The Publishers and Editors of THE BAY STATE MONTHLY, in compliance with urgent suggestions from many friends, and in the belief that its interests will be in every way promoted by the change, have decided to enlarge the scope of the Magazine so as to include in its plans not only the "Bay State" but _all_ of its sisters in the historical New England group. THE NEW ENGLAND MAGAZINE will, therefore, aim to become a treasury of information relating to matters of special interest to citizens of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and to be of incalculable value as an authoritative _recorder_ and medium of interchange and information for all Libraries and Historical Societies especially, and for all history and literary loving people generally. Especial attention will be given to the features which have made the Bay State Monthly so acceptable, and NEW features will be introduced which it is believed will add greatly to the interest and value of forthcoming numbers. [Illustration: MADAM SARAH ABBOT. FOUNDER OF ABBOT ACADEMY, ANDOVER. _From the original portrait in the possession of the Academy, supposed to have been painted by T. Buchanan Read._]