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AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION.

TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING.

JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.

MANCHESTER, N. H., Aug. 18, 1857.

The Institute met in City Hall, and was called to order at eleven o'clock, A. M., by the President, JOHN KINGSBURY, L.L. D. of Providence, R. I.

Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Barrows, of Pittsburg, Pa.

The records of the last meeting were read by the Secretary and approved.

On motion of Mr. Greenleaf, of Bradford, Voted, That when the Institute adjourns, it adjourn to meet at two o'clock, P. M.

Messrs. Ward and Webster, of Manchester, and Ambrose, of Lawrence, were appointed a Committee for seating members of the Institute.

Professors R. S. Rust, of Manchester, S. S. Greene, of Providence, and D. N. Camp, of New Britain, Ct., were appointed a Committee on Teachers and Teachers' Places.

Adjourned.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The Institute was called to order at two o'clock by the President.

Hon. Jacob F. James, the Mayor of the city, then rose,

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and on behalf of the city government, welcomed the Institute as follows:

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Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen of the American Institute of Instruction - As executive officer of this city, it becomes my pleasant duty, in behalf of the city government and my fellow-citizens, to bid you a hearty and cordial welcome to our city, and to express to you our kindest salutations. Although we shall be unable to exhibit to you so many objects of general interest, or the wealth and splendor that you have observed in older and richer cities, yet I trust in our people you will find as warm and responsive hearts as you are accustomed to meet elsewhere, and that our best efforts will be exerted to make your visit here as pleasant and agreeable to you, as circumstances and our accommodations will admit.

With this assurance, permit me again to thank you for your presence on this occasion. In behalf of my fellowcitizens I tender to you the hospitalities of the city during your stay with us.

J. O. ADAMS, Esq., in behalf of the Schools and the Board of Education, followed, expressing their gratification and gratitude that the Institute had passed by other invitations, and accepted that which had been offered by their Board. They had little, he said, to show to the members of the Institute, which would interest them, such as might be found in older places. They had no halls or columns of art, but they could show how, by the riverside, the wasting waters, by art and industry, had been turned into channels of utility. He hoped, however, that the hospitality of the citizens would be so extended to the Institute, and so enjoyed by them, that they would ever cherish pleasant associations of this city by the banks of the Merrimac.

Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, on the part of the citizens, spoke as follows:

MR. PRESIDENT, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :

As we are exceedingly young in this place, I can conceive no other reason why I should be invited to say anything on this occasion, unless it be that I belong to the class of antiquities which we have.

As such, it is my privilege to bid you welcome to the hospitalities of our city. We bid you welcome to our families and firesides while you remain with us. Deeply sensible of the importance of education, alike to the individual, to the church, and the State, and regarding you, sir, and those associated with you as the patrons of edu cation, we welcome you in that capacity. We welcome you as friends of science, of sound learning, as patrons of the college and the higher schools; we welcome you especially, for I have cast my eye over your programme, as the patrons of common schools. It is true that despotism, superstition and bigotry, may flourish where the higher institutions are found; but in the land where the common school is found, and where it spreads its blessings among every class of society, there the throne of despotism is made to tremble, there superstition and bigotry flee away as the sun licks up the dew of morn.

It has been intimated by one who has preceded me, and we have so narrow a circle that we must, to some extent, travel over the same ground, that we have but little to show you here. I believe we have a committee whose duty it will be to show whatever we have of rare interest; and I have no doubt they will attend to that to the utmost of their ability. It is true we have no halls of statuary and paintings. We have but one dead hero, whose grave on the bank of the river we can show you. We might show you Rock Rimmon, Amoskeag, Uncanoonuc, or Massabesic, and if you will just step to the limits of our city we will show you standing by the roadside, the col

lege, all unshaded, all unhonored, where one of the most distinguished editors of the United States, almost of the world, studied his English classics, no doubt very much to his own advantage, and very much to the satisfaction of his professor.

These things we have, but they are not very big lions. There is no dimness of the past to throw charms around even these. All besides is very modern. But we welcome you to these things; we welcome you to our families and our hospitalities. And we trust that when you have passed away from this brief stay among us, you will remember us with kindness, and that when you return to your labors, you will recall with pleasure the interviews you have had in this city. We have nothing else to show, therefore we will show ourselves in our best dress.

The PRESIDENT replied appropriately to these words of welcome, and tendered the thanks of the Institute for the hospitalities so generously offered. He then delivered an interesting address upon the subject of Education.

At three o'clock, a Lecture was delivered by Rev. WILLIAM R. ALGER, of Boston, upon " Man and the Astronomic Universe."

The thanks of the Institute were voted Mr. Alger for his eloquent address.

Messrs. Charles Hammond, of Groton, R. S. Rust, of Manchester, D. N. Camp, of New Britain, Ct., J. W. Bulkley, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and B. W. Putnam, of Boston, were appointed a Committee on Nominations.

Adjourned.

EVENING SESSION.

The President called the Institute to order at eight o'clock.

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