THE KETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 107 



Governor of Massachusetts and of Her Majesty, the 

 Queen of Enghmd, — contributed to make the gathering 

 a memorable one, and the very cordial cooperation of 

 our Salem community was not the least hopeful feature of 

 the occasion. 



It has been thought well to print in the current Bulletin 

 for 1898 a full report of the Commemoration, together 

 with a list of the present membership of the Institute, 

 and to send this number out })retty freely to all who wish 

 us well. Several magnificent offers of gifts to our col- 

 lections were made on this occasion, which, if accepted, 

 will mark a new departure in the career of the Institute. 



Of the Historical Collections it is enough to say that a 

 new volume has come out since the last meeting, which 

 is, with the other issues alluded to, on the table for in- 

 spection, and which compares favorably with its prede- 

 cessors. It brings the publication up to date. It 

 contains, with other matters, a valuable contribution to 

 the local history of Ipswich ; some original Topsfield 

 records of the 17th and the early 18th centuries ; a sketch 

 of our late Librarian ; two accounts of Salem Neck and 

 Winter Island, with a map; a statement of the grounds 

 upon which rests the Essex County claim to the earliest 

 attempt at cotton spinning and weaving, — an article repro- 

 duced with an illustration in the half-yearly issue of the 

 New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association of April 

 last ; the story of Arnold's march through this County 

 to Quebec ; an unpublished letter of Col. Timothy Pick- 

 ering and a list of shipping owned in Salem in 1826, 

 with owners' names and other data, attributed to the late 

 Joseph Augustus Peabody. In connection with the last 

 it may be mentioned that several old hand-painted charts 

 of the ships' signals used here toward the end of our 

 romantic commercial era have been framed for better 



