he gives to any object that commends itself to him is accompanied, in its announcement or direction, by some sagacious counsel, readily inferred, if not distinctly expressed. I suppose, Mr. President, though you have been silent on the point, that we are at liberty to imagine some friendly offices of your own in behalf of the society, through your confidential relations with Mr. Peabody. He has certainly become well acquainted with our wants, and has met them when and where we have most sensibly felt them." Remarks were also made, in grateful acknowledgment of Mr. Peabody's benefaction, by Col. Aspinwall, Judge Savage, and Leverett Saltonstall, Esq. On motion of Hon. Stephen Salisbury, it was voted to place a bust or portrait of Mr. Peabody in one of the rooms of the society. It was afterwards voted to allow Prof. Wyman to select aboriginal relics from the collection belonging to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and remove them to the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, with the idea, that, by connecting them with a large collection of other archæological objects, they will be made better to accomplish the purpose of the original donors. Mr. Peabody also donated the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars to Kenyon College, Gambier, O., of which his friend, Bishop McIlvaine, was then president. Want of space forbids the insertion of the documents, which indicated the purpose of the donor, and the gratitude of those who were benefited by his gift. CHAPTER XIV. FILIAL DEVOTION. Memorial Church at Georgetown. - Mr. Peabody's Love for his Mother.— Hymn for the Dedication, by John G. Whittier. Gifts to his Family and Friends. "My mother! at that holy name, Within my bosom there's a gush I would not, could not, crush."- GEO. P. MORRIS. "Forsake not the law of thy mother."- PROV. i. 8. N 1839, the town which was the birthplace of George Peabody's mother, and is now the residence of his sister, Mrs. Daniels, had its name changed from New Rowley to Georgetown, in honor of Mr. Peabody. The special correspondent of "The Washington Chronicle " says that "it has always been one of his favorite retreats when in this country. The people respected his wish for retirement; and this tact on their part was fully appreciated by Mr. Peabody, who said, when he was making arrangements in regard to a farewell reception, previous to his departure for England in 1867, that he should like to take each 6 resident by the hand; for he had never, in any visit in Georgetown, been annoyed by calls or letters, and that not one of the citizens had ever in any way solicited help from him.' This fact he considered very remarkable, and with reason; for among the begging-letters which he constantly received, and which were never answered, but quietly turned over to his sister, was one from Georgia containing forty closely-written pages. "Here Mr. Peabody erected a church to the memory of his mother, to whom, in death as in life, he was devoted; giving her the first dollar he earned in boyhood, and bestowing the last thoughts of his honored old age upon a memorial of her Christian character. . . . Mr. Peabody's devotion to his mother and family was as thoughtful as that of a woman; and, after he became very wealthy, the old townspeople used to revive reminiscences in that direction concerning him. I recollect hearing my mother say, that, as soon as he was established in Baltimore, he wrote to his mother that 'he should be able, for the future, to supply the family with flour;' and Mrs. Peabody remarked, as she mentioned the circumstance to a friend, that it was a great comfort to have George prosperous enough to bear the expenses.' And, from that day to her last, George never allowed his mother to want any thing that filial love could bestow. "Mr. Peabody, as everybody knows, was a great lover of peace and concord. Nothing would disturb him more than the thought that any act of his might create strife. This tendency was strikingly manifested at his farewell reception in Georgetown, when, referring to the Memorial Church, he distinctly stated that it was created solely as a tribute to his mother, and was given to her denomination, - Orthodox Congregational, from reverence for her memory; and that it would have been given with equal satisfaction had she belonged to any other persuasion : thus showing his intention to deprive the gift of any sectarian bias which might cause bitterness. 6 “I used, as a child, to study the portrait of Mr. Peabody which hung in his sister's parlor. It represented a singularly handsome middle-aged man. I was always greatly impressed by the tone of mingled pride and affection with which his sister spoke of him; and I remember hearing a gentleman, in some discussion with this lady, ask her if she ever saw a person who had never told a lie to which she promptly replied, Yes: I am sure that my brother George never told a lie.' I used to connect this statement, as children will, with the kind blue eyes and bright brown hair of the portrait; and occasionally, as I saw G. P.' in our Sunday-school books, indicating that Mr. Peabody had given them to us, I thought of him as the man who had never told a lie. I do not remember, however, that I ever saw him till 1866; when I was glad to recognize in the aged but still majestic man a striking likeness to the picture which had won my childish admiration. During this visit in 1866, he gave the town a public library, a gift by which all the inhabitants could be benefited; and here, on the afternoon of his farewell reception, he reviewed the children of the public schools, standing with uncovered head on the steps of his sister's house as they filed past, bearing tiny flags of our national red, white, and blue. It was a pleasant sight; and many a teacher preached a sermon to her little flock from the text,Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men,' with the courtly yet genial man, who had smiled and spoken so kindly to them, as a living illustration. 6 "Here, during his last visit, he added a lecture-room to his previous gift of a library, and made arrangements for free lectures, and a fund for the support of the library. And, having completed every thing to his mind, he said smilingly to Mr. R. S. Tenney, the gentleman with whom he and his sister made their home, Well, I believe I have paid all my debts to this town: I believe I do not owe it any thing.' To which Mr. Tenney very happily replied, 'We cannot say the same of you, Mr. Peabody: we shall always owe you.' And Mr. Peabody responded with great feeling, 'If it has been as pleasant to you to receive as it has been to me to bestow, you have enjoyed a great deal.'" The above paragraphs from the letter of Mrs. A. W. H. Howard to a Washington paper are of special interest. The story of the long letter from Georgia suggests addition of the statement of some paper, that "Mr. Peabody |