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REPORT

IN ANOTHER part of this Report is to be found a short Historical sketch of the Institution for Feeble Minded, now -- at its fiftieth anniversary -- known as Elm Hill. A summary in brief of its present condition and status would seem to be not inappropriate. We have, then, this Institution grown from nothing to its present state. It consists of four cottages for children, with outbuildings. Of these four cottages the largest, or "Central" building, is for boys. Originally a private house, it has been added to from time to time on every side, and presents an irregularity quite pleasing to the eye; but this irregularity, internal and external, takes away all idea that it is a public building, and allows greater variety in the shape and furnishing of rooms, halls, and stairways, and gives a real home look and feeling to all parts of the house. It furnishes a comfortable home for some thirty or thirty-live boys and their caretakers, having extensive sitting rooms, dining rooms, lavatories, etc. This block is heated by hot water and hot air. Madam Brown resides in this building.

Immediately adjacent to the main building, and connected to it by a covered passageway from the basement, is the "East Division." This building is primarily for custodial cases, paralytic boys, epileptic girls. It has a floor with fittings for young children especially; there are ample sitting rooms, recreation rooms, gymnasium, -- fine piazzas to the south, offering a place for exercise in bad weather, or a lounging place in summer. A separate yard is provided for this house, and the patients receive every attention needed. The schoolroom for youngest boys is in this block. This building will amply accommodate twenty-five patients.

Across the road from the main building, and fronting a large lawn on Broad street, is the girls' cottage, or "North Division." Here twenty girls can live with all possible freedom allowed, having their separate yards for exercise, croquet, swings, tennis, their own schoolroom, etc. This building has recently been fitted with hot water heating apparatus in every room, and is in every way a beautiful home and school for those placed there. A lady matron is in charge of this building, with several assistants for her duties.

Very near the girls' house, and also but a few steps from the "Central" house, is the Department for Epileptic boys and Feeble Minded adults, called "Der Platz." A fine yard is seen both in front and rear of this building, and it is in every way a desirable home for this unfortunate class. About fifteen boys can be accommodated here with large sitting and living rooms, and all modern conveniences. A shop room, with tool benches and lathe adjacent, gives the recreation needed by this class, though we think more of walking or riding in the open air and some form of physical exercise for them. It is our aim to keep them out doors as much as possible in the air. They play tennis, croquet, or take long walks into the fields and woods, and, when it is cold or stormy, play indoor games of all sorts. Our lady teachers room in this building at present. These four cottages for children form the nucleus of the Institution. There are also numerous other buildings; a cottage for the Superintendent and his family, a cottage for servants, in the extension to which is the laundry, a Hospital cottage, fitted in every part for the care of contagious diseases, ready for instant use, permitting diseases to be treated entirely separated from one another (accommodation for twelve cases, with nurses), amply supplied with bath rooms and water closets, a farm cottage, a mile away from the main building, not now in use for children but capable of use as a home for farm workers at some future date. We have a large Stable, with twenty horses, thirty to forty cows, chickens, pigs, etc. A large assortment of carriages, sleighs, carts. We make great use of the Stable for our children's pleasure. All ride several times weekly, some daily. Some of our children have horses and carriages of their own.

Below these, further down the hill, are a number of storehouses, and here our sewerage is disposed of on the land. We are supplied by a most excellent gravity water system from springs and reservoir high above the village, giving force sufficient to throw a fire stream over any of our buildings. The main building has a standpipe, with hose on every floor ready for instant use, so has the Epileptic cottage. We have two hydrants within our grounds, hose and attachments of oar own provided ready for use, and can easily quench any ordinary conflagration with our own arrangements. This water system has enabled us to increase our supply of water closets, baths, and washing fixtures of all sorts. We believe our outfit in this line is absolutely unexcelled, having, for our possible ninety patients, forty-one water closets, fourteen baths in our main cottages.

For our school work we have rooms in all the four cottages fitted for this use, and also a small separate building for our highest grade of boys. This last has been recently refitted, and is very ample in size and equipment. Our school work is done differently in the different rooms, according to the needs of the pupils. It is entirely individual instruction. Variety is introduced by the light gymnastic drill at the Gymnasium some distance from the house, in which boys and girls take part. The larger boys have also a Military Drill at the same place daily, which they greatly enjoy, and which is invaluable in straightening their bad bodily carriage, teaching promptness, attention, thought.

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Connected with our Drill and Gymnasium Hall is a room where football, basket ball, or other games may be played at any time of year, where are ladders, parallel bars, chest weights, etc. A bowling alley and roller-skating rink are also in this building, of which full use is made, especially in bad weather.

In our Gymnasium Hall entertainments are given weekly through the winter season, in which children, teachers, and the Superintendent take part, consisting of tableaux, recitations, dialogues, etc., also views of many foreign countries shown with the stereopticon. These are greatly enjoyed by all our family. Our farm, including the lawns about the buildings, consists of some two hundred and sixty acres, the larger part of which is pasturage. We have some seventy acres of mowing land which supplies our horses and cattle with hay. In our vegetable gardens we raise all kinds of vegetables for our table use. Our orchards supply an unending quantity of good fruit. On our pasture land we can fat the beef used in the establishment, and do so in preference to using meat coming from unknown sources. We know we have no tuberculous cattle, and consume no tainted meat.

The country about here is hilly, very picturesque and beautiful. We look off many miles to the East over hills, forests and farms to the "Great Hill" of the Massachusetts Indians, Wachusett Mountain. By going a mile to the North, and behind the Institution, we can see thirty or forty miles away the peaks of mountains in Western Massachusetts, -- or even the Catskills in an exceptionally clear day, -- while Monadnock rears his lofty head, solitary and alone, forty miles away in New Hampshire. This Institution is located in a beautiful New England village, within five minutes' walk of churches, hotel, stores, postoffice, telegraph, telephone, town library, etc. The village is some distance from the railroad depot, but the prospect seems good for connection by trolley soon.

GEO. A. BROWN, A. B., M. D., CATHARINE W. BROWN, Superintendents.

A SMALL pamphlet was published in Worcester, January 1, 1851, entitled, "Circular of the Institution for the Education of Idiots, Imbeciles, and Children of Retarded Development of Mind." The writer, Dr. Hervey B. Wilbur, of Barre, details his experience in training and developing fifteen pupils "who, by reason of mental infirmity, are not fit subjects for ordinary school instruction." Eight of these cases, with their idiosyncrasies and individual improvement, are specifically delineated, with methods employed, portraying how much he has accomplished in two-and-one-half years of teaching.

In 1847, Dr.Wilbur saw in a number of Chamber's Journal an account of a visit, by one of its correspondents, to a school for training idiots, in Paris, in charge of Edouard Seguin. Later, he met in one or more numbers of a British medical journal a very glowing account of a professional visit to the same school, written by Dr. Conolly, one of the princes of British philanthropy. These two articles inspired him to relinquish his professional work, and devote his life to the same philanthropic purpose. For this work Dr. Wilbur possessed rare qualifications, indomitable will undeterred by the obstacles which ever oppose a novel undertaking, unlimited patience with the feeble efforts of his proteges, a genuine pity for the unfortunate, and faith in the divinity that presides over the feeblest humanity. A true scientist, he had no sympathy with the materialistic philosophy which would put out the light of the immortal soul. To the dignity and innate authority quietly controlling all, was added an unfailing fund of humor that often electrified the dulled intellect of a pupil, placing him for the first time en rappart with a master mind.

The decade commencing with 1842 shows a simultaneous awakening in Europe and America in behalf of the class styled Idiots. Dr. Guggenbuhl opened his school (for cretins) on the Abendberg in 1842, simultaneously with that of M. Saegert, at Berlin. In 1846, Dr. Kern established a school at Leipsig, and the writings of Drs. A. Reed, Twining, and J. Conolly gave birth to the first English institution at Bath. In 1848, Sir M. Peto devoted his own mansion, Essex Hall, Colchester, to the same cause. Scotland opened her first institution in 1852, and in June, 1853, was laid by Prince Albert the cornerstone of the school at Earlswood, Surrey.

Individual cases of idiocy in American schools for the blind, and the mute, had been taught for several years with a measure of success that greatly interested individual educators. But in 1842-3 the visits of Horace Mann and George Sumner to the training school of Edouard Seguin, at Bicetre, with their commendatory letters thereupon, gave a wide impetus upon the subject throughout the educational and philanthropic classes. The result was that memorials were presented to both legislatures of New York and Massachusetts, March 25, 1846, asking for state action as to the education of this defective class.

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The Massachusetts commission made two successive reports the same year, the first report containing a very able letter from Mr. Geo. Sumner, written in answer to one from Dr. S. G. Howe, chairman of the commission, asking for information respecting the school in Paris. The commission recommended the establishment of an experimental school, and the legislature made an appropriation to carry it on for three years. This experimental school was organized October 1, 1848, under the supervision of Dr. Howe, in one wing of the blind asylum at South Boston. It was considered so successful that at the end of two years the legislature doubled the appropriation and made provision for converting the experimental school into a permanent one October 1, 1851.

July 10, 1851, the legislature of New York passed an act to establish an asylum for Idiots, and making an appropriation therefor. In 1852 a private school was founded in Germantown, Pennsylvania, by Mr. J. B. Richards, formerly an able and successful teacher in the experimental school at South Boston, under the supervision of Dr. S. G. Howe. This school eventually became the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble Minded children at Media. The states of Connecticut and Ohio opened their institutions, respectively, in 1855 and 1857, Kentucky in 1860, and Illinois in 1865.

Observing the dates given above, it will be noted that the pamphlet mentioned on our opening page awards the priority, as to commencement in America, in favor of the private school opened in Barre, Massachusetts, by Dr. Hervey B. Wilbur in June, 1848.

Soon as the state of New York passed the act establishing an asylum for Idiots, a committee was appointed to select a superintendent. Said special committee, consisting of William L. Marcy and John C. Spencer, started to visit the Massachusetts Institution, under charge of Dr. Howe, and obtain his advice. On their route they stopped at Barre, in that state, to inspect the private school for Idiots, belonging to Dr. Wilbur. With him they spent parts of two days, and had a full opportunity of examining his pupils, investigating his system, and estimating his ability. So impressed were they both with the admirable condition of his school, they had such evidence of the great capacity of Dr. Wilbur, his devotedness to a wearisome and trying labor, and the value of his three years' experience, they returned to Albany and recommended his appointment as Superintendent. The full Board of Trustees immediately tendered the position to Dr. Wilbur, who accepted, after brief deliberation. The New York asylum was opened for the admission of pupils in the month of October, 1851, and at the time of the annual report in January, 1852, eighteen children had been received.

As successor for Superintendent of the private school in Massachusetts, Dr. George Brown, for two years a practising physician in Barre, was considered. Dr. and Mrs. Brown, both successful teachers previous to their marriage, had already become greatly interested in this unique educational experiment, which they were finally persuaded to carry on by taking charge of the boys remaining in the school after Dr. Wilbur's resignation, September 1, 1851. To illustrate their early surroundings a page may be quoted from the Journal of Psycho-Asthenics June, 1897.

Referring to pictures of the houses occupied by Dr. Wilbur, it is stated: Number One was too small for a school, and Dr. Wilbur moved to Number Two before receiving his second pupil. Both houses stood on the same sites then as now, and are exteriorly unaltered, save the loss of a quaint railing then over the porch of the frontdoor of Number Two, and removal of the school department. To the rear of mansion Number Two, which lodged these pupils, was then attached an unfinished portion of another edifice. This addition provided a large high room, open to the ridge pole, serving all educational and gymnastic purposes. Three ladders were erected at one end, and a rope swing dangled from the apex near by. A machine resembling a small horse power in one corner was very useful as a sedative treadmill for nervous boys, or an educator for imperfectly trained muscles of locomotion. Parallel bars stood by one window; a blackboard and letter board were on moveable frames; outline maps, charts, and pictures hung from the walls. Plain settees, chairs, and a high old-fashioned desk completed the inventory of furniture. On the table were school readers side by side with color cups and balls, a globe, blocks, counters, and boxes of beads, accompanied by primitive form and peg boards, designed by Dr. Wilbur and manufactured by the village carpenter. Balls, dumbbells and balancers were piled together on the floor. There were many advantages in this mingling of the literary and manual, considering the limited number of officials. Here, then, was the workshop where we endeavored to continue the ways and methods of our predecessor, remaining eighteen months before moving to more spacious and better arranged quarters. We were for a brief period teachers, supervisors, and attendants by turn, with a single domestic in the kitchen. the children sat with us at table that we might seek to cultivate good habits of eating, or in the sitting-room that we might direct their ways and continually prune their uncouth habits of body. Our boys were marked types of the defective class, each one an object lesson for our instruction. Such intimate association gave us practical insight of the characteristics, needs, and ways of reaching such darkened minds. When our helpless ones were safe in bed, we sat down to read M. Seguin's Traitment Moral, Hygiene et Education Des Idiots. When Dr. Wilbur sent his first carte-blanche to Europe for all books on the subject of Idiocy, this Treatise comprised all the information received.

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Life in Number Two way most instructive for the Superintendents, who were studying phases of evolution in unconscious cerebration as they strove to lead their uncanny pupils in the well beaten paths of ordinary school life. Here was received the first girl pupil described in the Record as most unprepossessing in appearance, but well developed in form, and head well proportioned. Eyes dull, face wearing an unmeaning grin, skin tanned by exposure to the sun, lips and chin sore from constant drooling. Articulation imperfect and words scanty, barely enough to express simple wants, all movements awkward and gait halting. Exceedingly willful and disobedient, never hesitating to use force to obtain her desires when refused. Fond of running away, and cunning in eluding vigilance of caretakers. Had been subject to frequent epileptic attacks from birth.

Forty years later a handsome boy of fourteen years, straight and active in body, winsome and intelligent in expression, came to us from St. Leonard's school, in England. He had been a pupil and choir boy there for three years, but spasms in early life, aggravated by a sunstroke, had developed a severe type of epilepsy. Later on we learned this attractive student was nephew of the girl pupil described above.

In this first building there was little room for growth in numbers, and practically no land. During the first year, a private residence on a quiet street was secured, with fifteen acres of land. To this building were added school and bedrooms sufficient to accommodate twenty pupils before taking possession in January, 1853. One large high room was reserved for gymnastic exercises, and the schoolrooms became sitting-rooms when classes were dismissed. But there was room in the grounds and health in the open air, which pupils and teachers enjoyed. In 1859, increasing numbers necessitated a separate building for physical exercises and games, so one was erected north of the playground with bowling alley and apparatus appropriate, and rooms for workshops in the basement. In 1872 larger playgrounds around the Central building were needed, so this gymnasium was removed quite a distance from the dwelling houses to a site that promises to be permanent. Since that date many improvements, changes, and additions have been made in this department. Several of the older pupils aided efficiently in the carpenter work and grading of the lawns. The roof has been raised, furnishing ladder room, storerooms and rendezvous for quiet games, or reading-room. The drill hall, with platform and piano for tableaux or stereopticon views, bowling alley in separate department, with floor room for roller skating, wide piazzas on three sides for outdoor promenades in wet weather, and rink for wheeling.

When our class of epileptics numbered eight, we found them too numerous for the highest mutual good, and felt obliged, morally speaking, to form another division in 1883 by erecting a fourth cottage planned especially for such patients, with a sunny schoolroom opening upon a wide piazza. A second building in the rear was fitted with shops for wood working, and games, when the weather prevented lawn pastimes and long tramps through the country, occupations found to be most conducive to their health and happiness. The number of this class has never been large at any one period, but the many years of experience, and the great variety of types presented have led us to heartily agree with Dr. West that "epileptic children cannot be educated with such as are healthy, partly for the sake of the latter, but at least equally so for their own; since the different regulations to winch they must be subjected, the difference in their education, their amusements, and often in their diet, would be to them a source of ceaseless distress." Reduction as to frequency of attacks, and some permanent cures have crowned our efforts. In one of the latter cases, the convulsions always occurred in the night, and the headache, accompanying the return of consciousness excused the careful diet, and rest as required. This patient never learned his trouble, neither did his associates. The scholastic knowledge gained was average with his years, and manual training educed a genuine love of work really profitable.

In the early years of our experience came up the question, would we receive into our family permanent residents? to which we acceded, and have found it a pleasant feature of our home life. As a corollary to this arrangement, when our older pupils have reached the highest point of mental development probable, in individual cases, we permitted some to give up the daily school drill, for freer home life, and occupation, as graduates. Observation since has convinced us that it is wiser to retain school discipline, as we now do for one session daily. This method keeps the mental powers in their best estate, and adds greatly to the happiness of each pupil in this class, shown by their regret when the teacher is absent for a vacation.

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At first in our private school we realized little educational or happifying influence from out-door occupation, as mothers feared their sons would be over-taxed, or were unwilling to have them engage in any duty judged menial from their social position. Now that manual training has gained its rightful position on the scholastic schedule, partly through the writings of Seguin, and largely the proving its value in schools for defectives, it is no longer criticised, but the education of the hand before the brain receives the primal consideration as its rightful due.

In the summer of 1869 we received a visit of two weeks from Dr. Edouard Seguin. He came from Syracuse, where he had been observing the New York State Asylum for Idiots as a "public charity." Thence he came to Barre to study the School for Feeble Minded Children, as "private and self-supporting." "We greatly enjoyed his coming, having learned from previous meetings that he was a gifted conversationalist, and his highest interest was centered in the education of the Idiot from both points of view, psychological and physiological. After leaving us he wrote, the following year, an article published in Appleton's Journal, viewing these two establishments as "types of two classes of institutions of two systems of physiological training." Dr. Seguin portrays the individual architectural features of the buildings, and the attractive surroundings of broad landscapes, with an artist's eye. He also delineates the school methods, and training systems educed by the Superintendents from their personal observation and experience, with true appreciation, as a co-worker. Summing up at the close of this article, he says, "both have been opened for the same class of children, and treat them by the same method, applied in both by the choicest women. In this they are alike; in everything else they differ.

(a) "The State institution is but a school where idiots are received, if they can improve, and kept as long as they do improve,

(b) "In it, the physiological treatment is applied mostly to groups, the children, constantly in contact, being raised up from idiocy by the incessant action of the whole on each.

(c) "The sexes are completely separated in the dormitories and gymnasium, -- not always at recess. They take together their meals, lessons, walks, musical exercises, dancing, and other entertainments. On the other hand:

(a) "The private institution is a school for the young and improving child, and a lifelong retreat for the hopeless cases.

(b) "In it the physiological method is applied to a pupil by a teacher, who carries him (with exclusive regard to his individuality) from instructive to intellectual operations, through personal imitation, etc.

(c) "The inmates live in separate buildings; boys and girls have their grounds, schools, teachers, matrons, attendants, etc., apart. Some even eat, and are taught, in their own rooms; the best of them only take their meals with the Doctor's family, and enjoy evening games. To sum up, it is difficult to understand, unless by sight, how the same thing can be done so well, and yet so differently, as it is at Syracuse and Barre. It is a pleasure and a duty to bestow upon them both, in their present condition of efficiency, unreserved praise."

CATHARNE W. BROWN.

GEORGE M. BROWN.
Tributes.

-From the Worcester Spy of May 7, 1892.-

DR. GEORGE BROWN, a resident of Barre for more than forty years, and proprietor of the extensive private institution for Feeble Minded Youth, died in New York early yesterday morning. He went to New York in impaired health about two months ago, and from assurances given by the surgeon from day to day it was supposed that he would be restored to health. The community was greatly shocked at the receipt of a telegram announcing his death. He was 67 years of age. He had always been a very active and public-spirited citizen, respected by all, rich and poor alike, and his death is a great loss to the town. For more than forty years Dr. Brown has been a vital and commanding influence in Barre, an influence diversified by his many-sided personality. To a dignified and honorable town he gave a further dignity and honor. He was very public-spirited, and had a far-reaching interest in all progress. In his professional career, eulogy can hardly overstep itself, and his life work will ever remain a monument to him and to the cause to which it was dedicated.

The "Barre Institution" has more than national repute. There, from the first, great intelligence and ability, high ideals, large-hearted benevolence and unflagging energy have combined in establishing an earnest, sympathetic, religious atmosphere.

Dr. Brown was one of those eminently individual men who, having a high purpose in life, steadfastly, without noise or uproar, followed it to the end; and this, with his clear insight and executive ability, made him a man of prominence. But these characteristics did not in any degree obscure the refined, well-bred intellectuality or the sensitive urbanity which were the chief factors of his personal charm. His rigid avoidance of all ostentation served to conceal a strong undercurrent of beneficence and charity.

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The love and reverence of his friends and the implicit, unquestioning trust and assurance of all who knew him were but the spontaneous tribute to great ability and courteous sympathy.

He has been the inspiration of not a few persons, and the love and gratitude of many people follow him to the hereafter.

-From the Barre Gazette, May 13, 1892.-

George Brown was born in Wilton, N. H., October 11, 1823. His parents were Ephraim and Sarah (King) Brown, who belonged to that hardy New Hampshire farming stock which has furnished so many able men and women to the country.

He fitted at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., then entered Burlington College, Vermont. Upon graduating from College, he chose the profession of medicine, and studied with Dr. Norman Smith, of Groton Mass., also attending lectures on medical topics at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, and the University of New York. Previous to entering upon the duties of his profession he also spent a year at Bellevue Hospital.

He came to Barre in 1850, and soon became a prominent young physician. Had he remained in the direct practice of medicine he would undoubtedly have ranked high in his chosen profession, but another and greater work was ready for his guiding hand and mind, the work that has given him prominence the world over. In June, 1848, Dr. Hervey B. Wilbur had started an Institution for Feeble Minded Youth, which was located in the building now known as the Jenkins' house, on Pleasant street. It was the first institution of the kind founded in this country, if not in the world, and was wholly a new experiment. In three years Dr. Wilbur had secured fourteen pupils, and had seen one or two other institutions of the kind founded in the country. In September, 1851, Dr. Brown became successor of Dr. Wilbur, who went to Albany, N. Y., at a call from that state to take charge of a public institution. From this small beginning in the heart of the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts, these institutions, doing so much good for mankind, have increased until there are numerous private ones, and eighteen states have public asylums accommodating between 6000 and 7000 pupils.

Dr. Brown entered upon his new work with that energy and pluck which has so characterized the man, and in two years his success had outgrown his accommodations; he was obliged to remove to a larger building, which was, accordingly, done in 1853. The house to which the Institution was moved was built by Willard Broad, and was the nucleus of the main building, as it stands at present. Almost constant additions have been made, and to-day the Institution is the largest private one in the country, with applications for admission from other countries, although the number has been kept within the limits of 100, that better facilities could be granted those in attendance.

Dr. Brown married, November 28, 1850, Catharine Wood, of Groton, Mass., who has been his constant aid and support through all these years.

Their son. Dr. Geo. A. Brown, has also been connected with the Institution since 1884.

Dr. Brown was not content with carrying out his own ideas, exclusive of what knowledge could be obtained by contact, comparison, and an interchange of opinions, thus he became a traveler of considerable extent. He visited nearly every State and Territory in the Union, and in 1873 made a four months' tour of Europe, visiting many public, and the most noted private Institutions for Feeble Minded. His reputation had preceded him, and his welcome was such as a pioneer in a great work should receive from his fellow-laborers for good. In the year 1884 he visited the Pacific coast, and spent three months in travel through the west and northwest. In January, 1889, he again went to Europe, making a circuit of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including a considerable stay in Palestine and Egypt.

He was an original member of the New England Psychological Society, for many years a councillor of the Massachusetts Medical Society, in 1889 president of the Worcester County Medical Society, also a member of the National Association of Superintendents of Asylums for the Insane, and a member and former president of the Association of American Superintendents of Institutions for Feeble Minded Youth, contributing valuable papers at different meetings. In his profession he was pre-eminently at the front. His life was substantially devoted to a study of how best to provide comfort and permanent help for the unfortunate ones committed to his charge. His was a pioneer work, for, at the time he became proprietor of the Institution here, nothing had been written in this country on the subject with which he was to deal, and there was but one authority in the world, -- Dr. Seguin, of France, whose book was not then known outside of his own language.

In the affairs of his adopted town he took an especial interest, and was always a leader in any local enterprise which should be for the benefit or beauty of the town. He was not an office-seeker, but, on the other hand, always refused to accept any office that his fellow-townsmen would have elected him to. He frequently served as moderator in the town meeting, and was a member of the school board for a few years; but beyond that no local office was accepted. In matters connected with the upbuilding of the town, he was ever active and ready to stand the burden in the accomplishment of any enterprise. Largely through his personal efforts and influence Barre secured her railroad advantages through the Massachusetts Central railroad. He was the prime mover in establishing and locating the Glen Valley Cemetery, which to-day owes its existence to his energy. He was the efficient President of that Association from the day of its birth. The beautiful soldiers' monument in the north park is another of the results of his efforts, and, as chairman of the Monument Commission, he served the people in an important measure. In educational progress he was ever on the alert, and lent his influence on the side of popular education, thus the people of Barre found no more efficient trustee of the Public Library than Dr. Brown. "When, in 1874, the town celebrated its 100th anniversary, his fellow townsmen could find no more prominent citizen to honor, and they chose him President of the day. In religion, he was a Congregationalist, and for forty years has served on the Parish Committee of the church of that denomination here. Where will he not be missed? In the Institution he did so much for, there his genial face will be missed; on the streets his kindly greeting will not be heard again; in the homes of hundreds who relied on his judgment, and entrusted their unfortunate to his care, his welcome assurance and advice will not be forthcoming; in the church, schools, everywhere, in fact, there is a vacant place; but the memory of a man who did so much, and was so much to everybody, is here, and will remain for generations. The funeral occurred Monday afternoon. All places of business were closed, and the Congregational Church was crowded. Rev. A. F. Bailey read appropriate selections, and Rev. J. F. Gaylord and Rev. Edwin Smith spoke on the character and works of the deceased. We cannot better close this sketch of a great life, than by giving tributes to the departed from two of his fellow townsmen.

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Rev. J. F. Gaylord, his pastor, says:

In the rare combination of high personal qualities which belonged to Dr. Brown, we find the secret of the universal love and esteem with which he was regarded by those who knew him. He was, in the highest sense of the term, a gentleman, -- a true Christian gentleman. Naturally genial, courteous, urbane, his religious experience and his peculiar work helped to bring these characteristics to unusual perfection. Here also is doubtless found one factor which has helped to make the Institution, which bears his name, so prosperous. Its patrons could not converse with him five minutes without feeling that this kindly, sympathetic man was one to whom the care of their unfortunate children might safely be entrusted. These virtues fitted him to be, in an eminent degree, a peace-maker. He studied "the things which make for peace." He was a man of decided and positive convictions, and instinctively hostile to everything which is base and wrong; but he was deferential to the opinions of others, and in his church and ecclesiastical society, in the various associations to which he belonged, and in the community, his pacific influence was constantly felt. His was a very sensitive nature, and I am told that, under provocation, he could at times speak or act hastily; but, if ever he went beyond due limits in this direction, he was quick to retract and make amends.

Among his fine qualities was a marked modesty of bearing. His early educational advantages and requirements were excellent; he was a man of wide reading, and of much study; he had traveled extensively; he had moved much among men in high educational and social spheres, but among all classes he bore himself as if utterly unconscious of any superiority. Indeed, he was modest almost to a fault. Had there been more of self-assertion, he might, at times, have carried his own plans against opposing influence, when, instead, he yielded to the judgment of others. Perhaps, however, his very hesitation to do so endeared him the more to those associated with him, and, on the whole, did not detract from his great usefulness. Had he desired them, and been less modest in matters of personal advancement, I have no doubt but that high political honors in the County and in the State, would have been given him. Dr. Brown always impressed one as wholly sincere; there was no guile or hypocrisy in him. Nothing was done merely for the sake of appearances. He was true, true to himself, to God and to his fellow-men. He was, to an eminent degree, large-hearted, taking into his interest and sympathy, not only the prosperity of this community, but also the great interests of progress and reform in the state and nation, and the advancement of Christ's kingdom throughout the world. His relations to his church and pastor were warm and lender. It was one of his great regrets, during his long illness, that he could not be present at the Sabbath services of the church; especially did he miss the privileges of the communion service. At our annual meetings he was wont to express to the brethren and sisters the love which he had for them and for the church. His religious faith seemed to be strong, as well as clear and simple; I have never heard him speak of doubts. His religious character ripened rapidly toward the close. It was good to talk with him. In the midst of great pain and suffering his trust in God was unfaltering and the Divine strength sustained him. The ordeal of sickness was evidently made to him a means of spiritual profit. I quote his own words written last February: "The past year has been to me one of vicissitudes and much pain of the deteriorating body at all times, yet I have had the comfort of many blessings and privileges from religious trust, and, far more than at any former period of my life, I have enjoyed the calm confidence of faith in Christ as my Saviour and Redeemer." Precious as his relation to Christ then was, he is now living in one which is nearer and more blessed; and while he lives in heaven a sainted soul in the presence of God, he lives on earth in the work he has done and in the hearts of us ail.

Another is selected from a sermon delivered by Rev. A. F. Bailey, at the Unitarian Church, last Sunday:

Often, in these days, it is the privilege of the dwellers in humble and small communities to walk in the company of those to whom it is divinely given to accomplish great things with small means, and to devise new ways by which the weak can be strengthened and the weary and feeble nourished, sustained and gladdened. Even so have we, of the town of Barre, been privileged, and beyond measure blessed, by the presence, and work among us for so many years, of a worthy companion of that saintly and apostolic multitude who, from the beginning of Time, have been eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, comfort to the distressed, joy to the sorrowful, bearing gently in their arms the tender little ones of God. He has gone out from among us now, into the higher life, well-fitted, as we fully trust, for great usefulness in the higher sphere of life and thought; but not without leaving the imprint of a worthy and helpful life behind him: a good and useful past that is well secured. It was his high and holy privilege, when here, to discover and unveil the image of God, in those of a class which the world, in all ages, has scorned, despised, revolted at, or, at best, but helplessly pitied: a class whom the great Plato would have had pitilessly slain by the citizens of his ideal Republic; their cases so seemingly hopeless that the most sanguine might well despair of their improvement and uplifting. It has been given to our brother, by tender care, profound study, unremitting toil, and patient waiting during the years that he has been among us, to bring to view manifestations of the Eternal Mind in those who seemed scarce lifted, in the scale of being, above the beasts that perish. Even as the sculptor, by his skill, brings beautiful statues out of unshapen blocks of marble, so he, by his toil and care, and God's good grace, has revealed mind and soul, where all seemed sensuous and brutal. He has brought hope into countless homes where, but for him, the shadow of despair must have brooded for long years. He has cared tenderly for many a helpless waif, whose fate would have been a bitter thing, had it not found anchorage and safe harbor in the borne of help and healing which his loving heart, true mind and willing hands prepared and maintained. There is grief to-day in many homes which his life and thought and love have blessed, even as there is grief in the hearts of us, who have found him, amidst all the cares of his professional and philanthropic work, never too busy or too occupied to assume and bear even more than his fair share of the burdens of the public good; but it is a grief which has great compensations. He leaves with us the record and the memories of a life well-spent, a life pregnant with uses, and filled with those "Actions of the just," which "Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust." He has gone, but his work abides; earth pronounces it good, and we believe that heaven will do no less. He has been able to teach the darkened mind how to find its way on earth, and to look toward the skies, confessing "God's kind control." He has brought dull eyes to see the beauty of the world, and stammering lips to sing praises to the Most High, and, when naught else could be done, he has brought comfort and peace to souls that must wait for God's fair revelation until for them the fashion of this world shall have passed away. It has passed away for him: surely it must be in order that the fashion of a grander world and the work of a nobler life may be revealed to him.

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The Worcester District Medical Society records show the following remarks:

"Dr. Brown was in the truest and best sense a good man. Dignified and courteous, yet approachable and unreserved; scrupulously regardful of the rights and feelings of even the humblest of those about him; generous to the poor and the unfortunate; public-spirited, conscientious and faithful in the discharge of every duty; recognized everywhere and by all as the very soul of probity and honor, and above all walking in the daily confession of a high accountability, -- he approached, as nearly as it could seem possible for man to do, the ideal of a Christian gentleman. His life has been eminently a useful one, and honorable in all respects. All who knew him have lamented his death, but none so deeply as the people among whom he dwelt. There he is mourned as they would mourn the loss of a father, brother, or dearest friend."

The Society also passed the following:

Resolved, That the Worcester District Medical Society receives, with sincere sorrow, the official announcement of the death of its distinguished associate. Dr. George Brown, of Barre, and that it avails itself of the present occasion to place upon its records an expression of its profound respect for his character as a man, and of its high appreciation of the great and enduring work he accomplished in ameliorating and improving the condition of the unfortunate beings whom, he made the special objects of his care.

Resolutions passed by the New England Psychological Society:

"WHEREAS, In the providence of God, our friend and associate. Dr. George Brown, of Barre, has been called away from us after a long and well spent life,

Resolved, That we, members of this Society, wish to express our appreciation of his courteous and thoughtful manner, his kindly and sympathetic nature, and his sincere Christian character -- qualities which at once won the esteem and confidence of all who knew him.

Resolved, That as a Society we place on record our appreciation of his life-long devotion to his chosen work of educating and caring for the feeble-minded -- a specialty in which he was a pioneer, and in which he achieved distinguished success, and where, by reason of his superior attainments, rare personal qualifications, and steadfastness of purpose, he was able to do much toward compelling public recognition of the duty of society to this unfortunate class.

Resolved, That we tender to the wife and family of our departed brother our heartfelt sympathy in their bereavement.

Resolved, That a copy of these Resolutions be sent to the family of Dr. Brown, that they be entered upon the records of this Society and sent for publication to the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.

On February 22, 1892, Dr. Brown received the following greatly-prized letter from the Directors of the Barre Library Association:

"George Brown, M. D., President of the Association: --

"DEAR SIR: -- As directors of the Barre Library Association we desire to express to you our most sincere regret at your protracted illness, and your inability to be present at our meetings. We have no doubt of your continued interest in the prosperity of our institution, acid that in the quiet of your room your large-heartedness still embraces the living interests that center in our work of carrying forward the great designs of the Library Association. It is with no small degree of pleasure that we look back and recognize your guiding hand in shaping and putting in operation all the grand work of its initiatory history and its early development, and it is a cause for congratulation to have observed with what liberality and personal attention you, more than any other person, labored to lay the foundations of this institution broad, deep and secure, both for the benefit of the present and future generations. While others, with munificent gift and endowment, have made it possible to carry forward to completion our present acquirements, we recognize the inspiration that sprang from your heart and found an answering response from generous souls that went out with yours for the living issues that will always find a center within the walls of our cherished building. We never meet without feeling the personal loss of your presence. Our hearts are full of sympathy for you in your illness, and our prayer is that your health may be restored. We feel sure that you have a right to take great satisfaction in your hours of meditation that you have been permitted to see the fruits of your labor, and to know that you have been the means of overcoming' the obstacles which have been met. And now yon can realize the pleasure that every boy and girl, and those of more mature years who pass through the open doors of our Library to obtain its lasting treasures, will enjoy in thanking you who, by your forethought and efforts, have proved an almoner in act and fact. Our hearts have been woven together in one common purpose, and now, dear air, in their fullness and sincerity we wish for you the benediction of heaven's best favors, and may your peace of mind be the peace that passeth all understanding."

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Resolutions of the Library Association Directors:

WHEREAS, The all-wise God has removed by death the dearly beloved President of our Association, Dr. George Brown, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of the town, and the head of the Institution he has here established, therefore,

Resolved, That, in the death of Dr. Brown, this Association has lost one of its earliest and warmest friends who, from the inception of its history, gave to it so much of his energy, rare executive ability, and liberal spirit. With clear conception and sagacity he saw its advantages, and felt its requirements and, with almost prophetic eye, comprehended its future possibilities in all its different lines of educational work. With modesty and urbanity of spirit, he bore more than his full share in the plans and details of the living issues committed to our care, whether they related to the Library proper for general culture, its reading-rooms for new and fresh thought, its lecture-hall for a broader intelligence, or a place for a museum, the study of natural history and the adornment of art, and where in the near or far-off future the historian and genealogist may find a beautiful field for his research, as it relates to the town or its families, -- such was his large-heartedness and such his fond ambition as he walked with us in the paths of duty, labor and pleasure.

Resolved, That the town deeply mourns the loss of a citizen whose kindly and pervasive spirit seemed to draw all hearts to him, and by some happy influence which always appeared to go with his presence, he carried inspiration forward to others, and was foremost to encourage and aid with generous hand any plan for the best welfare and prosperity of the town.

Resolved, That we revere and honor his memory for what he has accomplished in his chosen sphere of professional life. He was a clear and analytical student, a keen observer, quick to discover and apply such agencies as were best suited to accomplish the great purpose of his activities. He encompassed his surroundings as with a charm, and made every available attainment contribute to cheer and give new'' life to the class to whom his ministrations had been directed. His version of the earnestness of life and its possibilities had been broadened and deepened by his association with the leading men of this and other countries, who were engaged in the same realm of thought and experience. His work was a philanthropic work, and in such labor of love and devotion but few men have taken higher rank or accomplished more. The Institution he established and developed here will stand as a monument to his pre-eminent ability.

Resolved, That we extend our most sincere and tender sympathy to the bereaved wife and to the son, who have with one heart and one purpose been united with the life work of our departed brother and friend, and we pray that the light that shines beyond the dark clouds may ever cheer their path.

His church associates have this to say of him at Parish meeting:

"For two-score years closely identified with this church and society, and during a large part of that time holding an important official relation to the society, his contributions to it were munificent and the time and effort which he devoted to its interests were invaluable, and large as were his gifts, and highly important as were his personal services, his noble Christian character, his genial bearing, his marked love for his brethren, his earnest devotion to the things which make for peace were of no less value, and constitute a priceless legacy which we shall carefully cherish."

The Association of Superintendents of Institutions for Feeble Minded has on its records the following:

This Association has heard of the death of Dr. George Brown, of Barre, Massachusetts, with feelings of intense regret. His loss to our Association is irreparable. He has been identified with the work in which we are engaged for more than forty years, and to his ministrations and wise counsels this Association is largely indebted for its success.

We feel that we cannot emphasize too strongly his great ability as a physician, a teacher, and a member of this body. He was always ready to give his time and his means to the poor, his talent to his profession, and his counsel and assistance to all who stood in need of them.

To him was given a measure of success in his specialty that placed him in the foremost rank of those teachers and physicians who have ministered to the care and training of the idiot. All committed to his care were sure of his best efforts in their behalf, and of the tenderest sympathy of his kindly nature.

None knew George Brown but to love him, and in his death we are painfully conscious that another link is dropped from the already short chain of our Association. Therefore, be it

Resolved, That we tender to Mrs. Catharine "W. Brown, his beloved wife and faithful co-laborer, and to his son. Dr. George A. Brown, our tenderest sympathy in this, their greatest trial, and that this report be entered upon our minutes, upon a page set apart for the purpose, as a special mark of our respect for his memory.