supreme court, subject, of course, to a limitation of costs. Would it not be a public advantage, a lessening of the expense of justice and an improvement in its administration, to give counties, as well as cities and towns, the benefit of competent police courts, at least so far as claims within the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to try are concerned?
JEFFERSON'S GRANDDAUGHTER.
Mrs. Meikleham, the only surviving granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, is penniless, and in need of funds to render her declining years comfortable and free from pressing care and absolute want. The case is one that appeals to all who respect and venerate the character of the great statesman, her grandfather, who was of such service to the young republic, who guided the ship of state in the most perilous hour, and who retired from his great office without wealth. Mrs. McNeil Potter has interested herself in behalf of this aged gentlewoman, and appeals to the kind hearts of her New Hampshire friends to repair the evil and to contribute of their abundance to render comfortable the old age of this lady.
The ladies having this object in view, Mrs. Potter and Mrs. J. Abbott Titcomb, of Brooklyn, have already received from Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, $200; from W. W. Corcoran, $50; and smaller sums from others.
John M. Hill, of Concord, N. H., has kindly offered to act as treasurer for friends in New Hampshire who may wish to contribute, and a list will be published in some future number of this magazine.
RECENT LITERATURE.
"Travels and Observations in the Orient, and a Hasty Flight in the Countries of Europe." is the title of a new book by General Walter Harriman, ex-governor of New Hampshire, published by Lee & Shepard.
The author has a very graphic pen. His words of description are few and apt, hut strong, vigorous and characteristic. The reader embarks with him on the ocean steamer, and makes a hasty but delightful tour through the old world in the best of company. The trip through the city of Rome and the Holy Land are delightful bits of travel. One sees with the general's eyes, and hears his voice giving life to personages who wandered through the streets of Rome and along the Appian Way twenty centuries ago. His description of the land of Judea is a beautiful word painting, or outline, conveying the most vivid impressions, yet not wearying by detail—just what one would want to remember of the country.
His biographical sketches, founded on records beyond dispute, are immense successes, from Peter and Paul, to Joshua and Rahab, "who was not altogether circumspect in her ways."
The leaders of the Granite Monthly and General Harriman's many friends need only the information that such a book is published to want to secure its reading. If there are others in New England whom these lines may reach, they may read the book with the full assurance that they will be fully repaid.
The author was the beloved wife of Hon. Edward Ashton Rollins of Philadelphia. The book in its new form is a princely tribute to the memory of one who has joined the majority on the other shore. The text has won a place in American literature second to none in its line, and is cherished in many thousand homes. It is a series of beautiful word pictures of life on the old homestead farm.
The present edition is profusely and elegantly illustrated, each picture forming a study worthy of much note. The book, as a whole, is a model of typographical skill and artistic finish worthy the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It makes a charming and appropriate gift for mother, wife, sister and daughter, and is fit for the humblest or most regal home.
