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Remit by Bank Draft, Express, Postal or Money Order, or Registt Letter. Fractions of one dollar can be sent in postage stamps. "CHINESE GORDON/' A SUCCINCT 11ECORD of liis LIFE. By Archibald For 3 JlOLOGt A RED-HEADED. FAMILY. " CE'TINGLY I ken, ce'tingly, seh," said my Cracker host, taking down his long flint-lock rifle from over the cabin door and slipping his frowzy head through the suspension-strap of his powder-horn and bullet-pouch. " Ce'tingly, seh, I ken cyarry ye ter wha' them air birds hed their nestis las' yer." I had passed the night in the cabin, and now as I recall the experience to mind, there comes the grateful fragrance of pine wood to empha- size the memory. Corn " pones " and broiled chicken, fried bacon and sweet potatoes, strong coffee and scrambled eggs a breakfast, indeed, to half persuade one that a Cracker is a bon vivant, had just been eaten. I was standing outside the cabin on the rude door-step. Far off through the thin pine woods to the eastward, where the sun was beginning to flash, a herd of " scrub " cattle were formed into a wide skirmish line of browsers, led by an old cow, whose melancholy bell clanged in time to her desultory movements. Near by, to the westward, lay one of those great gloomy swamps, so common in Southeastern Georgia, so repellant and yet so fascinating, so full of interest to the naturalist, and yet so little ex- plored. The perfume of yellow jasmine was in the air, along with those indescribable M203577 FAMILY. woodsy odors which almost evade the sense of smell, and yet so pleasingly impress it. A rivulet, slow, narrow, and deep, passed near the front of the cabin, with a faint, dreamy mur- mur and crept darkling into the swamp between dense brakes of cane, and bay- bushes. " Ye-as, sen, I ken mek er bee-line to that air ole pine snag. Hit taint more'n er half er mile out yender," continued my host and vol- unteer guide, as we climbed the little worm- fence that inclosed the house ; " but I allus called 'em air birds woodcocks ; didn't know 'at they hed any other name ; allus thut 'at a Peckwood wer' a leetle, tinty, stripedy feller ; never hyeard er them air big ole woodcocks a bein' called Peckwoods." He led and I followed into the damp, moss- scented shadows of the swamp, under cypress and live-oak and through slender fringes of cane. We floundered across the coffee-colored stream, the water cooling my India-rubber wading-boots above the knees, climbed over great walls of fallen tree-boles, crept under low-hanging festoons of wild vines, and at length found ourselves wading rather more than ankle-deep in one of those shallow cypress lakes of which the larger part of the Okefenokee region is formed. I thought it a very long half-mile before we reached a small tussock whereon grew, in the midst of a dense underbrush thicket, some enormous pine trees. " Ther'," said the guide, " thet air snag air the one. Sorter on ter tother side ye'll see the hole, 'bout twenty foot up. Kem yer, I'll show hit ter ye." A RED-HEADED FAMIL Y. 7 The " snag " was a stump some fifty feet tall, barkless, smooth, almost as white as chalk, the decaying remnant of what had once been the grandest pine on the tussock. " Hello, yer' ! Hit's ben to work some more sence I wer' yer' las' time. Hit air done dug another hole ! " As he spoke he pointed indicatively, with his long, knotty fore-finger. I looked and saw two large round cavities, not unlike im- mense auger-holes, running darkly into the polished surface of the stump, one about six feet below the other, the lower twenty-five feet above the ground. Surely it was no very strik- ing picture, this bare, weather-whitened col- umn, with its splintered top and its two orifices, and yet I do not think it was a weakness for me to feel a thrill of delight as I gazed at it. How long and how diligently I had sought the home of Camp ephilus princip alls , the great king of the red-headed family, and at last I stood before its door ! At my request, the kind Cracker now left me alone to prosecute my observations. " Be in ter dinner ? " he inquired as he turned to go. " No ; supper," I responded. " Well, tek cyare ev yerself," and off he went into the thickest part of the cypress. I waited awhile for the solitude to regain its equilibrium after the slashing tread of my friend had passed out of hearing ; then I stole softly to the stump and tapped on it with the handle of my knife. This I repeated several times. Campephilus was not at home, for if he had been I should have seen a long, strong^ ivory-white beak thrust out of the hole up there, 8 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. followed by a great red-crested head turned sidewise so as to let fall upon me the glint of an iris unequalled by that of any other bird in the world. He had gone out early. I should have to wait and watch; but first I satisfied myself by a simple method that my watching would probably not be in vain. A little exam- ination of the ground at the base of the stump showed me a quantity of fresh wood-fragments, not unlike very coarse saw-dust, scattered over the surface. This assured me that one of the excavations above was a new one, and that a nest was either building or had been finished but a short while. So I hastily hid myself on a log in a clump of bushes, distant from the stump about fifty feet, whence I could plainly see the holes. One who has never been out alone in a Southern swamp can have no fair understand- ing of its loneliness, solemnity and funereal sadness of effect. Even in the first gush of Spring it was now about the sixth of April I felt the weight of something like eternity in the air not the eternity of the future but the eternity of the past. Everything around me appeared old, sleepy, and musty, despite the fresh buds, tassels, and flower-spikes. What can express dreariness so effectually as the long moss of those damp woods ? I imagined that the few little birds I saw flitting here and there in the tree tops were not so noisy and joyous as they would be when, a month later, their northward migration should bring them into our greening Northern woods. As the sun mounted, however, a cheerful twitter ran with the gentle breeze through the bay thickets and magnolia clumps, and I recognized a num- A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 9 her of familiar voices ; then suddenly the gavel of Campephilus sounded sharp and strong a quarter-mile away. A few measured raps, followed by a rattling drum-call, a space of si- lence rimmed with receding echoes, and then a trumpet-note, high, full, vigorous, almost start- ling, cut the air with a sort of broadsword sweep. Again the long-roll answered, from a point nearer me, by two or three hammer-like raps on the resonant branch of some dead cy. press-tree. The king and queen were coming to their palace. I waited patiently, knowing that it was far beyond my power to hurry their movements. It was not long before one of the birds, with a rapid cackling that made the wood rattle, came over my head, and went straight to the stump, where it lit, just below the lower hole, clinging gracefully to the trunk. It was a superb specimen the female, and I suspected that she had come to leave an egg. I could have killed her easily with the little six- teen-gauge breech-loader at my side, but I would not have done the act for all the stuffed birds in the country. I had come as a visitor to this palace, with the hope of making the ac- quaintance I had so long desired, and not as an assassin. She was quite unaware of me, and so behaved naturally, her large gold-amber eyes glaring with that wild sincerity of ex- pression seen in the eyes of but few savage things. After a little while the male came bounding through the air, with that vigorous galloping flight common to all our woodpeckers, and lit on a fragmentary projection at the top of the stump. He showed larger than his mate, and his aspect was more fierce, almost savage. io A RED-HEADED FAMIL Y. The green-black feathers near his shoulders, the snow-white lines down his neck, and the tall red crest on his head, all shone with great brill- iancy, whilst his ivory beak gleamed like a dagger. He soon settled for me a question which had long been in my mind. With two or three light preliminary taps on a hard heart- pine splinter, he proceeded to beat the regular woodpecker drum-call that long rolling rattle made familiar to us all by the common red- head (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) and our other smaller woodpeckers. This peculiar call is not, in my opinion, the result of elasticity or springiness in the wood upon which it is per- formed, but is effected by a rapid, spasmodic motion of the bird's head, imparted by a volun- tary muscular action. I have seen the com- mon Red-head make a soundless call on a fence-stake where the decaying wood was scarcely hard enough to prevent the full en- trance of his beak. His head went through the same rapid vibration, but no sound accom- panied the performance. Still, it is resonance in the wood that the bird desires, and it keeps trying until a good sounding-board is found. It was very satisfying to me when the superb King of the Woodpeckers /zV noir a bee blanc^ as the great French naturalist named it went over the call, time after time, with grand ef- fect, letting go, between trials, one or two of his triumphant trumpet-notes. Hitherto I had not seen the Campephilus do this, though I had often heard what I supposed to be the call. As I crouched in my hiding-place and furtively watched the proceedings, I remember com- paring the birds and their dwelling to some half-savage lord and lady and their isolated A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 11 castle of medieval days. A twelfth-century bandit nobleman might have gloried in trigging himself in such apparel as my ivory-billed woodpecker wore. What a perfect athlete he appeared to be, as he braced himself for an effort which was to generate a force sufficient to hurl his heavy head and beak back and forth at a speed of about twenty-eight strokes to the second ! All of our woodpeckers, pure and simple that is, all of the species in which the wood- pecker character has been preserved almost unmodified have exceedingly muscular heads and strikingly constricted necks; their beaks are nearly straight, wedge-shaped, fluted or ribbed on the upper mandible, and their nos- trils are protected by hairy or feathery tufts. Their legs are strangely short in appearance, but are exactly adapted to their need, and their tail-feathers are tipped with stiff points. These features are all fully developed in the Campe- philus prinripalis, the bill especially showing a size, strength and symmetrical beauty truly wonderful. The stiff pointed tail-feathers of the wood- pecker serve the bird a turn which I have nev- er seen noted by any ornithologist. When the bird must strike a hard blow with its bill, it does not depend solely upon its neck and head; but, bracing the points of its tail-feath- ers against the tree, and rising to the full length of its short, powerful legs, and drawing back its body, head, and neck to the farthest extent, it dashes its bill home with all the force of its entire bodily weight and muscle. I have seen the ivory-bill, striking thus, burst off from almost flinty-hard dead trees frag- 12 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. ments of wood half as large as my hand ; and once in the Cherokee hills of Georgia I watched a pileated woodpecker (Hylotomus pileatus) dig a hole to the very heart of an exceedingly tough, green, mountain hickory tree, in order to reach a nest of winged ants. The point of ingress of the insects was a small hole in a punk knot ; but the bird, by hopping down the tree tail-foremost and listening, located the nest about five feet below, and there it pro- ceeded to bore through the gnarled, cross- grained wood to the hollow. Of all our wild American birds, I have studied no other one which combines all of the elements of wildness so perfectly in its char- acter as does the ivory-billed woodpecker. It has no trace whatever in its nature of what may be called a tameable tendency. Savage liberty is a prerequisite of its existence and its home is the depths of the woods, remotest from the activities of civilized man. It is a rare bird, even in the most favorable regions, and it is almost impossible to get specimens of its eggs. Indeed, I doubt if there are a dozen cabinets in all the world containing these eggs ; but they are almost exactly similar in size, color and shape to those of Hylotomm pileatus, the only difference being that the latter are, upon close examination, found to be a little shorter, and, as I have imagined, a shade less semi-transparent porcelain-white, if I may so express it. The visit of my birds to their home in the stump lasted nearly two hours. The female went into and out of the hole several times before she finally settled herself, as I sup- pose, on her nest. When she came forth at A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 13 the end of thirty or forty minutes, she ap- peared exceedingly happy, cackling in a low, harsh, but rather wheedling voice, and evident- ly anxious to attract the attention of the male, who in turn treated her with lofty contempt. To him the question of a new egg was not worth considering. But when she at last turned away from him, and mounting into the air, galloped off into the solemn gloom of the cypress wood, he followed her, trumpeting at the top of his voice. Day after day I returned to my hiding-place to renew my observations, and, excepting a visitation of mosquitoes now and then, no- thing occurred to mar my enjoyment. As the weather grew warmer the flowers and leaves came on apace, and the swamp became a vast wilderness of perfume and contrasting colors. Bird songs from migrating warblers, vireos, finches and other happy sojourners for a day (or mayhap they were all nesting there, I can- not say, for I had larger fish to fry), shook the wide silence into sudden resonance. Along the sluggish little stream between the cane- brakes, the hermit-thrush and the cat-bird were met by the green heron and the belted king- fisher. The snake-bird, too, that veritable water-dragon of the South, was there, wrig- gling and squirming in the amber-brown pools amongst the lily-pads and lettuce. At last, one morning, my woodpeckers dis- covered me in my hiding-place ; and that was the end of all intimacy between us. Thence- forth my observations were few and at a long distance. No amount of cunning could serve me any turn. Go as early as I might, and hide as securely as I could, those great yellow eyes 14 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. quickly espied me, and then there would be a rapid and long flight away into the thickest and most difficult part of the swamp. I confess that it was with no little debate that I reached the determination that it was my duty to rob that nest in the interest of knowledge. It was the first opportunity I ever had had to examine an occupied nest of the Campephilus principalis, and I felt that it was scarcely probable that I should ever again be favored with such a chance. With the aid of my Cracker host, I erected a rude ladder and climbed up to the hole. It was almost exactly circular, and nearly five inches in diameter. With a little axe I began break- ing and hacking away the crust of hard outer wood. The cavity descended with a slightly spiral course, widening a little as it proceeded. I had followed it nearly five feet when I found a place where it was contracted again, and im- mediately below was a sudden expansion, at the bottom of which was the nest. Five beautiful pure white eggs of the finest old- china appearance, delicate, almost transparent, exceedingly fragile, and, to the eyes of a collector, vastly valuable, lay in a shallow bowl of fine chips. But in breaking away the last piece of wood-crust, I jerked it a little too hard, and those much coveted prizes rolled out and fell to the ground. Of course they were " hopelessly crushed, " and my feelings with them. I would willingly have fallen in their stead, if the risk could have saved the eggs. I descended ruefully enough, hearing as I did so the loud cry of Campephilus battling around in the jungle. Once or twice more I went back to the spot in early morning, but my birds did A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 15 not appear. I made minute examination of the rifled nest, and also tore out the other ex- cavation, so as to compare the two. They were very much alike, especially in the jug- shape of their lower ends. From a careful study of all the holes (apparently made by Campephilus) that I have been able to find and reach in either standing or fallen trees, I am led to believe that this jug-shape is peculiar to the ivory-bill's architecture, as I have never found it in the excavations of other species, save where the form was evidently the result of accident. The depth of the hole varies from three to seven feet, as a rule, but I found one that was nearly nine feet deep and anoth- er that was less than two. Our smaller wood- peckers, including Hylotomus pikatus, usually make their excavations in the shape of a grad- ually widening pocket, of which the entrance is the narrowest part. It is curious to note that beginning with the ivory-bill and coming down the line of species in the scale of size we find the red mark on the head rapidly falling away from a grand scarlet crest some inches in height to a mere touch of carmine, or dragon's blood, on crown, nape, cheek, or chin. The lofty and brilliant head-plume of the ivory-bill, his powerful beak, his semi-circular claws and his perfectly spiked tail, as well as his superiority of size and strength, indicate that he is what he is, the original type of the woodpecker, and the one pure species left to us in America. He is the only woodpecker which eats insects and larvae (dug out of rotten wood) exclusively. Neither the sweetest fruits nor the oiliest grains can tempt him to depart one line from his heredi- 16 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. tary habit. He accepts no gifts from man, and asks no favors. But the pileated woodpecker, just one remove lower in the scale of size, strength, and beauty, shows a little tendency towards a grain and fruit diet, and it also often descends to old logs and fallen boughs for its food a thing never thought of by the ivory-bill. As for the rest of the red-headed family, they are degenerate species, though lively, clever, and exceedingly interesting. What a sad dwarf the little downy woodpecker is when compared with the ivory-bill ! and yet to my mind it is clear that Picus pubescens is the de- generate off-shoot from the grand campephilus trunk. Our red-headed woodpecker (M. erythro- cephalus) is a genuine American in every sense, a plausible, querulous, aggressive, enterpris- ing, crafty fellow, who tries every mode of get- ting a livelihood, and always with success. He is a wood-pecker, a nut-eater, a cider-taster, a judge of good fruits, a connoisseur of corn, wheat, and melons, and an expert fly-catcher as v/ell. As if to correspond with his versatility of habit, his plumage is divided into four reg- ular masses of color. His head and neck are crimson, his back, down to secondaries, a brilliant black, tinged with green or blue in the gloss ; then comes a broad girdle of pure white, followed by a mass of black at the tail and wing-tips. He readily adapts himself to the exigencies of civilized life. I prophecy that, within less than a hupdred years to come, he will be making his nest on the ground, in hedges or in the crotches of orchard trees. Already he has begun to push his way out into our smaller Western prairies, where there is no A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 17 dead timber for him to make his nest-holes in. I found a compromise-nest between two fence- rails in Illinois, which was probably a fair index of the future habit of the red-head. It was formed by pecking away the inner sides of two vertical parallel rails, just above a horizontal one, upon which, in a cup of pulverized wood, the eggs were laid. This was in the prairie country between two vast fields of Indian corn. The power of sight exhibited by the red- headed woodpecker is quite amazing. ' I have seen the bird, in the early twilight of a summer evening, start from the highest spire of a very tall tree, and fly a hundred yards straight to an insect near the ground. He catches flies on the wing with as deft a turn as does the great- crested fly-catcher. It is not my purpose to offer any ornithological theories in this pa- per ; but I cannot help remarking that the far- ther a species of woodpecker departs from the feeding-habit of the ivory-bill, the more broken up are its color-masses, and the more diffused or degenerate becomes the typical red tuft on the head. The golden-winged woodpecker (Colaptes entrains), for instance, feeds much on the ground, eating earth-worms, seeds, beetles, etc. ; and we find him taking on the colors of the ground-birds with a large loss of the char- acteristic woodpecker arrangement of plumage and color-masses. He looks much more like a meadow-lark than like an ivory -bill ! The red appears in a delicate crescent, barely no- ticeable on the back of the head, and its bill is slender, curved, and quite unfit for hard pecking. On the other hand, the downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker, having kept well in the line of the typical feeding 2 i8 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. habit, though seeking their food in places be- neath the notice of their great progenitor, have preserved in a marked degree an outline of the ivory-bill's color-masses, degenerate though they are. The dwarfish, insignificant looking Picus pubescens pecking away at the stem of a dead iron-weed to get the minute larvae that may be imbedded in the pith, when compared with Campephilus principalis drum- ming on the bole of a giant cypress-tree, is like a Digger Indian when catalogued in a col- umn with men like Goethe and Gladstone, Napoleon and Lincoln. I have been informed that the ivory-bill is occasionally found in the Ohio valley; but I have never been able to discover it north of the Cumberland range of mountains. It is a swamp bird, or rather it is the bird of the high timber that grows in low wet soil. Its princi- pal food is a large, flat-headed timber-worm, known in the South as borer or saw-worm, which it discovers by ear and reaches by dili- gent and tremendously effective pecking. A Cracker deer-stalker, whom I met at Black- shear, Georgia, gave an amusing account of an experience he had had in the swamps. He said : " I had turned in late, and got to sleep on a tussock under a big pine, an' slep' tell sun- up. Wull, es ther' I laid flat er my back an' er snorin' away, kerwhack sumpen tuck me in the face an' eyes, jes' like spankin' er baby, an' I wuk up with er gret chunk er wood ercross my nose, an' er blame ole woodcock jest er whangin' erway up in thet pine. My nose hit bled an' bled, an' I hed er good mint er shoot thet air bird, but I cudn't stan' the A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 19 expense er the thing. Powder'n' lead air mighty costive. Anyhow I don't s'pose 'at the ole woodcock knowed at hit 'd drapped thet air fraygment onto me. Ef hit 'd er 'peared like's ef hit wer' 'joyin' the joke any, I wud er shot hit all ter pieces ef I'd er hed ter lived on turpentime all winter ! " Of the American woodpecker there are more than thirty varieties, I believe, nearly every one of which bears some trace of the grand scarlet crown of the great ivory-billed king of them all. The question arises and I shall not attempt to answer it whether the ivory-bill is an example of the highest develop- ment, from the downy woodpecker, say, or whether all these inferior species and varieties are the result of degeneracy ? Neither Darwin nor Wallace has given us the key that certainly unlocks this very interesting mystery. The sap-drinking woodpeckers (Sphyropicus), of which there are three or four varieties in this country, appear to form the link between the fruit-eating and the non-fruit-eating species of the red-headed family. From sipping the sap of the sugar-maple to testing the flavor of a cherry, a service-berry, or a haw-apple, is a short and delightfully natural step. How logical, too, for a bird, when once it has ac- quired the fruit-eating habit, to quit delv- ing in the hard green wood for a nectar so much inferior to that which may be had ready bottled in the skins of apples, grapes, and ber- ries ! In accordance with this rule, M. erythro- cephalus and Centurus carolinus, though great tipplers, are too lazy or too wise to bore the maples, preferring to sit on the edge of a sugar-trough, furtively drinking therefrom 20 A RED-HEADED FAMILY. leisurely draughts of the saccharine blood of the ready-tapped trees. I have seen them with their bills stained purple to the nostrils with the rich juice of the blackberry, and they quar- rel from morning till night over the ripest June-apples and reddest cherries, their noise making a Bedlam of the fairest country or- chard. The woodpecker family is scattered widely in our country. In the West Canadian woods one meets, besides a number of the commoner species, Lewis' woodpecker, a large, beautiful, and rare bird. The California species include the Nuttall, the Harris, the Cape St. Lucas, the white-headed, and several other varieties, all showing more or less kinship to the ivory-bill. Lewis's woodpecker shows almost entirely black, its plumage giving forth a strong green- ish or bluish lustre. The red on its head is softened down to a fine rose-carmine. It is a wild, wary bird, flying high, combining in its habits the traits of both Hylotomus pikatus and Camp ephilu s princip alls. In concluding this paper a general descrip- tion of the 'male ivory-bill may prove accept- able to those who may never be able to see even a stuffed specimen of a bird which, taken in every way, is, perhaps, the most interesting and beautiful in America. In size 21 inches long, and 33 in alar extent ; bill, ivory white, beautifully fluted above, and two and a-half inches long; head-tuft, or crest, long and fine, of pure scarlet faced with black. Its body-color is glossy blue-black, but down its slender neck on each side, running from the crest to the back, a pure white stripe contrasts vividly with the scarlet and ebony. A mass A RED-HEADED FAMILY. 21 of white runs across the back when the wings are closed, as in M. erythrocephalus, leaving the wing-tips and tail black. Its feet are ash- blue, its eyes amber-yellow. The female is like the male, save that she has a black crest instead of the scarlet. I can think of nothing in Nature more striking than the flash of color this bird gives to the dreary swamp-landscape, as it careers from tree to tree, or sits upon some high skeleton cypress-branch and plies its resounding blows. The species will prob- ably be extinct within a few years.* * Since writing the foregoing, I have made several excursions in search of the ivory -bill. Early in January, 1885, 1 killed a fine male specimen in a swamp near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi ; but was prevented, by an accident, from preserving it or making a sketch of it. THE LIBRARY 3IAGAZINE. " We know of no other magazine of double its price that equals it in value." Methodist Recorder, Pittsburgh. "As to the contents, its readers can hardly ask for an improvement." rimes, Hartford, Ct. " Embodying pertinent current discussions taking a wide range. Is of great value to persons who desire to keep cm courant with the best thought of the day." Press, St. Paul. "Mr. Alden knows how to prepare a feast, and has succeeded admirably in the LIBRARY MAGAZINE." Christian Ad- vocate, Buffalo. " This exceedingly valuable monthly gives more good solid reading than has been our wont to see. The variety of the subjects treated and the excellency of discrimination in regard to topics, is especially commendable." Journal, Lockport, N. Y. "Is a most valuable repertory of the choicest solid current literature, selected with admirable judgment and taste. It seems to me the solid merits of the Magazine will insure its success and its permanency at any rate, they ought to." BENSON J. LOSSING, LL.D., Dover Plains, N. Y. " It certainly is highly interesting. Many of the arti- cles are very timely. To our readers who desire a magazine filled to the brim with excellent and timely essays, and furnish- ed at a price that brings it within the rea"~a of all, we can re- commend the ' Library Magazine.- "Free j. ress, Waltham, Mass. '"We think we are safe in saying that nowhere else can an equal amount of the latest and choicest literature of the day be obtained for that sum." Champion, Milton, Canada. PIRATES, AUTHORS, AND CHEA] CHOICE BOOKS. The following extract from a letter from the well-known Author and Ai 1st PHILIP GILBERT HAMERTON appeared in a recent number of the New! Publishers' Weekly: "I saw by the advertisements in American periodicals that a New pirate had got hold of 'An Intellectual Life . ' We sadly need a copy. law. It would be a benefit to all honest men, including American autl who would be spared part of the rivalry produced by flooding the with cheap pirated reprints. Yours very truly, P. G. HAMERTON.", To which I beg leave to reply as follows : DEAR SIR, The above note evidently refers to me, as I am the one lisher who has reprinted the work referred to at a low price. Of cou warms the blood, a little, of an honest man, to have another honest man c him a knave. When discussion gets to that point, argument is cut c will, however, make a few points on my side of the case. First. I am, and long have been, heartily in favor of giving authors J I control of their productions upon their oivn terms, within the limits of th I bounds of common sense it would hardly be practicable for us to pay copjl right to Homer, and it may be an open question as to when Macaula}''s heir I should cease to receive their tax ; there is, of course, some limit ; hones I "doctors disagree" as to points of equity, expediency, and the best mettj ods of bringing a happy future out of the evil present. Second. The laws of this country (and I believe the same is true of oil countries) are not as you and other authors desire they should be. Evidently I too, it is quite as useless for authors to expect to get what they want with} out a CHANGE in the laivs, as to hope to reach the result by calling put! lishers bad names. Where is the common sense of characterizing me asil " pirate " because I multiply (within the bounds of law and of custom sinci] the time of Cadmus) copies of your book from the copy I bought am paid for, more than in applying the same term to one who reads the boci\ aloud to a dozen friends, who consequently do not buy it or more than apply ing it to YOU" for appropriating the language and thoughts of the patriarcl JOB in one of your books without giving him any paymentyou giv$ " credit," doubtless, to the authors whom you quote, but you give them nc pay, I give YOU credit, but no "pay" beyond the copy I buy, till we aril able to secure a change in the present unsatisfactory laws. Third. General Grant once said, " The best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce it; " that is my theory, and I shall continue to practice upon it* I expect to aid in securing to you by "enforcement " of the legitimate consul quences of the present laws, what authors would never get by whining of growling. Some people give to my methods the credit of being, possibly, the largest single influence which is working in this country to bring about the much desired change in the laws. Fourth. While authors certainly have their "rights," readers have some rights also. When I was a boy under fourteen years of age the good litera- ture accessible to me was limited, nearly, to Murray's English Reader, and Josephus' Works. I do not pretend to be the reader's especial champion, but I DO look at the question of the "intellectual life " for them from their standpoint as well as from that of the author and it is amazing to me that an author of your high character, intellectual, humane and Christian (whose inspiring words "The humblest subscriber to a mechanics' institute has easier access to sound learning than had either Solomon or Aristotle,"! have placed before millions of readers) that you should seem to take no pleasure in the fact that the best literature of the world has by my efforts been placed within the reach of millions to whom it was before unattainable; that I give to YOU an appreciative audience (far more appreciative than you find among your wealthy patrons) among tens of thousands, who with* PIRATES AND AUTHORS. Continued. out my efforts would never have known you. I say readers have rights as well as authors; what they are I will not discuss; I say, simply, let the laws be changed as authors demand; while Homer, Shakespeare, Milton, and Lamb are free to readers, any " monopoly " which living authors can secure upon their own writings will not seriously hurt readers and, furthermore, folly in law-making, if foolish changes should be made, would be likely soon to work its own cure, in this age of the printing press. Finally. Hamerton's "Intellectual Life" ought to sell by the hundred thousand ought to sell a hundred where it has sold one by the methods of your approved publishers; when the "good time coming" is here, and authors can make their own terms with publishers and the public, perhaps you will give me a little credit and thanks for the LARGER audience you will then have because of my present "piracy," Respectfully, JOHNB. ALDEN. THE "PIRATE'S" FRIENDS Rejoicingly testify to the value of the Pirate's prizes, one of the finest of which is HAMERTON'S "The Intellectual Life," reduced in cost from $2.00 to 50 cents in fine cloth, or $1.00 in full Russia, gilt edges. "Mr. Alden is doing incalculable service to the cause of international copyright." Pioneer Press, St. Paul. "Your efforts towards extending useful information to all classes * * * ought to render your name immortal." GEN. J. W. PHELPS, Brattleboro, Vt. HAMERTON'S 'Intellectual Life.' " Young men ought to own this book in a way few books deserve to be owned,that is, by absolute mental possession." Dominion Churchman, Toronto. " Published in a style befitting the value of this most instructive and charming essay. The essay is a jewel worthy of the finest setting." Tran- script, Portland, Me. "John B. Alden has done another good service to literature by publishing 'The Intellectual Life, 'by PHILIP GILBERT HAMERTON, in very neat and con- venient style at a price far below what it has heretofore been obtainable for. * The Intellectual Life,' which has become a classic in our language, is as practical and sensible as it is delightful reading." Christian Intelligencer, New York. "MR. HAMERTON, fine artist and critic as he is, would certainly not object to this American reprint of the wisest and most graceful of his works, if he could see in what a dainty and beautiful form Mr. Alden has brought it out." The Moravian, Bethlehem, Pa. " One man has done more than all other agencies combined to cheapen choice literature in this country, and that man is John B. Alden. Mr. Alden has had the bitterest denunciation and opposition of many of the rich pub- lishers who have built up colossal fortunes by levying a heavy tax on knowledge. His undertaking involved pioneer work. The difficulties thrown in his way would have discouraged and defeated a man of less energy and determination than Alden, but he has steadily pressed forward until the whole country has felt the effect of his enterprise." Herald-News, Denison, Texas. " The success that is being achieved by Mr. Alden in his fight against high prices encourages him to improve constantly upon his work, and his publi- cations to-day are mechanically and in every other way the equals of those got out by any other publishing house in the country." Evening Journal, Detroit, Mich. "Inclosed find $138.47. The books are as cheap as they are good. Are notable examples of the publisher's skill, and the virtue of Alden's unex- ampled prices." M. E. SATCHWELL, Spirit Lake, Iowa. IRemarfeable praise For The Library Magazine. " This magazine presents a wonderful amount of excellent literature in admirable type." Unity, Chicago. " Containing a rich and varied assortment of the best articles to be found in the best English reviews," Church News, Philadelphia. "A mine of information and solid reading." News, Newark, N. . n This is the fifth year I have sent you my subscription and ever ditional one brings me additional pleasure." DAVID HARLOWE, Milwaukee, "^ " Gives a wonderful 15 cents' worth of literature in the shape of selected articles from contemporary periodicals." Record, Philadelphia, Pa. "The best of all the cheap magazines printed in this country. "- Republic, Washington, D. C. "As an eclectic magazine it is equal to anything of its kind, and in its range of subjects it is superior." Normal Teacher, Indianapolis. " Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon it. ''New Age, Augusta. "A publication of decided merit." Central Baptist, St. Louis. "Articles on topics of general interest by the ablest living writers; the selections are very judicious." Educational Weekly, Toronto. " It would be difficult to crowd into one hundred pages more arti- cles of high excellence and permanent interest." University Magazine, Chapel Hill, N. C. " To one who takes a keen pleasure in literature, this magazine is the most valuable one that comes to our office." Times, Webster, Mass. "In no other magazine that it has been our good fortune to see, is j so much good reading afforded for the money." Journal, Elkader, Iowa. "Always filled with sterling matter, * * * bids fair to outshine itself." Commonwealth, Boston. " No magazine could find a more wholesome welcome than this in a household." Journal of Commerce, Boston. " The highly educated circle of readers, limited though it may be, cannot fail to appreciate its worth." The Dartmouth, Hanover, N, H. " Places within the reach of a great multitude of readers the privi- leges that have been enjoyed by the comparative few who were able to patronize the high-priced scientific and' literary monthlies." Commercial Advertiser, Detroit. " This periodical is marvelous in its comprehensiveness. The reader is entertained as well as instructed, and at a very small expense, indeed, he is able to possess the best thoughts of the best minds." Times, Hamilton, Ontario. " Cannot fail to interest intelligent readers, furnishing as it does the highest intellectual feast, at so moderate a price. Choice articles by eminent authors upon almost every subject, will be found in it." Fashion Journal, Philadelphia. , "Affords a capital chance for obtaining excellent reading at a low price . "Morning Star, Dover, N. H. " The selection of the articles published brings the reader into com- munication with the best writers on all the important topics of the day, and keeps him thoroughly posted in regard to the important questions that are agi- tating the world. We do not know any magazine that contains so much ster. ling and valuable information for the money." Mercantile Review, Buffalo. " We are pleased to say that it is the best of the kind we are called upon to peruse. The subjects are excellent and the articles fresh and clear." Maple Leaf, Albert, N. B. !IEbe Xi THE LIBRARY MAGAZINE aims to be peerless among Magazines ui the amount, variety, thought-value, and high literary quality of its contents. "A TRIAL TRIP." The price of THE LIBRARY MAGA- IZINE is $1.50 a year. To give you the opportunity of "proving the Spudding" by a '* taste," the three issues for March, April, and May, LJ will be sent to you (if ordered before May 1) post-paid for 2 5 cents. Hncient /Ifconarcbiea The SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES of the An- cient Eastern World : Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, and the New Persian Empire. By GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A., Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford. In three large 12mo. volumes, of over 2,000 pages, Bourgeois type, leaded. With all the notes and a new and greatly improved index, also with the profuse and fine illustrations and maps (over 700) of the English edition. Price per set, in fine cloth, gilt tops, &3.00. " When the despots of the old world were startled by the invention of printing, and trembled at the thought of the peril to a despotic govern- ment that lay hidden in an issue of cheap books, the consequent diffusion of knowledge and stirring-up of free thought, none ever dreamed of such books as these. Even we, who are familiar with so many achievements in this line, confess to astonishment. A book of nearly 600 pages, good paper, clear, * leaded ' print, nearly 500 illustrations and two maps, neatly bound, * * * is indeed a marvel of cheapness. For the subject-matter of the book : it is recognized as full and accurate ; an authority on the mat-cr of which it treats. It takes long years of study, a costly library, a rare faculty of condensation and artistic grouping to present anything like an intelli- gible view of scenes more than 4,000 years old ; to ' catch the form and spirit of the time,' and make a history out of scattered memoranda in books, or on stones and clay cylinders. This Mr. Rawlinson has done, and that he has done it well is attested by the universal judgment of all English speaking people. No better work on the subject, and no edition so cheap and good, can now be found, or be reasonably expected in the future." Eeligio- Philosophical Journal, Chicago. " The industry displayed in the collection of material is prodigious. The narrative is one of intense interest. The style is graceful and dignified. The author is evidently at home and inspires the reader with a proper con- fidence. Until recently Prof. Rawlinson's great work has been caviare to the multitude. Its price confined it to scholarly libraries. But John B. Alden announced, some time ago, that he should make this book the test of the success of what he calls the Literary Revolution. We have the book be- fore us, and declare the test to be successful. Any one may now supply himself with the scholar's tools. The fact is notable in the evolution of civilization." Evening Bulletin, San Francisco. "The illustrations in this cheaper edition really seem to us to be superior to the former. The work is of great value, and we recommend our brethren in the ministry to secure as soon as possible at these exceedingly low rates." Christian Advocate, Hamilton, Ontario. ' ' The paper is good, the type excellent, the illustrations clear and fully equal to those in the original eighteen-dollar edition, and the binding neat and substantial. There are extensive notes, and full and complete indexes, without any abridgment in any part. They contain everything of value that is known in regard to the great monarchies of the ancient Eastern world. No library is complete without them." Methodist Recorder \ Pitts- burgh. " The mechanical execution is every way good. It is truly marvel- ous how such books, including such a vast number of illustrations, and maps can be printed and sold at the exceedingly small price. We com- mend this edition as heartily as we do the enterprise of the publisher." The Observer^ St. Louis. IRecent publications >e WIT AND WISDOM of E. Bulwer-Lytton. Compiled by 0. L. BONNEY. A very neat large ISino. volume, Long Primer type, fine cloth, gilt tops, uniform with the New Library Edition of Bulwer's Works. Price, GO cents. ZYPT and BABYLON, from Sacred and Pro- fane Sources. By GEORGE KAWLINSON, Author of The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, Etc. Large 12mo., Long Primer type, fine cloth, gilt tops. Price, 6O cents. EL VIC and HERNIAL THERAPEUTICS. Principles and Methods for Remedying Chronic Affections of the Lower Part of the Trunk, including Processes for Self-Cure. By DR. GEORGE H. TAYLOR. Large 12mo., Long Primer type, fine cloth, red edges. Price, 5 cents. UN and WISDOM Gained by Tivo City Boys in a Summer Vacation. By JOHN C. HERVEY. Elzevir Edition, fine cloth, ink and gold ornaments. Price, 35 cents. ,e WORKS of BULWER LYTTON. New Library Edition in 13 vols., large 12mo., fine cloth, library style, gilt tops. Price, $9.0O WORKS of WILLIAM BLACK. New Library Edition in 6 vols. Large 12mo., fine cloth, library style, gilt tops. Price, $5.0O WERICAN PATRIOTISM. Famous Orations and Patriotic Papers from Washington to Lincoln. Compiled by S. H. PEA- BODY, Ph.D., Regent Illinois Industrial University. Large 12mo., 684 pages, Brevier type, cloth. Price, 65 cents. le SUBLIME and BEAUTIFUL. By EDMUND BURKE. New edition in one very neat vol. , large 16mo. , fine cloth, gilt tops. Price, 5O cents. 9NGFELLOWS PROSE WORKS. Hyperion, a Romance, and Outre-Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea. In one volume, large 12mo,, Small Pica type. Price, 65 cents. OURS WITH the BIBLE, or the Scriptures in the Light of Modern Discovery. From the Creation to the Patriarchs By CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE. Large 12ino., 381 pages, cloth. Price* 50 cents. ISTORYand MYSTERY of COMMON THINGS. 360 pages, large 12ino., formerly published at $1.25. Cloth binding. Price, 5O cents. OHN C. CALHOUN. A Biography, by JOHN S. JEN- KINS. Large 12mo., 454 pages, cloth. Price f 50 cents. tTbe Always unabridged and usually in the large type shown tr these lines. Following are notable issues, all in neat paper covers FAMOUS POEMS. No. Price. 6 Enoch Ar den . TENNYSON 2c 25 The Deserted Village, and Other Poems. GOLDSMITH 2c 26 Cotter's Saturday Night, and Other Poems. BURNS 2c 27 How Lisa Loved the King. GEORGE ELIOT 2c 28 Songs of Seven. JEAN InGELOw. 2c 36 Schiller's Song of the Bell, Etc. 2c 84 Essay on Man. ALEX. POPE 8c 101 Mazeppa. LORD BYRON 2c 102 Ryme of the Ancient Mariner. COLERIDGE 2c 105 Virginia, Ivry, the Armada, Etc. MACAULAY 2c 106 The Heart of Bruce. AYTOUN. . 2c 120 The Raven, Etc. EDGARA.POE. 2c 123 Hermann and Dorothea. GOETHE 6c By Sir WALTER SCOTT. 126 Lay of the Last Minstrel 6c 127 Marmion 8c 128 Lady of the Lake So 131 Rokeby 8c By MATTHEW ARNOLD. 134 Lecture on Numbers 3c 142 Lecture on Emerson 2c * By HERBERT SPENCER. 46 Philosophy of Style 4c 133 The Coming Slavery 3c 138 What Knowledge is of Most Worth 5c HISTORY. 2 The Burning of Rome. CANON FARRAR 2c 42 The Civilizations of Asia. RAW- LINSON 2C 65 Schiller's Thirty Years' War.... 30c 66 The Celtic Hermits. CHARLES KINGSLEY 2c 103 The Battle of Marathon. CREASY 3c 112 The Battle of Waterloo. CREASY 2c 129 Erasmus, Etc, D'AUBIGNE 2c POPULAR SCIENCE. No. Pric< 5 The Sea-Serpents of Science. WILSON 2 12 World-Smashing, Earthquakes, Etc. WILLIAMS 2 13 A Half Hour in Natural History 3 44 The Evidences of Evolution. HUXLEY 2 122 Public Health. EDWARD ORTON. 2 HUMORISTS. 15 American Humorists IRVING. . 17 American Humorists HOLMES. 19 American Humorists LOWELL. 20 American Humorists A. WARD. 21 American Humorists MARK TWAIN 53 Adventures of Baron Munchau- sen 107 Battle of the Books, DEAN SWIFT 108 Tints of the Times. ORPHEUS C. KERR By JOHN RUSKIN. 117 Sesame and Lilies 1C 118 Crown of Wild Olive 1( 119 Ethics of the Dust 1C CHRISTIAN CLASSICS. 14 Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. illustrated 1( 43 Buddhism. JOHN CAIRD 67 Seneca and St. Paul. CANON FARRAR 68 The Crucifixion. DR. GEIKIE... MISCELLANEOUS. 1 Rip Van Winkle. IRVING 64 Bacon's Essays. Complete ] 113 Conduct of The Understanding. JOHN LOCKE , 1( 115 Luther's Table Talk. By DR. MACAULAY 124 Legend of the Wandering Jew. .. 125 Confessions of an Opium Eater. 1( 132 On Liberty. JOHN STUART MILL. I' "UNIQUE and WONDERFUL." u Continue to astonish one with their cheapness, if one has a right t be astonished at cheap printing in these times." M ail, Toronto. " It is the most amazing achievement of cheap publication of whic we know anything." Saturday Review, Indianapolis. " Brings the gems of literature within the reach of the poorest, an the printing and paper are so good that even the fastidious bibliopole woul never think of disdaining so presentable a production of his favorite authors Presbyterian, Toronto. " The number of issues, the variety, and the cheapness are amazing Lutheran Observer, Philadelphia. CO U PON Tnis Coupon will be received in lieu of 10 cents cash, toward the I O C E N TS. pnce of above ELZEVIR LIBRARY costing not less than 50 cents, if received on or before May 1, 1885, This offer is to secure your PROMPT response and give you a test of the quality of our books. france. A HISTORY of FRANCE from the Earliest Times to 1848. By M. GUIZOT and his daughter, MME. GUIZOT DE WITT. Trans- lated by Robert Black. With 426 fine illustrations. Complete in eight volumes, small octavo, Bourgeois type, leaded. Price per set, in fine cloth, beveled boards, gilt tops, &8.00. Also, Cheaper Edition, in 8 vols., large 12mo., with 04 illustrations. Price $5.OO. RARE WORDS OF PRAISE. Intellectual Xife. The INTELLECTUAL LIFE. By Philip Gilbert HAMERTON. Elzevir Edition, Bourgeois type, leaded, 552 pages. Cloth, red edges, 5O cents ; full Russia, gilt edges, very fine, 8S1.OO. One of the most charming volumes in the language, and wise and helpful as it is delightful. The price of the volume is just one- fourth that formerly asked for the Boston edition. ; ' The print and paper are excellent, and altogether, the vol- ume is as pretty to look at as it is entertaining to read." Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, K Y. "A book that no one, young or old, should fail to read, and especially no young man. It is a marvel of neatness and cheapness." Examiner, New York. i Hamerton's delightful essays are here put in form that will engage the eye of him who loves to see his favorite in pretty dress, becoming to $ts excellence. All of the essays are of character to entertain the general reader while at the same time the moral or lesson of each is so subtly taught as to put itself in possession of the reader before he is aware of it." Journal, Indianapolis. ' 'A charming volume of wise and helpful reading for those who keenly appreciate what is finest and noblest in literature." Cen- tral Baptist, St. Louis. " In a Russian leather suit, and gilded edges, is the best piece of book work that we have seen from the press of John Alden. It is a book for young men who have heads worth using." Episcopal Register, Philadelphia. ''As attractive as any gift-book of the season. The admira- ble essays which it contains are masterpieces of rhetoric and counsel. " Free Press, Detroit. '* It is not a profound, philosophic treatise, but a plain, enter- taining statement of various conditions which enter into the intellec- tual life, and of the means by which that life may be reached." 'Herald, Syracuse, N. Y. " We admire the style in which this book is written. The statements are simple, direct, and easy to be understood. The lan- guage is chaste and the sentiment highly moral and elevating. The publisher's part of the work is a marvel of cheapness and beauty com- bined, making the volume one of the most suitable gift-books, appro- priate for any occasion, that has ever been put upon the market. It- is only one of the many books published by Mr. Alden that astonish the book-buying world with their striking qualities of great worth at littlQCOst." Christian Advocate, Buffalo, N. Y. * * ' The Intellectual Life ' of Hamerton is so well known that , it needs no commendation and no introduction. It is helpful, sugges- \ tive, and quickening. All the chapters are full of practical hints that \areto be prized as gold, but those on the physical and moral basis of bur intellectual life are worthy a special attention." Lutheran Ob- server, Philadelphia. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. LD 21-10m-5,'43 (6061s) M208577 G( BIO 1 - THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY .