Class Book^. MEMORIAL OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN, 1795-1882. By AMOS PERRY. CAMBRIDGE: JOHN WILSON AND SON. SSnibcrsitg ^ress. 1883. (og 3^-| or PREFACE. 'T^HIS Memorial is composed mainly of selected tributes of respect, affection, and honor paid to the memory of the Hon. Zachariah Allen, LL.D., at the time of his decease, March 17, 1882. Out of scores of private letters addressed to Mr. Allen's family, — many of them written by emi- nent citizens residing in different parts of our country and in Great Britain, — only two are here printed ; one of them written by Edward Atkin- son, Esq., and the other by Professor William B. Rogers, who died suddenly while delivering an address before the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 30, 1882. For some interest- ing details in the life of Mr. Allen, the reader 4 PREFACE. is referred to " The Biographical Cyclopaedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island," and for some account of his ancestry, to the " Memoir concerning French Settlements in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," by the Hon. Elisha R. Potter. A. P, Providence, R. I. July, 1883. CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR 7 Bolices of tl)c JPress. Providence Press, March i8, 1882 43 Evening Bulletin, March iS, 1S82, — Hon. Zachariah Allen .. Evening Telegram, March 18, 1882, — A Good Man Gone \ ^g Providence Journal, March 20, 1S82, — The Late Zachariah Allen .g Providence Press, March 21, 1882, — Funeral of Zachariah Allen co Hartford Courant, March 27, 1882 c. Evening Transcript, Boston, March 20, 1882,— Recent Death Boston Daily Advertiser, March 20, 1S82, — A Use- ful Life ' . . . 'Action of tl)e Hijobc Ksiani Uistrrricai i^ocictn. Address of Professor Gammell Memorial Minute • • 59 Address of Ex-Governor William W. Hoppin ..." 66 Remarks of the Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Clark, D D * 68 Letter of the Rev. E. M. Stone, Late Librarian of the Society .... 72 6 CONTENTS. Remarks of Mr. Amos Perry 73 Remarks of Charles E. Carpenter, Esq 75 Remarks of Mr. James N. Arnold 76 Remarks of J. Erastus Lester, Esq ']-] Remarks of Judge Stiness 80 Letter of the Hon. Francis Brinley 81 Letter of Geo. C. Mason, Esq 82 Action of (©tl)cr ^ocietiee, dr. Action of the Providence Franklin Society ... 83 Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufac- turers 90 Providence Public Library 91 Engineers' Association 91 Providence Veteran Firemen's Association .... 92 Action of the Oxford Huguenot Memorial Society 93 Massachusetts Historical Society 94 Letter from Edward Atkinson, Esq 96 Letter from Professor William B. Rogers .... 96 Lines by the Hon. Charles Thurber, of Brooklyn, N.Y 98 Letter from Reuben A. Guild, LL.D., of Brown University 99 Dr. Beekman's Letter 100 Dr. Shepard's Letter loi Letter from Edward Atkinson, Esq 102 Letter of Benjamin Abbot, LL.D 105 Evening Post, New York, March 24, 1882 .... 105 Letter from Mr. Stephen Roper 106 List of Mr. Allen's Publications 107 Letters and Totems of Indian Tribes 109 MEMOIR. ST^e Ixeinarkabic Scope of a Bcoati anb Earnest ILife. nPHE close of a long and eminently useful life suggests inquiries which may well en- gage the attention of those who are entering upon the stage of action as well as of those who are passing from it. With the view of gratifying readers who desire to make the most of their opportunities and privileges, the writer proposes to give a hasty outline of the life, and especially of the early career, of the late distin- guished president of the Rhode Island Histor- ical Society, the Hon. Zachariah Allen, LL.D., who died suddenly Friday evening, March 17, 1882. The day of his departure had been de- voted to his usual studies and pursuits ; and he appeared as bright and cheerful as most men 8 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. when beginning their career.^ He was always interested in passing events, taking part in what- ever he thought calculated to benefit society. His father, Zachariah Allen,^ was a man of great enterprise, energy, and executive ability ; but Mr. Allen was deprived of a father and a father's counsel while yet a child. The earliest event imprinted on his memory was the pageant of General Washington's fu- neral ; the next was the funeral of his own father, which took place in April, iSoi, when he was five years of age. He was thus left to the care of his mother, who was the daughter of Joseph Crawford ^ and Suzanne Bernon. She was a woman of remarka- ble loveliness and intelligence as well as beauty, and led him with a gentle but firm hand through trying scenes. She was to him the perfection of woman, — a mother, the thought of whom never , failed to awaken sentiments of gratitude, and to ^ See Letter of R. A. Guild, LL.D., Librarian of Brown University, p. 99. 2 He was a large shipowner, extensively engaged in commerce with the West Indies and other countries, and at his death left a large estate. ^ The Crawfords were among the early settlers of Providence, and owned a plantation that extended fi-om where Crawford Street Bridge now stands to Hope Street. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 9 call forth his benedictions ; and yet his most vivid recollections of her face were coupled with an act of self-will and revolt on his part. He asked on one occasion some favor which she refused to grant, and while he was trying to argue the case and bend her will to his, he petulantly said : " Now mother, unless you let me do this I shall go out and let the water from the spout [it was raining] run right down my back." Seeing his mother remain firm he kept his word ; and, as the chilling water trickled down his back, turning his eyes upward he caught a full view of her, laughing at him, as she gazed from a window above. That look was stamped upon his memory. The impression of that countenance was clear and distinct nearly fourscore years later, when Mr. Allen related the incident, concluding the narrative thus : " My mother laughed at my folly, and I was rebuked and subdued." He was furnished in his boyhood with a chest of tools for mechanical purposes, and had the ran^e of his mother's attic for the exercise of his ingenuity, as well as for various sports too often sought by children outside the parental roof. Once, when telling the story of his early days, Mr. Allen placed great stress on the influence lO MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. of this home arrangement. The attic became in time a laboratory, where experiments in chemistry and philosophy were tried. There a library was gathered and instruction gained. Indeed, there he formed the tastes and habits which were ever afterwards a source of satisfaction, sowing the seed, and preparing for a harvest of which only the be- ginning is seen in the present life. He traversed the fields for geological and botanical specimens, acquiring a knowledge that served him in later years. He gazed with wonder and admiration at the starry heavens, learning the names of the va- rious constellations, and at the same time faith- fully pursuing the course of study marked out by his teachers. When eleven 3^ears old he was taken in a car- riage to the famous academy at Exeter, N. H., then under the direction of Benjamin Abbot, to prepare for college. The scene enacted when he was left among strangers for the first time has been described by himself. He watched the car- riage till it was out of sight ; then, as he sat on the doorstep weeping, he made up his mind that if he wanted to be happy himself, he must try to make those about him happy. Detached accounts of his school life have been handed down, from MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. n which we learn that he was quiet, orderly, and studious in his habits, and was much loved by his teachers ' and schoolmates. The matron, with whom he boarded in Exeter, related in this city, nearly half a century later, anecdotes showing the profound impression made upon her mind by the boy, whom she described as having fine features, clear blue eyes, and flaxen ringlets, and as being as good as he was beautiful. He gained the full advantages of his school, and had through life pleasant recollections of that early period. In 1862 he visited Exeter, with the Rev. Augustus Woodbury of this city, to attend, the dedication of the new building. Mr. Woodbury concludes a letter, written in reply to inquiries, as follows : — " The old building at Exeter had been de- stroyed by fire, and the expense of the erection of the new structure was met by voluntary con- tributions from the Alumni. Mr. Allen, I think, gave one hundred dollars. He greatly enjoyed the occasion, although, of course, he did not meet many of his contemporaries. He remained over night, and spent most of the following day in 1 See Letter of Benjamin Abbot, p. 105. 12 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. revisiting the scenes of his youthful studies and sports. He often spoke of the occasion subse- quently, with especial interest." He safely and happily passed the ordeal of a boarding-school, and, being fitted for college, was admitted a member of the freshman class of Brown University, September, 1809, just a year after the death of his mother, whose place in the family was in some degree filled by an elder sis- ter. During his collegiate course, the attic which served so good a purpose at an earlier period was ever a delightful retreat. Referring once to his college days, Mr. Allen spoke thus : " Seats of learning are not always the abodes of wisdom, as I had occasion to ob- serve when I was in college. Young men enter- tained false and pernicious ideas, one of which was that the use of spirituous liquors is favorable to genius and learning. The poet Horace was quoted as countenancing libations to Bacchus." From the effects of such ideas he was saved, as he thought, by home influence. He preferred quiet pleasures to those more commonly sought among boon companions, where well-filled de- canters were considered indispensable. With a well-balanced mind he faithfully followed the MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 13 course of study marked out by the college authorities. He however, did not confine him- self to the college routine, but indulged his early-developed taste for mechanics, chemistry, and natural philosophy, and thus unconsciously prepared himself for what proved to be his special career. In the Commencement pro- gramme at his graduation, his name was at- tached to twelve theses chymia;. He had the fifth part in the order of exercises, reciting an essay on the Patronage of Literature. He belonged to a class of thirty-five young men, some of whom made their mark at the bar, on the bench, and in the pulpit ; among whom were Joseph K. Angell, Job Durfee, Romeo Elton, Joel Hawes, Enoch Pond, John Ruggles, and Thomas Shepard, all of whom have passed to " The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns." Mr. Allen's college course served but as the be- ginning of an extended preparation for the work of life. The three leading professions, law, medi- cine, and theology, received his attention. The latter, the science that treats of the existence, nature, and attributes of God, and his relations to 14 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. man, — not the system of dogmas represented by the schools and the dominies of the day, — he re- garded as surpassing all other professions and pursuits in interest and importance. His soul was moved by the sublime utterances of the Psalmist and the simple teachings of Christ. He recognized God in his works and in his Word, — ever maintaining a reverential spirit, as he looked " through nature up to nature's God." Mr. Allen's appreciation of the medical profes- sion was shown by his availing himself of the privileges of the Medical School of Brown Univer- sity, where he attended the lectures and pursued the studies prescribed for graduates; and at their close he received a certificate of proficiency, which is still preserved, x-^t a late meeting of the Historical Society he stated that the knowl- edge thus gained proved of great service through his subsequent life. He preferred medicine as his profession, because it afforded a certain field of usefulness and inves- tigation which he desired to enter, — a field where his habit of observation, his taste for science, and his extraordinary power of analysis and generali- zation could be turned to account. To be a physician of the highest order, preventing and MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 15 relieving the suffering of his fellow-men, was his ambition. His studies in Brown University Medical School awakened a desire for a more advanced course of instruction, under more favora- ble auspices, in the famous Medical School of Edinburgh, Scotland. This project was not ac- complished, on account of the opposition of his guardian, who proposed a career that did not re- quire foreign travel and study. He yielded, but always regretted the change, often remarking in his later years : " That was the greatest disappoint- ment of my life." He entered a law office, that of the late Senator James Burrill, and was as devoted to his studies as if law were to be the field of his life- work. He was admitted to the bar, and, having taste and ability for legal discussions, and the nice discrimination required for successful practice, he seemed for a considerable time thoroughly wedded to the legal profession. He was, indeed, endowed with genius not inferior to that of some of the ablest men of the legal profession in Rhode Island, and would, doubtless, but for the bias acquired in his juvenile laboratory, have rivalled them in their keen repartee, masterly eloquence, varied learning, and flashing wit ; which he appre- 1 6 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. ciated, and, in later years, portrayed to the delight of his numerous friends. Mr. Allen began public service at an early period. In 1 813, immediately after his graduation at college, he co-operated with patriotic citizens in preparing the town of Providence to repel, by means of hastily constructed forts and palisades, attacks from the British by water, which were then feared. Having been formall}^ appointed Secre- tary of the Committee of Defence, he corre- sponded with engineers and military men in regard to the best means of securing the ends sought. He gave at one time, before the Histor- ical Society, an oral account of the labors of this committee, no adequate record of which is pre- served. Referring to his military experience on this occasion, he playfully represented himself as a veteran of the War of 181 2. Conspicuous re- mains of the skill and labor of this committee are still visible on Fort Hill, and at several points on the west side of Providence River ; and an official report of the fortifications on Fort Hill, addressed by Mr. Allen to the late Governor Fenner, is still preserved. Once, while speaking of the stirring events that occurred in the autumn of 1S13, he depicted MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 17 the scene that he witnessed on the arrival in Providence of the news of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. He was on Market Square when the messenger arrived on horseback. The news spread like wildfire. Guns were fired, drums and fifes were brought forth, and the principal streets were paraded and enlivened with music and shouting. In the evening there was a general illumination by means of bonfires, and various contrivances were adopted to express the general joy. In 181 7 Mr. Allen was married to Eliza Har- riet, daughter of Welcome Arnold, Esq., who is represented by Tristram Burges as " one of the most disting:uished merchants and statesmen of his time." This happy union continued till the death of Mrs. Allen in 1873. Three daughters survive to cherish and perpetuate the memory of their parents. Not lonq; after his marrias^e Mr. Allen made a tour to the West, noting incidents that oc- curred, and the condition of the country through which he passed. It was the year after Indiana, then regarded as the terminus of civilization, was admitted into the Union. There were few stage-coaches, and 1 8 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. means of communication and conveyance were difficult. He went in his own carnage as far as Washington, travelling thirty miles a day. There he sent back, with his carriage, all un- necessary luggage, and, purchasing saddle-horses, saddles, and saddle-bags, adopted the usual con- veyance of travellers going West. The National Road over the mountains was incomplete, and was badly worn by the passage, in the course of one year, of more than twelve thousand teams of six or eight horses each. Pittsburg con- tained then but five thousand inhabitants. As there were at that time no steamboats runnino- regularly on the Ohio, he adopted the usual mode of descending that stream, in rectangu- lar boxes, which, though called arks, strongly re- sembled cattle-pens. They were made of rough plank, twenty or twenty-five feet long, with flat bottoms, and the joints all caulked with tow. Two families, composed of gentlemen and ladies, procured two arks, one of which served for their horses, and the other for themselves and their luggage. The scenes witnessed during that voy- age have been more than once described by Mr. Allen for the amusement of his friends. He noted the fact that he did not see a steamboat MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 19 during his sail down the Ohio, and that he saw later the first stage-coach ever in Kentucky, — a coach which was then running between Lexing- ton and Louisville. Its posts, that were made to sustain the covered top, broken off and stick- ing up like shattered masts, presented a truly grotesque appearance, caused by the unskilful driver's neglect to take account of the height of his vehicle, while passing under the spreading branches of a stately oak. This Western tour gave Mr. Allen a vivid idea of the riches and grandeur of our country, and stimulated his desire to become instrumental in the development of its varied resources. His later European tours made him acquainted with the progress of science and art in the Old World, and enabled him to exert an extended influence, by means of his publications, in diffusing a knowl- edge of inventions and discoveries calculated to advance the interests of this country. He made the acquaintance of several leading scientific men and philosophers, including Professors Faraday and Owen, whose attentions he highly appreci- ated. The former showed him, in 1852, the origi- nal simple apparatus used by Sir Humphrey Davy in discovering the new metals sodium and potas- 20 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. slum, and explained to him some curious experi- ments in regard to the action of magnetic forces. Mr. Allen early took part in the deliberations of the town council of Providence. In 1824 he was one of the town's committee to receive and entertain Lafayette ; and the way in which he discharged this duty is best learned from his paper on Lafayette, read before the Rhode Island Historical Society in March, 1861, and printed shortly afterwards. He exerted a leading influence in the move- ment which resulted in the geological survey of the State, made by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, in 1839; and he did his utmost in 1875, through a report as State Commissioner, to secure an- other survey, more extensive, accurate, and thor- ough. Indeed, very few worthy public enterprises of his day can be named which did not receive his support. He noted passing events with the view of turning them to the best account. As Providence was his native place and his lifelong home, to promote its growth, beauty, and pros- perity, he was ever ready to put forth his best efforts. He saw it first as a town of seven thou- sand inhabitants, and latterly as a city of one hundred and sixteen thousand. He noted its MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 21 changes in a philosophical spirit. In a visit to Prospect Terrace, shortly before his death, he pointed out to the writer the spot where the great ship Ganges, driven by the gale o£ Sep- tember 23, 1 81 5, lay for years on the north side of the Cove Basin. His early and his late efforts to have the Cove Park protected from corporate greed, as well as from noisome vapors, and thus serve as breathing space, or, in his chosen phrase, as " the lungs of the city," ' are readily recalled. He saw here, in his mind's eye, a population of more than two hundred thousand souls, for whom breathing'-space should be provided and made pure in the centre of the city, as well as on its heights and in its suburbs. He rejoiced in the newly proposed park, on the French Camp Ground, as an addition to, not as a substitute for, the broad, open area of land and water in the heart of the city. Mr. Allen will ever be remembered as a brave and gallant man, who, courteous and gentle as he habitually was, cared more for principles than 1 " Edmund Burke, in his speech against selling some of the parks of London, called them the Lungs of the Metropolis. That single word decided the question ; for it was fact, argument, and illustration, all in one." — Orville Dewev, in Old World and Nezu, vol. ii. p. 19. 2 2 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. for forms and ceremonies. He was a man of per- fect physical and moral courage, who spoke what he thought, and stood by his convictions of right. He was a law-abiding man. Always a ready and firm upholder of civil government, he came to its support with arms in hand on three several occa- sions : viz., in the Hardscrabble riot of 1824; in the Olney Street and Snowtown riots of 1831; and in the Dorr War of 1842. In any public concern he showed his colors, spoke his word, and did his duty manfully. He led and sustained the movement to have the Historical Cabinet kept open, and its va- rious collections reduced to order and made to subserve the best interests of the City and State. He will be greatly missed at the meetings of the Historical Society, where his presence was a benediction, and at the meetings of the Frank- lin Society, in which he took a lively interest. Indeed, the Fire Department, to which he used to belong ; the Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, of which he was at one time presi- dent ; Brown University, of which he was trustee for fifty-six years, — and many other like institu- tions, — will feel keenly his loss. He was a Rhode Islander of Rhode Islanders, entering the MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 23 lists as a champion of religious liberty, and hurl- ing back reproaches that had been heaped upon the founders of our State. He did much to awaken interest in the study of local institutions, and to cause Rhode Island history to be studied and appreciated. In his last annual address as president of the Historical Society, a paper that does his head and heart credit, he makes an ear- nest appeal to the members of that institution to see that Rhode Island history is truly set forth. Most of his late historical writings have had this object in view; prominent among which is his address to the Historical Society, at the bicenten- nial of the burning of Providence, April 10, 1876, on the Rhode Island System of Treatment of the Indians and of establishing Civil and Religious Liberty.^ Mr. Allen's lifelong regard for the resting- places and memories of the dead is noteworthy. He faithfully served for thirty-two years as a commissioner of the North Burial-ground. He twice secured the enlargement of the ground, and effected marked changes in its general as- pect and condition. He tastefully laid out and adorned the plateau containing the ashes of his - See Letter of Dr. James W. Beekman, p. 100. 24 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. family and ancestors, and designated the spot where his own body should finally rest. He caused to be erected the beautiful bronze tablet on the walls of St. John's Church, to the memory of his Huguenot ancestor, Gabriel Bernon,^^ and built the tomb over his remains in the vaults beneath the church. He turned his benevolent regard to the original proprietors of this country, the rude Sons of the Forest. He pointed out the wrongs and outrages to which they had been sub- jected. He invoked sympathy for their suffer- ings; and in response to his address before the Historical Society, April lo, 1876, he had the satisfaction of receiving the official congratula- tions of two distant tribes in the Dominion of Canada, the Ojibways and the Pottawatamies," who, in their distant lodges, " shook hands with him in their hearts." He aided in erecting monuments to Massasoit and King Philip, and in markinof sites of historic interest in Bristol, Kingston, Warren, and Rehoboth. He favored the preservation of the Indian Pottery Works at the Soapstone Ledge in Johnston, and the 1 Gabriel Bernon's sister Marie married Benjamin Faneuil. Their son Peter built Faneuil Hall, Boston. 2 See official letters and Totems of these tribes. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 25 erection of the French Memorial in the North Burial-ground. He wrote memorials of La- fayette and Roger Williams, and did his best to secure, in connection with the Roger Wil- liams Monument Association, a worthy monu- ment to the latter. He sought to benefit the erring and the criminal, serving for years, in company with his friend Dr. Wayland, as a member of the Board of Inspectors of the State Prison. He was a promoter of many worthy causes, an active and honorary member of many scientific, literary, and benevolent institutions; and was, at the time of his death, the president of four public societies. Mr. Allen never forgot that he was once a child. Retaining to the last a distinct recollec- tion of childhood, — its trials and its triumphs, its joys and its sorrows, — he was drawn towards children, and led to give them the benefit of his manifest sympathy and friendship. To answer their inquiries he would often greatly incommode himself. When urged not to allow children to interrupt his studies with their questions, his ready reply was : " I must answer them now lest they lose their interest, and the opportunity to gratify and benefit them be gone forever." Through life 26 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. it was his pleasure and his habit to associate much with children and young people. He was intimate and familiar with them, — joining in their plays and sports, manifesting interest in their studies and plans of life, and largely partaking of their spirit. The correspondence which he kept up with juvenile friends would be regarded by most people as a tax upon their time and energy. To him it was a pleasure and a means of renewing his youth. He acted upon the prin- ciple that no one has a right to mingle in society unless he can lay aside his personal ills, and say or do something for the pleasure and gratification of his associates. Accordingly, whatever circle he entered, he wore no knit brow, cast no shadow, marred no pleasure, and caused no restraint, but rather invited freedom and ease, and imparted life, light, and joy. In this way he became a favorite. His company was sought and prized. His conversation and manners were suited to each occasion. In his presence no one thought of age. Indeed, he seemed on many occasions the personification of youth and manhood. He abounded in life, hope, and energy, and was wont to entertain his friends with pleasing fancies, and narrations of the past. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 27 The following letters, one of which was written about a year and the other about a month before his death, will sufficiently illustrate his happy methods of amusing and instructing the young. Another letter, received by his youthful corre- spondent, through the mail, after his death, is reluctantly omitted. Providence, March 21st, 1881. My Darling Great-grand-daughter, — Oh, what was my surprise on receiving a well-written letter signed with your name ! Really, I could hardly believe my eyes. I was so glad to get such a letter, for another good reason, because the person who could write one such letter, I felt sure could keep on writing more. Now I shall expect a nice letter from you every once in a while, when you can spare time from your studies. I should like to know one thing, — who taught you to write so well ? Just tell me in your next letter. We are all well ; but alas ! our dear little skye terrier has closed his eyes in a sleep that knows no waking. We all shed tears when we buried him in the ground by the side of his friend, little Prince. I made a cof- fin for him. and W. placed beautiful flowers by his side. On his body was a piece of white cloth, that veiled him from our sight, while we were looking down tearfully upon his little humble form, which once bore as faithful and loving a heart as ever beat in a mortal bosom. 28 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. When you come to Providence I will lead you to the spot where he sleeps beneath the verdant turf ; but when we placed him there, a white bank of snow made it more sad to us, as a cold bed for his last repose. But it is pleasant to remember his goodness, now he is gone ; as it is also to remember good children after they are laid in the cold ground. Come soon to see Your old and loving grandfather, ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Providence, Feb. 7th, 18S2. Darling Great-grand-daughter, — Does it not sound magnificent to call you a Great, Grand Daugh- ter, when all the time I know you are my dear little darling } I am thankful your dog did not take a deathly cold by sleeping all night in a snowdrift. Do you know that near the pole of the earth, where snow and ice are more plenty than wood and bricks, the people build crystal houses of blocks of ice, and sleep in them every night, very comfortably ? And also the great polar bears make a lodging under snowdrifts, and never stir out all winter long, until the warm spring comes. They take one long nap that lasts all winter. Is it not charming to think of such pure white sheets of snow - for bedclothes, that never require to be washed, — with a great saving of soap and boiling ? I am delighted that you are fond of arithmetic. I suppose you intended to show me how you go walking MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 29 to school, studying a book all the way, as represented by a picture in the upper corner of your letter. How pleasant it will be to you to have a whole room by yourself! You can set your alarm-clock to get up every morning at sunrise, and begin studying arithmetic. Your Aunt C. will take you this letter, if she ventures to go after this great snowstorm ; but she is alarmed by your account of the big drifts, and declines the pleasure of sleeping in one, hke the dog. I write immediately to answer your agreeable letter, because I know you expect an immediate reply ; and it is always proper to answer letters promptly. Please give my love to all your lovely family, and believe me ever Faithfully yours, ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Mr. Allen was strengthened and sustained by hope, faith, and charity. His creed was that of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His highest ideas of reliQ:ion were drawn from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, and from the 14th and 15th chap- ters of John's Gospel. He believed the Creator of the universe to be benevolent ; and that he would in his own time and way bring order out of disorder, light and form out of darkness and chaos, hope out of despair, good out of evil, and life out of death. Accordingly he dwelt on the 30 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. bright side of life and sought the bright side of every subject. When dark pictures were brought to his notice he chose to view them in the most favorable light. Of wrongs and injuries he sought to understand the motive and the cause, and ex- ercised tact and skill in their removal. He had observed and pointed out violations of the rights of humanity, and of domestic animals, long before the organization of societies for the prevention of cruelty. In his repeated travels abroad he enjoyed op- portunities for extended observation, which he did not fail to improve. While in Greece he saw one day a man riding on a donkey, while his wife trudged along by his side with a load of brushwood on her head. Indignant at such a spectacle, he told his dragoman to say to the man that such a sight as that could not be seen in America. The man coolly replied : " Tell that gentleman that he must be a stranger here, or he would know that in Greece women are plenty, but donkeys are scarce." When in Constan- tinople he saw a procession of children singing in the streets ; and, asking what it meant, the dragoman said they were scholars escorting a new member from his home to the school, with MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 31 songs and expressions of good-will, and that this was the customary congratulation and escort. Mr. Allen often referred to this most kindly welcome, as being far more consistent with civilization and Christianity, than the sophomoric practice, preva- lent in American colleges, of hazing freshmen, and compelling them to endure indignity and outrage. He was habitually averse to harsh and severe measures and doctrines. He drew a nice line of distinction between the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay. The former he held in high esteem, while the latter, with some noble exceptions, failed to command his respect. The stricture of John Ouincy Adams, wherein Roger Williams was arraigned for conscientious contumaciousness, drew from him on one occa- sion a scorching rebuke, and a vindication of the right of Williams to share with Eliot the honor of being the pioneer missionary to the Indians. The Puritans, he said, bore sway in New Eng- land during the early period, arraigning and condemning whom they would and could before' magistrates and councils ; and now he thought it full time that they should in turn be arraigned before the bar of History. He would allow no 32 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. excuse for their treatment of Miantinomi, Samuel Gorton, and Mary Dyer. The ground of Mr. Allen's support of the gen- eral policy pursued from the first by the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and of his opposition to the system of persecution adopted against both Rhode Islanders and Indians, by the neighboring colonies, is best understood by reference to his Bicentennial Discourse. It was to him a cheering sign that the later writers of Massachusetts — jurists, statesmen, and histo- rians — already acknowledge the folly and cru- elty of that persecution, and view subjects of long and bitter controversy in a truer light. Chief- Justice Story says: — The fundamental error of our ancestors, an error which began with the settlement of the colony, was a doctrine which has since been happily exploded, — I mean the necessity of a union between Church and State. To this they clung as to the Ark of their safety. . . . The arm of the Civil Government was constantly em- ployed in support of the denunciations of the Church ; and without its forms, the Inquisition existed in sub- stance, with a full share of its terrors and its violence. There was indeed far more caution in shedding human blood ; but there was scarcely less indulgence for human error. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 33 It has also been said, with as much truth as force, by one of the most eloquent of modern di- vines, that " This boasted alliance between Church and State, on which so many encomiums have been lavished, seems to have been little more than a compact, between the priest and the magistrate, to betray the liberties of mankind, both civil and religious." Mr. Allen was remarkable for the wide range of his intellect, for the extent, variety, and exact- ness of his information, and for his readiness and ability to communicate the results of his re- searches and to awaken sentiments akin to his own. It was difficult to introduce a subject on which he was not prepared to shed light by his well-considered remarks. He was for years the Mentor of Providence. In cases of difficulty, doubt, or danger, he was often consulted, and never hesitated to speak his views. When important enterprises were brought forward, he was always prepared to aid them, or en- counter them with a logical force not readily withstood. His various reports in connection with the fire department of Providence would occupy much space, and be an interesting chap- ter in his life. What he did for the introduction 3 34 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. of water/ the part he took in perfecting the steam-engine, his instrumentaUty in establishing a system of mutual fire-insurance " for mill prop- erty, and his views with regard to needed sani- tary measures in the heart of our city, are matters of history. He was wont to make careful investigations, and draw from his stores of knowledge, giving the public the benefit of his mature thought. His varied information and remarkable mem- ory were often shown at meetings of the Histori- cal Society, when he followed the reading of carefully prepared papers with remarks that were entertaining alike to the lecturer and the audi- ence. The author of Cosmos could repeat from memory the name of every member of the dif- ferent presidential cabinets of the United States, from the time of Washington down. Mr. Allen was perhaps less observant of the cabinets and po- litical machinery of the country, but his memory was no less tenacious of the names and acts of 1 At the public ceremony on the introduction of water into the city, Thanksgiving Day, 1871, his Honor, Mayor Doyle, called upon Mr. Allen, as " The Father of the Water-works," to let on the water. This public recognition of his services in that import- ant enterprise was highly appreciated. '- See Letter of Edward Atkinson, Esq., p. 96. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 35 the statesmen who effected the Q:reat chanees in the policy of our government. His strength was in the direction of scientific truth. In- ventors and inventions, the various branches of industry, the advancement of his city and State, the progress of science, and the great prob- lems of nature engrossed his attention ; and in discussing these subjects, his memory and his intellectual acquisitions appeared to best advantage. In his efforts to attain the full measure of man- hood, by the discipline of his mind and the ac- quirement of knowledge, he acted in accordance with the old adage : " To be accurate, write much; to be well-informed, read much ; to have the power of ready expression, converse much." Thus, with the view of mental discipline, accurate and extended knowledge, and power to communi- . cate, he wrote, read, and conversed, and devoted his energies to the public good ; often remarking, as he pursued this course, that " He who will work for nothing and find himself, will never lack employment." Mr. Allen was a literary as well as a scientific man. Books were to him a solace and a delight, as well as a means of instruction. They were 36 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. ever at hand, and every spare moment was de- voted to them. He retained his zest for the ancient classics, often showing his famiHarity with them by quotations and analyses of language. He also took a lively interest in the literature of the day, occasionally surprising young friends by the extent and variety of his reading, and sometimes amusing them by repeating from mem- ory gems of poetry or striking passages from famous orations. His mind was naturally exercised over difficult problems of science.^ While visiting the Falls of Niagara, in 1841, he undertook and carried out the first systematic measurement ever made of the flow of that mighty river and of the power to be derived from the Falls.^ He shrank from no hardship or danger in the work, and the record of its results is preserved in Silliman's American Journal of Science, for April, 1844. His advice was frequently sought as a man of science and an ^ See New York Evening Post, p. 105. 2 Quantity of water at Niagara Falls : — 22,440,000 cubic feet per minute, 701,250 tons per minute, 4) 533)334 «<^/«<7/ horse-power. From Niagara to the sea, 24,000,000 horse-power. Fall from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, 331 feet. Fall from Lake Ontario to the sea, 234 feet. MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 37 inventor ; ^ and he oft-times turned aside from his usual pursuits to assist the discouraged in per- fecting inventions that in time proved to be use- ful, and sometimes to explain to over-sanguine persons why their inventions, or conceits, must fail to produce the results sought. Electricity was early a favorite study, and it was one of the last studies in which he was engaged. His theo- ries on that subject, explained in his last impor- tant work, on Solar Light and Heat, drew forth favorable comments from advanced scientific men on both sides of the ocean ; and a second edition of this book was promptly issued to supply the demand.^ He was, like his Huguenot ancestors, habitu- ally hopeful and cheerful. However dark the night or mysterious the event, he saw rays of light, and ground for hope and comfort. Ten months before his departure, after hurrying on a bright spring Sunday morning to the church of which he was a lifelong attendant and a commu- nicant, he was oppressed by the closeness of the atmosphere, and fainted. On reviving he said, as if entertaining a pleasant thought : " Why could 1 See Letter of Stephen Roper, Engineer, p. 106. - See List of Mr. Allen's Publications, p. 107. 38 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. I not have made my exit from the church ? It would have been a good place to die in." The following Tuesday afternoon he came into the Historical Cabinet, with the freshness, vigor, and gayety of a young man, saying: "This morning Professor Gammell [senior vice-president] called on me, and, after expressing solicitude about the state of my health, offered to take charge of the meeting this evening, and really urged me to re- main quiet at home. Out of respect for him I had to adopt some measure to find out the state of my health. So I set off and walked first to Olney- ville. I then retraced my steps, and attended a fu- neral with you [the librarian] on Moore Street. I then went, via Greenwich Street, to Roger Williams Park, and, crossing the Park grounds, came back through South Providence. Now, hav- ing taken this walk without weariness, I think I can sit an hour at the meeting this evening." The correctness of his conclusion was not questioned. On a more recent occasion he said, in reply to a word of congratulation on his good health : " Yes, I do enjoy good health, and I am grateful for it. Yet I am a minute-man, liable to go at any time, and the sooner the better ; but while MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 39 here I mean to make this machine run as smoothly as possible, in order to get out of it the utmost comfort and power." With this remark he tripped along his ample hall, showing the nimbleness and vivacity of youth, and then added : " Work and play, gayety and sobriety, have their place in the economy of this life." It was the wonder of his friends how he main- tained such elasticity of body and mind. To a lady, who made this inquiry shortly before his death, he promptly replied : " Why, madam, by keeping my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity, and eschewing the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil." In one of the writer's walks and talks with Mr. Allen, after he had become an octo2:enarian, in reply to the inquiry, " How do you keep yourself so fresh and healthy ? " he answered: " Each day I determine to make the best of myself. As the Wise Virgins in the parable reserved their oil for occasion of need, so I study to know when, how, and where I can best employ my powers of mind and body." Mr. Allen had a keen sense of the humorous, and a flow of spirits that must have some outlet, or, as he expressed it, a safety-valve. 40 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. He was — like Baron Humboldt, whose charac- ter he greatly admired — exceedingly abstemious at the table, where it was his delight to sit and converse, in full view of the choicest viands ; and wines were for his guests rather than for himself. Tobacco in every form he loathed. Exercising a generous hospitality, he gathered under his roof and around his board persons of kindred tastes and j^ursuits, from far and near, making all feel at home and happy in the presence of one whose politeness and courtesy came fresh from the heart. In conclusion, it is worthy of remark that, while Mr. Allen's life was elevated and ennobled by his contact with the learned professions, his career was in the line of his early-acquired tastes for Natural Science and Mechanical Phi- losophy. To investigate, control, and convert the forces of nature to the use of man was his ambition, his mission. He believed that winds, waves, and electricity would be utilized, during the coming age, beyond any conception of the present gen- eration. Here, he was wont to say, is a bound- less domain that will more and more engage the attention of enlightened men. Into this field he MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 41 bade aspirants to fame and honor enter and con- tend for the prize. Exhibitions of skill and en- terprise in this direction never failed to awaken his admiration and to draw forth expressions of encouragement. With great interest he compared the loom of Revolutionary times, and the machines employed by Samuel Slater in his first manufacturing experiments, with the wonderful inventions of the present day. Without disparaging the hand of ^sculapius, yet with a horror of the old saddle-bag prac- tice, he maintained that fountains of life and health exist in abundance all around us, and may and will be discovered. Only let the search be made, and the laws of life and health be studied and observed, and these blessings will be secured. In his later years a psalm of thanksgiving was ever in his heart, and these utterances often on his lips at eventide : " Blessings surround us on every side," " Thank God for another happy day," " I nightly pitch my moving tent a day's march nearer home." Full of hope — with faith in God, and in man as the child of God, for whom are prepared 42 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. through Christ the heavenly mansions — he Hved a happy and useful life. He regarded death as a beneficent ordinance. It came as he had ever prayed it might, un- heralded, and bringing the longed-for rest. His last day was, as usual, devoted to active duty. On his return from a lecture in the eve- ning, while conversing with his daughter, he sat down, rested his head upon his hand, and " was not, for God took him." It was a golden sunset. Death was swallowed up in victory. " There is no death ! What seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, Whose portal we call death." NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 7ACHARIAH ALLEN is dead. The blow comes to this community like a thunder-clap from a clear sky. The man who was the embodiment of life, energy, and public spirit has made his exit from the world when he seemed, though eighty-six and a half years old, but to have attained the vigor of his manhood. He was possessed of remarkable force and elasticity of mind and body, showing himself equal to any emergency. He was not only the President of the Historical Society of the State, but he had come to be regarded as one of the grandest historical characters of the present period. Modest, unostentatious, and manly, he accomplished a work that will cause his name to be handed down with honor by his fellow-citizens. He possessed that courage, breadth of vision, vivid fancy, and philosophic wisdom which made him the pride and delight, not only of the Society over which he presided, but of our entire com- munity. His sudden death, which occurred at his home on Magee Street, at 1 1 o'clock last night, will be mourned by countless friends, to whom he has become endeared during the many years of an upright and 44 NOTICES OF THE PRESS. godly life. He attended the Stoddard lecture in Infantry Hall last evening, apparently in his usual health, and on his return home seated himself, and died without a struggle, with a smile on his serene countenance. He died, as he had frequently expressed the wish to die, calmly and quietly, in full possession of all his faculties, and with his soul at peace with God and man. Mr. Allen had throughout his long life been remarkably abstemious in his habits, had taken a great deal of out- of-door exercise, and had hardly been afflicted by a day's sickness since his early childhood. For half a century he had been a member of St. John's Episcopal church, was actively interested in all literary, historical, and scientific pursuits, even up to the time of his de- cease, and was prominently connected with a large num- ber of scientific and literary associations. — Providence Press, March i8, 1882. The Hon. Zachariah Allen, one of our most eminent and venerable citizens, died suddenly last night. He attended Stoddard's lecture at Infantry Hall, and felt so well that he declined to drive home with his family, preferring to walk. When he reached home, his daugh- ter met him in the hall, and asked him not to sit up and write that night, as was sometimes his wont. He pleas- antly responded that he would not, and while engaged in conversation he seated himself by a table, resting his head upon his hand a moment, and died without a struggle. He was in the eighty-seventh year of his •t5fc> ase. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. HON. ZACHARIAH ALLEN. IMPROMPTU, ON HEARING OF HIS DEATH. He rests, the aged, honored man, Young to his latest breath. Strong even to his death, Firm as the bravest of the van. True champion of our State Whose history lie loved, Whose principles he proved From pulse of liberty innate. With broad, exploring scholarship, Untired beneficence Born of benevolence. He shared the highest fellowship. His heart, in generous, ceaseless beats, Genial as breath of spring, Buoyant as songster's wing, Still in life's mystic circle meets. Steadfast the valiant part he played In ranks of brotherhood, To build the common good, Till life's last order he obeyed. And now he finds his peaceful rest ; Though tears bedew his pall. His name, among us all. Is shrined, endeared, and blest. F. D. Evenitio BuUdiu, March i8, 1882. 45 46 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. A GOOD MAN GONE. In the death of the Hon. Zachariah Allen, the city of Providence and the State of Rhode Island have endured a loss that cannot be replaced. As a scientist and in- ventor he had no superior in our State, and what he has done for the industries of Rhode Island and New England cannot be measured in money. — Evening Telegram, March i8, 1882. THE LATE ZACHARIAH ALLEN. The sudden death of this venerable and distin- guished citizen is an event of unusual interest in the community in which he has always lived. He had attained to the age of eighty-six years and six months. No man now among the living has been so closely identified with the interests of Providence, and so inti- mately associated with the origin and early manage- ment of nearly all our most important institutions. A man of education and of varied attainments, of great intellectual activity, of rare public spirit, and at the same time of singular industry and economy in the use of time, he has written books and dissertations on a large variety of subjects, both scientific and his- torical, and has performed an amount of work for the promotion of public interests, such as perhaps has been recorded of no other citizen of the generation to which he belonged. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 47 Mr. Allen was born in Providence, Sept, 15, 1795, and was the son of Zachariah and Anne (Crawford) Allen. The family came from Dorsetshire, England, in 1636. He graduated at Brown University in 1813, and, it is believed, was the latest survivor of his class. Among its members were Joseph K. Angell, Job Dur- fee, Romeo Elton, Joel Hawes, Enoch Pond, and Thom- as Shepard. Of these, Dr. Enoch Pond died in January last, at the age of ninety-one years, still at the head of the Theological Seminary in Bangor, Me. Mr. Allen studied law in the office of the Hon. James Burrill, and was admitted to the bar in 181 5, and has long been the senior member of the bar of Rhode Island. He also studied medicine at the medical school then connected with Brown University, and received from its professors a certificate which would have entitled him to a place in the profession, had he been disposed to use it. He, however, after a few years, decided to turn away from both these professions, and to engage in the business of manufacturing, which at that time was beginning to enlist very largely the capital of the State and the en- terprise of its citizens ; and in this business he continued to be actively engaged to the end of his life. But occupations like these, attractive as he found them to be, did not engross his entire attention. He early began to study the principles of mechanical science, on which this industry must depend for its suc- cessful prosecution. He prepared a treatise on Prac- tical Mechanics, which was long used by those whose pursuits demanded a knowledge of manufacturing ma- chinery. In 1825 he went to Europe to study the con- 48 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. dition of woollen manufactures, and travelled in England, France, and Holland. The results of his observations in these countries were published in a work of two volumes, known as the " Practical Tourist." In subsequent years, his fondness for mechanical science led him to still higher inquiries, quite independent of the practical applications to which he at first gave his attention. In a work entitled " Philosophy of the Mechanics of Na- ture," published in 185 1, he grappled with some of those great problems of the material universe which Laplace had attempted to solve in the Mecaniqiie Celeste ; and in another work, published so recently as 1879, and entitled "Solar Light and Heat," he again enters the same distant realms of scientific research. Both these volumes have been pronounced, by eminent men of science, works of singular acuteness and pro- found investigation. He has also written much on sub- jects connected with the history of Rhode Island, and has published volumes and tracts on " The Early Set- tlers of New England," " The Treatment of the Narra- gansett Indians," "The Suffrage Rebellion," and other kindred subjects, and has left many carefully prepared papers still unpublished. His intimate connection with the manufacturing interests of Rhode Island led him to inquire into the whole subject of manufacturing machinery, and also of water-power, and the best modes of its application and use. His fertile and suggestive mind was constantly contriving improvements, many of which were of great importance in the development of the industry to which they pertained. He was the original inventor of the NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 49 automatic cut-off valve for the steam-engine,^ an in- vention which was patented in 1833, and also of the extension rollers, which are still in general use in mills. He devised a mode of saving the surplus waters of the Wonasquatucket River, and originated the sys- tem of Mutual Insurance adopted by the great manu- facturing establishments of New England. He intro- duced into the Fire Department of the city the hydrau- lion engines, as they used to be called, — a very great improvement on their predecessors, — which were sub- sequently adopted in Boston and in other cities. He contrived a hot-air furnace for houses, even before the use of anthracite coal had become common. He also frequently contributed articles to scientific journals, making important suggestions which he had no leisure himself to carry into effect. If, from these scientific and literary labors, which he delighted to mingle with the cares of active business, we turn to the long series of services which he has ren- dered to the higher interests of the community, we discern still more clearly the fibre of his character and the controlling forces of his life. Avoiding, as far as possible, all official positions, he has rendered very im- portant services in promoting every judicious enterprise and every valuable institution which has had its origin among us in his lifetime. He early served in the Town Council, as Judge of Probate, and as a Representative in the General Assembly. He was one of the earliest advocates and one of the most devoted friends of public schools, and has given a vast amount of time and labor 1 See Letter of Stephen Roper, Engineer, p. 106. 4 50 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. to their management and improvement, — and that, too, in years when they had comparatively few friends. He was the first to urge on pubHc attention the introduction of water ; and the great advantages in this respect, now possessed by the people of Providence, are to be ascribed to him more than to any other single man. A great and beneficent work like this was not to be accomplished without continual struggle and many disappointments, that succeeded each other for twenty years before it was finally undertaken by the city government. He had been a trustee of Brown University since 1826, a period of fifty-six years, and he received from the University the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1851. He was one of the leading founders of the Providence Athenaeum, and has often served on its Board of Di- rectors. On the founding of the Butler 'Hospital for the Insane, in 1845, he was one of the original trus- tees and a member of its building-committee. He was also intimately associated with the important movement which led to the establishment of the Free Public Library, of which he was a trustee from its be- ginning. He was one of the original corporators of the Rhode Island Historical Society, for many years its senior Vice-President, and since 1880 its President. To no other person is that society so much indebted for its maintenance and prosperity. Even at his advanced period of life, he has performed for it, as President, a vast amount of useful work, and imparted to all its members additional interest and activity in its affairs. Mr. Allen became a member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 51 in 1824, and had outlived all of his associates of that period. He always manifested an interest in the objects and work of the society, and within the last year has been an active participant in its regular and occasional meetings. Far enough from complete is this brief enumeration of the varied services which Mr. Allen has performed for the generations among whom he has lived. Those which we have named, however, will illustrate the ver- satility and resources of his intellect, and the self- sacrificing public spirit and extraordinary personal activity which marked his life. His manners were genial and kindly, and he was always ready to impart information to those in every condition who came to ask it. He ;vas exceedingly fond of society ; and at his own home, which, until less than ten years ago, had been visited by no domestic bereavement, he delighted to dispense a generous and elegant hospitality. He was unusually fond of children. Their visits to him were always welcome even in his busiest hours, and he was never happier than when, in his later years, he gathered at his family board the three generations of his descendants. He had long been a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, with which his ancestors had always been connected, and of which his great-grand- father, the Huguenot, Gabriel Bernon, had been the principal founder. To its worship and to all its inter- ests he was devotedly attached. Though his frame was slight, his constitution was remarkably strong. His vigor, whether of body or mind, was but slightly im- paired by age, and he walked the streets and ascended 52 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. the hills of Providence with a speed and elasticity which was hardly equalled by those who were twenty years his junior. He had scarcely been seriously ill in his life, and his quiet and painless death was doubtless that which he would have chosen, in preference to every other, as the termination of his career on earth. — Provi- dence Journal, March 20, 1882. FUNERAL OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. The funeral services of the late Zachariah Allen were observed at St. John's Church, on North Main Street, at 12 o'clock this noon. The seats in the audi- torium of the church were filled with the representative men of the city and State, who had assembled to show their respect for the man whom they honored in the fulness and strength of life. There were also present delegations from the Historical, Franklin, and Veteran firemen's societies, the Engineers' Association, and the vestry of St. John's Church, of which he was a member. The services, which were those of the Episcopal Church, were read by Bishop Clark and the Rev. C. A. L. Richards, no eulogy being pronounced. The re- mains were in a plain black casket, on which rested a wreath of violets, a sheaf of ripened wheat, and a cross composed of dark-green laurel leaves. The choir sang the chant, " Lord, let me know mine end," and the hymns, " Forever with the Lord," and " Jesus Lives." The remains were conveyed to the North Burial-ground, where they were interred. About fifty private carriages NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 53 were observed about the church and in the long funeral cortege. Bishop Clark and the Rev. Mr. Richards, each, wore emblems of mourning, consisting of white scarfs drawn over the right shoulder and knotted at the left hip. Attached to each of the scarfs, at the shoulder, was a large black xo?.q.\X.q.— Provideiicc Press, March 21, 1882. Rhode Island has lost one of its foremost citizens in the death of Zachariah Allen, who closed a long life of usefulness last week, at the age of eighty-six years and a half. Mr. Allen was graduated at Brown in 1 81 3, and was the last survivor of his class. Among his classmates were the Rev. Dr. Joel Hawes and the Rev. Dr. Enoch Pond. Mr. Allen, though educated a lawyer, went early into manufacturing, and did much to make Rhode Island prominent in that industry, — giving special attention to the development of water- power and the improvement of the steam-engine and of machinery. He himself invented the automatic cut- off valve for steam-engines, and the extension-rollers still used in mills. He also invented an improved fire- engine, and contrived a hot-air furnace for houses. His treatises on both scientific and historic subjects have been numerous and of high merit. He was probate judge and member of the Assembly; was first to urge, and did more than any other one man to secure, for Providence its water-supply system ; was among the earliest advocates of public schools ; was trustee of Brown University for fifty-six years ; one of the found- ers of the Athenaeum, of the Butler Hospital, of the 54 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Free Library, and of the Historical Society, and was president of the last named. The Providence Journal says of him, in an able review of his life, that " no man now among the living has been so closely identified with the interests of Providence, and so intimately as- sociated with the origin and early management of nearly all our most important institutions." Mr. Allen was the father-in-law of Mr. William D. Ely, a former resident of this city. — Hartford Coiirant, March 27, 1882. RECENT DEATH. The venerable Zachariah Allen, whose death at Providence, R. L, was announced on Saturday, was born in September, 1795, and his ancestral name is found in the earliest records of Plymouth Colony. The first calico-printing in New England was done by his father, who imported cotton from India. An ancestor on his mother's side, named Gabriel Bernon, was a Frenchman, who fled to Boston from La Rochelle in 1688, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He obtained a grant of 2,500 acres of land at Oxford, Mass., and planted a French colony there. In the records of the Massachusetts Historical Society (vol. ii. series 3) it is stated that Bernon came from France, and built a mill for manufactures at Oxford, and a fort for protection against the Indians. Mr. Zachariah Allen received his education at Medford, Mass., Exeter, N. H., and Brown University, Rhode Island. He was admitted to practice in the Rhode Island courts in 1815. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 55 In the " History of Arboriculture," published by Pro- fessor Charles S. Sargent of Harvard University, it is shown that Mr. Allen took the lead in New England, in the year 1819, in planting acorns, chestnuts, and locusts, for fuel and timber; and some of the trees of which he secured the planting were used in the Charlestown Navy Yard for building vessels during the War of the Rebellion. The improved fire-engines introduced into Boston by Mayor Quincy were made after a pattern approved by Mr. Allen. He was very successful in his efforts to improve machinery. He devoted a great deal of his time to scientific and mechanical pursuits until late in life. To the last he has devoted many hours a day to books and study. — Evening Tratiscript, Boston, March 20, 1882. A USEFUL LIFE. The death of Zachariah Allen, at Providence, R. I., is the best possible topic for an essay on a represent- ative Rhode-Islander. Mr. Allen might be called a true American, and a representative New-Englander, for he was all that, but it seems best to call him a typical Rhode-Islander; and if the whole story of his long life were written out, as it deserves, it would make a most wonderful tale. Mr. Allen was born September 15, 1795, at Providence, and died March 17, 1882, complet- ing a life of almost eighty-seven years, — a life rarely or never clouded by physical illness, and devoted to what- soever his singularly fresh and fertile mind thought gen- erally useful or profitable. Unlike most men engaged 56 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. in the affairs o^ peace, he was wholly unselfish, unless he may have desired some recognition of what he had done for others. Mr. Allen was born of a distin- guished family, the blood of Plymouth, Scotland, and the Huguenot Gabriel Bernon coursing through his veins. He was graduated at Brown University in the Class of 1813, and admitted to the bar in 1815. He was married in 18 17, and the happy union lasted until 1873- His whole life was devoted to public affairs, such as public improvements, progress in manufacturing, and public economy. His father is believed to have been the first calico-printer in the United States, and this fact seems to have influenced the son through a singularly long, unclouded, and useful life. Mr. Allen caused the first scientific survey of Providence to be made, about sixty years ago. In 1822 he organized a system of ex- tinguishing fires, which was copied by Boston in Mayor Ouincy's time. Before that he had set a public exam- ple in tree-culture. In 1822 he built the first reservoir in the United States for the purpose of storing power to be used in manufacturing. When steam began to supplement water-power for manufacturing purposes, Mr. Allen improved the en- gines by inventing the automatic cut-off valves, which were patented in 1833, and are still employed by the best engineers. In 1821 he had constructed the first furnace for domestic heating purposes. He was the first to calculate the power of Niagara Falls, as appears in Silliman's Journal of April, 1844. It was he who estab- lished the principle of Mutual Insurance of mill property. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 57 Mr. Allen invented the tests and framed the laws for regulating the sale of explosive oils. He improved machines, he invented a better appara- tus for the transmission of power from the motor to the machine, he was the first to suggest evening schools for the working-people of New England, and he took an ac- tive part in the establishment of many public institutions. He published many essays and sketches, several volumes in pure or applied mechanics, and many reports. He took an active and prominent part in societies and associations of all kinds which had the public good as an object. He was one of the trustees of Brown University for more than half a century. At the time of his death he was President of the Rhode Island Historical Society ; and there is hardly a scientific, liter- ary, or benevolent association in the State, which he did not help to found, and to serve after its organiza- tion. In short he was ever ready to advance with his time, which seemed to his )^outhful mind too slow for the golden opportunities offered everywhere. Mr. Allen was a typical Rhode-Islander in his per- sonal independence. He never hesitated to ridicule the politicians, whom he thought the least useful of men. While very fond of society, and specially fitted for the pleasures of intellectual company or polished people, he remained throughout life a singularly simple man, cordial, frank, docile, ever ready to say what he knew, and never willing to tolerate injustice, ignorance, pre- judices, or shams. It was a common thing for Mr. Allen to describe, from personal recollection, how New England and 58 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Europe fared before the era of railroads, or to recount the conversations he had with prominent men sixty and seventy years ago. Up to the time of his death he attended society meetings or pubHc lectures with the zeal and zest of a beginner ; and a new discovery pleased him quite as much as did social progress and the advancement of honest independence. It would be difficult to match this record. It is rare that any life is spared so long and is so well preserved ; for of senility there was hardly a trace in Mr. Allen, who always delighted in the society of polished and vivacious young people. His cheerfulness, gayety, and enthusiasm never failed him. Up to the hour of his death he was as active, keen, and full of interest in everything and everybody about him, as a young man just starting in life. He worked to the last; and upon the desk at which he died, calmly and without pain, lay a half-written page upon the history of the early settlers of Rhode Island, for the benefit of whose descendants he had so long and so faithfully labored. — Boston Daily Advertiser, March 20, 1882. ACTION OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. A T a special meeting of the Rhode Island Historical Society, held on Tuesday evening, March 21, 1882, to take action on the death of its honored President, Professor William Gam- MELL, the Senior Vice-President, called the meeting to order, and spoke as follows : — ADDRESS OF PROFESSOR GAMMELL. Gentlemen of the Society, — We meet this even- ing to render the tribute of grateful respect and honor which is due to the memory of our venerable President, the late Hon. Zachariah Allen, whose funeral we have to-day attended. His life had been extended far be- yond the ordinary period fixed for men to live on earth. To the oldest of us who are here present he seemed to belong to a generation in advance of our own. Very few of us were born when he was already entering upon active life. We seldom meet, in the crowds of busy men, one who has lived so long as he. His life began in the middle of the last decade of the eighteenth century, and it has been prolonged into the last decade but one 6o MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. of the nineteenth. It is, in many respects, the most remarkable Hfe that has been hved among us since any of us have been on the stage of existence. Even from an early period it was crowded with activities and enter- prises of public importance, and with studies and labors that were designed for the good of others, and it would now be difficult to name any considerable undertaking, connected with our social or industrial interests, in which he has not borne a prominent part. Of a young man beginning life with such surroundings as he had, much was naturally expected, and all that could have been expected has been amply fulfilled in his long career in the city of his birth and his residence. Educated at the University, where he graduated at the age of eighteen, he pursued the study of both law and medicine, but in a few years abandoned them both, and engaged in that manufacturing business which has long engrossed so many of the most gifted men in Rhode Island ; and with this he was connected to the end of his life. I think, however, that the strongest bent of his mind was, after all, rather in the direction of scientific investigation and mechanical invention than of active business pursuits. The latter he entered upon from choice or necessity, but to the former he always gave himself as by a natural and irrepressible impulse. The investigations of science were, in their beginnings, it may be, tributary to his daily occupations ; but, wholly irrespective of this, he continued to pursue them, to inform himself about them, and to take delight in them, above all other subjects of interest, to the end of his life. The elaborate works which he wrote in RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 6 1 connection with science, and the inventions which he made in the mechanic arts, have been of great value and are still highly esteemed. But more remarkable than any of these are the ser- vices which he has rendered as a citizen to the com- munity in which he has always lived. He has been the originator and the active promoter of nearly every con- siderable public improvement which has been accom- plished here in his time. He made the first accurate survey of the town streets ; he introduced hydraulic engines in the Fire Department, and devised reservoirs for storing surplus water for times of drought in the mill-streams ; he made improvements in the steam- engine and in the machinery for finishing cloth ; he devised the system of Mutual Insurance among manu- facturers, and suggested new legislation to regulate the sale of explosive oils. He early associated himself with the Franklin Society for Promoting the Study of Sci- ence, with the Association of Mechanics and Manu- facturers, and with the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. In all these he has at all times held leading positions. He was always an active promoter of free schools, and was the first to propose evening schools for the working-classes. He assisted in the founding of the Providence Athe- naeum, of the Butler Hospital, and the Free Public Library, and he has been a Trustee of the University for fifty-six years. I am not able here to present a full list of Mr. Allen's services to the public ; but there is one to which I wish particularly to refer, both because it is one of the most 62 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. creditable of his whole life, and also because it strik- ingly illustrates the energy, the perseverance, and the public spirit that belonged ta his character, — and this is his long and finally triumphant struggle to introduce water into this city. I well remember that I met him in Italy in 185 i, I think after the plan had been pro- posed and had been pronounced impracticable. He remarked to me that since he had seen the ruined arches of the old aqueducts stretching across the Cam- pagna at Rome, which once supplied the city with water, he had been inspired with new courage. " If," said he, " the Romans could obtain pure water by such works as those, two thousand years ago, it is idle to say that our plan is impracticable. I shall never give it up." And he never did. The question was repeatedly submitted to the voters and decided in the negative ; but the majority constantly diminished, and at last it faded away, and the work was undertaken. We all remember the grand consummation; but we do not remember, perhaps we never knew, how much effort and determination and ceaseless labor were required to bring it about. Among those who accomplished it Mr. Allen deserves the first place ; and, if I remember aright, his Honor, the Mayor of the city, on the occa- sion of their first opening, pronounced him the " Father of the Water-works of Providence." But I must especially speak of Mr. Allen in his con- nection with this Historical Society. Very soon after its formation, in 1822, he became one of its members; and his first conspicuous service was to procure for it, while in England, a copy, made at his own expense, of RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 63 Roger Williams's Key to the Indian Language, which he found in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, This was published in the first volume of our Collections. From that time to the day of his death he has been one of its most active members and most generous supporters. He w^as thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Rhode Island history. He believed that our founders and forefathers had been misunderstood and misrepresented by the historians of other States, and he was mortified that we had so long neglected to remove the false impressions which had been made. He especially desired that our own people should understand their State history, and he has done much to enable them to do so. No mem- ber of the Society now living has done nearly so much. Not less than seven important addresses — on subjects connected with our early history, and delivered before this Society — have been separately printed ; and quite as many more, delivered here and elsewhere, remain in manuscript. In 1870 he was chosen Vice-President, and for several years in this capacity presided at our meetings; and in 1880 he succeeded the late Hon. Samuel G. Arnold in the office of President. Though coming to this office at so late a period in life, he has filled it in a manner cred- itable to himself and to the Society. He seemed to us, his associates, to carry in his memory the leading events of American history almost as if he had been their contemporary. Indeed his life had spanned all but the first twelve years of the acknowledged lifetime of the Republic, and he had lived in the administration of each of its presidents. Though his hearing had 64 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. become dull, his memory was unimpaired, and his char- acteristic zeal was still untiring. He gave to the Society a great deal of time, care, and labor. He has been a frequent visitor at its cabinet, has looked diligently after its interests, and has contributed his full share to all its public exercises. Of what other member have we ever received, in so brief a period, so much assistance in what, after all, most concerns the real life and work of our Society ! Old age brought to him but few of its customary bur- dens, but it was filled with the serene thoughts and hopes it is always fitted to suggest. He had long been accustomed, almost daily, to express to those dearest to him his thankfulness for the blessings of his closing years ; and he often repeated at evening the lines of the hymn which was sung at his funeral to-day : — " Yet nightly pitch my moving tent A day's march nearer home." At the close of his remarks, Professor Gammell presented for adoption and entry upon the Records the following MEMORIAL MINUTE. Zachariah Allen, LL.D., the President of this Society, died in Providence, March 17, 1882, at the age of eighty-six years and six months. He was born in Providence, September 15, 1795, and was descended from ancestors who were among the early settlers of the town. A graduate of Brown Uni- versity in the Class of 18 13, and admitted to the bar in 1815, he long ago became the senior member of the RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 65 legal profession in Rhode Island. In 1822 he engaged in business as a manufacturer, and in this he continued to the end of his life. His tastes, as well as his occu- pations, early led him to devote much attention to physical science, and especially to the principles of mechanics, and their appHcation to the industrial arts. These studies soon gave rise to far broader investiga- tions in Mechanical Philosophy; of which in later years he published the results, in volumes which have received high commendation. He has also been the author of inventions and improvements in machinery, which have secured for him a wide reputation among the votaries of science and of the mechanic arts. As a benefactor of the community in which he has always lived, Mr. Allen holds a conspicuous position among those who have sought to promote its highest interests, — for his zeal in maintaining and extending popular education and encouraging popular industry, for his public spirit in securing some of our most impor- tant public improvements, and for the labors he has per- formed in founding and sustaining several of our most cherished institutions of learning and benevolence. He became a member of this Society immediately after its organization in 1822, and obtained for it, while in England, the materials for the first volume of its pub- lications ; and he has at all times been one of its most active and useful members. He has assisted in gather- ing its materials for local history, and in promoting all the objects for which it was founded. He has prepared numerous communications and addresses for its meet- ings, and has been one of its best supporters and friends. 5 66 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. In 1870 he was chosen its Senior Vice-President, and in this capacity, for considerable periods, he frequently presided at its meetings, and had charge of its affairs. In 1880, on the death of the late Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, he was chosen its President. The fidelity and care with which he has discharged the duties of this office, the time which he has given to the Society, and the labor which, at the age of more than fourscore years, he has performed in its behalf, have not been equalled for the same period by those of any of his official predecessors ; and they have commanded the grateful admiration of all his associates, who now place upon their records this brief expression of the apprecia- tion and respect in which they hold the character and services of their late venerable President. ADDRESS OF EX-GOVERNOR WILLIAM W. HOPPIN. It is impossible to do justice to the life and services of Mr. Allen, in the few moments allotted to me on this occasion ; that duty must be reserved for his future biographer. On the morning when the death of our honored President had become known, I chanced to be standing near two citizens who were engaged in earnest conversation. Turning to me, one of them said: "This whole country is made poorer to-day by the death of Mr. Zachariah Allen," — an acceptable eulogium on one whose knowledge and experience, gained by a long life of study and active work, was distributed with a free and generous purpose for the common good of all. RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 67 Passing over the period of his boyhood and college days, we find Mr. Allen, at the age of twenty, a student of law in the office of Mr. James Burrill, of whom it may be said that he ranked first among the distinguished men of Rhode Island. How far the example of James Burrill influenced and shaped the character of Mr. Allen we cannot tell. That he was like Mr. Burrill in the exactness of his knowledge, and wonderful power of retaining facts, cannot be doubted. Perhaps no other man in the State surpassed Mr. Allen in the marked ease w^ith which he held all his intellectual wealth at his instant command. His name calls up and associates itself pleasantly in my mind with the names of James Burrill, Thomas A. Jenckes, and Judge Ames, — a galaxy of great minds which Rhode Island has given to the country. The conversational powers of Mr. Allen were excep- tionally fine ; he delighted in the opportunity of impart- ing knowledge, and freely drew upon the exhaustless stores of his almost universal information for the benefit of those who wished instruction or advice. On Mr. Allen's return from Europe in 1826, while still a young man, he published his first book, entitled " The Science of Mechanics as applied to the Useful Arts in Europe and America; " and since that time he has given us, at various intervals, other works on lit- erary and scientific subjects, — all useful and practical books, which retain their value to this day. I need scarcely refer to the interest he took in mat- ters relating to the welfare of the city, — the schools, the Fire Department, the Athenaeum, the Free Library, 68 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. and everything in fact that could add to the prosperity and attractiveness of Providence. As a member of the city government, as President of the Mechanics' Associ- ation and of the Franklin Society, he fulfilled the duties of his office with such conscientiousness and thorough- ness that the community owe to him more than can be measured. The great work of his life, entitled " The Philosophy of the Mechanics of Nature, and of the Source and Modes of Transmission of Natural Motive-power," which he began in 1851, has been only recently completed, in his last volume entitled " Solar Light and Heat." Thus, his long and useful public life, upon which he entered at the age of twenty-seven, continued uninter- rupted for sixty years, — a rare and wonderful record, which few men can show. When we consider Mr. Allen's individuality of char- acter, his rare natural force of mental power, his unusual opportunities for development, his genial disposition and great facility for imparting knowledge, and the fact that sixty years of active public life, with unimpaired intel- lect, had perfected his judgment, we must feel that in his death this community has sustained a loss that is indeed irreparable. REMARKS OF THE RT. REV. THOMAS M. CLARK, D.D. I FEEL, Mr. President, that to-night we are a bereaved household. Two weeks ago this evening our venerable President occupied this chair, and spoke to us with his usual vigor and clearness ; and at the close of the RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 69 meeting I had the privilege of accompanying him home, and ail the way he was as full of genial, pleasant talk as ever. How little did it occur to any of us that that, was the last time we should meet here ; how little we thought that we should come here this evening to mingle our sympathies and condolences over such a loss as this. Somehow we came to attach an idea of permanence to Mr. Zachariah Allen. It seemed almost impossible that he should ever be taken away. I never knew so old a man who was so young a man as he. When he died his eye was not dimmed nor his natural force abated. In his old age he had none of the tedi- ousness or obscurity which so often falls to the lot of old men. There was hardly any subject that ever came up, here or anywhere else where he happened to be, of which he could not say something that was fresh and new. One of the chief features of the man was that he always seemed to be able to relate something out of his experience, bearing on the subject under discussion, thereby throwing life and light into it. We shall miss him very much. It has been well said that there is no man in this community that has done as much for the city and State as he. There is no man that is dead who has left so many marks behind him to show that he existed. If we should be asked what monument there is to him, we should reply that his monument is to be seen here, there, and everywhere. There has been no work of special importance in the city during the past half-century in which he was not prominent. There is another feature of his character, to which allusion has not been made ; I refer to the 70 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. singular absence in him of anything Hke personal ambi- tion. He never seemed to care anything about himself. I never heard of his electioneering to be made Mayor or Governor or Senator. He became President of this Society at a very advanced period of his life. He waited till he was eighty-four years of age, and then he accepted it with becoming modesty and personal gratification. If even then he had never been elected to this position, his interest in the Society would have been as great as ever. You can generally judge from a man's conversation whether or not he cares very much about himself. Although he was a great talker, and very often had a great many personal reminiscences to give us, there was no undercurrent in his remarks signifying that he had any personal purpose to serve whatever. There are very few men who leave such a mark on the history of their time as Mr. Allen has done. There are many who have inherited all the advantages that he inherited, and yet they live, die, and are buried, and then forgotten, and there is nothing to show that they have lived. They roll along on the surface till they are swallowed up in the great ocean. Mr. Allen will be remembered in this city as long as men live to drink pure water that comes from the streams in the country, and as long as those institutions exist which he did so much to establish. As to the literary and scientific works of Mr. Allen, there is a great deal to be said. If he had never done anything but write books, he would perhaps have been more talked about than he really was. We forget the author in the actor. It is more magnificent to act than RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 71 to write. If he had never done anything but talk and write, he would have been eminent. In 1827 he pub- lished a book of travels that was full of interest and information, containing a great deal more than many of our books of travel to-day. Then his work on Solar Light and Heat suggests the thought that he was en- dowed with a somewhat prophetic vision. He antici- pated, in this last-named work, a great many of what are considered more modern discoveries. He seemed to come by intuition, without knowing it himself, on facts which other men have arrived at by logic and study. The range of the man's mind was very great. He could write a good book on travels or science, or a historical paper. He was a kind of encyclopaedia. He had, too, a great sympathy for young people. Boys who were just struggling to get at the first rudiments of science would find him ever ready to help them. He seemed to keep up the freshness of his own life by his sym- pathy with the young ones. There is no danger of exaggerating his strong and good points. He was, too, a reverential man. He was not above going to church, as some men eminent in science are at the present day. He believed in God and another world, and that there is a spiritual side to all those things in which he and others were interested. He looked on this world as the symbol of another. He believed in " God the Father, maker of heaven and earth." It will be a long time before we fill his place in this Historical Society, and before we shall find a man willing to do as much as he has done. I only hope that in transacting great matters of public 72 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. importance the mantle of Mr. Allen may fall on some one who will know how to wear it. At the close of Bishop Clark's address, Professor Gammell, recalling his reference to Mr. Allen's interest in the young, said that when Mr. Allen's grandson was a child, he and his companions used to gather around him almost every day, and Mr. Allen gave them their first inspiration in scientific inquiry. The result was that those boys formed a Society, the object of which was to get information upon various subjects, and which exists to-day. LETTER OF THE REV. E. M. STONE, Late Librarian of the Society. PROvmENCE, March 21, 1882. Hon. Amos Perry, Secretary, &c. Dear Sir, — Your notice that a meeting of the Rhode Island Historical Society will be held this even- ing, to take appropriate action on the lamented death of its venerable President, the Hon. Zachariah Allen, has been received. I regret that I cannot be present on the occasion, and beg permission to offer, in this form, a brief but heartfelt tribute to the memory of a valued personal friend, with whom for many years I held pleasant official relations. Few men surpassed Mr. Allen in varied attainments. He was at home alike in history, literature, science, and art. Up to the day of his death his love of research RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. -] ^y was as fresh, and his zeal in prosecuting it as active, as when, in early years, he studied in its details the history of Rhode Island. Of local history, the mind of Mr. Allen was a com- plete encyclopaedia. The part he took in town, muni- cipal, and State affairs, and his knowledge of the origin and progress of the many institutions which adorn our city, qualified him to answer authoritatively the inqui- ries of antiquaries, as few, if any, persons now living can. But he has gone, and I mourn in his departure a friend whose sunny face in the street and cordial wel- come in his home will ever be cherished among my choicest memories. It was my privilege to meet him at his house a few days before his decease, and the recollection of that interview is of the most pleasurable character. Happy for us if, in all that diffuses knowl- edge and promotes human happiness, our activities accord with the active life of our late honored Presi- dent. Thrice happy for us if, when our mortal puts on immortality, our house shall be found set in order. Very respectfully yours, EDWIN M. STONE. REMARKS OF MR. AMOS PERRY. Forty-five years ago a member of the Senior Class of Harvard College came a stranger to Rhode Island, and, while wending his way on foot from Providence to a neighboring village, was saluted by a gentleman driving that way in an open carriage : " Good-morning, 74 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. sir; will you take a seat with me? Riding is easier than walking." The invitation was accepted, and a conversation ensued on our ordinary college curriculum, and the course of study best calculated to answer the ends of life. The gentleman freely expressed his views in regard to a liberal education. Without disparaging the classics, he thought our youth should be taught to love and admire the works of creation amid which they dwell. He expressed the highest appreciation of the Book of Nature, apparently estimating the worth of the studies pursued according to the aid they afford in understanding and interpreting the great volume that is ever open to all. He thought the natural sciences had never been assigned their proper place in our courses of instruction. Elevate them, and they will elevate society, was his idea. This casual interview be- gan an acquaintance which ended only with the death of Mr. Allen. Fifteen years after this conversation, salutations were exchanged on the shore of Lake Le- man in the presence of sublime Alpine scenery. Mr. Allen was prepared to appreciate and enjoy the works of nature and of art in the Old World as in the New. He was the same man at home and abroad. God's uni- verse was his temple. The act of courtesy and the con- versation referred to were in keeping with his life. His charm, his glory, was his elevated spirit and kind re- gard for those around him. Beyond and above his extensive and varied scientific and literary attainments, was the man who delighted to gratify and benefit all who came within the sphere of his influence. He lifted up his fellow-travellers with pleasing fancies, and RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 75 then led them to the contemplation of great truths. He was a Christian gentleman, beloved and revered by the members of this Society, and by all who had the privi- lege of his acquaintance. REMARKS OF CHARLES E. CARPENTER. ESQ. Although my remarks will not be directly in the line of what has been so eloquently said by those who have preceded me, I find it difficult to refrain from offering a small tribute to the memory of Mr. Allen, in his con- nection with an organization recently formed, — the Providence Veteran Firemen's Association, — of which he was most properly elected the first President. Think- ing of him in the many honorable and useful positions he both filled and adorned, I am surprised that at his great age, and with his refined tastes, he should have entered into this sort of association with such alacrity and heartiness, — attending nearly every meeting, and contributing liberally of money, and of facts appertain- ing to the early history of the department of suction- engines in Providence. I cannot forget how he entered our quarterly meeting of Veterans during the heavy snow-storm of January 31st, his elastic step and glowing face calling forth applause from the few much younger men who had felt it quite enough for them to brave the elements at that time. But the fact is, our friend was not simply a scholar ; he was a practical man of the people, and loved to apply in popular ways his ready knowledge to promote 76 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. the interests of old and young in his native Providence, which he had seen rise from a town of moderate size to an important city. REMARKS OF JAMES N. ARNOLD. Mr. James N. Arnold, of North Kingstown, said he wished to speak for the Narragansett country. After referring to the honor in which the late Mr. Allen was held, the speaker referred to his simplicity of character and his charitable disposition. His hours of leisure were spent in studying, deeply and thoroughly, the his- tory of his beloved State. Than he, Rhode Island had few worthier sons, and certainly none that loved her more. None went further than he in studying the at- tacks of her enemies, and none hastened sooner with his pen to her rescue. He saw in the " Great Narragansett Question " the key-note and the origin of nearly, if not all, the calumny that has been written, in passion, against his own gallant State ; and to read the letters he wrote, urging a brother-historian to vindicate the honor of our State, was as refreshing as a benediction. These letters breathe through them the freshness and the vigor of youth, united with the calm and considerate judgment of the historian. Rhode Island and her record, as writ- ten in her annals, to him was a subject ever new. Amid these scenes he never was tired of wandering, nor did he weary of urging them upon the attention of his fellow-men. His published writings are ample proof of this statement. He loved the whole of Rhode Island. The most inland or humblest town was as near and as RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ']'] dear to him as the most wealthy and opulent. The fact that it made a part of Rhode Island was enough to enlist his veneration, respect, and love. REMARKS OF J. ERASTUS LESTER, ESQ. I HAVE come a long way from my home, on the great hill at the west, to this eastern eminence of the old town, to pay my humble yet heartfelt tribute to the memory of my venerated and steadfast friend. The great disparity in our ages may furnish a reason for sur- prise that there should exist a friendship between us, in place of mere admiration on my part for the learning and practical wisdom of Mr. Allen. In the community of study and investigation, age and youth stand on equal ground in the pursuit of truth. My first acquaintance with Mr. Allen was made while I was a student in yonder college halls ; and from that day to the day of his death I counted him one to whom I might always turn for aid and suggestions in the prosecution of my studies. Indeed, in whatever I was interested, the intimation thereof to Mr. Allen always called forth from his fact-crowded mind the surest hints to further and fresher fields of research. To me his intercourse with young men, so full of sym- pathy, so courteous and considerate, forms one of his chiefest virtues. Too often men who have reached his age and distinction withdraw themselves in haughty reserve from communication with the young men, strug- gling on to take the places and assume the duties of 78 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. those who pass on into the shadowy land. To him it was ahvays duty, enUvened by zest in the pursuit of all knowledge, to give those younger than himself all the help and encouragement in his power ; and those to whom he has been a stanch friend and benefactor in this wise are no meagre company. Mr. Allen's life was not one to pique the curiosity. He lived for his fellows, for the municipality, for the State. It was open and unostentatious. The town, in which he was born and always lived, owes him much, and to preserve his memory should be one of her sacred trusts. The State, whose authority he respected, has been honored by his citizenship, and her name made more illustrious by his labors. Our Society, in which he took such an intelligent interest, honors itself whenever it shall recall his memory or tell of what he wrought. When we say there is no one to take his place, do we say more than that a great man has fallen? The life and example of such men help others to be prepared to take the places made vacant. In the advancing steps of civilization we are warranted in saying, that there are more young men of to-day fitted to take his place, than there were, at the outset of his long and laborious life, to take the place assumed by him ; and in saying this, there is no disparagement to our friend, for he, by his many and varied services, has done more than any other man in this community to educate and fit young men for such places. He was a masterful man. The world's great procession presses onward, though many fall out; and as in Addison's "Vision of Mirza," the throng appears just as dense, and those who fall RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 79 through the bridge are not missed. Even great and famous men, falling in the midst of life's battle, stay not the onward march, and those who pass from sight in the fulness of years are not mourned by the great world ; but it is reserved to a narrow circle of friends and neighbors to gather up and cherish the sweet re- membrances of a lifetime. If that Eastern philosophy be true, which tells us that " Death is that first breath, Which our souls draw when we enter Life," then this passing on is but fruition ; and in the case of our friend it became glorious. The tired and weary body laid itself to rest ; and what to our dull eyes appears the all of life, went out as calmly and quietly as fades the candle when the oil is burned. His life is not back of us ; it is before us, as a beacon-light to guide into safe havens. Can I do more than to recall the words of Longfellow when his friend Felton laid himself down to sleep? — " Thou hast but taken thy lamp and gone to bed ; I stay a little longer, as one stays To cover up the embers that still burn." 8o MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. REMARKS BY JUDGE STINESS. The Hon. John H. Stiness, being called upon to speak as a representative of the profession of the law, said, that the followers of every vocation naturally turn with feelings of pride and satisfaction to those of their fellows who have an honored name, and it had given him pleasure to know that Mr. Allen for many years had been the oldest member of the legal profession, and one of its noblest ornaments among the citizens of our State. It had been a pleasure to see a man so inter- ested in all the affairs of life, — so great a benefactor to those about him, both in public and private matters, — live to the age that he had reached, and yet retain appar- ently the full vigor of his prime of life. He had often regretted that Mr. Allen had not devoted himself to the active practice of the law ; for with his energy, philan- thropy, and powers of mind, he would certainly have made a brilliant mark, and have done substantial service for the welfare of the community. A man who com- poses strife, who harmonizes discords, who heals wounded feelings, who sees and shows the right, and aids in establishing justice, is no less a benefactor to his race, than one who discovers great forces, invents useful machines, conducts large business affairs, or does deeds of charity. As Mr. Allen had been the exemplary busi- ness-man and citizen, so he would have been the exem- plary lawyer, adding renown to a profession that has hitherto been worthily honored. No doubt his legal training and knowledge of the law had aided him greatly RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 8 1 in doing much of the good work that had distinguished his Hfe. His varied services had been fittingly set forth, and had been such as we would long remember; but the glory of his life had been that he was always willing and anxious to do what he could for the benefit of others. At the conclusion of Judge Stiness's remarks, the Memorial Minute presented by Professor Gammell was unanimously adopted by a standing vote, and the meet- ing was adjourned. The following letters, from two honored ofilicers of the His- torical Society, were received too late to be read till a subse- quent meeting. Newport, March 20, 1882. Dear Mr. Perry, — The intelligence of the death of Mr. Allen, the esteemed President of our Rhode Island Historical Society, was received by me with sin- cere sadness ; for we had been acquainted nearly half a century. As our residences were remote from each other, our intercourse was necessarily interrupted. Still it was frequent enough, especially during the years we were associated as officers of the Historical Society, to keep our mutual regard fresh and enduring. Mr. Allen was the senior member of the Rhode Island bar at the time of his death ; which sad event leaves me the unenviable distinction of being the oldest member thereof, — certainly the oldest lawyer still in practice. 6 82 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. I shall cordially concur in any tribute of respect for his life and character which the Society may decide to adopt. Very sincerely yours, FRANCIS BRINLEY. Newport, R. L, March 20, 1882. To Hon. Amos Perry, Secretary, &c. Dear Mr. Perry, — It is with the deepest pain and regret that I have heard of the death of my old and esteemed friend, Mr. Allen, to whom I was sincerely at- tached for his many amiable and noble qualities. His death is to me a painful surprise ; for, although he was an old man, he always seemed to me so vigorous, and his mind, on every subject that he touched upon, so clear and strong, that one forgot his advanced age when conversing with him. I can hardly realize that he has passed away, — that his place at the gatherings of the Historical Society has become vacant. It is not possible for me to attend the commemora- tive meeting to do honor to the memory of this good man ; but I cannot let the opportunity pass without saying to you, who knew him so much better than I, how deeply I deplore his loss. Ever truly yours, GEO. C. MASON. ACTION OF OTHER SOCIETIES, ETC. ACTION OF THE PROVIDENCE FRANKLIN SOCIETY. A T a meeting of this Society, held March 28, 1882, the Presi- dent, Levi W. Russell, Esq., spoke thus : — Fellow-members, — Two weeks ago this evening it was the privilege of this Society to listen to the words of one whose voice we shall hear no more on earth. It was the speech of one whom we more than honored, — whom we loved. Titles he had, but he was above and beyond them. He adorned them, rather than they him ; and that not so much from his great learning as from the use he made of his large acquirements. Zachariah Allen was one of the finest m^odels of the true type of New England manhood which the land of Roger Williams has produced. Had he been ambi- tious to place himself prominently before the world, he might have won high distinction in various lines of thought and action. As he lived, he drew from all sources around him, from the sun and other bodies in space, no less than from what he met about his home 84 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. or on his travels, lessons of divine wisdom, prudence, and beneficence, which he only took for himself to-day, to give to others to-morrow. He was a full-rounded man ; and while we admired him for his copious knowledge (and that upon almost any topic coming up for discussion or conversation), and while we listened with rapt attention to his clear and fluent statements and explanations upon the subjects of his remarks, we were always cheered and made bet- ter by what he said. His enthusiasm in matters which particularly interested us, as gleaners in the fields of science and natural history, was something inspiring. He spoke to us as though conscious of his power, yet no one could care less than he to put himself in front. He was not a lecturer, but he possessed the rare faculty of speaking to an audience as though talking to each individually. How often have we uttered or heard this remark: "Mr. Allen is always interesting;" or this : " Mr. Allen has always something good to say to us." We shall miss him in this Society. We shall miss his cordial greetings, his genial face,, his noble exam- ple, and his instructive words. I can hardly think of him as an old man. Until the hour of his passing on, he carried the best of youth about with him ; so we did not think of his leaving us, even at half a genera- tion beyond the appointed bound of human life. Some of us, who thought that the walks of our Soci- ety excursions were at times long and tiresome, said but little about it, as we saw Mr. Allen, at more than fourscore years, tripping along like a boy in his teens. PROVIDENCE FRANKLIN SOCIETY. 85 and at the same time talking like a philosopher, as he was, of what he saw around him. He made the best of himself as long as he lived, and no doubt he lived the longer for his doing so. What a noble example to those who, in advanced years, feel that there is nothing more for them to do ! To outlive his usefulness was no part of his allotted stay on earth. For years he has known that he might be "but for a day; " but that day should see some- thing accomplished, something done. When the life of Zachariah Allen shall be adequately written, it will be one of the most helpful biographical books which this State has ever given to the public. It will teach young men how to begin life, middle-aged men the way to improve it, and old men how to make it useful and happy. It is not my purpose to speak of the various ways in which Mr. Allen benefited the public during his long life. It is enough to call to mind what his compeers say of him, — that he was the pioneer in most of the great improvements of his home city for a half-century back. I W'ill leave it to others, who knew him longer than I have done, to review his work in originating, carrying on, and inspiring others to give their thought and time to the purposes of the Franklin Society. From my first acquaintance with him, ten or eleven years ago, he has impressed me as a model of right living; and now that he has passed on, as we trust, to wider fields of usefulness, we are still permitted to profit by his example, as we must by the beneficent results of his good works. We are fortunate in possessing 86 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. a fine cast of the features of Mr. Allen, for our Society- rooms. As we look upon the benignant face, may it ever incite us to emulate his good works. At the close of his remarks Dr. W. O. Brown moved that a committee of three be appointed to report to the Society appro- priate resolutions and memorials concerning our loved brother and friend, Zachariah Allen, suggesting that Rev. E. M. Stone be the chairman of that committee. Rev. Mr. Stone, John A, Rowland, and Mr. Southwick were appointed on that com- mittee. Dr. Brown, in connection with his motion, spoke briefly of the high qualities of the deceased, and of his large and abiding interest in the Society, and of the great loss which we had sustained. The committee, after retiring for a short time, reported through its chairman as follows: — Resolved, That in the sudden death of the Hon. Zachariah Allen we are impressively reminded of the uncertainty of life, and are called upon to mourn the departure of our oldest surviving associate, whose cheerful face and words of wisdom were as sunshine and instruction in the councils of this Society. Resolved, That this Society here desires to give ex- pression to its appreciation of the varied and profound learning of its late associate-member, and of the gener- ous use he made of his vast accumulation of knowledge, for the benefit of the age in which he lived. Resolved, That this Society places itself in harmony with the entire community in the expression of respect for the active life and useful services of one who for threescore years has been identified with institutions and measures that have contributed largely to the prosperity of his native town and of the State. PROVIDENCE FRANKLIN SOCIETY. 87 Resolved, That we tender to the family of our de- parted associate our sincere sympathy in this hour of their deep sorrow. Resolved, That the Secretary of this Society is hereby directed to transmit to the family of the deceased a copy of these resolutions, and also to enter the same upon the Society's records. Resolved, That as a further token of respect to the memory of Mr. Allen, this Society do now adjourn. Mr. Stone, after presenting the resolutions, spoke in a very feeling and appreciative manner of Mr. Allen. He alluded to his delivering a lecture before the Society as early as 1830, upon his first return from Europe; to his frequent contributions in the way of papers, his readiness at all times to enlighten his audiences upon the most varied topics, and often with no opportunity for special preparation. He spoke of his intimate rela- tion with him for many years, and of the great assist- ance he had rendered him in his historical researches. He regarded him as the " residuary legatee " of the umvritten history of the State for one hundred and fifty years back. He said that his inmost and per- sonal feelings towards the deceased were of too intimate a nature to be expressed except to the family. Samuel Austin addressed the Society in fitting words. He said : " Brothers of the Franklin Society, we meet as a bereaved family. If at our last pleasant meet- ing, only a fortnight since, we had been asked, ' Know ye that the Lord will take away your master from your . . 'f'JEsri£;',<»&iuA£bs>^w_ 88 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. head to-day?' how prompt had been the answer, and how natural, ' Hold ye your peace ! ' So accustomed have we been to his regular attendance here, to his genial participation in all our pursuits, so long have we sat under his teachings, always so interested in the man, the subject, the manner, — whatever the occasion; — that we find ourselves quite unprepared to admit the sober reality. " The departure of the venerable Zachariah Allen, from this earthly scene of labors so abundant and so beneficent, is an event of marked interest. The com- munity deeply feels it. The several corporations with which he was connected — religious, civil, benevolent, scientific — deem it their privilege, each in its turn, to testify their appreciation of such a life. Among these associations none more deeply feels its loss than the Providence Franklin Society. We deem it a privilege, then, to join in this spontaneous public expression." Mr. Austin then touched points of general interest : Mr. Allen's early and abiding love for science ; his regard for nature's God, which was profound and rev- erent ; his spirit of helpfulness to others ; his ardent pursuit of knowledge everywhere ; his serene confi- dence in the principles concerning God and nature's laws, which had satisfied Newton and Kepler, Bacon and Agassiz ; his instructions given to us in lectures, papers, and conversations ; the versatility of his powers ; the lessons to teachers, parents, and others, to multiply such examples as he showed ; his special educational work in establishing evening schools and libraries, as PROVIDENCE FRANKLIN SOCIETY. 89 well as his long connection with the University. These, and other points in his life's work, were successively elaborated by Mr. Austin. He spoke particularly of Mr. Allen's efforts to establish a Public Library in Providence, which he planned to have combined with other educational factors, as an art-gallery and mu- seum, in one grand building, so that the whole would be complete. In closing, Mr. Austin said : " How vividly we recall our last interview on this spot with our venerated friend ! Gratefully accepting this faithful likeness that adorns our walls as a friendly monitor, let us strive, at whatever distance, to emulate the virtues of our friend and benefactor." Mr. D. VV. HOYT spoke briefly, remarking that he felt it an honor to belong to a Society of which Mr. Allen was so prominent a member. It was a delight to know him, a pleasure to remember him. He had been impressed with his extreme courtesy, great kind- ness, by his manner and his words. He spoke of his investigations in science, and surmised that there were foreshadowed in his last work, on Solar Light and Heat, theories and thoughts which, in years to come, may be accepted as great truths. He rejoiced that he had pubhshed that work. He rejoiced to have known him. Mr. Charles M. Salisbury followed with brief remarks, speaking of his last walk home with him from the meeting, two weeks ago. Dr. BROWN added appreciative words, and Mr. Clark spoke of him as 90 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. being a man, a gentleman of the Old School, and as very cordial and kind to his employes when in active business. The resolutions were in solemn silence passed by a standing vote. PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATION OF MECHANICS AND MANUFACTURERS. At the annual meeting, held April 14, 1882, it was Resolved, That in the death of Zachariah Allen, its late President, this Association mourns the loss of one of its oldest, most esteemed, and honored members ; of one whose personal labors of investigation and research in the departments of mechanics and physical science, and whose earnest endeavors, through a long and busy life, for the promotion of manufactures and the me- chanic arts, and the diffusion of practical information and scientific knowledge, as well as his ready and untir- ing efforts in other ways for the advancement of human welfare, have received our sincere appreciation, and merit our lasting gratitude. In addition to the above, a sketch of the life of Mr. Allen, derived mainly from the article published in the Providence Journal, immediately after his death, has been entered upon the records of the Society. Attest : S. H. TINGLEY, Secretary. PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 91 PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Providence Public Library, held June 13, 1882, the following minute was adopted : — MINUTE. Since the last meeting of this Board there have died, at their respective residences in this city, two of its members: the Hon. Zachariah Allen, on the 17th day of March ; and the Hon. William S. Slater, the President of the Board, on the 28th day of May. This Board, therefore, orders to be incorporated with its proceedings a record of its high estimate of the character, ability, and services to this library of its late associates, than whom it had no warmer friends. Mr. Allen was earnest in his watchfulness over its welfare, and constant in his endeavors to advance its interests ; and Mr. Slater, though prevented, by the large and varied business interests under his supervision, from giv- ing to it much of his personal attention, is remembered among the largest donors to its funds. F. E. RICHMOND, Secretary. The following resolutions, beautifully engrossed and framed, were presented by the Engineers' Association : At a regular stated meeting of the Engineers' Asso- ciation of Rhode Island, held at their hall in Providence, R. I., on the evening of the 25th of March, 1882, the 92 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. death of our beloved brother, Zachariah Allen, was an- nounced, and the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted. Whereas, God, in his infinite wisdom, Tias seen fit to remove from among us Zachariah Allen, a valued and honored member of this Association, therefore be it Resolved, That while bowing to the will of the Crea- tor, we deeply deplore the loss which has befallen us, and bear willing testimony to his worth as a gentleman, scholar, friend ; and we tender to his family our heartfelt sympathy in this their deep affliction. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be en- grossed and presented to the family of the deceased. Henry D. Cozens, "^ Bartlett Allen, > Comviittee. Wm. R. Smith, J JOHN O. NEILL, President. HENRY D. COZENS, Secretary. PROVIDENCE VETERAN FIREMEN'S ASSOCIATION. The quarterly meeting of the Providence Veteran Firemen's Association was held Tuesday evening in the rooms of the Franklin Society, Vice-President Geo. W. Cady in the chair. The attendance was very good, but beyond the transaction of a little routine business, scarcely anything was done, except with reference to the late First President, Hon. Zachariah Allen, who de- ceased March 17. Both in remarks by members and in OXFORD HUGUENOT SOCIETY. 93 a paper prepared for the records, it was dwelt upon that, in spite of his great age, he was young in spirit and ac- tive in body, disclosing, in all his intercourse with mem- bers, hearty love for things of to-day as well as for old things, a remarkable amount of practical knowledge, and a very retentive memory. Beyond any member, he was the typical veteran. As he was by many years the oldest member, so he was, doubtless, the only man in Providence who, for some time previous to his decease, could say that he held an important place in the suc- tion-engine department of 1822. — C. E. C, Providence Journal, April 27, 1882. ACTION OF THE OXFORD HUGUENQT MEMORIAL SOCIETY, TAKEN AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING, HELD AT OXFORD, MASS., OCTOBER 4, 1882. Whereas, The Hon. Zachariah Allen, of Providence, R. I., the first President of the Huguenot Memorial Society of Oxford, died on the 17th of March, 1882, therefore. Resolved, That the members of this Society do here- by express their sincere sorrow at the death of their greatly respected President, who not only honored them and the Society by his spotless character, and many, varied, and eminent attainments, but endeared himself to them by his gentle spirit, and deep and unwavering interest in the concerns of this Society. 94 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Resolved, That the above be entered upon the records of the Society, and that a copy be sent to the family of Mr. Allen. G. W. SIGOURNEY, Clerk. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. At the monthly meeting of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety, held April 13, 1882, in the absence of the President, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, the first Vice-President, the Rev. Dr. George E. Ellis, presided, and in the course of the evening spoke as follows : — Since our last meeting we have lost from the roll of our Corresponding Members a venerable and much respected man, the Hon, Zachariah Allen, LL.D., of Providence. He died in his eighty-seventh year, on the 17th of last month, in the city of his birth and resi- dence. He was born September 15, 1795. He was President of the Rhode Island Historical Society ; and his long and most useful life, his family connections, the strong regard cherished for his upright and attrac- tive character, and his many distinguished public ser- vices, have made him for several years to be looked upon as the most prominent historical and representa- tive person in his State. On his mother's side he was a descendant of Gabriel Bernon, one of the most re- spected and distinguished of the Huguenots driven from France by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, who came to Boston in 1688, and made a settlement in this State at Oxford. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 95 Mr. Allen graduated in 1813 from Brown Univer- sity, of which institution he was for many years one of the trustees. He studied both law and medicine. His genius and versatility of talents, his mechanical skill, and his comprehensive scientific tastes and attainments were at first given to advance the manufacturing in- dustry and development of his prosperous State. Many ingenious, economical, and useful inventions and appli- ances came from his active brain, showing his scientific skill in the originating, increasing, and applying motive- power in steam and other machinery. His volumes on abstract and applied science are numerous and of great practical use. He ingeniously calculated the mechanical force of the fall at Niagara as equal to more than four and a half millions actual horse-power. The State, and especially the city of his birth and home, are indebted to him for many of its most prized institutions, improvements, and public works. He was a generous adviser and benefactor of all educational, charitable, and religious efforts for all classes of the community. More than all, he drew to himself the profoundest regard and respect, and the warmest at- tachment of all who knew him, and in proportion to their intimacy, — for the modest elevation, dignity, and purity of his character, for his simple habits and man- ner of life, for his delicate. Old School courtesy and urbanity. Some of us have been privileged to see and know him in his home, which he made so genial in its hospitalities. He had a peaceful and sudden release, in hardly impaired vi^or, after a blameless, useful, and Christian life. 96 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. LETTER FROM EDWARD ATKINSON, ESQ. Boston, March 21, 1882. Wm. D. Ely, Esq. Dear Sir, — I greatly regretted that the absence of Mr. Whiting, and the pressure of office work, made it impossible for me to make arrangements to attend the funeral of our good friend, Mr. Zachariah Alien. Few men whom I have ever counted among my friends have so impressed me as Mr. Allen. He has left his mark in the services which he rendered ; and it will always be a pleasure to me to remember him, and to have counted him among my friends. Sincerely yours, EDWARD ATKINSON. LETTER FROM PROFESSOR WILLIAM B. ROGERS. 117 Marlborough St., Boston, March 20, 1882. My dear Miss Allen, — We have just seen, in the morning paper, a notice of the death of your dear fa- ther, our kind friend of so many years ; and I cannot delay sending you an expression of our sympathy with you in this great bereavement. You know how highly we have prized your father's friendship, and how much we have enjoyed his bright intelligence and humane liberality, of thought, wherever it has been our happy fortune to meet him ; and you LETTER FROM PROF. W. B. ROGERS. 97 can well imagine our sorrow to find that henceforth we shall see his kind face and hear his friendly voice no more. Some weeks ago my wife, in talking with Mr. R. of him, learned of his long walk in the cold evening air, like a young and vigorous man; and we know that you have often been made anxious by his readiness, forgetful of his years, to follow the youthful spirit of inquiry and of active well-doing that seemed to animate him to the last. But the circumstances of his death — sudden and without pain, in the midst of this useful work, after having escaped the usual infirmities of old age — may well be a source of consolation and comfort to all who loved him. This life of noble usefulness could not have had a more fitting close. Its memory, cherished lovingly by family and friends, will be a public benefaction, an example of rare intellectual gifts devoted to the highest practical ends. With our love and sympathy to yourself and Mrs. E., believe me, dear friend, Very faithfully yours, WILLIAM B. ROGERS. 98 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. ] 1 LINES BY THE HON. CHARLES THURBER, \ OF BROOKLYN, N.Y. j HON. ZACHARIAH ALLEN, LL.D. : I Brown's old Trustee, long at the column's head, — j So long we were not thinking he would die ; \ But yet, last week, he joined the honored dead, Ere scarce the summons reached him from on high. i A man of culture, man of thought and brain, | Who deemed to live meant more than vegetate ; \ Not to be ca//ed great, but he toiled to gain j Those acquisitions that do ma/:e men great. ; A modest man, who, midst the great or small, j Ne'er walked akimbo, for a wider sway. j What God and culture made him, — that was all For which he wished or asked the right of way. He loved Rhode Island, loved her very name, j And kept her history under lock and key, I Up to the hour the dreadful summons came j To leave his dear head-centre of the free. ,1 A genial man, I always loved to see ': When yearly summoned up to Manning Hall ; , i His smile of welcome had a charm for me, « A welcome now 't is pleasant to recall. ,| Farewell, old man, though we shall meet no more | On Brown's green campus, or within her hall, | Perhaps we may, upon the shining shore. Where Truth presents exhaustless feasts for all. Providence Jouriial^ March 27, 1882. I LETTER FROM REUBEN A. GUILD, LLD. 99 LETTER FROM REUBEN A. GUILD, LLD., OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. Hon. Amos Perry, Dear SiR,-=-I have been informed that you are col- lecting material for a memorial of the late Hon. Zach- ariah Allen, LL. D. It may be fitting therefore for you to record the following pleasing reminiscence. On the very day of his death, March 17, he called at the College Library about noon, bringing with him some newspaper clippings relating to the history of the Col- lege. He spent more than an hour looking them over with me, and comparing them with my own " scrip-book." He seemed in unusually good health and spirits, and expressed himself as specially interested in the preser- vation of these transient memorials of the past. While we were thus engaged, Mr. Edward H. Hazard, a promi- nent lawyer in town, and one of our older graduates, called. An animated conversation ensued, Mr. Allen exhibiting all the intelligence and vivacity of youth. As he was leaving the Library, Mr. Hazard, pointing to him, significantly remarked, "The old man young." You can imagine the shock I received on reading in the paper the next morning the sad announcement of his sudden decease. The article on him which appeared in the columns of the Journal the following Monday, I have put into my " scrip-book," and appended thereto the foregoing statement. Yours very truly, REUBEN A. GUILD, Librarian, Brown University, Nov. S, 1SS2. L.ofC. lOO MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. DR. BEEKMAN'S LETTER. 5 East 34TH Street, New York, March 15, 1877. Hon. Zachariah Allen, Dear Sir, — Through the kindness of Mr, Henry T. Drowne I have received a copy of your patriotic defence of the Rhode Island system in Indian affairs, and of her noble behavior concerning civil and reli- gious liberty. Your truthful and clear exhibition of the narrow cruelty of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts furnishes another testimony of the unpalatable fact — to Boston historians — that Christianity, peace, and good-will were not practised in that vainglorious land. I thank you, as a descendant of tolerant Netherland families of New York, for your noble address ; for in honoring Rhode Island you praise the spirit of religious freedom, which began with the earliest Dutch settlers on Manhattan, and which has made this city in so many senses metropolitan. May I beg your acceptance of a copy of a report containing some views on hospitals, which have been called revolutionary ideas, but which seem worthy of investigation. Very truly and respectfully Your friend, JAMES W. BEEKMAN. LETTER FROM DR. SHEPARD. loi DR. SHEPARD'S LETTER. Providence, February 26, 1877. Zachariah Allen, Esq., My Dear Sir, — I hasten to thank you for your Ht- tle brocJnirc on the Rhode Island System of Civil and Religious Liberty, which I have just finished reading with great interest and a feeling of warm approval. The habit of expressing indiscriminate admiration for the Pilgrim Fathers and the Puritans of Salem has prevailed so long, that I am thankful that one gentleman has had the independence and knowledge to point out their weaknesses and vices. It is due to the truth, to Roger Williams, and to the State of Rhode Island that this should be done, and done effectually as you have done it. And I think the fact that it is due to tJic truth is of more consequence than might appear to a casual observer. It was always a puzzle to me, as a believer in the eventual triumph of right over WTong, — although the best of us must sometimes cry, " How long, O Lord, how long ! " when we see the temporary success of wrong, — that the Puritans who once possessed the com- plete control of the Church of England, should have lost this control, and lost it to the most sinful members of the Church at the time of Charles II., — or, worse still, to the most worldly and simoniacal under the Georges. But your little book shows that the Puritans had lit- tle of the spirit of real Christian toleration, or rather much less of it than the ribakl rakes who supplanted them in England ; for the latter, with all their licentious- I02 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. ness, had at least something of kindness and charity in their nature ; whereas our ancestors — I speak as a de- scendant of one of the chief Puritan ministers of New England — were " quaint old cruel coxcombs," as Byron calls Isaac Walton, and were stuffed up with spiritual pride. It is well that this should be known, and I thank you for making it known. With great regard, Truly yours, THOMAS P. SHEPARD. LETTER FROM EDWARD ATKINSON, ESQ. MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE OF MILLS. Boston, Mass., Nov. 14, 1882. Amos Perry, Esq., My Dear Sir, — I very cheerfully comply with your request in regard to the history of Factory Mutual Insurance. As I understand the case, about the year 1834 Mr. Allen, being the owner of the Allendale Mills, and being dissatisfied both with the means of protection from loss by fire, and with the rate charged by the stock-insur- ance companies, carefully fitted his mill with an unusual amount of apparatus for extinguishing fire, consisting of pumps, pipes, and hydrants ; having already paid such attention to the right construction of the mill, according to the standard then known, — notably in laying shingles and floors in mortar over thick plank, — that within the LETTER FROM EDWARD ATKINSON. 103 last two years, that single precaution has saved the mill from a very heavy loss in a fire which did but little injury. He then applied to the stock companies for a reduc- tion of the rate of premium, which was, I believe, 2]/. per cent. The reply was : " We know nothing about your apparatus, or means of protection ; a cotton-mill is a cotton-mill, and our rate is 2^ per cent," — or whatever the rate might have been. This led Mr. Allen to study the subject fully, and to lay the foundation for the mutual insurance of factories, which differs from any other system of insurance in this respect: that the principal function of the underwriter is to study the methods of prroentiiig ioss from fires which must occur in the nature of the business; and to establish conditions of admission based upon the adequacy of the apparatus, and the safe methods of constructing the mills. The Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany of Providence, which he established in 1835, ^^^s the first of these companies, followed in 1848 by the organization of the Rhode Island Mutual Fire Insurance Company; and in 1850 by the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, under the lead of the late James Read, upon consultation with Mr. Allen. Since then, other companies have been organized in Massachusetts and in Rhode Island, and lately one in Philadelphia; so that there are now nineteen P'actory Mutual Insurance Companies, following substantially the same plan, co-operating with each other, and saving, to the textile manufactories, paper-mills, machine-shops. I04 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. metal-works, cordage-factories, and other risks of like kind, not less than $2,ooo,cx)0 a year in the cost of their insurance. The aggregate amount of risks now car- ried by these nineteen companies is a little less than $300,000,000, and will be equal to that sum by the first day of January next. The average premium charged, which merely con- sists of a deposit subject to expenses and losses for the year, is now at the average rate of nine-tenths of one per cent; and the average return made upon that to the assured is more than two-thirds of the whole sum of the deposit. At the instance of these companies, new kinds of pre- ventive apparatus have been invented, new methods of construction have been adopted ; and the lesson which they have taught is now being rapidly extended through- out the, country, and is affecting the construction of works of various kinds, and inducing the adoption of methods of preventing loss ; by which it may be hoped that the enormous fire-tax now imposed upon the country, of over $100,000,000 a year, may be greatly reduced. It has rarely fallen to the lot of any single man to confer so great a benefit in so thoroughly simple and scientific a manner as has happened in this case ; and to Mr. Allen is due the greater share in this benefit. Yours very truly, EDWARD ATKINSON. LETTER OF BENJAMIN ABBOT. 105 LETTER OF BENJAMIN ABBOT. Exeter, September 29, 1833. My Dear Sir, — I received a few days since three volumes, the Practical Tourist and the Science of Me- chanics, with the respects of their author. It chives me no small pleasure, after the lapse of so many years, to be affectionately remembered by a quondam pupil — and one, too, whose remembrance calls up many pleas- ant associations and recollections, which I love to indulge. I have not yet had time to examine the con- tents of these volumes, but from the subjects treated, and the manner proposed, I anticipate both pleasure and in- struction. Accept, my dear sir, my thanks for your kind remembrance, and the assurance that I am, as ever. Affectionately yours, BENJ. ABBOT. Zachariah Allen, Esq. Probably the most useful invention of the late Zach- ariah Allen, of Providence, R. I., who died Friday, was the automatic cut-off valve for steam-engines, which was patented in 1833, and is still employed, with some im- provements. In 1 82 1 he constructed the first furnace for the heating of dwelling-houses. A system of mutual insurance for mill property was his invention, and he' framed laws for the regulation of the sale of explosive oils. — Evening Post, New York. March 24. 1882. Io6 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. 447 North Broad St., Philadelphia, July 30th, 1880. Zachariah Allen, Esq., Dear Sir, — Please accept a copy of my Engineer's Handy-book. I am well aware that such a book is of no practical value to a man of your experience and mechanical genius; nevertheless I hope you will find something in it that will interest you. You will find your name on page 134. Hoping that this letter will find you in the enjoyment of good health, as it leaves me at present, I remain. Yours respectfully, STEPHEN ROPER. The passage referred to in the foregoing letter is as follows : — Zachariah Allen, of Providence, R. L, was un- doubtedly the inventor of, and the first practically to apply, the automatic cut-off, which is unquestionably one of the greatest improvements ever made in the steam- engine. — Roper's Engineer s Handy-book. E. Claxton & Co., Philadelphia, 1881. i2mo. pp. 678. LIST OF MR. ALLEN'S PUBLICATIONS. The Science of Mechanics, as applied to the Useful Arts in Europe and in the United States of America. — Adapted as a Manual for Mechanics and Manufacturers, with Rules and Calculations of general practical utility ; with numerous engravings. Providence. Published by Hutchins & Corey ; Miller & Hammond printers. 1829. 8vo. pp.364. European Travels. — Sketches of Improvements of the Useful Arts, of Society, Scenery, &c., in Great Britain, France and Holland. 2 vols. Providence, 1832. i2mo. pj). 363, 428. Philosophy of the Mechanics of Nature, and of the Source AND Modes of Transmission of Natural Motive-power. — Illustrated by numerous engravings. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1 85 1 . 8 vo. pp. 79 7. Historical Sketch of the Improvements in Transmission of Power from Motors to Machines. Boston, 1871. 8vo. pp. 52. Historical Sketch : The Rhode Island System of Treatment of the Indians, and of establishing Civil and Religious Lib- erty. Bi-centennial Address on the Burning of Providence, 1676 — 1876. Providence, 1876. 8vo. pp. 34. Solar Light and Heat, the Source and Supply : Gravitation, with explanations of Planetary and Molecular Forces. Illus- trated with numerous engravings. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1879. Svo. pp. 241. Io8 MEMOIR OF ZACHARIAH ALLEN. Numerous addresses and remarks, that were made on various occasions and subjects, and printed in pamphlet form. Numerous newspaper and magazine articles, some of which were exhaustive discussions of important local questions. He has left in manuscript an extended account of the Dorr War, with an explanation of his views on ques- tions involved in that contest; also, numerous unfinished sketches and essays. University Press : John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, / a^ /u:Luk- ^xf^i-^ ^yi^^j ^^J ^1^ ^.c^uiay^'- ^-^ /Z- /Pcr.^ ,^^A'm - i^-^ '^-^— -" ^"'^^ Cy(^^i /a^.^-^//i -' (^/uCji^ 0^^^ /e'^<^>? .^^/.. /Cr^.r^i " -^^^ ^Wy^^, :;:V 6^-^,_ /-^ d ■'