CRITICAL NOTICES.

History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to September, 1836 with various notices relating to the History of Worcester County. By William Lincoln, Worcester. Moses D. Phillips and Company. 1837.

Tuis is a history of one of the most ancient and important towns in Massachusetts, written by a gentleman whose family have been long seated in its limits, their name being associated with the place itself, and with the commonwealth, in no ordinary degree of reputation. It is compiled with great diligence, minuteness, and accuracy. We have scarce ever seen a local history more full and more curiously elaborate in detail; and yet the facts collected, so far as we can judge, are not irrelevant or impertinent, but seem to be judiciously selected with a careful view to the illustration of the social and municipal progress of the town. To the general reader, the most interesting portions of the work are the chapters in which the narrative is conducted through the American Revolution, and that singular period in the history of Massachusetts called Shay's rebellion. In fact, in regard to the Revolution, it is only by going into these bye-paths of history, and observing the course which affairs took in the primary assemblies of the people, and tracing the local contests between Whig and Tory out into the theatre of national action, that the rise and progress of that struggle is to be understood. In every city, and in every considerable town in the country, proceedings were had, able and important documents were produced, and great discussions were carried on, which were not relatively inferior, in point of energy and spirit, to the proceedings and doings of the Continental Congress. The Blacksmith's Convention, which Mr. Lincoln says assembled at Worcester on the 8th of September, 1774, and in their manifesto declared that they would not "do or perform any blacksmith's work, or business of any kind whatever, for any person or persons whom we deem enemies to this country, commonly known by the name of Tories, *** and in particular we will not do any work for Tim. Ruggles of Hardwick, John Murray of Rutland, and James Putnam of Worcester, Esqrs."— were of the bone and muscle of a country which produced the Congress itself, and which in its turn produced the Declaration of Independence. We do not mean to be jocose, but in all seriousness, that Congress could never have carried this country through such a struggle if they had not had stout and patriotic followers among the body of the people, who were as ready to refuse to work for Tim. Ruggles of Hardwicke, as John Hancock and his great associates were to put their names to the immortal instrument.

In the early part of the period of agitation before the war of the Revolution had actually commenced, there seemed to have been a strong party of Tories in Worcester, composed of wealthy and influential men, who kept up a stout resistance to the disloyal and revolutionary spirit of the times, and formed an active opposi

tion in all municipal affairs. The most noted person among the royalists was Mr. Gardner Chandler, sheriff of the county. This gentleman, having presented an Address to General Gage, from the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, congratulating him on his appointment as Governor, lamenting the disturbed state of the times, &c., was waited on by a committee from a convention, and compelled to sign a very humble recantation. In this way, the royalist party were prostrated, and either driven into exile, or made to submit to the popular will. In the mean time the Whig cause went on with spirit; and every few months produced instructions, resolutions, memorials, and addresses, on the subject of public affairs, which were marked with great ability and energy.

"In the primary movements of the Revolution," says the writer, "Worcester was the central point from which animating influences were diffused over the surrounding country. If the first impulses were derived from the metropolis of the state, the motion was communicated and wonderfully accelerated by the vigorous exertion of the capital of the county."

The following interesting anecdote is told in the account of the progress of Shay's Rebellion. A body of about eighty armed men, under the command of one Wheeler, had entered the town, for the purpose of obstructing the session of the court. They had taken possession of the court-house, when the judges and the members of the bar, attended by the sheriff, moved from their lodgings towards the building.

"Chief Justice Artemas Ward, a general of the Revolution, united intrepid firmness with moderation. His resolute and manly bearing on that day of difficulty and embarrassment, sustained the dignity of the office he bore, and commanded the respect even of his opponents. On him devolved the responsibility of an occasion deeply affecting the future peace of the community; and it was supported well and ably. On the verge of the crowd thronging the hill, a sentinel was pacing on his round, who challenged the procession as it approached his post. Gen. Ward sternly ordered the soldier, formerly a subaltern of his own particular regiment, to recover his levelled musket. The man, awed by the voice he had been accustomed to obey, instantly complied, and presented his piece, in military salute, to his old commander. The Court, having received the honours of war from him who was planted to prevent their advance, went on. The multitude, receding to the right and left, made way in sullen silence, till the judicial officers reached the Court House. On the steps was stationed a file of men with fixed bayonets; on the front stood Captain Wheeler, with his drawn sword. The crier was directed to open the doors, and permitted to throw them back, displaying a party of infantry, with their guns levelled as if ready to fire. Judge Ward then advanced, and the bayonets were turned against his breast. He demanded, repeatedly, who commanded the people there; and for what purpose they had met in hostile array. Wheeler at length replied: after disclaiming the rank of leader, he stated that they had come to relieve the distresses of the country, by preventing the sittings of courts until they could obtain redress of grievances. The Chief Justice answered, that he would satisfy them their complaints were without just foundation. He was told by Capt. Smith of Barre, that any communication he had to make must be reduced to writing. Judge Ward indignantly refused to do this: he said he did not value their bayonets, they might plunge them to his heart; but while that heart beat, he would do his duty; when opposed to it, his life was of little consequence. If they would take away their bayonets, and give him some position where he could be heard by his fellow-citizens, and not by the leaders alone, who had deceived and deluded them, he would speak, but not otherwise. The insurgent officers, fearful of the effect of his determined manner on the minds of their followers, interrupted. They did not come there, they said, to listen to long speeches, but to resist oppression; they had the power to compel submission, and they demanded an adjournment without delay. Judge Ward peremptorily refused to answer any proposition, unless it was accompanied by the name of him by whom it was made. They then desired him to fall back; the drum was beat, and the guard was ordered to charge. The soldiers advanced until the points of their bayonets pressed hard upon the breast of the Chief Justice, who stood as immoveable as a statue, without moving

a limb, or yielding an inch, although the steel in the hands of desperate men penetrated his dress. Struck with admiration by his intrepidity, and shrinking from the sacrifice of life, the guns were removed, and Judge Ward, ascending the steps, addressed the assembly."

He did not succeed, however, in inducing them to disperse, but the Judges were compelled to repair to a public-house, and there open and adjourn the Court. The following account of THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY will interest the reader.

"This institution, having for its object the collection and preservation of materials for the history of the western continent, was founded by Isaiah Thomas, L. L. D. In the preparation of his work on Printing, he had gathered the relics of the departed centuries, with curious illustrations of the literature of former times, at an expense few antiquarians could have bestowed, and with a diligence and care none other would have devoted. Feeling the good the experience of the past may convey to the future, it was his design to sow the seeds of knowledge gathered in successive centuries, to yield their increase in those which may succeed; and by perpetuating the memorials of the present, to enable other generations to become wiser and happier by the experiments of their predecessors. Connecting with himself many friends of improvement and lovers of history, an association was formed by his exertions, incorporated by the Legislature of Massachusetts, Oct. 12, 1812. The centre building of Antiquarian Hall, erected at his expense in 1820, with the land on which it stands, was presented by him to the Society. The first volume of transactions, relating principally to the fortifications, mounds, and antiquities of the extinct nations of the west, was published in 1820 at his charge. On his decease, by munificent bequests he provided for the support of the institution he had established, and for the promotion of its great purposes. In the second volume of transactions, published in Sept. 1836, are inserted an extended and profound dissertation on Indian History and Languages, by Hon. Albert Gallatin, and the Memoir of the Christian Indians, by Daniel Gookin, so frequently referred to in former pages. The library, estimated to contain 12,000 volumes, includes the collections of Mr. Thomas, a large portion of the books of the Mathers, many in the German language bequeathed by Dr. Bentley of Salem, a vast mass of tracts and manuscripts, and the best series of American newspapers preserved in the country. There is a valuable cabinet illustrative of antiquities and natural history. Two stated meetings of the Society are held annually; one in Boston on the old election day in May; the other for the election of officers, in Worcester, in October, on the anniversary of the landing of Columbus. The number of American members is limited to 140; many distinguished foreigners are enrolled on the catalogue by honorary elections. The funds, amounting to about $22,000, are appropriated to the support of a librarian, the purchase of books, the exploration of antiquities, and the other specific purposes designated by the munificent donor. The institution has been managed on the most liberal plan; its collections have been kept open to the public freely, and have been much frequented by strangers and scholars."

The present officers of this Institution are, Thomas L. Winthrop, President; John Davis and Joseph Strong, Vice Presidents; William Lincoln, Secretary of Domestic, and Edward Everett of Foreign Correspondence.

We are not competent to decide how Mr. Lincoln has executed his task as a domestic historian, in regard to those matters which can only be judged of on the spot itself. But this is very certain, that such a book could not have been written without great diligence, great skill and knowledge as an antiquarian, and most patient research. We happen to know, indeed, that great facilities and materials exist in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society, which must have been highly serviceable in the execution of such a work. But the accuracy and completeness of this work can only be the product of a scholar, whose skill and habits of mind have been formed in the atmosphere of such an institution, and under the silent influence which it has exerted. The archives of the commonwealth, too, the papers of families, public tradition and municipal records, must have been searched and collected with no ordinary labour. The style is chaste

and simple, almost to severity. We conclude this imperfect notice with the quotation which Mr. Lincoln has placed on his title-page as a motto, taken from the American Quarterly Review for June, 1836.

"These local annals are full of little things; names, dates, and facts; and rumours of every sort, which seem, at first sight, almost too trifling to be noticed; and yet, not only is it true that the general historian must essentially depend on the local, to a very considerable extent, for the mass of loose seeds from which the spirit of his narrative should be laboriously distilled but it is also true, that there is almost always a good deal of that spirit already made in such materials at his hand. Many of these little things which we speak of, are little only in size and name. They are full of rich meaning. They are graphic and characteristic in a high degree. They suggest far more than they say. They illustrate classes of men and ages of time. They are small but brilliant lights on the walls of the past, pouring floods of splendour from their little niches on the vast abysses around them."

The Ladies' Wreath; a selection from the Female Poetic Writers of England and America, with original notices and notes: prepared especially for Young Ladies. A Gift-Book for all seasons; by Mrs. Hale, author of " Northwood," "Flora's Interpreter," "Traits of American Life," &c. Boston.-Marsh, Capen and Lyon. New-York.-D. Appleton & Co.

TRULY a long and comprehensive title-page! It does away, on the part of the reviewer, with the necessity of any particular description of the book, and leaves him to praise or censure as-the better half of his judgment, namely,—his taste, shall determine. If there be any thing feminine about a man, it should be appealed to when the productions of a lady come before the bar of criticism. Every argument which gallantry suggests should be pleaded in extenuation of little womanly foibles in verse. When the sight of the dear creatures does not soften down their poetical provocations, it is rather difficult always to pardon them ;— but could we only see the fair votaress of the Muses while we read, we should no doubt be in ecstacies with every couplet, and think it possessed of the graces of Venus though it halted like Vulcan.

"If to her lot some female errors fall,

Look in her face and you'll forget them all;"

But don't look in the face of her engraved portrait--if it be executed in the style of that which is underlined fac-similarly, Felicia Hemans, and displayed in the front of the volume before us! It is positively hideous; and after looking at it, you would think even "The Themes of Song," and "The Voice of Music," poor stuff. We really believe that if a decent dead engraver had such a portrait of himself done on his tombstone, he would get up and scratch it out. However, it is no objection to the book; for, by applying the thumb and forefinger to each side of the upper left-hand corner and twitching, it will come off; then you can burn it without detriment to the volume. We tried the experiment, and ought to know.

Mrs. Hale seems to have expended a good deal of industry upon the work. The notices of the lives of her sisters in the divine art are kindly, feelingly, and sometimes eloquently written; the selections from their several poems are made with good taste and judgment. The most valuable part of the book is the latter,