., Timothy Orne, Ebenezer Putimm, 
 Stephen Higginson, William Pynchon, Edward A. Hol- 
 yoke, and William Walter. A subscription was started, 
 headed by Benjamin Pickman, of 20 guineas, Timothy 
 Orne, Samuel Curwen and William Walter, of 10 gumeas > 
 each, and Stephen Higginson, Ebenczer Putnam, Joseph 
 Bowditch, Samuel Barnard, Nathaniel Ropes, E. A. Hol- 
 yoke, William Pynchon, William Vans, John Nutting, 
 jr., Samuel Barton, jr., William Browne, Joseph Blaney, 
 Richard Derby, Daniel King, Samuel Gardner, Samuel 
 Gardner, jr., Thomas Barnard, Benjamm Pickman, jr., 
 Francis Cabot, Joseph Cabot, William Epes, Andrew 
 Oliver, jr., and Joseph Jeffrey for William Jeffrey, of 5 
 guineas each. The Rev. Jeremiah Condy, described by 
 Dr. Andrew Eliot as a person "of great candor, learmng 
 and int^enuity," a Baptist minister in Boston, being about 
 to visit England, was employed to purchase the books. 
 On their arrival, a meeting of the subscribers was held, 
 May 20th, 1761, of which Benjamin Pickman was mod- 
 erator, and Natlian Goodell, clerk. The " Social Library- 
 was thus put in operation. The books imported, with 
 those -iven by members or otherwise procured, amounted 
 to 415 volumes. The Society was incorporated m 1797. 
 It may be regarded as the foundation of all the institu- 
 tions and agencies, established in this place, for the 
 promotion of a high intellectual culture. 
 
 The locality where the Social Library was formed is a 
 matter of curious interest. In a letter addressed to me, 
 Jan. nth, 1840, the late George Cleveland thus speaks 
 of it : "John Pratt kept what was called, in his day, the 
 ' Great Tavern.' After his decease it was continued to be 
 kept by his widow and daughters, until the death of the 
 
uel Cnrwen, 
 zer Putnam, 
 vard A. Hol- 
 i was started, 
 leas, Timothy 
 
 of 10 guineas 
 itnam, Joseph 
 (8, E. A. Hol- 
 lohn Nutting, 
 oseph Blaney, 
 rdner, Samuel 
 
 Pickman, jr., 
 Epes, Andrew 
 a Jeffrey, of 5 
 ', described by 
 indor, learning 
 )n, being about 
 ase the books, 
 ibers was held, 
 :man was mod- 
 Social Library " 
 imported, with 
 ured, amounted 
 orated in 1797. 
 ' all the institu- 
 
 place, for the 
 
 v&s formed is a 
 iddressed to me, 
 and thus speaks 
 , in hiB day, the 
 I continued to be 
 the death of the 
 
 last, Abigail, which must have taken place towards the 
 latter part of 1765. The Tavern House stood on the 
 corner of Essex and Court streets, where the brick store 
 now stands. 1 can very well remember its appearance. 
 It was an old wooden building, with many peaks ; and 
 stood out on Essex street as far as the curb stone does 
 now. The estate came finally into the possession of my 
 grandmother Jeffrey, who sold it at auction, in 1791, to 
 Col. Pickman, and Stearns and Waldo ; and they imme- 
 diately covered the premises with the large brick store 
 that now stands there." The estate still renjaius in pos- 
 session of the family of one of the purchasers in 1791 ; 
 and the "large brick store" is know;i as the Stearns 
 Block. Our venerable fellow citizen. Hardy Phippen, 
 was thirteen years of age when the "Great Tavern" was 
 demolished, and a few days since, pointed out to me the 
 position it occupied, with its dimensions on Essex and 
 Washington streets, and described its appearance. His 
 recollections fully correspond with those of Mr. Cleve- 
 land. 
 
 The history of the building, thus remembered by Mr. 
 Cleveland and Mr. Phippen, previous to its occupancy by 
 the Pratts, is not without striking and suggestive signifi- 
 cance in connection with our subject. John Pratt bought 
 it in September, 1727, of the heirs of Walter Price. 
 Price bought it, Dec. 1st, 1659, of John Orne, of Salem, 
 carpenter, and Frances, his wife, for 150 pounds in cash 
 "already paid," and the deed was recorded, April 25th, 
 1660. John Orne bought of Charles Gott. The follow- 
 ing is a copy of the deed of this purchase. 
 
 "29th of December 1652. 
 Charles Gott of Salem Attornie to m' Hugh Peters for 
 and in consideration of forty shillings in hand paid hath 
 
8 
 
 8„ld unto John Horno of Sftlem aforosnid one piece of 
 ground contaynin« about one .luarter ot an acr« more oi 
 lc«se nero the meeting how.e in Salem one the Nortli Bide 
 hereof, running along by the high way be.ng the land of 
 'Hugh Peters af.>res«id. Provided if m'" Peters shall 
 retorn? to New England in person and repay the said 
 John all his charges of building or otherwayes H'«towed 
 npon the said land that then the said m' f "iH h duv ot 
 the said land againe as by a writing dated the 28th day ot 
 this instant December 1652 apeareth. 
 
 It appears by the deed to Price of 1059, that, at that 
 time, there was a dwelling-house on the lot. The lan- 
 .ruage of the deed, just quoted, reserving to Peters the 
 ri«rht of reclaiming the property, in the event of \m ever 
 re'turning to America, upon making good to Orne for all 
 his charges of building, or otherwise bestowed upon the 
 said land," does not necessarily, in itself, prove that there 
 was a house upon it, when Orne purchased, but the 
 <reneral aspect of the transaction leads, I think, to the 
 conclusion that there was. It can hardly be supposed 
 that Mr. Peters would have authorized his attorney to 
 bind him, on the contingency mentioned, in order to 
 recover the property, to pay whatever Orne might spend 
 in erecting buildings, whether they suited him or not. 
 This consideration makes it probable that there was a 
 house on the lot in 1652, and that Peters and his attorney 
 knew what sort of a house it was. The same general 
 reasoning, probably, authorizes the conclusion that the 
 house was built under the direction, if not the personal 
 oversight, of Peters himself. Merely having care of the 
 lot, in the temporary absence of the owner, Gott would 
 not have taken the responsibility of erecting a house upon 
 it without specific directions, and it is most likely that, 
 if not built before he left the country, Peters would have 
 
1 one piece of 
 n acre more or 
 the North eido 
 ii»g the land of 
 n'" Peters shall 
 repay the said 
 vayes bestowed 
 eters shall have 
 the 28th day ot 
 
 59, that, at that 
 lot. The lan- 
 g to Peters the 
 ^ent of his ever 
 to Orne for "all 
 towed upon the 
 prove that there 
 chased, but the 
 I think, to the 
 ily be supposed 
 his attorney to 
 ed, in order to 
 irne might spend 
 ted him or not. 
 that there was a 
 I and his attorney 
 'he same general 
 tclusion that the 
 not the personal 
 aving care of the 
 ivner, Gott would 
 ting a house upon 
 I most likely that, 
 'eters would have 
 
 deferred it until his return. The balance of probabilities 
 seems, therefore, to be against the supposition that the 
 house was erected either during the period when Orne 
 conditionally owned it, or Gott had charge of it. Its 
 size, as particularly described to me by Mr. Phippen, 
 which led to its being called "The Great Tavern," and its 
 architectnre of "many peaks," prove that it was of a more 
 commanding, pretentious, and artistic style, than would 
 have been thought of by either of the good deacons, Gott 
 or Orne. Its position also indicates that it was built, at 
 a very early day, before the line of Essex street had 
 been adjusted. 
 
 It is well known that Mr. Peters lived, at one time, at 
 the diagonal corner of the crossing of Washington and 
 Essex streets. His house and lot there were sold by his 
 attorney some years after he had gone to England. I 
 think there is evidence that he had also built a house near 
 the corner of Washington and Norman streets. He was 
 a man of indefatigable activity, was always making 
 improvements, and starting enterprises, and it is not 
 strange that he built houses and changed his residence 
 from time to time. It is quite likely that before bis 
 mission to the mother country had been suggested, he 
 employed Orne to prepare a residence, more fitted to 
 accommodate him permanently, on his lot where the 
 Stearns Building now is. It may have been finished, and 
 possibly occupied by him, but, not paid for, in conse- 
 quence of the suddenness of his call to the service of the 
 colony, as one of its agents to look after its interests at 
 London. A settlement of accounts may have been de- 
 ferred until he returned, which all supposed would be in 
 a short time, an expectation cherished by him to the last. 
 The battle of Worcester, however, which occurred Sept. 
 
 2 
 
^ 
 
 10 
 
 3d, 1651, put such a face upon the affairs of the mother 
 country, that it seemed probable Mr. Peters's services 
 would be permanently needed there. Gott was accord- 
 ingly authorized to settle with O rne, conveying to him, 
 for the small sum of two pouuds, the whole property, 
 reserving, however, to Peters the right of repurchasing 
 it, if, notwithstanding the then existing appearances, he 
 should, at any time, come back and claim it. The death 
 of Cromwell in 1658, and the events that quickly fol- 
 lowed, showed that the days of the Commonwealth were 
 numbered and finished. As the next year drew to 
 a close it became apparent that the restoration of the 
 monarchy was inevitable, and closely impending. The 
 return of Peters became impossible; arrest, attainder, 
 death and conliscation, were hanging over him and his co- 
 patriots. Orne, perhaps, felt that the conditional clause 
 in his deed, rendered the estate liable, and he was glad, 
 before it was too late, to get rid of it by the sale to Price. 
 Such are the facts so far as known, and the conjectures 
 which they seem to justify, in reference to "the Great 
 Tavern with many peaks." It is interesting to find that 
 certainly on that spot and within those walls, the first 
 institution for a higher intellectual culture, and the diffu- 
 sion through this community of a taste for literature and 
 science, was organized in 1760 ; a spot owned by Hugh 
 Peters, and the structure probably erected, and perhaps 
 occupied, by him. He was as highly educated a person 
 as any among the early emigrants, and a zealous promoter 
 of popular intelligence. He took an active part in 
 bringing our college into operation, and made great, 
 although unavailing, exertions to have it established in 
 Salem. One of the objects of his mission to England 
 was to obtain aid for the interests of education here. In 
 
 wUKm 
 
 tmt frrfiBrfrrrrf ffil 
 
rs of the mother 
 Peters's services 
 Jott was accord- 
 nveying to him, 
 whole property, 
 of repurchasing 
 appearances, he 
 a it. The death 
 that quickly fol- 
 imonwealth were 
 t year drew to 
 storation of the 
 impending. The 
 arrest, attainder, 
 r him and his co- 
 }onditional clause 
 and he was glad, 
 the sale to Price, 
 d the conjectures 
 36 to "the Great 
 isting to find that 
 e walls, the first 
 re, and the diff'u- 
 ibr literature and 
 ; owned by Hugh 
 ted, and perhaps 
 iucated a person 
 zealous promoter 
 I active part in 
 ind made great, 
 it established in 
 ssion to England 
 ication here. In 
 
 iHWm'tfifTi 1 
 
 fffr-iirrf#iiiM%lria>ttiiw 
 
 the course of the trial that resulted in his condemnation 
 and execution, addressing the court he said: "I have 
 looked after three things ; one was that there might be 
 sound religion. The second was that learning and laws 
 might be maintained. The third, that the poor might be 
 cared for. And I must confess that I have spent most of 
 my time in these things, to this end and purpose." 
 When, in tine, the great activity of Mr. Peters, during 
 his short residence here, in stimulating the energies and 
 faculties of the colonists, and by innumerable methods 
 starting society in the path of improvement and progress — 
 so as to draw from Winthrop the encomium of "laboring, 
 both publicly and privately, to raise up men to a public 
 frame of spirit" — is taken into view, we appreciate the 
 singular appropriateness of the circumstance that the first 
 organized eftbit to create "a public frame of spirit," in 
 favor of the collection and diffusion of the means of 
 intellectual and scientific culture directly among the 
 people, took place on his ground, and in what was, not 
 improbably, his house. 
 
 It is quite evident that, at the time of the formation of 
 the Social Library, interest in philosophical enquiries was 
 a characteristic of the people here, the effect of pre- 
 existing causes, as well as the efficient cause of subse- 
 quent developments. The following instance seems to 
 indicate such a prevalent turn of mind only five years 
 afterwards. 
 
 In 1766, a lad of thirteen years of age, born and 
 brought up on a farm in Woburn, with only such advan- 
 tages of education as a country school district then 
 attbrded, was apprenticed to John Appleton, grandfather 
 of Dr. John Appleton, the present Assistant Librarian 
 of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Mr. Appleton's 
 
 ..fi-4'ii:Mi^3r^^i& 
 
 m^^sm^^^^m ^ kkMis^^ ^^ 
 
A 
 
 12 
 
 residence and place of business was on the south side of 
 Essex street, the lot being occupied, at this time, by Dr. 
 George Choate. He carried on a retail variety store, in 
 the style of that day, and was engaged in commercial 
 pursuits in connection with a general traffic. The young 
 apprentice, from early childhood, in his hmnble rural 
 home, had manifested a taste for mechanical and philo- 
 sophical amusements, and had delighted in constructing 
 miniature machines, and in rude attempts at drawing and 
 modelling. Here he found an atmosphere so congenial 
 to his original passion that he was stimulated to exercise 
 and exhibit his genius. His curious and various experi- 
 ments attracted favorable notice, and won for him an 
 established reputation, in an appreciating community. 
 When the repeal of the Stamp-Act, by the British Parlia- 
 ment, had raised an enthusiastic gratification throughout 
 the colonies, the people of Salem were determined to 
 celebrate it in a style of extraordinary and unparalleled 
 brilliancy and impressiveness. It M'as voted to have a 
 grand display of fireworks. There were no professional 
 pyrotechnists here, and perhaps never had been in the 
 whole country. All, however, knew the mechanical and 
 chemical propensities and attainments of Mr. Appleton's 
 apprentice boy, and he was appointed to conduct the 
 preparations and superintend the exhibition. Some care- 
 lessness, not to be wondered at, considering the inex- 
 perience of all concerned, led to a premature explosion, 
 and he was so seriously injured, that his life was for a 
 time despaired of, and his health so much affected, as 
 finally to render his removal to his home in Woburn 
 necessary. But the bent of his mind had, in the few 
 years he had listed in Salem, become so fixed that, upon 
 his recovery, he instantly sought and obtained permission 
 
m 
 
 south side of 
 time, by Dr. 
 iety store, in 
 I commercial 
 The young 
 nmible rural 
 al and philo- 
 constructing 
 drawing and 
 so congenial 
 3 to exercise 
 rious experi- 
 1 for him an 
 community. 
 Iritish Parlia- 
 m throughout 
 etermined to 
 [ unparalleled 
 ed to have a 
 } professional 
 . been in the 
 Bchauical and 
 r. Appleton's 
 conduct the 
 Some care- 
 ing the inex- 
 Te explosion, 
 ife was for a 
 h affected, as 
 B in Woburn 
 1, in the few 
 ed th^t, upon 
 ed permission 
 
 to attend a course of philosophical lectures, delivered in 
 Harvard College. He walked regularly to and from 
 Cambridge, a distance of nine miles to enjoy the privilege. 
 He was then seventeen years of age. He taught country 
 district schools at Bradford and Wilmington, in Massa- 
 chusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire. All the while 
 he continued his philosophical pursuits, and attracted 
 increased attention, by novel and successful operations, in 
 mechanics and chemistry. By a 'singular succession of 
 circumstances, he was drawn to a military career in the 
 service of the mother country. He combined quali- 
 ties that soon gave him great distinction in that line. 
 His scientific attainments and philosophical enquiries, 
 always directed to practical ends, were found of inestima- 
 ble importance, in fortification, engineering, armament, 
 equipment, subsistence and all sanitary and economical 
 modes of military administration. Gunpowder, . as an 
 explosive agent, had ever been a special and favorite 
 subject of experiment and research, not at all checked by 
 the disaster of his boyhood at Salem. His methodical 
 and observing habits of mind, and disposition to classify 
 all details, gave him facilities in mastering military tactics. 
 And, besides, his personal aspect and address were pre- 
 cisely adapted to command preeminence, in the pomp and 
 pageantry, the parades, evolutions, and blazonry of tented 
 fields and marshalled camps. He united with all that 
 was showy and dazzling the sterner wisdom, itself based 
 upon philosophical principles, that made him famous as a 
 disciplinarian. In the whole range of biography, there 
 is nothing more wonderful than such a product as he 
 presents — raised in rustic life, on a New England farm, 
 and in a Salem retail shop — a most finished and polished 
 gentleman, with a commanding presence, and easy eour- 
 
14 
 
 tesy, seldom approached by those upon whom knightly 
 or courtly influences have been shed for indefinite gener- 
 ations. His lofty form, noble bearing, sweet and winning 
 manners, gave to his early manhood a wondeiful attrac- 
 tiveness. One of his biographers says : "His grace and 
 personal advantages were early developed. His stature 
 of nearly six feet, his erect figure, his finely formed 
 limbs, his bright blue eyes, his features chiselled in the 
 Roman mould, and his dark auburn hair, rendered him a 
 model of manly beauty." We may well believe that he 
 shone the cynosure of all eyes, at the head of his regi- 
 ment of dragoons, and that ho made a sensation in all 
 circles in London. In 1779 he was elected into the Royal 
 Society, and in 1784, received the honors of Knighthood 
 from the King of Great Britain. Having "introduced a 
 revision of the military exercise, and eifected several 
 reformations of acknowledged consequence," in that 
 country, he went to the continent, with a view of offering 
 his services to Austria, then at war with Turkey. Dr. 
 Jacob Bigelow, who wrote the memoir of this remarkable 
 man, read before the American Academy of Arts and 
 Sciences, from which I have already quoted, says that 
 "in more than one instance of his life it happened that 
 his fine manly figure and captivating manners were instru- 
 mental in deciding his reception among strangers." On 
 his way to Vienna, he was present at a review of Bavarian 
 troops. He appeared, as a spectator, on the ground, 
 mounted and unifoiTaed, according to his rank, as Sir 
 Benjamin Thompson, a colonel of the British cavalry. 
 The commander of the troops was a Duke, and soon after, 
 the King of Bavaria. Attracted by the splendid bearing 
 and aspect of the stranger he sought his acquaintance, 
 and impressed with a deep admiration of his qualities and 
 
15 
 
 lom knightly 
 Blinite gener- 
 and winning 
 leiful attrac- 
 [is grace and 
 
 His stature 
 inely formed 
 iselled in the 
 tdered him a 
 lieve that he 
 i of his regi- 
 isation in all 
 tito the Royal 
 F Knighthood 
 'introduced a 
 ected several 
 ce," in that 
 Bw of offering 
 Curkey. Dr. 
 is remarkable 
 
 of Arts and 
 ed, says that 
 happened that 
 '8 were instru- 
 angers." On 
 w of Bavarian 
 I the ground, 
 
 rank, as Sir 
 itish cavalry, 
 md soon after, 
 Lendid bearing 
 
 acquaintance, 
 s qualities and 
 
 attainments, made him his aid-de-camp, chamberlain, 
 member of his council of State, and Lieutenant-general 
 of his armies, and afterwards raised him to the dignity of 
 a Count of the Holy Roman empire. It must commend 
 Sir Benjamin Thompson to the good feeling of every tnie 
 and high-minded man, that while covered with all these 
 honors at the Court of Munich, he did not forget or fail 
 to avow his attachment to, and pride in, his early humble 
 condition and home in New England. In selecting the 
 distinguishing element of his title as a nobleman, he 
 chose the name that had formerly been given, prior to its 
 change to Concord, to the village in New Hampshire, 
 where, when nineteen years of age, he had taught school 
 and been married — Rumford. He led the armies of 
 Bavaria with distinguished success in an important 
 campaign, and reformed the entire military organization 
 and civil administration of that country. The extraor- 
 dinary results he secured by the application of philosoph- 
 ical principles, in raising the condition of the whole 
 people, in reducing the burdens of government, and 
 particularly in solving the great problem of statesmanship 
 — abolishing pauperism by bringing it into remedial rela- 
 tions with labor — made his name renowned throughout 
 Europe. Monarchs sought his services, and learned 
 societies and scientific academies in all the great cities 
 conferred upon him their honors. He was commissioned 
 ambassador to Great Britain, but was prevented from 
 acting in that capacity. The old feudal doctrine of 
 perpetual allegiance, not much longer to. be tolerated 
 among nations professing to recognize the rights of man, 
 was found — he having been born a British subject — to 
 obstruct his reception, in the official capacity of Bavarian 
 Envoy, by the Court at London. But so warm was the 
 
 ^sSJ*( 
 
^ 
 
 16 
 
 welcome extended to him imofficially, by the government 
 and all classes of the people, especially men of science 
 and learning, that he was induced to remain some years 
 in England, during which time he secured the establish- 
 ment of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, whose 
 charter expresses the great object and end of his labors, 
 through his entire career, from his boyish experiments in 
 Woburn and Salem, to his last productions. 
 
 The absohite identity of his language with that em- 
 ployed to express one of the designs of the Essex Insti- 
 tute, and the main object of the Peabody Academy, will 
 not fail to be noticed, "for diffusing the knowledge, and 
 facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical 
 inventions and improvements ; and for teaching by philo- 
 sophical lectures and experiments the application of science 
 to the common purposes of life." His last years were 
 spent at a beautiful seat owned by him within a few miles 
 
 of Paris. 
 
 Count Rumford enlarged, in many important particu- 
 lars, the scientific knowledge of his day, and published a 
 great number of valuable works. He died, August 21st, 
 1814, in the sixty-second year of his age, and his Eulogy, 
 before the Institute of France, was pronounced by Cuvier. 
 Some years before his death he gave to the Royal Society 
 of Great Britain one thousand povnds, the interest on 
 which was to be distributed, from time to time, as 
 premiums to the authors of the most useful discoveries in 
 light and heat, and at the same time he transmitted the 
 sum of five thousand dollars, to the American Academy 
 of Arts and Sciences, the interest to be devoted, in like 
 manner, to the same ends. In grateful remembrance of 
 the institution which had opened its lecture-room to him 
 when a poor country boy, he bequeathed one thousand 
 
17 
 
 J ffovernment 
 en of science 
 in some years 
 the establish- 
 iritain, whose 
 of his labors, 
 speriments in 
 I. 
 
 ivith that em- 
 e Essex Insti- 
 Icademy, will 
 lowledge, and 
 ful mechanical 
 hing by philo- 
 ition of science 
 st years were 
 in a few miles 
 
 )rtant particu- 
 id published a 
 , August 21st, 
 nd his Eulogy, 
 ced by Cuvier. 
 Royal Society 
 ;he interest on 
 e to time, as 
 1 discoveries in 
 transmitted the 
 rican Academy 
 levoted, in like 
 emembrance of 
 e-room to him 
 I one thousand 
 
 dollars annually, with the final reversion of his whole 
 estate, to the University of Cambridge, in the State of 
 Massachusetts, as the foundation of a professorship, "to 
 teach, by regular courses of academical and public 
 lectures, accompanied with proper experiments, the utility 
 of the physical and mathematical sciences, for the 
 improvement of the useful arts, and for the extension of 
 the industry, prosperity, happiness and well being of 
 society." Here, again, I cannot but remark that it would 
 have been impossible to frame language into a more 
 perfect expression of the ends pursued by the Essex 
 Institute and Peabody Academy, and to which the life of 
 our late President was devoted. 
 
 It will be conceded, I think, that in respect to such a 
 mind as that of Count Rumford, the period of his resi- 
 dence here was most important. It was the age in which 
 the deepest and most durable impressions are made. His 
 faculties were then in their forming stage, and the direc- 
 tion in which they were afterwards to work decisively 
 detei-mined. It was, indeed, fortunate that his awakening 
 and kindling genius was placed under the influences that 
 here surrounded it. His subsequent course, surpassing 
 as it does, in many points of view, all that is found in 
 history or fiction, may be largely ascribed to the intellec- 
 tual energies put in operation by the men who established 
 the old Salem Social Library. 
 
 Richard Kirwan, LL. D., of Dublin, was one of the 
 most distinguished philosophers of his period, and is 
 ranked among eminent writers in chemistry, mineralogy, 
 geology, and kindred sciences. In 1781, a vessel, having 
 on board a valuable library belonging to him, was cap- 
 tured by an American private armed ship, and brought 
 into Beverly, to be disposed of as a prize. The collection 
 
18 
 
 of books was there sold, as a whole, to an assocuition 
 of .rentlemeu of this town and neighborhood aniong 
 whom wore the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL. D., A. A. fe., 
 S. P. A., then the minister of the congregation at Ham- 
 ilton, afterwards a Representative from tins State m 
 Congress, and founder of the State of Oluo, who m the 
 course of his distinguished life adorned eaeh o te three 
 learned professions; the Rev. Joseph Willard LL.D., 
 S V. A.; of Beverly, afterwards President of Plarvard 
 College, and first President of the American Academy of 
 Arts and Sciences; the Rev. Thomas B.u-nard, P. D.. 
 A. A. S., of the North Church in Salem ; Joshua iisher, 
 M.D., i.A.S., of Beverly, the first P-sident of the 
 Massa husetts Medical Society ; the Rev. John Piujce, of 
 the First Church, in Salem; and EdSvard A. Holyoke 
 M D., of Salem. They made it the foundation of the 
 Philosophical Library. Justice to the '"e'"^ <^* J*'^ 
 Tnl ghtened merchants, who owned the vessel, Andrew 
 and John Cabot brothers, requires it to be recorded as 
 a part of the transaction, that they relinquished the.r 
 shLe of prize money for the books, and made such 
 Irmn^ements with the other parties in interest, that the 
 wiok library came to the association of scholars just 
 Imed, at a mere nominal price; and the satisfaction 
 wTh which the afl-air will ever be regarded, is rendered 
 rolret by the additional fact, that remuneration was 
 slequently tendered to Dr. Kirwan, but he declined to 
 acccp? it, expres-"g gratification that the books had fallen 
 into such hands, and were put to so good a use 
 
 The Social Library and the Philosophical Library were 
 after some time, consolidated into the "Salem Athen.um, 
 and incorporated, as such, in March, 1810. 
 
 The "Essex Historical Society," was mcorporated m 
 
19 
 
 an association 
 jvliood, aijiong 
 J. D., A. A. S., 
 ffation at Ham- 
 
 this State in 
 iliio, who in tho 
 ich of tlie tlireo 
 illaid, LL.D., 
 3nt of Harvard 
 can Academy of 
 Jarnard, D. D., 
 
 Joslnia Fislicr, 
 'resident of the 
 
 John Prince, of 
 rd A. Holyoke, 
 )undation of the 
 
 memory of the 
 
 vessel, Andrew 
 
 be recorded, as 
 jlinqnished their 
 
 and made such 
 interest, that the 
 
 of scholars just 
 
 the satisfaction, 
 rded, is rendered 
 ■emuneration was 
 ut he declined to 
 e books had fallen 
 d a use. 
 
 ical Library were, 
 lalem Athenaium," 
 
 no. 
 
 IS incorporated in 
 
 1821, and put in operation on tiio 27th of Juno of that 
 year. 
 
 Such is the history of movements, in an organized form, 
 to give ett'ect to ctlbrts to prontote the intlucni^o of liter- 
 ature, science, piulosopliy and history, in this place from 
 17()0 to 1821. It is quite remarkable, that in each stage ot 
 the progress a leading part was taken by one man — Dr. 
 Holyoke ; he signed the call for the meeting at the house 
 of Mrs. Pratt, and was an original subscriber to the funds 
 then raised to estiiblish the Social Library ; he was one of 
 the purchasers of Dr. Kirwan's books, thus cooperating 
 in founding tho Philosophical Librai'y ; he was the tirst 
 President of the Salem Athenteum, and also the first 
 President of the Essex 1 listorical Society. Tho eft'ects 
 of such institutions, and methods of combined action of 
 such men, upon the character of the population in general, 
 may be estimated, in some degree, by considering them in 
 view of the ordinary laws of social influence ; but they 
 can only be adequately and fully appreciated by illustra- 
 tions in detail. 
 
 In the earlier portion of this century, when our popu- 
 hition was scarcely half of what it now is, and we had 
 barely reached the required constitutional dimensions, but 
 not yet aspired to the dignity, of a city, there were on 
 the list of our inhabitants the names of an extraordinary 
 number of persons, eminent and conspicuous for attain- 
 ments in science and literature. It is proper to bring 
 them severally before our minds, as we shall thus best 
 appreciate the influences under which the subject of this 
 memoir grew up to manhood. 
 
 Edward Augustus Holyoke, LL.D., was President of 
 the Massachusetts Medical Society, and of the American 
 Academy of Arts and Sciences. He added to the learning 
 
 •l«S)!ft(ft>!=- 
 
 ^mtS--;si^^h^- ■■~X.;S!?SiSiS^!?SSI^SSI^SP^5j3S'^SrS?S 
 
so 
 
 and skill that made him, for half a century, The Teacher 
 of his profession, acquisitions of knowledge in various 
 other fields, particularly of Natural Science. lie kept 
 up with his times in the several departments of intellec- 
 tual progress, retaining the effects of an early classical 
 training, and enjoying to the last a relish for the produc- 
 tions of elegant literature. A professional practice ot 
 unrivalled diiration, accompanied by careful observation 
 and an admirable judgment, made him the great oracle 
 among physicians, large numbers of whom, from all 
 quarters, gathered round him, as the guide of their early 
 studies. Among his pupils were some of the most dis- 
 tinguished medical names of the country ; one of them 
 was the late James Jackson, long the revered head of 
 his profession, whose eulogist informs us that he took 
 "his old master, as he always loved to call him, as his 
 model."* Dr. Jackson had explored the whole ground ol 
 medical science and practice, at home and abroad, and no 
 man ever more universally enjoyed or deserved the confi- 
 dence and respect of the community, for discriminating 
 fairness, and sound judgment; and it is stated by the 
 highest authority that he expressed himself thils, con- 
 cerning Dr. Holyoke : "I can only say of his practice, 
 the longer I have lived, I have thought better and better 
 of it." The "Ethical Essay," a posthumous publication of 
 Dr. Holyoke, commenced in his eighty-sixth, but mostly 
 composed after he had passed his ninetieth year, is a 
 lasting monument of his christian wisdom, and shows that 
 he was entitled, preeminently, to the character of a 
 philosopher, as well as patriarch. 
 
 ♦An Introductory Lecture dellvereil before the medical class of 
 Harvard University, "Nov. 6th, 1867, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Park- 
 man Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. 
 
SI 
 
 Tho Tcnclu'i- 
 JO in vnrious 
 !0. lie kept 
 ts of iiitcllec- 
 !arly classical 
 • the produc- 
 il practice ot 
 
 I observation 
 great oracle 
 
 :>m, from all 
 of their early 
 ihe most dis- 
 one of them 
 ared head of 
 that ho took 
 
 II him, as his 
 ole ground ol 
 :)road, and no 
 ved the confi- 
 liscriminating 
 tated by the 
 If thus, con- 
 
 his practice, 
 er and better 
 publication of 
 h, but mostly 
 ith year, is a 
 nd shows that 
 laracter of a 
 
 nedical class of 
 II Holmes, Park- 
 
 Timothy Pickering, LL. I)., S. P. A., adorned tho 
 great 8|)here8 in which ho had moved in our pul)lic and 
 national military and civil service, Avith schoiurly tastes, 
 and a purity, exactness, vigor and impressiveness ot 
 style that jjlacod him among our host writers. James 
 Madison pronounced tho highest encomium upon his State 
 Papers, while at tho head of the department at Wash- 
 ington intrusted with the foreign relations of the country, 
 at a critical period of our diplomatic history. 
 
 Tho Rev. John Prince, LL. 1)., A. A. S., S. P. A., had 
 a world-wide reputation as a scientific mechanician and 
 discoverer, enlarging the domain of Pneumatics and 
 Astronomy with ingenious constructions, the work of his 
 own hands. His divei'sitied attainments in natural philoso- 
 phy, and general as well as professional literature, were 
 called into the service of learned institutions, and private 
 students throughout the country, and his judgment, skill 
 and taste employed to aid in the selection and importa- 
 tion of standard books, and the most approved philosoph- 
 ical apparatus. Colleges, academies, and libraries, in all 
 parts of the Union, have now in their lecture-rooms and 
 alcoves, the fruits of their correspondence with him ; and 
 machines contrived or improved by him, and constructed 
 in his own laboratory, are still regarded as invaluable, 
 in displaying the wonders of the creation, in the laws 
 and growths of nature, or the starry firmament on high. 
 His homo was at once a lecture-room and school of 
 philosophy, over open to contribute to the delight and 
 instruction of neighbors or strangers, in tho diversified 
 methods by which the lucernal microscope, magic lantern, 
 telescope, air-pump, electric jar, or other philosophical 
 machines are put to their uses by a skilful hand. It is 
 impossible to estimate the value or the extent of the 
 
 '^k*i>5Sft^^^*S*Tfc4s^^-*^^J■■^^:*-;*ft^'-3ifc='-■- 
 
22 
 
 O 
 
 sorvino ho thus rondonul with ghul enthusiasm, aiul uii- 
 vvoariiid constancy, all his life Ion*,', to ever welcome 
 jynests. Many ii yonnjif mind was thus opened to discern 
 the value, and inspired to pursue the attainments, of 
 science and phiU)sophy. The iiterest so deeply taken in 
 such subjects, in his early youth, by him whoso character 
 wo have met to consider, was gratefully attributed, in a 
 large measure, to the happy hours he sjjont in Dr. Prince's 
 laboratory and library. 
 
 Benjamin Lynde Oliver, M. D., A. A. S., was also 
 a philosophical mechanician, illustrating his favorite 
 branches of science by machinery of his own construc- 
 tion, operating upon brass or glass. Ho was a scientific 
 musician, astronomer and optician ; had an ex<iuisito 
 classical and artistic taste, and was an elegant bellen- 
 leltres scholar and writer. 
 
 The Rev. William Bentley, D. D., S. P. A., was emi- 
 nent as a person of very various attainments in philosophy 
 and literature, of large acquaintanco with books beyond 
 the range of ordinary reading, extending his researches 
 to foreign libraries, particularly to oriental sources. He 
 was deeply interested in geographical studies, and always 
 zealously engaged in exploring local antiquities ; his 
 multifarious attainments in that line, are illustrated in his 
 "Description and History of Salem," occasional published 
 discourses, and especially in the colunms of the local 
 press to which he was a constant contributor. His rare 
 attainments, great benevolence of life, ardent patriotism, 
 originality and independence of character, mental activity, 
 and social spirit, made hiih altogether a most marked and 
 interesting personage, gave an impulse to the thoughts of 
 men, and left a stamp upon the general intelligence of 
 the community not soon to be effaced or forgotten. 
 
t8 
 
 iMin, and iiii- 
 vcr wolcoino 
 Btl to (liscorn 
 iiiiitneiitM, of 
 nply ttikiin in 
 1)80 clmructor 
 tributod, in a 
 I Dr. Prince's 
 
 S., was also 
 his fuvorito 
 wn constrnc- 
 as a scientific 
 an nx(]nisite 
 legaut belt&i- 
 
 A., was emi- 
 in philosophy 
 tooks beyond 
 lis researches 
 sources. He 
 8, and always 
 equities ; his 
 istrated in his 
 nal published 
 of the local 
 or. His rare 
 it patriotism, 
 ental activity, 
 it marked and 
 le thoughts of 
 ntelligence of 
 gotten. 
 
 John Dexter Troadwell, M. D., .v. A. S., was a man of 
 strong indiviiliiality and inipreH.sivenesH of clmracter, of 
 extensive learning outside of, as well as in, iiis profeHnion, 
 particularly in the h^xicography and interpretation of the 
 Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. His frank and forcil)lo 
 expri'ssions as ho moved about among the people in his 
 ext«Misivo practice, were suggestive and stimulating to 
 the mental ac^tivitios of the community. 
 
 Nathani(d Bowditeh, LL. D., S. P. A.,Ava8 President 
 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and n 
 Fellow of the Koyal Society of London. Similar bodies, 
 ill the great centres of science in foreign countries, 
 honored themselves by inscribing his great name on their 
 rolls. He was a writer of recognized authority in 
 astronomy and kindred departments. His translation of 
 the "Mecaniciue Celeste," with the commentary that accom- 
 panies and gives completeness to it, places his name 
 where none other stands, by the side of LaPlace. His 
 " Practical Navigator," cannot be displaced as a standard 
 work, and will forever guide the sailor over the trackless 
 deep. As a mathematician ho holds the front rank, and 
 will through all coming time. Dr. Bowditeh was not, as 
 one would suppose from the amount of hard mental work 
 he performed, a recluse, wholly absorbed by calculation 
 and the solution of profound problems requiring the 
 utmost concentration of mind ; ho was a social, cheerful, 
 lively man, mixing with the people, more active in prac- 
 tical every day affairs than most persons, with faculties 
 ever free and fresh, in all neighborly, friendly, and 
 domestic relations and circles. The influence of such a 
 character, upon the prevalent ideas of the community in 
 which he lived cannot be overrated. 
 
 To show how fully I am sustained in the reasoning 
 
 "'wsssaSmfeS^SSaSife 
 
34 
 
 which these instances are cited to support, the following 
 passage from Dr. Bowditch's will is presented : 
 
 "Item. Ifc is well known, that, the valuable scientific 
 library of the celebrated Dr. Richard Kirwan Avas, during 
 the revolutionary war, captured in the British channel, 
 on its way to Ireland, by a Beverly privateer ; and that, 
 by the liberal and enlightened views of the owners of the 
 vessel, the library thus captured was sold at a very low 
 rate ; and in this manner was laid the foundation, upon 
 Avhich has since been successively established, the Philo- 
 sophical Library, so-called, and the present Salem Athe- 
 UiBum. Thus, in early life, I found near me a better 
 collection of philosophical and scientific works than could 
 be found in any other part of the United States nearer 
 than Philadelphia. And by the kindness of its propri- 
 etors I was permitted freely to take books from that 
 library, and to consult and study them at pleasure. This 
 inestimable advantage has made me deeply a debtor to 
 the Salem Athenteum : and I do therefore give to that 
 Institution the sum of one thousand dollars, the income 
 thereof to be forever applied to the promotion of its 
 objects, and the extension of its usefulness." 
 
 When we consider that he gave legacies, of the same 
 amount each, to the Salem Marine Society and the East 
 India Marine Society, both which institutions. had be- 
 friended him or his relations, and which, in their respec- 
 tive spheres, have done so much to raise the character and 
 improve the coudition of our maritime population, and 
 take into the account the means and circumstances of the 
 donor, they cannot but be regarded as noble benefactions, 
 and demonstrative of the depth of his gratitude. 
 
 If Richard Kirwan could have foreseen the testimony 
 that has just been read, he would have felt his loss more 
 than remunerated, and, in the magnanimous spirit with 
 which he refused pecuniary compensation, given thanks 
 
25 
 
 )rt, the following 
 iented : 
 
 valuable scientific 
 rwan Avas, during 
 
 British channel, 
 rateer; and that, 
 the owners of the 
 Ad at a very low 
 
 foundation, upon 
 lished, the Philo- 
 3ent Salem Athe- 
 near me a better 
 works than could 
 ited States nearer 
 ess of its propri- 
 
 books from that 
 it pleasure. This 
 eeply a debtor to 
 (fore give to that 
 ollars, the income 
 promotion of its 
 less." 
 
 acies, of the same 
 ciety and the East 
 stitutions.had be- 
 1, in their respec- 
 e the character and 
 e population, and 
 'cumstances of the 
 loble benefactions, 
 gratitude, 
 seen the testimony 
 felt his loss more 
 limous spirit with 
 tion, given thanks 
 
 that his books did not reach their destiuation, but were 
 diverted to this place. If the institutions, whose influence 
 I am sketching, had done no more than open the path 
 through which the mind of Bowditch advanced to its 
 achievements, they would have amply repaid the public- 
 spirited efforts of their founders. But they raised up and 
 stimulated the intellects of many others, as I proceed to 
 show by continuing the list of those who, at the same 
 time, adorned and illuminated this community. 
 
 John Pickering, LL. D., S. P. A., was President of 
 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As a 
 Greek scholar, and lexicographer ho had no superior, 
 and his attainments were great in universal Philology, 
 embracing the languages of continental Europe, and 
 extending to Oriental nations. He had made wide re- 
 searches also in the aboriginal tongues of America. 
 Foreign scholars recognized his name, and welcomed his 
 labors. He was an honorary member of the Academy of 
 Science and Literature of Palermo, and a corresponding 
 member of the Archaeological Society of Athens. He 
 was conversant with general literature, a master of the 
 culture derived from all the fields of classic lore, and, at 
 the same time, a learned and active lawyer. Residence 
 in earlier life in diplomatic circles, at European courts, 
 had added to the natural dignity of his presence, and 
 given a polished refinement to the courtesy and gentleness 
 of his manners. An unobtrusive modesty and simplicity 
 of demeanor, an easy recognition of all pleasant and 
 playful phases of conversation, an affectionate geniality, 
 and a pervading kindness of expression towards all de- 
 scriptions of persons, made him as fine a specimen of 
 what constitutes the real gentleman as can anywhere be 
 
 found. 
 
 4 
 
 -: 'M&*&m^mm^^ss^tm^mmmk 
 
26 
 
 Daniel Appleton White, LL. D., A. A. S., was a man 
 of strong intellectual faculties, highly educated, and of 
 extensive attainments beyond the range of his profession. 
 No one among us has been a more earnest or efficient 
 patron of literary and scientific institutions, and traces 
 are here to be found, as monuments exist in a sister city 
 of our county, of his zeal and munificence in the cause 
 of popular education, and the diffusion of the means of 
 knowledge. Scholars, philosophers, and distinguished 
 persons of all sorts, visiting our city, were welcomed to 
 his generous hospitality, while many an humble, but 
 aspiring, student felt the cheering and sustaining influ- 
 ence of his liberal sympathy and substantial aid. 
 
 Joseph Story, LL. D., A. A. S., S. P. A., trained the 
 classes in the Law School of our University in all the 
 learning of his profession, and from the Supreme Bench 
 of the Union announced, with acknowledged authority, 
 the interpretation of the Constitution, and the force and 
 limitation of the Statutes of Nation and State. His 
 published works exhaust the topics of judicial lore, and 
 are standard text books in courts at home and abroad. 
 Besides all this he was a public orator, and shone in 
 general literary accomplishments. His eloquence and 
 energy were always at hand to advance the intellectual 
 condition of the people. 
 
 Either of these ten men, all living here together, 
 would have been recognized as an intellectual leader and 
 head, in any of our great cities. Combined they were a 
 constellation rarely equalled, anywhere, in any age. 
 They were none of them mere bookish men, standing 
 aloof from the community, but severally among the 
 people, and of the people ; to be seen daily, as much as 
 any class of persons, in the streets, social circles, and 
 
 i .n.W B BUIWTg. -pi 
 
27 
 
 , was a man 
 
 iated, and of 
 
 is profession. 
 
 t or efficient 
 
 3, and traces 
 
 a sister city 
 
 in the cause 
 
 the means of 
 
 distinguished 
 
 welcomed to 
 
 humble, but 
 
 taining inilu- 
 
 aid. 
 
 ., trained the 
 ity in all the 
 ipreme Bench 
 ed authority, 
 the force and 
 . State. His 
 cial lore, and 
 ! and abroad, 
 and shone in 
 loqueuce and 
 le intellectual 
 
 lere together, 
 al leader and 
 i they were a 
 in any age. 
 nen, standing 
 y among the 
 ly, as much as 
 1 circles, and 
 
 places of public resort. They took as active and efficient 
 a part in local affairs as others. They were always in 
 lively contact with their fellow citizens, without reserve, 
 hauteur, or pretension. It is obvious that their influence 
 upon the condition and current of popular thought could 
 not but have been most potent and far I'eaching. 
 
 There were many others, younger men, of marked 
 eminence, adding to the mental stimulus of the place. 
 
 Leverett Saltonstall, LL. D., A. A. S., did not forget, 
 while in extensive professional practice, to keep a deep 
 interest in the general culture and higher welfare of the 
 community. Education, fine faculties, fluent speech, a 
 generous and magnanimous nature made him a persuasive 
 and impressive speaker at the bar, and in popular assem- 
 blies. Literary tastes, the warmth of his heart, sympathy 
 with all amiable human affections, a manly ease and free- 
 dom of address gave him a just influence in private 
 circles, and all associated forms of action. He was an 
 enthusiast in whatever relates to colonial or local history, 
 and the memorv of the Fathers. One of the founders 
 of the Essex Historical Society, and always an active 
 member, he was selected to deliver the Addi'ess, on the 
 197th anniversary of the landing of Endicott. The occa- 
 sion was observed, Sept. 6th, 1825, with much public 
 interest, in the meeting-house of the First Church. A 
 large audience appreciated the ability and eloquence 
 of the discourse, which gave an early and efficient im- 
 pulse to the commemorative spirit now happily pervading 
 the land. 
 
 Benjamin Merrill, LL. D., was a learned lawyer and 
 scholar, the influence of whose pleasant humor, polished 
 and pregnant wit, and acuteness and force of thought 
 enlivened conversation and gave eflect to the productions 
 
28 
 
 of his pen in racy articles, long continuing to add attrac- 
 tiveness to the local press, particularly to the Salem 
 Gazette. 
 
 David Cummings, a man of strong powers, and promi- 
 nent at the bar, is well remembered for his ardent natural 
 eloquence at public meetings and in addresses to juries. 
 His pure and noble spirit, and transparent character, 
 secured the respect and confidence of all, while his 
 genial ingenuousness, freshness of thought and expres- 
 sion, acuteness of perception, keen but playful and 
 beniffnant satire, and an enthusiasm all his own, de- 
 lighted every circle in which he moved. 
 
 Joseph E. Sprague, was early drawn from legal prac- 
 tice into political life, in which few ever bore a more 
 active or efficient part. His facile, rapid, and felicitous 
 pen was always ready to meet the demands of the hour, 
 not merely for party purposes, but to give expression to 
 worthy sentiments on the topics and occurrences that 
 arrested notice from time to time. Like his classmate 
 Men-ill, he fully discharged his obligations to the public 
 by using the columns of the Eegister to promote the 
 intelligence, and guide the thoughts of the people. Sal- 
 tonstall and Merrill, on one side, and Cummini^s and 
 Sprague, on the other, were leading actors. in political 
 operations, at a time when party passions were exasper- 
 ated beyond the experience of our day, but so liberal 
 and enlightened were their spirits that the bonds of per- 
 sonal friendship were never severed between them, and 
 they acted cordially together in giving their sympathy 
 and influence to the general welfare and progress of 
 society. 
 
 John Glen King, a learned lawyer, had rare classical 
 attainments, and was widely known as one of the choicest 
 
 - felWM.ttf'iHt'Mail l UJW 
 
add attrac- 
 the Salem 
 
 i, and promi- 
 rdent natural 
 jses to juries. 
 Qt character, 
 1, while his 
 ; and expi-es- 
 playful and 
 his own, de- 
 
 m legal prac- 
 bore a more 
 and felicitous 
 i of the hour, 
 expression to 
 urrences that 
 his classmate 
 to the public 
 promote the 
 people. Sal- 
 umminj^s and 
 •s-in political 
 ivere exasper- 
 )ut so liberal 
 bonds of per- 
 jen them,* and 
 leir sympathy 
 i progress of 
 
 rare classical 
 of the choicest 
 
 S9 
 
 scholars of his period. He studied the writings of the 
 early fathers of the Christian Church to an extent which 
 but few clergymen have equalled. 
 
 Keuben Dimond Mussey, M. D,, LL. D., A. A. S., 
 was a leading practitioner here, and established a national 
 reputation that ultimately drew him to the West, where 
 he was welcomed as one of the heads of his profession. 
 While in Salem, in 1812 and 1813, he gave courses of 
 lectures on chemistry, imparting such an interest, in this 
 community, to that subject that the thoughts of enter- 
 prising business men were particularly turned to it ; and 
 as is generally supposed, the Laboratory, incorporated in 
 1819, which has been in successful operation ever since, 
 manufacturing, on a large scale, aquafortis, muriatic acid, 
 oil of vitriol, blue vitriol and alum, was the result. For 
 many years he had in charge the medical department of 
 Dartmouth College, lecturing on the Theory and Practice 
 of Medicine, Materia Medica, Surgery, and Medical 
 Jurisprudence. 
 
 Daniel Oliver M. D., LL. D., A. A. S., was associated 
 with Dr. Mussey in practice, and cooperated in con- 
 ducting the lectures on chemistry. In 1820, he was 
 elected Professor in the Medical School of Dartmouth 
 College, and also filled the chair of Intellectual and Moral 
 Philosophy there, continuing in the discharge of his 
 duties with high reputation until 1837. Subsequently he 
 was called to a professorship in the college of Ohio. 
 After a brief, but distinguished service in that new and 
 wider field, he was compelled to relinquish his labors by 
 a disease which proved fatal in 1842. He was a learned, 
 able, and accomplished scholar, outside of his profession, 
 of rare attainments in classical, French and German 
 literature. His tastes, manners, and character were 
 
 " J|llMJ«tfCT»)l l l-UI»U»M I M i " W— ^T-HMj ^Jife^,; 
 
30 
 
 eminently refined, delicate and retiring ; but there was, 
 notwithstanding, a universal recognition of his merits. 
 His work entitled "First Lines of Physiology," is a 
 standard authority. The leading collegiate institutions 
 of his own country conferred upon him their diplomas, 
 and he was an honorary member of the Academy of 
 Science and Literature at Palermo. 
 
 Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn, A. A. S., after 
 completing his professional preparation in the office of 
 Judge Story, entered upon the practice of law here, and 
 was early brought into particular notice by addresses on 
 public occasions, and articles in leading journals and 
 magazines. His attention was given to Agriculture as a 
 science and art, especially to Horticulture. No one did 
 more to inspire a taste and interest in such subjects, and 
 in recognition of this fact, the municipal authorities, in 
 laying out a street bordered by proprietors engaged in 
 rearing nurseries of trees and flowers, called it by hj^ 
 name. General Dearborn was the first President of the 
 Massachusetts Horticultural Society . The traces of his 
 hand are to be seen at Mount Auburn, and the Forest 
 Hills Cemetery in Roxbury, the place of his residence 
 during much of the latter portion of his life. He was 
 long in the public service in local, state, and national 
 offices. He was the author of valuable works relating to 
 commerce and internal improvements, as well as Agri- 
 culture ; and in the department of biography, naval and 
 military. He wrote, not so much from ambition in 
 authorship, as from the love of literary occupation, and 
 for the gratification of his sense of the beautiful in art, 
 leaving behind him elaborate, exquisitely finished and 
 embellished manuscript volumes, designed as memorials 
 for his friends and family, on Architecture and Flowers ; 
 
 ' -■■■ taM T WSH ' .g.'/ ' i.JWW lf HWMMM 
 
 ■■■ "T^T^-Ts^-'^-.^-yj'' 
 
81 
 
 it there was, 
 his merits, 
 ology," is a 
 ) institutions 
 sir diplomas, 
 Academy of 
 
 .. A. S., after 
 the office of 
 [aw here, and 
 addresses on 
 journals and 
 riculture as a 
 
 No one did 
 subjects, and 
 luthorities, in 
 s engaged in 
 led it by hj^ 
 isident of the 
 
 traces of his 
 id the Forest 
 his residence 
 life. He was 
 
 and national 
 ks relating to 
 well as Agri- 
 liy, naval and 
 
 ambition in 
 icupation, and 
 iautiful in art, 
 
 finished and 
 
 as memorials 
 
 and Flowers; 
 
 and also a Life of Christ, in which all the passages of 
 scripture relating to it, are collected and harmonized into 
 a continuous narrative. 
 
 Joseph Emerson Worcester, LL. D., A. A. S., passed 
 some years here as a teacher, engaged, at the same time 
 in preparing his Geographical Dictionary or Universal 
 Gazetteer. Publications of this class secured him the 
 honor of election as a corresponding member of the 
 Boyal Geographical Society of London. In the Athe- 
 naeum and private libraries, and the society of our culti- 
 vated men and accurate scholars, he was preparing his 
 mind for the great work of his life — that monument of 
 patience, perseverence, judgment, taste and learning — 
 The Dictionary of the English Language. 
 
 Thomas Cole, A. A. 8., was a thoroughly trained 
 scholar and teacher, conversant with the various depart- 
 ments of science and philosophy, particularly astronomy 
 and meteorology, and occupying the first rank of micro- 
 scopists, pursuing researches to the minutest recesses of 
 the fields of natural science. 
 
 William Gibbs, shrinking from observation with the 
 most sensitive modesty and humility, could not es- 
 cape being recognized as an antiquarian explorer, as 
 exact, thorough and successful as any we have ever had 
 among us. 
 
 Malthus Augustus Ward, M. D., also a person of un- 
 obtrusive deportment, in addition to the learning of his 
 profession, pursued the science of natural history with a 
 quiet enthusiasm that conducted him to wide attainments 
 in that department, especially in botany. He removed to 
 Athens, in Georgia, and during the residue of his life 
 was connected with the University there, as Professor in 
 his favorite branch. In that service he exerted an ex- 
 
 sanemeumKHsmKurr 
 
 ■1 ■ "tSSasK 
 
 , '■-'.i~j;::smm: !^^Ski-^i& i ims i^: s^ ^MZi>mm-^Mmm:': 
 
32 
 
 tensive influence in behalf of science and learning, con- 
 ferring lasting benefit upon the young men then passing 
 through the academic course. Among his pupils was 
 Alexander H. Stephens, who has expressed to me in the 
 strongest terms the value he and all others attached to 
 Dr. Ward's instructions, gratefully ascribing to him the 
 credit of directing the studies, guiding the tastes, and 
 stimulating the minds of those frequenting his lecture- 
 rooms and participating in explorations and observations 
 of the surrounding region, over which he was wont to 
 lead them, disclosing the beauties and wonders of nature. 
 Near the close of the period, to which I am referring, 
 in 1820 and 1821, the corps of our enlightened citizens 
 and highly educated men was reinforced by the settlement 
 here of two distinguished clergymen, John Brazer, D. D., 
 A. A. S., Professor of Latin in Harvard University, a 
 ripe classical scholar, of extensive attainments in general, 
 especially in critical, learning, and a writer of unsurpassed 
 clearness, accuracy, and purity of style; and James 
 Flint, D. D., whose mind was also stored with the treas- 
 ures of classical, as well as sacred literature. Familiar 
 with the best productions in prose and verse of English 
 authors, bearing in his memory all their finest passages, 
 a rich imagination, and free and fervid expression, gave 
 to his private conversation and public discourses, and to 
 occasional poetic pieces that will never be forgotten, the 
 power of eloquence and the stamp of genius. 
 
 All these were either early trained in academic disci- 
 pline, or mainly devoted to studious pursuits. But there 
 were others, self-educated, and engaged in ordinary occu- 
 pations of active life, foreign from literature or science, 
 who, like the subject of this memoir, found time, not- 
 withstanding, to gratify a love of knowledge by pros- 
 
88 
 
 larning, con- 
 then passing 
 pupils was 
 to me in the 
 attached to 
 : to him the 
 tastes, and 
 his lecture- 
 observations 
 (vas wont to 
 PS of nature, 
 im referring, 
 med citizens 
 le settlement 
 razer, D. D., 
 Jniversity, a 
 ts in general, 
 unsurpassed 
 and James 
 th the treas- 
 •e. Familiar 
 le of English 
 est passages, 
 ressiou, gave 
 arses, and to 
 brgotten, the 
 
 idomic disci- 
 i. But there 
 rdinary occu- 
 •e or science, 
 id time, not- 
 Ige by pros- 
 
 ecuting, as a recreation and for thoir private enjoyment, 
 researches in intellectiiiil and philosophical spheres, and 
 whoso habits and attainments were Avell known, and 
 operated as an incentive to others. 
 
 Jonathan Webb, an apothecary, attentive to his busi- 
 ness and an active and efficient citizen, was an electrician 
 without a superior, retreating, in his leisure hours, to 
 apartments provided for the purpose within his own 
 premises, and filled with apparatus upon which he prac- 
 ticed and experimented, developing the wondrous prop- 
 erties of the element of nature, in whose study ho was 
 an enthusiast. 
 
 Thomas Spencer, an English emigrant, in the hum- 
 blest condition, a tallow chandler by trade, and for some 
 time without any means but what were supplied by indus- 
 trious toil, as a day laborer, after a while became known 
 as a philosophic lover of nature, and a refined and beau- 
 tiful writer. His lectures, on the forest trees of this 
 neighborhood and on the phenomena of light and the 
 laws of vision, were performances of exquisite finish. 
 Although his condition was originally lowly and obscure, 
 having been bom with a pure and gifted genius, and, 
 through all disadvantages, cultivated his mind from child- 
 hood, lie here soon found friends, and a public that ap- 
 preciated him. He is still living, his venerable ago 
 illuminated by mental and moral accomplishments, an 
 opulent and extensive landholder in one of the richest 
 agricultural counties of England. His history is, indeed, 
 invested with a truly romantic interest. Messages of 
 love, received from time to time, show that he remem- 
 bers, with affectionate and grateful feelings, the friend- 
 ship and sympathy he here enjoyed. 
 
 There was a young man, employed as a clerk in the 
 5 
 
 SI iilSJvHJ^ttX-- < 
 
counting-rooms of one of our grent mei'chants, afterwavtls 
 cnn-ying on, for a while, u retail store, whoso exuberant 
 spirits Piado him the life of all companies, in scenes of 
 innocent social gnyety, but who early caught the inspira- 
 tion of the place, and seized every available moment to 
 enrich his mind by the study of the befct English works. 
 Upon reaching an adult age he, at once, made himself 
 felt as a devoted supporter of all movements in favor of 
 the difi'usion of knowledge ; and to his inspiring activity 
 and contagious enthusiasm, the Essex Historical Society 
 largely owes its origin. After an aI)8enco of forty years, 
 during which he was deeply engaged in business, con- 
 nected with the transaction of extensive commercial 
 affairs, in New York, Europe, and California, he returned 
 with unabated zeal to give, in the last year of his life, an 
 impulse to the Essex Institute it will feel forever. Al- 
 though always immersed in occupations aside from litera- 
 ture that would have wholly absorbed, if not exhausted, 
 other men, George Atkinson Ward continued thti prepara- 
 tion, he hero began, to take his place permanently among 
 men of letters. From time to time the productions of 
 his pen gave vivacity to the columns of periodicals ; and 
 he lived to complete the fourth edition of his "Journal 
 and Letters of Samuel Curwen." The wiitings of Judge 
 Curwen were the products and the evidence of the taste 
 and culture that prevailed here duriug the last century, 
 and the volume in which Mr. Ward presented them to 
 the public, with the value added by his editorial labors, 
 is secure, I am confident, of holding its place, in all 
 coming time, as a standard work, containing much that 
 illustrates the opening of the revolutionary struggle, and 
 ffivins: the best view that ever has been presented, or can 
 ever be obtained, of the interior social condition of the 
 mother country at that period. 
 
, afterwanla 
 ) exuborant 
 
 n 8C'0IK'8 of 
 
 tlio iiispiru- 
 
 inoment to 
 flish works, 
 lado himself 
 
 in favor of 
 •ing activity 
 ical Society 
 
 forty years, 
 isiness, con- 
 
 comniereial 
 
 he returned 
 f his life, an 
 ji'ever. Al- 
 
 froni litera- 
 it exhausted, 
 
 tiui prepara- 
 ently among 
 •oductions of 
 odicals ; and 
 liis "Journal 
 igs of Judge 
 ! of the taste 
 last century, 
 ited them to 
 ;orial labors, 
 place, in all 
 g much that 
 struggle, and 
 ented, or can 
 idition of the 
 
 Behind the counter of a retail store, on Essex street, 
 at the period now un<ler review, was to \w found a per- 
 son i)ursuing the daily routine of a most unpretentious 
 life, apparently thinking of nothing else than the accom- 
 modation of customers, in the exhibition of his stock, 
 and measuring out, by the yard, linen, cotton, ribbons 
 and tape. Ho was, apparently, beyond middle life,»of a 
 mild and courteous demeanor, quiet, and of few words. 
 TIku'c was, it is true, in his mein and manners, a com- 
 bined gentleness and dignity, that marked him as differ- 
 ing from the common run of men, but nothing to indi- 
 cate the tenor of his peculiar mental occupations. The 
 leisure hoiu's of that man were employed in patient, 
 minute, comprehensive and far reaching researches in 
 books, quarterly journals, magazines, and political docu- 
 ments, guided by a cultivated taste, keen discrimination, 
 familiarity with the best models of style and thought, 
 and intimate acquaintance with the biographical details of 
 all the prominent public characters of England, and their 
 personal, family, and party relations to each other, that 
 enabled him to grapple with a subject, that was engross- 
 ing and defying the ingenuity of them all, and thereby 
 to place himself as a peer among the literati of his day. 
 The most critical and distinguished minds, on both sides 
 of the Atlantic, at that time and for a great length of 
 years, were engaged in elaborate and indefatigable efforts 
 to solve a problem, which more and longer, perhaps, 
 than any similar inquisition, has arrested the curiosity 
 and scrutiny of mankind. 
 
 A series of letters, from January, 1769, to January, 
 1772, appeared in a London paper, the "Public Adver- 
 tiser," over the signature of "Junius," discussing the 
 conduct of the ministers of government, measures of ad- 
 
 ""(WrfM*** 
 
^ 
 
 niiiuMtriition, ami tlio t-hnriu'torH of living HtntcHiiu'ii, in a 
 Btyin of (!U'ji;antc, Hcvority, force and t'll'cctivcness, never 
 BinpaHsed, if ever equalled. They were felt and ae- 
 knowledged then, as they are now, to ho masterpieces, in 
 grace of diction and power of thought. In the most 
 wonderful manner their authorHhip was kept concealed 
 against a pressure that exhausted every form of vigilance 
 and espionage that could ho brought to hear. As, week 
 after week, they shook the mind of England and the age 
 to its centre, and flashed before all eyes, as from a gal- 
 vanic battery, living pictures of the great men of that 
 period, of course they became the subject of universal 
 and most exciting interest, growing deeper and stronger 
 from day to day. Who is the author of these letters? 
 was the question on all lips. To give an idea of the 
 kind of sensation created by them, I present a few speci- 
 mens of the manner in which their "great unknown" 
 author is spoken of. The Avriter of the article on the 
 subject in the "Encyclopujdia Americana," thus charac- 
 terizes him. "His style is severe, concise, epigrammatic 
 and polished ; his reasoning powerful ; his invective un- 
 sparing and terrible." Again: "lie was evidently ac- 
 quainted, not only with the court, but Avith the city; 
 with the history, private intrigues, and secret characters 
 of the great ; with the management of the public oflSces ; 
 with the proceedings of Parliament ( not then, as since, 
 public); and also with the official underlings, through 
 whom he sometimes condescends to laeh their superiors. 
 With this extensive information, he united a boldness, 
 vehemence, and rancor, which, while ho spared no one, 
 stopped at nothing, and rendered him an object of terror 
 to those whom he attacked. To use his own language, 
 'he gathers like a tempest, and all the fury of the elo- 
 
m 
 
 oHiiu'ii, ill a 
 'iif'88, never 
 bit and au- 
 torpieces, in 
 [n the must 
 )t concealed 
 of vigilance 
 . As, week 
 and the age 
 from ft gal- 
 men of that 
 of universal 
 md stronger 
 1C80 letters? 
 idea of the 
 a few speci- 
 t unknown" 
 ■tide on the 
 thus charac- 
 pigi'aiumatic 
 nvective un- 
 vidently ac- 
 th the city; 
 et characters 
 ublic offices ; 
 en, as since, 
 ngs, through 
 ir superiors. 
 . a boldness, 
 ired no one, 
 ject of terror 
 vn language, 
 •y of the ele- 
 
 ments hursts upon tli« m at once.'" At Hrst the gonornl 
 su8pi(;i(in was fixed U{uin Hurke, who alone was thought 
 capal)le of such wonderful compoMitions, hut ho publicly 
 denied being their author, and in a speech in the House 
 of Commons, expressed his opinion of him, "in rancor 
 and venom, the North Uriton is as much inferior to him, 
 as in strength, wit, and judgment. King, Lords, and 
 Commons are but the sport of his fury." 
 
 Besides Burke, conjecture fell at different times, upon 
 a gi'cat variety of persons, among them the Grenvilles, 
 Wilkes, Dunning, Charles Lloyd, John Ilorne Tooko, 
 Charles Leo, Sir Philip Francis, Hugh Macauley Boyd, 
 Gibbon, Grattan, Sir William Jones, Horace Walpole, 
 Lords Sackville, Camden, Chatham and Chestertield. 
 
 Among the great minds engaged in discussing this 
 question, and seeking to solve the problem, were Burke, 
 Lord Eldon, the celebrated Dr. Samuel Parr, Sir William 
 Draper, Butler the learned English lawyer, and a host of 
 others. Any number of books were published in Eng- 
 land and in America on the subject, and all the literary 
 and political journals lent their column?, to elaborate arti- 
 cles pressing theories, based upon prying research and 
 industrious investigations. But all attempts to penetrate 
 the veil, and disperse the shadow the writer had thrown 
 over his name, failed ; but still the search continued with 
 unabated earnestness. 
 
 It is indeed marvellous that a Salem retail shop-keeper, 
 without any known aid, but from local libraries and the 
 society of persons here eminently conversant with the 
 materials that could shed light upon such a subject, was 
 enabled to enter into this crowd of great contestants for 
 the discovery of the world-engrossing secret, and bear off 
 the palm of victory in such a race. But this, in the 
 
 I 
 
 -tmmSSSxSr:^: 
 
 !ikiMi^it^dmmi i iimimiii>>&'sMi!JSfJ>jtS9Ss.': 
 
, V 
 
 38 
 
 judgment of many most competent to give an opinion, 
 Isaac Newhall did. Tiie writer of the article in the En- 
 cyclopadia just quoted, sums up a review of t'le whole 
 "•round by citing the "ingenious" vohime, as lie pronoun- 
 ces it, published by Mr. Newhall, entitled "Letters on 
 Junius," in which the opinion is maintained that the 
 famous documents were from the pen of Lord Temple, 
 brother of George Grenvillc ; and upon critically exam- 
 ining the evidence presented by Mr. Newhall, decilares 
 his hypothesis "probable," saying in conclusion — "if it 
 is not the true one, it is certainly embarrassed with fewer 
 difficulties, than any which have come to our knowledge." 
 The influence of the examples I have enumerated, 
 heightening the preexisting tendency of the general in- 
 tellect and of the then counnercial character of the place, 
 which diflTused through the whole body of the people 
 knowledge derived from conversance with all nations in 
 all parts of the globe, reached the inmost recesses of 
 society, and was felt in every condition of life. The in- 
 spiration was caught by the young, and a bias towards 
 intellectual occupations, and a taste for the pleasures of 
 literature and science, early imparted to many minds. 
 In the opening decades of this century, the eye of a 
 prophet would have detected, in primary and preparatory 
 schools, and among the boys at play in our streets, 
 names now enrolled in the very foremost rank, in the 
 various fields of letters and science. In history — William 
 Hickling Prescott; the higher mathematics — Benjamin 
 Peirce; elegant literature in its most attractive depart- 
 ments — Nathaniel Hawthorne; botany and its kindred 
 branches — John Lewis Russell; magnetism, electricity 
 and chemistry — Charles Grafton Page; and podtry in 
 one of its purest forms — Jones Very. 
 
 ■- aMtM!flUWiilii(a.iittetb»B Wt tr •— 
 
'ive an opinion, 
 tide in the Kn- 
 ew of t'le whole 
 !, as he pronoun- 
 led "Letters on 
 itained that the 
 >f Lord Temple, 
 critically exani- 
 fewhall, dec'laros 
 nclusion — "if it 
 assed with fewer 
 our knowledge." 
 ave enumerated, 
 f the general in- 
 jter of the place, 
 y of the people 
 th all nations in 
 most recesses of 
 of life. The iii- 
 i a bias towards 
 the pleasures of 
 to many minds. 
 •y, the eye of a 
 • and preparatory 
 
 in our streets, 
 lost rank, in the 
 listory — William 
 latics — Benjamin 
 attractive depart- 
 
 aud its kindred 
 etism, electricity 
 ; and poetry in 
 
 'Ss^i^)i:.r> %i,i^xM >.s amjt ' iUwima m tbw" 
 
 The sketch now given, has been confined to Salem, 
 The theme is equally fruitful, if the field of view is 
 extended over the whole surface of this part of the com- 
 monwealth. I leave to others more competent to do it 
 justice, the grateful task of enumerating the strong 
 minds and characters, adorning the early annals of Ips- 
 wich in its original dimensions when the great court 
 town, Andover, Haverhill, the other towns on the Mer- 
 rimack, especially Newburyport in every stage of its 
 history, Lynn, Marblehead, and all over the county. It 
 can thus be shown that the elements of intellectual culture 
 were sown broadcast throughout the region, and that 
 ■ such characters as have now been enumerated, and as we 
 are preparing particularly to consider, are the sponta- 
 neous product of our soil. 
 
 The "Essex County Natural History Society" was in- 
 corporated in 1836. A young man, a native of our city, 
 engaged in business here as a bookseller, Benjamin Hale 
 Ives, inspired with enthusiasm as a naturalist, awakened 
 especial attention to the subject by articles in the news- 
 papers from his pen, continued from time to time until 
 the movement was effectually started. His early death, in 
 1837, was a great loss to science, and to the community 
 in all its interests. The first President of the Society 
 was Andrew Nichols, M. D., of Danvers, now Peabody. 
 He was born in 1785 and died in 1853. Learned in his 
 profession, and honored for his worth in all respects, hcf 
 had tastes and faculties that found their gratification in 
 philosophic pursuits — a dear lover of nature — of an 
 imaginative and poetic temperament, — flowers and trees 
 and the fields and forests they adorn, were to him, as he 
 wandered among them, things not only of beauty, but of 
 life. No one ever explored them with more delight or 
 
 *WESSS^^c^lS>^":3S?5w*.iai!3s«<il ■; 
 
40 
 
 studied them more thoroughly. In 1816, Dr. Nichols 
 gave a course of Botanical Lectures in Salem, and al- 
 ways delighted to communicate information, and awaken 
 interest in that department of knowledge. Zoology was 
 also one of his favorite subjects of observation and re- 
 search. He was naturally the chosen leader of those 
 engaged in these fascinating departments of science. 
 
 The "Essex County Historical Society" and the "Essex 
 County Natural History Society" were consolidated, un- 
 der the name of the "Essex Institute," in 1848. Judge 
 Daniel A. White was the first President. 
 
 The Essex Institute is the mature growth of the seed 
 planted here more than a century ago, on ground ready 
 to receive it, which came into full flower, in the cluster of 
 great minds adorning this community half a century 
 since, and whose ripened fruit will perennially and for- 
 ever, we trust, be gathered by all who reach forth their 
 hands to pluck it. Under the care and guidance of 
 devoted scholars and students, whose labors and lives 
 have been given to it, the Institute has become what it is. 
 Their services are appreciated and honored here and else- 
 where. While they, and he, so long their Secret: ry and 
 now their President, around whom they are encircled, 
 who toils for it by day and watches over it by night, 
 whose learning, science, resources and affections are all 
 merged in it, are here to listen, I must not name them. 
 The eulogist and historian, at a future— may it be a long 
 distant — day will have their memories in charge, and 
 then express the gratitude we now can only feel. 
 
 By the published volumes of its "Historical Collec- 
 tions" and "Proceedings," and the "American Naturalist" ; 
 its field meetings, and meetings for discussions, written 
 and oral, of matters of science, history and literature ; 
 
 Bj^eSi^^S'%fc^sr»r.^?^'s^'" 
 
 ■:^7- iA^i - i;^&. ^s^irT ^'tM^imsm. '# " 
 
Dr. Nichols 
 era, and al- 
 and awaken 
 Zoology was 
 tion and re- 
 ier of those 
 science, 
 i the "Essex 
 olidated, un- 
 848. Judge 
 
 li of the seed 
 [round ready 
 the cluster of 
 f a century 
 illy and for- 
 h forth their 
 
 guidance of 
 rs and lives 
 ne what it is. 
 ere and else- 
 lecretiry and 
 ,re encircled, 
 
 it b} night, 
 jtions are all 
 t name them, 
 r it be a long 
 
 charge, and 
 'eel. 
 
 )rical Collec- 
 i Naturalist"; 
 lions, written 
 id literature ; 
 
 its horticultural and other exhibitions ; ita already exten- 
 sive library of books, pamphlets and manuscripts, and its 
 invalual^le museum, the Institute has made an achieve- 
 ment, beginning to be universally recognized. In no 
 locality, in the country, has so much been accomplished 
 in exhuming and working the treasures of municipal, 
 civil, and personal history, and in bringing to light antiq- 
 uities and natural productions, as in this county. For 
 all this we are mainly indebted to the Essex Institute. 
 No writer can trace the origin and history of any of 
 our towns, or portray a passage of our annals, without 
 depending upon resources it has provided, while its explo- 
 rations are covering every department of natural objects 
 and phenomena. 
 
 I have endeavored to explain how the institution and 
 influence of an association, so efficient in its action, 
 and already attracting so wide a notice, can be accounted 
 for, as having been established and wrought to such vigor 
 in this comparatively small and suburban city. The per- 
 sonal memoir, I am now prepared to present, will exhibit, 
 in a particular instance, a striking result of the same 
 operative causes. 
 
 Lieutenant Francis Peabody emigrated to this country, 
 at about twenty-one years of age, from St. Albans, Hert- 
 fordshire, England, in 1635. He is stated to have first 
 settled in Ipswich, which then included, indefinitely, the 
 territory outside of the present limits of that town to and 
 beyond the Merrimack river. His name is found, as of 
 the grand jury, and on trial juries, from Hampton. As 
 that place was finally decided to be within the limits of 
 New Hampshire, and as he also desired to be "nearer 
 Boston," he sold his estate in Hampton in 1650, and 
 bought land in what is now Topsfield, on its southern 
 6 
 
 S;?335SES3^^S^T^^ 
 
 — **s5a^;sssr"':«P5?'^.5^ 
 
y 
 
 42 
 
 line, near Governor Eudicott's Ipswich River fai-m, where 
 he spent the remainder of his days. By his wife Mary, 
 daughter of Reginald Foster, he had fourteen children, 
 and died in February, 1698, at the age of eighty- 
 four. 
 
 His fourth son, Isaac, was born in 1648. The home- 
 stead was assigned to him. He died in 1726. 
 
 His eldest son, Francis, was born, December 1st, 1694, 
 bore the military title of Cornet, and lived in Middle- 
 ton, where he died April 23d, 1769. 
 
 His eldest son Francis, born September 21st, 1715, 
 was Deacon of the church in Middleton, and died there, 
 December 7th, 1797. 
 
 His sixth son, Joseph, was born December 12th, 1757, 
 and died January 5th, 1844. He was one of the most 
 eminent merchants of his day, carrying on a conunerce 
 that encircled the globe, and making this port the point 
 of arrival and departure of his richly laden fleet. His 
 eldest son, Joseph Augustus, born in 1796, was gradu- 
 ated at Hai-vard College in 1816, but commerce was the 
 profession of his choice. His position -aade him familiar 
 with the business, and he had the qualities enabling him 
 to t<XM the place of his father. The prospects of this 
 town, as connected with foreign trade and its maritime 
 welfare, were considered by the people as identified with 
 him. His y)ure and amiable character was recognized 
 and appreciated by all ; and deep was the sense of a great 
 public misfortune, when he was taken away, in 1828. 
 The day of his funeral, as I well remember, Avas one 
 of general mourning. The second son of Joseph Pea- 
 body, Charles, born December 8th, 1797, was drowned 
 August 10th, 1805. The third named Francis, born 
 July 14th, 1799, died in infancy. The fourth, also 
 
farai, where 
 
 i wife Mary, 
 
 len children, 
 
 of eighty- 
 
 The home- 
 ). 
 
 er Ist, 1694, 
 i in Middle- 
 
 21st, 1715, 
 I died there, 
 
 r 12th, 1757, 
 of the most 
 a commerce 
 port the point 
 u fleet. His 
 , was gradii- 
 lerce was the 
 ! him familiar 
 enabling him 
 ipects of this 
 its maritime 
 ientified with 
 18 recognized 
 use of a great 
 ray, in 1828. 
 iber, Avas one 
 Joseph Pea- 
 was drowned 
 Francis, born 
 fourth, also 
 
 43 ' 
 
 named Francis, was born December 7th, 1801, and is the 
 subject of the present memoir ; ho was of the fifth de- 
 scent from the founder of the family in America, and 
 bore his name. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of 
 the Rev. Elias Smith of Middleton. 
 
 At ten years of age he was placed in Dummer Acad- 
 emy, at Byfield, under the care of the Rev. Abiel Abbott, 
 D. I)., a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 
 1787, originally pastor of a church in Coventry, Con- 
 necticut, subsequently at Peterboro', N. H., and whose 
 last years were passed at West Cambridge, where he died 
 in 1859, at the age of ninety-four — one of the best of 
 scholars and of men, loved and revered by his pupils, 
 and honored by all in the varied scenes of his active ser- 
 vice. At about twelve years of age, young Peabody 
 was removed to Brighton, where he passed about four 
 years in a select private school, kept by Jacob Newman 
 Knapp, of the Harvard class of 1802 ; a man of eminent 
 reputation as a scholar and instructor, and especially 
 remembered, as such, by our elderly people. He opened 
 a school here more than sixty-five years ago, Jan. 1, 
 1803, which continued until 1811. Through his long 
 protracted life, there has been no failure of vigor or 
 activity, his physical and mental powers remaining wholly 
 unimpaired.* 
 
 Through his school days, and indeed from early child- 
 hood, Francis Peabody gave indications of the tendency 
 of mind that so strikingly marked his maturer years. He 
 was ever exercising his constructive faculties, making 
 miniature machines, trying experiments upon the ob- 
 jects and forces of nature within his reach, and occupy- 
 
 * Mr. Knapp died July 27th, 1868, at Walpole, N. H., aged ninety- 
 four years and eight months. 
 
44 
 
 ing all the hours, when free from regular and appointed 
 tasks, in contrivances, manipulations, and drawings. 
 
 His regular academic education terminated with his 
 residence at Brighton, and he returned to his home in 
 Salem. The prevalent direction of his thoughts, as just 
 indicated, disinclined him to the general exercises of 
 collegiate establishments. Their purpose is to take the 
 mind before it has received a controlling bias to any 
 particular branch of knowledge, and lead it through the 
 whole circle ; make it try all, survey the entire field, 
 and then select for its life-pursuit what it thus finds in 
 most affinity with its own special tastes and faculties. 
 He had found, by tendencies that could not be oven'uled, 
 and convictions that could not be called into question, 
 even in his earliest boyhood, in what path his mind was 
 designed to travel, and he entered upon it, at once. 
 More than this, his extraordinary activity and mobility of 
 temperament, made the thought of the slow routine and 
 measured pace of collegiate life quite repulsive ; and it 
 was wisely concluded not to enforce upon him the com- 
 pletion of his education, by residence in the ordinary 
 way, and for the usual time, at the university. He was 
 allowed, and enabled, to gratify his predilection for 
 scientific and mechanical operations at home ; and entered 
 at once, in his own way, upon chemical processes, and the 
 ingenious use of machinery and methods of operation ; 
 which, however, before long, were interrupted by a vio- 
 lent sickness in the form of typhus fever, that, for some 
 time, threatened his life, and from which he slowly recov- 
 ered. 
 
 For the purpose of fully reestablishing his health, a 
 sea voyage was deemed expedient, and he made his first 
 trip across the Atlantic. Early in the summer of 1820, 
 
40 
 
 d appointed 
 iwings. 
 ;d with his 
 us home in 
 »hts, as just 
 exercises of 
 to take the 
 bias to any 
 through the 
 entire field, 
 hus finds in 
 nd faculties, 
 e oven'uled, 
 ito question, 
 is mind was 
 it, at once. 
 1 mobility of 
 
 routine and 
 sive ; and it 
 im the com- 
 tlie ordinary 
 ty. He was 
 iilection for 
 
 and entered 
 isses, and the 
 f operation ; 
 ed by a vio- 
 bat, for some 
 slowly recov- 
 
 bis health, a 
 lade his first 
 mer of 1820, 
 
 when eighteen years of age, he took passage in one of his 
 fatlier's ships, the Augustus, to Bussia. She was com- 
 manded by John Endicott Giddings of Beverly; Jona- 
 than Flint was first mate, Oliver Thayer, second mate, 
 and Samuel Endicott, Jr., supercargo. The crew, as 
 was then almost always the case, was com])osed of young 
 men belonging to the place and neighborhood. Of 
 course all care was taken to provide everything that 
 would be agreeable or beneficial to a young person not 
 yet entirely relieved of the character of an invalid. 
 Among other things a goat was placed on board for his 
 special comfort and nourishment. The vessel, as usual, 
 made the northern passage, touching at a solitary rocky 
 islet, about half-way between the Orkney and Shetland 
 groups. The nearest land is Samburg Ness, the southern 
 extremity of the Shetlands, from which point its lofty 
 crags are visible. From the island itself nothing is in 
 sight, all around, but the dreary desert ocean. For what 
 reason I know not, nor can imagine, the place is called 
 Fair Island, and, as such, is put done on the maps. It is 
 four miles in length, and two and a half in breadth ; and 
 has but one harbor. Its inhabitants are excluded from 
 all cognizance of the rest of the world, except when, as 
 in this case, a passing vessel comes to, in their port. 
 This small desolate spot, alone and a-far-ofi*, in so high a 
 latitude, in the midst of a comparatively unfrequented 
 sea, whose wild storms almost throw their spray over 
 the whole island from shore to shore, has, of course, 
 but a small population, necessarily destitute of many 
 of the comforts of life. "Whenever the rare oppor- 
 tunity occiu*s, they gather upon the deck of the transient 
 visitor, and seek to get what they can ; and as they 
 have nothing to give in exchange, have naturally be- 
 
 tmm 
 
46 
 
 come inveterate beggars. The young passenger, com- 
 miserating their destitute condition, and moved by their 
 forlorn entreaties, parted with whatever he could possibly 
 spare of his stores and wardrobe ; and to one old man 
 who told a pitiful tale of the infirmities of his sick, 
 famishing, and aged wife, he relinquished his goat. This 
 circumstance, for which I am indebted to our esteemed 
 fellow citizen. Captain Oliver Thayer, is mentioned be- 
 cause it illustrates a trait of character, that may be fit- 
 tingly noticed in this connection, which Francis Peabody 
 exhibited through life. A more kind and obliging dispo- 
 sition never existed, as all, who have had occasion to be 
 its objects, gratefully remember. 
 
 When the vessel was lying at Cronstadt, Mr. Peabody, 
 accompanied by a son of the American Minister at 
 St. Petersburg, made an extensive tour into the interior 
 of Russia, visiting Moscow and other chief points of 
 interest. 
 
 Coming home, on her return trip, in the same vessel, 
 he devoted himself, with renewed health and zeal, to his 
 laboratory. The next winter he attended a course of 
 scientific lectures, at Boston, passing regularly over the 
 Turnpike, in all weathers. The next he spent, for the 
 same purpose, in Philadelphia, frequenting its scientific 
 rooms, especially that of Dr. Hare, with whom he formed 
 an acquaintance that soon assumed, and ever after re- 
 tained, the character of an intimate and mutual personal 
 attachment. 
 
 On the 7th of July, 1823, he was married to Martha 
 Endicott, of the seventh descent from the original Gov- 
 ernor of the Plantation. Her father, Samuel Endicott, 
 was born, as all his intermediate ancestors had been, on 
 the Orchard Farm. 
 
jnger, corn- 
 ed by their 
 uld possibly 
 ine old man 
 )f his sick, 
 goat. This 
 ur esteemed 
 antioned be- 
 may be fit- 
 cis Peabody 
 liging dispo- 
 casiou to be 
 
 [r. Peabody, 
 
 Minister at 
 
 ) the interior 
 
 sf points of 
 
 same vessel, 
 d zeal, to his 
 a course of 
 irly over the 
 Dent, for the 
 its scientific 
 tm he formed 
 ver after re- 
 tual personal 
 
 )d to Martha 
 )riginal Gov- 
 lel Endicott, 
 lod been, on 
 
 47 
 
 At every period of his life, while muinly occupied in 
 his favorite studies and pursuits, he was led by the extia- 
 ordinary activity of his nature, to participate with his 
 whole soul, in whatever was going on around him, in 
 social movements and local interests, that commended 
 themselves to his favorable judgment. About this time 
 his attention was given, with great enthusiasm, to mili- 
 tary matters, inheriting the true spirit of a New £ng- 
 lander, transmitted through his ancestors, who had borne 
 titles of honor in rural trainbands. He commanded a 
 battalion of Artillery, and was soon promoted to a 
 Lieutenant-Colonelcy, in that arm. In 1825, he was 
 transferred to the Infantry, as Colonel of the 1st Reg., 
 Ist Brig., 2d Div., Massachusetts militia. It was proba- 
 bly much owing to his energy and zeal in the service, 
 that the famous muster, and sham fight, well remembered 
 by our older citizens, took place near Tapley's Brook, in 
 what was then Danvers, on the 6th of October, 1826, in 
 which five regiments of Infantry, one regiment and a 
 battalion of artillery, and a battalion of cavalry took 
 part. Ten light companies were included in the force 
 brought into array on the occasion. The broad plains on 
 both sides of the old road to Lynn, at that point, afforded 
 favorable ground for evolutions, manceuvrings, display, 
 skirmishes, and battle. It was the last great affair of the 
 kind, under the old militia system, when the whole male 
 population, with limited exceptions, within the military 
 age, was enrolled and mustered. There was an entire 
 regiment from Marblehead and another from Beverly. 
 Of the scene exhibited that day I can speak, for I bore 
 part in it, as chaplain of Colonel Peabody's regiment. 
 He had provided me with sword, belt, sash, and the 
 chapeau bras then worn by commissioned, especiah'y 
 
 r5SSBi2SSKiss»^rai3SSiiKvt' 
 
 ■'.isamm 
 
 mim 
 
 iiiiMilllr- 
 
48 
 
 field and staff, officers, and sent a horse to my door. In 
 company with Charles Gideon Putnam, Assistant Surgeon 
 of the Regiment, now President of the Massachusetts 
 Medical Society, I sought a position on a neighboring 
 height. As we wore non-combatants and our services 
 would not be needed until casualties occurred, we thought 
 it best to be out of the reach of stray ramrods. The 
 whole ground was spread out to our view, and under a 
 bright, but tempered sun, it was worth beholding. An 
 uncounted multitude darkened the distant acclivities and 
 the level area all around outside of the lines. The roar 
 of artillery, the incessant rattling of infantry fire, the 
 clouds of smoke, the dashing onsets of trampling cavalry, 
 and the final desperate charge by bayonet and sabre of 
 the contending forces simultaneously along the whole 
 line, made the mimic battle complete. 
 
 Having exhausted the activities of a military life, it 
 had no charm left for Francis Peabody, and he forthwith 
 gave himself back to his predominating tastes, and to the 
 inexhaustible satisfactions they afforded him. Yielding 
 again, and now once for all, to the spirit of the place, he 
 renewed his philosophical and inventive operations, and 
 engaged in branches of business, manufacturing and com- 
 mercial, to which they led him; remaining always on 
 hand, however, to bear his jmrt in movements for the 
 general welfare. 
 
 I shall sketch his progress somewhat in the order of 
 time, but not undertaking to enter into details; that 
 would require many extended scientific treatises, and 
 explanations and illustrations altogether beyond allowed 
 limits on this occasion. 
 
 In 1826 he was mainly occupied in experiments, 
 studies, and calculations connected with the establish- 
 
y door. In 
 ant Surgeon 
 [assiichusetts 
 neighboring 
 our services 
 , we thought 
 arods. The 
 and under a 
 olding. An 
 iclivities and 
 . The roar 
 try fire, the 
 ling cavalry, 
 ind sabre of 
 ; the whole 
 
 itary life, it 
 lie forthwith 
 9, and to the 
 1. Yielding 
 bhe place, he 
 orations, and 
 ng and com- 
 ; always on 
 ents for the 
 
 the order of 
 letails ; that 
 eatises, and 
 ond allowed 
 
 jxperiments, 
 iie establish- 
 
 49 • 
 
 ment of a business ho long carried on, upon a large 
 scale, which has passed into the hands and is now con- 
 ducted by tlie "Forest River Lead Company." 
 
 Colonel Peabody was among the first to introduce the 
 system of miscellaneous courses of public lectures on 
 scientific and literary subjects, which has since been 
 developed into one of the most efficient agents in advanc- 
 ing the intelligence and general civilization of the people 
 of this country. On the 6th of November, 1827, the 
 Essex Lodge o. Freemasons in Salem voted to have a 
 series of literary and scientific lectures, which commenced 
 in January, 1828, and continued to May. Among the 
 lecturers were Thomas Cole, George Choate, Francis 
 Peabody, Jonathan Webb, Malthus A. Ward, and Ben- 
 jamin F. Browne. 
 
 About the same time the Salem Charitable Mechanic 
 Association appointed a committee to provide lectures 
 for the members and their families. On the 24th of 
 January, 1828, the introductory lecture was delivered by 
 Dr. George Choate, who was followed by Caleb Foote, 
 N. J. Lord, John Codman, J. T. Buckingham of Boston, 
 and others. 
 
 During the same season Colonel Peabody gave a free 
 course of public lectures in Franklin Hall, on the history 
 and uses of the Steam Engine ; and the next season he 
 gave a similar course, in cooperation with Jonathan 
 Webb, on Electricity, in Concert Hall. The display of 
 apparatus, in the course on Electricity, was extensive and 
 complete. The exhibition of machinery in connection 
 with the Steam Engine, provided at the cost of Colonel 
 Peabody, was finer and larger probably than any ever 
 presented in this country. People of all conditions were 
 attracted to the halls, and great interest awakened in 
 7 
 
 ft-# 
 
 ■•^SBSSWisKa&ssimiKXi^. 
 
r* 
 
 such subjects. Young men, espociftlly those in mechani- 
 cal employments, appreciated the opportunity, and all 
 were instructed. Among them, it may bo mentioned, 
 was Increase Sumner Hill, who is now, and long has 
 been, one of the most distinguished mechanical engineers 
 in America, and recognized as such by the government in 
 the commission he has held for many years, as "United 
 States Inspector of Steam Engines and Boilers." 
 
 These numerous lectures awakened, in the whole com- 
 munity, a sense of the value of knowledge and of the 
 importance of its diffusion, which, the very next year 
 took form in the establishment of Lyceums— that is, 
 permanent institutions, for the diffusion of knowledge, 
 by miscellaneous lectures— here and elsewhere through 
 the country. A full history of the proceedings, that led 
 to this result, is a subject that deserves, and will undoubt- 
 edly receive, a distinct treatment. I can only touch a 
 few points, such as particularly belong to, or are sug- 
 gested by, my subject. 
 
 Near the close of the year 1829, a notice appeared m 
 the newspapers calling a general meeting to be held at 
 Topsfield, for the purpose of establishing a County Lyce- 
 um. What the precise object or plan of those concerned 
 in the call was, could not be gathered from ifs terms. It 
 was understood, however, that it was designed to provide 
 for lectures to be delivered in that, or some other central 
 place, upon which the people of the county were expected 
 to attend. But it was obvious that an institution of the 
 kind could hardly be made to operate efficiently over so 
 wide an area; and much discussion arose touching the 
 proper manner of bringing the process of lecturing to 
 bear upon the people. The consequence was that a large 
 concourse of gentlemen of influence attended the meet- 
 
 t-^ 
 
e in mechani- 
 inity, and all 
 )o mentioned, 
 and long has 
 tical engineers 
 government in 
 PS, as "United 
 lers." 
 
 lie whole com- 
 ge and of the 
 ery next year 
 ums — that is, 
 of knowledge, 
 where through 
 sdings, that led 
 d will undoubt- 
 1 only touch a 
 », or are sug- 
 
 ce appeared in 
 ^ to be held at 
 a County Lyce- 
 those concerned 
 m if 9 terms. It 
 gned to provide 
 ae other central 
 y were expected 
 istitutiou of the 
 iciently over so 
 se touching the 
 of lecturing to 
 was that a large 
 mded the meet- 
 
 ing, which was held in the A« ademy Hall, at Topsfield, 
 on Wednesday, the 30th of December, 1829. I do not 
 rcinombor ever to have witnessed a more interesting and 
 enlightened assembly. Very animated, earnest and pro- 
 tracted debates took place, and it was finally decided by 
 a full, but close vote, that a County Lyceum, if formed 
 at all, ought to consist of delegates chosen in local 
 Lyceums to be previously established in the several 
 towns and villages. A committee was raised to prepare a 
 circular, u duty assigned to me, to be distributed widely 
 throughout the county, ft tting forth the advantages that 
 would arise from the organization of such institutions, at 
 all points where an adequate population existed ; and a 
 day was fixed for delegates, appointed as aforesaid, to 
 meet and form a County Lyceum. Among those acting 
 a prominent part, at the meeting in Topsfield, were 
 Bobert Rantoul, Sr. of Beverly, Rev. Gardner B. Perry 
 of Bradford, Rev. Leonard Withington of Newbury, 
 Rev. Henry C. "Wright of West Newbury, Dr. Jeremiah 
 Spofford of East Bradford, now Groveland, Isaac I'. 
 How of Haverhill, Rev. Charles C. Sewall of. Danveri, 
 and Ichabod Tucker, the Rev. James Flint, D. D., David, 
 Cummins, Elisha Mack, George Choate, George Wheat- 
 land, Francis Peabody, David Roberts, and Robert Ran- 
 toul, Jr., of Salem. A Lyceum had previously been 
 established in Beverly. The gentlemen who had at- 
 tended the meeting from other places, on returning to 
 their respective towns, immediately applied themselves 
 to carry out its resolves, and the result was the formation 
 of such institutions, in every large town, and populous 
 neighborhood in the county. 
 
 Such an entire change has come over the spirit of 
 society, since these institutions have been put into opera- 
 
 KHimamm^immi.'i 
 
 • ' jm'MiimwMimmiiaMUMitvM. ' imm'm 
 
>i- 
 
 ■88 
 
 tion, owing, I doubt not, very much to their influence, 
 that it is impossible for the present generation to estimate 
 or account for the excitement attending, or the resistance 
 made to their introduction. Great activity and energy 
 were required to bring the public mind to appreciate the 
 movement. In this place the end was accomplished by 
 the earnest enthusiasm of particular persons, among the 
 most zealous of whom was the subject of this memoir. 
 The comparatively early death of Robert Rantoul, Jr., 
 authorizes me specially to refer to him with the gratitude 
 due to his services on this occasion. He gave to the 
 cause the whole force of those faculties which subse- 
 quently commanded eminent distinction, among the pub- 
 lic men of the commonwealth and country, not only as 
 a politician and legislator, but in the higher fields of phil- 
 anthrophy and education. 
 
 On Monday evening, January 4th, 1830, a meeting 
 was held at the house of Colonel Peabody, at which the 
 following persons, of this place, were present: Daniel 
 
 A. White, Ichabod Tucker, A. L. Peirson, Malthus A. 
 Ward, Elisha Mack, David Roberts, N. J. Lord, S. P. 
 Webb, R. Rantoul, Jr., Eben Shillaber, G. Wheatland, 
 
 B. Tucker, Warwick Palfray, John Walsh, Benjamin 
 Crowninshield, Stephen C. Phillips, Jonathan Webb, W. 
 P. Endicott and Caleb Foote. After full and free con- 
 sultation, it was voted, on motion of Dr. Peirson, " that it 
 is expedient to establish an institution in Salem, for the 
 purpose of mutual instruction and rational entertainment, 
 by means of lectures, debates," &c. On the 11th of 
 January, a public meeting was held in the Town Hall to 
 promote the same object ; and on the 18th, at a meeting 
 in Pickering Hall, the Lyceum was formed, uud a Presi- 
 dent, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Correspond- 
 
) their influence, 
 
 ration to estimate 
 
 or the resistance 
 
 ivity and energy 
 
 to appreciate the 
 
 accomplished by 
 
 >rsons, among the 
 
 ; of this memoir. 
 
 ert Rantoul, Jr., 
 
 (rith the gratitude 
 
 He gave to the 
 
 ies which subse- 
 
 i, among the pub- 
 
 ntry, not only as 
 
 ;her fields of phil- 
 
 1830, a meeting 
 lody, at which the 
 
 present : Daniel 
 rson, Malthus A. 
 !^. J. Lord, S. P. 
 r, G. Wheatland, 
 Walsh, Benjamin 
 aathan Webb, W. 
 full and free con- 
 . Peirson, " that it 
 L in Salem, for the 
 tial entertainment, 
 
 On the 11th of 
 the Town Hall to 
 18th, at a meeting 
 ned, und a Presi- 
 tary, Correspond- 
 
 63 
 
 ing Secretary, and Treasurer, were chosen. At an 
 adjourned meeting, at the same place, on the 20th, a 
 Board of Directors was elected. These meetinsrs were 
 numerously attended, great interest was manifested, and 
 the elections, by ballot, were accompanied by a lively con- 
 test between the supporters of different tickets.* 
 
 Great difficulty was experienced in procuring a suitable 
 place for the public meetings of the society, and the 
 delivery of the lectures. Attempts were first made to 
 obtain permission to use the Town Hall. Two or three 
 regularly warned, and quite fully attended town meetings, 
 were held on the subject, and much discussion had, but 
 the application failed. The first lecture, by the Presi- 
 dent, Judge White, a very able perfonnance, the publi- 
 cation of which was immediately c".lled for, was delivered 
 in the Methodist Church, in Sewall street. A gentleman 
 from Andover, Samuel Merrill, Esq., who came all the 
 way to hear it, expressed the universal sentiment of those 
 who listened to, or have read it, in a well turned and 
 indefinitely self-multiplying compliment, when he thanked 
 the Judge at its close, and said in the fulness of his 
 cordial admiration, that he could not tell which had ex- 
 ceeded, his expectations, or the realization. 
 
 The society at once became so large that it was neces- 
 sary to find some other place of meeting, and the sub- 
 sequent lectures of the course were delivered in the 
 Universalist chur^^h. During the next summer a site was 
 
 ♦The officers elected, at the meetings of January 18th and 20th, 
 were as follows : — President, Daniel A. White; Vice President, 
 Stephen C. Phillips ; Recording Secretary, Stephen P. Webb ; Corres- 
 ponding Secretary, Charles W. Upham ; Treasurer, Francis Peabody. 
 
 Directors: — Leverett Saltonstall, George Choate, William Wil- 
 liams, Ruftis Babcock, Malthus A. Ward, Abel L. Peirson, Jonathan 
 Webb, Rufus Choate, Caleb Foote, John Moriarty. 
 
 iiiiiiik 
 
54 
 
 purchased and the Lyceum Building erected. Judge 
 White advanced the requisite funds and Colonel Peabody 
 was chairman of the building committee. In many re- 
 spects the structure was an improvement upon any before, 
 or elsewhere, erected for such purposes, and maintains 
 its reputation and usefulness to this day. The limited 
 dimensions of the site made it too small to accommodate 
 the whole body of members, who had to be divided into 
 two classes ; and the lecture, each week, was repeated on 
 the succeeding evening. For several years no compensa- 
 tion was asked by the lecturers, and the proceeds of the 
 sale of tickets soon cleared the property. No imder- 
 taking of the kind, or of any kind of associated enter- 
 prise, in this place, has been more successful, and the 
 value of the services of the first President, Daniel A 
 White, first Vice President, Stephen C. Phillips, and 
 first Treasurer, Francis Peabody, cannot be overstated. 
 There had been a few similar institutions elsewhere 
 before. That in Beverly has been mentioned. Bernard 
 Whitman, whose memory is deir to all who knew him, 
 and must be cherished forever by the friends of truth and 
 progress, had, in 1826, established what he called a Rum- 
 ford Institute, in Waltham, and there were one or two 
 others, in portions of Worcester and Middlesex counties. 
 But it may safely be said that the proceedings at Tops- 
 field and here, originated the institution as a difiusive 
 energy over the country at large. The very next winter 
 there was a legislative public meeting in the hall of the 
 House of Representatives, in the State House, at which 
 the Governor, Levi Lincoln, presided, for the express 
 purpose of promoting the formation of Lyceums through- 
 out the State, in its several cities, towns and villages. 
 They have now been in operation, all over the country, 
 
ted. Judge 
 nel Peabody 
 [n many re- 
 1 any before, 
 id maintains 
 The limited 
 iccommodate 
 divided into 
 I repeated on 
 10 compensa- 
 )ceeds of the 
 No imder- 
 ciated enter- 
 )ful, and the 
 it, Daniel A 
 Phillips, and 
 e overstated, 
 ns elsewhere 
 ed. Bernard 
 
 knew him, 
 
 1 of truth and 
 called a Rum- 
 B one or two 
 9sex counties, 
 lings at Tops- 
 as a diffusive 
 J next winter 
 he hall of the 
 use, at which 
 r the express 
 jums through- 
 
 and villages. 
 • the country. 
 
 ■,&sm^mm»>fmmmm w^ 
 
 V.:.,;.-,.. M 
 
 for well nigh forty years ; and it is for the philosophical 
 historian, to consider and estimate their bearings upon 
 the intellectual, social and moral condition of the whole 
 people. It cannot be questioned that they are a potent 
 engine to accelerate the civilization, and raise the level of 
 society. 
 
 The first two courses of lectures were as follows. No. 
 6 of the second course was delivered in the Lyceum 
 Hall, at its opening, and was especially prepared for the 
 occasion. 
 
 FmsT Course. 
 1880, by D. A. White.— The Advantages of Knowledge. 
 
 " JohnBrazer. — Authenticity of Ancient Manu- 
 scripts. 
 
 " Francis Peabody. — Steam Engine. 
 
 " A. L. Peirson. — Physiology. 
 
 - •' George Choate. — Geology. 
 ■ Thomas Spencer. — Optics. 
 
 Charles G. Putnam. — Nervous System. 
 • - *• Thomas Cole. — Astronomy. 
 
 " [d lecture by E. Everett, on a Workingmen's 
 
 Party, was read by Stephen C. Phillips]. 
 
 " Stephen C. Phillips.— Public Education, with 
 
 a sketch of the origin of public schools in 
 Salem. 
 
 " Henry Colman. — Human Mind. 
 
 " Joshua B. Flint, Boston. — Respiration. 
 
 » " " " -Circulation of Blood. 
 
 " " " " —Digestion. 
 
 Second Coubse. 
 
 1880, by RufUs Babcock.— Power of Mind. 
 
 " A. H. Everett, Boston.— Review of the con- 
 tinual progress of the iiiy>rovement of Man- 
 kind. 
 
 " AlonzoPotter, Boston.— Moral Philosophy. 
 
 " Malthus A. Ward. — Gardening. 
 
 1881, " Leonard Withington, Newbury.— Historical 
 ProbabUity. 
 
 1. 
 
 Feb. 24, 
 
 2. 
 
 March 3, 
 
 3. 
 
 " 10, 
 
 4. 
 
 " 17, 
 
 6. 
 
 " 24, 
 
 6. 
 
 " 31, 
 
 7. 
 
 April 6, 
 
 8. 
 
 " 13, 
 
 9. 
 
 " 20, 
 
 10. 
 
 27, 
 
 11. 
 
 May 
 
 4, 
 
 12. 
 
 (( 
 
 11, 
 
 13. 
 
 it 
 
 18, 
 
 14. 
 
 It 
 
 26, 
 
 1. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 1, 
 
 2. 
 
 (i 
 
 8, 
 
 8. 
 
 i< 
 
 16, 
 
 4. 
 
 <{ 
 
 29, 
 
 5. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 12, 
 
^ 
 
 V. 
 
 y: .*::-. V -- 56 
 
 6. Jan. 20, 1831, by Stephen C. Phillips.— The Influence of the 
 
 country and the age on tlie condition of 
 Mankind. 
 
 '* Henry K. Oliver. — Pneumatics. 
 
 "A. L. Peirson. — Biography of Dr. Jenner, 
 
 and History of Vaccination. 
 
 " Henry K. Oliver. — Solar Eclipse of 1831. 
 
 •' George Choate. — Climate and Its influence 
 
 on organic life. 
 
 " Charles W. Upham. — Salem Witchcraft. 
 
 (I (I i» " " 
 
 " Jonathan Webb.— Electricity. 
 
 « « «« «« 
 
 <« A. H. Everett, Boston.- French Revolution. 
 
 11 II II " " " 
 
 " Thomas Spencer. — Optical Instruments. 
 
 " Malthus A. Ward.— Natural History. 
 
 II It II " 
 
 " Francis Peabody. — Heat. 
 
 " StephenP. Webb.— Russian History. 
 
 " Edward Everett, Charlestown. — Political 
 
 Prospects of Europe. 
 
 ■ " Benjamin F. Browne. — Zoology. 
 
 ■ " Ruftis Choate.— History of Poland. 
 
 7. 
 8, 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 16. 
 17. 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 24. 
 
 " 25-26, 
 Feb. 1-2, 
 
 " 8-9, 
 " 15-16, 
 
 " 22-23, 
 
 Mch. 1-2, 
 
 " 8-9, 
 
 " 15-16, 
 
 '« 22-23, 
 
 " 29-30, 
 
 April 5-6, 
 
 " 12-13, 
 
 " 19-20, 
 
 " 26-27, 
 
 May 3-4, 
 
 " 10-11, 
 
 " 17-18, 
 " 24-26, 
 
 Before leaving this subject I desire to call attention to 
 the fact, that of the twenty-three gentlemen who took 
 part, as lecturers, in the first two courses, all but five 
 were our own townsmen. This was in accordance with 
 the original design of the institution, which" was to 
 develop materials existing among us, encourage home 
 talent, and, here especially, to keep in vigorous action 
 the transmitted love of knowledge. The rapid spread of 
 the system of public lectures, on a permanent footing, 
 very soon led to the formation of a new professional class 
 seeking employment at large. For some years past per- 
 sons of this description have almost exclusively been 
 called from abroad to lecture in our halls. I would not 
 discourage this ;;ractice by other associations, but respect- 
 
,\- 
 
 luence of the 
 I condition of 
 
 r Dr. Jenner, 
 
 !e of 1831. 
 i its influence 
 
 'itchcraft. 
 
 :h Revolution. 
 
 truments. 
 istory. 
 
 istory. 
 
 m. — Political 
 
 >land. 
 
 attention to 
 n who took 
 
 all but five 
 )rtlance with 
 lich was to 
 urage home 
 orous action 
 \\d spread of 
 lent footing, 
 issional class 
 rs past per- 
 isively been 
 I would not 
 
 but respect- 
 
 fully suggest whether it would not be well for the Salem 
 Lyceum to return to the original plan. If the Directors 
 should seasonably seek out young men, belonging to our 
 own community, and induce them to select subjects, with 
 the whole inteiTening period between the courses for re- 
 search and preparation , I am confident that elements enough 
 could be found in our midst to provide lectures from year 
 to year, that would renew the original interest of the 
 whole people, and, for all reasons, prove widely attrac- 
 tive. Let the experiment be tried. It would, I am quite 
 sure, lead to results in which all would be gratified, carry 
 still higher, from year to year, the standard of general 
 intelligence, and perpetuate the scientific and literary 
 reputation and preeminence of our city. 
 
 About the year 1833, Colonel Pcabody built the Paper 
 Mills in Middleton. Afterwards he commenced, on a 
 large scale, the business of refining Sperm and Right 
 Whale Oil, and the manufacture of candles. He also 
 erected Linseed Oil Mills at Middleton. In initiating 
 these various branches of business he carried out the re- 
 sults of experiments made in his private laboratory. Much 
 of the machinery, and many of the methods of operation, 
 in all of them, were derived from scientific works in his 
 library, and from the application of his inventive and 
 contriving faculties, under philosophical principles, to the 
 minutest as well as the most complicated details. 
 
 Early in 1837, he took a leading part in the prelim- 
 inary consultations that led to the establishment of the 
 Harmony Grove Cemetery. He presided at the first 
 public meeting, held in Lyceum Hr^U, February 24th, 
 1837, to promote the object. Proceedings were inter- 
 rupted for a time. At a public meeting, September 6th, 
 1839, he was made chairman of a committee to purchase 
 
 "awgijwawaiaa 'mm mmtrntmiimiami 
 
 mummMi 
 
 liAHiMnaEntasi 
 
 mmmutui Mimm i tMwMtmw 
 
58 
 
 the jjroiinds. On the 4th of October, 1839, a committee, 
 of which he was also chairman, was entrusted with the 
 superintendency of the work, and under its direction the 
 ground was laid out, with avenues and paths. He pre- 
 pared the model of the keeper's house ; and the rustic 
 arch and gate- way, at the eastern entrance, was planned 
 by him, and constructed under his immediate inspection, 
 combining all the solidity and simplicity that stone can 
 give, with a vestment of living verdure, ever thickening, 
 as the tendrils spread and clasp it, from year to year. He 
 is the first named in the Act of Incorporation, passed 
 February 19, 1840 ; and his taste, judgment, and active 
 service were appreciated by his associates throughout. 
 
 With the subject of architecture, in its character as a 
 science, he had made himself specially and thoroughly 
 acquainted by the study of authorities, and careful obser- 
 vations in his frequent and extensive foreign travels. In 
 what is called Decorative Architecture he had no superior. 
 The construction of his buildings, and the conveniences 
 and adornments of them, were all his own. The arrange- 
 ments, in detail, of his town house, display his unsur- 
 passed taste, skill, and genius, in this department. His 
 elegant seat at Kemwood, and the configuration and style 
 of the grounds, with all their embellishments, and all 
 their utilities, were from plans prepared by him. Some 
 articles of furniture were selected and purchased abroad, 
 but a large proportion of them, in each of his residences, 
 were from models devised, or drawings executed by his 
 direction, in his workshop, under his own eye, and to a 
 considerable extent, by his own hands. In many partic- 
 ulars of beauty, richness and convenience, they have 
 rarely been equalled. The ornamentation of the interior 
 of the North Church in this city — so much and justly 
 
 >tm^SM4SiSMMS^IK^'^ 
 
a committee, 
 ted with the 
 direction the 
 hs. He pre- 
 ad the rustic 
 
 was planned 
 ;e inspection, 
 lat stone can 
 r thickening, 
 ■ to year. He 
 ation, passed 
 it, and active 
 roughout. 
 Iiaracter as a 
 d thoroughly 
 lareful obser- 
 
 travels. In 
 1 no superior, 
 conveniences 
 The arrange- 
 ly his unsur- 
 rtment. His 
 tioD and style 
 ents, and all 
 
 him. Some 
 lased abroad, 
 is residences, 
 ecuted by his 
 jye, and to a 
 
 many partic- 
 e, they have 
 f the hiterior 
 ch and justly 
 
 S--*-eStS£^%'SiI 
 
 admired — walls, ceiling, orchestra, organ frame, gallery 
 and lights — was wholly designed by him, and executed 
 under his sole direction. 
 
 His Wind-mill, a skilfully planned and very ingenious 
 machine, upon novel principles, is much used in some of 
 the Western States. The entire structure revolves to 
 meet the direction of the "'re ' air. The fans, of 
 boards or plank, adjust tUeiA^selvt o the force of the 
 wind, and, in fact, the entire machinery works more 
 smoothly, steadily and equably, the stronger it blows. 
 One of them, on the estate at Kernwood, draws from a 
 well, at some distance, and a depth of sixty feet, all the 
 water used in that establishment. Another, a flour mill, 
 constructed on similar principles, but of much larger 
 dimensions, stands on the same premises. 
 
 The application of science to practical and useful arts 
 was not only the unwearied labor, but the happy enter- 
 tainment of his life. For only a few of his innumerable 
 improvements in this department did he procure patent 
 rights, and only in some of them prosecute the results of 
 his contrivances, in actual business operations for the 
 sake of emolument. From time to time many ingenious 
 cooperatives were employed by him, and have derived 
 benefits to themselves, in subsequent periods of their 
 lives, and in other spheres of action, from processes 
 wrought out in his laboratory and workshop, by his and 
 their joint labors, but at his expense. His habit was, 
 when a new subject of research, or the possibility of 
 effecting any particular improvement in the use of me- 
 chanical or chemical forces, occurred to him, to learn, in 
 the first instance, all that had been wi'itten or accom- 
 plished by others in the matter. He would send abroad 
 for the best and latest publications relating to it, and 
 
 :-■ T.'«c»a»!^isMP<lliMtMMiCMM 
 
60 
 
 procure, at any cost, all drawings, descriptions, or instru- 
 ments that Avould illustrate it. In this way be collected 
 a library and apparatus of tbe eboicest and most valuable 
 sort, and of tbe greatest variety and extent. After 
 studying the wbole subject, in the use of these means, he 
 would betake himself to his laboratory, and never weary 
 in experiments and operations until he had accomplished 
 the desired result, or become convinced that it was beyond 
 attainment. As soon, in any case, as the requisite condi- 
 tions were secured and the designed machine completed, 
 or the attempt found impracticable, he would turn to 
 some other project. The consequence is that he has left, 
 to be used by others, the fruits of his toils. His musical 
 instruments, for instance, constructed upon the most 
 ingenious principles, have never been put to use, or 
 brought before the public ; and the- melodeons and organs 
 constructed by him in the most finished, compact, simple, 
 economical and beautiful forms, adapted either to pipes 
 or reeds, in which the use of the fingers of the per- 
 former, or the hands of a blower, may be dispensed with, 
 are to be seen only in his own private manufactory. 
 They were the results of the studies, contrivances and 
 labors of his last years, and had just been completed. 
 
 He had no ambition to acquire celebrity as a man of 
 science, but only aimed to gratify his own miaJ in the 
 pursuit of knowledge, and to turn his experiments and 
 researches to practical and useful purposes. His active 
 devotion to philosophical enquiries and operations, did 
 not, however, escape observation. His zealous labors 
 were appreciated by all engaged in similar investigations, 
 and interested in scientific culture and advancement. A 
 quarter of a century ago he was elected a member of the 
 American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
 
US, or instru- 
 y he collected 
 most valuable 
 xteut. After 
 3se means, be 
 I never weary 
 accomplisbed 
 it was beyond 
 quisite condi- 
 le completed, 
 Duld turn to 
 it he has left, 
 His musical 
 ion the most 
 [t to use, or 
 Qs and organs 
 ipact, simple, 
 ither to pipes 
 J of the per- 
 spensed with, 
 manufactory, 
 trivances and 
 )mpleted. 
 ' as a man of 
 miaJ in the 
 eriments and 
 . His active 
 derations, did 
 ealous labors 
 Investigations, 
 .ncement. A 
 lember of the 
 
 BSiaBBiiTaS 
 
 01 
 
 In the course of his life, he made, I believe, no less 
 than eight visits to Europe, some of them quite pro- 
 tracted. In most cases his family accompanied him. 
 They were not made to escape from the tediousness of 
 life at home, or to conform with the fashion of people in 
 like circumstances with himself, but for purposes of 
 health, in the gratification of his active nature, and to 
 gather materials for the better development of his zeal 
 for scientific improvement. While abroad he was always 
 on the watch to find and explore whatever illustrated the 
 application of philosophical principles to useful arts, and 
 to keep up with the progress of mechanism. He was 
 recognized, as a familiar acquaintance, in the workshops 
 of ingenious artisans in all the great cities, and wherever 
 the processes of skill and ingenuity, in the analysis of 
 the elements of nature and the application of its capaci- 
 ties and forces, were carried to the highest exemplifica- 
 tion ; and he would come back to his own laboratory with 
 renewed enthusiasm, wider views, more enlarged knowl- 
 edge, and more earnest desires to turn to practical account 
 the discoveries of the age. 
 
 His attention, on one of these occasions, for instance, 
 while in Paris, was drawn to aluminium, and the proper- 
 ties it possesses. He procured a quantity of the metal 
 upon which to experiment on his return. Some time 
 after reaching home he carried a parcel of it to our 
 respected fellow citizen. Dr. J. E. Fisk, and gave it to 
 him, saying that it was susceptible of a use that would 
 revolutionize the art of dentistry. Dr. Fisk carried out 
 his suggestions, and aluminium is now generally used 
 everywhere, superseding silver, and from it lightness 
 preferable to gold. I mention this, not merely because 
 it shows how Colonel Peabody occupied his thoughts, and 
 
 Mt iHilliihiiliitlli'aWiii 
 
62 
 
 exercised his observation while abroad, and the free and 
 liberal use he made of the new ideas there obtained, but 
 also because it presents a singular instance of several 
 minds, placed beyond possible intercommunication, being 
 simultaneously led to the same discovery. When Colonel 
 Peabody made his communication to Dr. Fisk, he sup- 
 posed that the suggestion was peculiar to himself, and 
 they both took the matter in hand, of the application of 
 aluminium to the particular purpose conjectured, with all 
 the interest and earnestness attending an original experi- 
 ment. The Doctor found the result perfectly successful, 
 and introduced the great improvement into his practice. 
 But the next "Dental News Letter," the periodical journal 
 of that branch of the Medical Profession, contained an 
 article which showed that Dr. Van Denburgh, of Oswego, 
 New York, at the very time when Dr. Fisk was making 
 out of the lump Colonel Peabody had brought to him for 
 the purpose dental plates of pure aluminium, was doing 
 the same thing without any suspicion that the thought 
 had occurred to another person ; and it turned out that, 
 four years before, a patent had been granted in England 
 to a dentist there, for the same object, but that no 
 general publicity, at least out of England, had been given 
 to the improvement. We have hero, therefore, a case, 
 in which three minds, entirely separate from fct»ch other, 
 travelling over diflferent paths, came together at the same 
 point, in an application of scientific research, to a dis- 
 covery of gr'^s't practical importance. 
 
 At this point it may be most proper, as the review of 
 Colonel Peabody 's operations, in the search of scientific 
 truth, and in effectual applications of it in manufacturing 
 and commercial pursuits, is drawing U) a close, to insert 
 the following letters, addrfsssed to me, from persons 
 
 « 
 
M 
 
 the free and 
 btained, but 
 I of several 
 iation, being 
 hen Colonel 
 isk, he siJip- 
 limself, and 
 pptication of 
 •ed, >vith all 
 final experi- 
 Y successful, 
 his practice, 
 dical journal 
 iontained an 
 of Oswego, 
 was making 
 t to him for 
 I, was doing 
 the thought 
 led out that, 
 I in England 
 but that no 
 d been given 
 fore, a case, 
 I bbch other, 
 at the same 
 sh, to a dis- 
 
 he review of 
 of scientific 
 anufacturing 
 )se, to insert 
 rom persons 
 
 whose recollections specially enable them to speak upon 
 the sul)jcct : 
 
 "East, Boston, Mass., March 16, 1868. 
 
 Your note of the 14th Inst., In reference to my recollections of the 
 Bcicntlflc lectures of our late esteemed fViend, Francis Peabody, during 
 the years 1828 and 1829, is before me. 
 
 In reply, I can only state, that iit the time named, I was about 
 twenty -one years of age, and was be|Q;inning to be interested In the 
 Steam Engine, and in Natural Philosophy generally. A few years 
 previous to these dates, I became acquainted with Joseph Dixon (now 
 of Jersey City, X. J.), and witli him generally attended Mr. Peabody'a 
 lectures In Salem. At that time, being somewhat acquainted with 
 practical mcclianics, I was firequently employed by Mr. Peabody In 
 repairing or constructing some of bis apparatus, wliich embraced all 
 that Yias then known of the Steam Engine, Electricity, Pneumatics, 
 Hydraulics, Chemistry, etc., but Mr. Dixon was his right hand man, and 
 had the general management and manipulation of all Mr. Peabody's 
 apparatus during the progress of the lectures, thereby relieving Mr. 
 Peabody from making the experiments himself before the audience, 
 and giving Mr. Dixon the opportunity of manipulating, at which he 
 was an expert and entirely at home. 
 
 From my long acquaintance and unbroken Intimacy with Colonel 
 Peabody, I formed the opinion that he possessed a vast taad of theo- 
 retical knowledge upon all the subjects before named, and as a prac- 
 tical Chemist, he occupied the ffont rank. In his later years he 
 fi-equently ultlmated this knowledge In various kinds of manufactures, 
 which seemingly was the love of his life. He was ever of a genial and 
 happy disposition, and nothing gave him greater satisfaction than to 
 be able to answer any questions relating to these interesting subjects. 
 I am. Sir, most respectfully, 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 INCREASE 8. HILL, 
 
 U. 8 Inspector of Steam Vessels. 
 
 In a letter recently received in this city, from Mr. 
 Dixon, the gentleman referred to by Mr. Hill, he says of 
 Colonel Peabody, that he "had great love for chemical 
 and mechanical knowledge, and a high appreciation of 
 whatever seemed a step forward, in the practical appli- 
 cation of science to the arts." 
 
64 
 
 The following is from James Kimball, Esq., President 
 of the Salem Charitable Mechanic Associution : 
 
 " Salkm, March, 25th, 18A8. 
 
 Undcrntanding that you have accepted the Invitation of the Ennox 
 Inxtltuto to prepare a Men;olr of the late Colonel FrnuclH Peabody, 
 it has been suggested to me, that I give you my recollections of his 
 connection with the Introduction of popular lectures as a means of 
 liHtructlon, In the various departments of SclcntlHc Investigation. 
 
 In December, 1827, the Mechanic Association of Salem, appointed a 
 Committee to consider the expediency of inntltutlng a course of 
 lectures; at this time I was the acting librarian of the Mechanic 
 Library, and had t^ie opportunity of knowing the views of those most 
 interested in their establishment, and their report, favorable to the 
 proposed object, was baned upon the encouragement and cooperation 
 tendered to them by Colonel Peabody, who entered with all the enthu- 
 siasm of his nature into the work, and commenced the preparation of 
 a series of lectures on Steam, and Its application to the Mechaulc Arts. 
 
 The flrst series of lecttircs delivered by him was In the Franklin 
 Hall. They were practlc; , as well as experimental, and were Illus- 
 trated by his valuable and extensive working models. Some of his 
 Steam Engines were of sufficient power to run a common lathe. 
 
 I remember well that. In his Illustrations of the application of steam 
 as a motive power, he exhibited all the improvements, of any note, 
 that had been made up to that period, with working models of the 
 various Inventions fVom the earliest and simplest application of xteam 
 as a motive power, up to the later discoveries and inventions of Watt 
 and others. 
 
 It was understood, at that time, that no public Institution could 
 exhibit so varied and valuable a collection of working models as Mr. 
 Peabody possessed and used in the illustration of these lectures. 
 
 The next season he prepared a Course of Lectures on Chemistry, 
 Electricity, and Pneumatics, in which he was assisted by Dr. Jonathan 
 Webb, a practical chemist and apothecary of that day. These were 
 delivered in Concert Uall, on Central street, and were illustrated by 
 the apparatus of Mr. Peabody. In his lectures on Electricity ho used 
 a new machine constructed for himself, which was said to have been 
 the largest in the country; the glass plate wheel of which he had 
 imported flrom Germany, at great cost. I think It was stated to be 
 9l,G0O. 
 
 Colonel Peabody was admitted a member of the Mechanic Associa- 
 tion In 1833, and styled himself a manufacturer. 
 
., President 
 t : 
 
 , 26th, 18fi8. 
 
 n of the Essex 
 mcls Peabody, 
 lections of his 
 ns a means of 
 'cstlgatlon. 
 m, appointed a 
 { a course of 
 tho Mechanic 
 of those nioNt 
 v-orable to the 
 id cooperation 
 1 all tho enthu- 
 preparatlon of 
 Mechanic Arts. 
 D the Franklin 
 nd were lllua- 
 Some of his 
 >n lathe. 
 :atlon of steam 
 9, of any note, 
 models of tho 
 atlon of steam 
 ntlons of Watt 
 
 stltution could 
 models as Mr. 
 lectures, 
 on Chemistry, 
 y Dr. Jonathan 
 . These were 
 
 illustrated by 
 tricity ho used 
 I to have been 
 
 which he had 
 IS stated to be 
 
 ;haiiic Associa- 
 
 ,i>ai««i8SKSvS! 
 
 65 
 
 1 feel very confident that the intlaence of these lf>cture«, on the 
 young nit'chaulcs of thot doy, was productive of K^euter good than all 
 other sources of investigation and study which hud ever before been 
 opened to them, awnlcening and stimulating the mind by their ft-eshncss, 
 and by the practical application of principles which were new to them, 
 and but for the interest of tho lecturer In tho investigation of theories 
 as well as principles, and his desire to Impart to others whatever 
 interested himself, would have lost a part of their usefulness by being 
 hid from those who were most likely to be bcnelited. 
 
 I have fk-e(|uently, since that time, met those who attended these 
 early lectures, who have referred to them as being their Incentives to 
 flirther study and investigation ; and many of those who have distin- 
 guished themselves as master mechanics and Inventors, have attribu- 
 ted much of their success to the opportunities afforded, and the 
 inspiration given them, by the Interest taken In their instruction by 
 one who was desirous of imparting to others whatever his means and 
 advantages had enabled him to accomplish. 
 
 I hove thus presented to you my recollections of this period, and 
 feel very confident that I have not overstated, but have rather come 
 short of the fiicts. If they will aid you, In the learfC*'.X?^ are at your 
 service. 
 
 Our associate, Henry M. Brooks, clerk of the Forest 
 River Lead Company, lias kindly communicated the 
 following minutes : 
 
 " Colonel Peabody commenced the White Lead business somewhere 
 about 1826, in South Salem, where LaGrangc street now Is. In 1880, he 
 bought Wyman's Mills, now known as the Forest River Mills, which 
 were sold to the Forest River Lead Company, in 1843. Mr. Peabody 
 carried on the lead business until the latter date, and manufactured, 
 very extensively White Lead, Sheet Lead, and Lead Pipe. About 
 1833 he built the Paper Mills at Middletou, and made book and print- 
 ing paper of the very best quality, until he disposed of that property 
 In 1848. From 1883 to 1887 be sold largely to Gales and Seaton, the 
 celebrated printers and publishers In Washington. When Mr. Pret. 
 cott was about commencing the publication of his "History of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella," the first edition of which wm to be brought 
 out simultaneously in this country and in England, he sent for Mr. 
 Peabody and showed him his samples of English paper, and wae very 
 desirous to have the American copies equal, if not sup'Tk r, io the 
 English, and for that purpose contracted with Mr. Peabody to fbrnish 
 him with the paper. The quality of the paper, which Mr. Peabody 
 9 
 
66 
 
 manufactured expressly for this work, was very satisfactory to Mr. 
 Prescott, and was considered a very superior article, and probably 
 the best paper which could then have been made In the country. 
 Peabody's paper for blank books was well know!i among stationers 
 as the best in the market. 
 
 About 1836, Mr. Peabody commenced. In South Salem, the business 
 of refining Sperm and Whale Oil, and the manufacture of Sperm 
 Candles. In one year he purchased $100,000 worth of Sperm Oil, and 
 $50,000 worth of Whale Oil. His candles had a great reputation both 
 at home and abroad. He Imported the first braldliig machine and 
 made the first candles with the braided wick, then considered a great 
 improvement over the common wick. About 1837, Mr. Peabody built 
 Linseed Oil Mills at Middleton, and went largely Into the business of 
 making Linseed Oil, importing his flax seed from Europe and from 
 Calcutta. In order to procure larger supplies of seed he chartered, In 
 1841, the ship General Harrison, and the same year purchased the ship 
 Isaac Hicks, and the next year, the ship New Jersey. These vessels 
 he sent to Calcutta, and they returned to Salem with cargoes of Cal- 
 cutta goods, and great quantities of Linseed. When the New Jersey 
 arrived in Salem in 1843, it was said that she was the largest mer- 
 chantman that had ever discharged a cargo here. She registered 
 between 600 and 700 tons, and was a great carrier. The Linseed Oil, 
 like all the other articles manufactured by Mr. Peabody, was of the 
 best quality. At that time there was only one other Linseed Mill in 
 this part of the country, namely, that belonging to Mr. Stearns, at 
 Medford. 
 
 Mr. Peabody also shipped to London large quantities of Linseed Cake, 
 used extensively In England for feeding cattle. From this statement 
 It will be seen that Mr. Peabody at one time carried on the following 
 branches of business, namely. White Lead, Sheet Lead, Lead Pipe, 
 Linseed Oil, Sperm and Whale Oil, Sperm Candles and Paper, employ- 
 ing directly and Indirectly a great number of men. There were at one 
 time commission houses In New York and Boston employed almost 
 exclusively with his business. The well known firm of Chandler and 
 Howard, In Boston, may be mentioned as an Instance. To do the 
 same amount of business Mr. Peabody did when he was manufacturing 
 largely, would now probably involve a capital of over a million of 
 doUars." 
 
 Colonel Peabody's manufacturing and commercial oper- 
 ations in Linseed, described by Mr. Brooks, led him to 
 pay particular attention to flax, especially a valuable 
 
ry satisfactory to Mr. 
 article, and probably 
 made in the country. 
 )wn among stationers 
 
 ith Salem, the business 
 nanufacture of Sperm 
 arth of Sperm Oil, and 
 I great reputation both 
 braiding machine and 
 ten considered a great 
 1837, Mr. Peabody built 
 ely into the business of 
 from Europe and from 
 if seed he chartered, in 
 rear purchased the ship 
 Jersey. These vessels 
 im with cargoes of Cal- 
 When the New Jersey 
 e was the largest mer- 
 here. She registered 
 Tier. The Linseed Oil, 
 r. Peabody, was of the 
 I other Linseed Mill in 
 Ing to Mr. Stearns, at 
 
 intities of Linseed Cake, 
 , From this statement 
 :arried on the following 
 heet Lead, Lead Pipe, 
 Jles and Paper, employ- 
 len. There were at one 
 oston employed almost 
 7a firm of Chandler and 
 a iiistance. To do the 
 m he was manufacturing 
 U of over a million of 
 
 id commercial oper- 
 Brooks, led him to 
 pecially a valuable 
 
 !:i.-5^SS»i*-((i*<i.~.- ', 
 
 W^ 
 
 67 
 
 species of it, grown in Bengal. The plant there reaches 
 a considerable height, and its bark yields the finest and 
 longest strands. The lower part, or but-end, is quite 
 thick, the bark rough, containing irregular threads, of a 
 very short staple. Regarded by the natives as a refuse 
 portion of the shrub, it can be obtained of them at a very 
 low price. He procured some of these but-ends, and 
 went to work upon them in a building erected for the 
 purpose at Kernwood, until he had matured the requisite 
 machinery to disengage and straighten out the fibres, and 
 twist and weld them into continuous threads ; and finally 
 succeeded in producing, out of them, cotton bagging of a 
 superior quality. His factory for this purpose, and the 
 first of the kind ever contrived, recently established here 
 on a large scale, gives employment to a great number of 
 persons. The article wrought in it is called Jute, from 
 the name of the district in Bengal (Chotee) from which 
 the raw material is obtained. 
 
 His enterprise and liberality, stimulated by the lively 
 interest he felt in our local annals and antiquities, and 
 his reverence for the memory of the first settlers of this 
 place, took effect in one great service, never to be forgot- 
 ten, in the historical department of the Essex Institute. 
 It is a matter of record that, in 1670, the Meeting- 
 house of the First Church was superseded by a new one, 
 and that the old building, consisting of two parts, one 
 erected in 1634, the other an enlargement made in 1639, 
 was thereafter used for various purposes, and ultimately 
 removed from its original site. Tradition, supported by 
 a strong array of certificates from certain individuals 
 who had enjoyed favorable opportunities of receiving 
 information on the subject, and which had long been cur- 
 rent, pointed to a building owned by Mr. David Nichols, 
 
 •liSjNMMI 
 
 iiirnm»iifiwiwi>tiiti>irtri«ifi)iiiiin>iairriiiriri 
 
 ■iiMiiiiHNUiMlMaAnMiMt 
 
6S 
 
 standing on his premises, in the rear of the tanneries, 
 under the brow of Witch Hill, as the original part of the 
 primitive Meeting-house— that erected in 1634. It was 
 precisely of the same length, br >adth, and height, consist- 
 ing of a single room, with plastered walls and ceiling, and 
 a garret. It had been used for some time as a lumber- 
 room, but was in a state of decay that would not long 
 have allowed of its being serviceable even in that way. 
 The story was, that at an early period it had been occu- 
 pied as a wayfarer's inn, a stopping place on the original 
 road from Salem to Lynn; also the only one then 
 travelled between the interior and Marblehead. If it was 
 the veritable Meeting-house, it had, as we know, been 
 used, still earlier in its intermediate history, as a school 
 house. The subject was investigated by the Essex Insti- 
 tute. Mr. Nichols presented the building, and the Salem 
 Athenroum gave a site for it, where it now stands, in the 
 rear of Plummer Hall. Colonel Peabody, who, with the 
 late George A. Ward, had taken a leading icterest in the 
 matter, offered to assume the entire expense of the opera- 
 tion of removal and reconstruction. He proceeded, with 
 careful workmen, to direct and Duperiutend the process of 
 taking it to pieces. It was certain from expressions in 
 the record, that, when used as a Meeting-house, there was 
 a gallery at one end, of which, however, at this time, 
 there was no appearance, in the aspect of the room. 
 This cu-cumstance had introduced some perplexity and 
 thrown doubt over the whole subject. There were, how- 
 ever, two upright posts, of great size, equal to that of the 
 corner or mam posts, standing opposite to each other, 
 about one third f the distance from one end of the build- 
 ing, and an equally large transverse beam resting on their 
 tops. Why these posts, and the beam above the ceiling 
 
 
the tanneries, 
 lal part of the 
 1634. It was 
 leight, consist- 
 ad ceiling, and 
 
 as a lumber- 
 ould not long 
 n in that way. 
 ad been occu- 
 on the original 
 )nly one then 
 ead. If it was 
 ire know, been 
 y, as a school 
 he Essex Insti- 
 
 and the Salem 
 IT stands, in the 
 , who, with the 
 
 interest in the 
 36 of the opera- 
 )roceeded, with 
 i the process of 
 
 expressions in 
 louse, there was 
 r, at this time, 
 , of the room. 
 
 perplexity and 
 lere were, how- 
 al to that of the 
 1 to each other, 
 nd of the build- 
 resting on their 
 lOve the ceiling 
 
 ft9 
 
 connecting them, were placed at one-third instead of one- 
 half the distance in the length of the building, was the 
 question. At first it was thought to favor the supposi- 
 tion that there had been a gallery, which would have con- 
 firmed the tradition; for no other use than that of a 
 Meeting-house would have required, or allowed of, a 
 gallery. But there was not height enough, under the 
 rafters, and above the transverse beam, resting as it did 
 on the top of the upright posts and the plate of the 
 frame ; and this seemed to negative the idea that the 
 transverse beam was designed to support a gallery. The 
 upright posts had been coated over with some sort of 
 moi-tar and whitewashed. Upon breaking and picking 
 it off, the original mortices were revealed a few feet be- 
 low the ceiling, exactly of the size to receive the tenons 
 of the transverse beam, with a shoulder in the upright 
 post at the same point, so that the bearing should be not 
 only upon the tenons, but upon the body of the posts and 
 beam. In knocking away the plaster from the plate, or 
 transverse beam, at the nearest end of the building, 
 grooves were found fitted to receive the upper ends of 
 the joists upon which the floor of the gallery was laid. 
 It seems that when the building was converted to the use 
 of a school room, or when used for any other purpose, 
 the gallery, being found an obstruction and incumbrance, 
 w.'is put out of the way, by raising the front beam on 
 which it fested up to the top of the posts, and a clear 
 ceiling spread under it. No discovery in astronomy, 
 electricity, or other field of science, or search of antiqua- 
 rian, was ever received with more enthusiastic gratifica- 
 tion, than filled the minds of all engaged in the work 
 when these mortices and grooves were brought to light. 
 So much as was undecayed of the timbers and rafters, 
 
70 
 
 was put up, on the new site, with new material to supply 
 what had mouldered away, and the building stands com- 
 plete again. 
 
 The manner in which the whole thing was done, the 
 carefulness and good judgment with which the half-per- 
 ished old structure was taken down and removed, and 
 the thoroughness and exactness with which it has been 
 restored, attest the skill, energy, liberality, public epirit, 
 and reverence for the First Fathers of our country, which 
 marked the character of our late President. The vener- 
 able building, thus rescued from farther decay, standing 
 on ground contiguous to his own garden, and near the 
 scene of his scientific explorations and experiments, may 
 well be regarded as his monument. As a relic of our 
 American antiquity it is unique and precious, endeared 
 by sacred associations to the hearts of Patriots and 
 Christiap'?. In former ages, tens and himdreds of thou- 
 sands of pilgrims flocked, year after year, from the whole 
 catholic, which was then the whole European, world, to 
 pay devout homage to what was believed by them to be 
 the house in which the mother of the Saviour dwelt. Here 
 is our Loretto, and this the Santa Casa, to be visited by 
 all, in coming ages, and from foreign lauds, who share in 
 the enlightened interest, ever deepening and spreading 
 as civilization advances, that consecrates the memory of 
 the founders of the free institutions of the New World. 
 
 Daniel A. White, the first President of the Essex In- 
 stitute, continued in office until his death in 1861. Asahel 
 Huntington, who succeeded him, retired in 1865; and 
 Francis Peabody was, in the same year, elected to the 
 office. Soon after he visited England and the continent. 
 At this time he undoubtedly communicated to his kins- 
 man, George Peabody of London, a full account of the 
 
 lU. 
 
 mm 
 
 m^m 
 
71 
 
 rial to supply 
 g stands cum- 
 
 v&a done, the 
 
 the half-per- 
 removed, and 
 h it has been 
 
 public epirit, 
 
 lountry, which 
 
 The vener- 
 
 ecay, standing 
 
 and near the 
 eriments, may 
 1 relic of our 
 ous, endeared 
 
 Patriots and 
 dreds of thou- 
 rom the whole 
 san, world, to 
 3y them to be 
 r dwelt. Here 
 ) be visited by 
 , who share in 
 md spreading 
 he memory of 
 New World, 
 the Essex In- 
 
 1861. Asahel 
 in 1865 ; and 
 elected to the 
 the continent, 
 ed to his kins- 
 account of the 
 
 history, condition, and usefulness of the Institute. A 
 warm friendship had long been cherished between him 
 and the Great Philanthropist, who reposed entire con- 
 fidence in his character and judgment, and was therefore 
 disposed to enter heartily into his views ; and our society 
 was included within the scope of that noble scheme of 
 munificence which has showered such unparalleled bene- 
 factions upon Europe and America.* The endowment of 
 the Peabody Academy has placed the scientific part of the 
 Essex Institute on a foundation that secures its permanent 
 preeminence as a School of Philosophy and the Arts. 
 The historical department, at the same time, has been 
 relieved of a large portion of its burden, and indirectly 
 benefited in various ways. It has, thus far, been sus- 
 tained by the devoted zeal of uncompensated laborers, and 
 the friendly influence of an appreciating community. It 
 will continue its great work in the same spirit and with 
 the same support. Its claims will meet the response of a 
 grateful public; generous hearts will warm towards it, 
 and benefactors be raised up to carry it onward ; so that 
 we may now feel sure that ultimately the hopes and 
 prayers of the first colonists here will be realized. We 
 shall not, indeed, have a college, but we shall have an 
 institution that, in its proper sphere, will bear the charac- 
 ter of a University. The application of philosophy to 
 life, and the elucidation of our early history, will reach 
 a point not elsewhere surpassed. The Peabody Academy 
 of Science, and the Essex Institute, working side by 
 
 * George Peabody, of London, is a descendant of John, who was 
 bori; in 1642, the eldest son of the founder of the family in America, 
 the flrst f rancis. John's third son, David, was born in 1678. EUs 
 third son, David, was born in 1784. His second son, Thomas, was 
 bom in 1762. His fourth son, Georqe, was born February 18th, 1795. 
 
 .,i^!«m»^*^ 
 
Ill' 
 
 ill 
 
 7f 
 
 side, or consolidated into a grand scheme of knowledge, 
 combining the highest classic titles over given to seats of 
 learning, the "Peabody Academy of Science and the 
 Essex Institute of Natural and Civil History," will make 
 this another Athens. The fact that one man, our lamented 
 President, was, at the head of both the Academy and the 
 Institute, foreshadows this happy consummation. 
 
 Colonel Peabody had strong family and domestic affec- 
 tions. The death of a beloved daughter, on the 12th of 
 December, 1866, produced a shock from which he never 
 recovered. She was worthy of the love and admiration 
 with which all who knew regarded her, and was endeared 
 to her father by earnest and active sympathy in his 
 favorite pursuits, and by embellishments given to his 
 works by her refined taste, and delicate pencil. She died 
 away from home ; and the intelligence came unexpectedly 
 upon him. Although he bore it with manly firmaess, and 
 the devout submission of a christian, it could not fail to 
 be noticed that his spirit never fully rose again to its 
 accustomed buoyancy. The blow reached the vital centre 
 of his being, and the effect on his general health soon 
 became quite manifest. It was followed, on the 20th of 
 January, 1867, with a slight apoplectic attack, which was 
 repeated on the 2d of September. 
 
 After the death of his daughter I had a long conversa- 
 tion with him, in which he laid bare before me the senti- 
 ment of his soul under the bereavement ; and I can truly 
 say that I have never witnessed a stronger manifestation 
 of the resignation and faith, that are the highest and last 
 attainments of a follower of the Saviour. His spirit 
 bowed in humble but elevated recognition of the Provi- 
 dence that orders and numbers our days, and ^as sus- 
 tained by the consolations and reflections that will come. 
 
 ■:3^;::: 
 
 '^^^^M4i^i^6iimi^:i^-i^)ii%i.&lifSsi'^thiXxAi^S^^^W7-- 
 
)f knowledge, 
 en to seats of 
 ence and the 
 ry," will make 
 , our lamented 
 idemy and the 
 ation. 
 
 lomestic affec- 
 on the 12th of 
 hich he never 
 ,nd admiration 
 I was endeared 
 mpathy in his 
 1 given to his 
 icil. She died 
 3 unexpectedly 
 y fii'mness, and 
 uld not fail to 
 je again to its 
 the vital centre 
 al health soon 
 on the 20th of 
 ack, which was 
 
 long conversa- 
 ) me the senti- 
 and I can truly 
 L* manifestation 
 ighest and last 
 ur. His spirit 
 1 of the Provi- 
 , and "was sus- 
 ;hat will come, 
 
 78 
 
 under such an afflicll. a, bringing pen^e to a believing 
 and thoughtful mind. 
 
 About the time of the announcement of the donation 
 by hia friend and kinsman for the advancement of science 
 among us, in developing some of his views as to its 
 proper application, he expressed to me the expectation 
 that he should not live long, and might at any moment be 
 taken away. He spoke on the subject with perfect calm- 
 ness, and in a manner to convince me that his thoughts 
 and views had been brought to a state of perparation for 
 the summons whenever it should come. He entered 
 particularly upon the consideration of such an event in 
 connection with his plans as charged with the trust of 
 organizing the Academy in accordance with the purposes, 
 and fulfilment of the wishes, of its illustrious founder. 
 This led to general remarks on the subject of death, 
 especially if it should suddenly come, and he expressed 
 the idea, that he felt no anxiety, and allowed himself to 
 indulge no preferences, as to the time or mode of its 
 occurrence, but experienced entire relief in leaving all to 
 a Providence that was infinitely wise and benignant. I 
 was much impressed with the seriousness, sincerity, per- 
 fect acquiescence of spirit, and devout submission to the 
 Divine will, he manifested throughout. His instincts 
 were religious, and had ever been cherished by reflec- 
 tion, and strengthened by habit. The sentiments he 
 expressed were evidently such as he had long entertained, 
 of the willingness and readiness, with which every child of 
 God ought to commit life and events to the disposal of 
 The Father. 
 
 During the month of October he continued to fail. On 
 the afternoon of the 29th, when standing at the window 
 of his chamber, looking out upon the cold and blustering 
 
 10 
 
 rt'S'^f^^^^^^'A ' At^'y* 
 
 u^^ ^T 
 
74 
 
 autumnal air, and following the foliage, falling from the 
 branches that had sustained its life, blown hither and 
 thither, and strown on the ground, he said, "we do all 
 fade as a leaf," and immediately turned to his bed. He 
 fell, at once, into a quiet and gentle sleep from which he 
 never awoke in the body. Not a pang, nor a struggle, 
 nor a movement, told when his spirit passed away. His 
 death, only indicated by his ceasing to breathe, was in the 
 evening of the Slst of October, 1867. 
 
 In looking over the memoir that has now been pre- 
 sented, justice requires me again to state, that it is but 
 a cursory and quite imperfect enumeration of the scien- 
 tific and mechanical operations in which the life of Francis 
 'Peabody was employed. Fully described, they would 
 require a minute technical analysis such as only persons 
 particularly conversant with such subjects could present ; 
 and ranging, as they do, over so many distinct depart- 
 ments, demand separate treatises. In the course of the 
 narrative many traits of his character have incidentally 
 been given. Some general views of it may properly be 
 offered in conclusion. 
 
 Colonel Peabody was a business man of marked energy, 
 exactitude and capacity. As a manufacturer and mer- 
 chant his transactions showed sagacity, prudence, and 
 intelligence. Like all his other engagements, they were 
 suggested and guided by his predominating taste for 
 scientific pursuits, and the knowledge thus acquired. 
 His business operations were illustrations, on a large 
 scale, of the application of philosophy to practical ob- 
 jects. His experiments and studies were, in one sense, 
 kept in subordination to his business, and never allowed 
 to occupy his time or engross his thoughts, to the dis- 
 advantage of any important interests in which he was 
 
75 
 
 illing from the 
 wn hither and 
 id, "we do all 
 ) his bed. He 
 from which he 
 nor a struggle, 
 jed away. His 
 ithe, was in the 
 
 now been pre- 
 , that it is but 
 n of the scien- 
 B life of Francis 
 ad, they would 
 as only persons 
 could present; 
 distinct depart- 
 B course of the 
 ive incidentally 
 nay properly be 
 
 marked energy, 
 iturer and mer- 
 
 prudence, and 
 lents, they we)"e 
 lating taste for 
 
 thus acquired, 
 ns, on a large 
 to practical ob- 
 !, in one sense, 
 d never allowed 
 hts, to the dis- 
 1 which he was 
 
 « oncerned. Although all but profuse iii the e.xpenditure 
 of money in the prosecution of investigations, he was 
 never wasteful, inconsiderate, or careless ih its use. He 
 exercised his own judgment in the application of his 
 means, made his outlays in such directions as he saw iit, 
 and could not easily be drawn upon by inducements, ad- 
 dressed to the love of applause or popularity. His own 
 idea of the methods in which he could best promote the 
 public welfare ruled his conduct. In concluding a bar- 
 gain or a purchase of any kind, he was not to be imposed 
 upon, and, in no degree, did his enthusiasm in favorite 
 pursuits detract from his vigilance or caution as a busi- 
 ness man. He was as thorough, skilful and extensive a 
 merchant, as if commerce had been his only employment. 
 For some years before his death he managed a trade, and 
 owned a tonnage, equal to that of his father, when the 
 ships of that great merchant frequented every port of the 
 Altantic shore of Europe from the Baltic to Gibralter, 
 around the Mediterranean, and in both the Indies. And 
 what was most extraordinary, with all his ships, cargoes, 
 manufactures, building houses, embellishing estates, ex- 
 periments in the laboratory, operrtions in the workshop, 
 and the study of authorities from the shelves and cases of 
 his library, he was, as much as any man among us, on 
 hand to participate in local interests or social movements, 
 ready to attend to any call for consultation or coopera- 
 tion, and apparently at leisure to enjoy intercourse, or 
 engage in conversation, with any one at any time. Al- 
 ways busy, but never in such a hurry that he could not 
 stop to converse with friends or townsmen, as met by the 
 way — with time to spare for all the demands of family, 
 neighborhood, or society. The activity and elasticity of 
 his faculties never failed. His inexhaustible spirits sup- 
 
 f 
 
76 
 
 piicd both mind and body with inexhixiistible strcngtli. 
 He was novcr known to be tired, and did not seem to 
 need reat. His business and his amuscnients wore so 
 organized that they never interfered with each other. His 
 multifarious engagements were so methodized that he 
 could, wiienever he chose, fly aAvay from them; but pres- 
 ent or absent, his business went on, his vessels kept under 
 sail, and the wheels of his mills continued to revolve. 
 Few men have done more work, and few have found more 
 gratitication outside of what is ordinarily called work. 
 In this respect he was remarkably successful in solving 
 the problem of life. He experienced an equal exhilara- 
 tion, in meeting its obligations and enjoying its pleasures. 
 He turned its labors into pleasures, and kept the heart in 
 sunshine however dark the cloud over head. " 
 
 He must be allowed to have been one of the most use- 
 ful persons we have ever had among us. The period of 
 his activity in the affairs of society embraced nearly half 
 a century, and, from first to last, he spread activity 
 around him. The various industrial enterprises he 
 started, the iustitutious of usefulness he helped to estab- 
 lish, and the numbers he brought into employment in 
 several departments of business and labor, constitute an 
 aggrc ^ate scarcely to be estimated, and not often to be 
 traced to one originating mind. At the time of his death, 
 and for many years before, it is probable that, at least 
 three hundred persons were profitably occupied in carry- 
 ing on his business by sea and by land, in trades, arts, 
 labors, and handicraft of all sorts. And it is observable 
 that the employments he thus opened will continue to 
 dill'use their benefits and privileges to countless numbers 
 indefinitely ; for experience has shown that his enterprises 
 were the result of good judgment and stand the test of 
 
ibie strength. 
 I not seem to 
 KMits wore 80 
 ch other. His 
 ;lized that he 
 em ; but pres- 
 els kept under 
 id to revolve, 
 ve found more 
 called work, 
 iful in solving 
 iqual exhilara- 
 f its pleasures. 
 3t the heart in 
 
 the most use- 
 The period of 
 3ed nearly half 
 pread activity 
 snterprises he 
 Iped to estab- 
 mployment in 
 , constitute an 
 ot often to be 
 le of his death, 
 that, at least 
 iipicd in carry- 
 in trades, arts, 
 , is observable 
 ill continue to 
 itless numbers 
 his enterprises 
 nd the test of 
 
 77 
 
 time. The machines ho improved and constructed, the 
 processes ho introduced, the manufactures he set in 
 motion, lead works, paper oil and jute mills, some of 
 them passed into other hands, are still, and probably 
 always will be, in vigorous and prosperous action. The 
 buildings he erected or embellished, the lecture-room he 
 designed, like his stone arch at Harmony Grove, have 
 durability impressed on them, survive their constructor, 
 and bid fair to survive the lapse of generations. 
 
 He was a good citizen in all respects, regarding with 
 interest the advancement of society, and retaining to the 
 end a disposition to aid in all eiitcrprisos that commended 
 themselves to his judgment. While always ready to act 
 with others, he was tjften in u minority upon local as 
 well as national questions, but he loved the people and 
 rejoiced in their prosperity and happiness. He was a 
 true patriot. Nothing could wean him from attachment 
 and devotion to his country. No extent of what he 
 might have thought mal-administration : no defeat of the 
 parties to which he may have belonged, whether based 
 upon questions of policy affecting the general govern- 
 ment of the Union, or on state or municipal affairs ; no 
 amount of supposed error or wrong in the temporary 
 phases of society ; none of the trappings of foreign courts 
 or seductions of foreign travel ; neither the pomp nor 
 pageantry elsewhere seen, nor the glitter which wealth, 
 like his, in other forms of society enables its possessor to 
 command, could estrange him from che land of his birth 
 or the home of his fathers. While abroad he gloried in 
 and yearned for his. country, and came back, each time, 
 with a conviction that there was no country like his own, 
 and no spot, in that country, better than this to live in, 
 and die in. His conviction that our institutions are 
 
78 
 
 loundcd ill truth aiitl rif?ht, uiid his t'tilth in their perpe- 
 tuity, were never shaken, and lii» vision of the future 
 glories of America never grew dim. 
 
 Few men liave been more free from pride or pretension, 
 in spirit or manners. The riches he liad inherited and 
 actiumulated, did not lift him out of the community, or 
 estrange him from the sentiments, ways, or company of 
 the common people. He talked and acted with them as 
 an equal. To this admirable trait of his character a 
 cloud of witnesses could be raised from every position in 
 society, and in every stage of his life. Such a man was 
 a true republican, to whatever party he belonged. 
 
 His private character, from the beginning to the end of 
 life, waa irreproachable. No taint ever sullied the purity 
 of his sentiments. Neither fashion nor folly undermined 
 the integrity of his principles. He was a temperate, 
 exemplary, ingenuous, and honest man. The utterances 
 of his lips, as well as the habits of his life, were always 
 under the restraints of propriety. He respected all that 
 was excellent, and reverenced all that is sacred in 
 humanity. His thoughts were innocent, his aflections 
 kind, and his faith in man and in God immovable. He 
 appreciated the value of religious institutions, and re- 
 posed, with steadfast fidelity, on his religious convictions. 
 He allowed no vain speculations or casual annoyances, to 
 cast a shadow on the path that leads the christian heart to 
 the service and worship of God. 
 
 The example, that has now been contemplated, presents 
 a moral, which I would leave pai-ticularly impressed on 
 every mind. 
 
 "The vanity of human wishes" is not the morbid com- 
 plaint of a melancholy temperament. It is a solemn 
 verity. Failure to realize mere worldly happiness is the 
 
 '4^^jmi»ti*i,M^t<Si:SSxi:ii. - 
 
I their perpcv 
 )f the futuio 
 
 or pretension, 
 inliorited uud 
 ominunity, or 
 r company of 
 with them as 
 8 character a 
 ry position in 
 ich a man was 
 •ngod. 
 
 ' to the end of 
 led the purity 
 y undermined 
 
 a temperate, 
 ['he utterances 
 , were always 
 pected all that 
 
 is sacred iu 
 his atlections 
 movable. He 
 tions, and re- 
 18 convictions, 
 innoyauces, to 
 ■istiau heart to 
 
 lated, presents 
 impressed on 
 
 ! morbid com- 
 t is a solemn 
 ppiness is the 
 
 79 
 
 IcHHon taught by universal oxporionco. The fact that this 
 lesson 18 never received, ia the mystery and enigma of 
 life. Wo toil and struggle with ever unabated eagerness 
 for what, upon clutching it, always proves an illusion. 
 We find it to he a shadow but pursue it still. To an eye, 
 looking down upon the sublunary scone, what a strange 
 spectacle is presented in the whole race of man absorbed 
 in this always baffled effort, this never ceasing, ever fruit- 
 less chase. Wealth, it is thought certain, will place in 
 our hands the embellishments and blessings of life, and 
 secure perpetual contentment. We gain it ; but elegant 
 mansions and overflowing incomes, leave the soul poorer 
 than before. Existence, desire accomplished, becomes a 
 burden ; and we sink into dreary duiness, or fly to other 
 al)odes, which in turn soon grow wearisome ; again we 
 shift the scene, and wander without rest and without a 
 home. Ambition contends for the prizes of public station. 
 They may all be won, and the successful aspirant left the 
 most dissatisfied citizen of the state. The young king 
 of Macedon sighed for universal dominion ; and entered 
 upon a career to attain it, crowded Avith more success 
 than ever reached before or since ; but at its close, when 
 the whole world, subjected to his victorious arms, was at 
 his feet, wept for other worlds to conquer. The Hebrew 
 monarch surveyed his riches and splendors and luxuries 
 and glories, and revealed to himself the utter emptiness 
 of them all — "vanity of vanities — all is vanity." The 
 history of the ages confirms the teachings of our own 
 observation and experience, and stamps disappointment 
 upon the fulfilment of earthly hopes. 
 
 When Francis Peabody had reached the age of man- 
 hood and become the head of a household, he was in 
 possession of all the happiness that can bo desired or 
 
 ei?:iaSSi^AV 
 
80 
 
 imagined, and it lasted through life. Why this exemp- 
 tion Irotn the lot of humanity? Because his faculties and 
 aspirations had early opened and entered upon a field, 
 outside of, and above, the sphere in which enjoyment is 
 • ordinarily sought. In the pursuit of knowledge, in forms 
 that included the ever exhilarating activities of the intel- 
 lect, he f'^uP'^. tue elixir whose infusion in his cup kept it 
 from palling on his lips. 
 
 Let every young man, especially let those in the posses- 
 sion or the acquisition of fortune, secure a like refuge, by 
 choosing some department of science, philosophy, literal- 
 ture, or art, and make it a recreation amidst the toils of 
 business, and a refreshment when other objects lose their 
 zest. He who adopts this course, will have, ever after, 
 no void in his heart, no weariness in his hours. His 
 labors will all be lightened, his joys will retain their 
 relish, contentment and cheerfulness will crown his days. 
 The elasticity of his spirits, and the enthusiasm of his 
 youth, will continue unimpaired to the end. 
 
 The foregoing Memoir was read at a meeting of the Essex Insti- 
 tute, July 18, 1868, the President, Dr. Henry Wheatland, in the cliair. 
 At its conclusion, Hon. Asahel Huntington, Ex-President of the 
 Society, after spealfing in strong terms of praise of the reader's 
 treatment of his theme, oflfered the following vote, which, being 
 seconded by Abner C. Goodell, Jr., Esq., Vice-President, was unani- 
 mously passed : 
 
 "That the thanks of the Institute be presented to Mr. Upham for 
 his address, and that the same be referred to the appropriate Com- 
 mittee for publication." 
 
 hi 
 
 -\^ 
 
 iSr'^ 
 
Why this exemp- 
 3e his faculties and 
 jred upon a field, 
 hich enjoyment is 
 nowledge, in forms 
 vities of the intel- 
 . in his cup kept it 
 
 those in the posses- 
 re a like refuge, by 
 philosophy, litera^ 
 imidst the toils of 
 r objects lose their 
 1 have, ever after, 
 n his hours. His 
 i will retain their 
 ill crown his days, 
 enthusiasm of his 
 end. 
 
 ing of the Essex Insti- 
 heatland, in the cliair. 
 Ex-President of the 
 praise of the reader's 
 ig vote, which, being 
 i-President, was unani- 
 
 ited to Mr. Upham for 
 ) the appropriate Com- 
 
filyl 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 FEANCIS PEABODY. 
 
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