THE FIRST HALF CENTURY OF THE INSTITUTE. 5 



defaced or any of the little injuries done, which might, in 

 such a dense and pushing mass, have easily been excused. 

 Five pieces of music from Jean Missud's Cadet Band con- 

 tributed their cheerful strains : and pot-plants, flowers 

 and other tasteful decorations made the scene a rare one. 

 On Wednesday, Cadet Armory began to fill soon after 

 two o'clock and, at the opening of the exercises, contained 

 between twelve and thirteen hundred persons. Several 

 of the speakers and special guests from out of town had 

 lunched with President Rantoul, at the Salem Club, and 

 they reached the Armory at half-past two o'clock. A 

 larger number of invited guests had met in the reception 

 room of the Armory, — all the accommodations of the 

 elegant quarters having been courteously placed at the 

 service of the Institute, — and here strangers were made 

 acquainted with each other by members of the reception 

 committee who were in attendance. The stage was occu- 

 pied at half-past two, and the stated exercises of the day 

 began with the reading, by President Rantoul, of the 

 half-century address which was as follows : 



THE COMMEMORATION ADDRESS. 



Friends of the Essex Institute : 



We are met to celebrate the golden wedding of the 

 Historical Society of Essex County, formed in 1821, with 

 the Natural History Society of Essex County, formed in 

 1833. These two kindred bodies came together on the 

 first Wednesday of March, 1848, and, for half a century, 

 have worked together harmoniously and well under the 

 joint title of the Essex Institute. 



The story of the Institute is unique. Starting without 

 funds ; relying always on the zeal and enthusiasm of those 



