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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 792 



speaks for itself. In this sense, in its ap- 

 peal to the eye, in its journeys for those 

 who can not travel, the museum is not the 

 rival, but the helpful ally of all the spoken 

 methods of instruction within its own walls 

 and throughout the great city. 



Now a few words as to our past. We 

 owe the rise of ptiblic spirit in this city 

 and country to the war for the union ; that 

 terrible experience brought men and 

 women of all classes together in a closer 

 ■sympathy, into a new and great union. 

 Thus Lincoln was our prophet at Gettys- 

 burg when he said, "This nation under 

 God shall have a new birth of freedom." 

 As will be fully told by the historian of 

 the day, the inspiration to build a free 

 museum for the people of this city came 

 to us through Albert S. Bickmore. Under 

 his scientific guidance and that of Daniel 

 Giraud Elliot the right direction was taken. 

 Both of these men are happily with us in 

 this hall to-day. 



The founders of 1869, whose names have 

 Teeently been inscribed on yonder wall, 

 voiced the public spirit of their day. New 

 York was a relatively small and relatively 

 poor city. It was before the era of the 

 great captains of industry, of the single- 

 lianded patrons of art, science and educa- 

 tion; nor were there any models on which 

 to draw the lines or to take the scale, there 

 was no British Museum of Natural History, 

 there was no National Museum of the 

 United States. "We marvel the more at the 

 audacity of the trustees who conceived a 

 museum so great and who in 1874 approved 

 a general plan larger than that of any 

 building in the world even to the present 

 day, larger than the Escorial of Spain or 

 the National Capitol of Washington. It 

 crowns this occasion that four of the orig- 

 inators of the museum are with us, two of 

 its scientific advisers, two of its founders. 



If I were asked which of the founders 



contributed most to administration and 

 development I would say unquestionably 

 Mr. Jesup, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Choate. 

 Of the splendid services of our late presi- 

 dent is it not delightful that Mr. Choate 

 himself is here to speak? 



Our two founders are here, mirabile 

 dictu, as young or younger than they were 

 forty years ago. If youth is measured by 

 energy, by productiveness, by patriotism, 

 these founders are two of the very youngest 

 men in the city of New York, as each day 

 brings forth fresh surprising and ever- 

 welcome proofs. Who among the so-called 

 younger generation can equal Mr. Morgan, 

 who has quietly, and almost unknown to 

 the public, sustained the successive admin- 

 istrations of Wolfe, Stuart and Jesup with 

 his loyalty, his time, his advice, his noble 

 gifts, and who stands behind the present 

 administration with undiminished force 

 and generosity. 



Are not our very bones founded in the 

 law? In the early years Mr. Choate ren- 

 dered incomparable and lasting service not 

 only to the two museums, but to the city, in 

 laying down our charter relative to that 

 union of public and private responsibility 

 and beneficence- which has been the model 

 on which all the other institutions of the 

 kind in this city have been founded, which 

 has proved by experience to be a perfect 

 union, for it has given the city of New York 

 something far superior either to the pub- 

 licly administered institutions of foreign 

 cities or the privately owned and privately 

 administered institutions of other great 

 American cities. The essence of this char- 

 ter and constitution is that from the begin- 

 ning the city officials as the elective repre- 

 sentatives of the people undertake to give 

 the land, the building, the maintenance; 

 the trustees volunteer to give their best 

 ability and their valuable time to adminis- 

 tration, their means and that of others to 



