of the American Revolution. D'Estaing had been over before, but the joint operations of the American land forces and the French fleet had been mainly signalized by magnificent defeats, both at Newport in the north, and Savannah at the south. Things were now in a somewhat different shape. Washington was to conduct the joint operations himself, and the French army and navy officers were very much better men. Barring those two dismal and sporadic occasions, the American army never had had before the chance for a combination with a navy. The patriots simply had no fleet, while the enemy had the best in the world. But now conditions were reversed. Washington not only had a fleet at command, but it was so good a one, and the English as the result of some blunder were at such a disadvantage in this respect just at this juncture, that the Americans actually enjoyed the supremacy of the sea at the moment. Events were therefore ripe for the culmination of the war. Cornwallis having had the free range of all Virginia, toward the close of the summer of 1781 carefully withdrew into a cul de sac, with broad waters on nearly all sides of him, and a narrow strip of land in front, which the alert Lafayette was not slow in occupying and fortifying. Next Washington and Rochambeau came down from the north. It was a long distance from which to strike so true a blow, but the aim had been carefully calculated, and the vital point was not missed. On October 19, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered Yorktown. It was by a number of delicate concatenations of circumstances that this fortunate result was brought about. In the first place, it required a graceful and cordial submission on the part of the proud French noble, Count de Rochambeau, to the conditions under which he was appointed to the command of the French contingent in America-that he act in all matters not only in concert with but under the orders of the American commander-in-chief. It was a striking-shall we not say a providential?— circumstance again that the French officers among themselves gracefully yielded points of supremacy in rank. De Barras, who commanded. the squadron which had brought over Rochambeau in 1780, although the senior of De Grasse, declared that in this campaign he would waive all personal consideration, and serve under the latter's orders. The three thousand troops landed from De Grasse's fleet in order to assist Lafayette to coop up Cornwallis in Yorktown were commanded by the Marquis de Saint-Simon, who was Lafayette's superior in the French army; but, without a word of objection, he yielded obedience to the young majorgeneral, because he was in the American service. Frictions between these various officers might have ruined the whole scheme, so much depended VOL. XXIX. No. 4.- 25 upon harmony. At the same time Rodney, who alone could have defeated the superior French fleet, went away to England, so that the English ships who sought to dispute the possession of the Chesapeake were utterly routed. And Cornwallis's position would have been entirely tenable, and even advantageous, had the English retained their usual supremacy in American waters. Yet with all these other circumstances there was need to combine a very important one, and that this was present may have been due to the letter under consideration. The perseverance and courage of the people of Virginia was an element contributing to the glorious result. Had they failed to antagonize Cornwallis, or to side with Lafayette's endeavors, the English general would not have been so completely reduced at last to the single and difficult position he was made to occupy on Virginia soil. It was indeed as Luzerne wrote. He could not display all the plans of operation which were to make the king's troops efficacious. But it was a fact that, “with all his power," his majesty was aiding the cause of the colonies. There was a large and finely equipped army under Rochambeau. The fleet of De Grasse consisted of twenty-eight ships of the line and six frigates; it carried seventeen hundred guns, and twenty thousand men. Who shall say that it was not this assurance of sympathy backed so very substantially which induced the people, already so greatly tried, to "resist the enemy a little longer"? Thus they could heed the injunction not "to let themselves be discouraged by the difficulties of the present juncture." And taking all the circumstances together, the king's envoy was justified in assuring the afflicted and struggling colonists, in the name of his master," that they might count confidently upon a happy issue of the glorious cause for which they are striving." Sooner than any one dared to hope this prophecy was fulfilled. CALIFORNIA IN THE CIVIL WAR' In Mr. Norton's "United States in Paragraphs "-MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY for January, 1893, p. 62is a reference to the 15,725 soldiers furnished by California in the civil war. In this I find the statement that these troops" were mainly employed as home guards to repress Indian outbreaks." I am convinced that a more careful examination of the historical evidences pertaining to that period in the history of California will leave a different impression than that afforded by the "Paragraphs," and that the following facts will be conspicuous: California's regiments were not taken away from the Pacific coast, for the sole reason that secession was rife in every direction in this then remote quarter of the national domain. The War Department was not only afraid to take any loyal soldiers from this coast, but it also kept a portion of the regular army here. California, very largely made up of Southern men, was by no means a safely Union state. And as went California, so would go the entire Pacific coast. Early in the war a wellorganized conspiracy to take the state out of the Union was frustrated-the seizure of the forts and arsenals having been all carefully arranged for. It was It was due to the constant vigilance of these same soldiers that civil war did not make its appearance in California. With the 1 Contributed by Captain F. K. Upham, U.S.A. loss of California to the Union, with its gold as sinews of war, who can say the war would not have resulted differently? It is true these regiments were engaged in arduous Indian campaigning, in a field of operations extending from the British Columbia line to the Rio Grande, and as far east as Salt Lake, rendering most important service in the westward march of civilization. This service was obscured, if not wholly lost sight of, owing to the critical events which were transpiring elsewhere. But all this was only incidental to the main object of keeping California in the Union at all hazards. A LOST HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND -When the Rev. Cotton Mather was engaged upon his monumental work, the Magnalia Christi Americana, he had the advantage of using a history which is inaccessible to investigators of this day. This was the Annals of God's Blessing of N. E., written by Samuel Stow. It does not appear that this composition ever got so far as the printing press, and Mather consulted the original manuscript. Through him we learn of the existence of this history, for one; and one other proof thereof we possess, inasmuch as the court of election held at Hartford in May, 1695, took occasion to put into a resolution their thanks to the author for "his great pains in preparing a History of the Annals of New England." Their gratitude unfortunately did not materialize into an offer to bear the expense of publication. It would almost seem as if the author himself despaired entirely of his production being ever reduced to book form, for he tells some one that his manuscript was arranged in "Decads"; each of which was composed of a number of sheets tied together with a ring, or loop, through one of the corners, whereby they might be suspended out of the reach of rats and mice. This was not Mr. Stow's only venture in the field of literature; another, and equally unsuccessful one, was a work entitled Ten Essays for Conversion of the Fews. This was placed by the author in the hands of Judge Sewall, of diary fame. The latter sent it to Nathaniel Higginson, at London, with the expectation that some wealthy patron might be found who would defray the cost of publication in return for some fulsome dedication, as was the way of doing in those good old times. Such patron was not found, however. The following details of the author's life have recently been placed before the public: Samuel Stow was born about 1622, probably in Kent. He may have been related to the English annalist or chronicler, John Stow. With his five brothers and sisters and their parents, John and Elizabeth Stow, he arrived in New England in 1634. He was graduated at Harvard in 1645, and in 1653 went to Middletown, Conn., where he preached for a number of years, but was not ordained, as no church was gathered until November 4, 1668, when Rev. Nathaniel Collins was ordained the first pastor of the place. For several years previous to this event there seems to have been a "troublesome difference" between Mr. Stow and the people of Middletown, or some of them, which the general court more than once took notice of. During King Philip's war he supplied the place of some ministers employed in the country service, for which the governor and council voted him an allowance. Subsequently he preached at Simsbury for about four years, but was not settled there. He returned to Middletown about 1685, where he continued until his death, May 8, 1704, at the age of eighty-two. FOUNTAIN-HEADS OF AMERICAN HISTORY-More than fifty years ago, New York state, after thirty years of agitation of the matter on the part of the New York Historical Society, sent an agent to Europe to collect original documents, or copies of such, bearing on the history. of the state. Mr. Brodhead, the agent selected, went to London, to The Hague, and to Paris. He found that he was just twenty years too late at The Hague. The archives of the West India Company had been kept complete until about 1820; then many of the papers were sold at auction, and Mr. Brodhead had to be content with what was left. Since his day many papers that beyond a question formed a part of the "lost" West India documents have come to light, and several of these, indeed, have even strayed into New York city. But the state government has not seen fit to follow up the laudable effort of 1841, and the dark caverns of many an archive vault in Holland, at least, to say nothing of England and France, may now be hiding from our view many facts of historical importance to one member of the American Union. But of this indifference to historical sources all the states are equally guilty. Only of late has George Bancroft's almost pathetic appeal to his country borne fruit in a resolution in Congress looking to the purchase of the venerated historian's invaluable library, replete with original authorities illustrating the history of the republic. His own researches have indicated the direction whither we should henceforth particularly turn for important additions to our stores of knowledge. England, Holland, France, have already furnished treasures of this kind, and may yet yield greater if the mines be properly worked. But Germany should not be forgotten. A vast amount of material relative to military events of the war of American independence still lies unpublished and almost unknown in the archives of Berlin and those of the smaller German states. Most of the officers who served in the German contingent of the British army during the Revolution were men of intelligence and education, who kept journals of the events through which they passed while in this country, and which are to-day among the most valuable materials for a history of that eventful period. There are hundreds of such journals, to say nothing of the letters, reports, and other papers sent home by them during the course of the struggle. It is to be sincerely hoped that the bill before Congress anent the purchase of the Bancroft library will become a law. Meanwhile citizens generally, and especially German-American societies, should interest themselves in securing the material above indicated, so obviously valuable, and so readily obtainable. PAPERS SENT BY THE POPE TO THE COLUMBIAN FAIR-In view of the connection of the occupants of the papal chair with the discovery of America, it is both graceful and appropriate that the present incumbent should be heard from on the occasion of the celebration of Columbia's feat by means of the World's Fair at Chicago. The papal contribution is in the shape of interesting historical documents, which are described as follows: The first is a paper of 1448, which contains a statement of the northern land, or what half a century later proved to be the American continent. Pope Nicholas V. having been informed that the Christians of Greenland had been attacked by pirates, who had plundered the country and carried away into captivity many of its inhabitants, and that no priest had been allowed by the invaders to remain there, granted authority to the Norwegian prelates to ordain priests and to provide the vacant churches with pastors. The second document is the bull of Alexander VI., Intercætera divinæ majestatis beneplacita, dated at Rome on the 3d of May, 1493, granting to King Don Fernando and Queen Donna Isabel, in regard to the Western Indies discovered and to be discovered the same privileges which had been granted to |