MASSACHUSETTS 



MASSACHUSETTS 



cration and the communion. Besides these, 

 there are several smaller parts, each symbolic 

 of some episode in Christ's life, during the days 

 immediately preceding its close. The mass is 

 read, or sung, in Latin by the celebrant, but the 

 whole ceremony is translated into various 

 languages, for the comprehension of the 

 people. Mass can be celebrated only by 

 the clergy, after they have fasted abso- 

 lutely from the midnight previous. 



Though there are different names for 

 masses, the fundamentals are the same. In 

 a low mass, there are no re- 



sponses from the choir; at high mass the re- 

 sponses are sung by the choristers, usually with 

 instrumental accompaniment; a solemn high 

 mass is the same as a high mass, except that 

 the celebrant is attended by a deacon and sub- 

 deacon. Requiem mass is recited for the 

 repose of the souls of the dead, and a 

 votive mass is one different from that pre- 

 scribed for the day, the choice being left 

 to the celebrant. 'Each priest may say one 

 mass on week days, two on Sundays if 

 necessity requires it, and three on Christ- 

 mas day. G.W.M. 



Rlgrims Going to Church | j|_, E 5TQRY OF MASSACHUSETTS 



ASS ACHUSETTS , mas a chu ' sets, 

 one of the thirteen original states of the Ameri- 

 can Union, perhaps the foremost among the 

 colonies in the formation of that Union. It is 

 a little state, only four out of the forty-eight 

 ranking below it in size, but no state has had a 

 more romantic history or one of greater impor- 

 tance to the country. Its name, obviously In- 

 dian in origin, and meaning near the great hills, 

 was borne by a tribe of Indians who lived in 

 the region before the coming of the white man, 

 while the popular name, Old Bay State, has ref- 

 erence to the great bay on which Boston is 

 situated. 



Location and Size. Massachusetts is a North 

 Atlantic state, one of the famous group known 

 as New England. A large part of it is less than 

 a degree in width from north to south, lying 

 between 42 and 42 43' north, but to the east 

 the state widens considerably, so it has with its 

 capes and peninsulas an Atlantic coast line of 

 more than 250 miles. Its farthest point north 

 is 114 miles from its extreme southern point. 

 From east to west its greatest length is 184 

 miles, and it has an area of 8,26G square miles, 

 of which 227 square miles are water surface. 



The People. This little state is exceeded by 

 but five states in number of inhabitants, pos- 

 sessing in 1915 a population of 3,693,310. In 

 density of population it is surpassed only by 

 Rhode Island, for it has an average of 459.4 

 people to the square mile. The population. 



with the exception of 40,000 negroes, is almost 

 equally divided among native-born whites with 

 native-born parents, native whites with foreign 

 or mixed parents, and foreign-born people, each 

 class making up a little more than thirty per 

 cent of the population. This state, with its 

 coastal location and its thriving industries, has 

 offered a very attractive field to immigrants. 

 Among the foreign-born inhabitants the Irish 

 are most numerous, and Canadians rank second. 



No other state, whatever its size, has so many 

 good-sized towns as Massachusetts, which at the 

 census in 1915 showed no fewer than seventy- 

 two with a population over 8,000; while over 

 ninety per cent of the inhabitants live in cities 

 of 2,500 or more. Boston, the capital and chief 

 manufacturing center, is the largest city; others 

 of importance, in the order of their size, are 

 Worcester, Fall River, New. Bedford, Cambridge, 

 Lowell, Springfield, Lynn, Lawrence, Somer- 

 ville, Brockton and Holyoke. All of these, and 

 others, are given separate treatment in these 

 volumes. 



A Literary Center. Any account of its peo- 

 ple would fail to do justice to the large place 

 which Massachusetts has held in the life of the 

 United States if it took no notice of the intel- 

 lectual activities in which the state has always 

 been preeminent. It is to the permanent fame 

 of Massachusetts that it includes among its 

 great writers Bryant, Longfellow, Lowell, Whit- 

 tier, Holmes, Franklin, Emerson, Prescott, Mot- 



