-h / 
 
 %\ 
 
FOR THE 
 
 From infancy to the age of seventeen, the means of 
 education provided in this city by public munificence and 
 private enterprise, are ample. From seventeen to the 
 age when young men enter on the more active and 
 responsible duties of their several stations, sufficient 
 oppojT^nity does not appear to be afforded for mental 
 and' moral cultivation. 
 
 At this period of life, vrhen the mind is active and the 
 passions urgent, and when the invitations to profitless 
 amusements are strongest and most numerous, it is desir- 
 able that means should be provided for furnishing at a 
 cheap rate, and in an inviting form, such useful informa- 
 tion as will not only add to the general intelligence of 
 the young men referred to, but at the same time will 
 prepare them to engage more understandingly, with a 
 deeper interest, and with better prospect of success, in 
 the pursuits to which their lives are- to be devoted. 
 
 The existing deficiency of such means is clearly a sub- 
 ject of regret ; and the undersigned are of opinion that 
 this deficiency may be most easily and fully supplied by 
 courses of Lectures delivered in different parts of the 
 city, under the auspices of a Society, whose sanction 
 may secure to the Lecturers employed, the confidence 
 and resort of the public. 
 
 It is prop<fsed that the first courses of Lectures should 
 be given to those who are engaged in Trade and Com- 
 merce; and that they should include the subjects of 
 Universal Geography and Statistics, and of the Moral, 
 Natural, Political and Legal Sciences, so far as they may 
 be connected with commercial transactions. 
 
 Should the attempt to convey such instruction be as 
 successful as similar efforts in other cities have been, it 
 is hoped that the Lectures may be made more general 
 in their objects and in their application. . ^~r -- 
 
 ' -? / 
 
v^V^ 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 I. 
 
 This Association shall be called the Boston Sodet'i/ 
 for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. And its object 
 shall be to promote and direct popular education by lec- 
 tures and other means. 
 
 II. 
 
 1. Any adult may become a member of this Society, 
 with all the privileges thereof, by an annual payment of 
 two dollars, and by signing this Constitution. Minors 
 may become members, in so far as to have the right of 
 attending the lectures, by signing the Constitution, and 
 paying one dollar annually. 
 
 Membership shall cease by neglect of paying the an- 
 nual assessment. 
 
 2. The payment of twentyfive dollars shall constitute 
 membership for life, and immunity from all assessments. 
 
 3. The payment of fifty dollars shall constitute a per- 
 son ''Patron," shall exempt him from all assessments, 
 and give the right of two tickets, one of which shall be 
 transferable. 
 
 4. Honorary members may be chosen by a majority 
 of the votes of those present at any meeting of the Society. 
 
 III. 
 
 1. A meeting of the Society shall be held annually 
 on the first Friday in April. 
 
 2. Special meetings may be called by the President, 
 when directed by the Board of Managers, or by the 
 written request of ten members. 
 
 IV. 
 
 1. The officers of the Society shall be a President, 
 two Vice Presidents, a Recording Secretary, a Corres- 
 ponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and ten Directors ; who 
 together shall constitute the Board of Managers. 
 
 2. These officers shall be chosen by the written or 
 printed ballots of a majority of the members present at 
 the annual meeting ; and shall hold their offices until 
 others are chosen. 
 
V. 
 
 1. The President, or in his absence one of the Vice 
 Presidents, or in their absence a President pro tempore, 
 shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the 
 Board of Managers ; which shall be conducted agreeably 
 to Parliamentary usage. 
 
 2. The Recording Secretary shall notify all meetings 
 of the Society, and of the Board of Managers, and shall 
 keep a record of their proceedings. 
 
 3. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the 
 correspondence of the Society, under the superintend 
 dence of the Board of Managers. 
 
 4. The Treasurer shall collect and receive all dues, 
 and donations in money ; pay all drafts on him when 
 signed by the Recording Secretary, and countersigned 
 by the President or either of the Vice Presidents ; and 
 keep a regular account of the financial concerns of the 
 Society, an abstract of which, with satisfactory vouchers, 
 he shall exhibit at each annual meeting, and whenever 
 called upon by the Board of Managers. He shall give 
 such security for the faithful discharge of his trusts, as the 
 Board may require. 
 
 5. To the Managers shall be confided all the con- 
 cerns of the Society, with authority to establish courses 
 of Lectures, to appoint Lecturers, and fix the compensa- 
 tion, the time and the place; and in general to devise 
 and execute such measures as may best promote the 
 objects of the Association. 
 
 6. They shall exhibit the records of their proceedings 
 at every meeting of the Society. They shall have power 
 to fill vacancies in their Board from members of the So- 
 ciety, and to make by-laws for its government. 
 
 VI. 
 
 This Constitution may be altered at any meeting of 
 the Society, provided that public notice of an intended 
 change is given one week previous to the meeting, and 
 that two thirds of the members present approve the alter- 
 ation. 
 
4 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE SOCZSTIT. 
 
 Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, President. 
 
 " JOHN PICKERING, ) ,.. ^ . . , 
 
 * > Vice Presidents. 
 " NATHAN HALE, ) 
 
 JACOB BIGELOW, m. d. Cor. Secretary. 
 
 HORATIO ROBINSON, m.d. Rec. Sechj. 
 
 HENRY F. BAKER, Esq. Treasurer. 
 
 Directors. 
 
 Rev. WILLIAM E. CHANNING, 
 
 SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, Esq. 
 JOHN PARK, M.D. 
 CHARLES C. NICHOLS, Esq. 
 JOHN P. THORNDIKE, Esq. 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE, Esq. 
 CHARLES G. LORING, Esq. 
 WM. T. LORING, Esq. 
 THOMAS B. CURTIS, Esq. 
 CHANDLER ROBBINS, m.d. 
 
 XiECTURERS FOR THE FRESE27T SEAS02T. 
 
 Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, 
 „ EDWARD EVERETT, 
 WALTER CHANNING, m.d. 
 FRANCIS LIEBER, p.d. 
 Rev. ALONZO POTTER, 
 JOHN PARK, M.D. 
 CHANDLER ROBBINS, m.d. 
 Hon. WILLIAM SULLIVAN, 
 „ JOHN PICKERING. 
 
Mtn^iEo^ieiB© (£>w WMm ^^(^nmmiQ 
 
 Samuel T. Armstrong 
 A. B. Alcott 
 Amos Atkinson 
 Samuel Austin 
 Jonathan Amory 
 William P. Andrews 
 John R. Adan 
 Charles Arnold 
 James Andrews 
 Ripley P. Adams 
 George W. Armstrong 
 John Ashton 
 Z. B. Adams 
 Abel Adams 
 Horatio Alger 
 
 John Belknap 
 Joseph P. Bradlee 
 Joseph D. Bates 
 W. H. Bordman 
 W. B. Bradford, Jr, 
 
 E. Bailey 
 Charles Brown 
 J. Bellows 
 Charles P. Butler 
 Joseph Balch 
 Benjamin Bangs 
 
 F. H. Bradlee 
 Charles Brown 
 Samuel K. Bayley 
 William G. Brooks 
 E. Blanchard, Jr 
 J. T. Brigham 
 
 James Bowdoin 
 H. F. Baker 
 George Bond 
 Edward Brooks 
 Jacob Bigelow 
 Joseph Baker 
 Martin Brimmer 
 Josiah Bradlee 
 N. A. Barrett 
 N. I. Bowditch 
 Edward Blake 
 Francis Bassett 
 A. P. Baker 
 E. R. Broaders 
 S. F. Barry 
 Samuel P. Blake 
 J. S. Barbour 
 Benjamin Balch 
 
 William E. Channing 
 T. B. Curtis 
 C. P. Curtis 
 Walter Channing 
 
 A. Cunningham, Jr 
 C. Cunningham 
 George B. Carey 
 
 B. C. Clark 
 
 C. W. Cartwright 
 H. G. Chapman 
 Lot Clarke 
 
 J. Codman, Jr 
 J. CoUamore, Jr 
 Jonathan Chapman, Jr 
 John Capen 
 Samuel Coverly, Jr 
 
Isaac P. Davis 
 P. R. Dalton 
 E. G. Davis 
 Franklin Dexter 
 S. H. Davis 
 Lorenzo Draper 
 J. Danforth 
 J. Davis 
 J. A. Davis 
 Daniel Draper 
 J. C. Dunn 
 E. H. Derby 
 John Dall 
 S. E. Dvvi^ht 
 W. T. H. Duncan 
 John Doggett Jr 
 S. Doggett 3d 
 George Darracott 
 Daniel Dunlap 
 Stephen A. Dix 
 
 J. F. Flagg 
 
 C. W. Foster 
 
 S. Fales 
 
 James Fessenden 
 
 Lincoln & Fessenden 
 
 Augustus H. Fiske 
 
 Ebenezer B. Foster 
 
 John L. Gardner 
 Ozias Goodwin 
 William H. Gardner 
 F. F. Grundy 
 Samuel Goodridge 
 S. H. Gibbens 
 Henry Gelston 
 William P. Gragg 
 John Gardner 
 John B. Glover 
 
 George B. Emerson 
 George S. Eaton 
 N. H. Emmons 
 J. Eveleth 
 Oliver Eldridge 
 James Ellison 
 William J. Eaton 
 William H. Ellis 
 
 Samuel H. Foster 
 
 H. H. Fuller 
 
 G. W. Frothingham 
 
 James Fessenden 
 
 J. FuUerton 
 
 N. L. Frothingham 
 
 Nathan Hale 
 Enoch Hale 
 Daniel Hammond 
 W. Hales 
 C. J. Hendee 
 George Hallett 
 E. A. Homer 
 E. Hathaway 
 William Hayden 
 J. C. Howard 
 E. L. Hunt 
 A. Hewes, Jr 
 Jabez Hatch, Jr 
 Prince Hawes 
 James Hayward 
 
James Jackson 
 J. B. Joy 
 F. Jenks 
 Jared B. Joy 
 
 Jeremiah Kahler 
 Henry W. Kinsman 
 Abel Kendall, Jr 
 
 Charles Lowell 
 Abbott Lawrence 
 William J. Loring 
 
 C. G. Loring 
 J. Lowell, Jr 
 David Low 
 Thomas Lamb 
 F. Lieber 
 
 E. G. Loring 
 J. C. Lee 
 M. Lord 
 J. H. Leeds 
 B. Lincoln, Jr 
 S. J. Littlehale 
 W. Lewis, Jr 
 
 D. Lane 
 Caleb Loring 
 
 E. Loring 
 
 J. Livermore 
 H. Lee 
 John Leverett 
 David Low Jr 
 
 William P. Mason 
 
 B. Muzzy 
 
 R. W. MofFatt 
 
 D. L. Mayo 
 James Means 
 James Mc Gregor 
 N. Meriam 
 Thomas Motley 
 James K. Mills 
 Charles H. Mills 
 
 C. C. Nichols 
 Thaddeus Nichols 
 W. J. Niles 
 
 George W. Otis, Jr 
 John P. Osgood 
 
 John Pickering 
 John Park 
 
 B. T. Pickman 
 E. D. Peters 
 E. Payne 
 
 W. Phillips 
 Thomas C. Park 
 David Patterson 
 Theodore P. Baker 
 S. G. Perkins 
 J. Pickens 
 George W. Pratt 
 
 C. T. Parsons 
 John G. Palfrey 
 Kilby Page 
 Lemuel Pope 
 J. F. Priest 
 William Perkins 
 E. Pickering 
 
8 
 
 John C. Park 
 Nathaniel Peabody 
 Josiah duincy, Jr 
 William Russell 
 Chandler Robbins, Jr 
 James Russell 
 H. Robinson 
 
 B. T. Reed, Jr 
 Henry Rice 
 Jeffrey Richardson 
 James Richards 
 Robert Rogerson 
 J. H. Robbins 
 John Rayner 
 Jacob Rhoades 
 William Sullivan 
 William Sturgis 
 
 J. Greely Stevenson 
 George H. Snelling 
 Samuel Swett 
 Norman Seaver 
 S. E. Sewall 
 
 C. Stoddard 
 W. B. Swett 
 Melancthon Smith 
 George Seaver 
 Frank Stanton 
 
 T. H. Swett 
 Edward Stevens 
 George A. Sampson 
 S. Stearns 
 Thomas Searle 
 Charles Seaver 
 Bela Stoddard 
 James F. Thorndike 
 John H. Thorndike 
 J. P. Thorndike 
 J. Thorndike, Jr 
 a. D. Tucker 
 
 S. C. Thwing 
 George Ticknor 
 G. F. Thayer 
 J. Thayer 
 N. F. Thayer 
 C. C. C. Tucker 
 William C. Tyler 
 Joseph Tilden 
 Henry J. Tuckerman 
 Daniel Webster 
 Edward Wigglesworth 
 C. T. Ward 
 T. Wetmore 
 Thomas Wigglesworth 
 Pelham Winslow 
 W. W. Wheelwright 
 S. Wheelwright 
 W. P. Winchester 
 Lot Wheelwright, Jr 
 Gardner Wheelwright 
 Benjamin Whitman 
 Caleb S. Whitman 
 John H. Whittemore 
 Henry Winsor 
 B. N. Watson 
 Edgar T. C. Whitaker 
 J. D. Williams 
 Daniel Wheelwright 
 W. R. P. Washburn 
 H. Wainwright 
 Charles Wells 
 George A. Woods 
 James C. Wild 
 Joseph Whitney 
 W. S. Willis 
 Robert Wales 
 Thomas B. Wales 
 Thomas B. Wales Jr 
 Arthur Wilkinson. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 920 780 8 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 920 780 8