46 



cannot be passed over in silence ; this place and its sur- 

 roundings are crowded with them the building the 

 varied relics the books are not without their history, 

 and are continually reminding us of the debt of gratitude 

 we owe to those through whose instrumentality they were 

 obtained. 



Some remind us of the Social Club, composed of the 

 leading spirits of the town, that was wont to hold its 

 weekly meetings, during the middle of the last century, 

 at the old Pratt's Tavern, to discuss the topics of the 

 day, especially those of a literary and scientific character. 

 Thence originated the Social Library in 1761. 



Others bear the signature of "R. Kirwan," a celebrated 

 Irish chemist, and call to remembrance some of the scenes 

 in the Revolutionary period, the privateer Pilgrim, its 

 bold and intrepid commander, Hugh Hill, his daring ex- 

 ploits, the capture, in the English Channel, of a schooner 

 having on board a portion of the library of this distin- 

 guished chemist, the bringing of these books into the 

 neighboring port of Beverly, the purchase of the same by 

 some seven scientific men of Salem and Beverly, and 

 hence the origin of the Philosophical Library, in 1781. 



The collection of log books and sea journals calls to 

 mind that brilliant commercial career which immediately 

 followed the closing drama of the Revolution, when the 

 sails of our merchantmen whitened every sea, and the 

 products of the most distant climes, " divitis Indite usque 

 ad ultimum sinum," were landed at our wharves. In the 

 midst of this prosperity the navigators in those remote 

 seas organized a society to assist the widows and chil- 

 dren of deceased members ; to collect such facts and 

 observations as tend to the improvement and security of 

 navigation and to form a museum illustrative of the civil 

 and natural history of the countries visited during their 



