[INDORSEMENT ON THE LETTER BY DAVISON.] That Brewster ought not [to] be displaced more then the rest of the Postes. If he were possessed of the place by M. Randolphes guifte longe before his fathers deathe, and no good cause now to except against him, then ought he not more to be displaced then the rest of the Postes. But he was possessed of the place by M: Randolphes record of his name in by receipt of the fee the the testimonies of his Mr. that recom mended him thereunto; his exercise of the place now above testified by the Postes his next neighbours. Neither is there any just cause honestie, now to excepte against him either in respect of his sufficiency for the service, Therfore he ought to be no more displaced then the rest of the postes. Other reasons - The charge he hath ben at for the losse he shuld susteyne or rather utter undoing The harmes of thexample, &c. In order to a better understanding of the letter, and of the nature of the information it gave, Mr. Deane made the following explanation: Sir John Stanhope was appointed Postmaster-General by letterspatent bearing date June 20, 1590, about two months before the date of the letter to Secretary Davison. His predecessor, Thomas Randolph (spelled "Randall' "in the letter), had died in May or early in June preceding, having held the office from 1566, if not from an earlier period. As neither the accounts of Randolph, nor those of Stanhope until the year 1594, give the names of the postmasters on the roads, Mr. Hunter, in his researches respecting Elder Brewster, was unable to give the date of his appointment to the post of Scrooby. "It is * much to be regretted," he says, "that the name of each Postmaster was not given for a few years earlier, as we should then have been able to arrive at the precise period when Brewster received this appointment, and this would have shown us how soon after the fall of Davison he was provided for by this government appointment. All we know on this head is, that he was in full possession on the 1st of April, 1594, and that he continued to hold the office till the 30th of September, 1607, on which day he resigned it, and a successor was appointed." From this letter, and particularly the indorsement upon it, which the late Mr. Lemon believed to be in Secretary Davison's hand, we learn that Brewster's father, whose name was also William Brewster, had been Postmaster at Scrooby before his son held that office, and that he died in the summer of 1590; that his son then claimed to have already held the office a year and a half; which takes us back to the beginning of 1589. Davison's disgrace was two years before that. Queen Mary's execution was on the 8th of February, 1586-7. Davison was committed to the Tower six days afterward. Bradford says that Brewster remained with Davison until "he was put from his place about the death of the Queen of Scotts, and some good time after, doing him many offices of service in the time of his troubles." It appears now that Brewster could not have remained with his friend Davison more than two years after the Secretary's disgrace; and he may have retired to Scrooby even before the time he was appointed to the "Post" there as successor of his father, which, according to Davison's memorandum, as we have already said, was about the beginning of 1589. Precisely how long Davison remained in the Tower is not known, probably two or three years. In a letter of his to Queen Elizabeth, dated 7th December, 1590, he writes "from my poor desolate house in London." He subsequently retired to Stepney, where he died in December, 1608. His friend the Earl of Essex interceded for his restoration, and on the death of Walsingham, in April, 1590, he was earnest that the Queen should give the place held by that distinguished man to Davison. The application was unsuccessful. Motives of policy doubtless prevailed over a sense of justice. Sir John Stanhope, it will be seen, addresses his letter "To his honorable frend Mr. Secretary Daveson." We may suppose the title to have been then one of courtesy merely. Essex addressed him, a few months before, with the same title; and perhaps even then it was hoped and believed that his retirement from office might prove to be merely temporary. The courteous tone of Stanhope's letter shows the estimation in which Davison was held by him at this time. If the statements in Davison's memorandum, which was probably the substance of his reply to the Postmaster-General, were true, Stanhope must have been misinformed on many matters concerning Brewster's connection with the Scrooby office at this time; and the fact, that we find Brewster in full possession a few years See further information respecting William Brewster, Sen., in a letter of the Rev. Dr. Dexter, in the "Proceedings" for July, 1871. later, renders it probable that the Postmaster-General soon found that he had been led astray by false information, and that the intention he had formed, of giving the place to another, had been promptly revised by him. Stanhope, himself, was but new in the duties of his office. It is pleasant to see that Davison, while nobly suffering himself "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," was true to the last to his old "servant," who had shared with him the lot of his better days. An interesting "Life of William Davison, Secretary of State and Privy Counsellor to Queen Elizabeth," was written "By Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. of the Inner Temple, London, . . . 1823"; but the New England reader must not expect to find in it any mention of William Brewster. The President read an extract from a private letter to himself, from our Corresponding Member, Dr. Joseph Jackson Howard, of Blackheath, Kent, England, in which he was requested to call attention to Mr. Howard's monthly series of "Miscellanea Genealogica," as he desires to increase its circulation in the United States. JUNE MEETING, 1871. A stated meeting of the Society was held this day, Thursday, June 15th, at 11 o'clock, A.M.; the President in the chair. The record of the last meeting was read. The Librarian read his usual list of donors. The Corresponding Secretary read letters of acceptance from Edward D. Harris, of Cambridge; and Benjamin Scott, of Heath House, Weybridge, England. The President then said: Recent tidings from Europe, by the Ocean Cable, inform us of the death of one of our foreign Honorary Members.* Count Agénor de Gasparin, a distinguished French writer and philanthropist, died in Switzerland, the country of his accomplished wife, on the 4th inst., being within a month of the completion of his sixty-first year. His name was added to our Honorary Roll in 1863, after the publication of his "United. States in 1861," and his "Uprising of a Great People." These were among the earliest and most ardent expressions of sympathy for the Union cause which came to us from foreign lands. The telegram of about the same date, announcing the death of Dr. J. G. Kohl, most happily proved erroneous. They were translated into English, and had a large circulation in this country. They were soon followed by his "America before Europe," which signally evinced his continued enthusiasm for the overthrow of the Rebellion. Whatever judgment may be formed of these productions on a deliberate perusal in cool blood, they were important and valuable contributions to our national cause at the time the struggle was in progress, and will justly associate the name of their author with those of the few foreign friends of America who ventured to espouse and advocate that cause. Count Gasparin had been previously known at home as a zealous Protestant; an ardent abolitionist of slavery wherever it existed; an uncompromising advocate of social reform; and an elaborate investigator of the modern mysteries of Spiritualism. On all these subjects he had written extensively. He had been a member of the Chamber of Deputies for four years before the overthrow of the Orleans dynasty, and had served as secretary to Guizot, while that eminent and excellent man was Minister of Instruction. Since that service, he has resided mostly in Switzerland, and devoted himself to philanthropy and literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, LL.D., was elected a Resident Mem ber. The President announced as upon the table a new volume of Collections, being Volume I. of the Fifth Series, and the third volume of the Winthrop Papers. He said that the principal labor in editing this volume had devolved on Mr. Smith, one of the Publishing Committee. The President also announced the first part of a new volume of Proceedings for January, February, March, and April, as upon the table. Whereupon, a vote of thanks was passed to the Publishing Committees of these volumes. Dr. ELLIS, from the Committee on the Publication of the Sewall Papers, reported progress. He said that the copying and editing of the volumes had been intrusted to his colleague of the committee, Mr. Whitmore, who thought the papers would make three volumes of five hundred pages each, and that the cost of printing would be $1500 per volume. He proposed the following resolution, which was adopted: Resolved, That the Committee on the Sewall Papers be authorized to contract for the publication of the same, whenever in its opinion sufficient subscriptions have been received to make such a course judicious. Dr. ELLIS made a report on the Hutchinson Papers, stating that the controversy had been brought nearly to a close by the Committee agreeing to give up to the State all the papers presented by Alden Bradford at the times named in the Records, as far as those papers can now be identified by an umpire to be appointed by the Society and by the authorities of the State. Whereupon it was Voted, That the appointment of an umpire on the part of the Society, contemplated by the report just read, be intrusted to the Committee on the Hutchinson Papers. Dr. ELLIS communicated copies of some of the Hutchinson Papers for publication in the Proceedings; and they were referred to the Publishing Committee. Certificate of John Wilson and Hezekiah Usher.* These do testifie vnto the honoured Gen. Court yt m! John Tuttle, William Hasie, and Benjamin Muzzie of Boston Rumnie marsh, are vpon Good testimony of others, and my owne knowledge or experience both orthodox in the Christian Religion, and of unblameable conversation, as I do believe, and doe humbly comend them therfore vnto the Acceptance of the hon. Court, into the Society and Companie of our freemen, according as they expresse their desires therevnto, and Aymes at the Common Good therein. 24 d. of the 3 m. 65. JOHN WILSON Senior. Mr John Tuttle, William Hasie and Benjamin Muszie, are raiteable according to the Law made for admitance of Free-men: 2.: May 1665. HEZEKIAH VSHER. Declaration of Samuel Cheever and Others.† TO THE HONNORD GENERALL COURT NOW SITTING IN BOSTON THAT &c Wee whose names are vnderwritten doe p'sent ou' humble Apologie 1 That we doe not know that the Reund m' William Hubbard was At a General Court held at Boston August 3, 1664, it was ordered, "that from henceforth all Englishmen presenting a cirtitficat, vnder the hands of the ministers or minister of the place where they dwell, that they are orthodox in religion, & not vitious in theire liues, & also a cirtificat, vnder the hands of the selectmen of the place, or of the major part of them, that they are freeholders, & are for their oune propper estate (wthout heads of psons) rateable to the country in a single country rate, after the vsuall manner of valluation, in the place where they liue, to the full value of tenne shillings, or that they are in full comunion wth some church amongst vs, it shallbe in the liberty of all & euery such person or persons, being twenty fower yeares of age, householders and setled inhabitants in this jurisdiccōn, from time to time, to present themselves & their desires to this Court for their admittance to the freedome of this comonwealth, and shall be allowed the priviledge to haue such their desire propounded & put to vote in the Generall Court for acceptance to the freedome of the body polliticke by the sufferage of the major pte, according to the rules of our pattent." (Mass. Col. Records, Vol. IV., Part II. p. 118). William Hazzey and Benjamin Muzzey were admitted freemen May 3, 1665. (Ibid., pp. 581, 582). - EDS. † At a General Court held on the 10th of July, 1685, "The Court, judging it a mat |