34 



in both of these institutions from their respective organizations, 

 thus taking an active part in the institutions of this place for a period 

 of seventy years. 



These have all passed away, leaving deep traces of their influence 

 upon the institutions of this day, which are modifications of the pre- 

 ceding to conform to the wants and requirements of the age. 



Although much has been accomplished, yet we have only entered 

 upon the threshold of the domain of science. More remains to be 

 done before the objects which these pioneers have labored for, can be 

 said to be in a good working condition. This duty is never finished ; 

 the more an institution does the wider the vista opens and a greater 

 amount of labor is found necessary to be done, increasing as it pro- 

 gresses in a geometrical ratio. It is a law of nature when any in- 

 stitution or organic object ceases to grow, decay commences and a 

 gradual dissolution follows. 



Let all who revere the memory of the departed and desire to have 

 accomplished, or at lefist greatly advanced, the objects that were dear 

 to them, come forward and extend a helping band to those who bear 

 the heat and burden of the day. Though dead they yet speak in the 

 recollection of their zeal and energy in all worthy undertakings ; truly 

 their good works follow them. 



Allow me to introduce Mr. UPHAM, who will give a graphic ac- 

 count of the untiring devotion of our deceased friend to the study of 

 the sciences and their application to the useful arts, and a delineation 

 of his character in the various relations of life. 



Mr. UPHAM then proceeded to the delivery of his Memoir.* 



Preceding the personal narrative was a very full and interesting ex- 

 position of the influences that made the Society, and the subject of the 

 eulogy ; what they have been, and brought him into the relation he 

 sustained, as their chosen leader and head. 



Glancing briefly at the influence of the presence of persons of 

 marked impressiveness of mental traits among the first settlers, Mr. 

 Upham traced the origin of the Institute directly to the Social Even- 

 ing Club, designed to promote literature and philosophy, which was 

 in existence in Salem about the middle of the last century, and by 

 which a taste for literature and knowledge, a zeal in the prosecution 

 of scientific studies, was imparted to the community, of which we can 

 distinctly trace the imprints and monuments through all our subse- 

 quent history. 



Filling up this sketch, with a fulness and accuracy of detail which 

 perhaps no other person in our community is competent to supply, 

 Mr. Upham passed on to the biography of Col. Peabody, dwelling on 

 his strongly marked characteristics, his early love for and acquisitions 

 in science, his agency in establishing and strengthening institutions of 

 learning, and his many-sided attainments and activities. 



At the close of the address, Hon. ASAHEL HUXTINGTON expressed 



* This Memoir has been printed in the Historical Collections of the Essex Insti- 

 tute, vol. ix. 



