4 
blessing. May it pei'petuate the remembrance and the study of Thy wis- 
dom and goodness, as all Thy works declare them, and as the knowledge 
and thankfulness of men thus combine to make them known. Great and 
marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty ! just and true are all Thy 
ways, thou King of Saints ! 
We would humbly, gratefully praise Thee, in all the works of Thy hands 
and in the wonders of Thy pardoning love to the children of men. May 
Thy gracious blessing rest upon our beloved couuti-y — upon the land which 
Thou gavest us to inhabit — upon the President of these United States — 
upon all whom thou hast established in authority among this people. Pros- 
per, we beseech Thee, all our institutions and efforts for the advancement of 
human learning. Give habits of righteousness and truth to all our people. 
Uphold and edify every plan for the advancement of public and private 
virtue, and every effort to reform and rescue the outcast and the neglected 
among our people. 
And above all give peace to our nation — prosperity to Thy Gospel of Sal- 
vation — and the maintenance of Thine own supreme autliority, in the name 
and person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In whose words we 
would gratefuly say, — 
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Give us this 
day, our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those 
who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and 
ever. AMEN. 
ADDRESS hy Egbert L. Stuart, Esci., President 
of ilie Mmeum, in behalf of the Trustees. 
We have assembled on this occasion by tlie invitation of the Trustees 
of tlie American Museum of Natural History, to lay the Corner Stone 
of the generous edifice which, by the wise liberality of tlie State of 
New York, has been provided for the yierpetual use of the Museum, 
and, in the appropriate presence of the Chief Magistrates of tlie City, 
the State, and the Nation, to dedicate the .structure to the public 
service for wbicli it is designed. 
In this view it may not be unbecoming for the Trustees briefly to 
relat;e the course of events which have brouglit this undertaking to its 
present advancement, and to declare the purposes which have actuated 
them in the efforts they have made to establish, on a permanent foun- 
