Publication
Philadelphia: C. Sherman & Son, Printers, 1855.
Physical description
40 p.; 23 cm
Notes
Description inside the front cover:
THE MERCHANTS FUND--the title of the Association for furnishing relief to indigent merchants of the City of Philadelphia, especially such as are aged and infirm--was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, January 28th, 1854.
Its affairs are under the direction of a Board, consisting of a President, two Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and fifteen additional Managers, elected by the Members; and it is authorized to hold any real or personal estate, provided the net yearly income of the former shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars.
Life memberships are constituted by payment of fifty dollars.
Annual membership five dollars per annum. Subscriptions and donations received by William C. Ludwig, Treasurer, No. 28 North Third Street.
The Anniversary of this Society was celebrated at the Musical Fund Hall, Feb. 6, 1855; upon which occasion the Meeting was addressed by the Rev. Dr. Boardman. His Address, with the Report of the Board of Managers prefixed, is now published, with the hope of awakening a more general interest in the objects of the Institution.
CONTENTS
Report, p. 3-6.
Address, by Dr. Boardman, p. 7-34.
Officers for 1855, p. 35-36.
Life Members, p. 37.
Annual Members, p. 38-40.
Opening words of Dr. Boardman's Address (2d & 3d paragraphs):
The second section of the Charter of the "Merchants Fund" is in the following words: "The object of this Corporation is to furnish relief to indigent merchants of the City of Philadelphia, especially such as are aged and infirm."
One of the first reflections suggested by the reading of this paragraph, is, that there is a principle at work here which reflects the highest honor on human nature; or rather, should I not say, a principle which seems above nature. The universal brotherhood of mankind, has been a favorite topic with poets and pseudo-reformers. Every age has heard it asserted, and every country has had at least its nascent “New-Harmonies.” “Liberty-Equality-Fraternity:” these are the catch-words with which demagogues beguile the populace. And the practical exposition they receive, is but too commonly like that presented in the French Revolution of ’48, when bands of armed men, with these magic words inscribed upon their banners, marched through the streets of Paris, and, calling at the hotels and manufactories, demanded that all foreign artisans and servants should be peremptorily dismissed and banished from the country*--a demonstration sufficiently expressive, but forgotten in the hideous spectacle which followed, when these same lying banners flaunted over a French army which was sent to slaughter the republicans of Italy, and replace the yoke of bondage upon that reclaiming but helpless nation. Not such is the brotherhood you recognize. Taught by a different Master, and imbued with a loftier sentiment, you have learned those lessons which all the arts of the schools could not discover, much less infuse into the heart, that misfortune is a sacred thing, and that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
[*This occurred under the speaker’s eyes, and at the very hotel where he was staying.]
THE MERCHANTS FUND--the title of the Association for furnishing relief to indigent merchants of the City of Philadelphia, especially such as are aged and infirm--was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, January 28th, 1854.
Its affairs are under the direction of a Board, consisting of a President, two Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and fifteen additional Managers, elected by the Members; and it is authorized to hold any real or personal estate, provided the net yearly income of the former shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars.
Life memberships are constituted by payment of fifty dollars.
Annual membership five dollars per annum. Subscriptions and donations received by William C. Ludwig, Treasurer, No. 28 North Third Street.
The Anniversary of this Society was celebrated at the Musical Fund Hall, Feb. 6, 1855; upon which occasion the Meeting was addressed by the Rev. Dr. Boardman. His Address, with the Report of the Board of Managers prefixed, is now published, with the hope of awakening a more general interest in the objects of the Institution.
CONTENTS
Report, p. 3-6.
Address, by Dr. Boardman, p. 7-34.
Officers for 1855, p. 35-36.
Life Members, p. 37.
Annual Members, p. 38-40.
Opening words of Dr. Boardman's Address (2d & 3d paragraphs):
The second section of the Charter of the "Merchants Fund" is in the following words: "The object of this Corporation is to furnish relief to indigent merchants of the City of Philadelphia, especially such as are aged and infirm."
One of the first reflections suggested by the reading of this paragraph, is, that there is a principle at work here which reflects the highest honor on human nature; or rather, should I not say, a principle which seems above nature. The universal brotherhood of mankind, has been a favorite topic with poets and pseudo-reformers. Every age has heard it asserted, and every country has had at least its nascent “New-Harmonies.” “Liberty-Equality-Fraternity:” these are the catch-words with which demagogues beguile the populace. And the practical exposition they receive, is but too commonly like that presented in the French Revolution of ’48, when bands of armed men, with these magic words inscribed upon their banners, marched through the streets of Paris, and, calling at the hotels and manufactories, demanded that all foreign artisans and servants should be peremptorily dismissed and banished from the country*--a demonstration sufficiently expressive, but forgotten in the hideous spectacle which followed, when these same lying banners flaunted over a French army which was sent to slaughter the republicans of Italy, and replace the yoke of bondage upon that reclaiming but helpless nation. Not such is the brotherhood you recognize. Taught by a different Master, and imbued with a loftier sentiment, you have learned those lessons which all the arts of the schools could not discover, much less infuse into the heart, that misfortune is a sacred thing, and that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
[*This occurred under the speaker’s eyes, and at the very hotel where he was staying.]