AN IMPARTIAL OBSERVER.

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PUBLISHERS’ DEPARTMENT.

We give with this number of the Bay State a fac-simile reproduction, from a rare copy in our possession, of “An Oration, pronounced at Hanover, New Hampshire, the Fourth Day of July, 1800,” by Daniel Webster.  This oration was delivered when the future statesman was in his eighteenth year.  It cannot fail to interest every reader of the Magazine, and will be a treat to every collector of Americana.

Our Lowell article in the March number of The Bay State Monthly has been severely criticized—­especially the cuts.  To the older residents of that city each picture was of interest from association.  We should have given credit to the excellent History of Lowell, written by Charles Cowley, LL.D., and to the Year Book, published by the Mail.

A System of Rhetoric is the title of a book by C.W.  Bardeen, published in 1884 by A.S.  Barnes and Company, of New York.

The subject is divided into sentence-making, conversation, letter-writing, the essay, oratory, and poetry.  The book under consideration is an able and exhaustive treatise and must become highly prized as a textbook.

A Brief History of Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern Peoples, with some account of their monuments, institutions, arts; manners, and customs, is the title of a book of six hundred pages, with two hundred and forty illustrations, issued by the same publishers.

There is a large amount of information crowded within its covers, made available by a thorough index.

[Illustration:  ORNAMENTAL FIREPLACE. (Magee Fine-Art Castings.)][A]

[Footnote A:  Note.—­By the delay of the artist, this page, designed for the Chelsea article in the February number of The Bay State Monthly, was not ready in season.—­Ed.]

The unique designs, massive beauty, and artistic grace of Magee’s fine-art castings place them in competition with the finest work in brass and bronze.  From the antique suit of armor, platinum plated, to the light and graceful leaf, for holding the quill and pencil, their designs include a great variety of ornamental articles:  tiles, shields, panels, sconces, brackets, plaques, arms, trays, fireplaces, and jewelry-boxes.

Their reproduction of the strange and fantastic hand-made studies of Chinese and Japanese artists would puzzle the Celestials, especially in the coloring and finish.  Professional critics are often deceived as to the materials employed, so fine a finish will iron receive.

This class of work is in its infancy—­its possibilities are very numerous.