over that hilly region with its varied scenery-a singular mixture of the wild and the tame, the austere and beautiful—and with a sigh of relief from his excessive weariness found it possible at Springfield to secure passage for Hartford on the little stern-wheeled steamboat Agawam. Disposing of his modest baggage he went upon deck for a seat. His eyes almost immediately fell upon a remarkably beautiful young lady, whom he recognized as the daughter of General Timothy Burr of Rochester, formerly a resident of Hartford. He had seen her on a former occasion, and been much disturbed in consequence about the region of his heart; but the actual acquaintance of the young people dated from this lovely June afternoon as they were borne along over the placid waters of the Connecticut. Miss Harriet E. Burr was on her way to visit an uncle in Hartford, accompanied by her sister. The young publisher found it convenient to tarry in that ancient city of Hartford considerably beyond the limits of his leave of absence from Philadelphia, and when he departed it was with the prospect of meeting the lady again within a brief period. The summer came and went, but ere autumn dressed its forests and fields in their bright-colored robes words of love had been spoken, and a wedding day appointed. The happy pair were married in November, 1841, and their domestic life continuing for two score of years was one of great beauty and symmetry. Mr. Barnes remained in Philadelphia until 1845, and then removed his publishing house to New York city, where it has ever since been firmly planted, growing and prospering until it has become familiarly known in every part of the civilized world. Soon after establishing himself in New York, Mr. Barnes originated the scheme of publishing a full and complete series of school-books, embracing every department of elementary and advanced education, styled "The National Series of Standard School-Books." Mr. Barnes did not go into this enterprise haphazard, but gave every manuscript submitted for the series a critical personal examination, for which he was admirably qualified through his experiences and acquireHis industry at this period of his career was untiring, and his sound judgment and vigorous energy were never more conspicuous. He justly prided himself on the fact that no book ever bore his imprint that was not pre-eminently a "good book." In this lay the grand secret of his extraordinary financial success; it is said that his personal accumulations at the time of his death were hardly less than four millions of dollars. Many of the school-books prepared and issued with such discriminating care had each the phenomenal sale of more than a million copies. These books were in numerous instances revised and improved to meet the fresh wants of advanced scholarship and taste in the schools, while others of sterling value were added to the list from year to year. The publications of A. S. Barnes & Co., as a rule, have been confined to school-books through the entire half-century of the firm's existence. A few works only of a miscellaneous character have been issued by the house, "among which," says a writer in the Publishers' Weekly," Mrs. Martha J. Lamb's History of the City of New York and the music books used in many churches have added considerably to its financial prosperity." Mr. Barnes made Brooklyn his residence after his first year in New York, his home being in Garden Street. He purchased later an acre or more of land in Clinton Avenue, then on the very outskirts of Brooklyn, and built the roomy mansion to which he removed his family in the spring of 1854. In this attractive and hospitable home he resided for thirty successive years. Here his four younger children were born, and here his whole army of ten were trained and equipped for the varied experiences of life. Here in 1866 Mr. and Mrs. Barnes celebrated their silver wedding, which was an occasion of more than ordinary interest. A brilliant assemblage of invited guests were crowding the parlors, in animated conversation, when suddenly the doors were thrown open, and the host and hostess entered followed by their ten children, the five sons ranged on the side with their father, the five daughters on the side with their mother, and one pretty little grandchild like a budding flower just plucked from the garden. One of the memorable incidents of this unique silver wedding was the presentation of a brooch emblematical of the occasion to the bride of a quarter of a century, Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs performing the ceremony with graceful language and sentiment. This brooch had for its centre a single diamond, representing the wife and mother; around the diamond were studded ten pearls, representing the ten children; around the ten pearls were placed twenty-five garnets, representing their years of married life; and outside of the garnets were inserted a circle of fifty brilliants, representing the age of the husband-by whom the brooch was designed and given. Mr. Barnes identified himself from the first with the advancement of Brooklyn in everything that goes to make up the characteristics of a refined and intelligent community. His influence was always strenuously exerted for what he esteemed the city's highest welfare. As his income increased through the growth of his business, he disbursed money liberally. He was prominent in charities; he helped to build churches; he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Young Men's Christian Association, and of city and other missions; he was one of the Executive Committee of the Long Island Historical Society, contributing generously to its library fund, and to the new building itself; he lent material aid in erecting the Academy of Music and the Mercantile Library, and in perfecting many other enterprises of an educational character. When he settled in Garden Street the Church of the Pilgrims had just been completed, and Rev. Dr. Storrs was installed in its pulpit within a very short period. He joined this church by letter, as did also Mrs. Barnes, and their second son was the first child baptized in the new church edifice. For a year or more after they removed to their home in Clinton Avenue they continued to attend Dr. Storrs' Sunday services, but owing to the distance, finally transferred their church. relations to the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, to which Rev. Dr. Budington was called in 1855. In his varied schemes of Christian and practical philanthropy Mr. Barnes always found in his wife a judicious and sympathetic counselor. She was herself an active worker in many charities, notably the "Old Ladies' Home," of which she was treasurer, and the "Home for the Friendless," on Concord Street, of which she was president for several years prior to her death in 1881. Dr. Storrs, in a glowing tribute to the memory of her noble and well-rounded life, said: "Empires go down, dynasties disappear; but the asylum, the hospital, the home for the sick, the institutions in which the blind are made to see and the dumb to |