It is not an easy task either to establish a magazine, or, having secured for it a place in public favor, to retain the good will essential to its continued success. The examples of failure on the part of those who have essayed this task are so many and so notable, that publishers and editors who enter the field of periodical literature with new ventures, must possess, first of all, not a little courage; to this, if they are to expect any degree of success, must be added a _raison d'etre_ for the publication; and, besides, there must be an accompaniment of managerial ability sufficient to give the reason a continual demonstration in fact. Whatever the view of the cheerful optimist who stands on the threshold of the magazine world, with his experience, like his hoped-for triumphs, all in the future, the conditions above named, as witnessed by the broken lance of many a vanquished knight of this "Round Table," are not easily met. It is with a full understanding of these facts that we record the enlarged plans of the publishers of the BAY STATE MONTHLY, whereby that periodical, a vine of Massachusetts planting, seeking soil for wider growth, will send forth its roots into all New England. Chief among the features of the BAY STATE MONTHLY which have made it acceptable to the people of Massachusetts have been the many articles relating to the history and biography of its storied towns and famous men. Material for articles of equal interest and value, and much of it as yet unused by historian or biographer in sketch or story, abounds in every State of the New England group. It is in order to make better use of this material, that a change is made, as will be seen, not in place, but in scope,--whereby the Bay State gives way to the New England; and the NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE, which is the BAY STATE MONTHLY with a wider outlook, goes forth to commend itself to the good opinion of the citizens of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and of New Englanders everywhere. * * * * *