[Preserve this Schedule for future reference.] SCHEDULE OF STAMP DUTIES, FROM AND AFTER AUGUST 1, 1864. Verbatim copy of Official Document issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Acknowledgment of deeds, exempt. Aidavit, .05; in suits or legal proceedings, exempt. Agreement or Appraisement (for each sheet, or piece of paper on which the same is written), .05. Assignment or transfer of mortgage, lease, or policy of insurance, the samne duty as the original instrument; of patent right, .05. Bank Checks, drafts or orders, &c., at sight or on demand, .02. Bills of Exchange (Foreign), drawn in, but payable out of, the U. S., each bill of set of three or more, must be stamped. For every bill of each set, where the sum inade payable does not exceed one hundred dollars, or the equivalent thereof in any foreign currency in which such bills may be expressed, according to the standard of value fixed by the United States, .02. For every additional hundred dollars, or fractional part thereof in excess of one hundred dollars, .02. Foreign, drawn in, but payable out of the United States (if drawn singly or in duplicate), pay the same duty as Inland Bills of Exchange. [The acceptor or acceptors of any Bill of Exchange, or order for the payment of any sum of money drawn, or purporting to be drawn, in any foreign country, but payable in the United States, must, before paying or accepting the same, place thereupon a stamp indicating the duty.] Bills of Exchange (Inland), draft or order, payable otherwise than at sight or on demand, and any promissory note, whether payable on demand or at a time designated (except bank notes issued for circulation, and checks made and intended to be, and which shall be, forthwith presented for payment), for a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, .05. For every additional $100, or fractional part thereof, .05. [The warrant of attorney to confess judgment on a note or bond is exempt from stamp duty, if the note or bond is properly stamped.]] Bills of Lading, of vessels for ports of the United States or British North America, exempt; or receipt for goods to any foreign port, .10. Bill of Sale of any vessel, or part thereof, when the consideration does not exceed five hundred dollars, .50; exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000, $1.00; exceeding $1,000, for each $500, or fractional part thereof, .50; of personal property (other than ship or vessel), .05. Bond, personal, for the payment of money (See Mortgage); official, $1.00; for indemnifying any person for the payment of any sum of money where the money ultimately recoverable thereupon is $1,000, or less, .50. Where the money recoverable exceeds $1,000, for every additional $1,000, or fractional part thereof, .50. Bonds,-County, city, and town bonds, railroad and other corporation bonds, and scrip, are subject to stamp duty (See Mortgage); of any description, other than such as are required in legal proceedings, and such as are not otherwise charged in this Schedule, .25. Certificates of deposit in bank, sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, .02; of deposit in bank, sum exceeding one hundred dollars, .05; of stock in an incorporated company. .25: general, .05; of record upon the instrument recorded, exempt; of record upon the book, exempt; of weight or measurement of animals, coal, wood, or other articles, except weighers' and measurers' returns, exempt: of a qualification of a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Deeds, or Notary Public, .05; of search of records, .05; that cortain papers are on file, .05; that certain papers cannot be found, .05; of redemption of land sold for taxes, .05; of birth, marriage, and death, .05; of qualification of school teachers, .05; of profits in an incorporated company for a sum not less than $10 and not exceeding $50, .10; exceeding $50, and not exceeding $1,000, .15; exceeding $1,000, for every additional $1,000, or fractional part thereof, .25; of damage, or otherwise, and all other certificates or documents issued by any port warden, marine surveyor, or other person acting as such, .25. Certified Transcripts of judgments, satisfaction of judgments, and of all papers recorded or on file, .05. (N. B. As a general rule, every certificate which has, or may have, a legal value in any court of law or equity, will require a stamp duty of 5 cts.] Charter Party, or letter, memorandum, or other writing between the captain, owner, or agent of any ship, vessel, or steamer, and any other person relating to the charter of the same, if the registered tonnage of said ship, vessel, or steamer does not exceed one hundred and fifty tons, $1.00; exceeding one hundred and fifty tons, and not exceeding three hundred tons, $3.00; exceeding three hundred tons, and not exceeding six hundred tons, $5.00; exceeding six hundred tons, $10.00. Check, draft, or order for the payment of any sum of money exceeding $10, drawn upon any person other than a bank, banker, or trust conpany, at sight or on demand, .02. Contract. (See Agreement.) Broker's, .10. Conveyance, deed, instrument, or writing, whereby lands, tenements, or other realty sold, shall be conveyed, the actual value of which does not exceed $500, .50; exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000, $1.00; for every additional $500, or fractional part thereof in excess of $1,000, .50. Endorsement of any negotiable instrument, exempt. Entry of any goods, wares, or merchandise at any custom-house, either for consumption or warehousing, not exceeding one hundred dollars in value, .25; exceeding one hundred dollars, and not exceeding five hundred dollars in value, 50; exceeding five hundred dollars in value, $1.00; for the withdrawal of any goods or merchandise from bonded warehouse, .50. Gaugers' returns, if for quantity not exceeding 500 gallons, gross, .10; exceeding 500 gallons, .25. Insurance (Marine, Inland, and Fire), where the consideration paid for the insurance, in cash, premium notes, or both, does not exceed $10, .10; exceeding $10, and not exceeding $50, .25; exceeding $50, .50. Insurance (Life), when the amount insured does not exceed $1.000, .25; exceeding $1,000, and not exceeding $5,000, .50; exceeding $5,000, $1.00; limited to injury to persons while travelling, exempt. Lease of lands or tenements, where rent does not exceed $300 per annum, .50; exceeding $300, for each additional $200, or fractional part thereof in excess of 300, .50; perpetual, subject to stamp duty as a "conveyance," the stamp duty to be measured by resolving the annual rental into a capital sum; clause of guaranty of payment of rent, incorporated or indorsed, five cents additional. Manifest for custom-house entry or clearance of the cargo of any ship, vessel, or steamer for a foreign port, if the registered tonnage of such ship, vessel, or steamer, does not exceed 300 tons, $1.00; exceeding 300 tons, and not exceeding 600 tons, $3.00: exceeding 600 tons, $5.00. Measurers' Returns, if for quantity not exceeding one thousand bushels, .10; exceeding one thousand bushels, .25. Mortgage, trust deed, bill of sale, or personal bond for the payment of money exceeding $100, and not exceeding $500, .50; exceeding $500, for every additional $500, or fractional part thereof in excess of $500, .50. Pawners' Checks, .05. Pension Papers.- Powers of attorney, and all other papers relating to applications for bounties, arrearages of pay, or pensions, or to receipt thereof, exempt. Passage Ticket from the United States to a foreign port, costing not more than $35, .50; costing more than $35, and not exceeding $50, $1.00; for every additional $50, or fractional part thereof in excess of $50, $1.00. Power of Attorney to sell or transfer stock, or collect dividends thereon, .25; to vote at election of incorporated company, .10; to receive or collect rents, .25; to sell, or convey, or rent, or lease real estate, $1.00; for any other purpose, .50. Probate of Will, or letters of administration, where the value of both real and personal estate does not exceed $2,000, $1.00; for every additional $1,000, or fractional part thereof in excess of $2,000, .50; bonds of executors, administrators, guardians, and trustees, are each subject to a stamp duty of $1.00; certificate of appointment, .05. matches or less, .01; over 100 matches, and not exceeding 200, .02; for each additional 100, or fraction of 100, .01. Photographs, Ambrotypes, Daguerreotypes, &c., on each picture when the retail price shall not exceed 25 eents, .02; exceeding 25 cents, and not exceeding 50 cents, .05; exceeding 50 cents, and not exceeding $1, .05; exceeding $1, for each additional dollar or fraction, ,05. Playing Cards, value not over 18 cents per pack, .02; exceeding 18 cents, and not exceeding 25 cents, .04; exceeding 25 cents, and not exceeding 50 cents, .10; exceeding 50 cents, and not exceeding $1, .15; exceeding $1, for each additional 50 cents in excess of $1, .05. GENERAL REMARKS. Revenue stamps may be used indiscriminately upon any of the matters or things enumerated in Schedule B, except proprietary and playing card stamps, for which a special use has been provided. Postage stamps cannot be used in payment of the duty chargeable on instruments. It is the duty of the maker of an instrument to affix and cancel the stamp required thereon. If he neglects to do so, the party for whose use it is made may stamp it before it is used; but in no case can it be legally used of June, 1864, and used without a stamp, without a stamp; and if issued after the 30th it cannot be afterwards effectually stamped. Any failure upon the part of the maker of an instrument to appropriately stamp it, renders Quit Claim Deed, to be stamped as a convey-him liable to a penalty of two hundred dolance, except when given as a release of a mort- lars. gage by the mortgagee to the mortgagor, in which case it is exempt. Protest upon bill, note, check, or draft, .25. Promissory Note (See Bills of Exchange, Inland); deposit note to mutual insurance companies, when policy is subject to duty, exempt; renewal of, subject to the same duty as an orig inal note. Receipt for the payment of any sum of money or debt due exceeding $0, or for the delivery of any property, .02; for satisfaction of any mortgage or judgment or decree of any court, exempt. Sheriff's return on writ, or other process, exempt. Trust Deed, made to secure a debt, to be stamped as a mortgage; conveying estate to uses, to be stamped as a conveyance. Warehouse Receipt for any goods, wares, or merchandise, not otherwise provided for, deposited or stored in any public or private warehouse, not exceeding $500 in valuc, .10; exceeding $500, and not exceeding $1,000, .20; exceeding $1,000, for every additional $1,000, or fractional part thereof in excess of $1,000, .10; for any goods, &c., not otherwise provided for, stored or deposited in any public or private warehouse or yard, .25. Writs and legal documents: Writ, or other original process by which any suit is commenced in any court of record, either of law or equity, 50. Writ, or other original process issued by a eourt not of record, where the amount claimed is $100, or over, .50. Upon every confession of judgment or cognovit for $100, or over, except in cases where the tax for a writ has been paid, .50. Writ, or other process on appeals from justices' courts, or other courts of inferior jurisdiction, to a court of record, .50. Warrant of distress, when the amount of rent claimed does nct exceed $100,.25; when amount exceeds $100, .50. Writs, summons, and other process issued by a justice of the peace, police or municipal court, of no greater jurisdiction than a justice of the peace in the same State, exempt. Writs, or other process in any criminal or other suits commenced by the United States in any State, exempt. Official documents, instruments, and papers issued or used by officers of the United States Government, exempt. Proprietary Medicines, &c., retail price not exceeding 25 cents, .01; exceeding 25 cents, and not exceeding 50 cents, .03; exceeding 50 cents, and not exceeding 75 conts, .03; exceeding 75 cents, and not exceeding $1, .04; exceeding $1, for each 50 cents or fractional part of above $1, .02. Perfumery and Cosmetics-same as above. Friction Latches, a package, containing 100 Suits are commenced in many States by other process, than writ, viz., summons, warrant, publication, petition, &c., in which cases these, as the original processes, severally require stamps. Writs of Scire facias are subject to stamp duty as original processes. The jurat of an affidavit, taken before a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, or other officer duly authorized to take affidavits, is held to be a certificate, and subject to a stamp duty of five cents, except when taken in suits or legal proceedings. Certificates of loan, in which there shall appear any written or printed evidence of an amount of money to be paid on demand, or at a time designated, are subject to a stamp duty as Promissory Notes." The assignment of a mortgage is subject to the same stamp duty as that imposed upon the original instrument; that is to say, for every sum of five hundred dollars, or any fractional part thereof, of the amount secured by the mortgage at the time of its assignment, there must be affixed a stamp or stamps denoting a duty of fifty cents. When two or more persons join in the execution of an instrument, the stamp to which the instrument is liable under the law may be affixed and cancelled by any one of the parties. In conveyances of real estate, the law provides that the stamp affixed must answer to the value of the estate or interest eonveyed. No stamp is required on any warrant of attorney accompanying a bond or note, when such bond or note has affixed thereto the stamp or stamps denoting the duty required; and whenever any bond or note is secured by mortgage, but one stamp duty is required on such papers, such stamp duty being the highest rate required for such instruments, or either of them. In such case, a note or memorandum of the value or denomination of the stamp affixed should be made upon the margin or in the acknowledgment of the instrument which is not stamped. TIDE TABLE. The Tides given in the Calendar pages are for the Port of Boston. The following table contains the difference between the time of High Water at Boston and several other places. When the sign -is prefixed to the hours and minutes in the table, the time must be subtracted from the Boston time; and when the sign + is prefixed, the time must be added to the Boston time. The existence of the United States of America, as a separate and independent nation, usually dates from July 4, 1776, when the second Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence dissolving all connection with Great Britain. The colonies, however, were virtually under their own government from the time of the meeting of the Second Continental Congress, May 10, 1775, which body continued its sittings during the greater part of the Revolutionary War, and had the general direction of affairs. The powers of this Congress were not defined; there was no settled form of government; but their authority being of a revolutionary or provistonal character, they exercised such as the necessities of the times required. THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT continued until the Confederation was organized, the Articles for which were adopted by the Congress as early as November 15, 1777, but were not finally ratified by all the colonies until March 1, 1781. On the following day (March 2, 1781), Congress assembled under the Confederation. THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT was intended to be perpetual; but it was soon found to be so defective, inefficient, and even powerless, that a convention of delegates was called to meet at Philadelphia on the 14th of May, 1787, " for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting such alterations and provisions therein as shall render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Government and the preservation of the Union." THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT was the result of the deliberations of this Convention; for they adopted, on the 17th of September, 1787, that great and wise charter known as the Constitution of the United States. Eleven of the States having ratified this Constitution, Congress, on the 17th of September, 1788, resolved that it should go into operation on Wednesday the 4th day of March, 1789. The powers granted by this Constitution are distributed among three separate and distinct bodies: the Legislative powers being vested in a Congress; the Executive power in the President of the United States; and the Judicial power in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. RANK OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY CONTRIBUTED INTERNAL REVENUE (PREVIOUS TO 1864.) 1,227,444 Vermont, 961,406 Louisiana, 154,341 Washington Territory,8,263 IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS TO GUARD AGAINST FIRE. The following suggestions by the Chief Engineer of the Boston Fire Department, to the inhabitants of that city, are so excellent, and so appropriate for all localities, that we transfer them to our pages, and trust they may be carefully heeded. Keep matches in metal boxes, and out of the reach of children. Wax matches are dangerous, and should be kept out of the way of rats or mice. Fill fluid and camphene lamps only by daylight, and never near a fire or light. Do not deposit coal or wood ashes in wooden vessels, and be sure burning cinders are extinguished before deposited. Never place a light or ashes under a staircase. Never take a light to examine a gas meter, or gas pipes inside a building. Be careful never to place gas, or other lights, near curtains. Do not read in bed by lamp-light. OLD AND HOMELY PROVERBS 1. Get thy spindle and thy distaff ready, and God will send thee flax. Never take a light into a closet. Place glass shades over gas lights in show windows, and do not crowd goods near them. No smoking should be permitted in warehouses, particularly where goods are packed or cotton stored. Where furnaces are used, the principal register should always be fastened open. Stove pipes should be at least four inches from wood-work, and guarded. All hatchways or openings in the floors of stores, factories, or warehouses, should always be closed at night. All iron doors between stores should be closed at night, or when not in use. FOR EVERY DAY IN THE MONTH. 17. Idleness is the sepulchre of a living 2. Better ride an ass that carries us than a horse that throws us. 3. Everything comes in time to him who can wait. 4. Love rules without a sword. 5. Trust thyself only, and another shall not betray thee. 6. Nothing is lost on a journey by stopping to pray or to feed your horse. 7. Every vicious indulgence must be paid for cent per cent. 8. Better to be alone than in bad company. 9. To say little and perform much is noble. 10. Every man thinks his own geese are swans. 11. Circumstances alter cases: the straightest stick appears crooked in water. 12. An honest man is none the worse because a dog barks at him. 13. When you are an anvil, bear; when you are a hammer, strike. 14. He laughs best who laughs last. 15. He that can't paint must grind colors. 16. Wise distrust is the parent of se curity. man. 18. The devil tempts all men; but the idle man tempts the devil. 19. Business is the salt of life. 20. Never measure other people's corn by your own bushel. 21. He who spares vice wrongs virtue. 22. Despatch is the soul of business, and method is the soul of despatch. 23. Like plays best with like: when the crane attempted to dance with the horse, she got broken legs. 24. A full vessel must be carried carefully. 25. That is often lost in an hour which costs a lifetime. 26. Keep yourself from opportunities, and God will keep you from sins.. 27. The pitcher that goes often to the well gets broken at last. 28. Give a rogue an inch, and he will take an ell. 29. Many a cow stands often in the green meadow, and looks wistfully at the barren heath. 30. A handful of common sense is worth a bushel of learning. 31. The fire should burn brightest on one's own hearth. MASSACHUSETTS. ELOQUENT TRIBUTE TO MASSACHUSETTS. - The Hon. William D. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, in the course of his speech in the National House of Representatives on the Freedmen's Bureau, Feb. 23, 1864, replied to some aspersions upon Massachusetts by Mr. Brooks of New York (a native of Maine), in the following manly and suggestive remarks: "Sir, I am no son of Massachusetts, of New England, as the gentleman is, but I re member that, in my wayward youth, being free from the indenture that had bound me to a long apprenticeship, but not having attained manhood, I wandered from my native Pennsylvania, counter to the current tide of emigration, in pursuit of employment, and found a home in Massachusetts; and I may be pardoned if I pause a moment to feebly testify my gratitude to her, in whom I found a gentle and generous foster-mother. I thank God for the Puritan spirit of Massachusetts. "A boy, poor, friendless, and in pursuit of wages for manual toil, I found open to me in the libraries of Boston the seience, history, and literature of the world. At a cost that even the laboring man did not feel, I found in her lyceums and lecture-rooms the means of easy intercourse with her Bancroft, her Brownson, her Everetts, her Channings, her Prescott, her Emerson, and scores of others as learned and as able, though perhaps less distinguished sons, than these. I thus learned what it was to be an American citizen, and to what a height American civilization will be carried; and found four years of life, spent at well-paid toil, worth to me what the same number of years in a college might have been. I thank the men of Massachusetts, as will the scholars in public schools, fashioned upon her principles, in the city of Charleston in good time. "They may be white, they may be black, they may be yellow, but when the civilization of Massachusetts shall have penetrated that dark city and fashioned its institutions as it will, the pleasure of the pupils in the schools will be to thank God, night and morning, for the spirit of Massachusetts, which kept liberty alive, and finally brought its blessings to the entire people of the country. Yes, sir, Massachusetts, in the past three years, has given a practical application to those principles which in twelve or fifteen centuries gave freedom to Europe, and are about giving it to all the people of America. Not without war, however; and the gentleman ignored the teachings of history when he said that it had been done without war in Europe. Sir, the history of the contest for freedom in Europe is a history of continuous, sanguinary, and destructive war." REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF MASSACHUSETTS. - The report of Adjutant-General Schouler, for the year 1863, has appeared. It is a volume of more than a thousand pages, and is a monument of industry and painstaking detail. It gives a detailed history of military affairs in this State, and of the regiments which are cr have been in the field. The number of commissions issued during the year to officers in the three years' regiments was 1638, and to officers in the militia, 127. Ten thousand certificates for State aid have been issued. The work of making an alphabetical index of the soldiers' names in the official rolls will be completed this year. The amount of bounties paid up to Jan. 1, 1864, under the act of Nov. 18, 1863, was $584,282. The number of three years' men who have gone from this State from the beginning of the war to January 1, 1864, including drafted men and substitutes, is 69,893. The number of nine months' men furnished was 17,744; of three months' men, 3742. On the 1st of January Massachusetts had in the service 36 regiments of infantry, 3 of cavalry, 2 of heavy artillery, 1 battalion of heavy artillery, 2 unattached companies of the same, 12 batteries of light artillery, and 2 companies of sharpshooters. The report has evidently been prepared with great care, and contains a large amount of interesting and valuable information relative to the part Massachusetts has taken in the war. Under the acts of 1863, establishing a militia force in the State, 13 companies of infantry, 2 of artillery, and 1 of cavalry have been raised and organized. The number of persons enrolled for the draft which took place in June and July last was 107,386 in the first, and 56,792 in the second class. The whole number drafted was 32,079; of these 6690 were held to serve, but only 743 joined the service, 2325 procured substitutes, 22,343 were exempted, 3044 failed to report, 3623 paid commutations, which amounted to $1,085,000. The enrolment made by United States officers exceeded that made by the assessors of the various cities and towns, 809. MASSACHUSETTS SAVINGS-BANKS. - The number of savings-banks in this State is 95; number of depositors, 272,219-last year, 248,900; amount of deposits, Oct. 17, 1863, $50,883,828 55 an increase during the year of $6,480,154 23. The investments in public funds were $18,343,140 57 last year, $9,222,568 75. During the year there was a decrease of nearly two millions of dollars in loans on real estate, and more than one million in loans on personal security, and more than a million in the amount of cash on hand. They paid an average dividend of 4 90-100 per cent., amounting to $2,087,115 32, an increase of $90,000. The deposits in the several savings-banks in Boston, on the 17th of October, were: Franklin, $227,572 95; Provident Institution, $7,686,205 39; Suffolk, $3,708,664 48; East Boston, $227,003; South Boston (new), |