Jan. 4.—-Zuar Eldridge Jameson, died in Irasburg, Orleans County, Vt., aged fifty-one years. He was a well-known writer and lecturer on agricultural topics, whose initials, with transpositions, as well as other pseudonyms, are familiar to readers of the agricultural papers, particularly the New York Weekly Tribune, Albany, N. Y., Country Gentleman and Boston Cultivator. He was a member of the lower branch of the Vermont Legislature in 1878, and of the State Board of Agriculture in 1870-74, for many years Secretary of the Orleans County Agricultural Society, and for one or two years lecturer of the Vermont State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Aside from the large amount of purely agricultural matter written he was a frequent producer of short sketches of fiction, usually treating of rural life. He was associated with Dr. T. H. Hoskins in the editing of the old Vermont Farmer (not the present Vermont Farmer) at Newport, which was from a literary standpoint the most successful of Vermont agricultural journals.
Jan. 5.—Death of Noble H. Hill, senior proprietor of the Boston Theatre. He was born in Shoreham, Vt., in 1821; received a good education; came to Boston in 1840; was in active trade till 1867, being at that time a partner in the firm of Hill, Burrage & Co; in 1876 became a partner with Orlando Tompkins for conducting the Boston Theatre.
On the same day died Dr. James H. Whittemore, Superintendent of the Massachusetts General Hospital, aged 47 years.
Jan. 8.—Death of the Hon. Nahum Capen, at Dorchester, Mass., aged eighty-two years. He was born in Canton in 1804. He came to Boston at the age of twenty-one, embarked in the publishing business in the firm of Marsh, Capen & Lyon, and afterward was connected with several of the leading publishing houses of this city. His tastes were always literary, and for the past forty years he has devoted himself to literature and study, except when he held the office of postmaster, 1857 to 1861. He was appointed postmaster by President Buchanan, and it was during his term of office that the postoffice was removed from the Merchant's Exchange building to Summer street at the corner of Chauncy street, where it remained for about a year and a half. He mapped out the free delivery system, and was the first postmaster in the country to establish the outside letter collection boxes. Mr. Capen has written (most of them anonymously) and has published many books, scientific and political, and was a very liberal contributor to the newspapers and magazines. He was a sound thinker and was considered an able writer. His last work, on which he has been engaged for twenty-five years, is a history of Democracy. The first volume has been published, and the remaining three have been written and are ready to be printed, except a portion of the last.
LITERATURE AND ART.
History of the Civil War in America.[H] The deep and widespread interest which is being felt in this country in all that relates to the late war is likely to receive increased stimulus from the appearance of recent instalments of the translation of the "History" of the Comte de Paris. The fact that the narrative is written by a foreigner, not so much for the information of American as of European readers, will in no way interfere with the profound interest Americans themselves must feel in what, when finished, will probably be, if not the most impartial yet the most accurate, comprehensive, complete, and reliable record of that long, lamentable and costly struggle. The interest in American affairs which has culminated in the production of this history had been a long-cherished feeling with the author before he conceived the purpose which he has so far executed so admirably. For years materials of all kinds that promised to shed light upon his subject and assist him in his undertaking had been industriously collected. He enjoyed, besides, the great advantage of having personally served on the staff of General McClellan, in this way attaching to himself many friends, who, after his return to Europe, continued to keep him posted up in all that related to the movements of the belligerents, and the incidents and aspects of the conflict. These advantages, together with the count's very thorough knowledge of military science, justified his attempting a task which, as it approaches completion, promises to be a splendid success, and which, so far as it has been carried out, has already received high commendation from distinguished soldiers and statesmen both in Europe and America. The work, though voluminous, is sure to find, as it deserves, many readers. No American professing to be proud of his country's struggles and achievements can well afford to be ignorant of its contents. It may be as well to note that the Count fully confides in the translator's ability to perform his task with care and accuracy.
FOOTNOTES:
[H] Philadelphia: Porter & Coates.