USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Proceedings at the dedication of the building for the Public library of the city of Boston. January 1, 1858 > Part 2
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney for the County of Suffolk.
Registers of Deeds and Probate. United States Marshal.
AID. Judges and other Officers of the U. S. Courts. AID. Postmaster and United States Attorney. Collector of the Port and Deputies.
Naval Officer and Surveyor of the Port. Navy Agent and Naval Storekeeper.
Commissioners of the United States Courts.
The Board of Directors for Public Institutions. Cochituate Water Board. The Board of Public Land Commissioners.
Chief and Assistant Engineers and Secretary of the Fire Department. City, Port, and Consulting Physicians. Harbor Master. Assessors. City Registrar and Water Registrar.
Superintendents of Public Buildings, Streets, Lands, Market, Lamps, Health, Sewers, Bridges, Fire Alarms, &c. Assistant Superintendent of Health, and Surveyor General of Lumber. Other City Officers and Clerks in the various City Offices. City Governments of Roxbury, Cambridge, Charlestown, and Chelsea. Officers of the following Associations, viz : American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Massachusetts Historical Society. Boston Society of Natural History. New England Historic-Genealogical Society.
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ARRANGEMENTS.
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. American Statistical Association. Boston Athenæum. Boston Library Society. Mercantile Library Association.
Mechanic Apprentices Library Association. Mattapan Literary Association. Franklin Literary Association. Latin School Association. English High School Association. Boston Young Men's Christian Association. Boston Young Men's Christian Union. Officers of other Scientific, Literary and Historical Associations. Other invited Guests.
ROUTE OF THE PROCESSION.
From City Hall, through School, Beacon, Park, Tremont and Boylston streets, to the Library Building.
ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
1. Voluntary, by Flagg's Cornet Band.
2. Address, by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, President of the Board of Commissioners on the Erection of the Library Building, on delivering the keys to the Mayor.
3. Address, in reply, by His Honor, Alexander H. Rice, Mayor of Boston.
4. Hymn.
5. Prayer of Dedication, by Rev. Baron Stow, D.D.
6. Anthem. .
)
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
7. Presentation of the Keys, by the Mayor, to the Board of Trus- tees of the Public Library, and Address of Reception, by Hon. Edward Everett, President of the Board.
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8. Hymn. The audience are requested to unite in the singing.
9. Benediction, by Rev. Arthur B. Fuller.
The singing will be performed by a large .choir selected from the Girls' High and Normal School, under the direction of Mr. Charles Butler.
The library building will be open from two to three and a half o'clock, for the admission of ladies only, with tickets, to the galleries.
Gentlemen invited to participate in the ceremonies must join the procession at City Hall.
Admission to the library building will be strictly confined to per- sons uniting in the procession, and cards of invitation must be exhibited at the entrance.
No person will be allowed to join the procession on the route.
The limited capacity of the hall will compel the Committee of Ar- rangements to enforce these rules.
During the evening the front of the building will be brilliantly illuminated with a transparency and gas pipes prepared for the pur- pose, and appropriately arranged.
At the conclusion of the services, the building will be thrown open for inspection by the city authorities.
The gentlemen named below have been appointed to act as Assist- ants to the Chief Marshal, for the procession, on the afternoon of January 1st, viz :
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MARSHALS.
CHARLES H. ALLEN,
J. THOMAS SMITH,
J. AVERY RICHARDS,
ALBERT F. SISE,
FARNHAM PLUMMER, CHARLES O. RICHI,
GEORGE I. ROBINSON, SAMUEL B. KROGMAN,
CHARLES J. B. MOULTON, FRANCIS INGERSOLL.
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ARRANGEMENTS.
The following named gentlemen have been appointed to act as marshals in the Library Building. To them have been intrusted all the arrangements for seating persons presenting cards of admission, viz :
GRANVILLE MEARS, Chief Marshal.
ASSISTANTS.
GEORGE H. CHICKERING,
CHARLES A. SMITH,
DAVID F. McGILVRAY,
GEORGE H. KINGSBURY,
WILLIAM C. WILLIAMSON,
J: WILLARD RICE,
W. RALPH EMERSON,
NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF, Jr.,
DAVID R. WHITNEY,
JOHN F. ANDERSON,
WILLIAM B. SEWALL,
A. SIDNEY EVERETT.
J. PUTNAM BRADLEE, Chief Marshal.
The foregoing particulars, besides being published in the daily newspapers, were printed, together with the hymns that were to be sung by the choir, in a pamphlet for the use of the Marshals and. others.
That there might be no impediment to the pro- cession during its passage from the City Hall to the Library Building in Boylston street, the subjoined order was offered and passed in the Board of Alder- men, and an ample number of policemen were detailed to carry the same into effect.
CITY OF BOSTON.
In Board of Aldermen, December 28, 1857.
ORDERED, That the Chief of Police be, and he is hereby, authorized to clear the following streets from public travel, during the formation and progress of 5
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
the municipal procession, on the afternoon of January 1st, 1858, viz :
School street, Beacon street from Tremont to Park, Park street from Beacon to Tremont, Tremont street from Park to Boylston, and Boylston street from Tre- mont street to the Public Library Building.
Read and passed.
Attest :
SAMUEL F. MCCLEARY, City Clerk.
The special arrangements at City Hall were in- trusted, by the Committee of Arrangements, to OLIVER H. SPURR, Esq., the courteous and efficient City Mes- senger, to whose zealous cooperation and indefatigable efforts they were greatly indebted.
Owing to the limited amount of space that could be used for the accommodation of persons in the great hall of the Library Building, the number of tickets issued for the admission of the public, on the occasion of the dedication, was much less than the demand. These were equally divided between the sexes, the gentlemen being provided with places in the area, while the alcoves, both on the floor and in the galleries, were assigned to the ladies.
The external part of the building was decorated with a transparency of the city seal, painted by Mr. William Schutz, and illuminated with gas, exhibiting
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in letters of fire, the words, "Public Library, 1858." The effect produced by the decorations was admirable, especially in the evening, when the illumination was very attractive. The fixtures for this purpose were made by Messrs. S. A. Stetson & Co., with reference to future use on public holidays.
The preliminary arrangements for the dedication, made as described in the foregoing pages, proved to be unexceptionable, and were carried out with the greatest precision and care. The day selected for the interesting ceremonies being one of the city holi- days, the public schools were closed, as were also such of the public offices as convenience did not require to be kept open.
CEREMONIES.
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CEREMONIES.
AT three o'clock in the afternoon, on Friday, the first day of January, 1858, the City Authorities with their invited guests, numbering about fifteen hundred per- sons, assembled in City Hall, and at half past three o'clock, precisely, in accordance with the published notices, the procession was formed under the direction of J. PUTNAM BRADLEE, Esq., Chief Marshal, assisted by the following gentlemen, who acted as assistants: - Messrs. Charles H. Allen, J. Avery Richards, Farnham Plummer, George I. Robinson, Charles J. B. Moulton, J. Thomas Smith, Albert F. Sise, Charles O. Rich, Samuel B. Krogman, and Francis Ingersoll. After being formed four deep, the procession moved to the square in front of the City Hall, where it awaited the arrival of the escort, - the Boston Light Infantry, under the command of Captain CHARLES O. ROGERS,- which, punctually at the hour appointed, entered School street and formed in order for the escort. The Light Infantry wore their regimental overcoats,
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and numbered ninety-one guns. The appearance of this corps was such as to elicit the warmest ex- pressions of approbation from all who witnessed their martial and gallant bearing. They were accompa- nied by the Boston Brigade Band, Mr. E. H. Weston, leader.
Without the least delay, the procession moved to the new Library Building in Boylston street, passing through School, Beacon, Park, Tremont, and Boylston streets, which, throughout the whole route, were lined with spectators of both sexes, among whom, however, the ladies predominated in number. Just as the clock of Park street church struck four, the procession halted in Boylston street, and at its arrival in the principal hall of the Library Building, which was arranged for the exercises, the City Authorities and their guests were met by the Commissioners, through whose direction and superintendence the building had been erected.
Already the ladies and several others. of the in- vited guests had assembled in the hall. As the procession entered, a voluntary, - Rossini's overture to Mahomet II., - was performed by Flagg's Cor- net Band, twenty pieces, under the leadership of Mr. B. F. Richardson.
At the northerly end of the hall was a raised platform, decorated with several magnificent bouquets of natural flowers, the gift of Mr. John Galvin, the city
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CEREMONIES.
forester. This was occupied during the exercises by his Honor Mayor Rice, Hon. Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr., the mayor elect, the Committee of Arrangements, the Board of Commissioners for the erection of the building, the Board of Trustees for the management of the library, the chaplains, and several of the ex- mayors. Of the past chief magistrates of the city who were present on this occasion were the honorable and venerable Josiah Quincy, senior, Hon. Samuel A. Eliot, Hon. Josiah Quincy, junior, Hon. John P. Bigelow, and Hon. Jerome V. C. Smith. At the left of the mayor were seated the Commissioners, on his right the Trustees, and at the back part of the stage the Committee of Arrangements. In the immediate neighborhood of these were the mem- bers of the City Council, and Messrs. Charles Wood- berry, George W. Warren, Edward F. Porter and Joseph Buckley, past Commissioners, and Messrs. Farnham Plummer, Sampson Reed, Abel Monroe and Joseph Story, past Trustees. Immediately in front of the platform were seated many aged citizens, and benefactors of the library.
After the voluntary by the Band, Hon. OLIVER FROST, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, rose, and announced to the Board of Commissioners the presence of the City Council, in the following words : -
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
MR. PRESIDENT, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF COM- MISSIONERS: The City Council have formally accepted your courteous invitation to be present to-day, to receive from your hands this beautiful temple, now to be dedicated to the cause of popular and public education, and to the free use of all our people; and to participate in the interesting ceremonies by which the people of Boston are about to receive, in its present magnificent form, this their noble new year's gift to the present and all succeeding generations. It is my pleasing duty, in behalf of the Com- mittee of Arrangements, to announce to you that His Honor the Mayor, with the members of the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council, and as many citizens and invited guests as this spacious hall and these galleries can accommodate, are now in attendance.
His Honor the Mayor will represent the City Coun- cil and the citizens, and awaits your pleasure in the further ceremonies of this most happy new year's festival.
Hon. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, President of the Board of Commissioners on the erection of the library build- ing, then rose, and on delivering the keys to the Mayor, spoke as follows: -
MR. WINTHROP'S ADDRESS.
IT may, perhaps, have been anticipated, fellow-citizens, that in pronouncing the first formal word on an occa- sion like the present-as it is my official privilege to do - that in uttering the first articulate sentences which will have broken the silence of these secluded alcoves, and waked an echo along these vaulted ceil- ings- I should at once avail myself of the oppor- tunity to give expression to some of those lofty and swelling sentiments, which can hardly fail to be excited in every thoughtful and generous breast, by the most cursory consideration of the objects for which this building has been erected.
And, certainly, the opportunity is a most tempt- ing one. Certainly, the scene before us is of a char- acter to kindle emotions of more than common depth, and to inspire a strain of more than ordinary exulta- tion.
Nor can I refrain from yielding to the impulses of the hour, so far, at least, as to bid you all welcome to this hall of good hope.
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
Welcome, fathers and mothers of our city : wel- come, young ladies and children of the schools : welcome, lovers and patrons of literature and learn- ing, of science and the arts : welcome, friends to good manners and good morals, and to those innocent recreations and ennobling pursuits by which alone vulgarity and vice can be supplanted: welcome, pastors and teachers of our churches and colleges : welcome, rulers and magistrates of our city, of our common- wealth, and of our whole country : welcome, citizens and residents of Boston, one and all, to an edifice which is destined, we trust, to furnish a resort, in many an hour of leisure and in many an hour of study, not for yourselves alone, but for those who shall come after you through countless generations ; and where shall constantly be spread, and constantly be served, without money and without price, an enter- tainment ever fresh, ever abundant, and ever worthy of intelligent and enlightened freemen.
But I may not forget, fellow-citizens, that the pecu- liar duty, devolving upon me at this moment, is rather that of submitting something in the nature of an official report, than of attempting an occasional or holiday address.
I am sensible, too, that there are others on this platform, from whose lips the felicitations and exulta- tions of the hour will fall more gracefully and more impressively than from my own, and to whom, indeed,
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MR. WINTHROP'S ADDRESS.
when the building shall once have been surrendered to the city, they will more appropriately belong.
I pray your indulgence, therefore, while I proceed, without further preamble, to a statement which is due to others as well as to myself, - which is demanded alike by my relations to the city, to my associ- ates, and to all who have been employed on the work which we are here to inaugurate. And if, in the progress of that statement, or at its close, I should be found again indulging in a digression or an epi- sode not quite within the accustomed limits of a busi- ness communication, you will all pardon it, I am sure, to the emotions, which no citizen of Boston, or cer- tainly no native son of Boston, under such circum- stances and with such surroundings, would find it easy, or even possible, altogether to repress.
Mr. Mayor, and gentlemen of the City Council :-
On the twenty-seventh day of November, 1854, the Chief Magistrate of our city, for the time being, gave his official sanction and signature to a municipal ordinance, " For the establishment of a Board of Com- missioners on the erection of a building for the Public Library of the City of Boston."
On the twentieth of December following, that Board was organized, and entered at once on the discharge of its duties.
On the twenty-sixth of January, 1855, a public
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
notice was issued to the architects of Boston, inviting them to furnish designs and estimates for the build- ing, agreeably to the requirements which had been carefully considered and agreed upon by the Commis- sioners.
On the twenty-seventh of April thereafter - no less than four and twenty designs having in the mean time been received and examined - that of Mr. Charles K. Kirby was selected, as entitled to the preference, and as the basis of all further proceedings, by the votes of a majority of the Board.
On the fifteenth of May, Mr. Kirby's design having undergone such modifications as the Commissioners deemed desirable, sealed proposals were invited, by a public advertisement, for the brick, stone and iron work, and for all the other materials and labor, neces- sary to complete the exterior of the proposed edifice.
On the fourteenth day of June, the Commissioners entered into a contract for constructing the entire framework of the building, with Mr. Nathan Drake, an experienced mechanic of Boston, whose proposals were adjudged to be, upon the whole, the most favor- able for the city.
On the seventeenth day of September, 1855,- it being the two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the birthday of Boston, -the corner-stone of the structure was laid, with simple but solemn and appro- priate ceremonies, in presence of the municipal author-
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MR. WINTHROP'S ADDRESS.
ities and of a great multitude of the people, by His Honor Jerome V. C. Smith, then Mayor of the City.
On the twenty-eighth of April, 1856, sealed pro- posals were invited, by another public notice, for fur- nishing the materials and performing the work required for the interior construction and finish of the building, agreeably to plans and specifications which had been carefully prepared by the architect and approved by the Board.
On the succeeding twenty-third day of July, con- tracts were signed by the Commissioners with Messrs. Morrison & Shaw, carpenters; with Messrs. Denio & Roberts, blacksmiths ; with Messrs. Wentworth & Co., marble workers; with Messrs. Philip & Thomas Kelley, plaster and stucco workers; with Mr. Lucius Newell, painter and glazier; with Mr. Andrew J. Gavett, brass founder; and with Messrs. Strater & Buckley, plumb- ers, - for furnishing the materials and performing the work pertaining to their respective departments of Me- chanic Art.
On the twentieth of May, 1857, another contract was entered into with Messrs. Morrison & Shaw, for preparing and setting up, agreeably to the admirable system of Dr. Shurtleff, all the shelving, which it was thought best to have arranged and set up at present, in both stories of the building. On the same day a contract was made with Mr. William Schutz, for paint- ing and decorating the walls and ceilings of the vesti-
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
bule and principal apartments on the lower story ; and on the nineteenth of June following, a similar contract was signed with the same artist for tinting and orna- menting this large library hall.
Several small contracts for incidental work, not im- portant to be mentioned on this occasion, have been subsequently entered into by the Board.
And now, at length, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1858,-in the year of our city, (anno urbis condita,) 228, - in the year of the independence of our beloved country, 82,-your Commissioners have the happiness to announce, that these contracts have all been sub- stantially fulfilled, and that the work committed to them has been accomplished ; and they are here to exhibit the finished edifice to the authorities of the city, to deliver up the keys to His Honor the Mayor, and to ask for themselves, that, so soon as a few little matters of fixture or of furniture shall have been arranged, and so soon as their accounts shall have been duly audited and settled, they may receive an honorable discharge from the service in which they have so long been engaged.
It was at one time contemplated by the City Coun- cil,- as you are well aware, sir, - that this surrender of the building should be attended with a more stately ceremonial and a more sumptuous display than are witnessed here to-day; and it was confidently hoped
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MR. WINTHROP'S ADDRESS.
by the Commissioners, that every thing would be in readiness for that purpose on the seventeenth day of September last; - so that the same memorable mu- nicipal anniversary which had been so auspiciously associated with the commencement of the structure, might witness also its final completion and dedication.
But unavoidable delays - unavoidable, certainly, so far as the Commissioners were concerned, and arising, in great part, from the interruption occasioned by the unusual length and severity of the last two winters-have postponed this consummation until the present moment ; - and now, I need hardly say that anything of elaborate out-door pageant and parade would have been alike uncongenial with the season of the year and with the circumstances of the times.
But the Commissioners were of opinion that nothing less could be done on their part, before resigning their trust, than to invite the constituted authorities of the city, with such guests as they might think fit to bring with them, to visit and view the building; to exam- ine and thoroughly inspect the work, which has at last been finished; and to assume and exercise the responsibility - which rightfully belongs to them, and to them alone -of transferring it to the custody of the Trustees of the Library, and of solemnly dedi- cating it to the noble uses for which it was designed.
And most happily, fellow-citizens, - most happily for us all,-this new year's holiday has presented
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
itself at the precise moment when our preparations were completed, as at once the most convenient and the most appropriate day for such a purpose ; ena- bling us to associate all the joyous emotions, all the friendly greetings, all the cordial congratulations, and all the grateful thanksgivings, too, which belong to the opening of another of these larger periods of our lives, - to associate and identify them all with an occasion, from which is destined to be dated, as we trust, the opening of a new era in the opportunities and advantages of the people of Boston, for carrying on the great work of self-education, of mutual improve- ment, and of moral, intellectual and spiritual culture.
I am persuaded, Mr. Mayor, that you could have desired no more delightful conclusion to the honor- able and faithful service which you have rendered to the city as its Chief Magistrate, for two years past, than to be the medium of presenting to your fellow- citizens such a new year's gift as I am here to deliver over to .you for that purpose.
I need hardly remind you, sir, that this substantial and spacious building owes its existence exclusively to the enlightened liberality of that municipal govern- ment over which, for a few days longer, at least, it is your privilege to preside. And I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to acknowledge most gratefully, in behalf of the Board of Commissioners as now com- posed, and of all who have been associated with us
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MR. WINTHROP'S ADDRESS.
during its existence, the unhesitating promptness and unanimity with which every appropriation which has been asked, or even intimated as desirable, has been granted by successive City Councils.
On one account, certainly, we might all have wished that those appropriations could have been fewer in number, and for a smaller aggregate amount. I will not deny that the satisfaction of this occasion would have been in some degree enhanced, if the architect could have succeeded, as the Commissioners had so earnestly hoped, in furnishing an honorable exception to the too common experience in the erection of pub- lic buildings, both here and elsewhere, by conforming the expenditures more nearly to the original estimates. An explanatory statement upon this point, however, has been prepared by the architect himself, which we trust and believe will prove satisfactory to all who shall examine it, and which is to find a permanent place on the records of the Commission. And if it shall appear that the main element of increased ex- penditure has resulted from the desire to furnish additional strength to the building, and additional securities against dampness and against fire, no one will be in haste to regret that any part of it has been incurred.
Meantime, it is a most agreeable and welcome reflection for the Commissioners themselves, in this connection, - and one, perhaps, which they might not
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DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING.
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have been altogether pardoned for publicly indulging under any other circumstances, - that no particle of self-interest can anywhere be traced, or can anywhere be imputed, either in regard to the postponement of the period for the completion of the building, or in regard to the increase of the cost of its construction. As to the architect, certainly, it is but just to say, not only that his remuneration has been extremely mod- erate in itself, but that it has been in no degree con- tingent either on the length of time occupied, or on the amount of money expended, on the work commit- ted to him; while, as to the Commissioners, they will be found, one and all, to have adhered rigidly to the self-denying ordinance, adopted by themselves at the outset of their proceedings, "that no pecuniary com- pensation, or allowance in any form, should be received by any member of the Board, for any service which he may render as such."
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