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celebration of the centennial anniversary of the birth of ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, on the 14th day of September instant, and the cooperation of the society in the objects of the proposed celebration; whereupon the following named members were elected delegates to represent the society on that occasion, viz.:-Hon. Marshall P. Wilder; Hon. George B. Upton; Winslow Lewis, M.D.; John H. Sheppard, Esq.; Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D.; Col. T. W. Higginson; William B. Towne, Esq., and Col. Albert H. Hoyt.

The thanks of the society were ordered to the donors of books, pamphlets, &c., and the consideration of the report of the committee on the revision of the by-laws was postponed to 3 o'clock P.M. of the 22d instant, to which time the meeting was adjourned.

Boston, Wednesday, Sept. 22. An adjourned meeting was held this afternoon, Frederic Kidder, Esq., presiding.

The report of the committee on the by-laws offered at the June meeting, was taken up, section by section, and, after amendment, was adopted by the vote of three fourths of the members present.

The death of Rev. Joseph B. Felt, LL.D., a former president of the society, was announced; and the following resolutions, offered by Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., were passed.

Resolved,-That in the recent removal by death of the Rev. Joseph Barlow Felt, LL.D., the society would devoutly recognize the agency of a righteous Providence, and would bow with submission to His holy will.

Resolved, That this society and the interests of History generally are largely indebted to Dr. Felt, who was one of our earliest presidents and an editor of the NEW-ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER AND ANTIQUARIAN JOURNAL, for the deep interest he took in historical and genealogical researches, especially at a period when that subject had not received, in this country, the comparatively scientific and thorough consideration which has more recently elevated it to a high and honorable position in the department of letters.

Resolved, That the corresponding secretary transmit an attested copy of these resolutions to the widow of Dr. Felt.

Boston, October 6.-A quarterly meeting was held this afternoon, at the usual time and place, the president in the chair.

The librarian reported that during the month of September there had been added to the library, mainly by gifts, twenty-two bound and five unbound volumes, three hundred and forty-seven pamphlets, and a MS. copy of a brief but eloquent eulogy on the character of General Washington, written by a distinguished German who visited him at Mount Vernon, but whose name has not yet been ascertained. Among other donations possessing antiquarian interest is a "piece of the wainscoting of a chamber in the house where Alexander Pope, the poet, was born in 1688." This building, owned and occupied by his father, who was a silk mercer, was situated in Plough court, Lombard street, London, and was being demolished on the 18th of August, 1860, when this relic was procured by G. A. Somerby, Esq., of Boston, a member, and forwarded to the society.

Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, the corresponding secretary, reported that he had received letters accepting resident membership from the following named gentlemen: Hon. Frederick Smyth, of Manchester, N. II.; George Stevens, Esq., of Lowell, Mass.; Charles H. Guild, Esq., of East Somerville, Mass.; Benjamin A. G. Fuller, Esq., Rev. Samuel F. Upham, and Otis Humphrey, M.D., of Boston; and Joseph G. E. Larned, Esq., of the city of New-York. The historiographer read biographical sketches of two members recently deceased, viz.: Hon. Joshua V. H. Clark, of Onondaga, N. Y., and Rev. Joseph B. Felt, LL.D., of Salem, Massachusetts.

Col. Almon D. Hodges read the third and concluding paper on the "Dorr rebellion." The thanks of the society were voted to him for his valuable and entertaining papers.

The president referred to the recent death of Rev. Dr. Felt, and was followed by J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., who briefly sketched the literary and private character of the deceased, with whom he had been intimately acquainted and associated for many years. Mr. Thornton offered, and on motion of Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D.D., the society adopted, the following resolution, viz.:

Whereas, Joseph Barlow Felt, LL.D., an early friend and efficient President of this society, has died (Sept. 8, 1869), in serene old age, and Christian hope, after a life of industry and usefulness,

Resolved, That we record his death with profound respect for his scrupulous integrity, warm heart, and distinguished services in the local and general history of New-England, and as an example in his own life of the good old Puritans whom he revered and with the history of whose institutions his name is identified.

A nominating committee was chosen, consisting of William B. Towne, Esq., Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D.D., Col. Almon D. Hodges, J. F. Hunnewell, Esq., and Edward S. Rand, Jr., Esq.

The meeting was then adjourned till the first Wednesday in November, at 3 o'clock, P.M. Boston, November 3.—An adjourned meeting was held this afternoon, the president in the chair.

The librarian reported the donations since the last meeting as eight volumes, thirty-two pamphlets, a few broadsides and some manuscripts of great value. To William S. Appleton, Esq., the society is indebted for a broadside giving a genealogical tree of the Emperors of Delhi of the house of Tamerlane, showing the descent of some twenty crowned heads, who

have successively reigned in that empire, down to the last, who was recently dethroned and died not many months since. This pedigree is in the language of the country, giving many collateral branches, and is a great curiosity.

The corresponding secretary reported that he had received a letter from the Hon. Francis J. Parker, of Boston, accepting resident membership.

The historiographer read biographical sketches of two deceased members, viz.: Hon. David Lowrey Swain, LL.D., of Chapel Hill, N. C., president of the University of North Carolina, and John G. Locke, Esq., of Boston.

Rev. Lucius R. Paige, D.D., of Cambridgeport, read a paper giving a very curious and full history, from the Middlesex records, of the earliest case of witchcraft in Cambridge.The trial of the supposed witch brought out in detail most amusing reasons why she was accused. Among them were, chiefly, the tormenting a neighbor's young daughter with violent illness, by frequently visiting the dwelling to borrow fire, and that when they refused to lend fire the afflicted child was well. A number of the most respectable citizens of the neighborhood testified to often seeing a very strange bird flying about her premises, a very evil looking bird, and such an one as they never saw before, and which they all tried to kill with stones, but could never hit it, and it always flew away towards the dwelling of the accused.

One witness testified that they actually saw the bird enter the accused Mrs. H.'s dwelling. They also testified that the habits of her poultry testified against her. The result of the trial was an acquittal, after which the accused instituted suits for defamation of character, which brought out more curious evidence from some of the respectable citizens of Cambridge. This was not far from 1660. The accused was about sixty years of age, rather younger than most persons who have been accused of the crime of witchcraft; and she lived to be over seventy years of age, without any further complaint against her of the kind. The scene of this was on the locality, or near it, of the Botanical Gardens.

The directors nominated eighteen resident members and one corresponding member, who were duly elected.

Mr. Kidder introduced a resolution calling for a committee, of which the president was to be chairman, to consider the historical importance of the Boston massacre, and the propriety of celebrating that event. A committee, consisting of Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Frederic Kidder, Esq., Winslow Lewis, M.D., Hon. George B. Upton, Charles O. Whitmore, Esq., Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, and Gen. A. B. Underwood, was chosen.

The meeting was then adjourned to Wednesday the 17th inst., for the purpose of acting upon the proposed amendment to the constitution.

Boston, Nov. 17.-An adjourned meeting was held at 3 o'clock this afternoon to consider and act upon the amendment to the constitution proposed in September. After some discussion, a vote was taken and the amendment failed of adoption.

BOOK-NOTICES.

The Ancestry of General Grant and their Contemporaries. By EDWARD CHAUNCEY MARSHALL, A.M., author of "The History of the United States Naval Academy," &c. New York: Sheldon & Co. 1869. 12mo. pp. xiii. and 186.

A few years ago, Richard A. Wheeler, Esq., of Stonington, Ct., with praiseworthy industry and perseverance succeeded in tracing the ancestry of President Grant, from his native State of Ohio, through Pennsylvania to Connecticut, and there connecting him with the Windsor family of his name. He showed that the president was descended from Matthew Grant, who is supposed to have come to New England with the first settlers of Dorchester, in the Mary and John, in the spring of 1630; though the first positive evidence of his being in this country is his admission as a freeman of Massachusetts, May 18, 1631 (ante, iii. 91), and the first proof of his being in Dorchester is the entry of his name in the town records, April 3, 1633 (ante, xxi. 330). Matthew Grant removed from Dorchester to Windsor, Ct., in the fall of 1635, being one of the first settlers of this town. Here he was chosen to the responsible office of surveyor, and subsequently to that of recorder or town clerk, the duties of which offices he fulfilled honestly and faithfully. An extensive genealogy of his descendants is given by Henry R. Stiles, M.D., in his History of Ancient Windsor, but in this genealogy the line of the president is brought down only to his great-great-grandfather, Noah Grant, born 1692, the great-grandson of the immigrant. Mr. Wheeler published, at the time, in a newspaper, the result of his researches. From this and Dr. Stiles's book, an article was compiled for the REGISTER, which was printed in vol. xxi. pp. 173-6. The work of Dr. Stiles contains many details relative to the life of Matthew Grant, the VOL. XXIV.

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stirps of this family; but neither his book, nor the article by Mr. Wheeler, nor that in the REGISTER, furnishes many particulars concerning any of the other ancestors of General Grant in the direct line.

There exists, even in republican America, where each one stands or falls by his own merit and exertions, a curiosity-and certainly this curiosity is a laudable one-to learn the character and history of the progenitors of those who have in any way distinguished themselves in the annals of their country. The author of the work before us has spared no pains to gratify this curiosity so far as regards the ancestors of General Grant; and the zeal and diligence with which he has engaged in the investigation have been rewarded with commensurate success.

The present work is divided into two parts-the first containing biographical sketches of the direct ancestors of General Grant, and the second, miscellaneous papers illustrating the subject. The sketches are written in an animated style, and are interspersed with graphic pictures of life and manners. More or less matter which has never before been printed is found in all of them. The sketches of the president's father, Jesse R. Grant; of his grandfather, Capt. Noah Grant, a revolutionary soldier; of his great-grandfather, Capt. Noah Grant, who served in the French and Indian wars; and of his emigrant ancestor, Matthew Grant, are particularly full.

Of the "Miscellaneous Papers," the account of the Scottish clan of Grant, from which the general is probably descended; the notices of early settlers of Windsor, who were contemporary with Matthew Grant, and of their descendants, many of whom have attained distinction, and General Grant's genealogy, may be mentioned as exhibiting careful research. Here also will be found extracts from Matthew Grant's records; his own will and that of his grandson's grandson, Lieut. Solomon Grant, killed in the Crown Point Expedition, in 1756; the Muster Roll of Capt. Noah Grant, the same year; a notice of the Delano family, and the inaugural address of President Grant.

The work deserves an extensive circulation, and we hope it will receive it. The volume has a good index and is beautifully printed. Besides this work and the History of the Naval Academy, named on the title-page, General Marshall has published a pamphlet entitled, Are the West Point Graduates Loyal? and two school books, The Book of Oratory and The First Book of Oratory.

J. W. D.

The Andros Tracts: being a Collection of Pamphlets and Official Papers issued during the Period between the Overthrow of the Andros Government and the Establishment of the Second Charter of Massachusetts. Boston Published by the Prince Society. 2 Vols. sm. 4to. Vol. I. 1868, pp. liv. and 215; Vol. II. 1869, pp. xxxiv. and 346.

The two handsome volumes before us form the fifth and sixth volumes of the publications of the Prince Society. The previous issues of this society have all been noticed in the REGISTER. The present work has been compiled and edited by William H. Whitmore, Esq., the corresponding secretary of that society. The title indicates fully the nature of the contents, which are chiefly reprints of pamphlets and broadsides issued in England and America during the three years of uncertain rule in Massachusetts that followed the deposition of Andros. They relate to that event and to the efforts made to secure the restoration of the old charter for that colony, and, that failing, to obtaining a new one with as many of the old privileges as could be secured. To these printed documents some manuscript documents illustrating the subjects are added. Mr. Whitmore has prefixed to the first volume a memoir of Sir Edmund Andros, and to the second an account of the services of Rev. Increase Mather, D.D., as the agent of Massachusetts, particularly in procuring the charter of William and Mary. In preparing the former much unpublished material has been used. The elaborate pedigree placed on record at the Heralds' College by Sir Edmund, in 1686, a few days before he sailed for New-England to assume its government, is for the first time here printed in full. His will, as recorded in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in 1713, is also given at length. Important assistance from Col. Joseph L. Chester, in prosecuting these researches, is acknowledged. The character of Andros is here portrayed in more favorable colors than those in which it has been drawn by New-England writers generally; and, really, in more favorable colors than it seems to us to deserve. But Mr. Whitmore has, in making his collection of documents, given those which contain the facts and arguments of those who opposed him as well as those of his friends and supporters, so that the readers of these volumes will be able to form an opinion for themselves upon his merits and demerits.

Many of the tracts here reprinted are exceedingly rare, so that much difficulty has been experienced in obtaining copies from which to print. The period is an interest

ing one in the history of our State and of New-England. Much the same spirit was manifested by our people at that time as was shown by their descendants at the Revolution, nearly a century later.

The volumes are neatly printed by Messrs. T. R. Marvin & Son, and are embellished with portraits of Sir Edmund Andros and Rev. Increase Mather. The portrait of the former is now for the first time engraved from the original painting in the possession of Amias Charles Andros, Esq., of London, a descendant of a brother of Sir Edmund, and the representative of his family, who has furnished Mr. Whitmore a photograph for the purpose and has also aided him in his biographical investigations.

The edition of these tracts consists of two hundred and ten copies, of which twenty are on large paper. Only fifty of the small paper copies are offered for sale, and collectors whose speciality is American history will do well to secure them. J. W. D. Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Watertown. Collected by WILLIAM THADDEUS HARRIS, LL.B., author of the Cambridge Epitaphs. With Notes by EDWARD DOUBLEDAY HARRIS. Boston: 1869. Large 8vo. pp. 70.

In the year 1849, upwards of twenty years ago, when the REGISTER was in its infancy, the name of William Thaddeus Harris was borne on the cover of this periodical as its editor. Though a young man, he possessed remarkable qualifications for the position, which had already been so well filled by his learned predecessors, Rev. Dr. Cogswell and Mr. Drake. From his father and grandfather, he inherited a strong love for antiquarian pursuits, and like them, he was a painstaking and accurate investigator of historical and genealogical subjects. Till his death in 1854, he was an occasional contributor to these pages. His character as a writer and a man is portrayed with fidelity in a tribute to his memory by his classmate, Prof. Francis J. Child, which appeared in the REGISTER (ix. 99) soon after his death.

Mr. Harris published his Cambridge Epitaphs in 1845, while he was a student at Harvard College. The greater part of the Watertown Epitaphs, now for the first time printed, were collected by him and arranged for publication in the summer of 1852, when, as his brother informs us, "his failing health hardly sufficed for the task." Dying two years later, he left his work in manuscript, but lacking the biographical notes which he intended to append to the inscriptions as he had done in his previous work. This deficiency has been supplied by his brother, Edward D. Harris, Esq., who has carefully revised the transcript and added the epitaphs bearing date subsequent to 1800. He has also compared the inscriptions with a copy of them made from the stones by Frank Winthrop Bigelow, Esq., in 1867.

The editor, who has himself won a desirable reputation as a genealogist by his contributions to this periodical, and by his other publications, has performed his task with good taste and judgment. The notes are brief and pertinent to the subject. The arrangement of the epitaphs here is alphabetical; that of the Cambridge Epitaphs was chronological. Though something can be said in favor of the present style of arrangement, we confess that we prefer the former, especially as the index contains the names of the persons whose epitaphs are printed, all alphabetically arranged. The book is printed, and bound in a handsome manner.

J. W. D.

A Monogram on Our National Song. By the Rev. ELIAS NASON, M.A.

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Condisce modus, amanda

Voce quos reddas: minuentur atrae
Carmine curae."

[HORACE, Car., lib. iv., car. xi.

I knew a very wise man, that believed that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation. [ANDREW FLETCHER.

Albany: Joel Munsell. 1819. 8vo. pp. 69.

The members of our society who had the good fortune, nearly nine years ago, to listen to the able paper by their eloquent associate, Rev. Mr. Nason of Exeter N. H., now of North Billerica, Mass., on Patriotic National Music, will rejoice to learn that, at length, he has permitted it to be published, so that they have now an opportunity to possess it in print. The following notice of the work is from the Boston Evening Transcript of Sept. 29, 1869.

"Rev. Mr. Nason never fails to secure the attention of his readers. His productions, always clothed in elegant and often in glowing language, bear at the same time evidence of original thought, and are filled with the result of careful research, pursued frequently in by-ways that would not attract the notice of the common investigator.

"The germ of the work before us was composed as a paper for the New-England Historic-Genealogical Society, in the spring of 1861, during that outburst of patriotism which followed the fall of Sumter, and while the men of the North were gallantly rallying for the preservation of the Union. It was read before that society on the 5th of June in the above year. Its eloquent reflex of the spirit of the hour united with its other merits to commend it to the hearts of his hearers, and their approval was warmly expressed. Afterwards it received modification to fit it for a popular lecture, and during the last few years it has been delivered as such before many of the literary institutions of the land in their public courses of lectures. It is now enlarged and otherwise altered, so as to render it more suitable for its present purpose.

"The author here gives, with his usual ability, historical sketches of the songs and tunes which have been most popular in this country, from Yankee Doodle and others which go back to colonial times, down to those that roused the enthusiasm of the people and cheered the hearts of the loyal soldiers in the late trying times.

"Mr. Nason has chosen to call his production a monogram, rather than a monograph, which has a similar derivation, considering the former word as making less pretence and better adapted to express the style in which he has treated his subject.

"The publisher has brought out the volume with clear typography and a rubricated title-page, that render it worthy of a place by the side of the other beautiful volumes which have issued from his press."

J. W. D.

Selections from the Public Documents of the Province of Nova-Scotia. Published under a Resolution of the House of Assembly, passed March 15, 1865. Edited by THOMAS B. AKINS, D.C.L., Commissioner of Public Records. The Translation from the French by BENJAMIN CURREN, D.C.L. Halifax, N. S.: Charles Annand, Publisher. 1869. 8vo. pp. 755.

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On the 30th of April, 1857, on motion of the Hon. Joseph Howe, the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia adopted a resolution in regard to their ancient records and documents, to the effect that the governor be requested to cause those that would illustrate the history and progress of society in that province to be brought together for use. Subsequent acts were passed, and copies of documents obtained from the State-Paper office in London and from the archives of Quebec, some of which were originally obtained at Paris. The preparation and publishment of the volume before us was the result. Says Mr. Akins: In preparing this volume, I have selected, as the portions of our archives which possess the greatest historical value:-the documents relating to the Acadian French inhabitants and their removal from Nova-Scotia - to the encroachments of the French authorities of Canada on the territories of Nova-Scotia― to the siege of Fort Beausejour in 1755, and the war on this continent, which terminated in the downfall of the French power in America-the papers connected with the settlement of Halifax in 1749, and the first British colonization of the province—and, lastly, the official correspondence preparatory to the establishment of a Representative government, in the year 1758."

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The expulsion of the French Acadians from Nova-Scotia is an important event in the history of British America, and has lately derived peculiar interest from the frequent reference made to it by modern writers. Although much has been written on the subject, yet, until lately, it has undergone little actual investigation, and in consequence, the necessity for their removal has not been clearly perceived, and the motives which led to its enforcement have been often misunderstood. I have, therefore, carefully selected all documents in possession of the government of this province that could in any way throw light on the history and conduct of the French inhabitants of NovaScotia, from their first coming under British rule, until their final removal from the country."

An impartial history of the French neutrals, as it would appear, has not yet been written. Haliburton, Murdoch and others have published brief sketches of that peculiar people, so has Longfellow in poetry, and Mrs. Williams, also, in traditionary tale, but not a tithe of the story has been told. It remains for some diligent and accurate student to collect from the volumes in the Massachusetts archives, and from such documentary sources as are furnished in the work before us, and give to the world, so far as may be, a truthful account of these expatriated Acadians and of their singular fate. Judicious foot-notes, chiefly of a biographical character, have been supplied by the editor. A sheet in fac-simile of the articles of submission and agreement made at Boston, December 15, 1749, by delegates from the Penobscot, Norridgewock, St.

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