GIFT OF . . j o -) * n V .V s :>'. BOSTON: PRESS OF NATHAN SAWYER AND SON, 70 STATE STREET. Ijiflli jchool At a meeting held at the School-house in Bedford Street, on Monday evening, May 15, 1871, it was Voted, That THOMAS GAFFIELD, CHARL'ES M. CUMSTON and WILLIAM H. MORIARTY be a committee to prepare for publication a Report of the Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Celebration. TO THE PAST AND PRESENT TEACHERS, PUPILS, AND FRIENDS ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL, THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL The lapse of fifty years since the foundation of the English High School naturally led some of the pupils and teachers to think of the most appropriate manner of celebrating the event. The first recorded action is found in the account of a meeting of the Government of the Association, held on the evening of February 19, 1868, at the house of the President. The subject was then introduced and received with sentiments of approbation by Mr. Sherwin, the Vice-President of the Association, and by all the gentlemen present. It was again alluded to in the Annual Report of the President, at the meeting held at the School-house in Bedford Street, on January 27, 1869. On motion of Mr. Charles F. Wyman, it was Voted, " That the Government have power to add two members from each Class to their number, to make arrangements for the Celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of "the formation of the School." At the Annual Meeting on January 26, 1870, the committee reported progress in obtaining the addresses of about two thousand of the past pupils. On the evening of January 5, 1871, in accordance with the vote above recorded, more than a hundred delegates from the past classes were invited to meet the members 10 of the Government at the School-house, and to discuss the pre- liminaries of the proposed celebration. The meeting was interest- ing and enthusiastic, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Thomas Gaffield, John J. May, Isaac H. Wright, Joshua W. Davis, Jarvis D. Braman, Henry B. Cram, and Theodore W. Gore, was chosen to consider the subject, and to report at the Annual Meeting of the Association. At the Annual Meeting on January 25, 1871, the above com- mittee presented their report, and after a long and interesting dis- cussion, in which various views were presented, the following resolution, offered by Mr. John B. Babcock, was adopted : Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the chair, to secure an Orator and Poet to assist in the celebration of the Semi- Centennial Anniversary of the formation of the English High School, to take place on May 2, 1871, and that said committee have full powers to arrange for and carry out all other matters connected with a successful celebration of the day." The chair appointed the following : John B. Babcock, Charles M. Cumston, Godfrey Morse, Jarvis D. Braman, and Henry B. Cram. By a vote of the meeting, the President and Secretary of the Association, Messrs. Thomas Gaffield and William H. Moriarty, were added to the committee. The Committee of Arrangements met at the counting-room of Mr. Babcock, the chairman, on Friday, January 27, and further organized by the choice of Mr. Henry B. Cram, as Secretary and Treasurer. The following plan for the celebration was adopted at an early meeting. It was agreed that the past pupils should meet at Faneuil Hall at one o'clock on the afternoon of May 2, and spend two hours in social greetings, and that at three o'clock a procession should be formed and proceed to Music Hall, under the escort of the High School Battalion, where an Oration and Poem should be delivered by past members of the school, and where the Bust of IT Mr. SHERWIN should be dedicated and presented to the charge of the present Head Master of the School. Sub-committees were appointed to obtain an Orator and Poet, to procure two original hymns, to be sung by a choir of the present pupils of the School, and to provide for the procession. Gen. B. F. Edmands, of the Class of 1821, was selected for Chief Marshal, and a marshal for each class was chosen. These marshals attended to the sending of printed circulars to their class- mates, and reported from time to time to the Committee of Arrangements. Two meetings of the marshals were held at the School-house, on March 24 and April 14. Tickets to Faneuil and Music Halls, and badges were furnished by the committee to all who expressed their intention of taking part in the celebration. Several circulars were sent, and editorial notices and advertise- ments appeared in the public prints, and no means were spared to notify all the living graduates and past pupils of the school. As it may be a matter of interest to future committees and others, it has been thought well to insert the following Circulars, which did so much to create an interest in the celebration, and to insure its perfect success. The following was seat to the gentlemen invited to serve as Class-Marshals : ^ ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. The Committee of Arrangements having in charge the Celebration of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the English High School, on the second day of May following, desire to secure the co-operation of one member from each of the entering classes of the school, to be known as a " Class- Marshal." The request made of them, after their appointment, will be to communicate with all living members of their class, and ascertain from each if he will participate in the Festival, and meet with the past scholars at an appointed rendezvous, and proceed to the Music Hall, under escort of the Battalion (about four hundred) of the present school, where the Jubilee will be holden. As soon as the Marshals shall have ascertained and reported to the Committee the names of their several classmates who have signified acceptance, they will know with some accuracy as regards the number of badges required, and also be prepared to arrange Members' Tickets, which 2 12 will be provided the Marshals for distribution among their classes. The tickets will reserve seats for members and one lady each. By this appointment and assistance of Class-Marshals, the Committee will confine their business to one Marshal from each class, and that Marshal takes entire charge of his own class. The details of time and ceremony will be furnished the Marshals at a later date. BOSTON, February 2, 1871. DEAR SIR: You have been selected by our Committee as Marshal for your Class. Will you kindly give us an immediate acceptance ; or, if positively unable yourself, will you, in our behalf, confer with some of your class- mates, and send us the name and address of one who will accept the appointment. For the Committee, P. O. Address, Boston. JOHN B. BABCOCK, Chairman. The following was the first Circular sent by the Class-Marshals to the pupils : ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. BOSTON, March 1, 1871. The Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the English High School will take place on the second day of May next. All those who have ever been members of the school are invited to participate; and past members will meet at Faneuil Hall, and, under escort of the Battalion of the present School, will proceed to the Music Hall, where the ceremonies will take place. The Committee having charge of the affair would urge the importance of a full turn-out, with the assurance of presenting an entertainment worthy of the occasion, which shall prove interesting to you, and reflect honor and credit upon the School. We desire to call your attention to the following, from the Marshal of your Class. COMMITTEE OP ARRANGEMENTS. JOHN B. BABCOCK. HENRY B. CRAM. THOMAS GAFFIELD. JARVIS D. BRAMAN. GODFREY MORSE. CHARLES M. CUMSTOX. WILLIAM H. MORIARTY. Class of In pursuance of the preceding circular from the Committee, I would hereby request you to signify, in writing, your intention of participating in this celebration, giving us at the same time your address, and whether or not you have been at any time engaged in the late civil war. You will facilitate the labors of the Committee very much by giving me an early answer, in order to arrange for the requisite number of class badges, as also in providing you with tickets, which will give you reserved seats. There will be no assessments ; and as there is to be a Prize Banner presented to the class turning out the largest percentage of living mem- bers, it is to be hoped that you will use all your influence to secure as large an attendance as possible of our own, with the hope that we may prove the "Banner Class." Due notice of the details of the celebration will be given through the papers of the day. Very truly, &c., yours, Class- Marshal. The following Circular, from the Secretary of the Association, accompanied the above : ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION. BOSTON, March 7, 1871. DEAR SIR: Will you please send to your Class-Marshal a photo- graph of yourself, of the usual album size, with your autograph at the bottom, and the year in which you entered the High School. These photographs will be arranged by classes, and preserved with care in the Library of the Association, which is always accessible to past pupils. Yours truly, WM. H. MORIARTT, Secretary. After the perfecting of the committee's arrangements, a second Circular followed, as below : - ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. SEMI-CENTENNIAL MAY 2, 1871. Committee of Arrangements. JOHN B. BABCOCK. HENRY B. CRAM. THOMAS GAFFIELD. JARVIS D. BRAMAN. GODFREY MORSE. CHARLES M. CUMSTON. WILLIAM H. MORIARTY. As at present arranged, Faneuil Hall will be open to past members of the School at One o'clock, for the purpose of passing two hours in general good fellowship and social recognition ; from which, under escort of the Battalion of the present School, accompanied by Gilmore's Band, they will proceed to the Music Hall, where an Oration will be delivered by HON. J. WILEY EDMANDS, AND A POEM BY REV. ROBERT C. WATERSTON, BOTH GRADUATES OF THE SCHOOL. The unveiling and presentation of the Marble Bust of the late THOMAS SHERWIN will also form an imposing feature of the day, and the exercises will be interspersed with original music, written by past members, and sung by a choir of the present School. The whole entertainment promises to be one of extraordinary interest to all w-ho have ever been connected with the English High School, and a very full attendance is expected. DEAR SIR: As it must be obvious to you that an immediate reply from those desirous of participating is absolutely necessary to secure to them badges and tickets, you will please send me your name and address AT ONCE. Each member will be provided with a Lady's Ticket, entitling her to a reserved seat, and there will be no assessment. Truly, &c., yours, Class- Marshal. Post Office Address. The following Circular contains the admirable arrangements of the Chief Marshal : THE ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. CHIEF MARSHAL'S PROGRAMME. BOSTON, April 28, 1871. Marshals are requested to assemble at Faneuil Hall at One o'clock, punctually, on Tuesday, May 2, in dark clothes and ha'ts, white gloves, and with their badges attached to the left lappel of their coats. The Chief Marshal and his Aids will be known by their BUFF badges ; other Marshals by RED badges. MEMBERS' TICKETS are to be shown for admission to Faneuil Hall after One o'clock, P.M., and retained for admission to Music Hall. THE PRIZE BANNER will be awarded to that class whose numbers present at roll-call shall show the highest percentage in proportion to the number of members of the class known to be living. Each Class-Marshal will, for this purpose, provide himself with a Roll, and call it at Faneuil Hall, at an hour to be there ordered. FORMATIONS OF CLASS-COLUMNS, in sections of four, will be com- menced at 2i o'clock, P.M., each class to be formed under direction of its appointed Class-Marshal. At that hour a trumpet signal will be sounded, when the members of each class will repair to the room, or point in the building, indicated by the label of his class-year. Each Marshal will present the head of his column, when formed, at a point near the class- label ; and then, after reporting the formation to the Chief Marshal, await the second trumpet signal, for "roll-call." THE ROLL-CALLS will be simultaneous in all the classes; and each Marshal will carefully verify the result of his call by a count of the mem- bers present, and of his checks. Reports of the results of these roll-calls will be made immediately to the Chief Marshal. THE MARCH FROM FANEUiL HALL will be commenced at ten minutes past Three o'clock, P.M., when, at a third trumpet signal, each Marshal will hold his column in readiness to fall into the general column of march, in its numerical order, each senior class to be in advance of its junior. The position of each Marshal in the column will be on its left flank, opposite to, and about one foot distant from, its leading file ; which he will cause to march ten or fifteen feet distant from the last file of the preced- ing class. THE CITY AND STATE AUTHORITIES will be taken under escort of the procession on the march, at the City Hall and the State House : the escorting Battalion paying the appropriate honors at those points. ESCORT TO THE PROCESSION will be performed by the " High School Battalion," Lieutenant-Colonel DEXTER, to which the Brigade Band will be attached. The procession will be accompanied by Gilmore's Band, which will perform also at both Halls. AT Music HALL. On arrival at the lower vestibule of the Music Hall, Gilmore's Band will cease playing and file to the right, break from the column and go immediately to their places on the platform by the" easterly corridor. The first marshal (at the head of the column) will file to the'left ; the second marshal will file to the right, and will pass immediately to the Hall, one by the westerly, the other by the easterly corridor. All the above will pass to the auditorium by the first door in each corridor. The Class-Marshal of 1821 will, on arriving just within the outer door of the vestibule, arrest the advance of the column in his rear by a " halt" for a few minutes, to give time for the Band and guests to get their places on the platform. On being ordered again to advance, the successive class columns will alternately file left and. right, the classes of the odd years (as 1821, 1823, &c.) to the left ; and the even years (as 1822, 1824, &c.) to the right. All the classes in each corridor will pass to the fifth door, at which all of them will enter the auditorium, and then file down to the front of the hall under the balconies on each side, and pass to the seats under the direction of one of the Aids. In directing the seating, the Aids will take care that all the seats are filled in each row and next the wall, commencing with the front and filling them successively to the rear. * By order of the Committee of Arrangements, each member will occupy the seat which may fall to his lot under this plan of seating, regardless of the number of any assigned seat which may have been upon his admission ticket. To this change of plan the committee was impelled by the force of circumstances, and by a conviction that it will better secure a prompt, impartial, and quiet preparation for the enjoyment of the * NOTE. Marshals will read this portion to their Classes at roll-calls. i6 occasion. No one will be admitted to the lower floor until the procession is seated. Members, therefore, who may not join the march must join their respective classes in the vestibule, or corridors. The odd numbered years classes will pass through the westerly, and the even years through the easterly corridor. The route will be as direct and short as it is possible to make it ; and no excuse short of a surgeon's certificate of disability ought to justify absence from the procession. B. F. EDMANDS, Chief Marshal. In answer to the Circulars, about twelve hundred acceptances by past pupils had been reported to the Secretary of the Com- mittee, up to the day of the celebration* To every past pupil so accepting, a badge and two tickets were sent. The badge, which was of blue silk, bore the words, "English High School Semi-Centennial, May 2, 1871," and the year of his Class. One of the tickets admitted him to Faneuil and Music Halls. Faneuil Hall had been secured for the occasion by the requisite petition of one hundred citizens to the city govern- ment, and was the place assigned where the past pupils were to meet and form in procession. The other was intended as a lady's ticket, and admitted one person to a seat in the galleries of Music Hall, the floor having been reserved for the procession. The number of acceptances from present and past pupils being greater than the number of seats in the Music Hall galleries, it became necessary to issue five hundred admission tickets to the galleries, which did not entitle the holders to seats* These tickets were distributed proportionally among the different classes. While in one sense it was gratifying that so large a number of tickets should be called for, on the other hand it was a matter of regret to the Committee that all the guests of the occasion could not be provided for in the most agreeable manner. A Circular from the Secretary of the Association which was sent with the others, asking for the photographs of past pupils, secured returns from a large number, each one, according to request, bearing the autograph of the pupil, the year of his class, and occasionally on the back one or two interesting facts concerning him. It is to be hoped that the Association will yet have the photographs of all the past teachers and pupils which it is possible to obtain, to be preserved in an album, which shall be its most precious possession, wherein the faces of early friends shall be found, as in school-days, in close companionship. The celebration had been fixed for the second of May, and, as the time approached, there were misgivings, doubtless, on the part of many, as to the probable state of the weather. The afternoon of Monday was cloudy, and exhibited threatening appearances, and might well have occasioned alarm to those who set large store on the success of the occasion ; but the following morning was well fitted to dispel such apprehensions, for it broke clear and bright. The sky was a beautiful blue, and though an East wind prevailed and was somewhat chill, yet it did not seem to possess the disagreeable character of an ordinary East wind, unless it be that when the sentiments are touched we have no senses for ordinary phenomena. At one o'clock, the company began to assemble at Faneuil Hall, and it was not long before it was crowded on the floor, in the galleries, armories, and every portion with past pupils, some of whom had not met their class-mates through long interval of years, since they parted in the school-room. The Chief Marshal had divided the building into sections, one for each class, where the members were to assemble, the point being indicated by a placard, conspicuously placed, bearing the year of the class in large figures. The older classes, the past and present teachers of the school, the School Committee of the High School, and the masters of the Grammar Schools, who had voted to be present, occupied the floor of the hall, the galleries and upper part of the building being assigned to the younger classes. FaneuilHall has often been the scene of extraordinary meet- ings, but it is doubtful if the old " Cradle of Liberty " was ever i8 before occupied by an assemblage pervaded by so great unanimity of sentiment and by such fraternal feeling. The most enthusiastic political gathering must contain its mere lookers-on and unsympa- thetic spectators ; here there were none such, but every heart was full to overflowing with ten thousand emotions awakened by memories crowding thick and fast, called forth by the associated presence of those faces, once so familiar, but which had not been seen together since the time when they had gathered daily at the old High School to catch inspiration from the lips of those dearly- loved teachers, some of whom were present now, around whom they were eager to gather, while the voices of others, they too well knew, they should no more hear on earth forever. The High School had been singularly fortunate in its teachers. There was Emerson, distinguished citizen, present to-day to meet the pupils of 1821, with whom he might well compete for youthful bearing ; there was Sherwin, who needs no encomium from High School pens ; and Miles, his teacher and predecessor, of whom were his pupils not alive to praise him, it might be sufficient eulogy to say, that he was Sherwin's friend ; there was Cumston, always sympathetic, more the friend than teacher, who, after twenty-three years of service, was to-day the honored head-master of the School ; there was Hunt, of large scholarship and larger philanthropy, ever gentle, loving, pure, the honored head of the sister institution ; there were Robinson, and Williams, and Weston, of former service, and Anderson, and all the talented corps of present teachers, whose tireless efforts give to the school its present advanced position. But it was not in mere scholarship that the High School had been fortunate in its teachers, though it might boast their past and present proficiency, but in those higher qualities which belong to the heart, and which were so largely represented in Sherwin, and enabled him and his colleagues to impress, by example as well as inculcation, the highest elements of character. It was not strange that those who had been school-mates at the High School should meet with tender greeting. Their friendship had been formed under auspicious circumstances, at a time of life when the heart is most open to impressions, when contact with the world has not awakened suspicion, and the advances of new friends are met with all the warmth of ingenuousness and inexperience. The spirit of the school had been such as would tend to strengthen their acquaintance. It was eminently democratic. No aristoc- racy was known but the aristocracy of talent and good fellow- ship. No distinction or caste was recognized in the relations of the same class, or of those of the different classes with one another. Quarrels were never, or extremely rare. Mutual weaknesses were treated with the utmost tenderness and sympathy. No youthful tyrant would have found there a congenial atmosphere, and the competitive spirit being but little encouraged, envious or malicious utterance was unheard. The largest boy might choose as his companion to and from school the smallest and weakest, the best scholar and the poorest might be bosom friends, and this without cause of remark, so well was it recognized that the conditions of friendship are founded in mutual experiences and sympathies which are superior to differ- ences of rank, physical constitution, or mental acquirement. With nothing to estrange and so much to endear them to one another, it is not surprising that Faneuil Hall should have been the scene of joyous meetings. Here, friends grasped hands who had not met for years, while there stood some who had been through all the grades of schools together from the Primary to the High, and who preserved now, as then, an inseparable friendship. Again, one might be observed, over whose face a shade of melan- choly had passed, as his mind reverted to the past and recalled, " The youthful friend, no longer here," but whose presence would have been dearer than any other. When barely able to toddle, they had prattled tp one another the live-long day on infantile topics, of absorbing interest, ancj 20 exchanged opinions with becoming gravity. Together they waded through the tall grass, with wanton hands, plucking bouquets of daisies and red clover, of yellow butter-cups and dandelions, to be used afterwards in the interest of the beautiful to decorate their garlands. With hat in hand and eager haste, they chased the yellow butterflies, now right, now left, hither and thither, only to see them, like golden moments, disappear and be gone forever ; most truly so when one, the envy of his comrade, on bended knees, cautiously lifting the rim of his hat found no bright prisoner there, but learnt a lesson of the fallacy of human judgments. Through the long summer afternoon, they would sit upon the river's brink, with bent pins dangling in the water, wondering why the fish did not respond to their attention and consent to be hooked, return- ing home tired, but not disheartened, to rest their weary heads upon the pillows fond hands had smoothed for them, and soon to be lost in dreams of fields where birds and butterflies were ever ready to be caught, and of rivers whose fishes did not refuse to bite, the while unconscious when fond eyes came to gaze upon their slumbers. Sometimes they wandered down upon the wharves admiring the great ships with their tall masts and white sails, and gazing at the little cannon on the decks which, with the bronzed faces of the jolly tars, would fill their minds with thoughts of pirates, and Flying Dutchmen, and Robinson Crusoe, and they would think how fine it must be to be cast away upon a desert island, and they felt that some day they should together see strange lands and strange men, and should wander along pebbly beaches glittering with precious stones, and should gaze over the side of their boat down through the blue water, and see pearls shining on the sandy floor of the sea, and gold fish swimming around the white coral. Together they loitered on their way to school " And wished it would never be nine o'clock, And the morning never be full," 21 until the school-bell called them, panting and breathless, to their places. There they shared the varying fortunes of the day, now missing where they thought they were strong, now succeeding where they knew they were weak. At one time united by mis- fortune against " the common enemy," only to recognize in him at another their wisest counsellor and truest friend. " The tear down childhood's cheek that flows Is like the dew-drop on the rose ; When next the summer breeze comes by And waves the branch, the flower is dry." That a friendship like theirs should last forever, and be always as close and intimate, seemed to them a thing of course, for the circumstances which can separate early friends had not come within the scope of their experience^ and were not considered or understood. Their cheeks burned at thought of the great deeds they were some day to accomplish, the dangers they were to brave, and the difficulties to overcome. The education received at the High School was of a nature to fit its pupils to push their way in almost any portion of the world, which is doubtless the reason that classes become widely dispersed, and that there are few who do not at some period of their lives travel extensively in foreign lands. Though it thus come to pass that many are separated who were to be inseparable, it cannot obliterate the memory of what has been, and a moistened eye and quivering lip might well bear tribute to the warmth of the recol- lection. The scene was not wanting in its humorous features. Grave merchants and professional men relaxed their dignity and greeted their friends with all the hilarity of youthful days. Sometimes a vacant stare and puzzled look gave evidence of an ineffectual effort at recognition, until the unknown individual, by some shrug or grimace, in which he had been proficient at school, or until a smile or the sound of his voice betrayed his identity. But the 22 perception needed but little such incentive, for the memory, quickened by the influence of the occasion and its associations, recognized faces with ease which, at another time, it might have been difficult to recall. One of the features of the occasion at Faneuil Hall was to be the presentation of a prize banner to the class having the largest number present in proportion to the whole number known to be living. At half-past two o'clock, or shortly after, the trumpet signal was given for the marshals to call the rolls of their classes. The numbers, as soon as ascertained, were brought to the Chief Marshal's room, on the right at the entrance of the hall, in which the committee were assembled. By the reports which had pre- viously been made to the committee of applications for tickets, it was known with certainty that the prize would be awarded to one of two classes, those of 1821 and 1865. To secure the attend- ance of the members of the class of 1821 was the task undertaken by the chairman of the committee, Mr. John B. Babcock, while his son, Samuel H. Babcock, made strenuous exertions to obtain the banner for his own class, that of 1865. When the returns were made, it was found that twenty-eight out of thirty-seven known to be living were present from the class of 1821, an extraordinary number, and that ninety-seven out of one hundred and twenty-eight known to be living were present from the class of 1865. The percentage present of the entering class of 1821 was therefore 75|^ ; and that of the entering class of 1865 was 75f , giving the banner to the latter. Before this, the English High School Battalion, composed of the present pupils of the school, had marched from their armory in Boylston Hall, through Wash- ington, Water, and Kilby Streets to Merchants' Row, where they were awaiting the formation of the procession. They had, when they came in sight, been greeted With cheers from the windows of Faneuil Hall. As soon as the disposition of the banner was ascertained, the signal was given to march out of the hall. The arrangements of 23 the Chief Marshal in locating the several classes and divisions enabled this to be done without delay. As the classes from the upper part of the building descended, they made the circuit of the hall before passing out, and when the class of 1865 had arrived, the chairman of the committee arrested the march by addressing those present, and in a few words announcing that the banner had been won by the class of 1865. The tones of the speaker might, to those who were aware how hard he had worked to secure the banner to the class of 1821, of which his brother, the chaplain of the day, was a member, have evinced some evidence of regret. When the announcement was made, the youthful marshal of the class of 1865 came forward with flushed and handsome features, and received the beautiful banner from the hands of his father, the unsuccessful competitor. The banner is made of deep blue silk, and on its obverse side bears an inscription in letters of gold, " English High School, May 2, 1871. Semi-Centennial Prize Banner. 1821-1871." The reverse is white with gold border and heavily fringed, and has the letters in old English text, " E. H. S." As soon as the award of the banner was made, the committee dispersed, some to Music Hall to meet the invited guests, and the others to their place in the procession. THE PROCESSION. All of the arrangements were carried out very promptly, and the line was formed soon after three o'clock. It was under the escort of the High School Battalion, which turned out with about four hundred members, and presented a very fine appear- ance. Gen. B. F. Edmands, of the class of 1821, acted as the Chief Marshal of the day, and his aids were Col. Francis Boyd, class of 1828; Col. John K. Hall, class of 1823; Col. Francis J. Parker, class of 1837 ; Capt. George F. Baldwin, class of 1867. The procession moved about half-past three in the following order : 2 4 ESCORT. Squad of Police. Brown's Brigade Band. High School Battalion, Lt. Col. P. Dexter. Gilmore's Band. Committee of Arrangements. Chief Marshal and Aids. Governor Claflin and Staff. Mayor Gaston, officers of the City Government, and other invited guests. FIRST DIVISION. School Committee of English High School, Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, D.D., Marshal. SECOND DIVISION. Past and Present Teachers of the English High School, Gen. Thomas Sherwin, Marshal. THIRD DIVISION. Head Masters of Grammar Schools, Dr. Francis Gardner, Marshal. George K. Marble and C. G. Clark, Aids. CLASSES IN ORDER OF THEIR DATES. 1821. Rowland Ellis, marshal, twenty-eight members. 1822. Nathaniel C. Poor, marshal, fourteen members. 1823. Noah Lincoln, marshal, fourteen members. 1824. John 1). Weld, marshal, eight members. 1825. John J. May, marshal, seventeen members. 1826. W411iam Harris, marshal, thirteen members. 1827. Jacob H. Hathorne, marshal, eleven members. 1828. Colonel Charles L. Holbrook, marshal, ten members. 1829. J. Brooks Fenno, marshal, fifteen members. 1830. Stephen G. Deblois, marshal, thirteen members. 1831. S. S. Constant, of New York, marshal, eleven members. 1832. William G. Babcock, marshal, twelve members. 1833. Martin L. Bradford, marshal, seven members. 1834. Jonathan A. Lane, marshal, ten members. 1835. William Otis Edmands, marshal, thirteen members. 1836. William H. Kent, marshal, six members. 1837. Charles S. Jenney, marshal, eleven members. 1838. Benjamin Gushing, marshal, thirteen members. 1839. Pelham Bonney, marshal, thirteen members. 1840. George O. Carpenter, marshal, twenty members. 1841. Curtis Guild, marshal, twenty-six members. 1842. Joseph R. Richards, marshal, twenty-six members. 1843. Albert Haven, marshal, nine members. 1844. Franklin Perrin, marshal, twenty members. 1845. Edwin R. Pierce, marshal, eleven members. 1846. Edward E. Guardenier, marshal, eighteen members. 1847. John J. French, marshal, twelve members. 1848. Charles A. Burditt, marshal, twenty-six members. 1849. Charles F. Wyman, marshal, eighteen members. 1850. Henry C. Richards, marshal, twenty-six members. 1851. John O. Bishop, marshal, nine members. 1852. Hilman B. Barnes, marshal, twenty-three members. 1853. Webster W. Page, marshal, twenty-one members. 1854. Seth A. Fowle, marshal, twenty-five members. 1855. Samuel B. Capen, marshal, seventeen members. 1856. L. L. Rogers, marshal, seventeen members. 1857. Henry B. Rice, marshal, twenty-seven members. 1858. Edward B. James, marshal, nineteen members. 1859. J. W. Hayden, marshal, twenty-three members. 1860. William F. Gill, marshal, thirty-five members. 1861. J. S. White, Jr., marshal, twenty-one members. 1862. Joseph F. Bliss, marshal, eighteen members. 1863. Edward Ellis, marshal, thirty-seven members. 1864. Henry F. Miller, marshal, fifty members. 1865. Samuel H. Babcock, marshal, ninety-seven members. 1866. Walter Miller, marshal, seventy members. 1867. James C. Miller, marshal, ninety members. 1868. Gilman Prichard, marshal, fifty-three members. 1869. E. Clarence Hovey, marshal, twenty-four members. 1870. Arthur H. Dodd, marshal, sixteen members. The crowd on the line of march through State, Washington, and School Streets, was very dense. At the City Hall, the pro- cession took in escort a large number of city officials, including the Mayor and many members of the City Council and School Committee. The procession then continued its march through Beacon Street. Doubtless many of those who stood upon the sidewalks on the line of march, or filled the doorways and windows, had a personal interest in the celebration, through friendship for some of the participants, and had some expectation of the character of the display. But even the passer-by, or casual spectator, might well have had more than a momentary interest awakened by the novelty of the spectacle. Every class was represented, and all 26 wore badges bearing the year of the class in gilt letters, with the words, "English High School. Semi-Ceutennial, May 2, 1871." The procession represented therefore a complete and graduated scale of fifty years of life, from the school-boy of 1821 to the school-boy of to-day. One passed insensibly from white locks through all shades of gray hairs down to the bright eyes and curly head of the stripling of 1871. At the State House, the procession received the Governor and staff, and continued on its way down Beacon Street as far as Spruce Street, when, turning, it retraced its steps to Park Street, the head passing the end of the procession at about that point. This happy determination of the Chief Marshal enabled all the members to see their comrades of the other classes. As the march continued down Beacon Street, the white locks and erect form of General Edmauds might be seen in the advance, and various were the surmises, doubtless, as to the length of the route, as the counter-march had not been mentioned in the printed programme. The chill of the morning was gone, and the sun shone warm and bright on Beacon Hill, as though he sympathized with the occasion. The buds were beginning to expand, and some of the ancient trees had put forth little leaflets, as if in honor of their old friends of the earlier classes. Beneath the trees on the left stretched away the green la\vus of the Common. On the right beyond the State House, and over the brow of the hill, the granite walls of the Reservoir, on Derne Street, inclosed the site of the school-house where the first High School boys had assembled. Not far away on the same slope stands the Phillips School, where they subsequently attended. Those who had flocked thither in the morning of life were now assembled on the other side of the hill. It was the afternoon of life as of the day, and a sunny afternoon. Far away out of sight was the school on Bedford Street, so familiar to High School boys of more recent years, but which now encircled by trade and menaced by increasing numbers, must be displaced, long before the next celebration, by some structure as 27 dissimilar, perhaps, as that which now marks the site of the Derne Street school-house. Between the two lies the Common, the prized play-ground of all who were now marching along its border. When the head of the procession reached Park Street, it again met a crowd, though somewhat diminished, of those who were waiting to see it. Some of the children, whose schools had been dismissed for the afternoon, came to gaze upon the spectacle. The grammar school-boy who walked along by the files, anxious to identify himself in some manner with the occasion, was moved, doubtless, by the proud expectation of being himself, some day, a High School boy, to find it perhaps with a "good, stiff quadratic" before him, "not all his fancy pictured it ; " and yet, humble though the ambition seem, he may never know what it is to be a High School boy, and what it is to solve quadratics ; and this, like many another boy-ambition, may go down in the whirl of a busy world. When the procession reached Winter Street, the escort dressed to the right, and presented arms, while the senior classes were passing, whose members could not but be pleased with the intel- ligent faces of their youthful comrades. At Music Hall, the Brigade band, which had accompanied the escort, was dismissed, and Gilmore's band, which had discoursed music in Faneuil Hall during the early afternoon, and also accom- panied the march, filed to their places on the platform. The classes then entered the hall, those of odd years by the left corridor, and those of even years by the right, passing through the fifth door back from the platform on each side, and taking their places in the seats on the floor beginning with the sixth row from the front. The older classes proceeded to their places with sober step and quiet mien, while a more boisterous demonstration announced the approach of their younger brethren ; and it is worthy of remark that, after the counter-march on Beacon Street, the younger 4 28 classes followed the older successively over the hill, ascending by Beacon Street and descending by Park, passing at the summit the State House, which might typify the goal of ambition, even as in the course of Nature the younger will follow the older over the hill of Life. The rear of the procession was brought up by present pupils of the school, not members of the battalion, being excused from drill for various reasons, and who marched as classes under the leader- ship of their respective marshals. The battalion filed in after the others, and occupied the five rows of seats in front of the platform. A portion, numbering about eighty, who were to act as a choir, were provided with seats at the back of the platform. On the platform itself were seated the Chaplain, Orator, and Poet, the Committee, and many dis- tinguished citizens, among whom may be mentioned the following : Governor Claflin, Mayor Gaston, Ex-Mayors Norcross (of the class of 1824), and Quincy, Hon. Henry Wilson, of the United States Senate, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Professor J. D. Runkle, President of the Institute of Technology, Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Secretary of the Institute, Professor F. J. Child (of the class of 1827), of Harvard University, Thomas R. Gould (of the class of 1831), the sculptor of Mr. Sherwin's bust, General Thomas Sherwin, the son of the late Head-Master, Mr. Geo. B. Emerson, the first Head-Master, and Mr. Cumston, the present Head-Master of the School, Mr. White, Secretary of the State Board of Education, John D. Philbrick, Superintendent of Schools in Boston, and many other distinguished men. The galleries were filled with the ladies, friends and relatives of the past pupils, who had awaited patiently the arrival of the procession, and who had been shown to their places by the young gentlemen of the first class of the Latin School, who had volun- teered to act as Ushers on the occasion. The bright colors of the ladies' dresses contrasted strongly with the sombre hues of the gentlemen on the floor of the house, relieved only by the blue 2 9 badges which were everywhere visible, and by the white hair of the elder pupils. It was remarked by many upon the platform that Music Hall was never filled by an audience of greater apparent intelligence. After the audience was seated, and the Band had finished the opening Overture, Mr. John B. Babcock, the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, introduced the presiding officer of the occasion in the following address : REMARKS OF MR. JOHN B. BABCOCK. Fellow Graduates, Past and Present Members of the English High School : In behalf of your Committee of Arrangements having charge of the celebration, I welcome you here to-day, and take this opportunity to return thanks to the Chief Marshal, his aids, and to you, Marshals all, for the hearty co-operation and generous spirit with which you have aided us, and which has been so essential to the success of the occasion. In view of his position as President of the High School Association, and by the courteous invitation of this Committee, Mr. Thomas Gaffield has kindly consented to preside at the celebration of this, your 50th birthday. And I would here add, by way of explanation, that when gentlemen are intro- duced by their year of entering this school, or are identified by their class badge, it will be unnecessary for you to figure up their present age, because they were all precocious boys, and entered the school exceedingly young. I have now the pleasure of presenting Mr. Thomas Gaffield, of the class of 1837. Mr. Gaffield then introduced the Rev. Samuel B. Babcock, D. D., of the class of 1821, who offered prayer in the following words, the audience, at the request of the chairman, repeating the Lord's prayer at its close : PRATER BY THE REV. DR. BABCOCK. Almighty and everlasting God, whose providences are round about the children of men, we thank Thee for all thy gracious blessings to the inhab- itants of this land : for our churches, our schools, and for all institutions of sound learning, and for the prosperity Thou hast granted to all depart- ments of honest industry. Especially to-day, on this first jubilee of an institution with which so many of us have been associated in the years that are past, do we bless Thee for all the rich memories that cluster around 3 us. We thank Thee for the honored names of so many here trained for life's duties and usefulness ; for the lessons of integrity they have taught in commerce and in trade, and in whatsoever position Thou hast placed them. We thank Thee for the fidelity and success that have distinguished the teachers of this institution. May those yet among us be long spared to see more and more of the good they were permitted to do. Guide by thine own counsel those now in office ; and bless, we humbly pray Thee, all the members of this association, whether they be in life's opening or declining years. At home or abroad, in sorrow or joy, in adversity or prosperity, may thy heavenly blessing be with them all, and may the good Spirit lead them at last to our Father's house, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We commend to Thee, Holy Father, the future of this institution. May it continue to send forth, for long-coming years, faithful and wise men to fill the places of responsibility and honor in the land. And we further pray for thy blessing upon the solemn act we are to perform this day, in presenting to the members of this school the marble effigy of him whom so many of us delight to honor for his fidelity as the teacher and the friend. And give all his pupils an earnest spirit to copy his virtuous and honored life. And may thy blessing and peace rest upon the family of thy deceased servant. And vouchsafe, we humbly pray Thee, thy blessing upon thy servant, the Chief Magistrate of this Com- monwealth, upon the Mayor of this city, and all in authority over us, and so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands, that they may punish wickedness and vice, and maintain thy true religion and virtue. All of which we ask in His great name, who hath taught us, when we pray, to say "Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is done in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." The President then addressed the assembly as follows : Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellowpupils of the English High School: The thoughts inspired by this occasion, the pleasant memories of the past, and the bright hopes of the future, will be voiced by tongues of eloquence and wisdom, from whose utterances I will not long detain you. As the Presiding Officer of the Association, under whose auspices this interesting Jubilee was inaugurated, I bid cordial welcome to you all. Welcome to the Governor of the Commonwealth which had the honor of establishing the first system of free schools in the world. Welcome to the Mayor of the City, and his worthy associates ; to the members of the School Committee, and the faithful teachers, past and present, of our High and Grammar Schools. Welcome in our modern Athens, as in ancient days, to those whose smiles give added zest to laurels won by fathers, brothers, sons and friends. Welcome, fellow-pupils all ; my classmates of thirty years ago, the battalion of happy youth, just starting on the march of life, and you whose longer journey brings the hoary head and glistening locks of age. Coming from whatever portion of our country or the world, as we listen to orator and poet, and recall the happy scenes of early life, let us all be Boston boys again. Let us thank God that Faneuil Hall, ringing in the olden time with the eloquence of the fathers for Liberty, and with the eloquence of their sons for Education, its bulwark and chief corner-stone, resounded to-day with the tread of new generations, rejoicing that these blessings have been transmitted to us unimpaired. And may our hearts echo the prayer that our good old school may be blessed in the future as in the past ; blessed in its devoted and faithful teachers, and blessed in its pupils, achieving honor and success in every clime, and in all the walks of public and of private life. May it live for good to the youth of our city, and be a centre of influence and blessing to the nation and the world, for ages to come ; and may each succeeding Jubilee behold new laurels wreathed around the brow of Alma Mater. But, friends and fellow-pupils, amidst the joyful harmonies of this occasion, one minor chord must now be touched. We miss from our happy gathering the presence of the accomplished scholar, the successful teacher, and the noble, Christian man, who, for more than forty years, was identified with the welfare and progress of our beloved school. When the idea of this Anniversary was suggested, at a meeting of the Government of the Association, I vividly recall the words of Mr. Sherwin, "I like the proposition, I hope it will be carried out, though I may not be with you then." We all remember how soon his prophecy became for us a sad reality, and how, as we assembled at the old school-house, we resolved not only to weave our chaplets for his grave, but to procure an abiding testimonial in memory of his long and useful life. As Chairman of the Memorial Committee then appointed, only a brief report will I now present. After due consultation with the past pupils, it was decided to found a scholarship in the Institute of Technology, and to place a bust and tablet in the school-room. By the untiring industry of Mr. Charles F. Wyrnan, the Treasurer of the Committee, seconded by the faithful Secretary, Mr. W. H. Moriarty, and by the generous and continued contributions of the classmates and friends of Mr. Sherwin, and of the pupils and teachers of the High School from all parts of our country, and from distant shores, the Committee will soon complete their work. As Mr. Sherwin labored earnestly for the foundation and subsequent progress of the Institute of Technology, and always regarded it and the Public Library as supplementary institutions to our Public Schools in the grand system of instruction afforded to the youth of the City, it is pleasant to announce, that the first free scholarship in the Institute, under indentured papers, will be named in his honor, the "Thomas Sherwin Scholarship," the requisite sum of five thousand dollars having 3 2 already been obtained, and that its benefits will always be enjoyed by some worthy graduate of the English High School. By the prompt work and consummate skill of the distinguished sculptor, Thomas R. Gould, a pupil of the class of 1831, who, coming from his studio at Florence, we gladly greet to-day, the other part of our duty has been accomplished. We now ask that the artist's work be unveiled to your expectant eyes, by Mr. Emerson, the life-long friend of Mr. Sherwin, and by Mr. Cumston, his honored and able successor, the first and present Head Masters of the School. When the Bust was unveiled by the two Head Masters, the whole audience arose. Mr. Gaffield then resumed : It is not for us to utter the word of eulogy, so well and truly spoken on another occasion by the poet of to-day. The City Council having voted to prepare a proper niche in the High School Building for the reception of the bust, there remains only the duty of calling upon the present Head Master to accept the charge of this precious memorial of our beloved teacher. As you, sir, and your faithful associates, behold this finely sculptured face, may it recall something of his radiant countenance, more radiant with love and wisdom as he advanced in years ; and may it fill your soul with an earnest desire to emulate his noble life. May you ever cherish the same honest pride which he felt in upholding the high character of our honored school. May you always remember, as he did, to behold in every pupil not only a mind to be taught for the duties and cares of earth, but a soul to be fitted for immortality. And may the pupils in all coming time, as they look upon this pure image of a pure man, and read the record of his long and useful life> be inspired with new devotion to truth and duty. While they strive to be accomplished scholars, may they seek, first of all, to become noble, Christian men. And may we all, as we listen to his spirit, seeming to speak to us now from these silent lips, so ponder the lessons of his example and the recollections of this interesting Anniversary, that, when we can no more teach or study in these schools of earth, and no more learn in the great school of life, we may be fitted, as he was, for the higher school of Heaven. Mr. Curaston responded as follows : Mr. President : In accepting the charge of this token of the most distinguished honor that has hitherto been bestowed upon a beloved teacher, I cannot but respond to the sentiments which you have so eloquently expressed. We who were associated with Mr. Sherwin were best able to see those traits which have so endeared him to his pupils. You can be well assured, 33 sir, that his example will stimulate us all to exert ourselves to the utmost to maintain the honor and promote the usefulness of the school which is so much indebted to him for its present proud pre-eminence. At the conclusion of Mr. Cumston's address, the band played Pleyel's Hymn, and the audience again arose. The -choir then sang the following original hymn : IN MEMORIAM. MUSIC BY JULIDS EICHBERG. When the soft radiance of the rising moon Dispels the gathering shadows of the night, Then mourn we less the absence of the sun, As she transmits to us his borrowed light. So by the Sculptor's art and loving skill," Behold reflected from the willing stone The quickening intellect, the steadfast will, The interest keen that in the Master shone. O Memory ! guardian of the vanished past, Recall in that soft light each look, each tone, And keep within each heart the spell once cast By that dear presence then, as now, our own. The President then introduced the Poet of the occasion in the following remarks : I know that I speak the feelings of all your hearts in giving warm welcome, as the Poet of to-day, to one who commands the respect of his fellow citizens by his zeal in every good word and work, and will be remembered with peculiar regard by every pupil of the High School for his faithful efforts in the cause of education, for his love of Alma Mater, and for his affectionate tribute to the memory of the sainted teacher, whose virtues, as he pictured them, seem to shine out from these marble features, and shed a benediction on our gathering. I have the pleasure of introducing Rev. Robert C. Waterston, a pupil of the class which graduated in 1828. The Poem, which was admirably delivered, will be found else- where in this volume. It held the close attention of the large assemblage, throughout ; its humorous as well as its pathetic .34 passages were thoroughly appreciated, as were evinced by the applause they elicited, and which also greeted the speaker at its close. The President then stated the facts in regard to the award of the prize banner, when three cheers were given for the class of 1821. The old class had indeed done nobly, not only in turning out twenty-eight of its members, but in furnishing the Orator, Chaplain, and Chief Marshal of the occasion. The interest was still further heightened by the presence of their teacher, the vigorous, though venerable, George B. Emerson, who occupied a conspicuous position on the platform, next the present Head Master, and the allusions to whom, by the poet, as subsequently by the orator, were greeted by the audience with a warmth of applause which showed how highly they prized his presence at the celebration. The choir then sang the Choral, " Deck Thyself my Soul," by Johann Kruger. 1649. The President then introduced the Orator of the occasiou, as follows : The first class of our School, almost the banner-class to-day, giving us our efficient Chief Marshal, and the worthy Chaplain, now presents, for the Orator of this occasion, one of its most accomplished graduates, one of our most noble merchants, whose mercantile genius and enterprise are household words in our community, whose benevolence and public spirit are illustrated in the Free Library established in the neighboring town of his abode, who has worthily served his country in the halls of Congress, and who will honor himself and our school by his wisdom and eloquence to-day. I have the pleasure of introducing to you the Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, of the class of 1821. Mr. Edmands, who was greeted with applause, then read an eloquent and thoughtful Oration, which will be found in its appro- priate place. The Oration was fully appreciated by all who had the privilege of hearing it, and was frequently interrupted with applause. 35 The following original hymn, to the tune of " Auld Lang Syne," was sung by the choir and the audience, at the close of Mr. Edmands's oration : 1821 1871. Full fifty years have passed away, With all their hopes and fears, And Alma Mater, born that day, A matron now appears. We children hail her noonday light, Long may its radiance shine 1 And "keep our memories green" and bright With thoughts of Auld Lang Syne ! And while her natal day we greet, We trust that fifty more Will bring new trophies to her feet, New harvests to her store. Children unborn shall hail her light, And see her glory shine, And future hearts will feel delight In thoughts of Auld Lang Syne. The lessons garnered from her love Still in our hearts remain ; We '11 strive to make our actions prove They were not learned in vain. And living worthy of her light In us that light shall shine, And keep her name a presence bright In thoughts of Auld Lang Syne ! At the close of the hymn, the following Benediction was pro- nounced by the Rev. S. K. Lothrop, D.D., Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the English High School: "Now, Brethren, may we depart in peace, with hearts grateful for all the pleasant memories and associations that have this day been awakened, full of all holy and earnest aspirations for future fidelity to duty and opportunity, and may the blessing of the Lord our God be upon us and all our highest and best interests, as it was upon our fathers, through Jesus Christ our Lord." It was about seven o'clock when the exercises were closed. The sunlight which had streamed brightly through one of the western 36 casements along the eastern wall, striking down even to the gal- leries in the full tide of the opening exercises, had faded away and disappeared long before their conclusion. A basket of beautiful flowers, which had stood at the left of the speakers, was now surrounded with hands eager to pluck from it some fair memento of an occasion which, unlike the ephemeral charm of their sweet perfume and bright color, will remain a fadeless memory. " No school to-morrow" were the glad tidings conveyed in the gleeful tones of a youthful voice across the platform, whose possessor thus secured unintentionally the honor of giving the last public utterance of the occasion. A pleasant evening was settling down upon a glorious day when the last of the assemblage emerged from the hall. The grammar school-boy who had watched the procession in the early afternoon had long since hied to his home. Some of the participants, anxious to view the last scene in the Celebration, lined the side- walks on "Winter Street, where the battalion of schoolboys was drawn up. The captains called off their companies, the line wheeled into column, and, with a quick step, set out for their armory. The Celebration was over. The success of the Celebration suggests its probable repetition in 1921, w r hen the lapse of a century from the formation of the school will naturally call its friends together again to unite to commemorate its progress. Any plan which may have existed for the merging of our school in any other, will fade away before the prestige of the recent gathering and the strong interest manifested in its perpetuity and welfare by its many prominent and influential sons. Considering, in human affairs, the influence of successful pre- cedents, the next occasion will, very likely, be a near repetition of 37 the last. At all events, nothing will prevent, at that future time, an appropriate festival, unless it be the decay of the city by which, for fifty years, the school has been cherished and supported, or of the system of which it is so fair an ornament. If, however, the tendency of population to commercial and manufacturing centres continues during the next fifty years as it has during the past, and if our city partakes of the general pros- perity of our country and of the world, and preserves the ratio of increase which its history hitherto exhibits, there is every reason to believe, indeed, from the promises it must be certain, that, in 1921, more than a million inhabitants will be within the municipal limits, and the school membership will be increased accordingly. As to the other contingency, the decay of our educational system, the signs about us indicate a growth, and not a decline. In process of time, this system will, no doubt, undergo many changes ; but none is within our present range of vision by which an institution like our High School is lively to lose its identity. Considering, moreover, how slowly in educational matters revolutions are effected, there seems no reason to believe that, fifty years hence, the general plan pursued at the school will differ very materially from that which, in the present and in the past, has been so effectual in establishing its renown. Conceding, then, the probable celebration, in 1921, of the cen- tennial anniversary of the formation of the school, we are conscious of a melancholy emotion when we reflect that, of all so lately assembled, teachers and pupils, past and present, and the fair relatives and friends whose smiles gave so sweet a charm to the occasion, how few will be able to participate in the next, and that so many will have tottered down life's decline and passed away long before its arrival. Still, to our surviving comrades and friends, and to the future pupils of the school, we extend, through the long interval of years, a cordial sympathy. We hope that smiling skies will bend to greet them, and pleasant surroundings enhance their happiness, and believe that those then present who, bending under the weight of years, shall be able to look back to the second of May, 1871, will find that " the tender grace of a day that is dead" may come back again. NOTE. The preceding narrative is from the pen of Mr. WILLIAM H. MOKIAKTY, Secretary of the English High School Association. POEM, BY REV. ROBERT C. WATERSTOK POEM. Comrades and friends, mysterious power Is centred in this sacred hour^ Forming a tie no force can part, Binding us closely, heart to heart ; Shoulder to shoulder here we stand* Thought linked to thought, hand clasped in hand ; So bring we up with smiles and tears $ The memories of by-gone years, With smiles, for pleasant jokes and plays, Which gladdened us in boyhood's days ; With tears, at thought of some still dear, The youthful friends no longer here. Flight of time we *11 not deplore^ For we all are " boys " once more I Oldest or youngest, we'll not say, No one shall tell tales to-day ! Though your hair were white as snow, It's only powdered for a show ; Those aged looks cannot deceive You playfully, but make believe ; Though perfectly you play your part, One sees how young you are at heart ; Here have we found, in very truth, The fountain which renews our youth ! 4 2 Your Poet, too, may well feel glad To know that he is but a lad ; Who trusts that riper years may show him How he could write a better Poem, Which might, perchance, with bloom perennial, Be ready for the next Centennial 1 Ah, friends, what changes we have known, Many and strange, as the years have flown I Does it all seem the same, as we pace up and down The familiar walks of this dear old town ? In the good old times every place could be found, For all we need do was to go round and round ; You could n't go wrong, when you lost your track, If you kept right on, you were sure to come back ! Now, the crooked is straightened on every side, And that which was narrow is stately and wide : We make no complaint, let them do as they will, While the good-natured taxpayers settle the bill ! As you stand on the Common, look westward, and say, Where now will you find the old Back Bay ? The quaint gable-roofs, -do you see them still? Where now is the Mall on the old Fort Hill? Rope-walks and wind-mills no more meet the sight, While hotels and markets are wheeled left and right. As they fill up the hollows, it is not surprising That, to those who reside there, real estate should seem rising ! What changes have come ! Ah, those were the days Of the old stage-coach, and the one-horse chaise ! Our fathers had then not yet got the notion Of putting a telegraph under the ocean ! Now, men travel the globe as if they could span it, And talk in a whisper all round the planet ; 43 The dullest of mortals, though you would not expect it, When he speaks by telegraph, becomes electric ! If I could but utter this Poem by " wire," Every word would seem written in letters of fire ! I almost wish, though it might have seemed queer, I had brought a galvanic battery here ! And now let me say to you, Mr. Chairman, That, in some respects, you are hardly a fair man, For my anxious fears you had hardly a care, man. You said with elation, That you had secured a first-class oration ; I do not affirm you did anything slyly, Though I think in your thought there was much that was Wiley ! We shall soon see your wisdom by what we have heard, When with every description our souls shall be stirred, While our hearts will be thrilled by each eloquent word. Then, without delay, Sir, You went on to say, Sir, That as for a Poem there could be no evasion, And I must be ready to meet the occasion ; For my apprehensions you extended no pity, I had, nothing to do, but obey the Committee ! So here, as a school-boy, I take my stand, And do what I may to meet the command. Then O let me see, by the smile on your faces, That my lines have fallen in pleasant places ! Last Summer I left the old Bay State, To travel by rail to the Golden Gate. In our boyish days, what journey were harder Thau the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada? 44 There was not there then, so much as a mail road, Now we dart over snow-covered summits by railroad ; Plains, prairies, and deserts we leave far behind us, In strange Mormon cities companions might find us ! Now, we look out over regions of snow, Now, wind amid tropical valleys below ; What surpassing marvels and wonders one sees In Yo-Semite valleys and Mammoth Trees ! [Fit temple, this, with the Heavens o'er us, For Handel's Hallelujah Chorus !] You may think it is time that our thoughts should be turning To the theme now before us, Institutions of Learning ; Well, there they are planting the best seeds of knowledge, And richly endowing the school and the college ; While each thought wanders here, for the impulse it prizes, Looking back to the land where the morning sun rises ! I have journeyed far beneath foreign skies, No land like our own has yet met my eyes ; Here, the widest diffusion of comfort we find, Prosperity based upon culture of mind. Not here the proud palace where royalty waits, Not old Feudal castles with princely estates ; Not belted knights with their courtly manners, In baronial halls, with escutcheons and banners. Not show and romance with its ancient splendor, Where an ignorant peasantry homage render, But a People who crave the right to learn, The skill to judge, and the power to discern. 45 A People who ask for an honest rule, And who prize above all, the Home and the School ; Where Heaven's gifts around like the sunbeams pour, And the road of knowledge runs right by each door. Here in New England, the poorest who live, May enjoy the best teaching the State can give ; This, star-like, flames over life's early morn, A priceless boon to each child that is born. The village school-house, shaded by its trees, Sends forth a murmur, like the hum of bees ; There 'neath the blessed light of love and truth, Beautiful childhood blossoms into youth. Turn to the city, with its thousand homes, Its stately temples and its spacious domes ; Mid boundless wealth, what should be treasured most, As her chief glory and her proudest boast ? Kindling with joy, the patriot spirit burns, While to her SCHOOLS in Christian faith she turns ; What worthier field demands the statesman's care ! Ages to come receive their impress there. Pervert but these, with bitterest curses dread, The stream is poisoned at its fountain-head ! Pervert but these like the decree of fate, You sap the deep foundations of the State ! In wisdom watch, with struggling hope and fear, The seeds of empire which are garnered here ; In wisdom watch, no tongue of man has told The vast results which may from thence unfold ! Here is a Loom which weaves with threads of thought ; Through warp and woof each deathless hue is wrought ; Here Mind is formed ; and here direction given, Which may go onward, even into Heaven ! Who is the Faithful Teacher? He whose heart Is ever in his work ; who leaves no part Of duty unfulfilled ; who throws his soul Into each act, till he inspires the whole ! Not quantity but quality he asks ; A cheerful offering, and not servile tasks. Duty with him is no ignoble strife, His joyous spirit overflo\vs with life, And the glad sunshine of his nature streams Around, till all are kindled by its beams. Ideas and principles by him are taught, Not isolated facts, but living thought. And more, far more, with him the loftiest plan, Is that which forms the noblest type of MAN ! That which shall stand the test of future hours, In balanced will and well-directed powers. Is such a picture all ideal ? Or has life made the image real ? Ah, friends, to us assembled here Such thought recalls a memory dear ; Bound up within our heart of hearts, And cherished still till life departs ; And even then, that sacred love We '11 cling to, in the realms above ! 47 Think of that character, so just, And gaze on yonder marble bust ! That placid look, that noble brow, Those lips, Oh could they speak but now ! That simple majesty of frame ; That marble, snow-white, like his fame ; Around it gather, Age and Youth, To honor him, who honored truth. The artist's marvellous skill has brought His very look, his hope, his thought : Thus may this marble stand, A power and influence in the land ! So may it endless good impart, And quicken every generous heart ! 4 . . It needs no words, this breathing stone, It hath a language of its own, That heavenly look, so calm, so clear, It sheds a benediction here ! MILES, EMERSON, AND SHERWIN, honored names, Each, ever faithful, worthy tribute claims. Two have departed, one is here this day, To take the homage which we gladly pay ; One of the noblest teachers of his time, Thank God he lives, fresh as in manhood's prime ; May Heaven upon him richest favors shower, And crown with blessings every passing hour ! This School, it knows no page of mystery, Open and clear is all its history ; Goodness and honor have marked its way, Its annals are bright as the light of day. Here thousands have gathered that true education Which gladdens the State, and rejoices the Nation. Oh long be it thus its good fortune to stand, The pride of our city, the joy of the land ! Now, as boys, we see all in their studies engrossed ; Soon, as merchants and statesmen, each stands at his post ; First comes the effort of duly preparing, Then follows the struggle of doing and daring. The seed-time demands our most dutiful care, The wealth of the harvest is manifest there ; The rivers of wisdom commence here their flow, The blessings they scatter no mortal may know ! How silent, and softly the years glide away, Like the gentle breath of a summer's day ! Yes, but have we ne'er watched the appalling form Of tempest, and torrent, and rushing storm? The darkening eclipse, the blinding flash Of lightning, mid the terrible thunder's crash ? Was it not even so, When the rebel foe Trampled, in hate, on the nation's law, And the country was torn by civil war ? When a deadly hand Was lifted to smite at the life of the land ? When honor and justice and freedom were mocked, And the deepest foundations of all things rocked? When the sea and the shore, Heard the cannon's roar ; And insults were heaped upon everything just, While the flag of the nation was dragged in the dust. 49 Then each patriot heart with intensity beat, While the brave and the fearless sprang to their feet, Resolving alike death and danger to meet, In defence of the true and the right ! In that struggle and strife For the nation's life, Mid the thousands who joined in the fray and the fight, There were none more true, Than the gallant few, Who in boyhood mingled here ; To none was the nation's flag more dear, As o'er battlefields they trod ; In the darkest hour they knew no fear, Their hearts were filled with a lofty cheer, Not a murmur they uttered, they breathed not a sigh, They were willing to suffer, and willing to die, For their country and their God ! On this festal day, Grateful homage we pay, To the loyal and true Who were faithful through all to the Red, White, and Blue ! Comrades and friends, in life's maturest age, Advanced in years, yet ready to engage In all life's stirring duties, with a zeal Which makes us, as we see you, younger feel ; Long may you live to take the foremost part, The fire of youth still kindling in your heart ! How short the time since first you spread your sail Upon life's sea, unmindful of the gale ; 5 Youth's sheltered harbor left, without dismay, Through dashing surge, you took your fearless way ; I hear e'en now, borne by the breeze along, Each inch of canvas spread, this rapturous song ! It tells us how, mid shades of night, To guide- your way, to cheer your sight, There always burned a Beacon Light. We gaze o'er the wave, with a joyous emotion, Beholding the light-house that shines from afar, As, o'er the smooth plain of the slumbering ocean, It sends forth its beams like a Heaven-lighted star : So in moments of bliss and in calm hours of feeling, When joy knows no shadow, and passion no strife, Heaven shines o'er our path, future pleasures revealing, Lighting up with its smile the great ocean of life. But look ! the dark tempest in fury is lashing, O'er bleak rocks and sand-bars, the foam-crested wave, Yet there stands the light-house, while wild waves are dashing, Its beacon-fires flashing, to warn and to save : Even thus does kind Heaven in mercy befriend us, Its bright splendors streaming through sorrow's pale night, In peace and in peril its succor to lend us, Pouring down through the darkness unquenchable light. One word I would speak to those in life's prime : [Perhaps no one here has passed out of that time !] Think not that now, we have such tranquil hours, That nothing is left to try men's powers. There is work for all ! Let each be up and doing ! Hark to the voice which is each mind pursuing ! Look around thee ! Say how long Shall the earth be ruled by wrong? When shall error flee away? And this darkness turn to day ? When will evil from the soul Render back its dread control ? When shall all men duty see ? And the world be pure and free ? Rouse thee for the mental strife ! Gird thee for the task of life ! With the sword and with the shield, Forward to the battle-field ! 44 On ! " a thousand voices cry, Through the earth and from the sky ; " Up ! " Heaven's light is on thy brow ! Let thy work be HERE and NOW ! To the Undergraduates let me say, Make this memorable day An era in your career, Whose influence shall deepen year by year. Vow before God that this school shall stand, Second to none in all the land ; Guard it and shield it from every harm, Protect and defend it with your right arm ; 7 Should evil and wrong its position assail, Stand by it, as clothed in triple mail ; But feel, that the best defence in the strife, Will be the scholar's unblemished life. Do you cherish its name, and honor its rule ? Feel that as are the scholars, even such is the school ; Represent in your life what is truest and best, All friends of good learning will take care of the rest. Think not each generous deed has yet been done, Or truth's diviner summits all been won ; Let light and love their splendor shed for you, So boundless realms shall open to your view. Duty can greatness give, to every time, And make TO-DAY both glorious and sublime. Along the dryest, dustiest walk of earth, The noblest powers may struggle into birth ; Mid toil and trial, some great work fulfil, With lofty purpose and heroic will ! Pursue the path by truth and virtue trod, True to yourselves, your country, and your God ! When Israel's host, in days of old, Had reached in joy a place of rest, They to their children's children told How righteous Heaven their sires had blest ; That God had led the appointed way, In fire by night, in cloud by day. 53 Thus even now, O Lord, WE stand, And gladly count thy blessings o'er, Guarded and guided by Thy hand, Thy sovereign love we would adore ; Be with us here, in gracious power, And crown with joy this festal hour ! Here to this shrine, each heart has brought, The tribute of its grateful love ; Guide Thou, the Teachers and the Taught, The SCHOOL, O bless it from above ! And guard it still, mid hopes and fears, Even as Thou hast for Fifty Years ! ORATION, BY HON. J. WILEY EDMANDS. ORATION. There are periods in the life of nearly every individual when he finds himself acting directly contrary to his intentions. I at first declined the invitation to address the Association on this occasion, from a desire that some one should be selected who could do more ample justice to it than myself, and because I viewed the compliment as the decorative garland boding no good. But when my old school instructor appeared, and enforced compliance as a duty, refusing to excuse me from " the composition exercise," and saying that I must hand in my theme on the appointed day, I instinctively set myself to work to write it. Among the events and experiences of life, there are some which hold an abiding influence over its whole course, and attract special attention and interest in the review of by-gone times. It is those of our school-days to which our minds now naturally revert, and the associations and influences of the school-room become the subject of our thoughts and reflections. Short seems the time which has passed since those days, and close the connection between the spring-time of life and its maturity, to those who have reached it. The wheels of time seem to move with increased rapidity in the wane of life. A half century will vary according to the stand-point whence the view is taken, whether prospective or retrospective. In the one case it stretches far into the distance, in the other it is reduced to a narrow belt. Time, as a subject of consciousness, becomes a mere abstract term, and presents no common standard by which to measure it. To the mind of the school- boy, sensitive to the ever-varying impressions of the hour and the excitements of ideal promises and disappointments, a decade stretches to an indefinite length, while it will, in the climax of life, dwindle to a mere speck in man's allotted time. Shakespeare thus images time, as it varies with the state of the mind : " Time travels in divers paces with divers persons. I'll tell you who time ambles withall, who time trots withall, who time gallops withall, and who he stands still withall." When measured by its results, it is yet more variable. Time is to be judged by its fruition, rather ^than by its duration. The man of noble impulses and generous deeds, and lively sympathy with all the activities of society, will spend a brief 59 life-time so profitably as to outvalue that of the indolent and sordid and ignorant, though his were extended tenfold. " He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." If we consider human improvement as the fruit of time, we find its footprints often very faintly, and always very irregularly marked. Contrast the fifteenth century with the dark ages preceding it, the era made memorable by the invention of the art of printing, an art which was not merely the result and fruit of intellect, but its adjunct and co-ordinate power in diffusing light and liberty over the world. The Holy Bible was the volume which first received the impress of movable types, a fitting consecra- tion of the art which was to scatter the leaves of the Tree of Life over the nations, which was to raise the peoples of the earth from their low levels of ignorance and superstition, and revolutionize the mental world. The one century which brought in the Reforma- tion, the regeneration of human society, and its advance in Religion, Philosophy, Freedom and Civil- ization, when compared with a dozen preceding it, outweighs them all in the balance of human improvement. If quality as well as quantity constitutes value, that which improves quality and also renders the lesser virtually equal to the greater becomes the highest condition of value. Longevity by no means 6o denotes all that a true idea of life-time imports. Time is valuable according to its use and improve- ment. It is intelligence which endows it with power and productiveness. Intellect applied to mechanics has reduced the labor of a year to that of a week to locomotion, weeks to days, and through its instru- mentality communication between distant parts of the globe becomes the work of minutes. We can no longer say, with the poet, ''Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, which had else Like kindred drops, been mingled into one." Science and art have levelled mountains ; and we now see the steam-car " flying from far cities to far cities, weaving them together like a monstrous shuttle." The course of human advancement is marked by the onward steps of science and art, the substitution of mechanical for manual labor, and the appropria- tion of material appliances and the physical forces of nature to the relief of human toil and ameliora- tion of man's estate. In every age, and through every stage of earthly existence, and in every condition of human affairs, man has been the subject of educational influences. The rites and symbols of the untutored savage have something spiritual in their mystic meaning, and the volume of universal nature written by the Creator 6i has never been closed, and has never failed to impart to the rudest peasant some glimmering idea of his mysterious relation to its author. The melody of the birds, the beauty of the flowers, the vital processes of vegetable growth, and the mysteries of life and death of all animate creation have been so many visible and audible signs, attracting his attention and exciting his emotional and rational nature. The facts and truths of nature are the primal sources of knowledge, and offer in their varied manifestations and meanings the lessons which teach man to regu- late his life in harmony with her laws. In the ages preceding the period of written history, we find the fable, the legend and the proverb forming the curriculum of the primary training of the race. Each fable had its moral ; and the legend, with its wondrous interest, served in its day to give activity to the primitive mind, as the phenomena of higher civilization serves now to excite intellectual enquiry. Heroes and demigods were the idols of popular homage, and were commemorated in epic song long before the invention of letters. The chronology of early history marks only dis- tantly separated points in the course of human development, while the intermediate network of facts and incidents from which they derive their promi- nence is hidden from observation. In the present century we have the fruition of the elemental germs which laid dormant in the early ages, and the mani- 62 festations and expression and results of all past human experiences and attainments. The present universal activity of mind and develop- ment of the inventive faculty, give to brain and hand supremacy over the world of matter, and make this age pre-eminently distinguished over all preceding it, for its triumphs of genius, its solution of physical problems, and its development of art. The aim and object of education, whether through self discipline or the artificial systems of instruction, is, by the improvement of passing time, to make the fullest development of our faculties. It marks the supremacy of one race over another, and the ascend- ancy of one age over the preceding one. Mental superiority, real or suppositions, is recognized the world over, as the badge of distinction and the herald of success. The disposition to celebrate natal days and com- memorative anniversaries appears to be a universal sentiment of human nature. The pen and press are employed in keeping alive the memory of important events, in consecrating the glories of the past, and preserving social traditions. Every recurring anni- versary, whether of nation, community, or an associ- ation, has an interest peculiar to itself, and an importance proportionate to the lessons it teaches. It is meet that on this close of the fiftieth year of the English High School, its scholars and graduates should assemble to join in friendly greetings, and 63 celebrate this epoch in its history, those whose lives are in the future, with those who have a long past in the retrospect, those now engaged in life's active pursuits, with those who have retired from its turmoil, laymen with divines, artisans with literary men, and pupils with their teachers past and present. The incitements of example and the musings of reflection, leading to nobler aspirations and renewed resolves, are spiritual exercises of man's higher nature W 7 hich have no slight agency in promoting his moral and intellectual advancement. Few are those who have not at times realized the regenerating power of these benign influences in strengthening character, and their instrumentality in the process of self-improvement. Those occasions which are favorable to the growth of such influences are obviously productive of bene- ficial results, and this reunion of friends and school- mates, coming together for mutual enjoyment and to indulge in the reminiscences of school life, may yield more than a fleeting gratification. As the gentle breeze of the summer, " That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor," not only excites momentary pleasure as it passes, but also does its part in purifying the atmosphere, so may this day's personal reminiscences and associations shed a healthful influence over the whole course of 6 4 our lives. In view of such relations, this semi-cen- tennial celebration of our school bears no adventi- tious or ephemeral character. It will assume its own importance in the scale of our individual expe- riences, and may add another link to the golden chain of improved opportunities. Each class has year after year added its part to the bond which embraces the youngest and the oldest classes, and now binds them, fifty in all, to their Alma Mater. This occasion is one of deep interest to the grad- uates of the school, as is shown by the large number here present, coming from all parts of the Union, with a laudable pride in an institution which has proved itself so worthy of the public care, and with grateful feelings to those who instilled into their minds those principles, on which depend the forma- tion of character, the habit of self-culture, and the means of self-advancement. This interest is height- ened by the fact of its being the first Jubilee of the school and its teachers ; and a sober thought steals over us when we reflect that it is the only one which he who superintended the school at its commence- ment, and those classes whom he taught and whom he now meets, will ever join in celebrating. But this interest is not confined to those who have been connected with the school. This large assem- bly, favored by the presence of our fair friends, and honored by the attendance of the State and City authorities, gives to the occasion a public character, and is a manifestation of that general interest in the cause of education which has uniformly existed here. Whatever affects our public schools, affects all of us. Education concerns not only individuals, but commu- nities. Universal education is the corner-stone of our social system, the stay and strength of republican institutions, and becomes the watchword of intel- lectual and moral progress. The mental and moral character of the youth of a community is a true prognostic of its future, foretelling its general social, civil, and educational condition, more or less remotely, but as truly in the end, as any artificial contrivance which denotes the threatening storm and the coming sunshine. Popular sovereignty was the ideal of the early settlers in framing civil government, but not sover- eignty without law. They knew that respect for the authority of law by an ignorant people, with the power of changing the laws, could not be main- tained. They preceded all other founders of government in giving to the people the privileges of free education by the State. When they made the neglect of their educational laws an indictable offence, they did what no other government had ever attempted, and we read in colonial history of several towns being indicted under those laws. If they did not, with Lycurgus, believe that with perfect education no 66 laws would be required, they did believe that from an unenlightened people bad laws would surely come. " There is," says Montesquieu, " in every nation a general spirit upon which power itself is founded." Education of the people, in the view of the fore- fathers, was the one thing needful in popular repre- sentative government. Ignorance was as obnoxious to them as despotism, and religiously, they were to overcome it as one of the powers of darkness. Quaint Cotton Mather held that ignorance was the direct work of the Evil One. He says, " The Devil, even like a dragon keeping guard upon such fruits as would refresh a languishing world, has hindered mankind for many ages from hitting upon those useful inventions, which yet were so obvious and facile that it is everybody's wonder they were not sooner hit upon. The bemisted world must jog on for thousands of years without the knowledge of the lodestone, till a Neapolitan stumbled upon it about three hundred years ago. Nor must the world be blessed with such a matchless engine of learning and virtue as that of printing, till about the middle of the fifteenth century. Nor could one man all over the face of the whole earth have the benefit of such a little, though most needful thing as a pair of specta- cles, till a Dutchman a little while ago accommo- dated us." The idea of giving the fullest practicable education to all the people without distinction was no mere 6 7 theory to be promulgated by them, and then left to work its way by the inherent force of its excellence. They created a public sentiment in its favor which did not die out with its' founders, but has ever since worked with a moral force which nothing short of their religious faith in the cause, and their unflagging devotion to it, could have originated and perpetuated. The Hebrew constitution proclaimed by Moses was their text book. It promulgated the doctrine of political equality and popular rights. Under the Mosaic law, the Hebrews did enjoy true freedom and political equality from the time of their removal and release from bondage ; and their youth were well provided with the means of instruction. A modern writer says, " Strange as it may seem to us, there has scarcely ever been a nation in which the people were so universally taught to read. Their schools were under the care of men who sj:ood high for their own intellectual attainments, and their ability to impart knowledge to their pupils."* The educational views of our forefathers were moulded under the influence of their example. In view of the similarity of circumstances in their early' history with that of the Hebrew commonwealth, and the theocratic notions of the Pilgrims, it is not strange that they were disposed to look beyond the classical ages for light to guide them, and to Mount Sinai, rather than to Delphi, for their oracles. *J. M.Matthews, D.D. 68 It may be questioned if the longings of the Pilgrims for political and religious freedom would, alone and unattended by that personal religious faith which made the Divine will the controlling power of every undertaking, have produced and developed that high principle and extraordinary force of character and intellectual foresight, which not only devised plans of civil government, but secured to them the elements of stability and permanence. Professor Huxley, com- menting upon the effect of religion upon the scientific mind, says, " The great deeds of philosophers have been less the fruit of their intellect, than of the direction of that intellect by an eminently religious tone of mind." Criticism is disarmed in judging the early settlers of New England through the medium of their educational work. It was not the spirit of the times which impelled them in this direction. The idea of the general education of all classes by the State, the result of their view of human duties and human rights, was recognized nowhere else. It was, in fact, foreign to the policy of every ruling government. In the wilderness of America, this idea was first to be illustrated. In England, up to the past year, the help of the State in the work of education has been con- ditional, requiring the school to be first established by individual contributions, and supported in part by those who resort to it, this help giving to the 6 9 State the right of inspection. The cost is very nearly equally divided between the State, the local subscribers to" the schools, and the people who send their children.* The people of England, in olden times, however, were not without free schools. We read that Shakespeare, three hundred years ago, attended a a free grammar school " at Stratford, but popular education had then no aid or care from the State, and occupied no place in the outline of State policy. Scotland had parochial schools in 1696. Two centuries passed after the colonists had made provision for the college and the earliest schools, before any money grant was made by the British Parliament for the instruction of the people of that kingdom. In 1833, action was first taken and aid given towards the building of school-houses, under a regulation " that no application be entertained by the Treasury, unless a sum be raised by private subscrip- tion equal at least to one-half the total estimated expenditure.''^ Our forefathers were considered fanatics in their views and legislation regarding education. Butler, * The annual Parliamentary grants for popular education in Great Britain, which amounted to 30,000 in 1840, rose to 180,000 in 1850, to 774,000 in 1862, and to 914,000 in 1870. A return stating, for the year 1868, the actual income of 8,937 schools, receiving ^annual grants from the Parliamentary vote, and having an average attendance of 1,197,975, shows that they received the largest item of their income, 508,772, from the school pence, from the Government 484,010, from voluntary contributions 443,523, coming from 194,745 subscribers and from miscellaneous sources 110,000, bringing the total income for the year 1,546,933. t In a late London Quarterly it is stated that not until 1846 was the question of the education of the people of England ultimately placed beyond the possibility of doubt. 7o the author of Hudibras, England's learned satirist and wit, who wrote in 1662, made them the butt of his raillery, in his story of the Indian Chief and New England Cobbler : " That out of doctrine could cut use, And mend men's lives, as well as shoes ;" " A man that served them in a double Capacity, to teach and cobble." The difference between New England and Old England, in regard to popular education, is fully illustrated in what occurred in Calcutta in the year 1799, a Eostonian representing one, and the Marquis of Wellesley, then Governor-General of India, the other. Mr. John Lathrop,* a Boston schoolmaster, then residing in Calcutta, seeing that the }outh of India had to resort to England for their instruction, presented a plan for a seminary, in which they might be taught at home. This the Governor opposed, saying, " India is, and ever ought to be, a colony of Great Britain. Establishing a seminary in New England at so early a period, hastened your revolution half a century." It has been truly said by an intelligent foreigner, that " the Common School System which occupies so proud a position among American institutions is almost exclusively a product of free soil."f * Mr. Lathrop, on his return, opened a school in Boylston Hall, and was one of its first occupants in 1810. He gave public lectures on Is atural Philosophy, in the Exchange Cofl'ee House. lu 1813, he delivered the first anniversary discourse before the Associate Instructors of Youth in Boston. t Rev. J. Frazer, M.A. 7 1 Some of the writings of the last century indicate a very low estimate of the intellectual needs of the people by the leading minds. The preface to Morti- mer's " History of England," a standard history, in three quarto volumes, published in London in 1764, contains the following: "A general knowledge of the history of all nations is justly deemed no incon- siderable part of polite education, but it is an accomplishment which may with strict propriety be confined to those only, who by birth, situation or capacity, may form reasonable expectations of being called to the management of public affairs. To the rest of mankind, the study of universal history is rather likely to be detrimental than advantageous." We read in Knight's recent history of England: " That some of the absurd superstitions and preju- dices lasted through the eighteenth century, can scarcely be matter of surprise, when we consider how entirely the instruction of the lower classes was neglected. It was neglected upon principle. It was not Squire Booby or Parson Trulliber only who believed that to educate the bulk of the people was to destroy the distinction of rank. Great writers held the same opinion." The letters of the Abbe Robin, giving an account of his travels in the United States, and written in 1781, are referred to by Dr. Shurtleff. In one of those letters we read, "The Europeans have long since been convinced of the natural and moral 72 dangers to be apprehended in acquiring education in large towns. The Bostonians have advanced further, they have prevented these dangers." In the year 1782, the Marquis de Chastellux, then travelling in the United States, writes thus in his journal : "I must here repeat what I have observed before, that in comparing our Universities, and our studies in general with those of Americans, it would not be our interest to call for a decision of the question which of the two nations should be con- sidered an infant people."* In 1647, the General Court passed a law requiring towns to tax themselves for the support of schools, and to appoint a teacher " to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and read," which may be considered the foundation of the present system of free schools. It is noticeable in the educational history of the Colony, and not strange under the circumstances, that the founding of the College and the Latin School preceded that of the public common schools. It is not supposable that the first settlers acted thus from the influence of that idea which is declared by Herbert Spencer to dominate in all social arrange- ments and customs, when he says, " in order of time, decoration precedes dress," and " with the mind as with the body, the ornamental precedes the useful." They pursued this course because they realized the * Shurtleff >s Description of Boston. 73 necessity of training learned men, that the youth might have the benefit of competent teachers, and " in order that learning might not be buried in the graves of the Fathers." They were not men to sacrifice substance to show, but rather the observers of that maxim which enjoins the discharge of one's most onerous duties first, and those more easy after- wards. If I have dwelt too long upon the early history of New England, it is because educational measures form so large and important a part of it, and because the rising generation cannot be too deeply impressed with a sense of their obligations to the originators of our school system. The history of Boston public schools may with certainty be traced as far back as 1635, when it was agreed upon " that brother Philemon Pormont shall be intreated to become schoolmaster for the teaching and nurturing of children with us." His successor was Mr. David Maud, who, the records show, was chosen to the office of "Free Schoolmaster," in August, 1636. In the oldest volume of town records, a subscrip- tion towards the maintenance of " a free school- master " is recorded, headed by " the Governor Mr. Henry Vane, Esq.," for 10, followed by " Deputy Governor Mr. John Winthrop" and forty-three others, in sums varying from ten to thirty shillings each, amounting in all to 40. 74 This first Boston free school is our present Latin school, and, during a period of forty-six years, was the only regular public school in the town. It was situated on School Street, partly on the upper corner of the lot now occupied by the City Hall, and was removed in 1748, when King's Chapel was enlarged. Ezekiel Cheever, who was quite celebrated in his day, took charge of this school in 1671. We read that " it attained the rank of the principal school of the British colonies, if not in all North America." It was there Benjamin Franklin was taught. In his Will, he says, " I was born in Boston, and owe my first instructions in literature to the free grammar schools established there." Under the influences of his early school associations, he made provision for those medals which have since been distributed among nearly four thousand Boston boys.* Industrial education, which is now exciting much attention, was undertaken at a period preceding the Revolution. In 1721, a committee of seven was appointed " to consider about promoting of a spinning school or schools, for the instruction of the children of this Town." They reported favorably, and " the Manufactory House, a handsome, large brick build- ing," was erected on Tremont Street, near Hamilton * The first Franklin medals were given out iu 1792, to the following pupils : John C. Warren, John Joy, 3d, Daniel Bates, Jr., Isaac Parker, Isaac Harris, William Savage, John Lewis, liobert Lash, John Snelliug, Uichard B. Calleudcr, Andrew E. Belknap, Eben Frothingham, Samuel Bradlee, John Butterfield. 75 Place, for the first spinning school, which was kept open three or fonr years. The two grammar and the three writing schools which, with the Latin, comprised all then in Boston, were suspended during the siege of the town, and were reopened by order of the Selectmen, November 8, 1776. On the 23d of September, 1789, a com- mittee of one from each ward was chosen, to draft a new system of studies, which was the origin of the Board of School Committee, and it was organized October 20, 1789. In 1818, the Town caused an enlargement of the means of education, in order to meet the wants of the increased population, by the establishment of Primary Schools for children from four to seven years of age. The Latin School had acquired high distinction as a classical seminary, and fully satisfied the require- ments of the public, in its relation to the college. But the primary schools for rudimental instruction, and the grammar for elemental, were found inadequate to the full education and complete preparation of the young men, before entering upon the various branches of commercial and industrial enterprises of manhood. As the town increased in business and population, it seemed necessary to supplement the system by another institution, which should take up the higher studies not attended to in the preliminary schools, one to which the grammar boys might pass, to finish their school term. 10 7 6 In 1820, the attention of the School Committee was called to this subject. The question of estab- lishing a Seminary which should " furnish the young men who are not intended for a collegiate course of studies, and who have enjoyed the usual advantages of the public schools, with the means of completing a good English education, and of fitting themselves for all the departments of commercial life," was referred, June 17, 1820, to a sub-committee of five, consisting of Samuel A. Wells, Eev. John Pierpont, Eev. N. L. Frothingham, Lemuel Shaw, and Benja- min Kussell, men well known as among the most eminent of the Town, and representing the mercan- tile, clerical, legal, and the journalist professions. These first steps led to a meeting in Faneuil Hall, to act upon the Committee's report, which stated that " the * mode of education now adopted, and the branches of knowledge now taught in our English grammar schools are not sufficient, extensive, nor otherwise calculated to bring the power of the mind into operation, nor to qualify a youth to fill usefully and respectably, many of those stations, both public and private, in which he may be placed. A parent who wishes to give a child an education that shall fit him for actual life, and shall serve as a foundation for eminence in his profession, whether mercantile or mechanical, is under the necessity of giving him a different education from any which our public schools can now furnish." Such were the needs of the 77 citizens in respect to education, and these were the deficiencies for which the new school was intended to provide. On taking the final vote to establish " an English Classical School," as recommended by the Committee, only three votes appeared in the negative. The Sub-Committee of the Board charged with its organization, reported February 19, 1821, and recommended the appointment of George Barrell Emerson to the place of Principal Master, from the twenty-two who presented themselves as candidates, and he was unanimously chosen on that day. Joshua B. Flint was appointed Usher April 21, 1821. The first location of the school was in the Derne Street school-house, which was built on the Temple Street corner of the lot now occupied by the Beacon- hill reservoir. This was before Temple Street had been extended and built on south of Derne Street, and when Beacon Hill, in the rear of the State House, was an open field. In November, 1824, it was removed to the new house in Pinckney Street. In 1844, it was removed to the building in Bedford Street which it now occupies ; but its early removal from its present location may be expected, as the building is quite inadequate to the proper accommodation of any increase in the present number of scholars. The English High School was opened in May, 1821. On the day of examination for admission, 7 8 one hundred and thirty-five boys presented them- selves, seventy-five of whom were passed as quali- fied ; and on a subsequent day, twenty-five more were admitted. The standard of examination was high, as Mr. Shaw (afterwards Chief Justice) stated that the Committee wished to establish a high rank for this school, having in view not only the advantage of its scholars, but also the elevation of the Grammar Schools. The Principal showed himself admirably qualified for the office, and has since become eminent in the educational history of Boston. His success as a wise and skillful teacher proved the best com- mentary on the care and good judgment of the School Committee in their selection. Mr. Emerson secured for it a high standard of excellence, and a character and prestige which affected most favorably its subsequent prosperity. His connection with the High School ended May 19, 1823, but not before he had provided another teacher, for whose qualifica- tions he could vouch. Not the least interesting incident of this occasion, and one most gratifying to the oldest classes, who have always cherished pleasant memories of their relations to him as pupils, is the meeting Dr. Emer- son on this Semi-centennary. His successor, Mr. Solomon P. Miles, was ap- pointed May 19, 1823, and held the office fourteen years. His attainments as a scholar were of the highest order, and under him the school maintained 79 its old reputation. He devoted himself with a zeal which nothing short of a profound love for the school could have sustained. His refined and sedate manner, and quiet dignity, secured the confidence and respect of his scholars, and the perfect discipline of the school. It was during his administration it was removed to Pinckney Street. On Mr. Miles's resignation, Mr. Thomas Sherwin was chosen Head Master December 1, 1837. He entered the school as Sub-master November 11, 1828. He was an exemplar to all teachers who seek the highest model for their standard of excellence. He taught in the English High School nine years as Sub-master, and thirty-two years as Principal. While in the active performance of his daily work, he was called to rest from his labors, and passed away July 23, 1869. Eulogy fails in expressing his merits, and Sculpture can represent only the outer man. Singularly fortunate were the School Committee in securing a trio of teachers of such marked abilities, whose united terms of service have extended over the past half century, and through whose agency it has kept up that high degree of efficiency, which has invariably drawn flattering comments from the different sub-committees, as they have from year to year reported upon its condition and prosperity. Dr. Emerson narrated the following interesting facts, at a meeting of the American Institute of Instruction : 8o " It is a curious and not unimportant fact, that all the Head Masters of the High School, (there have been only three,) were born and brought up in the country, where they became familiar with farming and other rural pursuits ; that they all taught district schools in the country, three or more years while in College or before ; that each taught a country academy for one or two years ; and that each was, for one or two years, tutor in the Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Harvard College ; Mr. S her win had the further advantage of learning a trade before he entered College, and of acting as a Civil and Naval Engineer afterwards." Gratifying too is the abundant promise of efficiency and continued usefulness of the School, under the accomplished successor on whom their mantle has fallen. Its excellent condition evinces the ability of its present corps of teachers. Mr. Charles M. Cumston was appointed Head Master November, 9, 1869. He entered as Usher September 23, 1848. The estimate of the comparative standing of the School, among the others of like grade in the land, and of its intrinsic merits in its educational work does not rest on the attachments of local pride, nor the too partial feelings of interested friends. It received its highest encomium (satisfactory because disinterested, and gratifying because given by a competent judge) from Rev. Mr. Frazar, who visited this country in 1865, charged with the special duty of examining the school system of the United States in its actual working. In his report to the School Commissioners of 8i England, after praising the school for its perform- ances and discipline, he says, " take it all in all, and as accomplishing the end at which it proposes to aim, the English High School at Boston struck me as the model school of the United States. I wish that we had a hundred such in England." The commendation of the Principal of one of the Heidelburg schools, given to a pupil of the High School who went to Germany two years ago to finish his education, was complimentary both to the pupil and to the school. The master, struck with his proficiency and thoroughness in general studies, and his ready command of the French language, ex- pressed much surprise on learning that he came direct from a public school in Boston. It appears that the school is nearly coeval with the City Government. It was founded in the last year of the old Town Government, and its establishment was among the last recommendations of the Selectmen, and acts of the people in Faneuil Hall, in town meeting assembled. It was originally named the "English Classical School," but in 1824, on its removal to the new building on Pinckney Street, its name was changed to the lt English High School." A majority of the School Committee, doubting the propriety of altering the name which the people, by direct vote, had given to it at the Town Meeting under the old municipal organization, restored its original name, March 13, 183*2. But on February 82 12, 1833, it was changed back to the English High School, which name it has since retained. The course of studies then prescribed has since been often modified and extended, as the increased educa- tional requirements of the times demanded. In the year 1844, a donation of $ 2,000 was made to the City, by Hon. Abbott Lawrence, for this school, the interest of which was to be annually expended in prizes for the best performances in the various branches of Literature and Science, and also for excellence and industry.* Military exercises were introduced in 1863, and they have proved not only of much personal advan- tage, but highly favorable to school discipline. The number taught in the English High School since its commencement in 1821, is four thousand four hun- dred and eighty-nine. The average attendance the past year was three hundred and fifty-one. I cannot, in this connection, refrain from alluding * Extract from the letter of the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, dated October 21, 1844, which was accepted by vote of the School Committee November 5, 1844. " I give to the City of Boston, in trust, the sum of two thousand dollars, the interest of which, as nearly as may be, shall be expended annually forever (under the direction of the Sub-Committee having charge of the English High School), in prizes for the best performances in the various branches of Literature and Science taught in that institution, and in such other rewards for excellence and industiy as may be thought best calculated to promote the object and true interests of education, and to keep alive a spirit of generous emulation and literary ardor through the several departments and all the different grades of said school. " It is not my wish that the whole of said interest should be expended in prizes for abstract or comparative excellence, which must naturally fall to the most talented and most advanced scholars, but that a portion should be appropriated to the reward of those whose industry and diligent application manifest a desire to improve, though the least gifted by nature ; and also a portion for good conduct in general, embracing moral recti- tude and gentlemanlike deportment. " It is my desire that the subjects for prizes be so arranged and distributed as to operate on all the classes of the school, the lowest as well as the highest." to the invaluable services of that portion of our citizens under whose direction and care our public schools are all placed. They appoint the teachers, and organize and arrange the systems of instruction, and, in conjunction with the able Superintendent, are charged with the regulations and details of school affairs. Discharging their duties noiselessly and almost without public notice, and too little public appreciation, they devote themselves to the highest public service, without other reward than the con- sciousness of the importance and value of their unselfish labors. It is a notable fact that the present chairman of the High School sub-committee,* has for the past twenty-five years, in addition to his engross- ing parochial duties, applied himself to this educa- tional work. The office of Superintendent of Public Schools was established in 1851, and Mr. Nathan Bishop was elected in that year. He was succeeded by the present Superintendent, Mr. John D. Philbrick, who was chosen in December, 1856. Not many years had elapsed after the founding of the English High School, when renewed attention was given to the cause of education, which resulted in the forming the Normal School for the benefit of teachers, or those to become such. The first was established in Massachusetts in 1839. The services of H. G. Carter, Charles Brooks, and Horace Mann, * Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, D.D. 11 8 4 and their coadjutors in the work of education, ought always to be home in grateful remembrance. The writings and addresses of these educators had their due effect on the public mind, and resulted in chang- ing the old notions of school discipline and methods of instruction, and the popular estimate of the quali- fications of teachers. The professional schoolmaster had now something more to do than merely to keep school. He was to teach and instruct and develop the faculties of his pupils. I was long since forcibly impressed with the char- acter of the change to which I have alluded, and I never bring up reminiscences of my school days without realizing how great is the contrast between the schoolmaster of the old regime in his method of teaching and discipline, and the order of teachers who have succeeded him. It is suggestive of a comparison between the large Boston private school, which I attended for a year, and the English High School, which I joined at its commencement. In the former, the boys studied by compulsion ; in the other, they were actuated by ambition to learn. In the one, the perfect recitation, word for word from the book, was the task ; in the other, a full understanding of the subject was the principal object. The one cultivated the memory ; the other the thinking and reasoning faculties. In the one, fear was the compelling motive of obedience to austere rule ; in the other, was mutual good will 85 and mutual respect between teacher and pupil. In the one, was the discipline of the ferule, in the other, that of reproof and advice. And here I may say, that I do not remember ever seeing a boy struck by either master of the High School. My memory may be at fault, but corporal punishment was at least very unusual. Immediately on the opening of the school, the scholars were addressed by Mr. Emerson, who stated what he expected from them, and what they might expect from him. He told them that he should rely upon their good conduct, without resort to punishment. Among other things, he denounced tale bearing, and frowned upon all envious competi- tion, thus making each boy feel an inch or two more of a man, by the confidence placed in him, and imbu- ing him with a self-respect which ensured the good discipline of the school. It seemed to me a new philosophy of school teaching, when Mr. Emerson, in aid of our Astro- nomical lesson, took us out one evening on to Beacon Hill, in the rear of the State House, with his telescope, to show to us the places and movements of the stars. Also when studying Anatomy, Mr. Flint, then Usher, in order to give to us a better under- standing of the subject, and to interest us in it, invited us to a room to hear him explain the struc- ture of a dead body. It was the beginning of that kind of teaching w 7 hich continues throughout life, and is the most available, the most interesting, and 86 most profitable of all, that which comes by obser- vation and experiment. We are prone, I know, to generalize over solitary facts that are before us ; but, without going into particulars, I can sufficiently illustrate the difference between the old and the new methods and notions of instruction, by that between the old arithmetics, with their dry rules, conveying but little idea of their application, and Colburn's, which teaches the science of Mathematics in its mental as well as written processes. In way of episode, I will allude to the Writing Master of the private school before mentioned, who, of the two masters, was the favorite of the scholars. It was for him, when a lad, that those verses were composed which are familiar to all now, both old and young. "You 'd scarce expect one of my age, To speak in public on the stage," etc. They were written for him by Mr. David Everett, a relative of Edward Everett. Subsequently, in the course of publication, the word " Massachusetts " became substituted for " New Hampshire," as it was originally written. That any one should presume so far as to make that alteration in a piece which he called his by right of original proprietorship, caused much indignation on the part of young Farrar, who was a New Hampshire boy. Digressing still further, I will allude to an incident 8 7 not unconnected with school government, which occurred at the High School about a dozen years after it was opened. One of the scholars was seen to be very busy with his pen on something other than his writing lesson, which soon attracted the attention of the Master, who called him up, and ordered him to bring the paper which he had been at w r ork upon. The boy, in much trepidation, carried up the paper, and the Master found that the sly work was a sketch of himself, skillfully drawn. The offender's suspense was relieved when the Master smilingly asked permission to keep it, gave him a quarter of a dollar for the sketch, and sent him back to his seat. He is now a Boston artist, eminent in his profession ; and, what is more, he is present, and I can assure him that if this offence had occurred in a school of the olden time, he would have received a sound flogging, instead of a token of recognition and encouragement for his juvenile specimen of fine art. The fact that the art of swimming was at one time taught to the pupils, does not appear in history ; perhaps because its continuance was too brief, to attain the dignity of public record, and the privilege limited to too few in numbers to become generally known. In 1827, Dr. Lieber, soon after his coming to this country, opened a swimming school on Charles Street, near the mill-dam, and agreed to receive a certain number of scholars, from each of 88 the public schools, without charge. At the High School, the boys who could not swim drew lots, and six of them went to Dr. Lieber's to learn. The test of good swimming was the ability to continue half an hour without stopping, and the prize for success was a red braid worn on the swimming-dress. I was not there to see, but it is to be supposed, in the absence of any statement to the contrary, that every one of the High-school boys obtained prizes ! My informant, one of the six, says that he also met there Judge Thatcher, and Nathaniel I. Bowditch, who were among those who sported the red braid. If the graduates could give full expression of their estimation of the value to themselves of the instruc- tion obtained at the High School, it would satisfy all, if any doubt, that the institution has fully accom- plished its ends in the past. If a list was furnished of those who have attained distinction in their respective pursuits and professions, it would be as interesting, as from their numbers it would be unex- pected, to those whose attention has not been directed to their early history. It would be a pleas- ing task to enumerate them, but time will not permit. A gentleman well qualified to judge, and who once taught school himself, has stated that he fully believed that the young man instructed at the English High School, is better educated than the graduates of the average colleges in this country, We read in the School Committee's Report of 8 9 1863 : " The fact that one of the most eminent pro- fessors at Cambridge, the first of his class at gradu- ating, went through most of the whole course of the English High School, as a part of his preparation for entering Harvard ; and the fact that in two or three instances recently, the first scholar in his class, at Cambridge, had been some one who, in like manner, had availed himself of the whole or two- thirds of the course of the English High School, would go to confirm what has been said about the thoroughness of our instruction."* Boston has been true to herself in cherishing the cause of education. Her character is intimately con- nected with the character of her schools. The one reflects the other. Much has been done to perfect the school system, and much will yet be done. Enterprise is the outgrowth of education, and pro- gress is its best manifestation. The introduction of music, thirty years ago, excited conservative fears ; but it is now recognized as an important adjunct of the school system. Drawing was an innovation; but its experiment in a few schools has awakened attention to it, as a matter of public concern, and, by the legislation of last year, it is hereafter to be taught in all the large towns of the State. Considering its relations to science and * In the same volume it is narrated that " not long since a young man, a graduate of the English High School, called to thank Mr. Sherwin for making him study mathe- matics and navigation so thoroughly, as, on board a ship, when the Master had died and the other officers were sick, he, through the knowledge which he obtained through the English High School, was able to navigate the vessel." 9 o art, and to the arts and employments of civilized society, and viewing it as a direct means of qualify- ing youth for various occupations, especially the mechanical, or as an accomplishment to be desired by every one, its importance as a school study has not been exaggerated. The time is not distant when art- culture will receive increased attention with us, and when the cultivation and improvement of the percep- tive faculties will assume more importance in the programme of school studies. The introduction of sewing into the lower classes of the Grammar Schools was an innovation, and was deemed by many of very doubtful propriety ; but Mr. Philbrick, in one of his recent reports, speaks of it very favorably, and says, " I have never been able to discover that the girls in those classes which are exempted from sewing have been any more proficient in their studies than the pupils who are not ex- empted." The importance of special industrial education, in relation to the material interests of a community like ours, is unquestionably great, and it remains to har- monize the fact with the idea. The Institute of Technology, outside of the range of free schools, is doing successfully a most useful work, in meeting the demands of the times for instruction in the special sciences. The Art Museum, too, will soon be erected, another pledge of devo- tion to the cause of education in its higher form, and 9 1 another memorial of the abiding interest of the citizens in the good name and fame of Boston. Not only is this reunion interesting to the older graduates, but its influences will be felt by those of the youngest classes, whose school-life furnishes yet no past record, and whose present is enlivened with the bright coloring of hope and anticipation. Those of you who are now pursuing your studies, and those who have recently finished them, will soon enter the school of active life and experience. The value of your school instruction is in proportion to the ability acquired to be useful to others, and is to be tested in this new sphere of application. Useful- ness to others will prove the prime element of your own success. You are to glean wisdom in the field of human affairs, in which are unfolded the experi- ences of life in its varied conditions and occupations ; in which, as Milton says, " the hearts of men are their books, events their tutors, and great actions their eloquence." The philosophy of books you will lay aside to study the philosophy of men. You have already discovered that there is no royal road to learning, and the experiences of the actual world will confirm its truth in its extended application. The responsibilities and duties of life are not to be discharged by proxy, and the extent of your success will be in proportion to your mental resources. The study-lamp of Epictetus emitted no rays of wisdom to the rich man who paid three thousand drachmas 12 9 2 for it. In the intercourse of society you will often find that ''The heart May give a useful lesson to the head, And learning wiser grow without his books." You will discover that to be the greatest fallacy of all, which leads you to suppose that you are to obtain prizes in the arena of active life, because you have been rewarded with prizes at school. The highest ranking scholars of the class, trusting in their pro- ficiency in school studies for success, and satisfied with their comparative superiority, will be distanced in the long run by the average or even dull scholars, who bring to their business callings patience, dili- gence, perseverance, and ambition to succeed. To live is to labor. It is so by the original ordination, and applies to the brain work of literary life, as much as to agricultural, mechanical, or other business employment. I imagine that the labors of the pro- fessional classes in their various departments of study, teaching, and practice, are very imperfectly estimated by the generality of people. It is a mistake to suppose that great achievements must come from genius. Genius is of itself, when unsupported by application, unaided by judgment and undirected by principle, an ignis-fatuus leading only astray. It is a special faculty, excited by the opportune occasion, but of little account when unas- sociated with other mental endowments. 93 One writer calls genius the product of will and industry. Buffon called it patience. Newton says that whatever service he had rendered to the public was owing to industry and patient thought. You cannot read the biography of Rufus Choate, without wonderment at the extent of his assiduous devotion to his profession, and his unremitting toil and strife for excellence, ceasing only with his life. The power of genius is seldom developed without much previous application and labor. We admire the beauty and magnificence of its ideal structures, with but faint conception of the mental cost and labor expended in their underground work. The brilliant corruscations of thought which dazzle and charm when thrown off by the orator on the spur of the moment, and seemingly elicited by the excitement of the discussion, are often the result of hours of pains-taking study and most careful prep- aration. It is said that Sheridan's great speech, which electrified his hearers by its impromptu bursts of feeling and momentary inspirations, was found after his death, in manuscript, interlined with the incidental flights of fancy, and the emotional inter- jections, all in their proper places. In these active, stirring times, there is too little disposition to properly prepare one's self for his chosen vocation, and engagements are too often made without due qualification for the work in hand. We have in the history of almost all eminent men, exam- 94 pies of the close application and thorough prepara- tion which they deemed necessary to the proper dis- charge of their duties. John Adams, when a young man, writes in his diary, after trying his first case in court, " Let me never undertake to draw a writ without sufficient time to examine and digest in my mind all the doubts and queries and objections that may arise." Camp- bell, the poet, spent a whole week in forming the single line " Coming events cast their shadows before." Edward Everett, who believed in doing well whatever he undertook, when once waited upon by a committee of young men, to invite him to make a speech in Faneuil Hall, replied, " To speak there, on only a fortnight's notice, impossible ! " Demos- thenes himself would probably have given a similar answer, for we know that he elaborated every sen- tence that he wrote, with the greatest care. Michael Angelo, when touching and retouching a piece on which he had been a long time at work, on being told by a friend that he was spending too much time on trifles, replied that to make perfect was no trifle. One of his last sketches, made when ninety years old, was the drawing of an old man, with an hour glass, bearing the motto, u I still learn." I can offer to those of you who are about com- mencing to learn the ways of business, and to gain some foothold in the paths of commercial or mechan- ical life, no better practical advice than to commend 95 yourself to your employer by diligent application and faithful discharge of the daily duty, and to render yourself so useful that he cannot well spare your services. Succeeding in this, you hold a golden key. There are general rules for business conduct, and maxims for the counting room, but they are so com- mon and trite as to make little impression, except in times of their application. It is an error to suppose that it is any particular branch of business which offers to the young man the means of securing a competency or affluence. The result depends more upon himself than the business he follows. That which yields the greatest profits is also attended with the greatest risks. It is a good rule to stick to the business which one has intelligently undertaken, and follow it even through discouragements. There are times in the experience of almost every merchant, when he is depressed with disappointments, and has only faith in the outcome to uphold him. Obstacles test a man's character and capacity. The fog bank which, in the distance, appears impassable , causes but little detention to the mariner who steadily and cautiously keeps on his course. I have in my mind two of the rich men of this City, who would have been bankrupts, one on the second, the other on the third year after commencing business, if their strong wills and faith in good endeavors had not sustained them. Their excellent characters secured for them good commercial credit, and proved their best capital. 9 6 You will find yourself but poorly equipped for the conflicts of life, if unprovided with the invisible armor of conscience and judgment, and principles of moral excellence. Truth, integrity, and justice, are the very basis of individual character, without which, all gains and all honors are of little real worth. There is no chart for reference, delineating the intricate and infinite paths of human intercourse, and occasions will often arise when conscience is to be the sole arbiter, and when the power of mere intellect can offer no council, nor furnish any guide. He who glories in the highest erudition, but has made no corresponding improvement of his moral and religious faculties, has neglected that culture which his own nature and the wants of society demand. No educated man can shape his conduct as though he could live to himself alone, regardless of the claims of society, of his country, and of humanity. Hume writes " that a man who loves only himself, without regard to friendship and desert, merits the severest blame ; and a man who is only susceptible of friendship, without public spirit, or without regard to the community, is deficient in the most material part of virtue." As wisdom exalts knowledge, so character dignifies intellect. You cannot overestimate the value of good character and reputation. These are the development of self-discipline. No one looks to the tree that is never pruned, for the best fruit. 97 Let us hope that the education which each one of you, my young friends, will continue to receive, will embrace that self-culture which will add grace, symmetry, dignity and power to your character, and develop that purity of inner life which hallows every earthly experience, and that perfect manhood which is the crown of existence. APPENDIX. 13 APPENDIX. The Committee on Publication, hoping that at some future time a full and elaborate history of the English High School may be prepared, with memorials of its Masters, and of many pupils who have distinguished themselves in various positions in life, have decided to place in this Appendix only a few documents, which will be found interesting in immediate connection with the Oration, Poem, and the other services at the Semi-Centennial Festival. ACTION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE. The first recorded action of the School Committee of the old Town of Boston, in connection with the establishment of the English High School, is found in the Resolutions offered by Samuel A. Wells, at a meeting of the Committee, held on June 17, 1820. The following is a copy of the document printed and circulated among the citizens of Boston, previous to the Town Meeting held in Faneuil Hall, on January 15, 1821. It gives an account of the action of the Committee on the Resolutions of Mr. Wells : PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, OF THE TOWN OF BOSlON, RESPECTING AN ENGLISH CLASSICAL SCHOOL. IN SCHOOL COMMITTEE, JUNE 17, 1820. Voted : That such of the resolutions offered by S. A. Wells, as relate to the establishment of an ENGLISH CLASSICAL SCHOOL in the town of Boston, be referred to a Sub-Committee of five, and the following gentle- men were chosen : Mr. SAMUEL A. WELLS, Rev. JOHN PIERPONT, Rev. NATHL. L. FROTHINGHAM, LEMUEL SHAW, and BENJAMIN RUSSELL, Esqrs. IO2 At a meeting of the School Commiitee on the 26th October, the above Committee made a Keport which was read : it was then Voted: That it is expedient to establish an English Classical School, upon the plan stated in the report, in the town of Boston, and that the further consideration thereof be referred to an adjourned meeting, and that it be printed for the use of the members of the Committee. At a meeting of the School Committee on the 9th November, 1820, the Report of the Subcommittee on the English Classical School, having been printed for the use of the Board, was read and considered by para- graphs, amended, and unanimously accepted as follows : The Sub-Committee to whom was referred the resolutions offered to the School Committee at a meeting on the 17th June, proposing to establish an English Classical School in the town of Boston, having taken the subject of those resolutions into consideration, and devoted to it that attention which its importance demanded, respectfully ask leave to REPORT. Though the present system of public education, and the munificence with which it is supported, are highly beneficial and honorable to the town ; yet, in the opinion of the Committee, it is susceptible of a greater degree of perfection and usefulness without materially augmenting the weight of the public burdens. Till recently our system occupied a middle station : it neither commenced with the rudiments of education, nor extended to the higher branches of knowledge. This system was sup- ported by the town at a very great expense, and to be admitted to its advantages, certain preliminary qualifications were required at individual cost, which had the effect of excluding many children of the poor and unfortunate classes of the community from the benefits of a public education. The town saw and felt this inconsistency in the plan, and have removed the defect by providing schools, in which the children of the poor can be fitted for admission into the public seminaries.* The present system, in the opinion of the Committee, requires still further amendment, The studies that are pursued at the English Grammar schools, are merely elementary, and more time than is neces- sary is devoted to their acquisition. A scholar is admitted at seven, and is dismissed at fourteen years of age ; thus, seven years are expended in the acquisition of a degree of knowledge, which, with ordinary diligence and a common capacity, may be easily and perfectly acquired in five. If, then, a boy remain the Usual term, a large portion of the time will have been idly, or uselessly expended, as he may have learned all that he has been taught long before its expiration. This loss of time occurs at that interesting and critical period of life, when the habits and inclinations * The Primary Schools were established in 1818. 103 are forming by which the future character will bo fixed and determined. This evil, therefore, should be removed, by enlarging the present system, not merely that the time now lost may be saved, but that those early habits of industry and application may be acquired, which are so essential in leading to a future life of virtue and usefulness. Nor are these the only existing evils. The mode of education now adopted, and the branches of knowledge that are taught at our English Grammar schools, are not sufficiently extensive, nor otherwise calculated to bring the powers of the mind into operation, nor to qualify a youth to fill usefully and respectably many of those stations, both public and private, in which he may be placed. A parent, who wishes to give a child an education that shall fit him for active life, and shall serve as a founda- tion for eminence in his profession, whether Mercantile or Mechanical, is under the necessity of giving him a different education from any which our public schools can now furnish. Hence" many children are separated from their parents and sent to private academies in this vicinity, to acquire that instruction, which cannot be obtained at the public seminaries. Thus, many parents, who contribute largely to the support of these institutions, are subjected to heavy expense for the same object in other towns. The Committee, for these and many other weighty considerations that might be offered, and in order to render the present system of public education more nearly perfect, are of opinion, that an additional school is required. They, therefore, recommend the founding of a seminary to be called the English Classical School, and submit the following as a general outline of a plan for its organization, and of the course of studies to be pursued. 1st. That the term of time for pursuing the course of studies proposed be three years. 2dly. That the School be divided into three classes, and one year be assigned to the studies of each class. 3dly. That the age of admission be not less than twelve years. 4thly. That the School be for boys exclusively. 5thly. That candidates for admission be proposed on a given day annually; but scholars, with suitable qualifications, may be admitted at any intermediate time to an advanced standing. Gthly. That candidates for admission shall be subject to a strict exam- ination, in such manner as the School Committee may direct, to ascertain their qualifications according to these rules. 7thly. That it be required of every candidate to qualify him for admission, that he be well acquainted with reading, writing, English grammar in all its branches, and arithmetic as far as simple proportion. Sthly. That it be required of the Masters and Ushers, as a necessary qualification, that they shall have been regularly educated at some University. 104 The studies of the first class to be as follows : Composition ; Reading from the most approved authors ; Exercises in criticism, comprising critical analyses of the language, gram- mar, and style of the best English authors, their errors and beauties ; Declamation ; Geography; Arithmetic continued ; Algebra. The studies of the 2d class Composition ; Reading ; Exercises in criticism ; ^ Continued. Declamation; Algebra; Ancient and modern history and chronology ; Logic ; Geometry; Plane Trigonometry, and its application to mensuration of heights and distances ; Navigation ; Surveying ; Mensuration of superficies and solids ; Forensic discussions. The studies of the 3d class Continued. Composition ; Exercises in criticism ; Declamation ; Mathematics ; Logic ; History, particularly that of the United States Natural Philosophy including Astronomy ; Moral and Political Philosophy. To conduct a seminary of this description, the Committee are of opinion, that one principal master, one sub-master, and two ushers will be required ; The Principal at a salary of $1500 per ann. Sub-Master, - 1200 " " Two Ushers, one at $700 7 , O nn one at 600 5 $4000 I0 5 This sum, in the opinion of the Committee, with the other usual expenses of schools, will be adequate to the support of such an institution. No additional building will be required ; as those which are now built, and authorised by the town to be built, will be sufficient. The Committee, therefore, recommend that an annual appropriation of this sum be obtained from the town, and that a further sum be raised either by private subscrip- tion, or from public munificence, to furnish the school with the necessary instruments and philosophical apparatus. The Committee are further of opinion, that the expense which would be incurred by the establishment of such an institution, would be fully justified by its great and manifold advantages. No money can be better expended than that which is appropriated to the support of public schools. If any thing will preserve tranquility and order in a community, per- petuate the blessings of society and free government, and promote the happiness and prosperity of a people, it must be the general diffusion of knowledge. These salutary effects, the Committee conceive, would flow from the institution of this seminary. Its establishment, they think, would raise the literary and scientific character of the town, would incite our youth to a laudable ambition of distinguishing themselves in the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge, and would give strength and stability to the civil and religious institutions of our country. All of which is respectfully submitted, by order of the Committee. BOSTON, October 26, 1820. S. A. WELLS, Chairman. Voted: That this Report, with the proceedings thereon, be printed and distributed among the citizens of the town, and that the plan of the School therein stated be recommended by this Committee to the people for acceptance. Voted : That the Selectmen be requested to carry this vote into effect, and to call a public meeting of the inhabitants of the town to consider and act thereon at such time as they shall deem expedient. By order of the School Committee, ELIPHALET WILLIAMS, Chairman. FANEUIL HALL MEETING, JANUARY 15, 1821. The following account of the Faneuil Hall meeting is taken from the Columbian Centinel of Jan. 17, 1821. It was not the day of full phono- graphic reports, such as would have been very interesting to read at the present time : " A Town meeting was held in Faneuil Hall on Monday, [Jan. 15] Francis J. Oliver, Esq., Moderator. The proceedings of the School Committee, respecting the addition of an English Classical School to the town's system of education, were read io6 and acted upon. They were explained by Mr. Williams, Chairman of the School Committee, and Mr. Wells, of the Sub-Committee, on the subject. The motion to confirm was opposed by Mr. Fuller and Mr. Ticknor, the latter moving that they be recommitted to consider and report on an entire system of instruction. The motion to recommit was negatived, nearly unanimously. The motion to adopt the proceedings was supported by Mr. W. Thurston, Mr. S. L. Knapp, J. T. Austin, Harrison Gray Otis, and H. Higginson. Mr. Clough proposed that the age required of boys to be admitted be eleven instead of twelve years, and was informed that the School Committee, in the execution of the system, would consider the suggestion. The motion to confirm the proceedings was passed in a full meeting, with only three dissentients. Mr. Thurston then moved the following vote : Voted : That the School Committee, from year to year, be and they are hereby instructed and authorized to revise the course of studies pro- posed in the Report this day made and accepted for the new School, and to adopt such measures as experience shall dictate and the object of the establishment require." PRESENT COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. In this connection, and as showing how little change has been made in the course of instruction at the School, we publish the present Curriculum of studies : CLASS 3. 1. Review of preparatory studies, using the text-books authorized in the Grammar Schools of the city. 2. Penmanship. 3. Reading. 4. Declamation. 5. Commercial Arithmetic. 6. Physical Geography. 7. Sherwin's Algebra. 8. Drawing. 9. Botany. 10. Min- eralogy. 11. French Language. 12. Composition. 13. English Litera- ture, including History, Antiquities, etc. 14. Military Drill. CLASS. 2. Penmanship, Reading, Declamation, Commercial Arith- metic, Sherwin's Algebra, Drawing, French Language, Composition, Military Drill, continued; also English Literature, including History, Antiquities, and a course of reading from the best English Authors. 15. Legendre's Geometry. 16. Book-Keeping. 17. Rhetoric. 18. Trigo- nometry, with its application to Surveying, Mensuration, etc. CLASS 1. Penmanship, Reading, Declamation, Commercial Arithmetic, Drawing, French Language, (French conversation and composition,) Composition, Military Drill, continued ; English Literature is also con- tinued in this class, including History, Philology, Antiquities, etc., and the critical study of some standard English work. 19. Navigation. 20. Natural Philosophy. 21. Moral Philosophy. 22. Physiology. 23. Con- stitution of the United States. 24. Astronomy, with the practical study of the stars, and the explanation and use of instruments. The probable course of studies for the pupils who remain at the School the fourth year will be Chemistry, German, Free Hand- Drawing, Mechan- ical Drawing, Descriptive Geometry, Mental Philosophy, Mechanics, and Spanish, the last being optional. LETTER FROM GEORGE B. EMERSON, FIRST HEAD MASTER OF THE ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. The readers of this pamphlet will be interested in Mr. Emerson's account of his introduction to the office of Head Master of the School, kindly furnished in response to a request of the Committee on Pub- lication : " My coming to take charge of the High School was what we, somewhat profanely, call accidental. I came to make an experiment. I was residing at Cambridge, as tutor in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy with that excellent and noble man Prof. John Farrar, and under the benign influence of President Kirkland, whom I saw every day. I had been teaching several years, the two previous ones at Lancaster, urging boys to act by the old motives of emulation and the fear of pain. Unable to use my eyes, except by daylight, I was left much, at Cambridge, to my own thoughts, regretting that I could not occupy my leisure in reading. If I had been able to use them, I should probably have lost the most valuable lessons I ever received ; for I went often in the evening to see Mr. Andrews Norton, whose eyes were affected like my own, and who seemed always glad to see me. His conversation was the most instructive I had ever or have ever listened to, referring always to conscience guided by the spirit of the New Testament. His plain statement, that the words of Paul, * in honor preferring one another,' indicated the difference, in the matter of emulation, between the Christian and the heathen morality, made a strong impression upon me. I also found time to read some of the old English authors upon the art of teaching, particularly Roger Ascham. Under these influences, I came to the conclusion that my former course as a teacher had been more savage and heathenish than Christian, and that, if I should have another opportunity of teaching and governing boys, I would try whether they could not be managed by appealing to the highest motives by which human beings can be moved, and to them alone. Just as I had come to this conclusion, I saw, in the Boston Sentinel, an advertisement, that any one who wished to be a candidate for the place of Head Master in the English Classical School, which had just been established by a vote of the town of Boston, and would soon go into operation, might apply to the School Committee. I at once said to myself, 14 io8 * Here is an opportunity to try the experiment, and I will try it.' Accordingly, getting recommendations from Pres. Kirkland, Prof. Farrar, and some of those whose sons I had taught at Lancaster, I applied and was chosen. Finding that S. P. Miles would succeed me at College, I had no difficulty in resigning the tutorship. On the Committee upon the English Classical School, at that time, were Samuel Adams Wells, who had first suggested it, Lemuel Shaw, who afterwards became Chief Justice, Rev. Charles Lowell, and others. I found these gentlemen disposed to give me all the power I could ask. They had chosen me, they said, to take charge of the School, and I ought to be competent to teach and govern it as I thought best. They said that one object in view, in the establishment of the new school, was to raise the standard in all the Grammar Schools, and I might examine the candidates for admission as severely as I pleased. Out of one hundred and thirty-five, who presented themselves, I selected, after careful exam- ination, seventy-five; and to this number about twenty-five were soon after added. I thought then, and I believe now, that they were really the best set of fellows that ever came together for a new school, and to their excellence, more than to any other cause, I attribute the perfect success of my experiment. When these boys came together, on the first day of the term, I told them that I was going to try an experiment with them. Though all the usual power was given to me, I meant never to strike a blow ; never to doubt a boy's word till he should prove himself a liar; never to listen to a word from one boy against another ; that I intended to have perfect order, but never expected to make a rule, the infraction of which would be so bad as the meanness of betraying that feeling of honor which every boy should entertain towards all his fellows ; that I should treat them all as gentlemen, as my younger brothers ; that I should never urge them to try to surpass each other, but every one of them to try to surpass himself, to be a better scholar and a tnler gentleman to-day than he had been yesterday. Of course I made a somewhat long address. It was those fine fellows that secured my complete success ; with a less noble set I could never have been so successful. In that school I struck but one blow, and that was my own fault. Hearing a noise in a corner of the room, while I was engaged with a class, I spoke repeatedly, asking the boys to be quiet. Losing my patience, I said, in an evil spirit, If I find out who is making that noise, I will ferule him.' Unfortunately, I found him out, and was obliged to strike a blow. How gladly would I have cut off my finger, if I could thereby have kept my promise. I never for a moment doubted the word of a boy. I do not believe that any one ever told me what was false. I always treated them like gentlemen ; and they always responded, and treated me like a gentleman, from that first day to this ; and some of them I have found to be my best friends through life. It may be asked why, if so successful, I ever left my charge of the High School. I was entirely satisfied, and had no thought of leaving 109 it. But a gentleman, several of whose sons had been ray pupils at Lan- caster, and who had, ever since, been my friend, came and urged me to take charge of the education of his daughters. I told him I had been successful beyond my highest hopes, in the trial of a great experiment in the management of boys, and that I was more than satisfied with my situation. He returned, again and again, urging many weighty reasons, and, among them, one which had more force than all the rest, but which I may not speak of here. Finally, I told him that there was a man at Cambridge who had succeeded me at Lancaster, and given perfect satis- faction, and who had taken my place in Cambridge and more than made it good. If I could persuade him to apply for my office in this school, I would resign it, confident that the school would be a gainer by the exchange. So I went out to Cambridge and laid the case before my good friend, Solomon Pierson Miles, who was, without difficulty, persuaded to make application for the place. I have stated some of the reasons which led me to leave the High School. I argued the matter with myself very fully and conscientiously; and I know that the leading inducement was the conviction that it was a higher work to educate or to endeavor to educate young women to be noble Christian wives and mothers than it was even to prepare young men to be good husbands and fathers, and true and honest men and citizens. The moral and religious character of a child depends most upon that of his mother. It was a continual source of happiness to me to know that Mr. Miles was entirely successful ; and, when he was worn out by excessive labor and care, I was glad to persuade him, as I did, to come and take my house and school-room, on Temple Place, and open a school for young ladies. In this also he was perfectly successful. And whenever, afterwards, I looked back to the High School, as I often did, it was always with a feeling of satisfaction and happiness that I knew that Mr. Sherwin was carrying on the school on principles which were after my own heart, and with an uninterrupted success which I believe I never could have reached. May those principles never be departed from, and may that success continue uninterrupted." STATISTICAL TABLE. The following statistical table will be interesting, as showing the rapid growth of the school in later years. It has been compiled from the Catalogues and other historical documents, and may not be entirely free from error in the account of the early years of the school, the records of which were not so fully kept as at present : no DATE OF ENTRANCE. VT3 .S- 2 III 51 s a No. of Pupils of the same class who grad- uated after 3 years course of study. Whole No. of Pupils in the school in the month of February of each year. DATE OF ENTRANCE. No. of Pupils in the class which entered this year. No. of Pupils of the same class who grad- uated after 3 years course of study. Whole No. of Pupils in the school in the month of February of each year. 1821 102 7 1847 88 37 141 1822 65 3 1848 95 33 156 1823 74 11 i 1849 I84y 89 21 183 1824 73 13 121 1850 91 27 193 1825 77 10 121 1851 72 26 195 1826 85 18 128 1852 90 28 176 1827 83 17 132 1 1853 90 23 170 1828 61 g 141 1854 76 25 159 1829 72 12 114 1855 84 28 162 1830 79 14 129 1856 64 14 152 1831 46 18 134 1857... . 93 29 144 1832 61 11 111 1858.. . 85 25 160 1833 59 14 112 1859.. . 91 29 156 1834 64 13 128 I860 . . . 104 35 169 1835 74 14 125 1861.. 93 16 171 1836 49 17 131 1862 107 24 175 1837 61 14 115 1863 102 * 30 174 1838 51 14 115 1864 118 38 174 1839 61 24 104 1865 138 41 209 1840 58 21 105 1866 158 44 238 1841 83 23 120 1867 159 61 269 1842 85 23 150 1868 208 285 1843 56 18 170 1869 193 335 1844 83 20 149 1870 255 357 1845 70 20 152 1871. 442 1846 73 18 143 Ill ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL-HOUSE. The School House in Pinckney Street was dedicated on Nov. 2, 1824. In 1844, the new School House in Bedford Street was occupied by the Latin and English High Schools. The roof was raised and a story added in 1863. In 1867, the school was so increased in numbers that seventy or eighty pupils were accommodated in the Ward Eoom on Harrison Avenue. In 1870, the surplus of pupils were sent to the building on Mason Street, lately occupied by the Girls' High and Normal School. A new and commodious School House will probably be erected at an early date. ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION. The first meeting of past pupils of the High School for the purpose of forming the Association, was held in the school-house, Bedford Street, August 15, 1853. It has done an humble, but important work, through its annual meetings and the contributions of its members, in keeping up an interest in the old and honored school, whose good fruit can be witnessed in the adornment of the frescoed walls of the upper school-room with the portraits of the head masters of the school, and works of art illustrative of school studies ; in the establishment of an excellent library, now number- ing about 800 volumes ; in the successful efforts in connection with the Sherwin memorial ; and in its last and most interesting labor of love in the inauguration of the Semi- Centennial Festival. The whole expenses of the Festival, amounting to about eight hundred dollars, were borne by the Association. The first officers of the Association were as follows : President, FRED. U. TRACT. Vice- President, EDWIN HOWLAND. Secretary and Treasurer, FRANCIS J. PARKER. Standing Committee. ENOCH A. HOBART, STEPHEN G. DEBLOIS, JAMES A. DUPEE, EDWARD M. AMMIDOWN, W. W. DAVENPORT, J. B. FENNO. Mr. Sherwin was elected Vice-President in 1864, and each following year of his life. The present officers are : President, THOMAS GAFFIELD. Vice- President, CHARLES M, CUMSTON. Secretary and Treasurer, WM. H. MORIARTY. Standing Committee. GEORGE O. CARPENTER, CURTIS GUILD, and THOMAS L. MANSON, JR. 112 NOTE. The statement made in several books and reports that $2,500 was voted for philosophical instruments at a town meeting, June 30, 1821, is an error, as no town meeting was held on that day. The facts are, that the town made, as usual, an appropriation for school purposes, and that, at a meeting of the School Committee, on June 30, 1821, the following vote was passed : " Voted : That the sum of $2,500, making part of the general fund voted by the Town for school purposes during the present year, be appro- priated to the purchase of Philosophical Instruments for the use of the English Classical School." W1U _ BE ASSESS.,, FOR FA.,U. ;H .- PE - AUTY THIS BOOK ON THE A ^ NTS O N THE FOURTH WILL INCREASE TO THE SEVENTH OVERDUE. 28 21-100W-7/33 -' 3G4275 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY