tion to the just and cordial tribute offered by our President to his memory. The President exhibited a photograph of the inscription on the pavement of the Nave in Westminster Abbey, in Memory of George Peabody, which had been kindly sent to him by Dean Stanley. The inscription is in these words: HERE WERE DEPOSITED, FROM NOV. 12 TO DEC. 11 THE REMAINS OF GEORGE PEABODY, THEN REMOVED TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY "I HAVE PRAYED MY HEAVENLY FATHER DAY BY DAY "THAT I MIGHT BE ENABLED BEFORE I DIED TO SHEW MY GRATITUDE "FOR THE BLESSINGS WHICH HE HAS BESTOWED UPON ME, "BY DOING SOME GREAT GOOD TO MY FELLOW-MEN." "LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN, WHICH IS IN HEAVEN." The President said that this memorial had recalled to his mind another monument in Westminster Abbey,- the only other one in which Massachusetts seemed to have a peculiar interest; namely, that to George, Lord Howe, who, under Abercromby, in July, 1758, fell in an attack against Ticonderoga. For his virtues and military talents, Massachusetts, at the charge of £250, erected a monument to his memory. The President spoke of the arrangements which were making for publishing the Sewall Papers, which had recently come into the possession of the Society. It was thought desirable that a subscription for a certain number of copies should be obtained beforehand, and the Standing Committee had prepared a subscription paper for names. The co-operation of the members was solicited. The following committees were appointed: on the publication of the Sewall Papers, Messrs Ellis, Torrey, Dexter, and Whitmore; on the "Hutchinson Papers," so called, claimed by the State, Messrs Ellis, Parker, Washburn, Clifford, G. T. Bigelow, Thomas, and Ellis Ames; on the Society's Building, -the President, the Recording and Corresponding Secretaries, the Librarian, the Treasurer, Messrs. W. G. Brooks, Thayer, Mason, E. B. Bigelow, Lyman, and Appleton. The President announced Part V. of the "Proceedings" as upon the table. The President spoke of the return, and of their presence at the meeting this day, of Mr. Adams and Dr. Jacob Bigelow, who had each been on a tour to the West, the one to Omaha, the other to San Francisco; and they were invited to report to the Society any thing which might occur to them as of interest. Dr. BIGELOW responded, and gave a very graphic account of his visit to San Francisco, over the Pacific Railway. Mr. ADAMS said he had nothing to report from his western tour, but he would read a letter which he had brought to the meeting, from Benjamin Franklin, adressed to Edmund Quincy, of Braintree. SIR, LONDON Dec? 10, 1761. I should sooner have answer'd your obliging Letter of Jan? 9, but that I hoped from time to time I might be able to obtain some satisfactory Answers to your Queries. As yet I have done little, that kind of Information being look'd upon as a Part of the Mysteries of Trade, which the Possessors are very shy of communicating. But I think I am now in a Train of obtaining more, of which I hope soon to give you a good Account. In the mean time I may inform you that great Quantities of Wine are made both here and at Bristol from Raisins, not by private Families only for their particular use, but in the great Way by large Dealers, for the Country Consumption. As New England trades to Spaine with their Fish, it would I imagine be easy for you to furnish yourself at the best hand with Plenty of Raisins, & from them produce a genuine Wine of real Worth that might be sold with you for good Profit. Being lately at a Friend's House where I drank some old Raisin Wine that I found to be very good, I requested the [Some portion of the letter torn off.]... sound and good. It is thought here, that by far the greatest Part of the Wine drank in England, is made in England. Fine Cyder or Perry is said to be the Basis, Sloes afford Roughness. Elder Berries Colour. And Brandy a little more Strength. But of this I have no certain Account. The Porter now so universally drank here, is I am assured, fined down with Isinglass or Fish Glue, for which 60,000£ p Annum is paid to Russia. Of late it has been discovered that this Fish glue is nothing more than the Souns of Cod or other Fish extended & dry'd in the Sun, without any other Preparation. So you may make what Quantity you please of it, and cheap, Fish being with you so plenty. I heartily wish you Success in your Attempts to make Wine from American Grapes. None has yet been imported here for the Premium. With great Esteem, I am, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant B. FRANKLIN. P.S. The Negotiations for a Peace, in which Canada was to be forever ceded to England, are at present off. But whenever they are resum'd, I am persuaded that will be [torn]. N.B. One Ez! Hatch, near Greenwood's mastyard, tells me that the Cod Souns or other may be Sav'd by stringing up & drying, that under this circumstance they will not disolve in any liquor hot nor cold; but that taken & wrapped up in clean linnen cloath or other cloath, & covered up in embers so as to wast them, they will then disolve, & that they will answer y° end of Glue; but not so well of cod as the souns of hake, wch is catch'd in or near y° fall; those many joyners at distant places use as Glew for their Cabinet work: roasted first in order to disolve as Glue. [Addressed] To Mr EDMUND QUINCY, at Braintree or Free. B. FRANKLIN. After reading the letter, Mr. Adams presented it to the Society. A conversation occurring on the subject of the "Cardiff Giant," so called, excavated last year in the village of Cardiff, Onondaga County, N.Y., and recently exhibited in this city, the following passage was read from Clark's History of "Onondaga, or Reminiscences of Earlier and Later Times," &c., 1849 (from the chapter headed Traditions of the Onondagas): "The Quis-quis, or great hog, was another monster which gave the Onondagas great trouble, as did also the great bear, the horned water-serpent, the stone giants, and many other equally fabulous inventions, bordering so closely upon the truly marvellous, that the truth would suffer wrongfully if related in full; but nevertheless are found among the wild. and unseemly traditions of the race." (Vol. I., p. 43.) The Librarian, Dr. GREEN, called the attention of the Society to a letter which had been extensively printed in the newspapers, particularly at the South and West. It was signed "Cotton Mather," and purported to give the details of "a scheme to bagge Penne," on the part of the colony of Massachusetts. In an accompanying statement, it is said that the letter was found by "Mr. Judkins, the Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in overhauling a chest of old papers deposited in the archives of that body by the late Robert Greenleaf, of Malden." For the sake of historical truth, it is desirable to give an official contradiction to the story, and 66 to pronounce it a miserable forgery. The name of Mr. Judkins is entirely unknown at this library; no such chest of old papers, as is alleged to have been deposited in the archives of the Society, has ever been received; and no such person, as the one stated to have made the deposit, is known to the members. The letter first appeared in the Easton, Penn., Argus," of April 28, and is dated "September ye 15th 1682." At this time, Cotton Mather was only nineteen years old, which fact alone would be presumptive evidence that he was not connected with any such piratical scheme. The story was fabricated by some one with the intention of deceiving the public, either for the purpose of putting its credulity to the test, or for creating a prejudice against the early founders of New England. A copy of an early manuscript of Daniel Webster, on the "Acquisition of the Floridas," was presented by Mr. T. R. MARVIN, the original paper to be returned after the Society shall have made such use of it as it might wish. The original had been given to Mr. Marvin by Mr. Webster himself. It was probably written as a college exercise while Mr. Webster was less than eighteen years of age, and twenty-one years before the acquisition of Florida was actually accomplished. ACQUISITION OF THE FLORIDAS. Question. Would it be advantageous to the United States to extend their territories? It might be supposed that a Republic, whose territorial jurisdiction encircles a more extensive portion of the earth's surface than falls to the share of almost any sovereignty in Europe, would never exert her energies for her dominion. It is true, on general maxims, that our country is sufficiently large for a Republican government; but if, by an inconsiderable extension of our limits, we can avail ourselves of great natural advantages, otherwise unattainable, does not sound policy dictate the measure? We reduce the question to a single point: would not the acquisition of the Floridas be advantageous to the United States? Here let it be remembered, that that part of the territory of our gov |