Church as yet knowes Christs mind, but he knowes it alone. And those resolutions of M Hooker were by M Pagett presented to the Classis and Synod of Amsterdam, who presently sent a peremptory Comand to M Pagets Elders that they should not chuse M Hooker into that Congregation, for that a man holding his opinions could not be a member of theire Church. You may see how little cause our Puritans haue to complaine of the proceedings of our Church since they are Creatures that can liue nowhere. Yet M Forbes thinkes he must gouerne in this too, and so first in Speach himselfe, then by a fre hath expostulated with the Ministers and Classis of Amsterdam for their Censure of M! Hooker, but he hath bene grauely and justly chid and rebuked by tre from the whole Classis, written by Jacobus Laurentius, then President, for his medling in thinges we concerne him not, and likewise with this very expression that though he complaine against the Bps of England, yet that himselfe hath more then an Episcopall Spiritt. This tre is vpon Register too. And when need shalbe, J doubt not but for yo' and our better proceeding it shalbe shewed the States that they may see what dangerous spiritts they be that creepe vnto them for succour against theire King and Country. Since my coming hether to Weazell, J haue found a most admirable story, the very same controuersy that you and J haue now, for the prayers and rites of of Church was heere in this Towne in Queene Marye's dayes, betwixt the Jnhabitants heere and our English that fledd hether. And J haue gotten out of theire Towne Register a Copy of the petition our Countrymen made for the libty of theire owne prayers, and how, vpon a tre Melanchton sent them, the Towne did grant them a Congregation to themselves and the full vse of their owne Rites. The tre J read in Melanchton's owne hand and the Copy J haue. This is all the newes J haue to tell you, for what the Prince will doe J cannot certeinely know, because of men are still a shipboard, but it is thought Rheneberg shalbe beseiged And so farewell

WEASELL May: 6th stil: nou:

Your true friend to serue you

STEPHEN Goffe.

If you write to me send yo' tres to Lieutenant Smith at Weazell. [Indorsed:] 6 May 1633.

M: Goffe to Mr Missleden

from Weazell.

S. P. (Dom.) Car. I. Vol. 260, No. 13.

[Extract. Letter written by Stephen Goffe, dated Leyden, Feb. 13. 1633-4, addressed to my worthy & assured freind M Gilbert Sheldon, Chapleine to the right houb'e Lord Coventry Lord Keeper of the Great Seale of England at Durham house."]

"J long to heare fro you concerning M Damport, about who Vossius hath seriously & to good purpose bestirred himselfe, for Damport having yealded to the Dutch Classis wholly (wch was Hookers rubb) yet Vossius hath stopped his election with the Magistrates vpon those points. That he came away out of England, not being questioned for church discipline, but was plainely desertor Ecchia wh is even con

trary to their owne rule here. And then that since his comming hith' he hath discovered of wt spirit he was, by p'aching against the Civil goverment here, in permission of the Remonstrants to preach, wch we condemned to be a most wicked & vngodly thing. Vpon these tearmes the Election is at a stand. The Dutch classis labor to loose this last knott, because it is according to their tooth to inveigh against the goverment, & his frends the Marcheants labour to vndoe the first, in sending into England for lett[e]rs dismissory frõ his parish, weh J heare certainely they have done. But if some relãon fro a man who Vossius may name (or rath' fro of Agent) might be dispatched hith wch may discou❜ his mann' of forsaking His King & church & his obnoxiousnes vnto the king for oth' matt's, & yt he was not pticularly questioned for church displine, then J doubt not but we shalbe delivered fro this plague too, & IIe will make for New England, wheth" M: Cotton & his sone borne a shipbord & so caled Sea-borne, & M Hooker are safely arrived (as they say here) by speciall extraordinary psperous winds."

S. P. (Dom.) Car. I. Vol. 278, No. 65.

Extracts from "The personal Answeares of Samuell Ward, clerke, Batchelor in Divinity, of the towne of Jpsw in the County of Suffolke made by vertue of his Corporall oath to the Arles obted against him by his Maties Comission" for causes Ecclicall."

"To the 38th Arle he answeareth and beleeue'h that p'achinge in St Mary Tower Church, at or about the tyme aflate, vppon some cases putt vuto him by some of those that affected to goe beyond the seas into Newe England, and vppon some misreports made of this exaînt, sayd he was not of Tertullians rigide opinion but of our late learned Arch Bpps milder Judgment concerninge the lawfullnes of flight in persecucon, yet rather comended such as stayd in their natiue Country and mother Church, wch he thought and sayd to bee the most florishinge nationall Kingdome and Church in the world, not knowing what God would enclyne and enable himselfe to doe in case of triall, if any such should happen, or vsed words to that effect. Et ali non credit aflu esse veru in aliquo.

"To the 39th Arle he answeareth that, at or about the tyme aflate, this exiñat in a sermon by him płached in the place aflate expressely sayd he was not of soe melancholly a spirritt, nor looked through soe blacke spectacles as he that wrote that Religion stands on the Tiptoe in this land, lookeinge Westwards, nor feared their feare that feared an imminent departure of the Gospell. Et ali non credit aflu esse verum in aliquo.

To the 40th and 41th Arles he answeareth and beleeueth that, haueinge heard a report in the towne of Jpswch, scattered by the Newe Englanders and others that six or seuen Ministers in Glocestershire and Xij or Xiiij Ministers in the dioces of Winchester and some others in other shires were suspended, he sayd that if six or seuen lights in one place and 12 or 14 in another were like to bee eclipsed, as some there p'sent reported, it might be a signe of Gods displeasure, be the cause there of their owne error or Ceremonyes or what it will be. Et ali non credit aflu esse veru in aliquo."

OCTOBER MEETING, 1874.

A stated meeting was held on Thursday, the 8th instant, at eleven o'clock A.M.; the Hon. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, VicePresident, in the chair.

The Recording Secretary read the record of the preceding meeting.

The Librarian read the list of donors to the Library for the past month.

The Corresponding Secretary read letters of acceptance from Count de Rochambeau, of Paris, aud from Sir Bernard Burke, of Dublin, who had been elected Corresponding Members.

Dr. ELLIS called attention to the inadequate subscription for publishing the Sewall Diary, and inquired if those MSS., when prepared for publication, could not be published as parts of the Society's Collections, and from the funds of the Society which are provided for that purpose.

After some discussion of the subject, it was, on motion of Dr. Robbins,

Voted, that the Committee on the Sewall Papers be requested to prepare those MSS. for the press; and that, as regards their publication, they be placed on the same footing as the volumes of Collections to be prepared by the several committees who each have now a volume in charge.

Mr. Delano A. Goddard was elected a Resident Member.
Mr. ADAMS then said: —

At the last monthly meeting of the Society, on the strength. of a telegraphic report from Paris, I ventured to call your attention to the loss we had sustained of one of our most distinguished Honorary Members, M. François Pierre Guillaume Guizot. Although that report proved not to be correct at the moment, later information shows that it only anticipated by a few hours a result then known to be inevitable.

It is no part of my intention to enlarge upon the qualities of this gentleman, or his accomplishments, whether as an author, an orator, a diplomatist, or a statesman. In his long carcer he attained great distinction in each capacity, and that without many of the advantages which commonly contribute to clevate a person thus high in his own country. Not belonging to the dominant church, he yet succeeded, by the calm and philosophical spirit of his writings, in removing prejudices and enlisting the confidence even of those with whom he could not agree. Hence he has left behind him many valuable speculations on historical and political questions, which placed him in

his lifetime in the very first rank of the public men of France. I need not add, that among his studies was a careful one made on the life of our greatest leader of all,-George Washington,which clearly shows the effect produced by it on his own mind and character. The fact that he was ultimately unfortunate in his political career does not of itself prove any thing against him in a country noted for the suddenness of its revolutions. Time will probably supply the means of ascertaining how far he can be made justly responsible for the events which overturned the government of Louis Philippe, whom he faithfully served. It is enough to know that from that day to this-a period of more than a quarter of a century- he has continued. to live a private citizen in the heart of the most tumultuous community of the age, enjoying the respect and esteem of all the various classes about him, a lot which has not always fallen to those associated with the prominent political action of their own times in France.

Passing from this, I regret to be called upon to bring to your notice the decease of one of our own immediate members since the last meeting. Singularly enough, it has lately happened twice to us to meet with the misfortune of losing distinguished members almost immediately after their election. It was so with Mr. Sumner. It is so at this moment in the case of Mr. Benjamin Robbins Curtis. His brilliaut carcer as a jurist is too generally recognized to require that I should enlarge upon it. There are, doubtless, also some of our own body who are both ready and willing to contribute, from their better knowledge of it, to the illustration of his life and character. I close these remarks by submitting to the Society the following Resolutions from the Council:

Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. BENJAMIN ROBBINS CURTIS the community has lost an eminent citizen, the bar of the country a distinguished jurist, and this Society one of its most respected members.

Resolved, That the President be requested to nominate one of our members to prepare a Memoir of Mr. Curtis for the Proceedings of the Society.

And the Rev. Chandler Robbins, D.D., was appointed to write the Memoir of Judge Curtis for the Society's Proceedings.

The Chairman now called upon the Hon. RICHARD HI. DANA, Jr., who gave an interesting analysis of the great powers of Mr. Curtis as a jurist and as a man. He was followed by the Rev. CHANDLER ROBBINS, D.D., a classmate of the deceased, who said:

I have been invited by the Council of the Society to say a few words in commemoration of our late honored associate. My respect and love for him will not suffer me to forego the privilege thus accorded of paying a brief but heartfelt tribute to his memory.

A friendship which began almost fifty years ago, and which not only continued uninterrupted to the day of his death, but grew more intimate and confidential towards the last, while it gave me frequent opportunities to look into his heart, and to estimate his motives, enables me to speak of him with the utmost confidence in reference to those qualities and that department of his life to which I shall confine my remarks.

It devolves upon others-like our learned associate, to whose just and cloquent words we have been listening-to trace his professional carcer, to describe his traits as an advocate and a judge, to tell us how thorough was his legal knowledge, how sound his judgment, how clear and close his reasoning, how weighty his opinions; to analyze his mental constitution and show what were the secrets of his rare success. And the whole country is already acquainted with the main features and principal events of his public career. It is only in those aspects and relations in which I have personally known him so long and well that it becomes me to speak of

him.

In the year 1825 we entered Harvard College together. It was very soon made evident that Curtis was to be one of the marked men of the class. There were visible to our young eyes, even upon his person, signs of mental and moral superiority, which, though we could not have described, we could not mistake. He was even then "every inch a man," and just the same man, only of smaller growth, that has commanded public respect in later years. He was remarkable, even then, for a certain intellectual massiveness; for the clearness, force, and steadiness of the workings of his mind; for his strength of will; for independence and truth; for his mastery of every subject and every work to which he applied his powers; for his self-possession; for his entire freedom from all youthful foibles and all selfish passions; and for a certain calmness, gravity, and sometimes even coldness of manner, which covered, only to superficial observers, a warm temper, an aspiring spirit, an earnest purpose and strong and even tender affections.

He was one of the best scholars, best writers, and best speakers of the class, and perfectly honorable and above reproach in character and conduct. The Faculty respected him;