FITZ-GREENE HALLECK.
A MEMORIAL.
Mr. President:
Mr. Duyckinck, the Chairman of the Committee to which I have the honor to belong, has prepared some resolutions, expressive of the sincere grief which this Society feels at the recent decease of Fitz-Greene Halleck. It devolves upon me, in accordance with a time-honored custom, to introduce them with a brief review of the career of our late illustrious associate. I am aware, however, of an increasing hoarseness, which will prevent me addressing you in person; and as our excellent librarian, Mr. Moore, has, at my solicitation, promised to take the load off my shoulders, I am only too happy to hand these papers to him.
This is a New York Historical Society. It is a living register of deeds and men. From its accumulations of the records of the past—of the records of our common Country in general—we turn with more affectionate interest to those themes which are peculiarly local, to those acts which have added a lustre to this city, to those actors who lived, and breathed, and moved among us; who have formed a part of our crowded streets, and our busy thoroughfares.
