NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.
Guide to Plymouth, and Recollections of the Pilgrims. By William S. Russell.
"Come listen to my story,
Though often told before,
Of men who pass'd to glory,
Through toil and trial sore;
Of men who did for conscience' sake,
Their native land forego,
And sought a home and freedom here,
Two hundred years ago."
Boston: Published for the Author, by Samuel G. Drake, 56 Cornhill. 1846.
This is a neat 12mo of about 400 pages, "designed to present such historical facts connected with our early history, and descriptions of interesting localities with which they are connected, as are deemed of essential importance to the numerous visitors who resort to the spot, rendered memorable as the scene where the foundations of republican institutions were first laid in this western world, and the principles of religious and civil liberty were successfully established in New England." The design of the author has been accomplished. Although much novelty can hardly be expected in relation to subjects which have already become trite, though not uninteresting, yet by a judicious collection of facts and a pleasing presentation of them, the work is well adapted to engage the attention of the reader, and to furnish him with the information desired. It commences with a brief detail of the circumstances, which led our Pilgrim Fathers to leave the land of their birth and embark for a country of pathless wildernesses, abounding in savage beasts and still more savage men. It follows them in their voyage, through storms and perils to them unknown before; it describes their arrival at Cape Cod, the sufferings, privations, and hardships they endured, and the subsequent increase and growth of the infant Colony, all in a manner highly instructive. The various places of interest to a traveller in the town of Plymouth are distinctly and minutely pointed out, and many matters of importance are related concerning them. Several ancient documents of great value are also inserted, together with some notice of the Pilgrims. The volume closes with a collection of Hymns and Songs, selected from the productions of our best authors, composed with express reference to Anniversary Celebrations in Plymouth and other parts of the United States. The work is embellished with a map of Plymouth village in 1846, a frontispiece engraving of the town and harbor of Plymouth, also several other designs. It is a book eminently useful to the traveller, and valuable to the historian.
The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts. By Richard Frothingham, Jr. "The History of a Town is united with that of the Country to which it belongs, and with that of the ages through which it has stood." Charlestown: Charles P. Emmons. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. 1845.
This is a work issued in numbers of about 50 pages each. The author states, in the commencement, his sources of information to be, the town Records; Records of the first church in the town; the Colony Records; the Probate and Registry Records; and private collections of papers. From such materials we should think a most perfect history can be made. We are pleased to see an interest arising in the minds of many, concerning our local or town histories, for by this means only can that of the state be rendered accurate. "Each town has some noted spot where the Indian may have fought for his burial-places, or the colonists for their freedom; that may have sheltered a hermit or a regicide; that superstition may have invested with a fairy legend, or nature have robed with more than fairy magnificence. Each has its Liberty Tree, its Green Dragon, its Faneuil Hall, where its patriots may have counselled or acted. And each has had citizens who laid its foundations, perhaps in hardship and danger." It is for the local annalist to gather these traditions and facts, from which the state historian may form a comprehensive and accurate account. This work is embellished with quite a number of interesting engravings. Four numbers have appeared, containing much useful and curious matter, and we hope soon to see the remainder. The work is highly deserving public patronage, and we hope that Charlestown and its vicinity especially, will amply reward the author for his indefatigable labors.