the Narraganset. It rises in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Ships of great burden, 800 tons, and more, are built at Providence, thirty miles from the ocean. Ride five miles in Rehoboth. Pass a part of Barrington, R.I., and cross the ferry to Warren, on Palmer's or Swansey River, which is here forty rods wide, and thirteen feet depth at low water in the channel. Its sources are in Rehoboth and Swansey. BRISTOL. Mount Hope, Governor Bradford's seat. Came to this place at noon, fourteen miles from Providence. Governor Bradford returned from Newport in the afternoon. Visit in town, and see many visitors here, where I remain till Sunday, September 27.- Appearances of a storm. Leave Bristol on my way to Plymouth. REHOBOTH. Goff's; thirteen miles from Mount Hope. Six miles from Bristol on this road is the boundary of the State, near some large rocks, lying along the way, where it enters Swansey. There are many cross-roads in all directions, without indexes. RAYNHAM, MASS. This place is twenty-seven miles from Bristol, and twelve of them are in Rehoboth. Pass through Taunton, and come to Colonel Leonard's, in Raynham, where my brother Wendell is at school. Dine here, and attend the Rev. Mr. Fobes's meeting, who preached from John xv. 22. The ancient custom of reading the psalm by the deacon prevails here: the singing is excellent. Colonel Leonard's house is pleasantly situated near the banks of Taunton River, on a fine road, in a rural neighborhood, two miles from Taunton Green. MIDDLEBOROUGH. Monday, September 28.- Sprout's; twelve miles from Raynham. Came hither by Titiquet bridge, which divides Bridgewater from Middleborough. The first six miles are in Raynham, two in Bridgewater, the rest in this place. Pass another bridge on Namaskett or Middleborough River, whose source is in the Assawumpsit ponds, once the favorite residence of Massasoit. Have passed three iron works on this route. The scenery and the faces I now meet are familiar; still more so, as I pass through Plimpton, and meet the teamsters return ing from Plymouth, where I alighted at noon. thirty-two days has afforded as many pages "Of all I felt, and all I saw." Thus an excursion of It has been performed in the morning of life, when hope gilds our prospects with hues of gayety, when every object has the aspect of novelty. These descriptive lines, written at a subsequent period, are subjoined as a suitable accompaniment to this journal.-S. D. TAUNTON RIVER. Nature's views more beauteous seem Taunton, first an humble rill, Blithely whirls the rural mill; Where Fall River's torrent breaks; Berkley, Dighton, Swansey, claim Swell the homage, due to thee, NEWPORT, daughter of the SEA. * Taunton River has several heads. The principal is at a pond in the south of Bridgewater; another is at the great ponds in the south of Middleborough, and is called Namaskett, till it joins the Taunton in Titiquet, and runs north. Two other heads are in Foxborough and Sharon or Stoughton, and run south-east to Taunton and Bridgewater. Another head is at a pond in Carver, eight miles from Plymouth; and in Carver turns a mill. It runs westerly, through Plimpton and Halifax, to the main river at Bridgewater. NOTE BY THE AUTHOR. Boston, Mrs. Loring's. Dinner, supper, lodging, and Wethersfield, Wright's. Supper, lodging, breakfast Wallingford, Kye's. Dinner New Haven, Smith's. Supper, lodging, and breakfast 2 7 1 4 1 6 6 4 4 1 0 4 8 Mr. Penfield's bill, board, &c., at Fairfield, about nine days, and incidental expenses, I forget it, but say, I think it was less. 9 0 800 6 16 5 Scituate, R.I., Manchester's. Dinner Providence, Dexter's. Supper, lodging, and breakfast Ferry, 5d.; Kelly's Ferry, 4d. 1 10 1 1 1 6 5 5 7 9 Amount carried forward £1 5s. 1d. The President, in announcing that the business of the Annual Meeting would now be taken up, stated that the Society was favored with the presence, at this meeting, of our Corresponding Member, Professor Goldwin Smith. The Annual Reports of the Standing Committee, the Treasurer, the Librarian, and the Cabinet-keeper, were severally presented and accepted, and referred to the Committee on the Publication of the "Proceedings." Report of the Standing Committee, for the year 1868-69. During the last year, the Society has lost two members, the Hon. Levi Lincoln, LL.D., and Dr. John Appleton. The memoir of the former, by the Hon. Emory Washburn, has been presented for publication. The death of Dr. Appleton was peculiarly touching, as it occurred almost immediately after his election to the Society. One Honorary Member, the Rev. H. H. Milman, D.D., and one Corresponding Member, the Hon. W. R. Staples, have died in the course of the year. We have also learned the death of seven persons on the old list of Honorary and Corresponding Members. Two Resident Members have been elected, and there are now two vacancies in the list. Two Honorary and five Corresponding Members have been added to our Association. The present number is ninetyeight Resident and ninety-six Non-resident Members. Among the additions to the Society's possessions, the most noticeable are the bust of Mr. George Peabody, by Powers, presented by Mr. Winthrop; and the Sewall Papers, purchased by a special subscription from members of the Society. A new volume has been added to the "Collections." It contains the Mather Papers, the publication of which had long been desired. A new volume of "Proceedings" will appear within a few weeks. Perhaps the most important effort of the Society during the year, considering all its bearings, was the Course of Lectures at the Lowell Institute, delivered by the following Members: the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop; the Rev. George E. Ellis, D.D.; Samuel F. Haven, Esq.; Hon. William Brigham; Hon. Emory Washburn; Hon. Charles W. Upham; O. W. Holmes, M.D.; Samuel Eliot; Rev. Chandler Robbins, D.D.; Hon. Joel Parker; Rev. E. E. Hale; and George B. Emerson, Esq. The interest taken in these lectures encourages us to hope that they have strengthened the hold of the Society upon the community. They are to be published in a volume, which will probably appear early in May, and which, if generally circulated, may carry to other parts of the country the same favorable impressions that have been produced here. The associate to whom we owe the idea of these lectures has already proposed a second course, and we hope that his new plan may meet the same success as the old. The history of Massachusetts, to say nothing of other States, is rich in material, the most varied and instructive with which lecturers can desire to deal. Names, characters, events, and the working out of great principles, religious and civil, are still waiting the eye that will pierce their depths, and the pen to describe what the eye has seen. The office of Assistant Librarian was resigned by Dr. Appleton, at the end of November, after a long and faithful service, which every member will hold in respectful remembrance. A sub-committee, charged with finding a successor, was not able to report until a few weeks since, when Mr. F. H. Hedge, Jr., was nominated, and unanimously elected by the Standing Com |