Our National Flag.-In Appleton's Journal, No. 354, January 1, 1876, there is an article entitled Centennial Sketches-1. Our National Flag, signed and purporting to be written by C. H. Woodman, which is entirely derived, and in part copied, verbatim, from my "History of Our Flag" (a copyright book published in 1872), as any one having the book, and comparing it with the article, can see. It is annoying to have the labors and researches of over twenty four years, collected and published at a pecuniary sacrifice, thus appropriated by a magazine writer without a word of acknowledgment of the source of his information.

Several of the anecdotes given in the article referred to, viz: Washington's Christening Robe; The Flag of Fort Schuyler; The Standard of the First City Troop; The Flag, by Copley; The Chinese name for the Flag; Our Flag in the French Convention, etc., etc., were never connected in the History of Our Flag, until I grouped them in it, giving credit to my sources of information.

I deem it only justice to myself to make this brief statement, as I am now preparing a second edition of my book, and otherwise might be tasked with plagiarizing from Mr. Woodman! I would have him, and all others, in making up their articles on Our Flag, take the second edition as their guide, as it will be an extension and improvement, and correct many errors of the first edition.

Your correspondent, I. J. Greenwood, in his interesting article on "Revolutionary Uniforms and Flags," published in the January number, has given due credit where it belongs, and furnishes some information that was new to me. I have never seen the" Leipsic Calendar " he describes.

GEORGE HENRY PREBLE.

The Neville Family.-On page 866 of Vol. V. of the MONTHLY, there is a QUERY signed “Berkley,” asking for information as to the ancestors of John and Joseph Neville. A lady who prefers to withhold her name writes us as follows: In a late number of your periodical the inquiry was made whether any one could give any information about the ancestors of John and Joseph Neville, of Virginia. I have been waiting in the hope that another would make some reply, but I take up my pen, at least to continue the search, if no valuable addition is made to the inquirer's knowledge. I have heard the late Neville B. Craig, of Pittsburgh, Author of History of Pittsburgh," Editor of "Olden Times," express his confidence in the truth of the family tradition that the first Neville who came to this country was named George, was of a good family, and had been kidnapped when young; he married an Anne Burras or Burroughs, an inmate of Lord Faufax's family, and a cousin or relative. I think Mr. Craig kad at one time some papers which substantiated this, but whether they were lost or passed into other hands, I cannot Now tell. My residence was for many years in another State, and I did not avail myself as I should have done of opportu nities for obtaining information. In the summer of '74, my VOL. VI.-10

younger son and myself were for a time at Fincastle, Virginia. On a certain Saturday we heard a lady spoken of as having been a Miss Neville. The next day, coming out of the Presbyterian church, which is surrounded by a graveyard, a friend, pointing to a stone, said, "See there!" We turned aside, and there indeed was a 66 George Neville," but not an ancestor, for the interment was of recent date. We were to leave at an early hour next day, but my son mounted a horse and rode rapidly to the house of a lady, who, we were told, was a daughter of this Neville, ascertained that they were originally from Winchester, but had been for many years, certainly one generation, in Southern and Central Virginia. Passing through Winchester, shortly after, he obtained information and addresses which led him to write to a gentleman whose wife proved to have been one of the same Nevilles, but, as we were abundantly satisfied, an entirely different and distinct family. I mention this circumstance that " Berkley " may not be misled by the same Ignis Fatuus.

The substance of this letter you may give, if it will elicit further intelligence.

Is anything known of the ancestry in the line of the Oldhams? John Neville's wife was Winifred Oldham.

Neville B. Craig-His Accuracy.-In Pittsburgh, December 6th, the Presbyterians of the Synod of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio held a Memorial Convention, in which the history of the Presbyterians of that region was recounted, and the deeds and self-denials of the fathers of the church celebrated. The venerable Dr. Beatty presided. A number of historical papers were read during the sessions of the Convention. Among them were papers on "Pittsburgh as it was One Hundred Years Ago," by William M. Darlington; "The Secular History of the Planting of Presbyterianism in the West;" "Ecclesiastical History of the Time, with Biographical Sketches," by Dr. S. J. M. Eaton; "Religious History of the Century, especially of its Revivals," by the Rev. A. Williams, D.D.; "Educational History," by the Rev. Dr. J. I. Brownson; "Missionary History," by Dr. E. E. Swift.

In its report of this Convention, a serious error crept into the carefully edited columns of the Pittsburgh Gazette, which has been extensively quoted, and as it unjustly impeaches the credibility of Mr. Neville B. Craig, we quote the following:

PITTSBURGH, December 9, 1875.

To the Editors of the Pittsburgh Gazette:-In your paper this morning, in the report of the proceedings at the Presbyterian Centennial, I am made to attest that I had corrected many errors in the works of the late Neville B. Craig, when, in fact, I said directly the reverse. I said that Mr. Craig was very accurate and scrupulous to ascertain and publish the truth in all of his historical writings. Few local histories are equal to his.

Yours respectfully,

WM. M. DARLINGTON.

The Union Flag, January 1, 1776.—I wish to correct an error into which Commodore Preble has inadvertently fallen in his excellent history of the Flag of the United States. On page 153, he says: "Bancroft, in his recent History of the United States, describes this flag (one raised at Cambridge, on the 1st of January, 1776) as the tri-colored American banner, not yet spangled with stars, but showing thirteen stripes alternate red and white in the field, and the united crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, on a blue ground in the corner;' but he fails to furnish his authority for the statement."

The Commodore goes on to say, that after the publication of Mr. Bancroft's history, I found among the papers of General Schuyler, a water-color sketch of the Royal Savage, one of a little navy on Lake Champlain in 1776, and so corroborated Mr. Bancroft's statement.

In 1855, the papers of General Schuyler were placed in my hands by his descendants, for the purpose of preparing a biography of that Patriot. Among these papers I found the drawing above mentioned. I had then just finished the revi. sion of my Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution for the second edition, and in a foot note on page 577, Vol. I. I inserted the discovery in the following words: "This flag bore the device of the English Union which distinguishes the royal standard of Great Britain. It is composed of the cross of St. George, to denote England, and St. Andrew's cross, in the form of an X, to denote Scotland. This device was placed in the corner of the Royal Flag, after the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland to the throne of England as James the First. It must be remembered, that at this time the American Congress had not declared the colonies free and independent' States, and even yet the Americans proffered their warmest loyalty to British justice when it should redress their grievances. The British ensign was therefore not yet discarded, but it was used upon their flags, as in this instance, with the field composed of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, as emblematic of the Union of the thirteen colonies in the struggle for freedom. It was this British Union, on the American flag, which caused the misapprehension of the British in Boston, alluded to by Washington" in his letter to Joseph Reed, on the 4th of January, 1776.

This second edition of my Field-Book of the Revolution was published late in 1855; and in a foot-note on page 245 of my History of the United States, published the next year (1856) I made substantially the same statement, and accompanied it with a small engraving of our striped flag, with the British Union in the corner, copied from the one at the mast. head in the drawing of the Royal Savage. Until these publications in 1855 and 1856, it was not known what was the device on the Union Flag raised at Cambridge. Historians and students of our history were puzzled by the fact that our "Union flag" excited hopes in the minds of the British at Boston, that our people were about to submit to royal rule and give up the struggle.

Mr. Bancroft's volume in which his statement concerning that Union flag was made, was not published until 1860, five years after the second edition of my Field-Book of the Revolution was published, and four years after my History of the United States appeared. As it was in these volumes of mine that the revelation of the true character of that Union

flag was first made, it is evident that one or both of these furnished the "authority" which Mr. Bancroft "failed to furnish." BENSON J. LOSSING.

The first Bible in the English language printed in America.-A Philadelphia Sunday paper of the 28th of November, noticing the death of Joseph Aitken, states that "he was a grandson of Robert Aitken, Printer, who pub lished under the patronage of Congress during the Revolu tion, the first edition of the Bible printed in this country." The same mis-statement as to this Aitken Bible being the first printed in America, has been travelling the rounds of papers for years, and it is about time that it arrived at the end of its journey. Previous to 1752, an edition of the Bible in the English language was printed by Kneeland and Green, for David Henchman, a Bookseller, in Boston. The printing was conducted with much secrecy, as at that time, only those were permitted to print Bibles who had a patent from the Crown. To prevent prosecution by those in Great Britain, who published the Bible by authority, this edition had the imprint-London: Printed by Mark Bashett, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. Isaiah Thomas states that he often heard those who had assisted at the case and press in printing this Bible make mention of the fact, and that Governor Hancock, who was a relation of Henchman's, knew the particulars of the transaction, and had a copy of the work. The edition did not exceed eight hundred copies. SEGO.

Ancient Coins in the Philadelphia Mint.-Many people will visit the United States Mint in this city next year, and nothing will be of more interest to the curious than the extensive and splendid collection of coins of all countries,' reaching from the remotest ages of antiquity. Some of these may be placed in the Centennial.

Among the most interesting specimens of the coins of the Greek republics are the coins of Ægina, which are supposed to be the oldest coinages in existence, and date back to the origin of the art, about 700 years B.C. They bear the device of a tortoise, which is emblematic of the island, lying securely in the water; the reverse bears no mark or device except that of the stake on which it laid while coining. In the same collection is the silver tetra drachm, with the device, head of Minerva of ancient style; the reverse, a large owl with the initials of Athens coined in bold relief. Historical facts indicate its age as from twenty-one to twenty-three centu ries. Its value is about sixty-eight cents in our money. Ia the case containing the coinages of the Greek monarchs is a small coin having the device of a Macedonian horse, and no reverse. This is supposed to date before the reign of Alexander I., who lived about 500 years B.C.; also, one of the reign of Alexander III., bearing an ear-ring.

A noticeable coin of one of the Ptolemies weighs over three ounces. In the class of the Roman family coin is an enormous bronze piece (aes), weighing 9.7 ounces, and bearing the head of Janus. It dates back about 500 years B.C. This class includes about two hundred Roman coins, from Caesar down to Byzantine, A.D. 1448: among them spear mens of the coins caused to be struck by Marc Antony, bear ing the number of the respective legions under his command

to whom they were paid on the obverse, while on the reverse is the rude representation of a vessel propelled by oars.

In another case, containing coins selected from the collections of all countries, is found the mite of the New Testament; it is in bronze and very small, the device effaced; it was found near the walls of Jerusalem. Another of the same class is the Jewish shekel of Simon Maccabeus, B.C. 145, bearing the pot of manna with the shekel of Israel; reverse, the budding rod of Aaron with Jerusalem the Holy. Its value is fifty-eight cents. Also, the penny of the New Testament, denarius of Tiberius, Roman Emperor, A.D. 14-47, value fifteen cents. One of the oldest gold coinages is the golden daric, Darius of Persia, B.C. 520, valued at $5.50, and the stater of Alexander the Great, B.C. 336-328; device, head of Alexander as Hercules with the lion's skin. Close by is the Kleopatrasa, a bronze of Cleopatra, the celebrated Egyptian Queen; reverse, an eagle; legend," Kleopatrasas." Then there is the mauch of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, B.C. 284, bearing a device of Arsinoe, his wife and sister, a niece of Alexander the Great. It is of fine coinage and remarkably well preserved. There are also gold coins of Britain prior to the Roman conquest and nearly contemporaneous with the Christain era; among them the penny of Ethelbert and the corausius of the Roman Emperor in Britain A.D. 287 to 293. Then there is the penny of William the Conqueror, the four-pence of Robert Bruce, and near them the half crown of Oliver Cromwell. A piece

of historical interest is the device of Charlemagne, A.D. 767, valued at seven cents, also a gold coin of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. There is also a splendid collection of minerals, etc. A. J. WALTON.

Sprout-Kele.-The Saxon emblems of the month of February, copied above in fac-simile from the old Saxon Calendar of which we spoke in the January MONTHLY, show in the small picture a man of leisure warming his cold hands at a blazing fire, while the workers in the main picture are more healthfully employed in pruning the trees and shrubs of their orchards and gardens. These emblems call to mind Spenser's lines in the "Faery Queen," though the poet ascribes the pruning to January:

"Then came old January, wrapped well

In many weeds to keep the cold away;
Yet did he quake and quiver like to quell,

And blow his nails to warm them if he may;
For they were numb'd with holding all the day
An hatchet keen, with which he felled wood

And from the trees did lop the needless spray." Verstegan tells us that the Saxons "called February Sprout-Kele, by Kele meaning the Kele-wort, which we call the cole-wort, the great pot-wort in time long past that our ancestors used; and the broth made therewith was thereof also called Kele. For, before we borrowed from the French the name of potage, and the name of herb, the one

in our ow own language was called Kele, and the other wort; and as the Kele-wort, or potage-herb, was the chief winterwort for the sustenance of the husbandman, so was it the first herb that in this month began to yield out wholesome young sprouts, and consequently gave thereunto the name of Sprout-Kele." Does not this passage from old Verstegan shed some light upon the passage wherein Shakespeare sings of the wintry time,

"While greasy Joan doth Kele the pot ?"

Progress of the Age.-City of Mexico, May 18, 1874, Senor Castilla, Alcalde of Jacobo, in the State of Sinaloa, officially reported to the Prefect of his district, that on April 4th, 1874, he arrested, tried, and burned alive José Maria Bonilla, and his wife Diega, for sorcery; it having been proved that they had bewitched one Silvestre Zocorias. The Alcalde stated that the people were exasperated against the sorcerers and demanded their execution. Since the 4th of April an old woman has been burned in the same place. They roast alive in Mexico; we impale with slander.

E. O. S.

The chair occupied by George Washington as Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge at Alexandria, Virginia, is now in the possession of Unanimity Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, at Edenton, in North Carolina, whither it was sent during the War of 1812 for safe-keeping. It is of massive mahogany, elaborately carved, and a fine specimen of antique furniture. An effort will made to induce its custodians to allow this memento of the illustrious "man and Mason" to be placed on exhibition at the Centennial.

Their Children's Children.-Dr. Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, mentions old Mary Cooper, of King's Bromley, who lived to see the sixth generation, and could have said, “Rise up, daughter, and go to thy daughter, for her daughter's daughter hath a daughter." This was either an imitation of, or suggested by, a statement made by Zuingerus to the effect that a noble matron of the family of Dolburus, in the archbishopric of Mentz, could have thus spoken to her daughter: "Daughter, bid thy daughter tell her daughter that her daughter's little daughter is crying." Horace Walpole speaks of an ancient lady whom he visited, one Mrs. Godfrey, who had a daughter who had a daughter (Lady Waldegrave), who had a son (Lord Waldegrave), who had a daughter (Lady Harriet Beard), who had a daughter (Countess Dowager of Powis), who had a daughter (Lady Clive), who had an infant son! Horace Walpole saw all the eight generations at different periods of his life. The secret here was-early marriages, one after another.

WMS.

The Old House at Seventh and Market Streets, Philadelphia.-The Tri-Weekly Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, of December 22d, contained the following:

In 1825 Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Doctor John Mease, wrote as follows in regard to the writing of the Declaration of Independence:

"At the time of the writing of that instrument, I lodged in the house of Mr. Graaf, a new brick house three stories high,

of which I rented the second floor, consisting of a parlor and bed room, ready furnished. In that parlor I wrote habitually, and in it wrote this paper particularly. So far I state from written proofs in my possession. The proprietor, Graaf, was a young man, son of a German, and then newly married. I think he was a bricklayer, and that his house was on the south side of Market street, probably between Seventh and Eighth streets, and if not the only house in that part of the street. I am sure there were few others near it. I had some idea it was a corner-house, but no other recollections throwing light on the question are worth communication. "If that old house, or any portion of it, is standing, it ought to have a prominent place in the Exposition next

summer."

An exhaustive, able communication by Miss Agnes Y. M'Allister, of this city, in the MONTHLY of March last, page 223, told the whole story of the place where the Declaration of Independence was written. The "Old House" still stands entire, and we, too, think it should be made to look clean and attractive at least, before the visitors to the Centennial Exposition commence to come to see the sights of the Centennial City, prominent among which that ancient edifice must be. It would not be amiss, also to touch up the old Rittenhouse mansion standing at Seventh and Arch streets. JOHN T. ROSE.

English Ignorance of American Geography.-About the most ridiculous instance of inexcusable ignorance of the Geography of the United States that I have ever met with, occurs in an article on "Old Violins," in the last Number of The Contemporary Review, by Rev. H. R. Haweis. The writer makes the astounding assertion that:

"Fifteen hundred acres of land in Cincinnati were on one occasion given for a Strainer; and, as the city of Pittsburgh is now built upon that land, we may confidently say that this has turned out to be the heaviest price ever paid for a violin." J. II. TASH.

"I would not live alway," etc.-I see that the ques tion of the authorship has again been raised, Mr. O. H. Harpel, of Cincinnati, having declared that he can prove that it was composed and written by Henry Ward, a printer, in 1822. This claim in behalf of Ward, is old and was exploded years ago, I believe, and I presume there are few well-informed critics who douht that Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg was the author. Nevertheless, I believe a conclusive statement of the facts could be obtained, and would prove interesting to many. Can the MONTHLY, or any of its readers) furnish such a statement? G. T. OAKS.

REPLY. Unless some of our readers can furnish an ong nal article on the above subject, we shall give in the March MONTHLY, an extract from a newspaper which seems to establish Dr. Muhlenberg's authorship.

Error.-On page 109 of this Number of the MONTHLY, the writer states that Godfrey Haga was the " "grandfather of Mr. John Jordan, Jr., of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania." This is a mistake; Mr. Haga's wife was the aunt of Mr. Jordan's father.-Editor.

been projected and assigned places within the grounds, and we have had the accompanying map drawn and engraved in the belief that it will form a more accurate conception of the several localities than a new bird's-eye view could.

The Women's Centennial Executive Committee.-No great enterprise, especially in the way of a Fair or Exhibition, should be attempted without securing the active coöperation of the women, for it is ever found that any such an affair managed without their help is lacking in some important particular. This is our real opinion, based upon critical observation, and, therefore, we were extremely well pleased when we learned the active interest the women of the United States were taking in the great Centennial Show. Under the lead. ership of Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, their efforts have been brought into a well-organized and well-ordered system, and the result will prove that they are a most important part of the Patriot Celebrators of our Nation's Hundredth Anniversary. The Committee consists of the following ladies, or WOMEN as we prefer to call the earnest-minded, thorough-going members of the fair sex who are active in this noble work: OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN'S CENTENNIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, President; Mrs. John Sanders, Vice-President; Mrs. Frank M. Etting, Secretary; Mrs. S. A. Irwin, Treasurer; Mrs. Crawford Arnold, Mrs. Buckman, Mrs. James C. Biddle, Mrs. Henry Cohen, Mrs. Theodore Cuyler, Mrs. John W. Forney, Mrs. A. H. Franciscus, Miss Elizabeth Gratz, Miss McHenry, Mrs. Aubrey H. Smith, Mrs. Matthew Simpson, Mrs. Henry C.

Bion Bradbury, Maine; Mrs. James T. Fields, Massachusetts; Mrs. F. W. Goddard, Rhode Island; Mrs. Worthington Hooker, Connecticut; Mrs. W. L. Dayton, New Jersey;