The occasional revival of an old Indian name for an hotel, club, or street should interest every American. Indeed, such names should be more frequently revived than they are, to connect us in our history with the Indian who preceded us. They also have an educational value. For it is a fact that many, upon hearing, for the first time, of the Mas'cono'mo and Nan'nepash'emet hotels at Manchester-by-the-Sea and Marblehead respectively, have been led to seek for the origin of the names, and in this way have made their first acquaintance with the old Indian chiefs who held full sway where the hotels now stand. It is possible that many have been led to look up Indian history still farther since the new Algonquin Club was formed in Boston.
It is to be regretted that so many of the full-of-meaning, musical Indian names ever should have been replaced by such commonplace English ones as are now frequently met with. Who can say that Chelsea is an improvement on sweet Win'nisim'met? Or that the slight elevation which joins that city to Everett, called Mount Washington (how ludicrous that must strike strangers who are familiar with the Mount Washington!), was not better as Sagamore Hill, the Indian name for it? Some of its public-spirited inhabitants are going back to that; and they dare to prophesy that, by the time Chelsea is a part of Boston as the Winnisimmet District, it will have no other name.
LITERATURE AND ART.
The value of town histories is a subject which has been editorially considered more than once in this magazine. Recognizing the importance of these local histories in their relations to New England history in general, it always gives us pleasure to note the additions which are made from time to time to this department of historical literature. Such an addition has recently been made in consequence of the centennial anniversary of the town of Heath, Franklin county, Mass., which was observed on the nineteenth of August last, the historical addresses with other matter having been just published in a neat volume[G] of about one hundred and sixty pages.
Heath, which was named from General William Heath, is a striking example of the decadence of the New England hill towns, its population having fallen from eleven hundred and ninety-nine in the year 1830, to five hundred and sixty-eight at present. The site of old Fort Shirley is in the township. Fifty years ago, the town afforded an unusual proportion of its population to the professional ranks, and was noted for its religious and educational influence and patronage. The two principal addresses given in the book are by John H. Thompson, Esq., of Chicago, and Rev. C. E. Dickinson, of Marietta, Ohio, and will be found valuable to the general reader, as well as to the native of the town. Excepting some typographical errors, the book is a model of such a work, and reflects credit on the editor, Mr. E. P. Guild.
Leaves from a Lawyer's Life, Afloat and Ashore, contains some very interesting personal reminiscences of the War of the Rebellion, and aims to supplement and correct the too meagre and often inaccurate accounts of "the naval and military forces whose services, sufferings, and sacrifices" are there passed in review. The theme is popular and inspiring, and the story is vigorously and eloquently told. The author adopts a style of narrative admirably adapted to preserve the "many honorable recollections" he records, and rescue from oblivion a number of interesting facts which he complains "are fast vanishing into gloom." The opening chapter, written from fulness of knowledge, and with a clear perception of the relative value and importance of facts, will repay careful perusal, notwithstanding all that has recently appeared in popular American serials on the subject of the Civil War. In the account it gives of the blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf ports, after the notification of Flag Officer Pendergast, at Hampton Roads, April 30, 1861, we have a splendid illustration of the manner in which, in a great national crisis, a lack of resources is made up for by energy, bravery, and businesslike despatch. The account of the chase of the gold-laden steamer R. E. Lee, under the command of the daring Captain Wilkinson, by the Federal steamer Iroquois, is very exciting; and the charm thus felt at the outset is evenly distributed and remarkably well sustained throughout the book. Mr. Cowley's work is valuable, as supplying a place not filled by any of the larger and more pretentious histories of the late war. Full of vivid description, spicy detail, felicitous citation, and sparkling anecdote, Leaves from a Lawyer's Life is sure to prove a genuine source of pleasure to a wide circle of readers.
The Origin of Republican Form of Government.[H] This book discusses in an historico-philosophical vein the genesis, growth, and development of the constitution of the American Republic, and the exposition attempted in its pages, if not exhaustive, is yet lucid, masterly, and suggestive. While unable to admit the soundness of some of the author's premises, or to acquiesce in all his conclusions, we are glad to recognize the high value of his contribution to the literature of a profoundly interesting subject, which hitherto can hardly be said to have monopolized the attention and thought of American historians. The author is probably wrong in thinking that in the pages of his interesting little book he is pursuing an almost entirely untravelled path, but there can be no doubt that considerable credit is due to him, for pointing out the exceeding fruitfulness of a too much neglected field of historical inquiry. The chapters on the political and religious causes of the Revolution are worthy of a careful reading, and indeed we cordially commend the book as a whole to all who wish to know the "record of their country's birth," and the constitutional guaranties of their personal "peace, liberty and safety."