from the face of the earth, others have lived on until the present day, and the old-time nursery rhymes and jingles, wonder tales and fairy stories, some of which were first printed in accessible form in Newbery's little volumes, are among the most precious of our nursery classics of to-day.

One of Newbery's little books, entitled "Mother Goose's Melody," for which he evidently adopted the "Mother Goose" from the title given to the collection of Perrault's fairy tales, which had by this time begun to be popular in England through a translation published some thirty years before, calls for a few words here, because around it has grown up a legend ascribing the authorship to a Boston lady, Elizabeth Goose, the mother-inlaw of Thomas Fleet, the Boston printer. This myth is entirely dispelled, first by the fact that most of the well-known rhymes and jingles in the collection are now known to have originated long before this estimable lady came upon this earthly scene, and next by the connection which has been clearly established in his book on "The Original Mother Goose Melodies," by Mr. W. H. Whitmore, the city registrar of Boston, between the Boston printed "Mother Goose" and the Newbery editions which preceded it.

Towards the end of the last century books for children enter upon a new and very distinct phase, and a few books were published, fragments of which are favorites to-day. But not yet had the time come for the production of books for children by American authors and with distinctly American characteristics. Our New England children were still "nourishing a youth sublime" almost exclusively on English food. Of "Eyes and no Eyes," which belongs to this school and this period, Dr. Holmes says he has never seen anything of the kind half so good. "I advise you," he said, "if you are a child anywhere under forty-five and do not yet wear glasses, to send for 'Evenings at Home' and read that story. For my

self, I am always grateful to the writer of it for calling my attention to common things." Of "The Evenings at Home" school, and of about the same period, were Edgeworth's "Parents' Assistant," Day's "Sandford and Merton," Mrs. Trimmer's "History of the Robins," Charles and Mary Lamb's "Mrs. Leicester's School," Jane and Ann Taylor's "Hymns for Infant Minds," Taylor's tales and compilations, Roscoe's "Butterfly's Ball" series, and a host of others too numerous to mention, all of which were reprinted in New England in the early years of this century by Munro and Francis, and Brown, Taggart and Chase, of Boston, Farnsworth and Churchill of Windsor, Vermont, S. Babcock of New Haven and many more. At length, however, the impatience felt by New England boys and girls of forever reading books in which so much of the local color was entirely strange to them, began to lead our own writers to turn their attention to this hitherto neglected branch of literature and to set themselves to write books which should not be like those of which Oliver Wendell Holmes writes, "where James was called Jem, not Jim, as we heard it; where naughty schoolboys got through a gap in the hedge to steal Farmer Giles's red-streaks, instead of shinning over the fence to hook old Daddy Jones's baldwins; where Hodge used to go to the alehouse for his mug of beer, while we used to see old Joe steering for the grocery to get his glass of rum; where there were larks and nightingales instead of yellowbirds and bobolinks; where the robin was a little domestic bird that fed at table instead of a great fidgety, jerky whooping thrush."*

Possibly one of the strongest early incentives to the home production of

*This sentiment found expression in connection with other departments of literature; as early as 1789 we find in a novel entitled "The Power of Sympathy" (Isaiah Thomas and Company, Boston), a complaint that so many books "are not always applicable to the situation of an American lady. The general observations of some English books are the most useful things in them; the principal parts being chiefly filled with local descriptions which a young woman here is frequently at a loss to understand."

books specially written for children was the desire to supply them with suitable Sunday reading; and the literary annals of New England are studded with the names of authors who were preeminently successful in this department, as the circulation of some of their books testifies. Many of these, however, which for reasons we shall presently see had the largest circulation in the earlier part of the present century, are demodés and forgotten. Without attempting a complete list of those who have successfully labored in this field, we may mention the names of Dr. Harvey Newcomb of Thetford, Massachusetts; Rev. Dr. Baker and Rev. W. M. Thayer of Franklin, Massachusetts; Rev. Z. A. Mudge of Ovington, Massachusetts, among men, and the following women: Mrs. G. Oakes Smith of Cumberland, Maine; Maria J. B. Brown and her sister, Sara H. Brown, of Northampton, Massachusetts; Madeline Leslie of Andover, Massachusetts; Mrs. Sarah T. Martyn of Hopkinson, New Hampshire; Mrs. Catherine M. Trowbridge of South Mansfield, Connecticut; Mrs. Caroline G. Davis of Northwood, New Hampshire; Mrs. Annie M. Mitchell of Sandwich, Massachusetts; Mrs. Mary M. Clark of Fairford, Maine; Mrs. Harriet V. Cheney and Miss Tuthill (Aunt Friendly) of New Haven. Doubtless many other famous names of authors and their books will occur to our readers, that might be put into this list, but these are mentioned as giving some idea of the number of New England men and women who made the writing of Sunday-school books a leading feature of their literary work.

The history of Sunday-school books has been a curious one, reflecting in a striking manner the tendencies of the present age. At first they contained very distinct sectarian

teaching, and each denomination or group of denominations had its own set of authors, who introduced such dogma into their books as was in accordance with its views and would insure their acceptance. Later on distinct sectarian teaching was gradually dropped; and those books had the best sale which were colorless in that respect, while inculcating only the broad religious principles on which all sects alike were agreed. Very keen, indeed, was the scrutiny to which the publishers submitted the books they put forth for this market, lest any bit of dogmatic teaching should creep in unawares. Whether this change was brought about by the publishers, who found that sectarian teaching restricted sales, or whether it was by influence from the outside, from the consumers of this class of book-by which is meant those who bought them for distribution-it is difficult to say; probably both causes operated. Then at a later period those books were most in favor which had the least direct religious teaching in them. and which illustrated by example rules of conduct and of morals to be approved and followed. But Sundayschool books professedly put forward as such are no longer to-day in demand as formerly. Books specially intended as Sunday-school rewards, presents and prizes, which down to ten or fifteen years ago were written in such large numbers and manufactured and sold in such enormous quantities, are being superseded by what is called secular literature. Tons of the former class of books were shipped from England during the first three-quarters and well on into the fourth quarter of this century; and our home production during that period. was enormous. But the old-fashioned Sunday-school book has vanished, never to return unless to be examined as a curiosity.

Τ

HERE are some parts of our country in which the people are strikingly indifferent to change, loving their own manners and holding to their own ideas with fervid faith that no better ones have been discovered. They have excellent customs, and revere them; they have noble ideals, and believe in them; and in such charming localities the inhabitants are not much troubled about progress, but are satisfied with the good already gained. The South is notable among the divisions in which many of the people are not eager for transformation; but even in the South some communities are in a happier frame of mind and heart than others, and the satisfaction with their own ideals is more intense. As representing this feeling in a high degree, there are, strange to say, portions near the line between North and South in which it is probably stronger than in more southern regions; and some counties of Maryland have this sentiment to the full.

There is a pleasant region of Maryland that borders on Pennsylvania, in which much of this spirit exists; and of this we have in mind one county that provides an excellent example. It is an old county, long ago settled by the ancestors of its present resi

dents, who have inherited their ideas and customs, and who stanchly and proudly maintain them. The people are mainly of English descent, and their way of life preserves to this day much of the England of two hundred years ago. It is true that there are many individuals there who are quite in touch with the broad modern ways of thinking and who are at home in the larger world; yet a prominent citizen of the locality did not characterize himself alone when he declared that he never reads any book later than "The Spectator." If one looks over some of their libraries, he finds that a large proportion of the reading matter consists of the standard English books of one or two centuries ago.

This region is like a calm harbor after a storm; quiet, comfort and peace reign, rather than the battle and the struggle. Let us look, therefore, at the ways and manners of this people, turning aside from the rush and whirl of great cities. A ramble through this old Maryland county of Harford will bring us into contact with many interesting traditions, scenes and histories. It was formerly included in Baltimore County, and when set apart by itself was named for Henry Harford, a son of Fred

courthouse stands, formerly occupied by an old building for the same purpose, was the scene of Edwin Booth's first appearance as an actor, his home and birthplace being but three miles distant. While yet a lad, he, with Sleeper Clarke, afterward his brother-in-law, conceived a plan of giving a dramatic recital in the courthouse. In order to notify the public of their arrangements, they drove to Baltimore, thirty miles away, to have bills printed; and on their return, the posting of these advertisements was intrusted to an old negro slave of the family. On the day of the entertain

Among these is an excellent picture of Edwin Booth, presented by himself, on request. Here also are the faces of William Paca, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Captain John Webster, Judge Archer, Commodore John Rodgers, Colonel Edwin Webster, Hugh Jewett, Dr. David Harlan, and other worthies. For this admirable and appropriate gallery the people are indebted to Lawyer Edwin Allen, who solicited. the portraits and hung them in this public place. Thus Harford may be seen to have a well-developed appreciation of its own sons, and cannot be

ment, as they passed up the road they saw to their consternation that all the notices were upside down, the negro not having been able to read. The exhibition, however, was a great success; the house was crowded, and there Edwin Booth, who was to delight and thrill multitudes in the future, first tried his noble voice in public, and that was the first audience that ever looked upon those splendid eyes and that radiant face.

In the present courtroom in Bel Air there now hang about twenty portraits of men who first saw the light in Harford and who afterward. gained a state or national reputation.

accused of the common failing of omitting to honor the prophet in his own country.

Three miles eastward from Bel Air, on the main road, is the large farm which was the former home of the Booths. Junius Brutus Booth was so attached to this place that he made it his principal residence, and it was the birthplace of nearly all of his. children. Here the celebrated Edwin and the notorious John Wilkes were born. The entrance from the roadway, that was used by the family, was twenty yards to the east of the present one, and of it there now remain but fragments of the gate posts and