on the death of his father, but soon died, and was succeeded in the sachemship by Philip. This noted chief is well known in history; and his war, called "King Philip's war," has immortalized his name. Unhappily, he did not possess the peaceable disposition of his father. He became an enemy to the English and sought their extermination. Massasoit possessed many noble traits of character that would have greatly honored any Christian ruler. "He possessed," says G. M. Fessenden, Esq., "all the elements of a great mind, and a noble heart. With the advantages which civilized life and the light of pure Christianity would have supplied, he might have achieved a brilliant destiny, and occupied a high niche in the temple of fame. He never had full justice done to his character. In all of the memorials of Indian character which have come down to us, Massasoit's character stands above reproach. No one has ever charged him with evil. Other Indian chiefs appear on the page of history noted for some great act or distinguishing quality, mostly of a warlike, but occasionally of an amiable or benevolent nature, yet, often betrayed into some act of weakness, or guilty of cruelty and want of fidelity. But from the time when Massasoit repaired to Plymouth to welcome the Pilgrims and to tender to them his friendship, till the time of his death, a period of nearly forty years, when the Pilgrims were weak and defenseless, encountering want, sickness and death-when at almost any moment he could have exterminated them-in no one instance did he depart from those plain engagements of treaty which he made when he plighted his faith to the strangers. It was well for the Pilgrims that he lived between them and the powerful tribe of the Narragansetts, under Canonicut, who early showed a determination to attack and expel them, and were prevented only by Massasoit." Trumbull, in his work on "Indian Wars," pays a most honorable tribute to his character: "He seems to have been a most estimable man. He was just, humane, beneficent, true to his word; and in every respect an honest man." His personal appearance must have been noble and majestic, and his bearing exceedingly dignified. Physically, he was large, strong, and wellproportioned. Morton in his "Memorial," says: "The king is a portly man, and in his best years, grave countenance, and spare of speech." He died in the autumn of 1661, and must have been at the time of his death about eighty years of age. As he had long lived in peace, so he died. All who knew him mourned for his death, feeling that they had lost a true and valued We will honor his great virtues, though a heathen. His name is engraved on material more durable than marble, and shall live while American history survives. And though we may not be permitted to circle his brow with all the honors of a Christian hero, yet we may honor his memory as one of the best of pagan rulers, and especially as one who contributed largely toward the settlement and prosperity of this great republic. R. W. ALLEN. NOTES BOSTON NOTIONS-This is a wellknown expression and goes back many years. It was used during the last century, and even at that time had become proverbial. In the preface to an oration on the Beauties of Liberty, delivered at Boston, December 3, 1772, "by a British Bostonian" [Mr. Allen], it says that "the Bostonians are very notional." Again, in the "Massachusetts Mercury," May 3, 1793, is an article, headed "Boston Folks are full of notions," which speaks of the fact as a proverbial saying. BOSTON. S. A. G. THE SARATOGA MONUMENT-At the late annual meeting of the trustees of the Saratoga Monument Association, held at Saratoga Springs, Aug. 9, 1884, Mr. William L. Stone, chairman of the Committee on Design, presented a very interesting report of the transactions of the year and the progress of the work. The designs for the statues of Generals Gates, Schuyler, and Morgan have been accepted, and one niche will be left vacant to signify the treason of Arnold. The walls of the five stories of the monument are to be covered with bass-reliefs, and memorial tablets are to be placed upon the most interesting spots upon the field of operations, as at Freeman's farm, where the first battle of Saratoga was fought, the extreme outpost of the American intrenchments, the spot where General Frazer fell, etc. Seven of these tablets are already erected. A committee of the trustees, Mr. Starin, Mr. A. S. Sullivan, and Mr. D. S. Potter, appeared before the joint Congressional Library Committee in Febru ary, and Mr. Sullivan in an eloquent speech urged the propriety of an appropriation to complete the monument. The committee unanimously reported a bill appropriating $40,000, which passed the Senate on the 1st of May without a dissenting vote. It was also reported to the House, but it was impossible to reach it in order, and it went over to the next session, with no reasonable doubt. of its passage. The monument itself, as completed, has cost $65,000, of which the State of New York and individual subscriptions have furnished $35,000, and Congress, by the efforts of Mr. Starin when a member, $30,000. The further cost will be that of statues, bass-reliefs, tablets, staircases, etc., which will be made up in the same way. It is the most important Revolutionary monument in New York, and one of the most important in the country, and when completed it will be largely due to the efforts of ex-Governor Seymour, Mr. Marvin, Mr. Starin, Mr. Sullivan, and a few other earnest and devoted gentlemen, among whom no one has been more untiring in his interest and devotion than the secretary, William L. Stone. MONHEGAN On the authority of John Johnston's excellent "History of Bristol and Bremen," it was stated, in the article "Something about Monhegan" [XII. 266], that this quaint old landmark was mortgaged by Thomas Elbridge to Richard Russell, of Charlestown, Mass., in 1650 (Nov. 3). According to "Suffolk Deeds," Liber I., p. 131, recently issued by the city of Boston, it had been already mortgaged to Mr. Abraham Shurt, of Pemaquid, the "Father of American Conveyancing." This would indicate that the Russell mortgage was a second one, which does not seem hardly probable, or, that Mr. Johnston was wrong in his data, as will be seen by the following: "10 (10) 1650. Thomas Elbridge of Pemaquid in N: E. Merch granted vnto Abraham Shurt the Island of Monhigan in new England wth all the houses edificies buildings woods vnderwoods comons meadowes pastures feedings & comodities there to appertaineing. wth all pfitts issues due & payable vppon any demise or lease thereof or any pt there of reserved, wth all evidences concerning the same: Provided that if the sd Tho. Elbridge shall pay or cause to be pd vnto sd Abraham Shurt or his assignes the summe of thirty pounds sterl at or before the 29th of Sept. 1651. that then this grant shal be void. dat 11th Sept. 1650. Thomas Elbridge & a seale Sealed & dd in pnce of Robert Long. This deed was affirmed by m' John Daud of Bosto to be signed sealed & dd by m' Tho: Elbridge to m' Abr. Shurt his vse. before mee William Hibbins : During Philip's War, Monhegan was resorted to, as a place of safety, by the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements which were being devastated. The steps taken by Massachusetts for their relief will be seen by the following from the "Massachusetts Records," vol. 5, page 122: at a session of the General Court held Oct. 12, 1676, "It is heereby ordered, that, for the service of the eastern parts, there be forthwith raysed in the county of Suffolke one hundred & twenty able souldjers, with twenty of our Indians, which shall be sent wth all expedition, fitted & furnished with armes, amunition, & provissions sufficjent, in convenient vessells, to Kinnibecke, Shipscott, Monhegin, & Casco Bay, or Black Point, or where they may have opportvnity to doe service vpon the ennemy; and that Majo Clarke be desired and is heereby authorized to rayse & send away sayd forces as abouesayd; and to put them vnder such conduct as himself, the council, or the Generall Court shall appoint." QUERIES CAPTAIN PIERRE LANDAIS-The New York Sun of November 27th, 1883, contains an article of one and a half columns on this officer, signed D. C. Has any longer biography of him ever appeared? He was never an Admiral, as D. C. calls him. B. BROOKLYN, Sept. 8, 1884. WILL some reader of this Magazine have the kindness to inform me where I can consult rolls of the men who were with Ethan Allen at the taking of Ft. Ticonderoga? Where are to be found accounts of the fight with Indians at Fort Morrison in Coleraine, Massachusetts, in March, 1759, earlier (or more particular) than the notice in "Holland's History of Western Massachusetts," Vol. II., p. 339? I specially want information of the "Dea. Hurlburt" therein mentioned: who he was and where he came from? CHAS. W. BRYANT. GRANVILLE, OHIO, REPLIES MURILLO [XII. 281]-If "Art Student," who inquires concerning the pictures by Murillo now in this country, will consult the Catalogue of the works of Velasquez and Murillo, by Charles B. Curtis, London and New York (Bouton), 1883, he will find the information he seeks. This catalogue contains an account of every authentic picture by Murillo now known, with the name of the owner, also a list of pictures formerly known but which have disappeared. It appears that of the 481 paintings by Murillo there are seven in the United States, the most important of which are: The Immaculate Conception, belonging to Mrs. W. H. Aspinwall, New York; The Legend of Saint Diego. of Alsala, who is discovered by the prior of his convent with bread in his robe miraculously changed to flowers, which picture belongs to Mr. Curtis, the author of the catalogue, and is in New York city; St. Rose of Lima, in the possession of Frederick E. Church, the distinguished artist, at his residence in Hudson, N. Y.; The Virgin and Child, a half-length, formerly belonging to the Marquis of Salamanca, and now in the possession of Henry Mason, Esq., of New York. Of the first of these compositions three repetitions are known; of the third, three; and of the fourth, four. There is no repetition of the picture belonging to Mr. Curtis, an etching of which by Lalauze is given in the Catalogue. It is a large gallery work of eleven life-size figures, executed in 1645-48 for the convent of San Francisco at Seville, and its pedigree can be traced in an unbroken line of descent from the day it left the painter's hands down to the present time. It is doubtful if there is another work in America by any artist whose history can be established with absolute certainty for so many years. The only one of the above paintings executed in the third, or vaporoso manner of the artist, is the Immaculate Conception. Ten others are in the second, or Cálido manner, which style Murillo employed in his greatest works, notably in those executed for the Capuchin Church, and those of the Hospital of the Ciudad. Specimens of the fish or firo manner are scarce; probably not more than five or six are in existence. It should be remarked that the second and third styles do not indicate progressive steps in the method of the artist. They were employed by him contemporaneously, his selection being determined by the subject, the locality, or perhaps in some degree by the price; for the vaporoso manner, being shadowy and indistinct in outline required less labor in execution than the Cálido, whereas the greatest care is shown in composition and draw "A trifle light as air." Swift sang a broomstick, and with matchless lore Rehearsed the contents of a housemaid's drawer; Great Burns's genius shone sublime in lice; Old Homer epicized on frogs and mice; And, leaping from his swift Pindaric car, A haunch of venison nobly did inspire;- And my small shell shall sound the praise of "smoke." |
