no official sanction whatever, because no official had any authority to sanction them. It was a mere arrangement between the individual postmaster and the public, for their mutual accommodation."1 The fact that local stamps were being issued was, in some cases, says Mr. Tiffany, "brought to the attention of the Postmaster-General, and he saw no objection to the arrangement; in others the whole affair seems to have passed without any attention being paid to it by the Department." The fact of the existence of the Millbury stamp does not seem to have been known to collectors until Mr. Tiffany (now of St. Louis, but during his boyhood a resident of Worcester,) made it known after an examination of Mr. Davis's letter-book in the American Antiquarian Society's Hall, in July, 1885.3 No regretable result of the discovery and announcement has come to my notice, unless it be some verses which appear in the Philatelic Journal of America, for March, 1887. While on my feet, Mr. President, I wish to express my satisfaction (and I have no doubt that this satisfaction is shared by all the members of this Society) that the admirable history of King's Chapel, Boston, begun by our late associate, Rev. Henry W. Foote, has been brought to a successful conclusion. You know that Mr. Foote left a large amount of material for the second volume, which has just been issued. The writers who have completed the work, our late beloved associate, Rev. Dr. Andrew P. Peabody, and our present associate, Mr. Henry H. Edes, with great loyalty and modesty, have ascribed all the honor due for the work to Mr. Foote. While much is certainly due to him, it is evident, also, that the editors have earned great credit. 1 History of the Postage-Stamps of the United States of America, by John K. Tiffany, p. 28. 2 lbid., pp. 26, 27. 3 The Philatelic Journal of America, Vol. III., p. 32. Hon. EDWARD L. DAVIS said: There is no regret on the part of the family of Isaac Davis, that the letter with the Millbury postmark is in the safe-keeping of the American Antiquarian Society. Prof. FRANKLIN B. DEXTER said: I should like to put in the Proceedings, if possible, a communication1 from Prof. Egbert C. Smyth, of Andover, who read, a year ago, a very keen and fascinating paper on the early writings of Jonathan Edwards. Professor Smyth raised in that paper certain questions about the date of Edwards's earliest philosophical speculations, whether he was influenced by what Bishop Berkeley had written. He has just been able pretty clearly to destroy the hypothesis that Edwards knew anything of Berkeley, and to show that a passage which is quoted in the lives of Samuel Johnson, who was tutor at Yale in Edwards's time, didn't refer to Berkeley, and that Johnson himself didn't know anything of Berkeley's philosophical works until 1728. This establishes Edwards's independent investigation and theory. The PRESIDENT extended an invitation to the members to take luncheon at his house, which was accepted. Dissolved. CHARLES A. CHASE, 1 See page 251. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. SINCE the last meeting of the Society it has suffered in the loss, by death, of two of its members, brief memorial notices of whom have been prepared and accompany this report. The memoir of Rev. Dr. Lucius R. Paige was prepared by our associate, Mr. Albert H. Hoyt. The reports of the Librarian and Treasurer, which are presented herewith, will be found to contain much information relating to the work and property of the Society, and the Council finds nothing of special importance to add to these. The continued efficiency of the management of the library of the Society is evident to all who have occasion to make use of its resources; and it is only necessary to say that there has been no lessening of that efficiency during the last six months. Ernst Curtius, the distinguished classicist and archæologist, was born September 2, 1814, at Lübeck, a famous historic town of northern Germany, lying on a bay of the same name which opens into the Baltic Sea. His ancestry was distinguished not only for a love of letters. and learning, but as well for the very prominent position which some of them have held in the political and public affairs of their city. The family name is a Latin form of the German "Kurz" (short). The father of Ernst Curtius was for many years "Syndic" or "home-governor" of the small but independent republic of Lübeck. He possessed decided literary tastes and enjoyed an acquaintance and correspondence with the most eminent literary men of his time. There were three sons in the family, one older and one younger than Ernst. The older, Theodore, followed his father in the study of law and became burgomaster of Lübeck. The younger, George, reached great distinction as a comparative etymologist, and died about ten years ago. After finishing his training at the local gymnasium, Ernst Curtius, in 1834, matriculated at the University of Bonn, carrying with him a reputation as a brilliant classical student. Here he was fortunate in winning the friendship of Professor Brandis, whose influence largely determined the activities of his immediate future. In 1837, Brandis was invited to accompany the young Bavarian Prince, Otho, who was newly elected King of Greece, to Athens, where he was to be a sort of confidential adviser to the youthful sovereign. He invited young Curtius to join him in the capacity of tutor to his own children, and in this way he entered the field in which he afterward won such great distinction. Although he returned in a few years to, and lived most of his long life in, Germany, Greece continued to be the subject of his most earnest thoughts and his most extensive investigations. At the age of thirty years he published his first great work, "The Acropolis of Athens," which at once won him a place among the leading archæologists of the day. In a lecture upon the Acropolis, before a distinguished audience in Berlin, he is said to have so charmed the Princess, afterward the Empress, and mother of Emperor Frederick, that he was at once selected to superintend the education of the Crown Prince, with the title of Professor Extraordinary at the University of Berlin. To his personal influence with the Royal family undoubtedly was due the activity and success of the Germans in their Greek explorations of about twenty years ago. The excavations at Olympia began under the direction of Curtius as early as 1868, but the undertaking was not vigorously followed up until after the establishment in 1875 of the German Archæological Institute at Athens. Of the very important results of this work, he published a full account in 1882 under the title of "The Discovery of Olympia." Throughout his long and active life, embracing, as it did, more than fourscore years, he published numerous volumes, monographs, memoirs, etc., among the most important of which, in addition to those already referred to, his "History of Greece," published in 1867, should be named. His official position during the later years of his life was that of Professor of History in the University of Berlin, and he continued to discharge the duties incumbent upon him up to about three months of the time of his death. He became a member of the American Antiquarian Society in October, 1891, and his death occurred on July 11, 1896. The personality of Professor Curtius was strong and noble. His charming manners and inspiring sympathy gave him a great influence over those with whom he came in contact, and all such were devotedly attached to him. Many American scholars were privileged to enjoy his hospitality and friendship, and were among his most enthusiastic admirers. Indeed, the interest in Greek history and art which has grown so rapidly in this country during the past quarter of a century, and which is signalized by the large and constantly growing number of museums of casts of Greek plastic art, may be largely attributed to the work and influence of this distinguished scholar. Lucius Robinson Paige, D.D., died at his residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the afternoon of September 2, 1896, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. He was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts, on the 8th of March, 1802, and was the youngest of the nine children of Timothy and Mary (Robinson) Paige of that town. His grandfather, Colonel Timothy Paige, was active in the war |