Year: 1869

love for the happy Institutions of oul


prosperous republic, impel me to ex


press the wish that the Institute ]


have proposed to you shall always b.


strictly guarded against the possibility


of being made theatre for the dis


semination or discussion of sectarian


theology or party politics that it shall


never minister in any manner whatev
er, to infidelity, to visionary theorie:
of pretended philosophy which may


be aimed at the subversion of the ar
proved MORALS of society, that il shall
never lend its aid or influence to The
propagation of opinions tending tc
create or encourage sectional jealous
les in our happy country, or which
may lead to the alienation of the peo
pie of one State or section of the


Union from those of another. But
that it shall be so conducted, through
out its whole career, as to teach politi-
cal and religious charity, liberation
and benefcence, and prove itself to be
i'll all conditions and contingencies,
the true friend of our inestimable Un-
ion, of the salutary institutions of Our
free government, and of liberty regu-
lated by law. -.


In continuance of his suggestions
he further says: 81 would not have
anything said or done, by or under the
auspices of the Institute, or within its
walls, would Io5 have in the lecture
room any expression of opinions, or
speech, or word, which would create
unpleasant feelings, or rankle in the
breast of any one person, or set neigh
Dor against neighbor, or do aught to
disturb that kindly temper and social
harmony which are most favorable to
intellectual and moral culture, and
which it is my earnest desire to pro-
mote. Surely there may be one place,
one retreat, free from contention and
strife, which angry passions and vitu-
perative debate shall not enter-where
there shall be agreement, sympathy
temper and fretted mind may find re-
lief-where all, forgetting for time
their diverse opinions and conflicting
views, may meet upon common lev
el, and together unite n efforts for a
higher nature and a nobler life. Such
a retreat l would establish, and to Sc
cure this l invoke your cooperation"


There is a sublime spirit of peace
and goodwill in this paragraph that
gives Mr.. Peabody moral grace as
he stands before us. There is dig
nified strength in his words that speak
with the force of counsel and rebuke,
and there can be no possibility of mis-
understanding his meaning. In the
same letter from which the foregoing
are extracts, he gives the autograph
letter of the queen, her portrait, the
several gold boxes from the city of
London, into the custody of the trus
tees of the Institute forever, and thus
by increasing their responsibility shows
his love for the place of his nativity
and his confidence in the esteem felt
for him by its inhabitants. The Pres
ident of the Board of Trustees of Pea
body Institute, Hon. A. A. Abbott,
in alluding to the generous donations
of their benefactor to the poor of Lon
don, thus said:


Certifying as must be this magni-
ficent bequest to those who are to be
its beneficiarics, and calling forth as
it does their liveliest gratitude and
praise, by none can it be more highly
admired than by those who, like our
selves, have known by happy expe-
rience the blessings and have basked
in the sunshine of such bencfcencc.
Nor does it detract from the merit of
thisEreat act, nor do we feel any the
less delight in it, that it is to enure to
the benefit of strangers, and that for
eigners are to be blessed by the boun-
ty of our countryman. True Chris
tian charity knows no limits of coun-
try, no difference Of cline, no distinc-
ton of race. All of Gods creatures
are alike the favored objects of its
care. Wherever upon his footstool
there are suffering human beings, with
wants to be relieved. miseries to be al
leviated, sorrows to be ass,laged, there
Christian charity finds its fit field OF
labor, tt rightly goes upon its divine
errands of mercy. The great and IT,
tied ones of England may murmur
their admiration, and the British press
may well give honest voice to the
grateful emotions of the British pco-
pie, but here in this humble New En-
gland town, where the great benfacter
was born and passed his early days,
here honest hearts will beat faster and
glow warmer for this exhibition of
high virtue, and nowhere else will
there be truer or more sincere ap-
probation of this splendid benefac-
tion." @.


1t is the custom of almost all rich
people who design to bequeath their
money for any object, to leave it by
will, to the Prccarious care of too Of
ten indifferent or mercenary executors,
but MIR. Peabody sets a special exam
pie by his mode of proceeding. The
blessing of those he benefits falls
around his path, and he sees the good
he intends expand and ripen into glor-
ious accomplishment. "The good men
do live after them" is a saying true in
his case, with the grand addition that
he sees it live and flourish before he
goes.


We have not designed to make this
sketch anything like a biographical
record of the life of this good man,
but we have obtained through friend,
a few facts regarding his early years
that are interesting, showing the be-
ginning of that vast fortune which is
now blessing the world, through his
own judicious almony:


In the second war with Great Brit