Goodwin] ^"" Dec. 16, 



won its way to the honorable I'eputation it now enjoys; his name and character are 

 so mingled with its histoi-y that, while the Institute endures, his will be an enduring 

 memory. 



^'Resolved, That the Managers of the Institute, many of whom have been for years 

 associated with the deceased in the care of its affairs, and in the other walks of life, in 

 which he was so distinguished for broad and wise intelligence, for untiring zeal, and 

 for great public spirit, will ever cherish with feelings of proud and affectionate remem- 

 brance, the kindly and honorable associations which have always distinguished his re- 

 lations with them. 



"■' R'iso^vad, That, in token of our sense of the loss we have sustained, the Hall of the 

 Institute be closed on Monday next ; that the Managers attend his funeral in a bodyi 

 and that the members of the Institute be invited to join with them in paying the last 

 earthly tribute of respect to their honored associate and friend." 



To Mr. Merrick before all others, the City owes the introduction of gas 

 as a means of illumination, instead of the oil formerly relied upon for 

 the i3urpose — a reliance so precarious, inefficient, clumsy, filthy and ex- 

 pensive, that we all, as we look back, should now feel its restoration em- 

 phatically a return to the Dark Ages. Not so did the case look from the 

 other end of the glass. Mr. Merrick, with his characteristic, practical 

 sagacity, early saw the advantages "of substituting gas for the material 

 formerly employed ; and he perseveringly urged its substitution, amidst 

 an extraordinary excitement of public feeling, and a most earnest and 

 confident opposition on the part of some of the most respectable and 

 intelligent of his fellow citizens— an opposition which we now regard with 

 wonder, and which those who participated in it remember as a strange 

 dream. We see things now in a different light ; and it is difficult for us 

 to place ourselves at the point of view from whicli the subject was then 

 contemplated ; yet it is only by so doing that we can duly appreciate the 

 prophetic vision and indomitable energy of those who persevered for 

 years in urging on, step by step, the j^roposed improvement. 



Mr. Merrick sought and obtained a seat in the City Councils, that there 

 he might labor directly to secure the change. Pie was appointed Chair- 

 man of a Committee of the Common Council, which, after corresponding 

 with the authorities of the few other cities in this country Avhere gas had 

 been partially introduced, reported witli a full and triumphant answer to 

 all the objections which had been urged against it. To his great satis- 

 faction, he subsequently received an appointment from the Councils 

 to visit England and parts of Europe, for the purpose of inquiring into 

 the facts connected with the use of illuminating gas in those countries. 



On his return, in 1834, he made a full report, which was marked by 

 great wisdom and ability. Whereupon it was resolved that the experi- 

 ment should be tried in Philadelphia. Mr. Merrick was appointed, as 

 chief engineer, to take charge of the erection of the works, of the manu- 

 facture of the gas, and of the whole business of introducing and dis- 

 tributing it in the city. This task he performed without the least waste, 

 failure, mistake, or delay, but with singular economy, skill, and prompti- 

 tude, to entire and universal public satisfaction. On the 8th of February, 

 1836, the lamps were lighted ; and in their next annual report the Trustees 

 of the Gas Works render the following emphatic testimony : 



