grasping for larger income, they might perchance sink out of sight and all hope of recovering the very sources from which that income was to flow, was too great, and they have been satisfied "to let well enough alone."

The Directors desire to place on record their appreciation of the valuable service rendered to the Athenæum for so many years, by the late Rev. Alexis Caswell, D. D., LL. D. Identified with its fortunes from its very start down to the close of his life, he promoted its interests in many ways, sympathizing with its friends in all their attempts to advance its prosperity and increase its efficiency as an instrument for good in the community of which for so long a period he had been an honored and most highly esteemed citizen. Sixteen years of official connection with the Athenæum, eight years as a Director and eight as Vice-President, sufficiently indicate the regard in which he was held by the proprietors of this institution. A perpetual memorial of the interest he personally felt for it, may be found in one of our rooms in the form of the elegant marble models which he purchased in Rome, illustrating some of the choicest specimens of ancient classic art found in that imperial city. Few men among us have touched life on more sides than the friend whose genial face and sunny smile we so much miss at this our annual gathering. The example of such a man is a benediction, and we are sure that the memory of his virtues will long be kept fragrant in the hearts of so many who knew him but to love him.

The improvements made on both the exterior and the interior of the building, which were referred to somewhat at length in the report of the last year, have added

materially to the comfort of those who have frequented the Athenæum. Some apprehension was expressed that the exchange of the matting for the thin flooring of southern pine might not be an agreeable one. But experience has shown that such apprehension was groundless. Greater cleanliness has been secured. The books have been protected from the fine dust which is always sure to collect in any matting or carpet, and the ease with which such a floor as we now have, can be washed, makes it certain that our principal room will wear the appearance of neatness and good order. Some complaints have been made of the dampness and want of thorough ventilation observed in the basement. Such is the location of the building that it is almost unavoidable that there will be more or less of the dampness referred to. The best we can do, under existing circumstances, is to warn our patrons of either sex whose health may be at all delicate, not to remain too long in the basement if they are aware of the chill to which allusion has been made. One who is sensitive can readily detect the presence of such a chilliness in the air, and ought to have strength of will sufficient to overcome any temptation to linger too long over the brilliant essay or the fascinating story. We anticipate the coming of the time when more thorough drainage and some better system of ventilation will remedy the infelicities to which we have referred, although, probably, situated as the building now is in the recess of an excavated hill, it can never in all respects be what it would be, if placed where it would be exposed on all sides to currents of fresh, pure air.

During the past year the Board of Directors have held twelve monthly meetings. At these meetings the inter

ests of the Athenæum have received the careful attention of those who are especially appointed its guardians. It was with great pleasure that at their first meeting this year they re elected the accomplished Librarian, J. D. Hedge, Esq., to the position which he has held for so many years, and continued in office his faithful assistant, Miss M. M. Angell. The labors of those executive officers of the Athenæum, it will readily be perceived, must be expected to increase from year to year with the growth of the institution. Without being able positively to verify the statement, we hazard the opinion that very few similar institutions carry on their affairs with a smaller clerical force than this. We casually read the Report of the Librarian as incorporated with the Annual Report of the Board of Directors. We are told how many books, pamphlets, atlases, charts, etc., have been added to the Library - how many of these were purchased and how many given, and how many volumes have been made by the binding of periodicals and pamphlets. We are told how many books have been taken from the Library, amounting this year to 25,876. Without much thought and a very faint idea of the continued every-day labor involved in tabulating these many thousands of volumes, we read in exact numbers that so many were of prose fiction and juvenile books, so many of history and biography, so many of poetry and belleslettres, so many of art, science, law and medicine, so many of voyages and travels, so many of periodicals, so many of religion, philosophy, social science and education, and so many of miscellaneous literature. And then we are aware, in a general way, that a great many persons visit the Athenæum for purposes of reading and

consultation, that the number is not small who, as strangers in the city, are drawn to the spot to observe what are its attractions, all of whom are to be treated courteously, and cheerfully shown whatever may be supposed to interest them. We are aware, too, in a general way, that the Librarian and his assistant are supposed to have some acquaintance with all the books in the Library, that they must inform themselves as to the sources of knowledge on all sorts of subjects, and be ready, with the least possible delay, to turn to the book or the periodical or the pamphlet in which is to be found the particular information which the inquirer seeksthat, in some sense, both these officers stake their professional reputation on being able to direct the inquisitive mind not merely to a source of knowledge, but to the very best source, so that precious time may not be wasted on what is inferior and unsatisfactory, when just the right page is close at hand to gratify curiosity or help honest research, if one only knew precisely where that page was to be found-that there must be patience with dullness, and imperturbable good-nature with heedlessness and stupidity-when one thinks of all this work to be done, and all these graces of character to be cultivated, he may well come to the conclusion that the situation of the executive officers of a Library of not far from 40,000 volumes, is no sinecure.

A Director chosen at the last Annual Meeting, Mr. John Pierce, having declined the position to which he had been elected, Rev. Francis H. Hemperley was chosen at the November Meeting of the Directors to take his place. At the December Meeting, a communication was presented from several gentlemen, shareholders in the

Athenæum, requesting that room be designated for the use of persons who might wish to engage in chess-playing, at such hours as they might select when the building was open. There appearing to be no serious objection to a compliance with such a request, at the January Meeting of the Board the following vote was unanimously passed:

"Voted, That in accordance with the request of certain shareholders of the Athenæum, the centre alcove on each side of the reading-room be designated for the playing of chess by way of experiment, for the period of three months from this date, on the following conditions, viz. :

First-That the privilege be confined to those who represent shares in this Corporation.

Secondly--That it be exercised in accordance with the rules of the institution, and

Thirdly-That the requisite apparatus be furnished without expense to the treasury."

The interest in the game, however great it may have been for a time, did not seem to be of sufficient strength to warrant à renewal of the petition at the end of the three months, and no further action on the matter has been taken by your Board. We regret to state that the Board has been obliged, in accordance with article four of the by-laws, to order the sale by auction of seven shares in consequence of the failure of their owners or the executors of the estates which they represented, to pay the taxes assessed on them. Some of these delinquencies were of long standing, and had greatly tried