tution; some had been active and useful officers. Some were rich in years as well as in the respect and affection of their brethren; others were taken from us and their families in the noon of life, the meridian of manhood, full of hope and expectation, and promise of happiness to come. To offer a more ample and respectful tribute to their memories would be grateful to my feelings, but time will not permit the indulgence. Neither is there time for the solemn reflections, which present themselves to the mind, when we perceive so many of our friends and associates taken from our presence in the brief space of three years. They have passed-Peace to their souls-honor to their memories.

We, too, are passing away, though yet but pupils in the great school of Nature and Providence. We may build temples and tombs and monuments, whose duration, compared with the longest term of human life, may be counted long; the works of our hands may remain for centuries; but the designer and the builder, he who contrives and he who executes, he who labors and he who enjoys, "come like shadows, so depart." There is but one way, in which we can perpetuate our existence on the earth. The productions of mind are, in their consequences, eternal, and in those consequences we can secure immortality. The soul of the present age can live in the soul of all its successors. Our descendants can be quickened by the spirit of their fathers. We can leave behind us some memorial of virtuous principle, and we can carry with us, from this land of shadows to that

realm where all is reality, the consciousness of having improved the talent, which our master has entrusted to our keeping; and we can carry with us, too, the hope that this delightful Paradise of our own and our fathers' creation, which shall bloom over our ashes, may continue to bloom, and brighten, and extend, for virtuous, happy, and improving posterity, till Time, no longer sustained on fluttering wing, shall sink in the ocean of Eternity.

CHARITABLE MECHANIC ASSOCIATION

Was instituted in March, 1795; and incorporated, by Act of the Legislature of Massachusetts, in March, 1806.

Its funds are created chiefly by the admission fees of members, and the annual assessment of two dollars. The whole amount of the funds, now permanently invested, is $14,000.

On the decease of a member, his family are presented, by the Treasurer, with forty dollars. The annual average of beneficiaries, on the charity list, is thirty.

A School has been kept three months in each year, for several years past, for the instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, of the apprentices of members who are disposed to avail themselves of the privilege.

A course of Scientific Lectures is instituted, at which each member is admitted gratuitously, and is furnished with a transferable ticket for his friend, child, or apprentice. These lectures usually last from October to April. The lectures for the present season commenced on the second Monday in October, with an introductory by the Rev. Mr. FROTHINGHAM, and will be continued through the season by the following gentlemen :— Hon. E. EVERETT, Hon. A. H. EVERETT, Hon. WM. SULLIVAN, and Drs. Flint, Grigg, PARK, ROBBINS, SMITH, STORER, and WARREN.