The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3

The account of town and country life as they were at the beginning of the present century, and of the growth of those social usages which we have come almost to regard as instinctive, is very entertaining and instructive. Barring certain blemishes and a few inaccuracies, which ought to be excusable in a work of such character, Mr. McMaster's two volumes form a very valuable and welcome contribution to our national literature. It was a felicitous thought which prompted him to enter this peculiar field, and to gather up the important facts which writers on political history have generally avoided. So thoroughly and so admirably has Mr. McMaster worked this field that we doubt whether any other writer, coming after him, will be tempted to invade the same territory. The work thus far ends with the negotiations which led to the Louisiana purchase, and we are led to expect three more instalments before it shall be completed.

Should any readers be tempted by Mrs. Gould's article in this number of The Bay State Monthly to visit Nantucket, they will do well to take with them, for handy reference and trustworthy guidance, Mr. Godfrey's Island of Nantucket: What it was and what it is.8 It is a complete index and guide to all that is interesting in the island,—tells just how to get there and what to see there,—and contains, moreover, several special articles, by different hands, on the history, botany, geology, and entomology of the island. The maps accompanying the text were made expressly for the book.

A fitting companion to Mr. Wallace's "Malay Archipelago," which appeared some ten or a dozen years ago, is a new book, entitled A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago,9 of which Henry O. Forbes is the author. Mr. Forbes revisited most of the islands which Mr. Wallace had described, but his route in each island was altogether different. He gives us the first detailed account of the Timor-laut Islands, with very interesting and valuable ethnological notes. The work is divided into six parts, devoted to the Cocos-Keeling Islands, Java, Sumatra, the Moluccas, Timor-laut, Buru, and Timor. Many illustrations are interspersed throughout the text, and the whole work is exceedingly vigorous, graphic, and abounding in interest.

Under the Rays of the Aurora Borealis; In the Land of the Lapps and Kvæns10 by Sophus Tromholt, edited by Carl Siewers, furnishes a narrative of journeys in Lapland, Finland, and Northern Russia in 1882-83. It also contains an account of the recent circumpolar scientific expeditions, and a popular statement of what is known of the Aurora Borealis, which the author has studied long and carefully. A map and nearly one hundred and fifty illustrations add greatly to the value and attractiveness of the work.

Mr. Winfred A. Stearns, a close student of natural history, and one of the authors of "New England Bird Life," has prepared a work entitled Labrador: a sketch of its People, its Industries, and its Natural History.11 Although not written in a very agreeable style, the work is one which deserves perusal, and will certainly command some attention. Mr. Stearns visited Labrador three times, once in 1875, once in 1880, and again in 1882. The results of these journeys and observations are herein set down in a compact volume of three hundred pages. With the exception of a valuable paper on Labrador in the "Encyclopedia Britannica," little of a modern and useful character has been written giving anything like a fair description of the country and its resources. Mr. Stearns book supplies the omission, and is cordially to be commended. It ought to pave the way for a good many excursion parties.

MEMORANDA FOR THE MONTH

The reduction of letter postage from two cents per half-ounce to two cents per ounce, which took effect July 1st, suggests a few words in regard to postal matters in general. The collection of news by post-carriers is said to have originated in the regular couriers established by Cyrus in his Persian kingdom about 550 B.C. Charlemagne employed couriers for similar purposes in his time. The first post-houses in Europe were instituted by Louis XI. of France. Post-chaises were invented in the same country. In England in the reign of Edward IV., 1784, riders on post-horses went stages of the distance of twenty miles from each other in order to convey to the king the earliest intelligence of war. Post communication between London and most towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland existed in 1935. The penny-post was first set up in London and its suburbs in 1681 as a private enterprise, and nine years later became a branch of the general post. Mail coaches, for the conveyance of letters, began to run between London and Bristol in 1784. The postal system of the American colonies was organized in 1710. Franklin, as deputy postmaster-general for the colonies, established mail-coaches between Philadelphia and Boston in 1760. Previous to 1855 the rates of postage were according to distance. The uniform three-cent rate was adopted in 1863. Money-order offices were instituted in England as early as 1792. They were established in this country in 1864, and there is no safer way to remit small amounts.

1

Published by Roberts Brothers, Boston.

2

Copyright 1885, by Elizabeth Porter Gould.

3

Copyright, 1884, by Frances C. Sparhawk.

4

The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State. By Henry M. Stanley, 2 vols. Maps and illustrations. New York; Harper & Bros. Price, $10.00.

5

How We are Governed. By Anna Laurens Dawes. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co.

6

The Hunter's Handbook, containing a description of all articles required in camp, with hints on provisions and stores, and receipts for camp cooking. By "An Old Hunter." Boston: Lee & Shepard. Price, 50 cents.

7

A History of the People of the United States, from the Revolution to the Civil War. By John Bach McMaster. Vol. II. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Price, $2.50.

8

The Island of Nantucket: What it was and what it is. Compiled by Edward K. Godfrey. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Price, paper, 50 cents.

9

Wanderings of a Naturalist in the Eastern Archipelago. By H.O. Forbes. Illustrated. New York: Harper & Bros. Price, $5.00.

10

Under the Rays of the Aurora Borealis; In the Land of the Lapps and Kvæns. By Sophus Tromholt. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.

11

Labrador: a Sketch of its People, Industries, and Natural History. By W.A. Stearns. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Price, $1.75.