ing fugitive slaves. Though many of his neighbors sympathized with his views, he alone had the courage to receive the fugitives to his house, which soon became generally known among the colored people and the friends of the slave, as one of the most important stations upon the Underground Railroad. During his twenty years' residence at Newport he sheltered on an average more than one hundred fugitives annually, and such was his skill in evading pursuit, which was often close, that not a single fugitive whom he aided was ever captured. In this work he had the sympathy and efficient help of his wife.

On becoming convinced of the wrong of selling or using the products of slave labor, on which the profits of his business largely depended, he resolved to deal only in articles known to be the product of free labor, and, in 1847, removed to Cincinnati, where he opened a store for the sale of such articles only. Here he resided for the remainder of his life, and continued his work in behalf of the fugitives, nearly all who passed through the city being concealed in his house till they could be forwarded in safety. The volume abounds in interesting and often exciting narratives of the various cases in which he was engaged.

In 1864 he was sent to England by the Western Freedmen's Aid Commission, to solicit aid for the freedmen. His mission was entirely successful, and he remained abroad about a year, addressing meetings in England, Scotland and Ireland, and gaining the esteem and confidence of many of their most prominent and liberal citizens. He died September 16, 1877, at Avondale, near Cincinnati, full of years and honor.

The names of Levi Coffin and his wife Catharine Coffin ought to be held in lasting remembrance for their unselfish services to a despised and almost friendless class of people. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'

[By T. B. Peck, Esq., of Melrose.]

Biographical Encyclopædia of Massachusetts of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Metropolitan Publishing and Engraving Co. 1879. [Royal 4to. pp. iii.+472+v.] On the back, but not on the title-page, this book is labelled Vol. I. How many volumes of this rich and sumptuous work are to follow does not appear; and probably that question is left to be decided by circumstances. The present volume contains biographical notices, longer or shorter, of one hundred and forty Massachusetts men, in various walks of life, merchants, manufacturers, lawyers, doctors, statesmen, &c. So far as we discover, the only names that have ever worn the title of Rev. are Alonzo Ames Miner, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this respect the work might be called a little secular, perhaps the Scotch deacon might say "warldly." Not far from seventy of these biographical notices are accompanied by choice and elegant engravings of their subjects. Another somewhat marked peculiarity of the work is, that the men commemorated are, for the most part, alive, some of them in old age and some in middle life. Of the dead, one or two have passed away since the volume was begun. The worthy president of our Society, the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, finds a fitting place in these pages. The long and discriminating notice of his life and public services is accompanied with a clear and life-like engraving. The volume numbers nearly five hundred pages, including the engravings, preface, index, &c. It is printed on rich and heavy paper, and is elegantly bound,-a work designed to serve for a parlor ornament rather than as a hand-book for easy and frequent reference.

[By the Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, D.D., of West Newton.]

A Memorial of Caleb Cushing from the City of Newburyport. [Motto and Seal.] Newburyport Published by order of the City Council. 1879. [Royal 8vo. pp. 178.]

"Caleb Cushing," says a recent writer, "belonged to that galaxy of public men, who, forty years ago, were in the eyes of the whole nation. Webster, Everett, Choate and Cushing form a group such as had never before appeared in this Commonwealth, and may never appear again. Their great fame was far from being due to the high public station they filled; but to their commanding abilities, extensive literary culture, great learning and eloquence, and supremacy in their professions. They were scholars, orators, statesmen and patriots, whose names and memories Massachusetts will not willingly let die."

The city of Newburyport, with which the name of Caleb Cushing is so intimately associated, held on the 8th of Oct. last, a memorial service to his memory, at which the Hon. George B. Loring delivered a eulogy.

The elegant volume before us contains Mr. Loring's oration and the other proceedings on that occasion. A biographical sketch by Charles W. Tuttle, Esq., formerly a law partner of Mr. Cushing, who is preparing an extended memoir of him, is added; also the tributes to the memory of the deceased statesman by the Massachusetts General Court, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Massachusetts Association at Washington, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and the United States Circuit Court. A life-like carbonphotograph of Mr. Cushing when he was about seventy-five years old embellishes the volume.

Circulars of Information of the Bureau of Education. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1879. [No. 1, 1879, pp. 21. No. 2, 1879, pp. 192. No. 3, 1879, pp. 37. No. 4, 1879, pp. 49. No. 5, pp. 37.]

It was a happy thought that induced Gen. Eaton, the commissioner of our Bureau of Education, to recommend to the Secretary of the Interior the propriety of publishing from time to time such information as is specially desired by those who administer the affairs of our school system. This Bureau has existed solely for collecting and disseminating educational information; it has sought continually all possible aid from the voluntary as well as official opinions expressed by those most skilled in matters of education. Well has it done its work. Circular number one contains the address of Gen. Eaton on "training schools for nurses," which he last year delivered before the school for the training of nurses in the city of Washington. The experience of nurses in our late war has extended the interest in this subject in our country. Training schools for nurses have already been established in several of our cities, and have vindicated the wisdom of their founders. They have already disseminated much useful information in regard to the care of the sick, and have helped to shorten the period of suffering, thereby saving many lives. This address should be read by every mother and nurse in the land. Circular number two contains much interesting information on the following topics: "Education in Switzerland," "Education at the Paris Exhibition," Industrial Education," the "Needs of Education in the South," &c. Circular number three contains Dr. Edward Jarvis's essay on the "the value of common school education to common labor," which is illustrated by answers to inquiries addressed to employers, workmen and overseers. It would be well if all promoters of strikes in our country could read this admirable address, which shows great care and labor on the part of its author. Circular number four is given up to the consideration of "training schools of cookery." Many persons have become alarmed as they have observed more closely the extent and serious character of the evils caused by bad cookery; this feeling has been emphasized by the distress which was caused by the late depression in business, and there have been loud calls for information of what has been accomplished by instruction in this subject, especially in Europe, to meet this want. This valuable information has been collected and sent forth in this circular. May it have a wide reading by those who desire to know the " proper temperature of food," the "variety of food necessary to health," the "effects of indigestible foods," whether the midday dinners are best for health," and many other like topics which we are all so much interested in. Circular number five is a résumé of the French Commissioner's report to the international exhibition of 1876 on American Education. It seems to be a friendly criticism of some things in American education, and a discriminating praise on other points. Many Americans will be interested to know what our French visitors say in regard to our system of popular education, which they will find in these thirty-seven pages. [By Willard S. Allen, A.M., of East Boston.]

Transactions of the Department of American History of the Minnesota Historical Society. [Mottoes.] Minneapolis: Johnson, Smith & Harrison. 1879. [8vo. pp. 148.]

In the REGISTER for July, 1879 (xxxiii. 370), we noticed the " Department of American History," formed last spring by the Minnesota Historical Society, and the printed report of its "Transactions," at its preliminary and first regular meetings. The present pamphlet contains the proceedings and papers at all of the meetings for the year 1879. It is furnished with a good index. Much historical material relative to Minnesota and other western states is here rescued from oblivion. The Rev. Edward D. Neill, of Minneapolis, is the secretary of the Department, and a contributor of valuable papers to the " Transactions."

The Life and Administration of Richard, Earl of Bellomont, Governor of the Provinces of New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, from 1697 to 1701. An Address delivered before the New York Historical Society at the Celebration of its Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 1879. By FREDERICK DE PEYSTER, LL.D., F.R.H.S., President of the Society. New York: Published for the Society. 1879. [8vo. pp. 60, xvii.]

Dr. De Peyster, in his introductory, gives a brief account of the Coote family, of which Gov. Bellomont was a worthy representative. Following succinctly in the chain of history, he notes some of the points of interest in the career of the English nation and of her American colonies, until the advent of the Earl on these western shores. Gov. Bellomont found, on his arrival, that the old cliques and partisans had been powerfully at work. An illicit trade by land and piracy on the high seas had been for a time carried on, with apparent success, through the connivance, as it is alleged, of the former administration, or at least of some of its adherents. The doings of the notorious Capt. Kidd, unchecked by the due interference or restraining power of the colonial government, had cast a stigma on the times and places where such unlawful procedures were allowed. In this lamentable state of things, the Earl of Bellomont was selected and commissioned by the king as a fit person to combat, and so far as possible put an end to these growing evils. He was a man resolute, as the times required, honest, high in rank, and of unquestioned patriotism and fidelity. Like a revolutionary iconoclast he set himself determinedly at work to overthrow the mischievous plans and purposes of some of his predecessors and their allies. Coming in his place, as he does in history, between the knavish Fletcher and the tyrannical Cornbury, the noble and successful administration of Gov. Bellomont stands out in bold relief. Justice is ably done, as we think, in the pamphlet before us, to the straight-forward career, all too brief, of the Governor of the three Provinces, in his relation to New York, which was all that the worthy president of the New York Historical Society attempted in his address on this third quarter of a century anniversary of that useful institution.

The production in style and sentiment is truly commendable. The execution of the book as to print, paper and plates, is fine. The heliotype portraits of Bellomont, Col. Abraham De Peyster and his lady, with the fac-simile letter of Bellomont to the Colonel, dated Boston, Sept. 9, 1699, give great interest and value to the production, as do also the letters in the appendix, written chiefly from Boston to the said Colonel, the originals of which are in possession of the above-named society. [By W. B. Trask, Esq., of Boston.]

Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia, Marriage Records, 1750-1863. Carefully Transcribed from the Original Records. By PARK M'FARLAND, Jr., No. 311 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. No. 2. Price 50 cents. [1879. 8vo. pp. 80.] The first number of this work was noticed in the REGISTER for July, 1879 (xxxiii. 370). This number contains the marriages recorded between Jan. 7, 1779, and Sept. 9, 1784, by the rectors of the church during that period, namely, the Revs. Andrew Goeransson, Mathias Hultgreen and Nicholas Collin, D.D.

Mr. M'Farland has also made a copy of all the inscriptions in the graveyard of this church, and has issued a prospectus for printing the same. See the announcement in the REGISTER, xxxiv. 103.

History of Grafton, Worcester County, Massachusetts; from its Early Settlement by the Indians in 1647 to the Present Time, 1879. Including the Genealogies of Seventy-Nine of the Older Families. By FREDERICK CLIFTON PIERCE. Published by the Author. Worcester: Press of Chas. Hamilton. 1879. [8vo. pp. 623. With index and illustrations. Price $4.00.]

Few of the town histories of Massachusetts are presented in such an imposing volume as that now before us. The author has evidently laid under contribution his best powers of historical research. His materials were unusually ample, and he has produced a volume highly creditable to himself and to the town he represents. Grafton was originally a part of the Nipmuck country, and the volume opens with a brief but satisfactory sketch of the Nipmuck tribe of Indians which inhabited that part of central Massachusetts. Efforts were early made to christianize the natives, and the second Indian church in this country was established there in 1671. John Eliot, the Indian apostle, so indefatigable in his labors among the Indians at Roxbury and Natick, found time to extend his benevolent labors to the Nipmuck tribe. The Indians had sole possession of that region as late as 1718, but when they began to sell their land to the English settlers, they rapidly disappeared.

When the township came into the hands of the new comers, it was named Grafton by Gov. Belcher, in honor of the Duke of Grafton, who was a member of the English Privy Council, and grandson of Charles II. The author next gives us valuable sketches of the patriotism of the inhabitants during King Philip's war, and the French and Indian wars,—of the establishment of the early churches in the town,-of the means of education,—of the leading industrial pursuits of the people; and closes with biographical sketches of the more prominent inhabitants, and genealogies of several families. Mr. Pierce, while laboring after punctilious accuracy, is not positively certain of some of his statements, and pleasantly apologizes by saying, that " if any of his marriages are forced or unnatural, the parties can separate without divorce, and if he has prematurely consigned some to the shades, they can live on as if nothing had happened."

[By the Rev. Dorus Clarke, D.D., of Boston.]

Historical Celebration of the Town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass., Wednesday, October 11, 1876, with the Historical Address of Rev. Charles M. Hyde, D.D., and other addresses, letters, documents, etc., relating to the early history of the Town. Published by vote of the Town. Springfield, Mass.: The Clark W. Bryan Company, Printers, 1879. [8vo. pp. vi.+487. To be obtained of the town; price, including postage, $2.25.1

It is easy and pleasant to write words of praise of this town history. The volume is one of those prepared in compliance with the resolution of Congress of March 13, 1876, and is an admirable specimen of what was intended. In length especially it contrasts most favorably with many similar works of recent date, mostly of towns in Maine and New Hampshire. The address is most comprehensive, and " was not read in full on the day of the celebration." Though long as an address, it is good as a history, since conciseness was the object aimed at. The record is like that of many towns of New England, with little of disturbance or change. A map shows the effect of time and growth in the original township, which has been sadly reduced by the formation of Monson and other towns. In 1798 came the inevitable contest between town and church in reference to the settlement of Rev. Clark Brown.

The address is followed by a hundred pages of documents relating to the town, and another hundred pages of genealogies, which are most justly kept in reasonable limits. We find biographical mention of three persons of considerable prominence, viz., Gen. William Eaton, who was almost a national hero after his exploits in Tripoli in 1805; and two generals who took an active part in suppressing rebellion 1861-5, Erasmus D. Keyes and Fitz Henry Warren, both natives of Brimfield. The portraits form one of the attractive features of the volume. Such strongly-marked and characteristic faces are of course not found in every town, but the engravers' work also is exceedingly well done, and one feels sure that the print must resemble the original.

We are informed that the Rev. Dr. Hyde, the editor of this volume, has been assisted by the Hon. Henry F. Brown, and S. W. Brown, Esq.

[By William S. Appleton, A.M., of Boston.]

Lancashire and Cheshire Church Surveys, 1649-1655. In Two Parts. Part 1. Parochial Surveys of Lancashire. Part 11. Surveys of the Lands, &c., of the Bishop and Dean and Chapter of Chester and of the Warden and Fellows of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. Now first printed from the Original MSS. in the Record Office and in the Lambeth Palace Library. By Lieut.-Colonel HENRY FISHWICK, F.S.A., Author of "The History of the Parochial Chapelry of Goosnargh, "The History of the Parish of Kirkham, "The Lancashire Library," etc. Printed for the Record Society. 1879. [8vo. pp. 282.]

This is the first publication of the "Record Society," formed in 1878, the plan of which was printed in the REGISTER for July, 1878 (xxxii. 338). The society purposes to do for the counties of Chester and Lancaster what the Harleian Society is doing for England.

The London "Notes and Queries" (6th S. i. 89), in noticing the volume before us, says: "The Commonwealth Survey of church livings illustrates the ecclesiastical history of the time, almost to the same degree as Pope Nicholas IV.'s Taxatio of 1292, and Henry VIII.'s Valor of 1535. Part of its value arises from the fact that it falls midway in the period of the great lacuna in the episcopal registers."

Only the portion of these Surveys relating to Lancashire and Cheshire is here printed. Colonel Fishwick, the editor, has added explanatory notes and prefixed a valuable introduction. Good indices to the volume are also given.

The subscription to the Record Society is a guinea a year, which entitles members to all the volumes issued in that year. The honorary secretary, to whom applications for membership should be addressed, is J. P. Earwaker, M.A., F.S.A., Withington, near Manchester, England. We understand that Mr. Rylands, of Highfields, Thelwall, is engaged in editing a volume of Inquisitiones post Mortem, which is nearly through the press; and that James Croston, Esq., of Upton Hall, is at work on a volume of parish registers of Prestbury in Cheshire.

The American Inter-Oceanic Ship Canal Question. By Rear Admiral DANIEL AỵMEN, U. S. Navy. Philadelphia: L. R. Hammersly & Co., 1510 Chestnut Street. 1880. [8vo. pp. 102. Price $1. Sold by A. Williams & Co., Boston.] Rear Adm. Ammen was one of the delegates, on the part of the United States, to the Inter-Oceanic Congress, held in Paris, in May, 1879. This book gives his views in favor of the Nicaragua route in opposition to the Panama route, which M. de Lesseps and his associates propose to undertake. It consists of a letter by him to the Hon. Charles P. Daly, president of the American Geographical Society, which was read at a meeting of that society in New York city, Dec. 9, 1879; and the reports of himself and his associate commissioner to the Congress, Civil Engineer A. G. Menocal, U.S.N., with other documents. The interest in the subject in Europe and this country at the present time will insure the work an extensive perusal.

Report of the Operations of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadel phia, for the Years 1878 and 1879. [Seal.] Philadelphia: Printed for the Society. 1880. [8vo. pp. 23.]

This report, besides the proceedings for the last two years, contains a list of the most important papers read before this active society from the organization on New Year's Day, 1858. Its twenty-first anniversary was celebrated in January last.

Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. VI. Fifth Series. [Arms.] Boston Published by the Society. 1879. [8vo. pp. 462.]

This, the latest issue of the Massachusetts Historical Society, is a continuation of the invaluable Diary of Judge Sewall, from Jan. 14, 1700, to April 14, 1714. Another volume will be necessary to complete it. A reprint of three rare contemporary tracts relative to matters in which Sewall was interested is prefixed to the diary. The work is well annotated and a full index of surnames is given.

Ancestral Tablets. A Collection of Diagrams for Pedigrees, so Arranged that Eight Generations of any Person may be Recorded in a connected and Simple Form. By WILLIAM H. WHITMORE, A.M., Member of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society. Fourth Edition. Boston: Wm. Parsons Lunt, 42 Congress St. 1880. [4to. 16 plates. Price $2.]

Mr. Whitmore's "Ancestral Tablets were first issued in 1868. The fact that three editions have already been sold and there still is a demand for the work, shows that it is appreciated by genealogists and the public generally. The fourth edition is much improved. The paper is heavier and blank leaves are added for notes and records.

The plan of these "Tablets" is very ingenious, and is superior to any other manner of recording one's ancestors with which we are acquainted. By it a person can record, in a thin volume, less than twelve inches long by ten inches wide, in a clear and simple manner, the usual facts given in tabular pedigrees concerning all his ancestors to the eighth generation.

Personal Narrative of Events in the War of the Rebellion, being Papers read before the Rhode Island Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical Society. No. 1. Second Series. [Flag.] Providence: The N. Bangs Williams Co. 1880. [Fcp. 4to. pp. 59.] The present work, which seems to be the first number of second series of "Personal Narratives," is entitled," First Cruise of the Montauk." It is by Paymaster Samuel T. Brown, U.S.N., and was first read as a paper before Rodman Post, No. 12, Department of Rhode Island, G. A. R., February, 1870, and subsequently, Dec. 26, 1877, before the Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical Society. Works like this, preserving as they do the personal recollections of those who took part in the late civil war, are of great service to American history. The author informs us that the preparation was suggested to him by Gen. James Shaw, Jr., "whose efforts, made in Rhode Island, to obtain and preserve records of personal experience during the