tion; it was only a day or two after the destruction of the convent. It was thought important to say as little as possible about it, for fear of prompting the very assault we desired to avert, and I know not that it was ever mentioned in the newspapers.

Now that more than fifty years have elapsed, it may fairly be included in the history of the College Library. But let me not conclude this little narrative without saying that, so far from there being any attempt to wreak vengeance on Harvard College or any other institution, the Irish and the Roman Catholics, under the wise counsel of the Bishop, exhibited great moderation and forbearance at that exciting moment, and conducted themselves in a manner to win the respect and sympathy of all their fellow-citizens.

I may be pardoned for remembering that the very first elaborate speech which I made, after taking my seat in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts the next year, was a speech in favor of indemnifying the owners of the convent, on the ground that no protection was offered or attempted by the civil authorities of the State on that terrible night. And although indemnification was then denied by our Legislature, after a long and heated debate, I am glad to remember also that a law was enacted, four years afterwards, making towns and cities responsible to the amount of three quarters of the value of any property destroyed by rioters within their limits. This was one of the good fruits of the debate on the Convent Riot; but I forbear from dwelling further on the subject. I designed only to give a brief reminiscence of a Night in the Library of Harvard College.

Dr. ELLIS added his recollections, and spoke of an interview he once had with Pope Gregory XVI., in which allusion was made to the burning of the Ursuline Convent.

Mr. YOUNG referred to a very interesting account of the attack made upon the convent, which had been written and privately printed by the late Louisa Goddard Whitney, wife of Professor Josiah D. Whitney, of Cambridge, who was at the time an inmate of the institution.2

1 Winthrop's Addresses and Speeches, vol. i. pp. 174-186.

2 The Burning of the Convent. A Narrative of the Destruction, by a Mob, of the Ursuline School on Mount Benedict, Charlestown, as remembered by one of the Pupils. Cambridge, Mass. Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. 1877.

Mr. LEE mentioned that he was present at the trial of one of the rioters, when the judge delivered a strong charge to the jury; but they refused to convict.

Mr. EDWARD J. LOWELL communicated the following paper on "German Manuscript Sources for the History of the Revolutionary War:"

The richest mine in Germany of manuscript documents on the subject of the Revolutionary War is that which is found in the archives of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, at Marburg. Here are preserved the reports and journals which Landgrave Frederick II. of Hesse-Cassel received from his officers during the war. On making inquiries of Dr. Könnecke, the learned and courteous keeper of these archives, I was informed that no separate catalogue of the papers concerning the Revolutionary War had been made up; and that to make such a catalogue would, according to his reckoning, take two hundred hours of time, and cost six hundred marks, as thousands of documents would have to be noted. On further inquiry, he informed me that the archives contained thirty-seven regimental journals and twelve volumes (bound and unbound) of papers, each volume being ten centimetres thick, beside documents scattered in other departments of the archives, and more especially under the heading "England."

The documents at Marburg have twice been the subject of long notices in the New York "Nation." The first of these notices, from the pen of Friedrich Kapp, appeared in the number for Aug. 3, 1882; the second notice, by another hand, in that of July 15, 1886.

Many months would be required for an adequate examination of the papers at Marburg, and for transcribing such portions, of them as are important. The labor, however, would be interesting, and the life, at least during the season of fine weather, not disagreeable. Marburg is situated on the railroad between Frankfort and Cassel, and about sixty miles from either place. The picturesque university town clings to the side of a steep hill, surmounted by the fine old castle, where the archives are kept. The neighborhood is pretty; the inn fair. The scholar who should undertake to examine the manuscripts would need a pretty good knowledge of the German language, with some familiarity with the puzzling

German handwriting, knowledge of the history of the Revolution, accuracy, patience, and a strong digestion. Without the last advantage no one should venture in Germany far from the large cities.

Next to the collection at Marburg is that in the Ständische Landesbibliothek at Cassel. Here are twenty-five manuscripts, most of them copies. How many would turn out to be duplicates or copies of originals at Marburg, it is impossible to say until a catalogue of the Marburg collection shall have been made. Certainly all are not so.

In the archives of the War Department at Berlin are thirteen letters from German officers in America, beside documents and correspondence concerning the treaty between King George III. and the Prince of Hesse-Hanau, and sundry reports concerning strictly technical and military matters.

In the library of the Prince of Waldeck at Arolsen is a fragment of a journal of the Waldeck Regiment. It deals with a part of the adventures of that regiment in Florida, being by far the fullest account known to me of the almost forgotten siege of Pensacola by the Spaniards, except the account given by Max von Eelking, which is taken from two manuscripts whose whereabouts I do not know, which are cited in his list of authorities.

The archives of the War Department of Brunswick for the time in question have unfortunately been burned; and the library at Wolfenbüttel contains no manuscripts concerning this war.

I have seen somewhere (in Kapp's book, I think) a mention of the archives of Anspach-Bayreuth. Whether these are to be sought in Anspach, or elsewhere, I cannot tell. The Historical Society of Anspach has a manuscript journal, but some years ago refused to have it copied, on the ground that a member of the Society was intending to publish it. I have not yet heard of its appearance in print.

In addition to the manuscripts in public archives and libraries above mentioned, there are several in private hands. The list of authorities in Eelking's "Hülfstrappen" contains the names of some of these.

The nature and historical value of the manuscripts are various. There are among them dry reports, from which all interesting information seems to have been carefully excluded; and

chatty, familiar letters or journals, intended only for the eyes of the writer and his intimate friends. Some of these documents are probably worth translating and printing entire. Many certainly are not so; but from the driest some useful facts may be gleaned. It would seem worth while that in the course of time all should be examined and catalogued, and that copies should be taken of the more important, which copies should be placed in the keeping of the United States Government or of one of our American Historical Societies.

It is not probable that anything can be added to our knowledge of the great events of the American Revolution; but we have still much to learn concerning the social condition of our ancestors and the appearance of the country. Nowhere are these things more fully described than in the writings of the large number of German officers who spent seven or eight long years in America, mixing on friendly terms with the Tory inhabitants in some places, and forcing their unwelcome company on the rebel farmers and citizens elsewhere.

Dr. CHANNING alluded to a recent history of New England in two volumes, by Mr. J. A. Doyle, Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, and entitled "The English in America: The Puritans."

Mr. CHASE stated that in the list of statues, busts, and portraits of Daniel Webster, published a year ago in the Society's Proceedings, there was an omission of a bust of heroic size, executed by Thomas Ball between 1852 and 1856, which came into his father's possession, and was now owned by him.

The PRESIDENT announced that Mr. John T. Morse, Jr., had been appointed to prepare a memoir of the late Hon. Charles Francis Adams.

Dr. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES presented a fac-simile of a letter of the sixth Earl of Northumberland; of a portion of the Drake manuscript, 1644; and of the entry of Thomas Harvard, brother of John Harvard, as apprentice into the Cloth workers' Company, Sept. 11, 1627, and his admission as a freeman into the same company, Dec. 3, 1634.

The PRESIDENT asked a question, to which, he said, he might have looked for an answer had Dr. Deane been present. As the Court had admitted freemen previous to May 18, 1631, when the order restricting the franchise to church-members was passed, he wished to know its effect upon them, whether

it disfranchised them. They may have voted against the order; or men, such as Maverick and Blackstone, made freemen in the previous October, may not have been present. "The full consent of all the Commons then present" at the Court appears to have been given to the order. There were seven of the Assistants or Magistrates present.

A memoir of the late Charles C. Perkins by Dr. Samuel Eliot, and a memoir of the late Francis E. Parker by Mr. Bangs, were communicated to the Society.

A new serial, containing the Proceedings from October to January inclusive, was laid on the table by the Recording Secretary.