the schools of the commonwealth. We may therefore hope that, in another way, than that we proposed, the end we have been aiming at may be approached. The high character and intelligence of the commissioners appointed, and the most auspicious beginning which we have seen made by their Secretary, cheer us with the prospect that the work will be carried on with the and wisdom with which it has been begun. energy - In the Annual Report of the Directors of the last year, they had occasion to lament that their memorial to the Legislature, praying for the appointment of a superintendent of the common schools, although it had been respectfully received and favorably reported on by a committee of the Legislature, had not led to any immediate action. They have now to congratulate themselves and the Institute that, by the appointment of this Board of Commissioners, and by the selection for the office of Secretary of an individual whom the highest body of the Legislature had honored with the first office within their gift, our prayer has been granted—more fully than we had dared to ask or hope. Let us animate ourselves with the confident belief that all our exertions, made in a right spirit, for the advancement of the cause of right and truth, will be ultimately successful, though in a way we may least expect. It was after much deliberation and with some misgivings, that the Directors last year determined to hold the present session of the Institute in this place. The hope of thereby enlisting new fellow laborers in our cause, among individuals whom circumstances prevent from going far from home and of exciting the local interest which we believe it is the tendency of our meetings to produce, led the Directors to make the doubtful experiment. The kindness with which we have been received, the interest taken in our deliberations and lectures, and the generous and cordial cooperation of our members and friends here, vindicate the wisdom of the measure, and amply repay us for any trouble or inconvenience attending the removal. We may now confidently trust that the measure yesterday proposed to the Institute and confirmed, of holding the session of the next year at the city of Lowell, will be attended with circumstances equally gratifying and favorable. All which is respectfully submitted. By order of the Directors, GEORGE B. EMERSON, Corresponding Secretary. Worcester, August 29, 1837. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. GENTLEMEN OF THE INSTITUTE : I OFFER no apology for occupying the place you have assigned me. It is the right of the whole to appoint, and the duty of each individual to obey. And in accordance with your appointment, nd my obligation, I stand before you alike honored and obedient. Nor shall I shrink from the responsibility of appearing to instruct; though I might modestly prefer to be instructed. In a place like this, and at a period like the present, we are bound to have opinions of our own; nor may they be reasonably withheld, when called for by the occasion. And at no former period of the world has there been an equal demand for individual opinion. All the elements of society are in commotion. Old combinations are breaking up; and new associations are being formed. The civil, moral and religious institutions of ages are crumbling before the march of intellect and the zeal of reform. Nothing merely human seems firmly based on principles immutable. Crowned heads are trembling for their sceptres; and sparkling diadems are falling at the feet of the people. Ecclesiastical hierarchies are loosing their hold on conscience; and the slumbering energies of the soul are waking. Free institutions are trampled under the feet of licentiousness; and the distant echo of anarchy's confusion is already heard. Earth's stability is shaken. Society seems reverting to its original elements. Moral revolution-moral chaos seems approaching. |