THE MERCHANT.

In all ages and in all countries the Merchant has borne a conspicuous part in whatever tends to the civilization and refinement of man. His office is not so much to create wealth as to accumulate and to circulate it. He stands between the farmer and the operative who produce it, and those who consume and enjoy it. Without him there could be no exchange of commodities. He joins the east to the west and the north to the south. Through his hands pass the silks and teas of China, the coffee of Mocha, and the sugar of Cuba, to those who take them in exchange for the cotton and grain of America, or the fabrics of England and France. He is the middle man, who stands between the producer and the consumer. He holds the scales and determines what belongs to the one or to the other. He is the great mediator between those who sell and those who buy. In him the manufacturers meet the consumers of their products, and agree upon terms of exchange. His position is one of great importance and responsibility. Without him there can be no accumulation

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substance on which is raised the beautiful fabric of a moral and refined, a learned and polished society.

Few cities furnish better proof of what we have said in behalf of the mercantile profession than Boston. How readily the names of Perkins, of Appleton, and of Lawrence occur to us. The everlasting monument of Bunker Hill, as well as the enduring monument to Warren, are due to the merchants of Boston. The Asylum of the Blind is the work of a Boston merchant. Harvard College owes some of its largest debts to Boston merchants. Our churches and our hospitals are supported by those who have grown rich in the trade of merchandise, which they have pursued not only with diligence, but with the strictest honor and integrity. If mercantile pursuits do not require or exhibit the highest intellectual qualities, it is to be remembered that they furnish the means and opportunities for the exhibition of those qualities in others. Where would have been found a field for a Webster or a Choate, but in a mercantile and wealthy community? Where could the refinement and eloquence of Channing have been exhibited, or the learning of Story, but among merchants, ready and willing to pour out their wealth, as the reward of learning and of genius? Who but Boston merchants have supported and encouraged our venerable Father Taylor to dispense the word of life to the hitherto neglected and

Such, however, were not the men I have alluded to, and who have merited the title of a Boston merchant, respected and honored throughout the world. They delighted to give of their abundance, while they could see the happy influence of their charity. They wished to be in part their own executors, and to enjoy the satisfaction of dispensing a portion of their wealth to advance the intellectual improvement or alleviate the suffering of their fellow-men. How unselfish, how noble and worthy of all imitation was the conduct of those men, who, by a long life of industry, had acquired the means of thus contributing to advance the highest interests of the community in which they had lived and labored. What an example do they present to those who succeed them. Be diligent in your calling, they seem to say, and accumulate wealth if it be your good fortune to do so; but remember that you hold it in trust for the good not only of your own family, but of the community in which you live, and which has enabled you to acquire it. The name and fame of such men should be ever dear to those engaged in the same pursuits, and who claim the honorable distinction of Boston merchants.

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