ANNUAL MEETING, NOVEMBER, 1914 THE The Records of the last Stated Meeting were read and approved. The PRESIDENT announced the death, during, the past year, of Louis CABOT, WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Abner Cheney GOODELL, GARDINER MARTIN LANE, CHARLES PICKERING PUTNAM, Resident Members; and of JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN, EDWARD SINGLETON HOLDEN, and DENISON ROGERS SLADE, Corresponding Members. The Annual Report of the Council was presented and read by the Rev. CHARLES EDWARDS PARK: REPORT OF THE COUNCIL During the year the regular five stated meetings have been held, all of them in the house of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Council gladly puts on record again its lively sense of appreciation and gratitude to the Academy for this continuance of its hospitality. The papers and communications have been of exceptional interest and value. The Society has lost by death five Resident and three Corresponding Members, as follows: LOUIS CABOT, a veteran of the Civil War, who served his country with bravery and efficiency; an ardent lover of the beautiful in art and nature, a man of strong individuality and fine sensibilities. JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN-full of years and honors a veteran of the Civil War, a hero of Gettysburg, a Governor of the State of Maine, a President of Bowdoin College; one of those greathearted men who, utterly unspoiled by military success, return to the peaceful walks of life to serve their country with a fidelity no less devoted and an efficiency no less heroic. EDWARD SINGLETON HOLDEN, astronomer and educator, librarian of the United States Military Academy at West Point; author of numerous scientific works, whose conspicuous abilities were recognized by membership in many societies of learning and honor in this and foreign countries. CHARLES PICKERING PUTNAM, beloved physician, useful and devoted public servant, lover of little children; to those who were in distress, a natural tower of refuge; to those in search of inspiration, a rare example of self-forgetting and self-consecrated fidelity. DENISON ROGERS SLADE, in whom were combined breadth of interests and simplicity of habits; an intelligent observer of his times, a warm advocate of the refinements of life. ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, lawyer, writer, student of local antiquities; a man of exceptional native abilities, and careful training; a thorough investigator, a maker of precedents; President of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; Editor of the Acts and Resolves of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. GARDINER MARTIN LANE, a financier, and a lover of art and learning, prominent in every good work, trusted on every hand, in whom was to be seen a just balance of the practical concerns and interests offset by true cultivation in the subtler refinements and amenities of life. WILLIAM ENDICOTT, wise financier, upright citizen, loyal friend, to whom Massachusetts owes more than she can appreciate, much less repay; from whom every institution or enterprise that looked to the betterment and enrichment of life received prompt and generous assistance, and whose enduring memorial is graven upon the hearts of a grateful city. Seven names have been added to the roll of Resident Membership, as follows: ALFRED CLAGHORN POTTER, WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER, EDWARD KENNARD RAND, CHARLES HALL GRANDGENT, FRANKLIN PIERCE RICE, CHARLES JOHN MCINTIRE. In addition, our associate EDGAR HUIDEKOPER WELLS, having removed his domicile from Massachusetts to New York, has been transferred from Resident to Corresponding Membership. The year has been marked by gratifying activity in the matter of Publications. Volume XIV, containing the Transactions of the Society from April, 1911, to February, 1913, inclusive, has been published and distributed. Volumes XV and XVI, containing the Records of the Corporation of Harvard College to 1750, are now well advanced, and work is being prosecuted upon the index and illustrations; but it is impossible, as yet, to say with certainty just when the volumes will appear. Volume XVII, another volume of Transactions, beginning with the meeting of March, 1913, has reached page 285, and doubtless will be finished and ready for distribution during the year 1915. The material for still other volumes, which will contain the Instructions to the Royal Governors of Massachusetts, is gradually being collected, but since there are many of these Instructions yet to come from London and their transmission has been delayed by the European war, the work of printing has not yet begun. The Council is much gratified to report that again six of our associates have pledged themselves to provide sufficient funds for the Editor's salary for another period of five years. Their generosity relieves the pressure upon our limited income from endowments, and enables us to devote the greater part of that income to defraying the increasing cost of printing. It is much to be desired that we should possess a permanent editor's salary fund, so that we should not have to depend upon the munificence of a small number of our members. The endowment of the Society has been increased to the very respectable sum of nearly $70,000. This is due to the fact that the second half of the late President Wheelwright's bequest to the Society has been received during the past year. The entire bequest was of $20,000. This brings our endowment somewhat nearer to the amount which it ought to attain. If our members generally realized that the commutation of their annual dues is a direct addition to this permanent endowment and a perpetual source of income to the Society, the Council believes that more would avail themselves of the privilege. The sale of our Publications manifests a slow but constant increase, and the names of universities and libraries are being annually added to our list of permanent subscribers for all issues, past and future. The TREASURER submitted his Annual Report: REPORT OF THE TREASURER In compliance with the requirements of the By-Laws, the Treasurer submits his Annual Report for the year ending 17 November, 1914. Albert Matthews, salary as Editor of Publications. Lucy Drucker, services in London at the Public Record Office Carnegie Institution, annual subscription towards the Bib liography of American Historical Writings 40.75 84.15 45.53 24.00 44.24 10.00 1,000.00 266.45 50.00 Balance on deposit in State Street Trust Company, 17 235.33 28,647.05 175.39 $28,822.44 The Funds of the Society are invested as follows: $67,500.00 in First Mortgages, payable in gold coin, on improved property in Greater Boston 420.00 on deposit in the Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of REPORT OF THE AUDITING COMMITTEE The undersigned, a Committee appointed to examine the Accounts of the Treasurer for the year ending 17 November, 1914, have attended to that duty and report, that they find them correctly kept and properly vouched, and that proper evidence of the investments and of the balance of cash on hand has been shown to us. This Report is based on the examination of Andrew Stewart, certified public accountant. WALTER C. BAYLIES BOSTON, 19 November, 1914 Committee |