1886.] EDITOR'S TABLE. 87 EDITOR'S TABLE. It is not an easy task either to establish a magazine, or, having secured for it a place in public favor, to retain the good will essential to its continued success. The examples of failure on the part of those who have essayed this task are so many and so notable, that publishers and editors who enter the field of periodical literature with new ventures, must possess, first of all, not a little courage; to this, if they are to expect any degree of success, must be added a raison d'être for the publication; and, besides, there must be an accompaniment of managerial ability sufficient to give the reason a continual demonstration in fact. Whatever the view of the cheerful optimist who stands on the threshold of the magazine world, with his experience, like his hoped-for triumphs, all in the future, the conditions above named, as witnessed by the broken lance of many a vanquished knight of this " Round Table," are not easily met. It is with a full understanding of these facts that we record the enlarged plans of the publishers of the BAY STATE MONTHLY, whereby that periodical, a vine of Massachusetts planting, seeking soil for wider growth, will send forth its roots into all New England. Chief among the features of the BAY STATE MONTHLY which have made it acceptable to the people of Massachusetts have been the many articles relating to the history and biography of its storied towns and famous men. Material for articles of equal interest and value, and much of it as yet unused by historian or biographer in sketch or story, abounds in every State of the New England group. It is in order to make better use of this material, that a change is made, as will be seen, not in place, but in scope, whereby the Bay State gives way to the New England; and the NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE, which is the BAY STATE MONTHLY with a wider outlook, goes forth to commend itself to the good opinion of the citizens of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and of New Englanders everywhere. The prohibitionists of New England find it difficult to understand why Georgia, with the immense quota of ignorance in its voting population, has been able to abolish legal rum-drinking, a thing which has not yet been found possible- notwithstanding the supposed reign of a more widely diffused intelligence in the greater part of New England. An explanation of the fact is to be found in the homogeneity of the Georgian population, due to the vast preponderance of native born ele ments (there being only ten thousand five hundred persons of foreign birth in 1880), and to the popular condition affecting public sentiment in Georgia and her sister States. Among these influences may be noted that of the clergy, who reach the greater part of the population, white and black, through the churches in whose membership it is enrolled; the fact that, owing to the comparative non-use of wines and beers, the question is simply that of rum or no rum; and the added circumstance that the evils of intemperance are there greatly aggravated by the character of the whiskey almost universally used, it being an unrectified form of the article, and accompanied by the most dangerous and destructive results to individuals and to society. Among these results may be mentioned the often repeated instances of lawlessness and bloodshed, and the growing demoralization of the colored workingmen, which reacts injuriously upon every industry. Against conditions like these, there can be found in almost any community in the land, in the aggregate, an opposing majority. In New England this majority is largely powerless, because swallowed up in the opposing votes of political parties. In Georgia it has succeeded, because it has separated the liquor question from all other political considerations and made it a separate issue, upon which men vote neither as Democrats nor Republicans, but as well meaning, and ably directed men, who are marshalled against a great social evil. New England temperance advocates have difficulties to contend with, growing out of the foreign born elements in our midst, which do not exist at the South; but it may be well for them to consider the question of adopting the Georgian method of sticking to the temperance issue as a distinct question, instead of dragging it into general politics, where the temperance element loses in strength by a division upon other questions. We find in the Pall Mall Gazette suggestions intended for the eyes of English matrons, but which may be equally commended to the attention of American mothers, relating to the establishment of "housekeeping schools" after the pattern of those in Germany. Every girl in Germany, be she the daughter of nobleman, officer, or small official, goes, as soon as she has finished her school education, into one of these training establishments. The rich go where they pay highly. They are never taken for less than a year, and every month has its appropriate work: Preserving of fruits and vegetables, laying down meats, the care of eggs and butter, the preservation of woollen clothes, repairing of household linen, etc. Besides these general branches of housewifery, they are taught cooking, clear starching, the washing of dishes, the care of silver and glass, dusting and sweeping, laying of a table and serving-in brief, all the duties which will fall to their own lot or to the servants whom they employ. As a result, the ménage of a German matron is perfection, according to German ideas. A good illustration of the historical spirit, which happily has come to stay in our midst, is seen in the instructive and entertaining articles which have recently been published in the newspapers concerning some old New England homesteads. Among these is one in the Boston Courier of Oct. 4, 1885, telling of the Pickering house in Salem, built in 1659, and still in the Pickering name, and also of the Porter place in Wenham, which, although it had been in the Porter name without alienation since 1702, was of much older date. In the Boston Transcript of Nov. 28, 1885, was also an interesting account of the old Curtis house at Jamaica Plain, which was finished in 1639. Its builder, William Curtis, was its first occupant; and from that time to 1883 none but his descendants occupied the house. A number of ancient dwellings still standing in New England were referred to in the same article. Such public notices of time-honored landmarks are to be commended, not only because they serve as historical links, but because they develop that historical imagination which enables one to clothe with a tender reverence places so rich in interest. The present NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE is not the first of the name. Another New England Magazine was established in 1831, by Joseph T. Buckingham and his son Edwin, who died and was buried at sea in 1832. His cenotaph may be seen in Mount Auburn, bearing the inscription, "The sea his body, heaven his spirit holds." This magazine included among its contributors John Quincy Adams, Oliver Wendell Holmes (who commenced The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table as a serial in it), Jeremy Belknap, Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, Charles C. Felton, John G. Palfray, Gardner Spring, Joseph Story, Francis Wayland, Daniel Webster, and Nathaniel P. Willis. It contained articles upon the authorship of Junius, American Colonization Society, and Spurzheim, who died in 1832, and was among the first tenants of Mount Auburn, and the elegy upon whom, composed by John Pierpont, commencing "Many a form is bending o'er thee, pronounced at the funeral services at the Old South Church, is still remembered by many. It also contained Garrett's Fly-Time, Reflections of It was discontinued in 1834, for want of patronage. We have the courage to believe that the success so justly merited, but a Jail-Bird, etc., etc. denied to the projectors of this pioneer among American periodicals, will not fail to reward the efforts of those who, at the end of a half-century, take up the broken thread, and give the time-honored name once more a place in American literature. In a future number, we shall have more to say concerning our worthy predecessor in the Magazine field. It will be seen that there is much in common in the aims of the two periodicals, especially in the purpose to represent, and loyally serve, the best interests of New England and its people. As the NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE seeks to become a repository for material of interest concerning the New England States worthy of preservation, we cordially invite contributions to its pages, from all sources, of matter relating to town and local history, and the manners and customs of early times, and of biographical and other sketches relating to the notable men and women, the social and religious life, the occupations and industries, of colonial and later days. Under the head of NECROLOGY there will be published obituaries of notable New England men and women recently deceased, accompanied, where possible, by brief genealogical records. The value of material. thus placed in permanent form, within reach of future investigators, will be at once evident; and we shall be glad to receive properly prepared brief contributions to this department. We shall seek to make the "Notes and Queries" department of the Magazine of use and interest to our readers, as a medium of communication between those seeking or possessing information as to New England persons and places. Communications intended for this department should be written separately from the letter enclosing them, and should be brief. Brief records of the genealogy of families resident in New England during and prior to the war of the Revolution are invited; and by furnishing such records, especially in instances where they have not already been fully published, valuable additions will be made to the store of material relating to both history and biography-which is really fundamental history. Men and women make history. In this connection we shall welcome not only articles of length, but anecdotes and scraps of information, for which a special department will be furnished, under title of "In Olden Times." 1886.] HISTORICAL RECORD. 91 HISTORICAL RECORD.* November 3.- Elections were held in twelve States of the Union. In Massachusetts, a full list of state officers and a legislature were chosen. Governor Robinson was elected for the third time, and all the other members of the Republican ticket were chosen,-it being a reelection for each one, excepting Alanson W. Beard, who succeeds D. A. Gleason as Treasurer. The name of the West Roxbury Park, in the city of Boston, has been changed to the Franklin Park, and a fund established by Dr. Franklin applied to its purchase. In 1791 he left to the city £1,000 which was to accumulate for one hundred years, when £100,000 was to be appropriated for some public object, and the balance to accumulate for another century. The amount specified will not be realized, however, in 1891, as the fund will then reach only about $350,000. December 8.- Elections were held in thirteen Massachusetts cities. The Mayors elected are as follows: Chelsea, Mayor Endicott, re-elected; Somerville, Mayor Burns, re-elected; Cambridge, Mayor Russell, reelected; Brockton, John J. Whipple; Salem, John M. Raymond; Gloucester, Mayor Parsons, re-elected; Haverhill, C. H. Weeks; Lowell, J. C. Abbott; Lawrence, A. B. Bruce; Taunton, R. H. Hall; Fall River, W. S. Greene; Springfield, E. D. Metcalf; Newton, D. H. Kimball. - NECROLOGY. November 21.- The death occurred of Hon. Elizur Wright, a wellknown Massachusetts man, and a resident of Medford. Mr. Wright was born in South Canaan, Conn., February 12, 1804, and graduated at Yale, in 1826. In his early life he was a teacher, from 1829 to 1833 being Professor of Mathematics in Western Reserve College. He became in 1833 Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York. In 1838 he came to Boston, and for twenty years was actively engaged in editorial work, taking a stand as a most pronounced abolitionist. Since then he has been Insurance Commissioner or Actuary for the State till the time of his death. Mr. Wright has been an earnest advocate of the project for converting the "Middlesex Fells" into a park in later years. He was always an earnest, active man. * This department hereafter will be made much more complete, and will cover all of the New England States. |