Annual Address. 



15 



system of public works, which his far-sighted statesman- 

 ship inaugurated and carried to a successful completion. 

 But I should not omit to speak of him as a member of 

 each of our original societies, and as one who through his 

 whole life was distinguished also for his scientific and 

 scholarly tastes and acquirements. He was especially in- 

 terested in the subject of natural history, and his contri- 

 butions to it were numerous and important. He always 

 lived much among his books, and his library was one of 

 the largest and most valuable then belonging to any pri- 

 vate person in the state. His immense collection of 

 pamphlets now forms one of the most interesting additions 

 to our own library ; and he had also given much attention 

 to the collection of rare coins and medals. I think we all 

 must be struck with the intellectual tastes and habits that 

 so generally marked the public men of a former day, and 

 they certainly do not seem to have been any less capable 

 or successful than those of our own time in the manage- 

 ment of public affairs. Whether in the great change that 

 has occurred in this respect, we have found any compen- 

 sating advantages, may well be doubted. 



Soon after the formation of the Lyceum it became 

 apparent that the objects, both of it and of the old society, 

 would be better promoted by some arrangement that 

 would enable them to unite their collections and to work in 

 concert, rather than separately. Accordingly, articles of 

 association were formed in 1824, which, while leaving the 

 corporate organization of each unimpaired, united them 

 under a common bond as the Albany Institute. The Hon. 

 Stephen Van Rensselaer, then president of the Lyceum, 

 was elected as the first president of the Institute. This 

 union of the societies worked so beneficially that, on the 

 27th February, 1829, it was made permanent by an act of 

 incorporation of an institution for the promotion of science 

 and literature, to be called the Albany Institute. This char- 



