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EDITOR'S TABLE.

CONSIDERABLE has been heard lately of the American Institute of Civics, an organization whose plans for promoting good citizenship are broader and more comprehensive than have ever before been systematically attempted in this country. That the Institute is obtaining the encouragement and support of many of the strongest public men in the country must be gratifying to all who recognize the necessity of having sound political ideas prevail among the rising generation. The object of the Institute is, in outline, to secure thorough instruction in all schools and colleges on topics. relating to government and citizenship; to establish special schools of civics at important central points; to secure, as far as possible, the influence of the press in promotion of the same high purpose, and to disseminate, far and wide, sound political literature. That the project has the interest of our soundest statesmen and scholars may be seen from the fact that the President of the National Advisory Board is Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme Court, while the Board includes United States Senators Colquitt, Hawley, Wilson, Blair, and Morrill, Secretary Lamar and Ex-Secretary Hugh McCullough, Presidents Noah Porter and Julius H. Seelye, Commissioner Eaton, and others. Among the New England officers and members are such men as Judge Mellen Chamberlain of Boston, Secretary of Education Dickinson, General Carrington, and many college presidents, leading business men, prominent editors, etc. The membership is now something over two thousand, and it is worth noting that aside from the small fees thus obtained, there is no income, and the officers are none of them in the receipt of any salary whatsoever. The Institute is entirely unpartisan, and the importance of the work, which it is its purpose to accomplish, cannot be overestimated. It has entered upon the work of political education in the United States at a favorable time, under the best of circumstances, and under the auspices of the most eminent men of the day. Indeed, it may be doubted whether any undertaking of a patriotic and educational character has ever commanded in this or any other country the unqualified support of so large a number of citizens of high distinction, belonging to every class and calling. There seems, so far as our study of the plan of the Institute enables us to judge, but one thing needful to its permanency and highest success as a moulding influence in American political life of the highest importance. So long as its officers are obliged to depend wholly upon the dues contributed by members, an element of uncertainty will enter into its plans which cannot fail to largely interfere with the fullest realization of its possibilities for good. This danger may be wholly obviated, the Institute placed on a secure foundation,

and its future usefulness be assured, if some public-spirited men of wealth, desirous of conferring the incalculable benefits upon future generations, which will follow upon the realization of the Institute's plans, will provide for it an endowment, the income of which will be sufficient to defray the expense of maintaining its executive office.

We would be glad if some New England man of ample means should secure the honor of thus endowing the American Institute of Civics with a fund sufficient to establish it on the firm footing which it should have.

FOR the New Englander who would seek the delights of the country in the summer months, what a diversity of scene may be found in his own six States. Within the radius of a few hours' ride from Boston are an almost infinite variety of "resorts," from the most primitive to the most luxuriant. In Massachusetts alone are the delightful Nantasket and Revere beaches, elegant Nahant, and the myriad of charming nooks from Cape Ann to Provincetown. Then the Berkshire hills; Lenox and Stockbridge, and other equally beautiful towns, but with less pretensions to aristocracy; the lovely valley of the Connecticut, the romantic Deerfield and the pleasant Franklin hills. In Maine, beginning with Old Orchard, perhaps the finest beach on the Atlantic coast, what delightful harbors and islands there are. And in the Maine woods there is a wealth of health and sport. Grandeur is found in the White Mountains, comfort and elegance at their great hotels. And here, as well as through the hundreds of rural towns on and among the Green Mountains, are the quiet farmhouses where one may abide, and see the New England character- sometimes, not always- at its very best. Whether one sighs for the wildness of the primeval woods, the quiet of the rural farm, or the elegance of a luxurious villa or superb hotel, he need not, unless he desires to travel, look beyond the border lines of fair New England.

THERE is a growing tendency with our New England people to make rest and recreation matters of considerable importance in themselves. Business is driven at a greater speed than it used to be, and an annual relaxation from business or professional cares and toils has become a positive necessity. The earlier generations worked more slowly and coolly, and a man could endure many years if need be without a thought of a regular vacation, while those who did go from the city to the mountains or seashore in the summer months were those who could afford it as a luxury, rather than so doing as a matter of physical or mental economy. Then again, country accommodations were very limited, and facilities for travel were exceedingly meagre as compared with the present. This was the case no more than a score of years ago. The era of great

summer hotels, of "special trains for the season," and of swift and commo

Now the vast amount of
All classes are included.

dious steamboats to the beaches had not begun. summer travel forms almost a world of itself. The rich merchant resorts to his beautiful cottage by the sea, or to the splendid hotel in the mountains, for a stay of perhaps three or four months; the family of moderate means engage board at some one of the multitude of "resorts"; the ill-paid clerk or poor artisan may arrange for a week or two in the country, or, at least, may enjoy a few Saturday afternoons at the beaches; and now, God bless them! even the half-fed children of the narrowest street and lane may have a run in the green fields or shady woods on some hot summer day. That ways exist for the relief of so many, rich and poor, from the pent-up city in the sultry months is indeed a blessing, and, like all others, it requires intelligence for its proper use and appreciation. To work and worry eleven months at fever heat, and then relax both brain and body for one, may not afford a longer or more happy life than a continuous routine of labor performed in a more temperate, lessexciting way; but if we must work at such high pressure in this age, let us make the most of our times of rest. Woe to the man who carries with him to the cool mountains or the quiet beach such a paraphernalia of civilization (?) and fashion that he comes back to town more jaded than he went.

THE impudence of newspaper reporters has furnished material for many a good-natured joke, but there is getting to be more truth than humor in the imputation. This became very apparent during the weeks preceding the marriage of the President, but it reached its climax when the horde of men and youth attached to various newspapers rushed to Deer Park and almost literally besieged the cottage to which the distinguished couple had retired. Such actions would be insolent enough had Mr. Cleveland been much less than the President of the United States; but it has always been supposed that there was a certain dignity attaching to this high office, which citizens, whatever their estimate of the man, were bound to respect. Whether this be so or not, it seems pretty certain that no dignity has anything to do with "a reporter." Indeed, the ability and brilliancy of a newspaper correspondent seem to be commensurate with his "cheek,". to use his own word. And yet, why deprecate the reporters? They are simply the servants of the journals they represent. They only obey the will of editors and publishers. The one and the only conclusion is that the "great dailies,”—excepting those which do have a measure left of honor and dignity, of which, thank Heaven, a few are yet published — are on a grade far below many things which they would not themselves dare to sanction. As the "New York Evening Post" says, "If it be true that journalism is really a calling in which men must do or say anything which will

increase sales, it is the lowest occupation, not absolutely criminal, known to modern society." And what is worse, these journals attempt to defend their pernicious course by declaring that they "give only what the public demands." If the public is thus given over to sensationalism and folly, is the press fulfilling its mission by pandering to its thirst? It was once a theory that the press was a leader of the people. Has the journal of the present no ambition beyond the biggest circulation and the largest cash receipts?

HISTORICAL RECORD.

April 10. - Serious disaster at the Pemberton Mills, Lawrence, Mass. A fire broke out in the picker-room and dye-house, destroying the building. Two men were killed and several injured. The great disaster at these mills occurred January 10, 1860, when one hundred and forty-five persons were killed by falling or fire.

April 19. The one hundred and eleventh anniversary of the battle of Concord was celebrated in that town. In the evening there was a meeting in the town hall, at which Hon. John S. Keyes read the original documents relating to the famous fight.

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April 19. The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment celebrated, at Lowell, the twenty-fifth anniversary of its march through Baltimore. There was an enthusiastic attendance. Addresses were delivered by Col. B. F. Watson, Col. E. F. Jones, and others.

April 20.-A large reservoir at East Lee, Mass., gave way, and many mills and houses and six bridges were swept away by the flood. Seven persons were drowned. A relief fund was established to aid the many destitute families, and assistance has also been given to the town, whose loss on highways and bridges is very great.

April 20.

General meeting of the New England conferences of Methodists at Newburyport.

April 24.- Arbor Day in Massachusetts.

April 29. — Annual dinner of the Boston Latin School. Judge Devens presided. Addresses were given by President of the Association Dixwell, Head-master Moses Merrill, Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould, and others. A poem was read by Rev. James Freeman Clarke.

May 3.

Extensive strike went into effect in Boston, among the carpen-
About five thousand men left work.

ters and builders.

May 11. Monthly meeting of the Bostonian Society. The chief interest centered in a collection of historical curiosities, among them the original subscription list to a new, large map of New England to be published in 1785. Among the subscriber's names were those of General Lafayette, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin. The address by Daniel Goodwin, Jr., of Chicago, was in relation to this exhibition, and dealt largely with the life of James Pitts.

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May 13. Monthly meeting Massachusetts Historical Society, Dr. Ellis in the chair.

May 13. Erection of a statue of William Lloyd Garrison on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. Among the inscriptions on the pedestal are these: "I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard." "My country is the world; my countrymen are all mankind."

The statue was designed by Olin L. Warner of New York.

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