CHARLESTON, S. C., March 26, 1885.

TO THE OFFICERS AND Members of tHE

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY:

I have sent you by express a heliotype of the Great Seal of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, and the fac-simile of their signatures, mounted.

In my recent study of the Colonial period in connection with the Centennial of the City of Charleston, I found, after much search, these original autographs, and an impression of the seal, in the Public Record Office, London; and they were of such interest to me that I have had a limited number of copies prepared, and would be pleased to have one preserved by the Historical Societies of the "Old Thirteen "States.

In this spirit I deposit a copy with you, in the hope that my thought may prove acceptable; and with my best wishes for your Society, I

have the honor to remain

Your very obedient servant,

Wм. A. COURTENAY.

The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to the Hon. Mr. Courtenay for his acceptable gift.

The PRESIDENT presented for the Cabinet one of the medals which had been struck to commemorate the dedication of the Washington Monument, and then said that he would delay no longer in calling for communications from the Second Section.

Mr. R. C. WINTHROP, Jr., made some remarks explanatory of what he had said at the February meeting concerning the refusal of Katharine Winthrop to marry Chief Justice Sewall.

Mr. HASSAM read portions from certain documents, lately discovered in England by Mr. Henry F. Waters, which throw light upon the parentage of John Harvard. Among them was an extract from the will of his mother, who married again, which was dated July 2, 1635, and had hitherto escaped the notice of all antiquaries.

The business of the Annual Meeting was then taken up, and the following reports were presented :—

Report of the Council.

The absence from home of Mr. Adams, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council, makes it the duty of the undersigned to present to the Society the Annual Report. The

condition of the Society is such as to be a matter of general congratulation. A large amount of literary work has been done by the members, and eight thousand dollars of the mortgage debt has been paid off, leaving only ten thousand dollars still due. Nor have the changes in our list of members been so numerous as they have been in some former years. We have lost three of our number by death: the Hon. Stephen Salisbury, President of the American Antiquarian Society, Admiral Preble, and Mr. John C. Phillips. Two have resigned; and one of these, Mr. Ellis Ames, who for more than thirty years had been such a familiar figure at the Society's meetings, died within a few days after he had terminated his connection with us. From our roll of Corresponding Members we have also lost the venerable Dr. Blagden, who for forty years was a Resident Member, and the Rev. William Barry, likewise a former Resident Member, and who, since his removal from Massachusetts, has done good service in the cause of historical research, as Secretary of the Chicago Historical Society. Three Resident Members have been elected during the year,William G. Russell, Edward J. Lowell, and Edward Channing, — and there are now two vacancies. The Hon. J. L. M. Curry, of Richmond, Virginia, and Mr. Amos Perry, of Providence, Rhode Island, have been elected Corresponding Members.

A new volume of Collections, being the ninth volume of the Fifth Series, and containing a selection from the Trumbull Papers, has been issued by a committee, of which Mr. Deane was chairman; and a volume of Proceedings, being the first volume of a new series, will be distributed among the members at this meeting. An Index of the first twenty volumes of the Proceedings, the need of which has long been felt, is preparing, and will doubtless be printed during the ensuing year.

The completion of the National Monument to Washington, so long building at the Capital, is especially interesting to us, from the fact that our President, who delivered the oration at the laying of the corner-stone, July 4, 1848, was, by invitation of Congress, the orator at the dedication of this giant structure, nearly thirty-seven years afterward, on the 22d of February, 1885, a most interesting and probably unprecedented occurrence, which we and the entire Commonwealth may regard with just satisfaction and pride. The alarming illness from

which Mr. Winthrop has but just recovered, and which deprived the Society of his presence and assistance during many months, prevented his delivering the oration in person; and it was read from his manuscript, by Mr. Long, one of the representatives in Congress from Massachusetts.

Another very interesting anniversary to all American lovers of learning and literature took place in England, last June, in the Tercentennial Celebration of the founding of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, the mother, through Harvard, of all American colleges, and at which two of our members, Mr. Lowell, the United States Minister to Great Britain, and Mr. Norton, as a delegate from Harvard University, were present, and took part in the proceedings.

The most important contribution to American history during the year has been Mr. Parkman's two volumes on Montcalm and Wolfe, the most valuable and interesting which has yet been published of his brilliant historical sketches on "France and England in North America." Besides this, our venerable associate Mr. Sibley has completed the third volume of the "Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Harvard University," and it is now passing through the press. Dr. Holmes has published a most appreciative Life of Emerson for the series of "American Men of Letters;" Dr. Green has printed a series of seven tracts on the History of Groton; Mr. Lodge has edited the first volume of a new edition of the Works of Alexander Hamilton; Mr. Morse has added a Life of John Adams to the series of "Lives of American Statesmen," of which he is editor; the third and fourth volumes of the "Narrative and Critical History of America," edited by Mr. Winsor, are announced; and Mr. Scudder has published a popular History of the United States. Mr. Whitmore and Mr. Appleton, as Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, have issued a new report containing the Records of the Boston Selectmen from 1701 to 1715; and a Commission appointed by the Governor under a resolve of the Legislature, three of whom Dr. Green, Mr. Winsor, and Mr. Upham-were members of this Society, has made a very interesting report upon the condition of the Records, Files, Papers, and Documents in the Secretary's Department. Besides these labors in our special field, Dr. Peabody has published a volume of Baccalaureate Sermons and translations of Cicero de Senectute

and de Amicitia; and Professor Park, a volume of Sermons. Nor ought we to omit among the labors of the year the two courses of lectures before the Lowell Institute, by Mr. Ropes and General Walker; or the lectures on the "Old North End," delivered in Boston by Mr. Porter.

The past year, however, will be most memorable to the Society, because it closes the official labors of the distinguished gentleman who for thirty years has presided over its meetings and guided its proceedings. This is not the time may that time be still far distant! - to speak adequately of his eminent services in this honorable position; but it would be affectation in the Council to omit all reference to what is remembered with deep regret by everybody present to-day,—that this will be the last time that he will occupy, as President, the chair which he has filled with such ability, dignity, courtesy, and patience. The thirty years which have elapsed since his first election form a most momentous period in the history of our country and of the world; crowded with more great events than any age since that French Revolution in the midst of which the Society was organized. The remarkable growth in the prosperity and usefulness of the Society since that memorable annual meeting in 1855 when Mr. Winthrop succeeded to the place so long filled by the venerable historian and antiquary Mr. Savage, may be seen by examining the volume of Proceedings which begins with it, and was the first one ever printed by us, and comparing our resources and condition to-day with what they were then; and it is the universal testimony, in public and private, of those who have held office during this time, and have the means of knowing, that this growth is in a great degree due to the devoted attention of the President to the administration of the Society's affairs, and to his untiring efforts in every way to further its interests. While feeling most deeply the loss which his retirement inflicts upon us, we can be thankful to the gracious Providence which has spared him, through the dangers of the past winter, to watch that prosperity of which he has been to so great an extent the creator, to receive constant proofs of our gratitude, and to still aid us by his advice and suggestions.

C. H. HILL, for the Council.

Report of the Librarian.

During the year there have been added to the Library:

Of the books added, 664 have been given, 194 bought, and 48 obtained by exchange. Of the pamphlets added, 3,457 have been given, 250 bought, and 2,070 have been procured by exchange.

From the income of the Savage Fund, there have been. bought 193 volumes and 250 pamphlets; and 79 volumes have been bound at the charge of the same fund.

From the income of the fund left by the late William Winthrop for binding, 221 volumes have been bound.

Several important accessions have been made during the year, which deserve a special notice. An interesting collection of music books, consisting of 162 volumes, has been received as a bequest of our late associate member, Williams Latham, Esq. And within a few weeks George H. R. Preble, Esq., has sent to the Library, in accordance with the wishes of his late lamented father, our former valued associate, RearAdmiral George Henry Preble, of the United States Navy, a collection of his writings, all handsomely bound and enriched. with many engravings and other illustrations. They contain a large number of manuscript additions and corrections, besides valuable autograph letters concerning the various subjects mentioned in the books. A suitable book-plate has been prepared for this unique collection.

Mr. Francis Parkman has given 35 bound and 3 unbound volumes of historical manuscripts relating to the French in America.

Mr. Amos A. Lawrence has continued his gifts of works connected with the Civil War, having added 21 volumes and