Wilson was killed in the Concord fight. His body was brought back to Bedford and buried in the old buryingground. Whether there is any significance in it I cannot tell, but it is interesting in this connection to know that on his grave-stone is cut a hand holding a dagger similar to that on the flag. Perhaps it refers to his having been killed while fighting under it; perhaps there may have been in the device on the flag some personal reference. Further light upon the flag may also explain this.

Mr. E. J. LOWELL stated, in response to an inquiry by the President, that very few Hessian officers came over to our side during the Revolution; that a few soldiers did so, but they were mostly those who had been taken prisoners, and subsequently others who were about to return from America to Germany; but that Washington was especially averse to enlisting deserters.

Remarks were made by Dr. EVERETT, Mr. DEANE, and Mr. T. C. AMORY; and Mr. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL mentioned that John G. Saxe had declared that he was descended from a Hessian deserter.

JANUARY MEETING, 1886.

The first meeting of the new year was held on the 14th instant, the President, Dr. ELLIS, in the chair.

The record of the preceding meeting was read and accepted. The additions by gift to the Library were reported.

The President read a letter from Mrs. William B. Rogers of this city, who presented for the Cabinet a box containing thirty-three coins and four medals, being part of the collection made by Mr. George Ticknor, when in Spain, for Mr. James Savage, and bequeathed by him to the Society. A descriptive letter, dated Madrid, Sept. 1, 1818, accompanied the collection.

It was voted that the grateful acknowledgments of the Society be communicated to Mrs. Rogers by the Recording Secretary.

Dr. GREEN said:

In behalf of Dr. Peabody and myself, who are the executors under the will of our late friend and associate, Mr. Sibley, whose death was announced at the last meeting, I present here a printed copy of his will. It is probably known to the members that he has constituted this Society the residuary legatee of nearly all his estate. This amount is by far the largest sum of money ever given or bequeathed to the Society,

the property being appraised at upwards of $150,000; and it will place the name of Sibley among the most munificent promoters of historical research.

Will of John Langdon Sibley, of Cambridge.

I, John Langdon Sibley, of Cambridge, in the County of Middlesex, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, make this my last will and testament, hereby disposing of all my property and estate, real, personal, and mixed, including all real estate acquired after the execution of my will.

1st. To my dear wife, Charlotte Augusta Langdon (Cook) Sibley, in token of her entire unselfishness, and of her self-sacrificing devotedness to my comfort and happiness, I devise and bequeath all my property and estate, in trust, to collect the rents and income thereof, and of all substituted property, and to retain the same to her own use, in every year during her natural life, she first paying out of the said rents and income all taxes and repairs, all assessments, except those for betterments, and all premiums of insurance, and keeping all property which is liable to damage by fire fully insured for the benefit of the trust. I empower my said Trustee to vary investments at her discretion, and for that purpose to sell, convey, and transfer any trust property, original or substituted, by public or private sale, without the aid of any Court, and to invest the proceeds of any such sales according to her best judgment. And I empower my said wife, in every year when she deems the said net rents and income to be insufficient for her comfortable support, to apply to such support so much money out of the capital of the trust-fund as in her judgment may be requisite therefor.

2d. Upon my said wife's death, I give to Phillips Exeter Academy all photographs and other portraits of her and myself, and also the portraits now in my house, painted by E. E. Finch, of my parents, Dr. Jonathan Sibley and Mrs. Persis (Morse) Sibley, by whose indefatigable industry, rigid economy, and painful self-denial was accumulated the small property which constituted the beginning and foundation of the Sibley Charity Fund.

3d. All the said trust property and estate remaining at my said wife's death, after deducting the said legacy, I give and devise to the Massachusetts Historical Society, to be kept as a separate fund, and called the Sibley Fund; and the income thereof to be applied to the publication of Biographical Sketches of the graduates of Harvard University, written in the same general manner as the sketches already published by me, and in continuation thereof. If any income then remain, the same shall be applied first to the purchase of printed books, pamphlets, or manuscripts, the same being composed by graduates of Harvard University, or relating to such graduates; and next, to the general purposes of the Society. Provided, however, that at least one fourth part of the said income be accumulated and added to the capital in every year during the hundred years next succeeding my said wife's death, and provided, also, that the said Corporation may in its discretion apply not exceeding one half part of the said accumulated fund toward the erection of a new fire-proof building to be called by my name.

4th. I appoint the Reverend Andrew Preston Peabody, D.D., President of the Board of Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy, and Samuel Abbott Green, M.D., Mayor of Boston and Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, executors of this, my will; and I exempt

them and my Trustee from giving any bond. Upon all sales by my executors or Trustee, the purchaser shall not be concerned to see to the application of the purchase-money, The provision for my said wife is in lieu of dower, or thirds, and of every other provision or allowance out of my estate. Each of my executors shall be liable only for his own receipts, payments, and wilful defaults, and not one for the others.

And finally I hereto set my hand and seal, and declare this instrument to be my last will and testament this first day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three.

JOHN LANGDON SIBLEY. SEAL.

Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the above-named John Langdon Sibley, as and for his last will and testament, in presence of us, who in his presence, and in presence of each other, and at his request, have hereto set our hands as witnesses.

FRANCIS EDWARD PARKER.
JOSEPH W. SHATTUCK.
ROBERT LEVI.

It was voted, on motion of Mr. C. C. Smith, that a committee consisting of Judge Hoar, Mr. Cobb, and Professor E. C. Smyth, be appointed to consider and report to the Society what action should be taken in view of this munificent bequest.

MR. PUTNAM exhibited, from the collection of the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology, a number of celts, small axes, and ornaments made of jadeite obtained from burial-mounds in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, principally from the explorations of Dr. E. Flint. Several of the specimens agree, in specific gravity, hardness, and color, with the Asiatic jadeite; and in the absence of any known locality of that variety of the stone in America, it is presumable that they were all derived from the known localities in China.

Similar celts and small axe-shaped implements, made from the same mineral, were exhibited from the pile-dwellings of the Swiss lakes. Mr. Putnam thought it reasonable to regard the specimens from Central America as brought from Asia originally in the form of celts. Owing to the habit of placing such objects in the graves of their owners, with the lack of a further supply from Asia, gradually they became rare and valuable, and remaining specimens were then cut and recut, and cherished as ornaments, until finally these pieces were deposited in the burial-mounds.