THE RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 91 



Monday^ March 6, 1893. — Mr. W. S. Nevins gave an 

 informal talk illustratedby photographsand books,on "Fa- 

 mous Madonnas." He said "The first mention of worship 

 of the Virgin Mary occurs in the work of Epiphanus who 

 died in 403, who mentions asect of women with whom it 

 was customary to offer cakes of meal and honey to the Vir- 

 gin Mary. It wasaboutthe year43l that the first repre- 

 sentation of the Virgin and child appeared in the Egyptian 

 type of Iris. About this time the Empress Eudoxia sent 

 home from the Holy Land a picture of the Virgin holding 

 the child, alleging it to be an authentic portrait." 



The lecturer referred to a Madonna in Constantinople, 

 said to have been carried to St. Mark's, Venice ; to the 

 Madonnas of the coronation type, the mercy type and of 

 the Mater Dolorosa, and made mention of the famous 

 masters, Raphael, Mnrillo, Van Dyke, Guido, Rubens, 

 Angelo and De Vinci. Reference was made to the mod- 

 eis from whom the most famous Madonnas were made and 

 a comparison was made between the artists and their 

 works. 



Monday, March 13, 1893.— Mr. Arthur L. Averill, of 

 this city, lectured on "How the Indepeiidence of the United 

 States was obtained." In introduction, he outlined the 

 condition of affairs of this country prior to the great revo- 

 lutionary struggle. The American army, with its free en- 

 listment and patriotic feeling, was more than an equal for 

 an even larger force of hired and perfunctory soldiers. 

 He cited several instances of the losses of the British 

 throuo^h faults of their own Commanders in indulo^infi: in 

 proffered hospitality or in gambling. Those who have al- 

 ways been brought up in luxury do not make as good offi- 

 cers as those who enter the army from principle or with a 

 set purpose. This he illustrated with thelife of Napoleon. 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XXV. 13 



