Contents:

• President's Address
• Report of the Treasurer
• Report of the Nominating Committee
• The New Haven Colony
• A Letter from Boston to Salem in 1768
• A Brookline Letter of 1827
• Charter of Corporation
• Officers and Committees
• List of Members
• By-Laws

The thirteenth annual meeting of the Brookline Historical Society was held in the Edward Devotion House, Brookline, on January 22, 1914, at 8 p.m., in accordance with a notice mailed to every member. President Charles H. Stearns was in the chair.

The record of the last monthly meeting was read and the President then delivered his annual address.


Members of the Brookline Historical Society and Friends: -

We are met at the beginning of the fourteenth year of our existence to report and consider the doings of the past year, and to make plans for the future, for though, as our name implies, we are chiefly concerned with what has happened, it is only by comparison with the past that the present and the future may be improved. It has, I trust, been an interesting and instructive one, both to ourselves and to our Society. Our pleasant home here is undisturbed, although the surroundings have been greatly improved. What a year ago was only a plan has now developed into the fine building in our rear, which though still unfinished shows its immense size and fine architecture. It goes to show how rapidly our town is growing, that it should require such a great addition to the already large schools to house the children of the neighborhood. Within our building the library has been re-arranged, shelves have been built for the books, pictures have been hung, and additions to our collection have been made; it is therefore in much better condition for inspection.

Our numbers have materially increased. Last summer a special effort was made to enlarge our Society by preparing and sending out appeals; and quite a number of responses have been received, and fourteen new members have joined. Three members have died during the year, and we now have 203 annual members, 26 life members and 4 benefactors; 233 in all. The attendance at our meetings has been fairly satisfactory, and our lecture room has at times been inconveniently crowded, and a suggestion has been made of taking away the partition, separating it from the present ante-room, thus enlarging the room at least one-third. The three members who have died are Jotham B. Sewall, June 16; William H. Hill, October 14; and Louis Robeson, October 19. Mr. Sewall had been a clergyman in his younger days and came to Brookline in 1904, making his home at Brandon Hall. He was much interested in historical matters, and was a delightful gentleman to meet, but his advanced age prevented his taking an active interest in our Society. He was eighty-seven years old at his death.

William H. Hill had been a long-time resident, coming to Brookline in 1870, and lived on Marion Street. He was of the banking house of Richardson, Hill&Co., and was also much interested in shipping, having charge for many years of the Boston and Bangor line of steamers. He had a number of children, though they have scattered, only one or two of whom are now living in Brookline.

Louis Robeson had been a resident since 1884, living at first on High Street and moving in 1897 to a house which he had built on Clyde Street. He was a member of the Country Club, whose grounds Were opposite his home, and he was much interested in and a great lover of horses.

There have been eight meetings of the Society at which papers have been read or talks given as follows:

January 23, 1913. Annual Meeting; at which officers were elected, reports were read and some account of the many changes in Brookline was presented.

February 20. Mr. George Wolkins of West Roxbury, expresident of the Old South Historical Society, read a paper on George Washington. One might suppose that this subject would be almost threadbare, so much has been written about the Father of his Country, but Mr. Wolkins made his paper very interesting, giving some new facts about Washington's younger years, particularly of his school days and his surveying career. Twenty-two were present at this meeting.

March 20. "Rome, the Eternal City," by Henry C. Wilson of Brookline. This lecture was given in the Lecture Hall of the Public Library, and was illustrated with lantern slides. A special effort had been made to make this a full meeting, and a large number were present. Mr. Wilson had devoted a great deal of time in the preparation of this lecture, and it was very interesting.

April 17. A paper on the Battle of Lexington, by our fellowmember, Charles F. Read. Here again one might suppose the subject had been about exhausted, but Mr. Read gave many new and interesting facts about the beginning of the War of the Revolution. Coming as it did only two days before the anniversary of the fight, it was a fitting observance of the event, and one could but contrast the interested men and women listening to this thoughtful and carefully prepared paper with the immense throng of people at Coolidge Corner two days later, watching a struggling line of men and boys competing for the Marathon prizes.

May 22. This meeting, according to custom, coming as it does near Memorial Day, was held in the Grand Army Room in the Town Hall, and an invitation had been extended to the Civil War veterans to be present. Mr. Frank E. Woodward of Wellesley read a paper on Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Woodward dwelt particularly on the character of Lincoln, and the influences which helped to make this splendid specimen of an American citizen. It was exceedingly well written and listened to with close attention.

The summer vacation followed.

October 16. "The Romance of Records," by John H. Edmonds of Brighton. This paper was brimful of facts of historical interest, obtained from records very difficult of access, particularly important when so brought together.

November 13. Mrs. Morrill Hamlin, daughter of Lot M. Morrill, U. S. Senator from Maine 1861-1876, gave an exceedingly interesting and instructive talk on the "American Occupation of the Philippines." Mrs. Hamlin spoke without notes for upwards of an hour. She was decidedly against the United States giving up the Islands to the Filipinos, being sure that at present they were not fit to govern themselves, and that no set date should be set for their independence. It is to be hoped that we may again hear from this gifted lady.

December 17. "The New Haven Colony," by Rev. Theodore P. Prudden of Brookline. This colony, recruited largely from the Plymouth and the Massachusetts colonies, had gone to the shores of Long Island Sound, in what is now Connecticut, to found a colony more in accordance with the peculiar views of their leaders, which were based on the Jewish code of morals as given in the Old Testament. There was considerable wealth and learning and influence in the colony which had a fluctuating existence for a few years, but which finally died out, largely on account of its extreme views and ideas of justice. The paper was exceedingly well written. Our Society has certainly been most fortunate in having so many papers of a high degree of merit, and doubtless we shall have the pleasure of reading some of them in the bound papers of our Society.

During the past year your Society has been represented at the four meetings of the Bay State League, of which the Society is a member; viz., January 25 at the rooms of the N. E. Genealogical Society on Ashburton Place, Boston. In April at Fitchburg; in July at Marblehead; and in October at Holliston. The meeting at Marblehead was particularly pleasant, being held in the grand old Lee mansion, now owned and occupied by the Marblehead Historical Society. I will also speak of the midwinter meeting held last Saturday in the delightful rooms of the Lynn Society, at which Mr. Edwin D. Mead gave a most instructive talk on Benjamin Franklin, it being the anniversary of Franklin's birth. Your Society was represented by three delegates.

In looking over our town, one cannot but be impressed with the great amount of building during the year, especially of so-called apartment houses. Indeed it seems as if history were repeating itself, and that the pre-historic cave dwellers had come to life in this twentieth century, in the shape of the hundreds of families living in flats, one above another. From the books of the building commissioner I find that one hundred and ninety-one (191) buildings were erected during the year 1913, one hundred and three of brick and eighty-eight of wood. The erection of apartment houses is mostly confined to the northerly and westerly parts of the town, notably in the neighborhood of Coolidge Corner, and though the buildings add materially to the taxable valuation of the town, the dwellers themselves are not as a rule to be reckoned a stable valuation, as they are largely a floating population, ever ready to move if some new convenience to an apartment is added in another location. To the older and more conservative citizen these buildings are interlopers, in some instances destroying old and perhaps venerated houses to permit of their erection. Two instances of this have occurred in the past six months within a short distance of Coolidge Corner; one of these is the Way estate at the corner of Longwood Avenue and St. Paul Street, a large brick house and stable, with a fine garden and fruit trees, having been destroyed, and four large apartment houses being now in process of erection. The Way house was built in 1879 on what was a part of the Stearns farm, by Charles G. Way, who was the son of Samuel A. Way of Roxbury, a lawyer who figured largely in the affairs of that town and of Boston in the period between 1850 and 1870. Mr. Charles G. Way died April 16, 1912, and the family having moved away, the place was sold. Another passing of a fine estate has occurred within a few weeks in the sale and demolition of the Armstrong estate fronting on both Beacon and Marion Streets. This expensive house and stable were built by George W. Armstrong in 1900, although he had lived in a house fronting on Marion Street for many years. As so frequently happens when a new house is built, the head of the house soon passes away. So Mr. Armstrong died in 1902, leaving a widow and two children. He was the originator and promoter of the present Armstrong Express Co., and the Armstrong News Co., and his was an interesting career. Born in humble circumstances, he early in life started to earn his living as a newsboy. He afterward had a position on the cars of the old Boston&Worcester R. R. to sell papers and sweetmeats, and I well remember him as a bright and active stripling going through the cars of the New York train with his papers and magazines. He afterward bought the news stand and restaurant in the old Boston and Worcester station, which used to stand on Beach Street, and, gradually increasing similar interests in other roads, until at his death he had control of many of the news stands and restaurants of the railroads of northern New England. His real estate in Brookline was sold by his widow during the latter part of last autumn, and the house and stable are now levelled, the beautiful shrubs and trees destroyed, and foundations for eleven apartment houses being put in. In addition to these, many separate houses have been erected, notably on the Corey estate and on Fisher Hill, localities which for the present, at least, are dedicated to single houses. A fine block of fireproof stores has been built to replace the partially burned wooden structures on the S. S. Pierce land on Beacon Street, the Boulevard postoffice occupying a large space in the same. Coolidge Corner is recognized as an important business center, bidding fair to equal if not exceed the business of the so-called Village section. A valuable improvement to the Village and a part of Harvard Street was made through the influence and zeal of the Business Men's Association, now the Brookline Board of Trade, by the substitution of frequent and powerful electric lamps in place of the infrequent gas lamps extending from the town line on Washington Street to the corner of Harvard and School Streets. The turning on of these, lights, in November last, was made the occasion of a gala celebration, and a parade with music and stereopticon pictures in Harvard Square, drew an immense crowd, probably by far the largest gathering of people ever seen in Brookline. It is to be hoped that a further continuation of this blaze of light may be extended on the main streets of the town.

The widening of Boylston Street, begun nearly two years ago, has apparently been finished, though unfortunately some law suits occasioned by the taking of property have not been settled, and Guild's block with its tarred paper walls presents a dismal appearance in the heart of the village.

An immense automobile establishment has been built on Pleasant Street near the corner of Commonwealth Avenue, thus adding to the already large group of similar buildings in this vicinity. A new highway from Boylston Street, nearly parallel to Chestnut Hill Avenue, has been laid out, and several houses have already been built thereon. This street has been named Eliot Street, in recognition of the fact that John Eliot, the preacher to the Indians, travelled over this region in his walks to and from Natick. Several streets have also been built on the Phillips estate, running from Chestnut Hill Avenue, thus opening up this large tract of land which has heretofore been without means of communication. Indeed, Brookline is fast losing its suburban character and becoming urban, a fact which, though one may lament to see, must be inevitable considering the rapid growth of our big neighbor.

The present lease from the Selectmen to our Society of the Devotion House expired January 1, and your president has applied for an extension of the lease. No reply has as yet been received, though it is not expected that any opposition will be made. We hope for another pleasant and profitable year.








At the meeting of the Brookline Historical Society, held in the Edward Devotion House in December, 1913, Rev. Theodore P. Prudden of Brookline read the following paper:-

The colony which founded New Haven was the fourth and youngest of the settlements forming The United Colonies of New England, and was born when Plymouth was eighteen years old, Salem ten, Boston eight, and Hartford and Saybrook three, and it died in its 26th year. Unlike Plymouth it was composed of Nonconformists of the Established Church, rather than Separatists, and was not a church; unlike Massachusetts it never sought, nor had, a charter, nor received grants from the crown; unlike all the other colonies it never recognized allegiance to the king, nor adopted English laws, nor had trials by jury.

Its inception and character were due to two leaders, first and chiefly to Rev. John Davenport - a brilliant member of a distinguished Coventry family (another member of which was professor of theology at Douay, and court chaplain to two Stuart queens, and a close friend of Archbishop Laud). Entering anti-Puritan Oxford at fourteen (while Laud was President of St. Johns), ordained at nineteen and acquiring a wide reputation as a preacher in London while curate in the now most ritualistic church of St. Lawrence in Jewry, Davenport when twenty-seven became Vicar of St. Stephens, a church near the Guildhall, with 1400 communicants, among people strongly opposed to the Stuarts, and held a position of commanding influence.

Together with other London ministers he sought to reclaim Hooker, Cotton and Stone to conformity, just before they sailed, but was himself "more won by their arguments than by all his private investigations." And we find him contributing his money and influence to obtain the Massachusetts charter, soliciting aid for persecuted Protestants in Germany, and gathering a great congregation of "common and meane people," for which, and similar crimes, he awoke the enmity of Laud and the High Commission, and had to escape to Holland. After three years as preacher in Amsterdam he returned to England disguised, to gather his party of emigrants, being at that time a man of eminent distinction and achievement, though but thirty-seven years old.

The other leader was Theophilus Eaton, a boyhood and school friend and later a parishioner of Davenport's, a rich business man, once Deputy Governor of the East India Company. His and Mr. Davenport's influence collected a large company of merchants and well-to-do people from London, Kent, Norfolk and Hereford, including five clergymen, who had been imprisoned by the High Commission, and their followers. And these organized a joint stock enterprise (of which Eaton is said to have owned one-third) to form a commercial as well as religious settlement (as they called it "A plantation whose end was religion") in America.

With difficulty eluding the authorities, and leaving behind many who followed later, they sailed in the "Hector," arrived in Boston in June, 1637, and were most cordially welcomed, perhaps because of their reputed wealth, or Davenport's reputation and the aid he might give in confounding the Antinomonians and Mrs. Hutchinson. Pulpits were open to the preachers; the business opportunities of Boston were exploited; Charlestown, Watertown, Dedham and Newbury assigned them land, and Mr. Davenport was one of the committee which established Harvard college.

Conscious, however, of boundless freedom and opportunity and having a large capital, they wished to rear their ideal civil and religious structure on their own foundation. Therefore, during the summer and autumn Eaton inspected the coast to the Housatonic river, and found in Quinnipiac (the name of the Indians and region about New Haven) the sheltered river, the attractive harbor and the rich land he sought, and left men in camp there during the winter. His report being accepted by his company, and attracting also a few residents of Boston, a colony of 250 persons, one-fifth of which were men, in early spring bade farewell to the Massachusetts General Court, in a letter which expressed the hope that "Massachusetts and Quinnipiac shall be as Joab and Abishai were, whose several armies did mutually strengthen them both against their several enemies, or like Hippocrates, his twins, to stand or fall, to grow or decay, to flourish and wither, to live and dye together," and departed, some by sea and some on land, for their new home, which they reached April 1st, 1638, and christened Quinnipiac.

Land having been purchased from the forty-seven male Indians for 12 coats, 12 spoons, 12 hatchets, 12 hoes, 12 porringers, 24 knives, and 4 cases of French knives, they made their first dwelling of tents, wigwams, and sod or dirt roofed cellars dug in the dry banks of the creek, and at once laid out a rectangular town, the first in America, half a mile in each direction, divided it into nine squares, the central one (the present green) being reserved for public purposes, and the other squares assigned to groups of families, or individuals according to the amount of their investment.

No record exists of laws, courts, trials, or magistrates for eighteen months. Only a single provisional compact was made that "In all matters concerning the governing, gathering and ordering a church, and all public offices which concern civil order, the choice of magistrates and officers, the making and repealing laws, dividing allotments, inheritance and all things of like nature, should be ordered by rules which the Scriptures set forth."

Abundant harvests followed the first hard winter, and during the second summer the colonists, among whom twenty-five trades were represented, became well housed, some in log cabins, and some in "fair and stately" dwellings, in which, Hibbard says, "they at first laid out too much, and outdid the rest of the country." And this may well be, for Eaton's house when finished contained thirty-two rooms and twenty-two fire places, and four other houses were of such superiority that a visitor from Plymouth said, "Boston made a poor show in comparison."

After apportioning the first eight squares, the meadows and more remote upland were divided, each man receiving five acres of meadow and twenty of upland for every one hundred pounds invested, and half an acre of meadow and two and a half of upland for each child. Even indigent settlers like "Eliza the washer" and "Bro. Kimberley's brother" had a share, and differences were decided by Scriptural casting of lots. The pastor, however, received "above his portion according to his desire," and Mr. Eaton and the deacons had the first choice, the latter that they might be near the town, and better attend to the duties of their office.

The first established institution was a school, which in four years became free, the town paying the teacher a salary of thirty pounds, besides his "chamber and dyet," extra for traveling, and a yearly vacation. And the adopted educational scheme embraced absolute freedom in elementary education, compulsory education for all children, and higher education to be partially supported at public expense. "No such school system," says Livermore, "existed at that time in old or new England. Not till the latter half of the 19th century did New Haven reach once more the standard of 1639."

For sixteen months the colony was without a church, though meetings and sermons were abundant, and for eighteen months without a settled government, while Davenport, who "distrusted human nature, and thought a church the only safeguard of a state," argued and planned like the statesman he was, and at length, at a meeting of the stockholders held in a barn, presented his famous FUNDAMENTAL (by which he meant unalterable) AGREEMENT in six resolutions, that in substance were two. First, that all matters of government and dividing inheritance should be conducted according to the rules of Scripture; and second, that the franchise, and so all authority, be confined to church members - not, as he explained, that the church should rule the state, or the state support the church, or the colony's business be transacted in a church meeting, still less to offer a reward for church membership (though all of these things resulted), but that those wielding civil power (in distinction from those enjoying civil privileges) should give some proof of trustworthiness, and church membership was considered the best. And this, which was Davenport's hobby, and the sole statement of principles or constitution that the colony ever had, and which it imposed on all of its dependent towns, being voted on twice by upholding hands, was signed by every one present, and by all planters entering the colony thereafter.

Two months later a church was created in the following unique manner. The signers of the Fundamental Agreement chose twelve men "of approved piety" who were to choose seven from their number called "pillars" to constitute a church. Only eleven of the twelve served, however, for one, being charged with taking an excessive rate for meal which he sold to one in his need, though he confessed his sin and restored the extra price, was cast out as unworthy, on the ground that the report of his sin would probably be heard further than the report of his satisfaction.

Then the seven chosen pillars, without adopting any creed, organized themselves into a church, elected, re-ordained, and installed Mr. Davenport, the pastor (nine ministers, including Messrs. Hooker and Stone from Hartford, being present).

On the same day, in the same barn, and in the same manner was organized the church of Milford, whose members had followed their pastor, Rev. Peter Prudden, from Herefordshire, England.

Two months later the New Haven church of seven organized themselves into a state or general court, received a few others into their body, abrogated all former power for managing public affairs, reaffirmed that the word of God was their only law, stipulated that deacons would not be at the same time magistrates, and listened while Mr. Davenport expounded Deut. i, 13 and Exodus xviii, 21: "Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you." "Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Then, having elected Mr. Eaton magistrate or Governor, and other officers, they listened to the election sermon, or charge to the Governor, from the text: "Judge righteously between man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him; ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgement is of God." Thus the New Haven ship of state was launched, the sole instance of an independent civil government by general compact signed by all parties, seven years before John Locke suggested it, and one hundred years before Rousseau was born.

It was an experiment; it was not a republic or government by the people; it was not a free state; most of the governed had nothing to do with it but to obey; its laws were Jewish rather than English. It was an unlimited aristocracy, an oligarchy from which there was no appeal, and a machine fitted for tyranny, under Davenport's domination, had he been a tyrant. Like Massachusetts it had a church membership test, but it was in strong contrast with Connecticut whose leader taught that the foundation of government was the free consent of the governed, which adopted English laws, and had a constitution on which so much of the United States Constitution is modeled.

It marked, however, a step in the evolution of self-government. It was a great advance on English contemporary government. Davenport was a progressive rather than a bigot. It was manned by well-meaning, and, for their time, broadminded men, and it was strong. Its first recorded act was the putting to death according to Jewish law of an Indian murderer of a white man, and then placing his head on a pole in the market place, according to English custom. It dared to hide and protect the regicides when no other colony did. If the laws of Moses seem to us antiquated, yet where we except (as the New Haven fathers did) "things typical, ceremonial and having reference to Canaan" they are probably as wise as most of those originating in state houses and council chambers. They were followed in Massachusetts and are still - for the Ten Commandments are not quite obsolete. And bad as a church membership test is, it is probably as good an evidence of trustworthiness as being twenty-one years old, or taking out naturalization papers. Until recent years English office holders were limited to members of the English church. Cotton Mather observes that Davenport used "the golden snuffers of the sanctuary over much." But his snuffing prevented ills from which other colonies suffered, like English domination, the oppression of great land owners, and the intolerance, complaints, persecutions and execution at Salem under Endicott and at Boston under Winthrop. English laws were unobtainable and cruel; Biblical laws were familiar and incomparably more lenient. By them only twelve crimes deserved death; by English law of the time one hundred and fifty did.

After two years the name was changed to New Haven, though many preferred New London, and the colony began to swarm into the villages of Milford, Guilford, Branford, Stratford and Southold, L. I., thus beginning its ambitious policy of extensive settlements under the hegemony of New Haven. Therefore three courts were created, all held in New Haven, "the capital," as it began to be called. First the General Court or town-meeting of enfranchised church members, sitting bi-monthly, making and interpreting laws, levying taxes, choosing magistrates even over adjoining towns and from its decrees no appeal could be made. Second, there was the monthly court of the magistrate and his four advisory assistants, to consider pressing cases that did not need to go before the General Court. Still another was the Particular Court (like a police court) for minor offences, over which the benign Eaton presided, preaching and interpreting the Scriptures to numberless profligates in a most fatherly manner.

When, later, town-meetings were poorly attended, there was an evolution of the townsmen, or select-men, who first were simply a committee reporting to the town-meeting and seeking its advice, but gradually became independent and acted for the town, so that their records are later the town records; and the Court referred business to them for disposal. Evidently they felt their freedom, for, meeting as they did at the tavern, and being accused of extravagant indulgence in liquors at the town's expense, they owned up to "spending thirty shilling last year, said they would probably spend more this year, but if the town disapproved, they would pay the bill themselves."

Before three years a meeting house in the centre of the Common, fifty feet square, with a peaked roof and turret, was erected of green plank, and without stone foundations, at a cost of 500 pounds. It served not only for worship, but as court house, magistrates office, town armory and general news centre through the notices posted on its doors, but it was so poorly built that its brief life was only eked out by unsightly props, and the windows had to be boarded up in winter to keep out the cold.

Wide galleries filled three sides of its interior, and on the other side was the tall pulpit with the teaching elder seat above and behind it, the ruling elder's below, and the deacons lower still, all facing the congregation, which, classed and ranked, sat on rude benches, men and women on different sides. The Governor before all, then "Mistress first, and good wife after, clerkly squire before the clown. From the brave coat lace embroidered to the grey frock shading down." Thither all persons MUST come when the drum beat each Sunday or be fined, and reverently stand during the prayer, rise and stand while the text was announced to show respect for the Scriptures, and stand too after the sermon till the pastor retired, to show respect for him. When the deacons called for a contribution, first the magistrates and leading citizens, next the married men, and third all single persons, widows, and women with absent husbands, walked to the deacons' seat, and deposited their money in a box, or their chattels on the floor. Another long service came at two o'clock. Though the Jewish Sabbath ended at sunset, the New Haven Sabbath stillness was maintained all the evening, lest Satan should steal the Word out of young people's hearts, and Sam Clark was brought before the Court for hankering about Roger Allings gate to draw out company to him, but was dismissed with the warning to remember that "he who being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be cut off and that without remedy."

Voluntary pledges paid church expenses, but the church as a state easily assessed the unwilling and delinquint. and collected their dues as a tax.

Public safety was secured by the militia in which every man between sixteen and sixty save officials was enrolled, and must appear periodically in the market place with musket, sword, bandoleen, a rest, a pound of powder, 20 bullets fitted to his musket and four pounds of shot; second by a night watch also in the market place; third by a guard for Sunday, when all men save clergymen wore swords. One soldier was placed on the meeting house roof, others tramped beats outside, and still others occupied privileged rear seats within.

The greatest need was a physician, whom an offer of house, land, furniture, provisions and a salary failed to procure. As the only laws were the Bible, and the court's enactments, and the magistrate was judge, jury, interpreter of Scripture, and prosecuting officer combined, lawyers were neither needed nor permitted, and the court forbade any one to speak for a person on examination or trial, excepting with regard to the law, under penalty of a fine of ten shillings or an hour in the stocks. Before ten years a college was proposed, and five hundred and forty pounds were subscribed, but during the sixty-two years before Yale was founded, New Haven sent on a two weeks journey through the woods to Harvard sixty students, or one eighth of all the graduates. After 1644 she sent an annual contribution of a peck of corn from every one whose heart was willing, but later collected it as a tax. And this zeal for learning is not strange, if we consider the personnel of the colony, which Mather said was "constellated with many stars of the first magnitude, and as genteel persons as most that ever visited these nooks of America." Aside from the pastor, a scholar, statesman, preacher, and Eaton, a scholar, traveler, business man, eighteen times elected Governor, there were several university bred clergymen. There was Mr. Hood who was Mr. Davenport's assistant, an Oxford graduate, a brother-in-law of Whalley the Regicide, and a man who on his return to England became domestic chaplain of Cromwell. There were Edward Hopkins, son-in-law of Eaton, nineteen years Governor of Connecticut, founder of the Hopkins Grammar schools of New Haven and Hartford; and William Tuttle, great-grandfather of Jonathan Edwards and his ten sisters, all six feet tall, "making their father sixty feet of daughters, all of sound mind"; and the Younger Winthrop, son of the Massachusetts Governor, and himself Governor of Connecticut; and David Yale step-son of Eaton, and father of Elihu Yale; and Captain Turner, famous in the Pequot war; and rich men like Eaton with 3,000 pounds, ten others with 1,000, and nineteen with 500 pounds, when 850 pounds sufficed for John Harvard to endow his college, and 550 for Elihu Yale to establish his. There were also Mrs. Higginson, widow of the Salem minister, and young Michael Wigglesworth, "the lurid morning star of American Literature" and Ezekiel Cheever, the first School Master, and author of "The Accident," or "An Introduction to the Latin Tongue," which was a New England text book for 150 years (the last edition being issued in 1838), who being censured by the church for disrespect for the minister, shook the dust of New Haven from his feet, and became master of the Roxbury Latin school, and tutor of both the Mathers, and about whom, when he died at the age of 90, Cotton Mather wrote:

From people like these, bearing the title "Mr.," the colony graded down through householders, farmers (called Goodman) and their wives (called "goodwifeor Goodie") to day laborers, apprenticed servants and an occasional negro or Indian slave.

Regardless of the laws of Political Economy, the Magistrates legislated on all manner of subjects, on wages, for example, "limiting a master workman to two shillings daily in summer, and twenty pence in winter, and if larger sums were paid, both giver and taker were fined a day's work, fixing the hyre of a steer at nine pence, a grown ox or bull at twelve pence, a horse at sixteen pence, a cart and furniture at six pence, and a day's work at seven hours, if the whole time was diligently employed." They prescribed how fences should be made to keep out pigs and goats and the price thereof; ordained that fat venison must be sold at two and a half pence a pound, that a laboring man's board, lodging and washing be estimated at four shillings and six pence a week, and that boards made by rolling a log over a hole, and sawed by a topman above and a pitman beneath be four and six pence an hundred feet, and planks five shillings. With an eye to both business and morals they fined Goodman Meigs for tanning poor leather, and Goodman Gregory for flapping poor shoes together, and told them that since "leather was now as cheap as in England, shoes should be more reasonable." Regardless of supply and demand they forbade a profit of more than three pence in a shilling on retailed English goods, or more than one and a half on goods bought on board a ship, and indicted the thrifty widow Stolyon for selling wheat for five shillings which she bought for three and six pence, and thread at twelve shillings which cost but two in England, and needles at a penny a piece which one could buy at Cheapside for twelve or eighteen pence a hundred, and worst of all, for demanding seven wampum for a penny when others paid her, but giving only six for a penny when she paid others. They also appointed and oversaw the Marshal, the public crier, the fence viewer, the viewer of weights, drugs and liquors, the cattle brander, and the public chimney sweep, who had a monopoly of cleaning all constantly used chimneys monthly in winter and bi-monthly in summer, and who, should a frugal citizen clean his own chimney, might inspect it, and were it not well done, sweep it over again with double pay.

Of all duties to God and to man they took cognizance - of Sabbath breaking, which was "a proud act of defiance of God," and made a theft on that day especially heinous; of irreverence which included absence from church, improper conduct when there, disrespect for the minister, and any secular employment, and punished as seemed to them wise, even whipping one man for declaring that he received no profit from the minister's sermons; of courtship, forbidding any man to inveigle or draw the affections of any maid without the consent of her father, master or guardian, or (in their absence) of the nearest magistrate, whether by written messages, company keeping, unnecessary familiarity, sinful dalliance, or gifts.

They watched over the amusements of young people, prohibiting mixed dancing, and shovel-board at the inn, but only discountenancing other dancing and card-playing; over a master's treatment of his apprentices, and that the latter should have proper education; and over widows matrimonially inclined that their property be secured for their children. They legislated about the use of tobacco, which, prohibited in Massachusetts and allowed once a day in Hartford if one went on a journey of ten miles, was grown for trade in New Haven, but its use was prohibited on the Sabbath within two miles of the meeting house, in door-yards, on the streets, and among soldiers on duty, the fine being six pence a pipe, which, however, a poor servant might pay by sitting one hour in the stocks. The magistrates also felt responsible for marital relations, and ordered an absent husband to return to his wife at once or pay twenty pounds; for unchastity, and compelled the marriage of a betrayed but uncomplaining girl to her betrayer, the marriage ceremony to be accompanied by a sound whipping to both parties unless physical weakness, attested by some worthy matron, exempted the girl; and they ordered the whipping of the daughter of one of the magistrates for stealing, and filthy dalliance with Will Harding. They moreover interviewed the doctor (when one had been secured) about taking more moderate fees, wrestled with Dutch merchants about not attending worship, lectured sailors from the Barbadoes for hauling their vessel into security on the Sabbath, officiated at all marriages, which if done by a minister might be thought to be a sacrament, established the value of corn, cattle, work, beaver skins and wampum with which trade was conducted, and withal they must study the Bible so as to back each law or punishment with a proper text - the law about the size of beer-casks being supported by Deuteronomy xxv, 15: "A perfect and just measure shalt thou have," and the law that militia men be armed supported by 1 Samuel xiii, 20: "All the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every one his share and his coulter, and his ax." Cruel laws were passed here as elsewhere, but they were mildly enforced. There were laws against heresy, but they were rather against the proclaiming than the holding the heresy, and against Baptist teachings but not against Baptists residing in New Haven. There were laws against "that accursed sect called Quakers," and one man was fined, whipped, branded and banished, but in Massachusetts three Quakers were hung. And yet when the Baptists of those days stood, men and women, under open church windows during service crying "woe, woe," or entering, covered with ashes, cursed and contradicted the minister, calling him "traitor," "liar," "fool," bidding him "sit down," and shouting: "Thy sermon is too long," and when sometimes, as in Salem, women went about in the costume of Eden to show the nakedness of other people's sins, then the problem of toleration became complex. There were laws in New Haven as elsewhere against witchcraft, but only one person was tried and she was acquitted, while one was executed in Hartford and several in Massachusetts.

Church trials, however, were vigorously conducted and their penalty of expulsion given irrespective of person, the first victim being the Governor's wife, and the second the town clerk and one of the seven pillars, for stealing land and altering the records, and he was forced to leave the colony.

The Market Place of New Haven was not only its geographical center but the center of its life. It was never called a "common," but the "market place," never used for pasture, nor designed for a park, but was set aside, like the Forum at Rome, or the Agora at Athens, for public uses and buildings, military parades and exercises, a meeting place for traders, and popular gatherings in the future great city. Therefore it was a novelty (and has continued to be) in old and new England, and was owned by the "Proprietors of the Colony," as it is now by the still existing "Proprietors' Committee."

Though at first only sixteen acres of forest, not wholly cleared for twenty-five years, and, for much longer, uneven, unfenced, cut up with roads and covered with stumps, yet the Market Place early became an object of pride and injury to it was strictly forbidden.

Having in its centre the Meeting House, on the site still occupied by the church after 274 years, in one corner the place for trade, on one side the school where six generations went for instruction, on another side the watch house with a fireplace for the guard, and a prison house with no fire, and nearby the stocks and whipping-post, it was the resort for worship, business, education, news-gathering, legislation, seeking and administering justice, military training and sports, when young men played with cudgels, and broadswords, leaped, "wrastled," bowled pitched "quaites," ran races, or shot at a mark for a five shilling prize. To it young women strolled to read matrimonial and other notices on the church doors, and business men went to meet customers, or hire laborers, and ship captains to meet buyers for their cargoes. Over it thronged the whole settlement on Sunday, and the planters, on other days, to town-meeting, with the ballots of corn which meant "Yes," or beans which meant "No" in their pockets, and good wives to buy and lug home whatever they needed at the market. Across it bridal couples walked to the Magistrate's office, and the Governor to his arbitrary throne, and culprits were led to trial and thence to the stocks or whipping post, about which a crowd gathered seldom to pity, but often to jeer. There too proclamations were made; Cromwell's victories were celebrated, and the final merging of the colony in Connecticut announced. Over it doubtless the regicides Goff and Whaley fled from Davenport's house to the cave on West Rock, and there the pursuing officers questioned and were misled by the people. There also the town drummer, whose drum served as church bell, town clock, early morning rooster, caller and dispenser of the watch and warner of danger, earned his five pounds a year. And there, to the scattered graves about the rear of the church, passed slowly (and sometimes staggered, if the previous potations were too large) the funeral processions, each new grave being dug and filled by the relatives of the deceased, and the bier left bottom up on the new mound till it was needed again. For several years the colony prospered. New settlers came constantly (one hundred and eleven in one year). Coasting trade was opened with Boston, England, Virginia and the Barbadoes. Leather was made, shoes were imported, iron works were established, and the prospects of the expected mart and state seemed bright. But when the Puritan immigration ceased, growth fell off. The deflection of Winthrop and Hopkins to Hartford and the death of Eaton were discouraging. As commercial ventures were unsuccessful, impoverished capitalists turned farmers and small tradesmen. Repeatedly new enterprises of enlargement ended in disaster. After purchasing land for a trading post on the site of Philadelphia, the settlers from New Haven were on their arrival driven back by the Dutch, Swedes and a pestilence. When the attempt was repeated it was blocked by the Governor of New Amsterdam, with whom for three years a war was threatened and prepared for. And when aid for this war was asked of the New England Confederacy, which was formed for such an emergency, Plymouth and Hartford bluntly refused, and Massachusetts, after promising help and preparing an army of 800, did likewise, which was called, "A provoaking sinn against God, and of a scandalous nature towards man," for it prevented New Haven from annexing unprotected New York and Philadelphia to its suburbs, and destroyed its last dream of greatness. When, later, a "new Ark" was sent forth to New Jersey, and established the Newark settlement, New Haven's opportunity had gone. The last overwhelming misfortune was the loss of a great ship, fitted out at 5000 pounds expense and with many prominent citizens on board, towed to sea through a channel cut three miles in the ice, but never seen again. And so deep was the discouragement that Cromwell's offer of a location in Jamaica was eagerly discussed.

Meantime, discontent with the franchise became almost a rebellion in the colony's outlying towns, in which the enticements of the freer government at Hartford were abundantly presented, and trials for sedition, non-payment of taxes, and contempt of authority could not allay it. Even in New Haven itself the few ruling saints were almost beleaguered by a strong and respectable party who would not be pacified by invitations to church membership or a few forced concessions.

When, therefore, in 1662, Charles II, angry with New Haven for its protection of the regicides, ignored its existence, and by a new charter merged it in Connecticut, further resistance seemed useless. Nevertheless, for three years longer the plucky Davenport preached and protested against the ever-rising tide, and the government creaked on with increasing feebleness until finally, when all of her dependent towns (Southold, L. I., being the first) had revolted and sworn allegiance to Connecticut, and a forced union with New Amsterdam under the Duke of York seemed imminent, the New Haven government yielded to the inevitable, and the colony ceased. And John Davenport, declaring that "The cause of Christ in New Haven was miserably lost," departed to Boston to succeed John Cotton as pastor of the First Church, and fight an extended suffrage till his death a year later.



Gentlemen,

You are already too well acquainted with the melancholly and very alarming Circumstances to which this Province, as well as AMERICA in general, is now reduced. Taxes equally detrimental to the Commercial Interests of the Parent Country and her Colonies, are imposed upon the People, without their Consent; - Taxes designed for the Support of the Civil Government in the Colonies, in a Manner clearly unconstitutional, and contrary to that, in which till late, Government has been supported, by the free Gift of the People in the American Assemblies or Parliaments; as also for the Maintenance of a large Standing Army; not for the Defence of the newly acquired Territories, but for the old Colonies, and in a Time of Peace. The decent humble and truly loyal Applications and Petitions from the Representations of this Province for the Redress of these heavy and very threatening Grievances, have hitherto been ineffectual, being assured from authentick Intelligence that they have not yet reach'd the Royal Ear. The only effect of transmitting these Applications hitherto perceivable, has been a Mandate from one of his Majesty's Secretaries of state to the Governor of this Province, to Dissolve the General Assembly, merely because the late House of Representatives refused to Rescind a Resolution of a former House, which imply'd nothing more than a Right in the American subjects to unite in humble and dutiful Petitions to their gracious Sovereign, when they found themselves aggrieved: This is a Right naturally inherent in every man, and expressly recognized at the glorious Revolution as the Birthright of an Englishman.

This Dissolution you are sensible has taken Place; the Governor has publickly and repeatedly declared that he cannot call another Assembly; and the Secretary of State for the American Department in one of his Letters communicates to the late House, has been pleased to say, that "proper Care will be taken for the Support of the Dignity of Government ;" the Meaning of which is too plain to be misunderstood.

The Concern and Perplexity into which these Things have thrown the People, have been greatly aggravated, by a late Declaration of his Excellency Governor BERNARD, that one or more Regiments may soon be expected in this Province.

The Design of these Troops is in everyone's Apprehension nothing short of Enforcing by military Power the Execution of Acts of Parliament in the forming of which the Colonies have not, and cannot have any constitutional Influence. This is one of the greatest Distresses to which a free People can be reduced.

The Town which we have the Honor to serve, have taken these Things at their late Meeting into their most serious Consideration: And as there is in the Minds of many a pervailing Apprehension of the approaching War with France, they have passed the several Votes, which we transmit to you; desiring that they may be immediately laid before the Town, whose Prudentials are in your care, at a legal Meeting, for their candid and particular Attention.

Deprived of the Councils of a General Assembly in this dark and difficult Session, the loyal people of this Province, will, we are persuaded, immediately perceive the Propriety and Utility of the proposed Committee of Convention: And the sound and wholesome Advice that may be expected from a Number of Gentlemen chosen by themselves, and in whom they may Repose the greatest Confidence, must tend to the real Service of our Gracious Sovereign; and the Welfare of his Subjects in this Province; and may happily prevent any sudden and unconnected Measures, which in their present Anxiety, and even Agony of Mind, they may be in Danger of falling into.

As it is of Importance that the Convention should meet as soon as may be, so early a Day as the 22d of this Instant September has been propos'd for that Purpose - and it is hoped the remotest Towns will by that Time, or as soon after as conveniently may be, return their respective Committees.

Not doubting but that you are equally concerned with us and our Fellow Citizens for the Preservation of our invaluable Rights, and for the general Happiness of our Country, and that youfare disposed with equal Ardor to exert yourselves in every constitutional Way for so glorious a Purpose,
We are,
GENTLEMEN,
With the greatest Esteem
Your obedient humble Servants,
Joseph D. Jackson
John Ruddock,
John Hancock,
John Rowe,
Sam'l Pemberton
Select-Men of Boston
N. B. The other two Select-Men are out of the Province. To the Gentlemen Select-Men of Salem.




A letter by Mrs. Charlotte Green Rawson of Mendon, Mass., who afterwards married (October 26, 1836) Dr. Mathew Brown, one of the founders of Rochester, New York, written in Brookline June 16, 1827, to her sister, Miss Julia Ann Green, then at school in Milford, Mass., and read before the Society to whom it was given by Mr. William Cooper Hunneman 4th. He described finding this letter as follows: Mrs. William Cooper Hunneman, 2d, of 11 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Roxbury, from about 1828 to 1890, whose maiden name was Frances Jemima Green, a sister of Mrs. Charlotte Green Rawson of Brookline, "had a garret and the old-fashioned habit of keeping things 'forever' in it. Most children of the present generation, and grownups of future generations will only know of such delightful places to explore on rainy days, by the stories they may hear or read of the old houses with the space under the sloping roof unfinished, where one had to stoop, often dark, and of the odor all of its own, a dry, woody odor, especially on a hot day in summer; a space full of trunks of all ages, including the hair covered trunks, boxes, a chest or two, a spinning wheel, perhaps a boy's model of a ship, children's toys put away when outgrown, perhaps a small box of the children's first little shoes, odd pieces of furniture, rolls of wall paper, carpet and straw matting, andirons, shovels and tongs, skates of various generations, from those where the runners curled up over the toe, old shoes, bonnets and beaver hats, fuzzy and grey, possibly a hoop skirt, boxes of old papers and letters and books, a few specimens of dresses, both male and female, packed away in camphor in a cedar chest.

"All these and more were in the garret where this letter lay some fifty odd years, and in reading it now, I think possibly some of your members may recognize the names mentioned in it.
Very truly yours,
WM. C. HUNNEMAN."

My much loved Sister

I cannot but reproach myself for neglect when 1 recollect that I have never written to you particularly since you commenced your studies in Milford. I hope dear Julia you will improve your time & talents to the best advantage. You probably do not feel the importance of applying yourself as closely to your studies as would be advisable - but I would remind you that you have but a few years at most to spend in pursuit of knowledge uninterrupted as at present - I would not merely have you get your exercises verbatim. That I do not consider at all important but I would have you look into what ever study you commence & try at least to understand it. A superficial knowledge only serves to make one appear ridiculous. I do not mean to say that you are thus learned but I have often very often heard you complain that you could not understand your studies. You must never be afraid to ask any explanation of any question you do not clearly see through - that in case one should be asked of you, you might be able to give an answer with out hesitation. I hope you will pay particular attention to arithmetic & writing. Girls too often fail in these two branches of education. You often meet with young ladies who have had an Academy or a Boarding School education who cannot tell you the third of two - nor write a legible hand.

Sunday evening. Nearly a week has elapsed since I commenced this, unavoidable duties have demanded my attention & time. I either do not like to write as well as I used to - or I have not so much time to spend in writing as I once had. I feel perfectly sensible that the letters of my friends remain a long while unanswered - with the exception of yours and sister Fannys, dear Julia - You must pardon me if sometimes I have felt that you had forgotten, such a being existed, as your Charlotte - but I do not allow my self to indulge in those feelings often - Sometimes they will rise in spite of anything you may please to imagine. This you will say has very little connection with the first page of this letter. I acknowledge the truth of it & proceed accordingly - I left off with arithmetic & writing, I will commence again with entreating you not to read novels or remances while you are at school - should you live, as I pray you may, you will have an abundance of time to indulge in light reading - After your mind is well stored with useful knowledge. You are sensible I presume that you are immoderately fond of reading novels & you must be sensible that you have indulged yourself to a very great degree in that kind of reading-Your better judgment I hope will dictate something more solid & useful if not quite as amusing. We must not always indulge ourselves in those things which please us for the moment we should rather ask will it serve us in future - & whatever will stand the test we may safely enjoy.

Wednesday 27th. Company came in Sunday evening which prevented my finishing this letter & this morning Miss Heaney is sick the girls are taking their study hour, & I have seated myself with the determination of finishing this sheet. Last week I walked into Boston with Miss Charlotte Walley - found Mr. & Mrs. Martin Lincoln at Mrs. Bowles - I was very happy to see them - poor Catherin her husband and dear little Mary were thrown from a chaise a few days before I went in they were none of them much hurt - but greatly frightened little M. says she "fell out of the chaise & boke her nick" she is a most interesting child - her parents idolise her-Cath'rin comes out often to see me - is coming this week to spend the day with her little darling-I visited the Gallery of paintings at the Atheanaeum was very much delighted - there are a great many old pictures, some very antiquated - There is a most beautiful picture of Jerimiah the Prophet & his scribe - who is seated at the feet of his master & waiting, apparently with the deepest interest for the dictation of the Prophet - the picture is very large. I will have a long description to give you when I see you. I met several people whom I have not seen for three or four years - and who I may not see for as many more-I walked out of town with Charlotte & her Brother - we started about six and reached home at eight. Mrs. Walley has twelve children one son in Smyrna in the midst of the Greeks & Turks one in South America & one who has just returned from Porto Cabello - he and his brother were merchants - the troops marched into their town & their store being the most comfortable one in the place - Bollivar took it for his own quarters - more of this when I see you. The Walley family is one of the most - perhaps the most interesting families I ever knew-Mrs. Walley is a french lady she came to this country about 38 years ago-I wish you could know them Julia. I have told them about you and they wish to see you. Julia my dear be a good girl & understand what you learn - you must write a great deal - & you will please me & all who love you - write me a long letter tell me what you are doing direct my letters to Boston to the care of Bowles & Dearborn - Boston - & I shall get them - there is no office in Brookline-Mr. & Mrs. Bowles intend to visit Mendon soon - I hope you will see them - Miss Buffum is sitting beside me - she says give my love to Julia - little Mary Walley is standing over me with one arm over my neck & then giving me a kiss-she is a sweet child - write soon to Charlotte.

[P. S.] There is one young lady here whom I have not mentioned, in this letter - one whom I love most dearly - one of the sweetest & most amiable girls I have ever known I would give much to have her a companion of yours she is intellectual very modest & unobtrusive - she plays very finely on the pianno forte & sings sweetly - she is your own age and her name is Cath'rin Walley - You will say the Cath'rins seem to be favorites - I have found two that are - she talks of you every day - she says very often Oh Mrs. Rawson I wish you were a Catholic - she and all her family are Catholic's - Cath'rin is goin into the Convent this fall to get prepared for joining the Church - Mr. Byrn the Catholic Priest comes out very often - generally spends the night & says mass the next morning we have all been invited twice to attend but the rain prevented - Mrs. Walley sends us cherries every day in abundance & other neighbors send us strawberries - I live upon fruit altogether I always wish you had some of it - Has Dr. Leland commenced a course of Lectures this term? Tell me all about them if he has - My compliments to Mrs. Long if you please and regards to Mr. Cleaveland - tell him I hope he will make a good scholar of you - again farewel.

[Addressed] Miss Julia Ann Green
Care of the Rev David Long,
Milford Mass.

The writer, Mrs. Rawson, was born October 6,1804, at Medway, Mass., and died July 9,1883, at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Her parents were William Green and Jemima Wright Green of West Medway, Mass.













The name of this corporation shall be Brookline Historical Society.

The objects of this Society shall be the study of the history of the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, its societies, organizations, families, individuals, events; the collection and preservation of its antiquities, the establishment and maintenance of an historical library, and the publication from time to time of such information relating to the same as shall be deemed expedient.

Any person of moral character who shall be nominated and approved by the Board of Trustees may be elected to membership by ballot of two-thirds of the members present and voting thereon at any regular meeting of the Society. Each person so elected shall pay an admission fee of three dollars, and an annual assessment of two dollars; and any member who shall fail for two consecutive years to pay the annual assessment shall cease to be a member of this Society; provided, however, that any member who shall pay twenty-five dollars in anyone year may thereby become a Life member; and any member who shall pay fifty dollars in any one year may thereby become a Benefactor of the Society, and thereafter shall be free from all dues and assessments. The money received from Life members and Benefactors shall constitute a fund, of which not more than twenty per cent, together with the annual income there from, shall be spent in anyone year.

The Society may elect Honorary and Corresponding members in the manner in which annual members are elected, but they shall have no voice in the management of the Society, and shall not be subject to fee or assessment.

Certificates signed by the President and the Clerk may be issued to all persons who become Life members, and to Benefactors.


The officers of this Society shall be seven Trustees, a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary (who shall be Clerk of the Society and may also be elected to fill the office of Treasurer), and a Treasurer, who, together, shall constitute the Board of Trustees. The Trustees, Clerk, and Treasurer shall be chosen by ballot at the annual meeting in January, and shall hold office for one year, and until others are chosen and qualified in their stead. The President and Vice-President shall be chosen by the Board of Trustees from their number at their first meeting after their election, or at an adjournment thereof.

The annual meeting of this Society shall be held on the fourth Wednesday of January. Regular stated meetings shall be held on the fourth Wednesday of February, March, April, May, October, November, and December.

Special meetings may be called by order of the Board of Trustees. The Clerk shall notify each member by a written or printed notice sent through the mail postpaid at least three days before the time of meeting, or by publishing such notice in one or more newspapers published in Brookline.

At all meetings of the Society ten (10) members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

The meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be called by the Clerk at the request of the President, by giving each member personal or written notice, or by sending such notice by mail, postpaid, at least twenty-four hours before the time of such meeting; but meetings where all the Trustees are present may be held without' such notice. The President shall call meetings of the Board of Trustees at the request of any three members thereof. A majority of its members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Vacancies in the offices of Trustees, Clerk, or Treasurer may be filled for the remainder of the term at any regular meeting of the Society by the vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting. In the absence of the Clerk at a meeting of the Society, a Clerk pro tempore shall be chosen.

At the monthly meeting in December, a Nominating Committee of three members shall be appointed by the presiding officer, who shall report at the annual meeting a list of candidates for the places to be filled.

The President, or in his absence the Vice-President, shall preside at all meetings of the Society. In the absence of those officers a President pro tempore shall be chosen.

The Clerk shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties. He shall notify members of all meetings of the Society, and shall keep an exact record of all the proceedings of the Society at its meetings.

He shall conduct the general correspondence of the Society and place on file all letters received. He shall enter the names of members in order in books or cards kept for that purpose, and issue certificates to Life members and to Benefactors. He shall have charge of such property in possession of the Society as may from time to time be delegated to him by the Board of Trustees. He shall acknowledge all loans or gifts made to the Society.

The Treasurer shall collect all moneys due the Society, and pay all bills against the Society when approved by the Board of Trustees. He shall keep a full account of receipts and expenditures in a book belonging to the Society, which shall always be open to the inspection of the Trustees; and at the annual meeting in January he shall make a written report of all his doings for the year preceding. The Treasurer shall give bonds in such sum, with surety, as the Trustees may fix, for the faithful discharge of his duties.

The Board of Trustees shall superintend the prudential and executive business of the Society, authorize all expenditures of money, fix all salaries, provide a common seal, receive and act upon all resignations and forfeitures of membership, and see that the by-laws are duly complied with. The Board of Trustees shall have full powers to hire, lease, or arrange for a suitable home for the Society, and to make all necessary rules and regulations required in the premises.

They shall make a report of their doings at the annual meeting of the Society.

They may from time to time appoint such sub-committees from their own number as they deem expedient. In case of a vacancy in the office of Clerk or Treasurer they shall have power to choose the same pro tempore till the next meeting of the Society.


The President shall annually, in the month of January, appoint four standing committees, as follows:

A committee of three members, to be styled the "Committee on Rooms," to which shall be added the President and Clerk of the Society ex-officio, who shall have charge of all arrangements of the rooms (except books, manuscripts, and other objects appropriate to the library offered as gifts or loans), the hanging of pictures, and the general arrangements of the Society's collection in their department.

A committee of three members, to be styled the" Committee on Papers," who shall have charge of the subjects of papers to be read, or other exercises of a profitable nature, at the monthly meetings of the Society.

A committee of three or more members, to be styled the "Committee on Membership," whose duty it shall be to give information in regard to the purposes of the Society, and increase its membership.

A committee of three or more members, to be styled the" Committee on Library," who shall have charge of the arrangements of the library, including acceptance and rejection of books, manuscripts, and other objects tendered to the library, and the general arrangement of the Society's collections in that department.

These four committees shall perform their duties as above set forth under the general direction and supervision of the Board of Trustees. Vacancies that occur in any of these committees during their term of service shall be filled by the President.

The President shall annually, in the month of January, appoint two members, who, with the President, shall constitute the Committee on Finance, to examine from time to time the books and accounts of the Treasurer, to audit his accounts at the close of the
year, and to report upon the expediency of proposed expenditures of money.

These by-laws may be altered or amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present, notice of the subject matter of the proposed alterations or amendments having been given at a previous meeting.