Page:New Brunswick Magazine Issue 1.djvu/96

who took it in on personal grounds. The contributors were not paid.

There were a few selected articles and poems published, and these were indicated by an asterisk, but the greater part of the contents was original and dealt with matters of general and provincial interest.

The editors did not always confine themselves to the policy laid down in their scheme, though the contributors were residents or natives of St. John. Thus, we have "Papers by a Recluse,"—a series of speculative articles, whimsical and satirical,—by Dr. Sinclair. They enjoyed a vogue, and by a little circle of friends were discussed and praised. The Doctor was an observer, and his odd way of hitting off the follies of the time had its attractions. Such subjects as "Poetry in America," "British Poetry," "State of the World at the Christian Advent," etc., appeared side by side with articles more in line with the object of the promoters. These papers were pretty heavy. Mr. William R. M. Burtis, who had been a contributor of tales to the Amaranth, furnished most of the fiction. He wrote "Grace Thornton, a Tale of Acadia," in eleven chapters.

Mr. R. Peniston Starr published in the Guardian four or five papers on Coal. The printer supplied him with a pseudonym unconsciously. The last page of Mr. Starr's first paper, contained his initials. But the only letters which the compositor saw were on the page immediately preceding the last page, and they were "P. T. O."—(please turn over). P. T. O. was accordingly adopted by this author, much to the amusement of those who knew the secret.

There was a pretty good list of provincial subjects discussed. Botany of the Lower Provinces, Education in New Brunswick, the Geography of New Brunswick, Summer Trips in Acadia, Geography of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, History of Acadia,