164 MINUTES. [May 20, 



during the Buckshot War, and was active in drafting the laws called 

 for by our amended State Constitution. He was the author of the 

 preamble of our Consolidation Act, and his skillful hand was 

 present in the shaping of those sections which concerned the ad- 

 ministration of our finances. He was a leader in the establishment 

 of the Paid Fire Department, after having long served as a volun- 

 teer member of the old Philadelphia Hose Company. He was one 

 of the founders of the Union Club, which developed into the splen- 

 did organization of the Union League. For forty-one years he has 

 been a manager of the Western Saving Fund, and its President for 

 twenty years. For forty-five years he has served as a trustee of the 

 University of Pennsylvania. For fifty-six years he has been a mem- 

 ber of this Society, and has been its President for eighteen years. 

 As President of the National Board of Trade, and of our own local 

 organization, as a member of the Board of Finance of the Centen- 

 nial Commission, and in many other capacities, his voice has been 

 raised and his influence has been exerted in unselfish devotion to 

 the greatest of public interests. 



His long and varied career stands for unbending integrity in the 

 discharge of trust duties ; for knowledge and power in the discus- 

 sion of public questions ; for breadth and liberality of opinion ; for 

 constant progressiveness and generous hospitality to new ideas ; for 

 lofty ideals supported by trained technical skill. He has walked on 

 the high places of this earth with undimmed eye and steadfast cour- 

 age. The loftiness of his position enabled him to see the tops of 

 distant thoughts which men of common stature never saw. With 

 him " Knowledge was not a couch whereon to rest a searching and 

 restless spirit ; nor a terrace for a wandering or variable mind to walk 

 up and down with a fair prospect ; nor a tower of state for a proud 

 mind to raise itself upon ; nor a sort of commanding ground for 

 strife and contention ; nor a shop for profit and sale, but a rich 

 storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man's 

 estate." 



At the end of ninety-four years of life, with none of the intellect- 

 ual infirmities of age, and without the slightest trace of acerbity of 

 temper, he stands in the golden glow of an honorable and useful 

 career, the central object of our affection, of our veneration and 

 esteem. 



It is fitting that his portrait should grace these walls — walls 

 hallowed by sacred associations and cherished with filial piety. 



