,^-yvu^ ::Mj^\j^,J^ Vi^VWtVL ^UVOOiaWi'Vtoeto' *.''.** V, **3< VUi^J', v^'-o: /^^UW^^^V^Uu ^^W'^'s f LIBRARY OF congress/ ^«GOg^^ywwggv * <^^/. LA...3..0.!b I ;V;>V^ I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, t ^-.;>^«sij-Ou*^v^-wgwg,gg^ ,^:^j^' ,^^. --,l"",: TW^frjymlNrfrrf ^*'^>^..'^'^ ^^i^:--^^-a5!''^'^^i^^^2cie VA^y ■;M''«S.t.-/*^^-,.v-/*W ^^gy^^ ^«s?^^^^w^ yuu'uWwVxA.i ^wgyii^g, ^ ,«■'! ' , '■' ■^ '":> \y ***sg^^yte^«ffii*Z"' ^« ^S»'0- ■vggg ■Wj^^ywwww^ww^i^ w^y^wwy ^^ife^^k ^S/WWv^VWv-''c. *W^w^^«b(.^^^y^i:«,H^,^^w2;iuw-friaa^ *VMUQ^DhiU.M,v,MK ■-iVuw^wv.; '^Wv'^ ^ ^ ,; -^ V -ww^w ^^wCww <&»^Wgr v>/^vv^v, .,>y^vyw^u l«»i EDUCATIOIT IN THE TWO ANDOVEES. ADDRESS DEDICATION OP TIES PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL Tuesday, September 2nd, 1856. 1^ / i.^^ .^^ A^ B Y , REV. SAMUEL FULLER, D. D., EECTOE, OF CHRIST CHURCH. 5AND0 YEE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY W. F. DRAPER. 1856. ADDRESS. Fellow Citizens of the two Andovers, Towns, as well as individuals, states, and nations, have their history. The favored territory, of which it is our eminent privilege to be citizens, has its interesting civil history ; and were it now our business to trace this in its wind- ing current, through the period of two centuries, it would be necessary to recount the first settlements in the fertile valley of the Cochichewic ; the perils of the early inhabitants in the savage wilderness ; the promi- nent and energetic part they bore in the fierce strug- gle for our national independence ; the cheering growth of agriculture ; and the subsequent lucrative introduc- tion of mechanical arts and manufactures. Our ancient township has also an eventful and in- structive ccclcsiasiical history ; our present half a score of places for public worship being the result under God of the humble structure, which was by the founders of the settlement erected to his honor within the limits of our endeared sister of the North. Were the past to be carefully searched, and its am- pie disclosures committed to writing, it would be found that the family history of the two Andovers was both rich and diversified. What spectres of the departed flit around the low chimnies and broad fire-places, and mutter beneath the moss-decayed roofs and ancient elms and sycamores of the few remaining old houses in the first occupied localities! Most interesting might it prove, not only to the numerous descendants of the adventurous men, who, emigrating from Andover in the South of England, founded our township in the year 1643 ; but also to the other inhabitants, to repeat the personal incidents and thrilling traditions which the lovers of the venerated spots have in some in- stances already rendered historic/'' But into none of these inviting paths, which, as we look around, display their opening gateways, does the exciting occasion that has convened this intelligent assembly, allow us to enter ; the time and the place rather demanding, that we revert to our ediwaiional Ms- iory. The town had been settled more than fifty years before the first school-house was erected ; a structure so low and contracted, that not less than nine such edi- fices could be placed upon the floor of this spacious hall, and/o?fr in each of our ample school-rooms. We readily account for this long neglect of popular education, when we recollect, that the hostile incur- sions of the surrounding Indians, to which the inhab- itants at that rude period were exposed, rendered it * PIiSTORY OF Andover, from its settlement to 1829, by Ablol Abbot, A. !M. Also, Abbot's Genealogical Kegistek, and Memoiij of Hox. S. Phillips, by Kev. J. L. Taylor. unsafe for the children to leave their homes, to be con- gregated alone, and without defence. The building of the first school-house, in the year 1701, was then an indication of security; a silent pro- clamation that the terrific reign of the tomahawk and scalping knife had ceased, in the valleys of the Shaw- shin and the lower Merrimack. It was, however, during this dark interval, that the memorable delusion respecting the prevalence of witch- craft invaded this region, and carried to the gallows not less than three citizens of the infant township. That the deadly ravages of superstition should have occurred when the little settlement was destitute of the means of general education is certainly an instruc- tive coincidence, and may naturally suggest the con- clusion that the father of lies does himself, become schoolmaster, whenever a community is not carefid to employ a true one. This incipient educational movement in the North, was a few years after, imitated in the South Parish ; and from these two lowly cradles of learning have arisen all the other institutions which have since ap- peared in our midst. During the eighteenth century, the Parochial Minis- ters were the guardians and visitors of the common schools, which in the year 1795 amounted to twelve ; having almost doubled in the space of forty years. To the honor of one of the clerical overseers of these primitive schools it is related, that " he had, in his vis- its, a facility in instructing and impressing the minds of the young ; " and this encomium, we may believe, 6 was equally merited by his associates in the work, and by their several predecessors. Near the close of the century and the beginning of the present, came the days of Academies ; and each of the two existing Parishes was favored with one. The Franklin in the North has ceased to exist ; while the Phillips, founded- nearly a quarter of a century earlier, continues, with enlarged and expanding life, to difiuse far and wide its multiplied advantages. Early in the present century, the Corporation of Phillips Academy established the Theological Semi- nary ; which, since its foundation, laid by praying hearts and giving hands, has sent forth hundreds of Christian Scholars, who, wherever they have gone, whether into our own country, or into foreign and dis- tant lands, have proved themselves the devoted friends of education, social elevation, and religious improve- ment. About twenty-five years since, our Classical Acad- emy connected with its excellent course a valuable English, Mathematical, and Philosophical Department ; while soon after, the Abbot Female Seminary was in- corporated, and began its important and successful career. Down to the year 1850, these were within our own territory, the only means of education, to which the children and youth of Andover had access. The Common Schools had been improved, by the multiplication of Districts, and by adding to the pre- scribed studies, English Grammar, Geography, and a few other subjects; but farther than this contracted lim- it, the statute, which created and sustains the system, does not permit it to go. From their deficiency in adequate endowments, our Academies, excellent and distinguished as they are, can, save to a very limited extent, unfold their doors only to such youthful applicants as are able to bear in their hands keys, either of silver, or of gold ; while our celebrated Theological Institution, though " to all Protestants " charitably " free," both at the pecuniary as well as at the doctrinal portal, can, from its very nature and the character of its pursuits, do nothing directly for the secular education of the mass of our people. Accordingly, it was with no ordinary satisfaction and gratitude, that they received this announcement from the Will of the late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esq. : " I give and bequeath to the town of Andover fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of founding a Free School; forty thousand dollars for a permanent fund for the support of said School, and ten thousand dollars for the necessary buildings, etc. Said School to be free for all youths resident in Andover, under the restrictions of the Trustees, as to age and quaUfications. The Trus- tees to have the sole direction ; and power, also, to de- termine and decide, whether the School shall be for males only, or for the benefit of both sexes. Said School to be located in the South Parish of Andover, but free for all the parishes equally." The unexpected and generous establishment of such an institution does beyond all question mark an impor- tant era in our educational history ; for as we inspect the character and provisions of this new school, we clearly perceive that it is a valuable addition to our Com- 8 mon Schools ; that it will tend greatly to their improvement ; and that its enlarged advantages can be freely enjoyed hy all who successfully complete the school system prescribed by statute. I. I have just said, that the Punchard Free School is plainly a valuable addition to our Common Schools. Can this remark be justified ? At the first view, the school we are now inauguratr ing may aj)pear to some eyes as an institution identi- cal with the Common Schools; differing from them only in the circumstance, that it is not supported, as they are, by a town tax. Were this the true light, in which to regard the school established by our lamented townsman, the way of conducting it would be, to receive as many pupils as our means would allow, and the rooms would ac- commodate, and to give instruction for a year or more merely in the higher studies of the Common School course. While, however, this plan would undoubtedly re- heve our citizens from a measure of their taxes, the arrangement is impracticable ; it would prove highly injurious to the Common Schools ; and it is contrary to the evident intention of the philanthropic Founder. The arrangement is impracticable, for the conclusive reason, that the edifice, in which we are assembled, large as it is, and the means in our possession would not permit the erection of a larger, could not possibly furnish accommodation for all the pupils, who, with their modicum of Geography, Arithmetic, and English Grammar, would rush into it. The arrangement would also prove highly injurious 9 to the Common Schools ; inasmuch as it would practi- cally deprive the large body of our children of the op- portunity of ever enjoying any better literary advan- tages than those provided by law. It would in effect be saying, even to the most intelligent, aspiring, and meritorious, The town will never allow you to acquire anything more than the vulgar branches designated by the statute-book. Your teachers may, as of old, continue to provide 3^ou with the coarse and hard ali- ment of Spellers, Definers, Tables, Rules, and Topogra- phy, but they shall not permit you to taste the refined nourishment of a higher and more nutritive literature. In a word : were the Punchard School incorporated into the Common School system, it would itself be nothing more than a District School for the more gift- ed and advanced scholars. It would be what indeed is immensely needed in each of the Parishes of our old township, a Grammar School, preparatory to a High School, but in no respect, either a substitute or an equivalent for such an institution. But perhaps the most decisive reason for not identi- fying our Seminary with ihoi Common Schools remains to be mentioned. No such identification is contem- plated, but quite the contrary, by the testament of the discriminating and charitable Institutor ; who expressly states, that youth of both sexes may, and children from all parts of the region now constituting the two Ando- vers shall, be equally admitted to the benefits of his School. But were this Academy a mere Grammar School, it would, on account of the age and residence of its mem- bers, be, in practice, such almost exclusively to the ter- 10 ritory formerly embraced by the Centre District of the South Parish; thus debarring the children of the remote districts, and thus opposing and defeating the large pur- pose of the generous man, who, in his bequest, plainly designed something more equitable and generally ad- vantageous. Fdr these weighty and stringent considerations the Pmichard Free School cannot be identified with the State device for common education ; and since it can- not, our youthful ward must, in order to be a school at all, be in advance of all usual learning taught by public authority. If not in name, yet virtually it must be what is generally termed a High School ; an institution which continues the common system, and carries it to a lofty eminence, to which it cannot itself attain. Possibly these observations may be thought .an un- necessary attempt to demonstrate a self-evident propo- sition. All persons, however, may not thus judge ; as there may be some who wish to state, and some who wish to know, why there has been so much delay in the erection of this house, and why the school has as- sumed the character it now possesses. With the sum left by him for building, etc., the Trus- tees could have purchased soon after the decease of Mr. Punchard a small lot of ground, and on it placed a low edifice of a single story, or a contracted one of two floors. This perhaps they would have done, had the will of the Founder restricted the advantages of the school to the South Parish ; and then, instead of now assembling here for the first time in this spacious and elegant structure, in the midst of an ample, retired, and commanding domain, to initiate the promising ca- 11 reer of a noble institution for advanced education, we should long since have been gathered in narrow quar- ters, and in some populous neighborhood, merely to open a Village Grammar School! dm any one la- ment that such was not our straitened destiny ? Hap- pily, the men, to whom the donor of the gifts we hold in trust, left the fulfilment of his design, had, with his Will for their guide, but one path to walk in, and this, in the overruling providence of God, conducted them, not only to the delightful locality we now occupy, but to the high position as a Board of Educators they were constrained to take. The Punchard Free School is then in its very constitu- tion an addition to the Common School System, and not an incorporation into its stinted form. Our school is an extended radius, enabling the fortunate hand that holds it to draw a broader circle than he ever swept before. Of the road to knowledge our school is an obvious and measurable prolongation, appropriating new territory, opening new fountains, crossing new streams, commanding new prospects, and leading to still wider possessions. Our school is a higher moun- tain than has hitherto graced our variegated surface ; as though the majestic Wachusett were transferred here, to tower above our own familiar hills, and our children, whose adventurous feet have until now wan- dered only over their summits, were about to ascend and tread its overtopping and far-seeing peak. I have called this new Institution a valuable addition to our own Common Schools. How can its value be determined ? By ascertainmg what will be its course of instruction. 12 It is plain, that the munificent individual who found- ed this Seminary, contemplated the establishment of an institution Avhich should resemble a High School, and the Legislature has consented to regard the Pun- chard Academy as a substitute for the school which every town containing four thousand inhabitants is obliged to maintain; the statutes then prescribing the studies for High and Normal Schools will essentially aid us in determining the course to be pursued in our own School. Among the studies thus enjoined are Mathematics, Natural Science, Mental and Moral Philosophy, the Latin and Greek Languages, and Ehetoric and Logic. All these are indeed truly valuable additions to the Common School instruction in Orthography, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, and Arithmetic. Who can adequately exhibit the utility of the Maih- ematics, both in disciplining the mind, and in compass- ing the visible creation ? For example : How highly valuable is Geometry ; for by it we learn to measure the material world around us, whether we contemplate it in the form of lines, or of surfaces, and whether these are straight or curv- ed. In this way. Geometry is the essential foundation of the measurement of all heights, distances, and solids; the indispensable basis of surveying, navigation, me- chanics, levelling, engineering, architecture, perspec- tive, optics, and astronomy. Without Geometry we could not lay out our farms, and determine our right- ful landed possessions. We could not erect our private dwellings, our school-houses, and our churches. We could not construct a bridge, build a railroad, navigate 13 the ocean, nor ascertain the size, the motions, and the orbits of the heavenly bodies. Tliis then is our answer, when we are asked, as we often are, by sceptical parents and unwilling children, What is the use of geometry ? Destitute of geometry, the race of man would be hopelessly savage, compelled to live in caves and wigwams, to eat wild fruits, to hunt and fish in order to give variety to their scanty food ; to think a lunar eclipse occasioned by the attempt of a sea-monster to swallow the moon, and to be the def)ressed and unhappy slaves of superstitious fears which they had not science enough to dissipate. But holding in his hand the geometrician's rule every scholar seizes the possibility of being a Galileo, a Kepler, a Newton, a Herschel, or a La Place. He treads the earth with the step of its master. He fixes the limits of every man's possessions. He restrains and suppresses nomadic life. He establishes law. He secures civilization. Before his magic wand the wilder- ness is changed to a blooming field. The arts are created. Cities rise. Commerce expands. Comforts multiply. Happiness increases. With searching eye and giant stride, levelling mountains, bridging rivers, compelling streams to run in unwonted channels, traversing all seas, ranging among the stars, foretelling with unerring precision the intricate movements of the shining host which bestuds the skies, and gather- ing from his illimitable researches resistless and consol- ing evidences of the existence, personality, power, majesty and beneficence of Almighty God, he deepens in us the conviction felt by the Psalmist, " Thou hast made man a little lower than the angels." 14 In connection with geometry, the Statute defining High Schools, prescribes Algebra, a pecuhar kind of Arithmetic, characterized for deaUng rather with gen- eral, than with definite quantities, and imparting to the calculator the power of reaching results by short and easy steps, instead of long and tedious processes. It is not bestowing upon Algebra too high praise, nor magnifying its importance excessively, to say, that to this facile mode of computation the astonishing achievements of modern science are indebted for a very large measure of their success ; for calculations, which by their ponderous weight would crush the arithmetician with his narrow slate, slow pencil, and changing and vanishing digits are to the algebraist light, and readily accomplished ; his comprehensive mind sporting with all actual and conceivable mathe- matical relations with as much ease, as his skilful hand plays with the brief signs and unvarying and unerring letters, representing these numberless relations. The higher mathematics must therefore be invalua- ble additions to our course of study. As a sequence to the knowledge of mathematics, both pure and applied, the study of Natural Science Avill so far as our present pecuniary endowment will permit them to enter, open to the pupils of this school a wide door, and a large expanse. The Statutes fixing the studies of Normal Schools, here specify Natural Philosophy, Natural History, and Astronomy ; and this general outline we shall be glad to extend in all its possible ramifications, introducing into our .series, as we are able. Physical Geography, Chemistry, particu- larly in its application to Agriculture, to the Arts, and 15 to Domestic Life, Botany, Geology, and Mineralogy, and kindred departments of science. Oif the great value of these several studies, it is hardly necessary to say a word ; since it must be obvi- ous to every reflecting person, that the better we are acquainted with the nature and peculiarities of the material world, in which it has pleased our bountiful Creator to place us, the better shall we be fitted to live safely, usefully, and happily in it. In the visible and tangible creation which surrounds us, there is everywhere a good to be chosen, and an evil to be avoided ; neither of which will be in our power unless we learn to find instruction in winds, wisdom in 23lants, "sermons in stones, and books in the running brooks;" accustoming our eyes to see the matchless hand of our heavenly Father, and our ears to hear his instructive and winning voice in everything. But it is good philosophy, as well as familiar poetry, that, " The proper study of mankind is man ; " and accordingly our legislative enactments give due prominence to this appropriate study under the heads of PJif/sinlogif, H/jgiene, or The laws of Health, Menial Philosophic The Principles of Moralilf/, General History ; and The Constitidion and History of Massachusetts ^ and of The United States. As we desire to be guided by these legal prescriptions, when compliance is practicable, most, if not all, of these important subjects will receive a portion of our teachers' attention. Nor are the Zaiin and Greek Languages, Rheionc and 16 Logic any less valuable than the studies already enumerated. It is most honorable to our venerable, wise, and provident Commonwealth, that for more than two centuries, has she been the constant supporter and liberal patron of Classical Learning, and that she now requires every town with a population of four thou- sand souls to provide competent instruction in the Latin and Greek tongues, as well as in Logic and Rhetoric. There is now as there always has been, a widespread prejudice against the study of the languages of ancient Greece and Rome. Of those who to-day favor us with their welcome presence, there may be some, who, while they rejoice with us, that our children are from this time to be blessed with higher privileges, regret that the fertilizing stream which is to flow from this new S]3ring-head of knowledge should be composed in part of the waters of antiquity. These old wells answered for people w^ho had nothing better, but we of the nineteenth century, and of this enterprising and grow- ing country should drink from rills and fountains w^iicli are more recent and more accessible. This is the popular logic, and a very common opinion. But, we are confident, the prejudice against Classical Literature, like most prepossessions, is, in nearly all cases, the child of ignorance. In larger measure than is usually supposed, are old Greece and Rome the fountain-heads of our own lan- guage and literature. Or, to use an illustration per- haps more just and apt, the classical dialects are the bullion, out of which our own circulating medium of 17 thought, taste, and emotion have been extensively coined. The precious metals themselves were either dug by Grecian miners, or borne by Italian rivers to our own hands. These are historical facts; and since they are, we can no more fully understand the structure and capacity of our own mother tongue, and adequately appreciate the nature and garnish of our English world of letters, without an accurate knowl- edge of the Greek and Latin languages, than we can for ourselves determine the exact composition and in- trinsic worth of our dollars and eagles, without the power of conducting a chemical analysis. We know that it is utterly impossible to reduce any word to syllables, unless we are familiar with the letters of the alphabet. Just as impossible is it to comj)re- hend the nature and to perceive, appreciate, and wield the powers of the composite speech which is constantly upon our lips, unless we are definitely acquainted with the elements of which it is compounded. It is quite practicable, as we perceive from the won- derful exploits of some uncommon children, to learn to read by regarding each word as a picture of the idea it represents ; the word being viewed as a jDicturing whole. But such a learner can know nothing of the com- position of the language, any more than we can of the materials of the colors or of the canvas, when we gaze upon a painting. In like manner, the individual, who is ignorant of the classics, may acquire an outside acquaintance with our own language, while all beneath and beyond the surface Avill, to his unpractised eye, be involved in im- penetrable mystery and chaotic darkness. 3 18 As an admirable and effective instrument of thouglit and feeling, the English language is the elaborated work of centuries ; and before it can be employed with propriety, efficienc}^, and success, every part must be minutely inspected, and its use thoroughly compre- hended. This is most true of all other things; and w^ould people be instructed by their knowledge even of agricultural operations, we should never hear the utility of classical learning called in question. Take the case of two men, who, with farms equally fertile and well prepared, are about to begin sowing and planting. Each has just come into possession of his estate, and finds his granary furnished with all the va- rieties of grain, and his store-room supplied with the different kinds of seeds. One of the men, however, not having been brought up to farming, having neither sown, nor reaped, nor thrashed, nor winnowed, nor gathered into barns, can- not with certainty distinguish winter wdieat from bar- ley, nor turnip seed from that of mustard. In conse- quence of his ignorance, he sows his barley in the au- tumn, and his wheat in the spring, and gathers nothing but straw from either ; at the same time filling his mel- low fields with mustard stalks, and his sterile garden borders with stinted rutabagas, and growing poor im- der this haphazard method of cultivating the earth. The other man having from his boyhood followed the plough, swung the flail, tossed the fan, and shaken the sieve, is skilful in discriminating the different sorts of seeds, and therefore makes no essential mistakes, is mocked by no impoverishing failures, but receives an ample reward for all his wisely directed labors. 19 Now words are the seeds, whence grows the produc- tion of all conversation, eloquence, writing, and litera- ture. The individual, who is not a classical scholar, having never with his own eye seen our word-seeds on the stalks where they swelled and ripened, nor broken with his own hand the polished beads from the case where they nestled, nor treasured in his recollection their precise appearance, will be perplexed and baffled Avhen attempting to distinguish between the difterent classes ; and consequently^, will select and scatter his dis- course, just as the unpractised farmer does his grains, ignorantly, inappropriately, and without effect. Far otherwise is it with the person who collects these originals of our language in Grecian fields and Roman gardens. They are all familiar to his senses ; to his sight, his taste, his touch. They are stored in his memory. They live and germinate, grov^ and luxuri- ate in his imagination. He will not confound them with each other, nor mistake them for something else. He knows with entire accuracy their nature. He un- derstands precisely their properties ; for while toiling and delving in the fields of antiquity, he not only dis- covers the places of their origin, and familiarizes his mind with their forms, but by the incessant analysis and synthesis, the processes of resolution and recon- struction he is continually performing, he, as it were, calls them into life, and produces them anew for him- self. Thus derived from the alembic of his own re- search, his acquisitions are not merely the gifts of other minds, but his own creations; not extraneous loans from Homer and Demosthenes, Virgil and Cicero, but parts of himself. Conscious of the reality of his pos- 20 sessions, and of their identification with himself, he has confidence in his powers and attainments ; while this consciousness of what exists within him, coupled witli the definite knowledge he holds of our language, im- parts to his sjDeech and composition a precision, polish, strength, beauty, force, and edge, which can be gained by no other mode of education. The scholar, enriched, disciplined, and transfused by classic lore, can alone say, "I speak that which I know;" and because he can, his words, forged and tempered upon the only an- vil where the best instruments of our discourse can be struck, old Vulcan's fire-block, are like barbed and winged arrows, shot from a bow of steel ; they reach the mark, pierce the breast, and transfix the heart. The utility of classical studies is not merely the de- monstration of ^philological research : it is likewise the teaching of experience. Of the three clergymen of the church of England, who excited the great religious movement which char- acterized the middle of the eighteenth centur}^ George AVhitefield was a more eloquent orator than either John or Charles Wesley. But Whitefield, notwithstanding his moving and surpassing eloquence, was comparative- ly illiterate ; his early life among taverns, and stables, and theatres, being no substitute for the Grammar School and the University, of neither of which knew he anything from personal experience. On the contrary, the Wesleys were thoroughly train- ed collegians ; their love of ancient learning being ex- ceeded in their breasts only by their love for Christ, and for the souls of the ignorant and perishing. A century has passed away, since the voices of these 21 preachers stirred the heart of a slumbering nation, as the. thunderbolt stirs the sluggish atmosphere; and what is the position of each at the present time ? Who now reads Whitefield's Discourses ? Or, if any person chance to peruse these unskilful productions, he wonders that such unhammered wedges could ever have pierced and wounded sinful hearts. In striking contrast with their more eloquent com- peer, the Wesleys are in their refined and widely dif- fused writings living an immortal life among their ad- miring followers ; controlling and directing at this fleet- ing hour a larger number of minds than at any former period. The same demonstration respecting the usefulness of classical knowledge is forced upon us when we dis- criminate the heroes of the Revolution. In forensic and parliamentary eloquence, Patrick Henry was without a rival. But as for teachers he had none, save his grasping intellect, his fiery imagination, his indomitable will, and the stormy times in which his lot was cast. Unlike this self-made orator, Alexander Hamilton was the favored youth upon Avhom classical instructors expended their assiduous care, imparting to their apt and graceful pupil a burning and glowing pen, as well as a persuasive and commanding tongue. As a consequence, how Avidely contrasted is the des- tiny of these favorite sons of our Republic ! The back- woodsman of Virginia is remembered only in a few fragmentary remains preserved by the recollection of others ; while the pride, as well as the grief, of the Empire State, is immortalized in his profound, scholar- 22 ly, and inimitable expositions of our National Consti- tution. We reach the same demonstration in favor of the study of ancient learning, when we compare Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The untaught printer of Boston and Philadelphia does indeed amuse and in- struct us in his pointed apothegms of Poor Eichard, and his brief and dry speeches in the Continental Congress were like battering-rams either to demolish the argu- ments of his opponents, or to urge onward the laggard car of business ; but when the voice of an outraged and determined nation was to utter its thunders, defying tyranny and demanding the audience of the Avorld, his unclassic mouth faltered, and declined the mighty ef- fort, and the immortality wdiich radiates with increas- ing splendors from our Declaration of Independence rests upon the head of the classical Sage of Monti- cello. From her first settlement has Massachusetts instruct- ed her children in the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans; and this protracted instruction, more than any other human instrumentality, is the potent cause of the high elevation to which she has attained, and the great and extended influence she has exerted ; and would she hereafter hold the lofty position she has gained, she must persist in the policy she has thus far pursued with such brilliant success ; for while all her schools, even to the humblest, are unfading stars to en- lighten our darkness, her classical institutions are the brightest constellations in our literary firmament. Besides being the only effectual training in our own language, a knowledge of Latin and Greek is the best 23 possible introduction to the study of the Languages of Modern Europe, particuhirly the ItaUan, the French, and the Spanish, Avhich, like our own tongue, so abound with Latin roots that wdien the language of the old Romans is once mastered, these derivative dialects are easily acquired. No two nations think and act alike ; and conse- quently, every additional language we may learn un- folds to our minds and affections another world of thought, imagination, and emotion, opening a wider range, and enriching us with new treasures. For these reasons, as well as on account of commercial and inter- national convenience, some at least of the Modern Lan- guages will be systematically taught in this school. But languages, both ancient and modern, in order to be in the highest degree available, require to be un- der the control of such guides as BJuioric and Logic, studies enjoined by the Statute regulating every High School, and they will therefore have a place in our system. The objects of Rhetoric are twofold — Oratory and Composition; so that in this department wdll be taught both Elocution, and the Art of Writing, which art neces- sarily includes a practical acquaintance with the prin- ciples of Grammar; and, accordingly the Philosophy, as well as the practical use, of the English language will here be carefully studied. Logic is the art of reasoning; and since God has endowed us with the preeminent faculty of reason, and constituted it one of the great motive powers of the soul, logic is an instrument, without Avhich all other attainments are of comparatively small worth; for 24 while the exhibitions of truth, learning and science may convey instruction and excite our admiration and love, gesture may charm the eye, elocution delight the ear, and oratory fascinate the imagination and affections, it is argument alone, argument smelted, refined, solid, linked, and glowing, that convinces the judgment, and holds the mind an enduring captive. With precise exactness is ihe religious character of this institution fixed, both by a statute of the state, and by the Will of him, the happy effects of whose generosity we are beginning to witness. The language of the precious statute, enjoining moral and religious instruction in our schools is so im- portant, that it ought to be engraven upon the memo- ries of us all : — " It shall he the duty of the president, professors and tutors of the university at Cambridge, and of the sev- eral colleges, and of all preceptors and teachers of Academies^ and all other instructors of youth, to exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth, committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety, justice, and a sacred regard to the truth, love to their countr}^, humanity and universal henevolcnce, sobriety, in- dustry, and frugality, chastity, moderation, and temper- ance, and those other virtues, which are the ornament of human society, and the basis upon which a repub- lican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear imder- standing of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitu- tion, and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to 25 promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices." The religious decision of the Founder of this free academy is in these words : — " The school shall be under the direction of eight Trustees, of whom the Rector of Christ church to be one, also the ministers of the South Parish and West Parish Congregational Societies to be members ; also the remaining five to be chosen by the inhabitants of Andover, in town meeting, to serve for three years, two of whom to be taken from Christ Church Parish, two from the South Parish Society, and one from the West Parish Society. No sectarian influence to he used in the school ; the Bible to he in daily use, and the Lord's Prayer ; in ivhich the pupils shall join audibly tvith the teacher, in the morning, at the opening!'' This then is our religious character. We are re- quired by the State to inculcate the social and moral virtues, and the principles of piety ; and we are also bound by our deed of gift, the exclusive authority of which nothing human, save mifaithfulness, violence, or civil revolution can destroy, to use daily the Bible and the Lord's Prayer, and when we cease to use them, we shall forfeit our bequests. With regard to the daily use of the Bible, since no body of Christians rejects any part of the Oracles of Grod, but on the contrary, all Avho are called by the name of Christ profess to receive the inspired words just as they are, we can here construct a religious platform as broad as the entire volume of the Old and New Testaments; can rear the superstructure to a de- gree of loftiness which shall extend from Genesis to 4 26 Revelation ; can raise the ladder of revealed truth so high that along its golden steps the angels of God shall ascend and descend upon the Son of man : in a word, we can teach in the language of Scripture all Christian truths and duties ; can daily read, pray, sing, and prac- tise every portion of the Bible in the common version ; and still not justly incur the dreaded charge of sectari- anism. II. When we thus contemplate this liberal and Christian course of study provided by our new institu- tion, we cannot avoid inquiring, What will be its cffem upon our Common ScJiools ? We do not hesitate to answer. The effects will be most salutary. It cannot but greatly improve them ; and this by its beneficial influence both upon the schol- ars and teachers. The possibility of enjoying the superior advantages of the Punchard School, a possibility which will be within the reach of so many children of the towns can- not but strongly stimulate the inmates of our introduc- tory schools to unwonted efforts in diligent study and good behavior, and thus elevate the standard of literary attainment and outward manners, now so lamentably and fearfully low. The startling disclosures of popular ignorance made by the recent examination for admis- sion show that such stimulus is imperiously needed. This advanced institution may also awaken a gener- ous emulation among the several Districts of the two townships ; prompting each to surpass the rest by fur- nishing the largest number of successful candidates. The emulation which stimulates the scholars will extend to the teachers, and act most favorably upon 27 them, urging to increased carefulness and fidelity, in order that their pupils may be fully prepared to com- pete with success for an entrance into the higher school. After another manner will the Punchard Free School benefit our other schools. It will furnish them with a superior class of teachers. Hitherto, our youth of limited pecuniary means have, when desirous of fitting themselves for teaching, encountered very serious and discouraging impedi- ments. In our Academies they were charged with tuition ; and at our Normal Schools they must meet the expense of board and travel. These weighty hindran- ces have prevented very many young persons from acquiring the requisite quahfications for the office of instructors. But now, through the forethought and benevolence of a respected citizen, the remembrance of whom all will delight to cherish, we have in our own town a free Academy and Normal School, where our studious and resolute sons and daughters can re- ceive an education, quite equal, if not superior, to that imparted by many of our colleges in the early years of their history. Clearly foreseeing that these and many other bene- ficial effects will result to our District Schools from the establishment of this institution, we can confidently predict the salutary influence it is destined to exert upon this whole community, not merely by improving the condition of our other schools, but by diff*using useful knowledge, elevating the standard of intelli- gence and morals, and promoting a refined and Christ- ian civilization. 28 III. In the will of its honored Founder, this Acade- my is called a Free School. It is possible, that the nature and extent of its freeness is not sufficiently understood. This school is free in this respect. To pupils actually redding in the townships of Andover and North Ando- ver, the instruction will be entirely gratuitous. But to the children of other towns the school is not free ; nor will books of instruction be furnished without charge ; neither will admission to the school be with- out reference to age, character, and literary qualifica- tions ; but all who are admitted will have reached the age of twelve years, and will have sustained a satisfac- tory examination in the several studies enjoined by law upon the Common Schools, and also furnished evi- dence of good moral character. With these necessary limitations, the Punchard School is free ; and its freeness constitutes one of its peculiar and attractive excellencies. I have thus attempted to exhibit the character of the Punchard Free School, and with as much definite- ness as our incipient condition will permit, to describe its actual position. The additional benefits the institution secures to our Common Schools, and to the community at large, are truly of very great value ; and in view of these en- larged advantages and animating prospects, it becomes us to express on this auspicious occasion our heartfelt gratitude to the generous individual who conceived the noble plan, and prepared the way for its execution, fervently to thank the Inspirer of hearts for these and all his gifts, and to supplicate the continuance of his 29 mercies; as well as to congratulate each other that this tasteful building, alike an honor to the architects and committee of supervision, an unrivalled ornament to our delightful village, is at length completed, and that its commodious and inviting halls are now to be opened under such competent and experienced superin- tendence for the reception and benefit of our waiting and impatient children. Thus far our citizens generally have done nothing in carrying forward this promising enterprise. They are, we cannot doubt, grateful for the munificent gift from the provident care and liberality of one who was not a native of the region he has so signally favored. Will not its present inhabitants, especially the numerous class who are permitted to call old Andover their birth- place, and the meadows of the Cochichewic their ances- tral cradle, inquire whether they have not themselves duties to perform, in order to enable the guardians of this rising school to realize all their bright anticipations. The Trustees woidd be faithless to the responsible trust committed to them, did they not strive to inspire their fellow townsmen with a deep, enduring, and ac- tive interest in the cause of poj)ular education. Unless, fellow citizens, you feel and cherish this in- terest, it will be but to little purpose, that these ample and beautiful grounds have been chosen as the shel- tered retreat and pleasant home of science, that these lofty and impressive stories have been reared, and that approved and skilful instructors are ready to dispense the treasures of knowledge. The success of this infant institution depends mainly upon you who are parents ; for as a general fact, the estimation in which children 30 hold learning, and the desire they have to possess it, depend upon their fathers and mothers. If when at home the young habitually hear educa- tion decried and depreciated, if it is pronoimced, when placed in the balance with the getting of money, and the acquisition of property, as lighter than dust, they will not submit to the confinement and toil requisite to fit them for this Academy, and to carry them profita- bly through its course. On the other hand, if, under our roofs and at our hearthstones, these heavenly precepts are recognized and often repeated, " Wisdom is the principal thing ; Much better is it to get wisdom than gold, and under- standing, than silver ; He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul ; Seek first the kingdom of God, and his right- eousness ; Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God ; Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; " such parental counsels will, through his blessing, have their effect ; learning and religion will be duly appreciated, our schools will flourish, and by their prosperity every temporal and spiritual interest will be promoted. We earnestly hope that the founding of this school will effectually open the eyes of this intelligent and liberal community to the chronic and radical defects which now characterize our Common Schools : since, until these shall be more judiciously arranged, and generously supported, the Punchard Free School will confer upon us only a scanty measure of the benefits inherent in the High School system. 31 Our Common Schools imperatively need to be grad- noted ; so that the scholars shall proceed in their course of education by regular degrees from the Primary De- partment, through one or more intermediate ascents, up to the Grammar School, and thence to the Pun- chard School ; which in this way, would be furnished with a much larger number of pupils, and these more adequately prepared, than they possibly can be up- on the present imperfect and inefficient plan. The time likewise that the Common Schools are taught requires to be considerably prolonged. Indeed, the Common School Year should be conformed to that of our Academies, High Schools, and Colleges. This year should be divided into three terms ; each of which should be continued to the end of the appointed period ; and not, as now, frequently terminate with the tenth, and sometimes, even with the eighth week of the session; while at the close of every term the scholars should be examined, and advanced according to their proficiency. The uncertainty and irregularity which now prevail, prevent the stead}'-, uniform, and certain progress of the pupils, and if these cr^'ing evils are not remedied, will seriously cripple the operations of the Punchard School, which must languish when the supply of mem- bers is deficient. As our schools are at present con- ducted, the children are dismissed, particularly in the winter, before it is in their power to master a sino:le branch ; and as a consequence, their education is, in most cases, a mere dwarfish skeleton of what the laws of the State contemplate it should be. Now that we have a High School, which for its own complement, efficiency, and success presupposes and demands sys- tematic instruction in the preparatory schools, the old defective system, where the golden threads of knowl- edge are so uniformly and perniciously curtailed, should be discarded without delay, and the better method of graduation be introduced in its stead. These essential reforms will render necessary the establishment, in our two townships, of three or four Grammar Schools, and also still larger appropriations for the support of our rudimental seminaries than are at present made. But the certainty of forming better scholars, better children, better citizens, better neigh- borhoods, and a better community will fully justify the changes, and amply compensate for the increased ex- pense. Good schools, cost what they may, are cheaper than prisons and houses of correction; and good teachers, with the highest salaries ever paid them, are less ex- pensive, as well as more effectual, guardians of our property and persons, than Courts and an armed police. While we thus appeal to the whole town to improve our Common Schools, we must not fail to mention such things as are still necessary in order to perfect the mu- nificent plan the Originator of this institution contem- plated. Nobly has he laid the foundation ; but its superstructure cannot rise in full magnitude and finish- ed dimensions, without additional benefactions. We have secured a most eligible site ; we have erected this spacious building ; we have procured zeal- ous and practised instructors ; but farther our endow- ment will not warrant our going. To complete our outfit, and consummate our instruction, we pressingly need large maps and charts to adorn these halls, and also globes, a telescope, a planetarium, a Library, geo- logical and mineralogical collections, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and the creation of Professorships. Thus far our wealthy citizens generally have not aided in the establishment of this institution for a more liberal course of popular education ; will they not now show their thankful appreciation of the great benefits secured to this people, and the deep interest they feel in the worthy object, by promptly supplying these our most urgent wants? Towards the com- mencement of a Library, the donation and purchase of books, in history, literature, and science, would be most acceptable to the authorized receivers, as well as most useful to the inquiring youth who would read the works. This outline of our imperative necessities may ap- pear large, and even extravagant ; but we do assure you, that in no degree does our statement exceed the intel- lectual, moral, and spiritual wants of the hundreds of children all around us, who, if not educated here, will not be educated at all. Enviable is the reputation which Andover has al- ready acquired for conferring superior literary culture upon the residents of other towns and States ; the time has arrived when she can win for herself a fame equal- ly illustrious, by her efforts to advance and perfect the high training of her own citizens. The best education of the greatest possible number : this is the living, hopeful, and pubhc tree we plant here to-day. Around its young trunk, let parents and children all flock ! Let the rich and liberal generously water its tender roots ! Let strong and loving hands grasp, uphold, and defend it ! May warm and pray- 5 34 ing hearts invoke upon it the richest blessings ! May God in Christ be propitious, accept it as our free gift for His honor, and cause His genial sun to shine, His gentle winds to blow. His reviving rain to descend, His refreshing and fertilizing dew to fall ! May the loved tree of our planting and of our prayers grow from year to year in strength, in height, in beaut}^, and in fruitfulness ! May its upward increase reach the skies ! May admiring ej^es, far as well as near, behold it as their hope, their landmark, and their guide ! Beneath its impartial shade may Christians aspire after the communion of saints, and be persuaded from the shin- ing example of the immortal dead, whose enshrined name will be reflected from every leaf, that "It is more blessed to give than to receive ! " Under its firm and spreading branches may larger and larger numbers of rejoicing children be yearly gathered ! May its grate- ful arbor gladden, and its multipl3dng fruit nourish and invigorate, not hundreds merely, but thousands and tens of thousands ! From tasting it may all hunger after righteousness and the hidden manna, and acquire a relish for the beatific fruits borne by the immortal trees skirting the river of life in the Paradise of God ! Grant all this, our merciful Father in heaven, through the mediation of thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Ghost ; to whom, with thee, and the Lamb that was slain, we ascribe power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing ; forever ! Amen. APPENDIX. PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL. At a legal Town Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Ando- ver, held Nov. 11, 1850, the following Letter was presented to the Town for their consideration. To THE Selectmen op the Town of Andover. Gentlemen : — The undersigned would respectfully represent, that, in the last Will and Testament of Benjamin H. Punchard, late of said Andover, Esquire, deceased, there is a Bequest, in the words following : — " The residue of my property, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, I give and bequeath to the Town of Andover, for the purpose of founding a Free School ; forty thousand dollars for a permanent fund, for the support of said School, and ten thousand dollars for the neces- sary buildings, etc. providing that, at my decease, if there should not be the said amount of fifty thousand dollars, after paying the amounts first devised, then the said balance to be kept at interest, till the amount is fifty thousand dollars. Said School shall be under the direction of eight Trustees, of whom the Rector of Christ Church to be one, also the ministers of the South Parish and West Parish Con- gregational Societies to be members ; also, the remaining five to be chosen by the inhabitants of Andover, in town meeting, to serve for three years, two of whom to be taken from Christ Church Parish, two from the South Parish Society, and one from the West Parish Society. Said School to be free for all youths resident in Andover, under the restrictions of the Trustees, as to age and qualifications. (35) 36 No sectarian influence to be used in the School ; the Bible to be in daily use ; and the Lord's Prayer, in which the pupils shall join au- dibly with the teacher, in the morning, at the opening : the said Trus- tees to have the sole direction ; and power, also, to determine and decide, whether the School shall be for males only, or for the benefit of both sexes. Said School to be located in the South Parish of An- dover, but free for all the Parishes equally." Tliey would also represent, that there is a reversion of twenty thou- sand dollars, which is ultimately, by the terms of said Will, " to be paid over to the Trustees of the School, for which I have made pro- vision in this instrument." The Will aforesaid has been duly proved, approved, and allowed, and the undersigned named in said instrument as the Executors there- of, have accepted the trust, and given the requisite bonds for the dis- charge of its duties. They would farther represent, that they hope and believe the Estate will be sufficient to pay all the debts and legacies ; and they expect to be ready to pay said legacy of Fifty Thousand Dollars in the course of the next spring. Believing that it would be desirable for the Town to take some ac- tion upon this subject, at an early day, the undersigned have made their representations to your Board, in order that the matter might be laid before the Town, at their next regular meeting. FRANCIS COGSWELL, JOHN FLINT, Akdover, Oct. 7, 1850. NATHAN FRYE. The town voted to refer the whole subject to the following gentle- men : N. W. Hazen, Esq., John Aiken, Esq., Dr. E. Sanborn, Dea. Solomon Holt, Mr. H. P. Chandler, Capt. Joseph Shattuck, Rev. B. Loring, Rev. P. Osgood, and Hon. G. P. Osgood a Committee to re- port to the Town at an adjourned meeting. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Dec. IG, 1850. At the adjourned Town Meeting, the Commi!t- submitted the following Resolutions, which were severally rcn- considered, and adopted by the Town : 37 TJie Committee to whom was referred the whole subject relating to the Bequest made to the Town, in the last Will and Testament of the late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, have had the same under their consideration, and report the following Resolutions : — 1. Resolved, That we gratefully accept the Donation bequeathed in the Will of our late townsman, Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, for the foundation and maintenance of a Free School in the South Parish in this Town ; and we do for ourselves and our success- ors, so far as in us lies, engage to execute faithfully the trust which this Bequest and its acceptance impose upon us and them. 2. That it becomes us, as tlie contemporaries of our Benefactor, to record our testimony, to all future time, that the fortune thus devoted to the public use, was the gain of honest industry ; that its acquisition left no stain upon the justice of its late owner ; that his prosperity afforded fresh proof that his affairs are most successful whose conduct is governed by the strictest probity : and we do enjoin upon all who may be connected with this Charity, whether in its care and dispen- sation, or as sharing its benefits, the same rectitude which was uni- formly displayed in his life, as the measure of their duty. 3. That the example afforded by Mr. Punchard, — in the fidelity with which he performed all his engagements ; his assiduity and thoroughness in business ; his charities ; his purity ; his prudence ; his tenderness for the feelings, and his respect for the character, of others ; his humble piety, and the depth of his religious devotion, as evinced by the terms of his Bequest, — should be constantly set be- fore all the youth, who shall ever hereafter become the recipients of his bounty, for their imitation. 4. That we will cherish the memory of his many virtues ; that we recognize the obligations conferred upon us by his enterprise and suc- cess in adding to the wealth, and increasing the prosperity, of the Town ; and that we recommend to the Trustees under his Will, to whom he has so largely confided the superstructure of the School, to adopt the most effectual measures to associate his name and memory with the Institution which he has founded and so munificently endowed. .5. That Rev. Samuel Fuller, Samuel Farrar, and Francis Cogs- well, Esquires, be a Committee to prepare a Biographical Memoir of Mr. Punchard, and cause the same to be printed with the next An- nual Report of the School Committee of the Town. In order to carry into execution the designs of the said donor, and in pursuance of the provisions of his said bequest, we do farther resolve — 6. That we choose at this time by ballot five Trustees, and that said Trustees, Avith those designated in said Will, be authorized and requested to receive from the Executors thereof, all such sum and sums of money as may be now due and payable to this Town, under the provisions of said Will, or that may hereafter become so due and payable, and to give proper and valid receipts and dischai'ges therefor to said Executors. 38 7. That the Trustees be directed to apply to the Session of the Legislature next ensuing, for the passage of the Draft annexed, into an act of incorporation. 8. That the Letter of the Executors and this Report be entered at length on the Records of the Town, and that the Town Clerk furnish a copy thereof to the widow of the deceased and to the said Trustees, and a copy of said Resolutions and Draft to said Executors. All which is respectfully submitted. N. W. HAZEN, for the Committee, Chairman. The Committee nominated Francis Cogswell, Esq., Moses Foster, Jr., Esq., Mr. Jacob Chickering, Captain Joshua Ballard, and Captain Joseph Shattuck, as a Board of Trustees, and they were chosen by the Town by ballot. SAMUEL JOHNSON, Town Cleric. ACT OF INCORPORATIOI^. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. An Act, To incorporate the Trustees of the Punchard Free School in the Town of Andover. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Gen- eral Court assembled and by the authority of the same as follows : — Section 1. Samuel Fuller, Jolui L. Taylor, Charles H. Pierce, Francis Cogswell, Moses Foster, Jr., Jacob Chickering, Joshua Bal- lard, and Joseph Shattuck, and their successors are hereby constituted a Corporation by the name of the Trustees of the Punchard Free School, to exercise all the powers and perform all the duties derived to them under the Will of the late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, subject to all the liabilities and with all the rights set forth and conferred by the forty-fourth Chapter of the Revised Statutes, and by this Act, not inconsistent with the provisions of said Will ; and the possession, control, and management, of the fund bequeathed to the Town of Andover by said Will in the corporate name of said Trustees for the purposes and uses therein expressed, is hereby confirmed to said Trustees and their successors forever. Section 2. The said Trustees may purchase and hold Real Estate to an amount not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ; and may 39 hold personal Estate to an amount not exceeding one hundred thou- sand dollars, and it shall be the duty of said Trustees to loan all the funds of said Coi'poration not required for the immediate purposes of the School, upon interest, in sums of not less than two hundred dollars each, upon the bond or note of the borrower, payable in one year, with a mortgage of real estate situate either in the County of Essex, Suffolk, or Middlesex, of at least twice the value of the sum loaned, as collateral security for the repayment of the same with interest semi-annually ; provided however that such loans may be made to Towns or Cities, in their corporate capacity upon the note or bond of their Treasurer or other person or persons duly authorized, with- out other additional security. Section 3. A Board of Trustees shall be chosen by said Town of Andover by ballot, according to the provisions of said Will, on the first Monday of April once in three years ; and the first regular election hereafter shall be held on the first Monday of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty -three, and until said election the aforenamed Trustees shall have and execute all the powers and perform all the duties and obligations herein mentioned and required. In case of the removal of any Trustee from Town, his office shall thereupon be vacated, and vacancies from this, or from any other cause, may be filled at any Town Meeting held after the same shall occur ; and the Trustees who have been or may hereafter be chosen by the Town, shall remain in office, until others are chosen in their stead. Section 4. The Board of Trustees provided by said Will shall choose a Treasurer, who shall give a Bond to the Inhabitants of An- dover, with one or more sureties, in the penal sum of at least Ten Thousand Dollars, for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, which bond shall be approved by the Selectmen of the Town for the time being. The Books of said Treasurer shall be at all times open to the inspection of the Selectmen of said Town, or any of them. Section 5. The said Trustees shall annually, on or before the first Monday of March, render to said Town an account of the condition of said fund, and of the receipts and expenditures thereof; and said account shall be audited by the Town Auditors, and printed in their Annual Report. Section 6. The said Trustees shall make an Annual Repoi't of the condition of said School, specifying the number of Scholars who have 40 attended the same, and their deportment and proficiency, and said Re- port shall be printed with the Annual Report of the School Commit- tee of the Town. Section 7. Five Trustees shall constitute a quorum for the trans- action of business. Section 8. This Act shall take effect from and after its passage. House of Representatives, February 24, 1851. Passed to be en- acted. N. P. Banks, Jr., Speaker. In Senate, February 26, 1851. Passed to be enacted. Henky Wilson, President. February 26, 1851. Approved. GEORGE S. BOUT WELL. Secretary's Office, Boston, February 27, 1851. I certify the fore- going to be a true copy of the original Act. Amasa Walker, Secretary of the Commonwealth. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. An Act, In addition to an Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Punchard Free School in the town of Aiidover. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives, in Gen- eral Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — Section 1. The Town of Andover is hei'eby exempted from the requirements contained in the fifth section of the twenty-third chap- ter of the Revised Statutes, applicable to Towns containing four thou- sand inhabitants : provided, that this Act shall not be construed to im- pair the right of the inhabitants of said Town, at any legal meeting called for the purpose, to establish and maintain such a school as is 41 required in said fifth section, of Towns containing four thousand in- habitants. Section 2. This Act shall take effect on and after the opening of said Punchard Free School. , House of Representatives, March 26, 1856. Passed to be enacted. Charles A. Phelps, Speaker. In Senate, March 28, 1856. Passed to be enacted. Elihu C. Baker, President. March 29, 1856. Approved, HENRY J. GARDNER. Secretary's Office, Boston, April 2, 1856. A true copy of the original Act. Attest, Francis DeWitt, Secretary of the Commonwealth. At the second election of Trustees, held on the first Monday of April, A. D. 1853, the following gentlemen were chosen by the Town, viz. MOSES FOSTER, JR., JACOB CHICKERING, NATHAN FRYE, NATHAN W. HAZEN, JOSEPH SHATTUCK. And at the third election of Trustees, held on the first Monday of April, A. D. 1856, the same gentlemen were re-elected for the ensu- ing three years. Rev. John L. Taylor, and Rev. Charles Smith, as ministers of the South Parish Congregational Society, and Rev. Charles H. Pierce, as minister of the West Parish Congregational Society, severally served as members of the Board of Trustees, agreeable to the provis- ions of Mr. Punchard's Will, until their pastoral relations with their Societies were dissolved. The Board as at present constituted is composed of the five lay gentlemen above named, with the following clerical members provided by said Will, viz. Rev. Samuel Fuller, D. D. Rector of Christ Church. Rev. George Moore, Pastor of the South Parish Cong. Society. Rev. James H. Merrill, Pastor of the West Parish Cong. Society. 6 42 The Trustees were unable to determine upon a suitable location for the School Edifice until September, 1853, when, after they had exam- ined some ten or twelve diiferent situations, and discussed their con- flicting merits, the attention of the Board was for the first time directed to the present locality, which at once commended itself to their judg- ment as possessing superior advantages to all others under consider- ation. In three days afterwards the Committee on Locations were instructed by a unanimous vote to purchase the approved site. This Lot comprises about eight and one fourth acres, and was pur- chased of Mr. Joseph Richardson, for the sum of twenty-one hundred dollars. In May, 1854, plans for a School Edifice, having been adopted, Messrs. Nathan Frye, Jacob Chickering, and N. W. Hazen, were chosen a Building Committee. This Committee concluded a contract with ]Mr. William H. Boardman, of Lawrence, for preparing the cel- lar and foundation, and also contracted with Messrs. Abbott and Clement, of this Town, housewrights, for the erection and completion of the Building. The foundation was commenced in June, 1855, and the Edifice was completed, Sept. 1, 1856. The building is seventy-five feet long, forty-five wide, and two stories high. The material above the stone basement is pressed brick, with rustic corners of freestone, and the roof is slated. The whole expense of the structure, was about nineteen thousand dollars. INSTRUCTORS. The first Principal was Peter Smith Byers, A. M., of Andover, an Alumnus of Harvard University, an Assistant Teacher in Phillips Academy in this place, and Principal of the High School, in the City of Providence. He was elected March 13, 1854, resigned on ac- count of failing health, April 7, 1855, and died March 19, 1856. A Memorial of this lamented Scholar and exemplary Christian, was published by his College classmates. The present Principal is Nathan M. Belden, A. M., of Wilton, Connecticut; who is an Alumnus of Trinity College, Hartford, in which institution he was a Tutor. He was elected to the Punchard Free School, January 31, 1855. ,myri '^^^iiy "'Afy^r^yiy.^f^^ /v\r\'^' •-■^^.00^0.0. mff': fffr'' ^'^A- non onr>n^^Anr>^^0^/Wv^^/1^^ m^.^ m^^^ n^«8^^ ..:}^r\.^^r\, ^^km^ ■' TT HFK^lPISWp 1^^ 3§?«g ^/^A^^^^^A^^^B^jSj^^^^f^^ ^r\f^^N n^nOrO^A/^^^^^^A^A,^^'^^, A-s"-.'^-?^/^.! C^AAAA ;mr^nnr\n f'^A/^- ^-r\ ^^iSSkSjJj T'^nnAftc'^^.. J5?©Sr^^^5?^^^.^W'^'^'^'^ \^/^^^^m ftfta:,^/^/^/^/e(i.:J'^nf„, , , ,„,„ ,„„_ ^*^ ,^"..V'^;^''^'/ gaMCy ^A.^^^"^^^ S^^a ^^/^^^'&^^':-p-^^ ^^«2a.^^S^^^^^^^^^A^^^^^%Aa' A^A.AA^ V '^ ^'^ ■ r;. ^, ' '^■•'^AV-^'^'^V- ^SA|tK^***«^^?i^A'?«S^MSX OT^aaAao^aAa a. a. .A..A.*.-WnAfl'^O.A^^^'^"-'''^ v/2i/r/»S/>HA'«v'AA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 019 876 387 *